Sunday, April 28, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Sharon Stone makes the case for culture. Her Basic Instinct is spot on.
ARTS IN EDUCATION
ARTS MEAN BUSINESS
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
FILIBUSTER THE FILIBUSTER
This week, the US Senate voted 54-46 to strengthen gun
safety laws in America. It failed. That’s right. 54%--a solid majority of the
US Senate--voted in favor of universal background checks, and the bill still
lost. Because the filibuster rule requires a 60% vote for anything to pass.
Which made me think about Elizabeth Warren.
You will recall that Ms. Warren carried her reform message
together with everybody’s highest hopes into the halls of congress. Shortly
after her election--I received an email from her. This is what she said:
“You know what I want to do. You know what I care about.
But here's the honest truth: Any senator can make a phone call to register an
objection to a bill, then business comes to a screeching halt. On the first day
of the new session in January, the Senate will have a unique opportunity to
change the filibuster rule with a simple majority
vote. I’ve joined Senator Jeff Merkle and four other senators to fight for this
reform on day one. No more bringing the work of this country to a dead stop.”
The only problem is that on the first day of the session
she fought for nothing of the sort. Neither did Jeff Merkle, nor any other
senator—Democrat or Republican. And by fight, I mean rise to their feet on the
floor of the Senate and use the filibuster to change the
filibuster. Bring that shameful institution to a screeching halt on behalf of
majority rule. Stop everything. Force a national conversation on why—in the
“world’s greatest deliberative body”--a simple majority isn’t enough?
Why--after 20 kids got their heads blown off—doesn't 54%
of Senators voting in favor of gun safety legislation advance that bill to the
next step? I’d like Ms. Warren, and Mr. Reid, and the Democratic majority in
the United States Senate to explain to the parents of those twenty dead six
year olds, why protecting the filibuster is so much more important than
protecting our children?
Oh and one more thing. Please stop sending out stupid
petitions. Do your job. You promised to fix the filibuster. Fix it.
Because your failure to fix it--not Ted Cruz, not Rand Paul, not
Mitch McConnell—your failure to fix the filibuster will
absolutely cost the lives of more innocent kids.
On the first day of this new session, the Democratic
majority in the US Senate had a golden opportunity to restore the principle of
majority rule and they chose instead to punt. Make no mistake about it, every
major policy failure since can be traced directly back to that breathtakingly
irresponsible choice.
If universal background checks—or any other sensible,
national policy—can’t muster a majority in the US Senate, I suppose I can live
with that. I wouldn’t be happy about it. But I’d accept it.
What’s unacceptable is when that same policy earns a majority of
votes and still doesn’t pass. Any Senator who can live with that outcome
doesn’t deserve to be there.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
HOW MUCH LONGER ARE WE GOING TO STAND FOR THIS?
MARTIN RICHARD MADE THIS POSTER BEFORE BEING KILLED
BY A BOMB AT THE 2013 BOSTON MARATHON. HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD.
HADIYA PENDLETON MADE THIS VIDEO WHEN SHE WAS IN THE SIXTH GRADE. IN FEBRUARY SHE WAS SHOT TO DEATH IN A PARK NEAR HER HOME. SHE WAS 15.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
For Dad...
Arthur Paleologos (1924-2013)
NBC Nightly News’ legendary
anchor, Tom Brokaw dubbed them “The Greatest Generation.” Arthur Paleologos,
one of that generation’s few remaining members, died quietly on Tuesday of this
week. He was eighty-eight.
During his 1980 swearing-in
ceremony as Chief Magistrate of the Woburn District Court, Paleologos began his
brief remarks by stating the simple principle that guided every aspect of his
remarkable journey from the hardscrabble streets of Lowell, Massachusetts to
accepting Governor Edward King’s nomination that day in the historic chamber of
Boston’s storied State House.
“In the course of a lifetime,
with working people,” he said, “you don’t accumulate very much money, or
material things. But I’ve been blessed with riches beyond description, and they
are all deposited in the balcony to my left—my family.“
Born of Greek immigrant
parents who settled among the textile mills in Depression-ravaged Lowell,
Paleologos—like many of his contemporaries—arrived at elementary school speaking
only Greek. “It never ceases to amaze me,” he once joked, “how we ever got out
of the first grade.” Nevertheless, he not only “got out” of first grade,
but was double-promoted. “Believe it or not,” he recalled, “I never even saw
the second and fourth grades.”
When he arrived at Lowell High
School, Paleologos became an avid participant in the Lowell Brigade (a 1940’s
version of Junior ROTC). By his senior year he rose from the rank of private to
captain. In a local television interview after becoming Chief Magistrate,
Paleologos fondly remembered the drill competitions which took place each
Memorial Day on Lowell’s South Common.
He also recalled the hardship.
“In those days, a lot of
people were out of work. It was very, very difficult to get along. When I was a
junior in high school, in order to help my family, I got a job in the mill. I
used my older brother’s name. I was 15 years old then and I got a job as a
weaver. The only job they had was the late night shift--10pm to 6am—so I took
it.”
He then recounted the routine.
“I’d go to work at ten o’clock
at night. I’d come home at six. I’d wash up, have some breakfast, and then I’d
go to school…I was delighted to do it—to help my father and mother. I wasn’t
alone…working and trying to get an education. It was a little difficult, but we
took it in stride.”
Paleologos was a decorated
World War II navy veteran having served on a PT Boat in the Pacific between
1943 and 1945. After his honorable discharge from active duty, he attended
Northeastern University and Suffolk Law School on the GI Bill.
During
that time he met Janet Paicopolos, a Fisher Business School graduate and the
daughter of another Greek immigrant family with a similar background that had
settled in the nearby tanning town of Woburn, Massachusetts. They married in
1952. The newlyweds made their home in Woburn and had three children (Nicholas,
Jonathan & David).
After getting married,
Paleologos worked at the VA hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts while attending
Suffolk Law School at night. He graduated in 1956 in the same class as his
friend, the late Congressman Joe Moakley.
Upon passing the bar,
Paleologos decided to quit his job at the VA Hospital and practice law full
time. But his first year was a real struggle. “Nobody seemed to want a new
lawyer,” he recounted. With three young children to care for and a
struggling law practice, he sought a job with New York Life--selling insurance.
Because the position required a car, Paleologos paid a visit to the Woburn
Credit Union seeking a loan. The president at the time, was Attorney Jack Moss.
That meeting changed the course of his life.
“I didn’t know he was a
lawyer.” Paleologos remembered. “I wasn’t dressed very well and I needed a
shave.” But Moss was so impressed with the young veteran and freshly
minted lawyer that he offered Paleologos a job on the spot. Attorney Moss
became an important mentor to Paleologos, affording him valuable courtroom
experience that would have been otherwise impossible for him to attain.
For the next several years Paleologos
tried hundreds of cases in the Woburn District Court. In 1970, he was offered
the position of Assistant Magistrate there, and served in that capacity until
Governor King appointed him Chief Magistrate in 1980. For the better part of
three decades, the Woburn District Court became the center of Paleologos’
professional life. He often cautioned his fellow magistrates that “the power to
give a policeman a piece of paper making it legal for him to break down
somebody’s door and search their home…is an awesome responsibility.”
He loved family cookouts
sitting by the pool or holding court in his favorite kitchen chair.
In addition, Paleologos took
great interest and pride in the careers of his three sons--who were at the
center of his life, as well as in the education and accomplishments of his five
grandchildren.
Most of all, he brought his
strong family values, solid work ethic, amazing life experience, boundless
humility and a genuine common touch to every aspect of his public and personal
life.
As he told the audience at his
1980 swearing-in ceremony:
“The district courts are the
peoples’ courts. Our primary responsibility is to protect the public… I’m not
going to stand here and tell you that I’m the most knowledgeable clerk in the
system, because if I did, it wouldn’t be true…but I can promise you this: that
I shall conduct myself with a profound sense of integrity, and with compassion
and a sense of fair play for those people that come before our court seeking
equity and justice.”
Monday, April 8, 2013
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