Dowd: Big hurrah for the bra in France please
Paris The French may feel shaky about the underpinnings of the economy. But about the underpinnings for the body, they are as rock solid as the Arc de Triomphe.During a summer when the French are...
View ArticleLetter: Find a way to save white ash trees
The white ash tree, a cultural icon and a valuable source of timber, is on the path to destruction in New York and the rest of North America. A tiny green beetle from Asia, the emerald ash borer, has...
View ArticleSeiler: Is this the best we can do?
Hey, who do you have to engage in inappropriate sexual conduct with to get elected in New York City?Anybody you want to, it turns out. That's one of the takeaways from the zombie-like durability of...
View ArticleParker: Wrong battles, wrong time for GOP
Republicans seem to be adopting the self-immolation tactics of principled martyrs.Of course, principled or not, you're still dead in the end.At this stage in the second term of the president they...
View ArticleThe riots of New York
The smoke of battle at Gettysburg had just cleared when a new crisis emerged for the Union. One of the ugliest chapters in American history occurred during the week of July 13-July 16, 1863, when...
View ArticleLetter: True Sainthood comes from God
Canonizing Pope John Paul II is such a wonderful gesture. He was a great religious leader. But if you were ever to pick up the only book in the world that claims to be written or co-written by God,...
View ArticleNot even proof positive can stop a Georgia execution
The following is from an editorial in The New York Times:The wheels of the machinery of death in Georgia keep turning, greased by a strict federal law that prevents prisoners from filing multiple...
View ArticleLetter: Friends groups deserve thanks
The Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park deserve kudos for all their efforts to enhance that park, including the building of a bridge allowing hikers and runners to cross a stream (''Friends' help...
View ArticleBrodsky: Spitzer? Spitzer! Um, Spitzer ...
Sometimes this writing-a-column thing is easy. Just as the July doldrums roll in, we're gifted with weeks of journalistic opportunities for snickering and evidence of our moral superiority.Thank you,...
View ArticleNews kept off the front page
Newspaper reporter? Worst job in America? Really?The very notion invites a sarcastic response. What could possibly be more enjoyable than standing up to your knees in raging floodwater, the thrilling...
View ArticleEditorial: Follies of sequestration
THE EFFECT:Indiscriminate budget cuts harm emergency services and important public programs.THE CAUSE:Congress used an axe when a scalpel would have been more appropriate. Here's the bad news — and...
View ArticleLetter: Many resources for caregivers
For more than a week, police and volunteers searched for missing Schenectady resident Mary Wright, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Tragically, she was found too late. Like so many others with...
View ArticleLetter: Models fail to indicate climate emergency
A Los Angeles Times editorial ("Years of ignoring climate change shapes present, future," June 25) claims climate scientists' dire predictions are "coming true even more quickly than expected." Their...
View ArticleEditorial: More of the same for N.Y.
THE ISSUE:The latest state commission charged with cleaning up government holds its first meeting — in private, of course. THE STAKES:What should people expecting genuine change think of this lack of...
View ArticleMarcus: System and justice not the same
Did the system work? Was justice served?We like to think of those questions as identical. After all, the point of a criminal justice system is to dispense justice. But with the acquittal of George...
View ArticleEvaluators need to be tested, too
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, is backing off a bit on high-stakes testing. He now says he's "open to requests for flexibility with the deadline for implementing new systems of evaluating...
View ArticleStudents lose out in loan fight
Ever get the feeling that Washington sees every issue as a hockey puck in a rink with no nets? There's just a constant back-and-forth between two teams with big elbows and pointed fingers — but no...
View ArticleFood stamp follies reflect U.S.'s lost era of compromise
The following is from editorial in the San Jose Mercury News:One of the most unlikely political pairings in U.S. history has kept farms profitable and poverty-stricken families from being hungry for...
View ArticleBrooks: Men on employment threshold
As every discerning person knows, "The Searchers" is the greatest movie ever made. It is loosely based on the real story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was abducted from her East Texas home in 1836 when...
View ArticleLetter: Gibson's farm bill vote disappointing
Any notion that Rep. Chris Gibson is a moderate Republican evaporated when he voted in support of a farm bill that didn't include the food stamp program.Regardless of ideology, it is hard to conceive...
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