Ruth Marcus: Politics aside, the stimulus was a success
Washington The treatment helped. The patient is recovering. The doctor is still being accused of malpractice.That, in a nutshell, is the story of the $800 billion stimulus package President Obama...
View ArticleThomas Friedman: In Mideast, young eager to learn
Beginning March 2, Professor Hossam Haick will teach the first massive open online course, or MOOC, on nanotechnology in Arabic. What's more interesting, though, he explained to me the other day over...
View ArticleWomen's nurturing nature a power tool
A few years ago, the World Health Organization said that the most severe health problem worldwide was depression.There are many ways to analyze this, but these are some of my personal thoughts: We are...
View ArticleRex Smith: Appreciating nuance in public life
What sort of morality in decision-making do you expect of public officials? Be careful. The answer may not be as black-and-white as you think.I'm not talking about morality in the sense of sexual...
View ArticleStop the bashing; focus on mentally ill
Last month, several public employee unions organized a rally that included focus on the movement of unionized workers from state institutions to private nonprofits as care for the disabled and...
View ArticleMaureen Dowd: Christie tones down bully image
Port Monmouth, N.J.There's nothing more amusing than a bully forced to be on his best behavior.Chris Christie may be cutting back on his butter, but it wouldn't melt in his mouth at a town hall here...
View ArticleThomas Friedman: Ability matters, not how you acquired it
Mountain View, Calif.Last June, in an interview with Adam Bryant of The New York Times, Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president of people operations for Google — i.e., the guy in charge of hiring for...
View ArticleKathleen Parker: Stronger should protect the weaker
WashingtonWe've heard much about the Republican war on women. Exhaustingly.Lately, we've also heard about the war on men.The war on men-on-women-on-men ... or something, as MSNBC's Alex Wagner...
View ArticleCasey Seiler: Still life with shovel
What would you think if you were shoveling out your car the morning after a blizzard and you looked up to see a man standing on the roof of the back porch of his house, cackling and holding a snow...
View ArticleReligious rights are not applicable to businesses
Kathleen Parker in her commentary ("Practice what you preach, Mr. President," Feb. 9) perceives hypocrisy in President Obama's professing to support freedom of religion while being "so dedicated to...
View ArticleA bigger Comcast isn't better for consumers
The moment Comcast, the nation's biggest cable company, announced it would buy Time Warner Cable, the second largest, an army of lawyers and PR operatives fanned out to tell cable subscribers how...
View ArticleEditorialS: Long Story Short
Powerful informationLong after New York deregulated its electricity and natural gas markets, consumers remain cool to the concept of shopping around for cheaper or more environmentally friendly power...
View ArticleCharles Krauthammer: Science is hardly a science
Washington I repeat: I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I've long believed that it cannot be good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the...
View ArticleState would be smart to educate prisoners
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's recently announced proposal to fund college classes in New York is bold, but not because it is radical. In the last year, calls to roll back the mass incarceration of American...
View ArticleEditorial: Good and bad wine plans
THE ISSUE:A proposal to require in-state warehousing for wine is needless and would cost wine sellers and consumers.THE STAKES:A better plan is to expand the venues at which wines may be purchased....
View ArticlePark South and Albany deserve some truly great ideas
One of the most valuable lessons I learned as a graduate student in the Geography and Planning Department at the University at Albany was that "growth without development" is a poor, long-term urban...
View ArticleThe 'death tax' hurts state's edge
New York is now one of only 14 states still imposing any tax on estates — the cash, land, houses, financial assets and other property left by deceased residents. The state estate tax, also called the...
View ArticleEditorial: A law of secret influence
THE ISSUE:State ethics law allows donors backing lobbyists on certain issues to be concealed from public disclosure.THE STAKES:Democracy is enhanced if people know who is acting to influence policy....
View ArticleNotable quotes of the week
"OMG, I caught Tito destroying the evidence."— State Sen. Greg Ball, joking on Twitter about feeding his Lab puppy a piece of paper during a flap over plagiarized material in his legislation."I think...
View ArticleKeep fuel trains out of New York
The Hudson Valley's farms, clean water and tourism economy could be casualties of emerging state and national energy dynamics. We can and must reduce these threats.With the U.S. producing more oil...
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