Opinion & Columns

“Let the teachers teach, let the principals oversee, let the superintendents be part-time, insist the parents do their jobs so the teachers can do theirs, and impeach any politician who piles on regulations while cutting funds.”

“In addition to practical questions about how to pay off its $27 million debt and handle student transfers, more philosophical, painful ones have emerged: How did this happen? What will this do to Rensselaer? Who’s to blame?”

Now, virulent hate speech and frightening ideology called “alt right” or “white nationalism” are infiltrating the mainstream. Swastikas appear as graffiti, Holocaust deniers court the media, and bomb threats on Jewish community centers are commonplace.

“We are rapidly reaching a critical mass of restaurants, if we haven’t already. There will be a tipping point very soon where some aren’t going to survive.”

I do not like confrontation and believe men’s brains are better wired for war than women’s. However, I am as guilty as the next guy of perpetrating bad karma.

“I own a farm and regularly step in things left by cows, so you can trust me on this. It’s a minefield out there.”

How is it even remotely possible that a man who heard voices in his head telling him to kill, and visited jihadist chat rooms, was not only permitted to own a 9 mm handgun but was allowed to check it—as well as ammunition—on a plane to Fort Lauderdale?

Ten people, three generations, at a Thanksgiving table. “Look at what we did,” says my husband.

“When did the sport coat give way to the sweater?” I asked. “Why did Bobby become Bob?” Questions hardly so nervy as to provoke the explosion that followed.

“When the man first told me the world was ending, I was relieved. Things had been going really well for me, and the thought of ending on a high note had a certain appeal.”

People my age still bear the scars of telephoning friends and girlfriends on landlines, to their homes, where their dads could answer and sternly #DadSplain to you that calling at this hour is rude and unacceptable.

This puppy love of mine is new. I’ve always been a cat person, eschewing canines for lacking the dignity, elegance, and artful composure of their feline counterparts.

“A growing number of Americans now equate fame with expertise, so naturally believed a man who had his own reality show was qualified to lead America.”

“All those gorgeous old radios in their handsome wooden cases that had faithfully accompanied us through the Great Depression and World War II were kicked to the curb. I’m still not over it.”

While watching all 92 episodes of Mad Men will certainly teach you something about life, consuming them twice more will teach you something about a lack of one.