Saturday Morning at The Confluence

Good morning everyone! What are you reading this morning? I recently started the new book by John Perkins, Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded–and What We Need to Do to Remake Them.
In the news, I’m half-heartedly following the health care bill’s progress and wondering what is going [...]

Friday Morning News and Views

Good morning, Conflucians! The work week is almost over, thank goodness; and I’m looking forward to my extra-long 5-day weekend next week. I can’t wait to be able to sleep as much as a want to for a few days. Here are the stories that caught my eye this morning. Please [...]

Monday Morning News and Views

Good Morning Conflucians! I’m a little bit pressed for time this morning, because I have to get out of here earlier than usual to make copies of an exam for my class this afternoon. Nevertheless, I have a few stories to share with you before I rush out of here. You can [...]

Friday Morning News and Views: Friday the 13th Edition

Good Morning Conflucians! It’s a gloomy Friday the 13th here in the Boston area. I guess we’ll be getting hit with the tail end of Hurricane Ida over the next couple of days. I’m feeling a bit lethargic this morning, but I’ll try to locate a few interesting news links nonetheless. [...]

Martha Coakley is a Shoo-In for the Massachusetts Senate Nomination!!

Breaking News from Politico: Pelosi Endorses Capuano!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be endorsing Rep. Michael Capuano in the Massachusetts Senate special election, choosing her House colleague over Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is seeking to become the first female senator in the state.
Pelosi will be heading to Boston tomorrow morning to make the formal endorsement….
In [...]

Why is Health Care Reform Being Held Hostage by a Fundamentalist Cult?

No, I don’t mean the Catholic Church. I mean the super-secret, ultra-creepy fundamentalist sect that calls itself
“the Family,” or “the Fellowship,” and they consider themselves a “core” of men responsible for changing the world. “Hitler, Lenin, and many others understood the power of a small core of people,” instructs a document given to [...]

God Forbid we Should Change the Status Quo

Jake Tapper of ABC News had an “exclusive” interview with President Obama today. The first part of the interview was shown on ABC News hour tonight, more will be shown on Nightline tonight, and the rest on Good Morning America tomorrow. Tapper asked the President about the abortion language in the “health care [...]

Friday Morning News and Views: Halloween Eve Edition

Good Morning Conflucians!!! It’s Friday and on top of that it’s Halloween Eve! And I’m looking forward to the TC Halloween party tonight, hosted by Stateofdisbelief! I hope to see you all there. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Rico, the bartender. Perhaps he’ll put in an appearance at the [...]

Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford Offer Advice to President Obama

This is interesting Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford have written a book together in which they discuss Thomas’ recollections of all the Presidents she has covered, beginning with John F. Kennedy. It’s called Listen Up, Mr. President At CNN.com, the two reporters offer “five key insights” for the current President. There is also [...]

Open Thread: Obama in Cambridge

President Obama was in town yesterday, and I didn’t even know he was coming. I didn’t see anything about it when I was writing my news post yesterday, so I was surprised when one of my students told me about it. Obama was at MIT to visit labs that are working on green [...]