Trump Driven Hate-Fest Obscures The Real Issue

Ken O'Brien

The public, driven by Republican candidates and media pundits, is preoccupied with the threat of radical Islamic terror.

The reason? The media savvy campaign of one Donald J. Trump.

As one source noted:

81:1.

Does that ratio seem out of whack? That's the ratio of TV airtime that ABC World News Tonight has devoted to Donald Trump's campaign (81 minutes) versus the amount of TV time World News Tonight has devoted to Bernie Sanders' campaign this year. And even that one minute for Sanders is misleading because the actual number is closer to 20 seconds.

For the entire year. 

Standardized Tests - Bastardized Mess

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

American students face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how standardized tests impact school funding, the achievement gap, and how often kids are expected to throw up.

From The Joad Family To Welfare Queens

As it increases its hold on the American political system, the right is gradually unmasking its contempt for the poor.

That “unmasking” is behind two recent bills that caught the internet’s attention this week. Kansas and Missouri’s legislatures are working to target the social services provided to the state’s welfare recipients, limiting how people on welfare can use their assistance. In Missouri, a bill awaits Gov. Sam Brownback’s approval that would ban soda, energy drinks, cookies, and chips. Curtailing spending on snacks and soft drinks might be defensible from a public health angle (former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg would be a fan), but the state is also targeting steak and seafood—which speaks, ironically, less to concerns about welfare and more about policing what poor people do.

Bleeding A Stone

Ken O’Brien

Over the last three days I’ve reviewed several factors underlying the economic situation of the town of Southbridge.

The starting point was the casual remark by our town manager regarding the reality of the dramatic increase in the sewer enterprise fund over the last year.

At the heart of this remark was a callous disregard for the burden imposed upon Southbridge residents as Mike Marketti has amply demonstrated.

From there I moved on to a review of how our property tax rate compares to other local communities.