What an Asshole Gerald(o) Rivera is March 23, 2012

Long ago the former Gerald Rivera was a local news reporter when he got a scoop about terrible conditions at an institution for mentally disabled children and became a star. He could have done all kinds of things with the fame that one story earned him. He ran with it — all the way to [...]

RSSF, Part Deux March 15, 2012

This is what the guy who wrote the look at me I’m quitting my job as a money pimp at Goldman Sachs because I have more integrity than any of the other pimps I work(ed) with reminds me of. The guy, who “isn’t highly paid by Wall Street standards — earning about $500,000 last year [...]

I’m pro-abortion February 6, 2012

In Zambia, where a woman who wants to terminate a pregnancy must get a doctor’s note saying her life would be endangered if she did not, physicians address this restriction in a logical way. The doctors ask their patients what they would do if they do not get permission for a legal abortion. Invariably, in [...]

Other people’s madness January 22, 2012

LANTANA, FL — I don’t think I’m the only one who left the last meeting of our homeowner’s association feeling good about our community. It was a model of protocol. We not only had a quorum, but every single person there behaved with consideration and decorum. We did of course catch a few lucky breaks. [...]

The distinctive appeal of Ikea fills store like Disney Land January 16, 2012

SUNRISE, FL — It was the special appeal that a classically basic, $49, full-size bed frame had for me, with my exceptional eye for quality, integrity and a bargain, that drew me to join the masses who pulled into the Ikea store in Sunrise, Florida this afternoon. A map of the location could be next [...]

Hard Times January 5, 2012

Everywhere — The first big news today was that Willard “Mittens” Romney, the guy who has managed to maintain a belief in magic underpants, but not in people’s right to healthcare, got eight more votes than Rick Santorum,whose name is a synonym for, well, for santorum, who has been steadfast in his contempt for human [...]

NYT to staffers: “Again,” don’t let the door hit you in the ass December 29, 2011

http://jimromenesko.com/2011/12/27/faq-for-nyt-regional-media-group-employees/#more-4080 I used to work with an editor who was famous for outrageous and pointless orders. He was a deputy middle-management sort of person, even when, briefly he was promoted to real middle-management, but his silly directives carried a little added authority because he seemed likely, if he were on the receiving end of them [...]

How we treat each other, that’s entirely up to us January 17, 2011

CAMBRIDGE, MA — A few years ago, a relative of ours had the misfortune to greatly overestimate his capacity of for marijuana intake, with the result that he ended up spending two weeks at the local mental hospital with a bout of toxic psychosis. I thought of this the other day because of the events [...]

The difference between compromise December 23, 2008

LANTANA, FL — The difference between compromise and appeasement is as vast as the difference between politics and policy, the difference between co-optation and cowardice. When on election night voters in three states chose to preemptively take away the rights of some of their fellow Americans with same-sex marriage-banning amendments the echo of Kristalnacht’s tinkling [...]

They are shocked, shocked October 26, 2008

THE CENTER OF WORLD CHAOS, FLORIDA — While I am grateful for and relieved by the ongoing slate of endorsements for Barack Obama on the part of conservative pundits and Republican politicians who remained sanguine during the whole of the Bush administration, I find their astonishment at the greed, hate-mongering, demagoguery, inconsistencies, and exploitation of [...]