Category Archives: Marty’s Blog

April 11, 2015 David Brooks ABOUT once a month I run across a person who radiates an inner light. These people can be in any walk of life. They seem deeply good. They listen well. They make you feel funny … Continue reading →

APRIL 9, 2015 Nicholas Kristof The United States is the most powerful colossus in the history of the world: Our nuclear warheads could wipe out the globe, our enemies tweet on iPhones, and kids worldwide bop to Beyoncé. Yet let’s … Continue reading →

How money is ruining America’s courts. By SUE BELL COBB March/April 2015 I felt trapped. I had made it to the top of my profession. I was the chief justice of Alabama, the first woman to head the state Supreme … Continue reading →

Truthdig – ‘Pornography Is What the End of the World Looks Like’ Posted on Feb 15, 2015 By Chris Hedges A scene from “Fifty Shades of Grey.” (YouTube) BOSTON—“Fifty Shades of Grey,” the book and the movie, is a celebration of the … Continue reading →

FEB. 11, 2015 Mark Bittman The world of food and agriculture symbolizes most of what’s gone wrong in the United States. But because food is plentiful for most people, and the damage that conventional agriculture does isn’t readily evident to … Continue reading →

FEB. 7, 2015 Maureen Dowd WASHINGTON — THIS was a bomb that had been ticking for a while. NBC executives were warned a year ago that Brian Williams was constantly inflating his biography. They were flummoxed over why the leading … Continue reading →

JAN. 22, 2015 David Brooks The online dating site OkCupid asks its clients to rate each other’s attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 5. When men rated the women, the median score was about 3 and the ratings followed … Continue reading →

By PICO IYER JAN. 3, 2015 MANY of my friends were shocked some years ago when I cut down on my junk-food intake. Even my wise old physician was a little put out. He had more or less given me … Continue reading →

DEC. 8, 2014 David Brooks Like a lot of people in journalism, I began my career, briefly, as a police reporter. As the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have unfolded, I’ve found myself thinking back to those days. Nothing … Continue reading →

DEC. 4, 2014 David Brooks  NY Times Why Elders Smile – NYTimes.com A few months ago, Ezekiel Emanuel had an essay in The Atlantic saying that, all things considered, he’d prefer to die around age 75. He argued that he’d … Continue reading →