WPRI Providence Journal sold to GateHouse parent for $46 million The announcement of A.H. Belo’s deal with New Media will kill speculation – and, in some quarters, hopes – that the newspaper could be purchased by a civic-minded group of local investors. The only such unsuccessful group whose attempt became public was led by Barry Fain, John Howell, Matthew Hayes and Arnold “Buff” Chace Jr. […]
Captain uncourageous: abandoning ship long seen as a crime Cowardice comes in many forms, but there’s a special sense of shame reserved for captains who abandon ship. South Korean authorities Capt. Lee Jun-Seok, who was one of the first to flee from the ferry as it sank on Wednesday. “I can’t lift my face before the passengers and family members of those missing,” Lee […]
Are we finally ready to reduce racial bias in our courts? While trends in American criminal justice have come and gone over the last century, what has remained tiresomely — and implacably — consistent has been the role of race as a factor in decision-making by jurists, juries and prosecutors alike. Seemingly unrelated events over the last few weeks suggest that a serious pendulum swing is […]
Words That Wound People may feel ashamed or afraid to talk about abuse, including the verbal kind, so the researchers from Northeastern University asked their older subjects to respond to questions by touching a computer screen. It gave them more privacy. They instructed these seniors to think about the person who helped them most with their care – […]
Gratitude Is About the Future, Not the Past When life’s got you down, gratitude can seem like a chore. Sure, you’ll go through the motions and say the right things — you’ll thank people for help they’ve provided or try to muster a sense of thanks that things aren’t worse. But you might not truly feel grateful in your heart. It can be […]
Defendants bend under tyranny of plea deal MOST OF us know that we have a criminal justice system that rewards confession with leniency. Many are less aware of the coin’s other side — that the few who contemplate asking a judge and jury to decide whether they are guilty are threatened with far greater punishment solely for exercising their right to a […]
Do we ‘parent’ politics? The partisan ground between Democratic parents and their GOP teens NEW YORK — When David Burrows took on Barry Goldwater and Ayn Rand as “mentors” at age 14, his parents wanted to know what else he was doing that they might be ashamed of. Andrew LaGrone’s grandmother was an Edmund Muskie delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 1972 and was stunned when Andrew became […]
Could Aurora, Colo., shooting suspect inspire copycats? The news media’s focus on Holmes also inspired some familiar criticism. Was the attention to the details of an alleged mass killer’s life not just wrong but also potentially lethal? Could the media’s gaze inspire the next nobody to commit a similar act in a sick attempt to become somebody, too? “How often must we […]
Penn State scandal prompts anger, reflection The sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, perhaps the most shameful in the history of college sports, has brought a national outcry, led to the firing of the universityâs president and legendary head coach Joe Paterno, and plunged a football-crazed campus into turmoil.