MsKreed

While we know for sure that the violent inmates have committed "illegal acts".....one might debate over whether the strikes are "illegal" when the State failed its Taylor Law duty to maintain safe working conditions. Or if a state law can declare it "illegal" to exercise the Constitutional "right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances". And the dangerous conditions for themselves, their coworkers and the inmates in their custody is a valid grievance to want redressed. All the prison employees really want is the ability to hold violent convicted felons accountable, and to face consequences when they assault staff or other inmates. So it really is extra insulting when the governor says that strikers should be held accountable or face consequences for participating in an "illegal action"

This is an example of a weird shift in left/right partisanship that I find baffling. For decades.....the trend of opposing (and mistrusting) big corporations' influence and power was considered decidedly "progressive" and "liberal". And supporting policies that allowed corporate giants unfettered control was clearly a "right wing" position. It's just bizarre to me to see the "left" now blindly trusting multi-billion dollar Big Ag and Big Pharma industries.

I agree. Kudos to his daughter for learning independence and self-reliance in spite of this guy's upbringing. It shows infinitely more rudeness and disrespect to tell a woman (or anyone) to "get your ass out of a chair and stand up" than to let them seat themselves. I've held doors for both men and women. And both men and women (with manners) have held doors open for me. The idea that manners and courtesy are gender specific seems a little "unhealthy" to me.

These are all spot-on.....but sadly, barely scrape the surface. This could be an ongoing series - or a Topic where we can all contribute examples for a "Verbicide Collection". George Carlin would be proud that you're continuing his crusade against distorting the English language. Thank you!

@Elizabeth Whitehouse: While I wouldn’t necessarily think “this kind of comment” should get you expelled from a site, I do wonder what purpose you intended for it to accomplish. Long before Social Media facilitated “instant reaction” to written material, we all managed to be exposed to ideas that may or maynot fit our own beliefs....through radio, TV, magazines, newspapers and books et al. And, since the invention of Guttenburg’s printing press, there has never been (and still is not) any imperitive to challenge the author(s) directly. We are fortunate in some nations (like the US) to have the choice of what media we want to consume (or choose not to). It seems like a tragic waste of ones time to seek out content we disagree with for the sole purpose of offering an antagonistic response. I’m curious how you felt that your reply was beneficial to anyone. It’s doubtful you will gain any understanding of Linda’s perspective by replying as you did. Nor is it likely that your curt and disparaging remark will sway Linda or any of her readers to your perspective.

If the person making reference to the shaved head knows it's due to a medical condition. and pokes fun about it, it should be off the table. For Will Smith to assume Chris (or anyone else) must be so infatuated with his wife to track her personal details, and reflexively "react" under that assumption....seems a bit egotistical to me. But I tend to subscribe to Hanlon's Law and try to give people the benefit of the doubt when possible. Not being one who obsessively follows celebrities' personal lives on Twitter or self-promotional podcasts..... like millions of others, I was completely unaware of the reason(s) why Jayda (or any other public figure) may be bald.

I wouldn't conclude that Hochul is any worse than Cuomo. There's nothing to miss about him. @Senator Tom O'Mara can correct me if I'm mistaken, but my recollection is that The "Wage Board" who came to this decision was hand picked and appointed by Cuomo himself after he signed the 2019 law. When he created the committee, it was all but destined that it would deliver the ruling that Cuomo, Carl Heastie and Andrea Stewart Cousins supported. It seems like he appointed a number of boards to create some perception of a fair process that examined all sides, but ultimately expected to support his stance (like this Wage Board, or his "board" that studied fracking) or they'd be shut down at Cuomo's order (like his "ethics" committee). Cuomo was pushing for progressive changes like this before he stepped down, and she's just been following his footsteps since taking over.

A thought occurred to me the other day as I drove past an "Adopt a Highway" sign that proudly proclaimed the local organization "sponsoring" a stretch of road strewn with litter. While it is not their "duty" to clean up....these businesses and organizations supposedly made a pledge to do so, and asked teh DOT to advertise for them. I'd love to see photos of the trash and those signs publicized....on their FB pages, in the local media....anyplace that might embarrass them into holding up their pledge.

Not before Pat Benatar (or Phish)!

It's baffling to me that they haven't inducted Pat Benatar, but Dolly made the cut. I love Dolly, she's made great contributions to the music world. But not so much the "Rock & Roll" world. A lot of people like cake. Cake is awesome. Cake deserves a place in the "Dessert Hall of Fame"....but not the "Pizza Hall of Fame".

Thanks....columns like this make the Rockin' World Go 'Round

The good news is.....you might get to experience such carefree meals again later in life. The grandkids can take you dining in your geriatric years and these will mostly apply. The bad news is...you probably still won't remember how fun it was.

I may not have it stuck in my hair, but this title seems to be 'sticking' in my brain

Well, this has been enlightening. “Pie-fer”? In all the years I saw the byline, I assumed it was a silent "P" instead a silent "F".

Having grown up in the Corn Belt.....I've been acutely aware of how scary and dangerous it can be (especially for young children) to actually be lost in a plain old corn field with straight parallel rows. There used to be news stories every couple of years toddlers being lost for days, sometimes with tragic outcomes. Fortunately, the use of thermal imaging from above now results in most being found safe within 6-8 hours.

This concept is known as the "Shadow Economy" (sometimes "underground economy" or "grey market"). It is also long been a concern for the powerful entities that control the "official" economy.... The IRS: The Federal Reserve : The International Monetary Fund: Investopedia : And commercial interests like MasterCard : Sadly, reliance on technology and increased scrutiny of cashflow (by the forces mentioned above, et al) are making it more difficult for today's generations to participate in the porch-to-porch relationships that our grandparents were free to engage in.

Over the years, Cuomo often touted that The Great New York State Fair held a "special" place in his heart. He celebrated the long "tradition". He bragged about the "food". He praised the "entertainment". And he emphasized that it was an "investment" that would grow revenue. What got under my skin was that he rarely (IF EVER) spoke of the fact that the whole concept of Fairs was built on the goal of fostering and promoting agriculture. Let's hope the new governor is less tone deaf.

I might add that we could perhaps be more discerning when using the word "tragedy". That word suggests an event that was inescapable or inevitable....as an unforeseen accident or natural disaster. On the other hand, when an event is the result of someone’s conscious and deliberate actions...then “atrocity” may be a more accurate description.

This. Even before Covid, the conniptions I've seen for a few years about flu shots and the debate over removing religious exemptions for other vaccines. The more riled up and emphatic someone is about the "dangers" that unvaccinated pose, the more I recoil from their idiocy. And the pseudo-intellectual argument that others need vaccinations to keep the vulnerable immune-suppressed "safe" is utterly absurd. Any person with suppressed immunities (whether from chemo or disease) needs to be constantly vigilant and take precautions to protect themselves. Period. Millions of different viruses may exist, but researchers have only identified about 5,000 types to date. Of that 5,000, only a tiny handful have vaccines available....and most are relatively harmless to otherwise healthy individuals, but many are potentially deadly to immune-suppressed individuals. It is reckless (nicest word I can think of) to imply that being surrounded by people vaccinated for flu or measles or Covid-19 offers them "safety".

I loved reading this. There's so much of this great state outside the crowded urban areas that we don't read about enough!

Thats what I'm reading. The mRNA in the vaccine causes YOUR "muscle cell factory" to prodeuce the emblem or spiked protein that the immune system perceives as corona infection. Then YOUR immune system produces antibodies to attack said emblem spiked protein etc....and those antibodies provide protection against that protein if it is introduced again (by an actual infection). I get that part...even without a medical degree I can understand it. Whether or not this unique spiked protein is produced isnt what I find contradictory about the scientists' explanation. It's the argument that the antibodies YOUR immune system creates (after a natural exposure to the real virus) arent likely to provide long term protection. They (this author et al) go into great detail to relay how this vaccine convinces your body to do its natural thing and produce protective antibodies. Then warn us that the protective antibodies our bodies produce aren't lasting. I understand that many people are satisfied that these "Schrodinger antibodies" produced by our immune systems both work and simultaneously don't work because the experts are confident in the R & D that the charitable organizations like Pfizer and Moderna have altruistically conducted. Haven't some people (even expert scientific authorities) also trusted the R & D that was presented by manufacturers of asbestos fire retardant prooducts, Deet, thalidomide, Round Up....and VW diesel emissions?

That's not how the article seemed to read for me. It seems to describe the mRNA as instruction to produce an "emblem" as a representation/facsimile of the coronavirus "emblem"....which our natural immune system will create antibodies to fight the next (real virus) introduction of the same "emblem". But, I'm not a scientist, so there is no point in asking for explanations that I can understand. They say this is good and they say real immunity might not last. We need not understand; ours is not to reason why.

Then it follows that we do not know how long someone is protected after the Covid vaccine either. Which would seem like a huge waste of money, time and resources to deploy to the whole country (twice)....for something that creates a false (and therefore dangerous) sense of security. Otherwise, I don’t understand how or why the antibodies that the immune system produces in response to this synthetic mRNA in the vaccine are supposedly superior to the antibodies the very same immune system produces in repose to naturally produced “real” mRNA that results from actual infection.