There’s nothing like a bout of Linda-Blair-in-the-Exorcist-like vomiting to remind oneself how quickly one’s attitude about something can change. It makes me wonder which long-held beliefs are non-negotiable and which could be subject to change should life’s conditions become suddenly altered. This is a gross and silly example, but it serves to frame the topic: […]

Good news for Libyans might spell bad news for President Obama next year. Looks like it’s going to be an expensive summer at the gas pump. The spread of popular revolution – read market uncertainty – into oil-rich Libya and the growing political instability throughout the Middle East virtually guarantees it.  So does the recovering […]

There are skirmishes every day in state capitols across America. And then every once in a while, there is a fight. The unfolding turmoil at the Wisconsin state capitol has become even more than that:  It has turned into an existential battle for the Democratic Party and the public employee unions as they exist today, […]

The Democratic National Committee is surreptitiously aiding the raucous union demonstrators in Wisconsin who have closed Milwaukee schools with “sick outs” and frozen the Wisconsin state senate with punk-outs, according to a great get by Politico’s Ben Smith. All eyes are on Wisconsin where President Obama and the DNC are now publicly defending the intransigent public employee unions. I have a sneaking feeling […]

Forty-seven years ago in Kew Gardens, Queens Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death over an extended period of time.  Dozens of neighbors heard her cries for help, but no one called the police.  The incident prompted many studies — and the naming of a quirky human phenomenon now called the Genovese Syndrome or the Bystander […]

The Blackberry Alarmclock welcomes guest columnist Liz Feld. Ms. Feld, the former mayor of Larchmont, NY, served as a public affairs specialist at the White House Office of Management and Budget, and as a press officer for Vice President George H.W. Bush. She served as Senior Vice President of Communications for Nickelodeon, and as Director of […]

Democratic senators in the Wisconsin statehouse have fled the state to avoid being brought back to work by newly deputized truant officers – the Wisconsin State Police – and restoring quorum. At issue is a bill to end public service employee collective bargaining that Republicans planned to pass.  The GOP now holds a 19-14 majority […]

I use the word “transparency” a lot in my day job. It polls off the charts. When asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who fights for “transparency in government,” about 70-75% of voters these days generally respond in the affirmative. That’s a big number — right up […]

I’m not looking to pick on the President.  It’s not election time yet – quite yet – and he is my President whether I supported him or not in 2008 (I did not). But a statement made by President Obama Wednesday was so excruciatingly lily-livered that not commenting on it would be a crime of […]

Charlie Sheen is giving us all something to talk about these days, but watching a talented 45-year-old playing chicken with death shouldn’t be considered entertainment, however sensational the antics. Sheen appears to be a classic addict.  All the world can see he has a substance abuse problem, but he cannot. No matter how many hospital […]