Opinion

Employment opportunities for 16-19 year olds in the U.S. have collapsed to record new lows in the past year. Fewer than 30% of the nation’s teens have been working in recent months versus 45% in 2000 and nearly 50% in 1989. The drop in teen employment rates have exceeded those experienced by all working-age persons in the U.S. during the Great Depression. And here in Massachusetts, teen employment rates have also declined considerably over the past eight years. Between January and March of this year, only 28 % of the state’s teens were employed, a new historic low for the state.

WBSM Radio Host Ken Pittman with Fox News  - Janeane Garafalo recently called Tea Party Protesters racists - Ken Pittman took her on. Follow the story on Ken Pittman's blog at: http://www.kenpittman.com

Promoted as being neither Conservative nor Liberal, but instead, RESPONSIBLE.

Republicans and Democrats are agreeing on one thing. Federal and State government spending has reached insane levels and threatens to destroy the very fabric of society in the United States.

Coming together, responsible citizens are demonstrating their unity on this issue by displaying teabags from their car's rear view mirrors. It's a trend that's fast catching on across the country and is a way for many of these same citizens to make their protest known - many of these same folks were working and couldn't attend the "Tea Party" protests...

Making health care decisions, particularly about end-of-life care, is often difficult even in the best of circumstances. Making decisions for others, particularly elderly parents, is even more complicated.

In two recent films, Iron Man and War, Inc., villanous characters were high-level executives of American corporations that manufacture advanced weaponry, and/or make obscene profits from war. They were portrayed as amoral and consumed by greed. Is this an outlier viewpoint coming from the far-left in “LA-LA land”? Not quite. An increasing number of well-read, open -minded people around the globe are taking a hard second look at the actions of this humongous, very powerful collection of industries.

During this election season, the significance of a candidate’s voice is both literal and figurative. The race for the White House reminds us that one single voice can influence a nation and change the course of history. It is with this spirit that Northeast Ear Nose and Throat and ENT physicians throughout the South Coast region and the country celebrated World Voice Day on April 16. The theme this year was “Let Your Voice Be Heard.”

The last week in March saw two ground-breaking meetings in New Bedford underscore a common message: Working together, we can make our cities safer places to live and work...

I saw an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. of John Constable’s six-foot paintings and studies. For the first time, his studies and the finished paintings were shown side by side. It was a revelation: The studies were the same size as the finished paintings, and they showed the immediacy of the artist’s hand with their brush strokes and the drama of light and darks and swirls of colors.

Nelson Hockert-Lotz provides perspective on a Saint Patrick's week trip to New Bedford by a delegation of Irish politicians. Understanding the Peace and Reconciliation that has occurred between Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants can offer insight and a model for reconciliation in our home town of New Bedford...

On the Monday of a week that would see the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, and a major speech about race in America by Barack Obama, two mayors from Northern Ireland laid wreaths at the Irish monument on East Rodney French Boulevard in an extraordinary gesture of reconciliation. It was St. Patrick's Day, and the remembrance of Irish struggles for dignity and independence were ever present, but so, too, was a new message, one of working together and moving on.

So a friend calls me to tell me that he has just dropped his Blackberry in the toilet. He routinely keeps his blackberry in a holster attached to his belt and yesterday while paying a visit to the throne room, his blackberry unhooked from his belt and dropped right into the toilet.

In this, his first article, Michael Rogovsky discusses the timelessness of the landscape.  Look at a landscape painting and look at a painting with figures; as one looks through the history of art, the paintings of figures represent the style of the attire of the day. Whether depiction the nobles of the Renaissance or from the court of Louis the fourteenth, the painting can be placed in an historical setting due to the attire of the painted figures. In landscape painting, though, there is the enigma of time.

I have been an active broker in the commercial and industrial real estate market for almost 30 years. How time has flown! I have witnessed bull markets and bear markets and I have watched as money has been made and lost. What doesn’t surprise me today is that once again we have broken away from fundamentals and strayed in areas that history has told us will result in pain.

Perhaps Benazir Bhutto's violent death will mean the dawn of a new era in the discussion about how we view Islam...  Maybe this woman's death will be the catalyst for meaningful debate on the vast cultural differences between the West & Islam... More specifically I'm wondering if the lioness' of the 1960's, those militant feminists who were all so willing to wage a guerilla war against "the man", will at long last wish to be heard on this subject... 

Now that the scope of the performance enhancement problem in baseball has been brought to light, the worthiness of several players careers have to be questioned…

There seems to be a very troubling trend in the world today… That of media outlets steering the course of public debate to serve their own political ends…

It gets harder every day for me to hide my contempt for the cowards who lurk amongst us… This Veteran’s day I solemnly gave thanks to the millions of men and women who have proudly served this nation…

Wow! Enough is enough! I cannot believe you wrote an editorial that says absolutely nothing! However, since you have raised the issue on preservation once again, let me take a stab at it and see if it helps you figure out the difference between preservation of buildings vs. creation of jobs!

The drinking age has been a hot topic in the area recently... It seems every year around this time, the return of college students necessitates sting operations to prevent the sale of liquor to minors... Predictably the stings lead to debate over what the legal age to procure alcohol should be...

Throughout 2007, the New Bedford Republican Party has been thrilled to host and acquaint itself with a truly exceptional and inviting Republican candidate for US Senate, Mr. Jeff Beatty from Harwich, MA.

As a new school year begins, parents wonder how they can get their children to excel -or at least do pretty well - academically. A front-page article in the Christian Science Monitor noted the link between home values and MCAS scores for various school districts.  The writer’s conclusion: wealthier districts have more high-achieving students. While technically correct, this connection has the potential to be grossly
misconstrued.

When you are a New Bedford city councilor there are certain liberties you’re granted that the everyday person may not feel like they have the opportunity to access. For instance, calling someone like Senator John F.Kerry to discuss a matter pertinent to the city’s future, and actually getting him on the phone. Truthfully, everyone has the opportunity to access these people but so few make the attempt...

Believed by some in the Whaling City to be physically and socially extinct, the New Bedford Republican Party has, by contrast, only just begun its resurrection and renaissance.

Youth Theatre in New Bedford: In the next few weeks, it's practically guaranteed that I'll get asked the age-old question: "What did you do on your summer vacation?" Luckily, Summer 2007 has provided me with a wonderful answer to that question.

For the Whaling City’s downtown, I'd have to say that the Summer of 2007 was a great one. The streets were statistically safer, downtown was bustling compared to other recent summers and private enterprises along the most important artery for tourism, Union Street, have opened.

It is critical that the legislative body of New Bedford speak with a strong and proactive voice, to aggressively develop policies and implement ordinances which directly improve the quality of life for every citizen of New Bedford.

What exactly does a New Bedford city councilor do? Gee Whiz, are you serious? Well, this is in fact the most common question I get asked...

New Bedford's Mike Waters De Luz - 'Companion in the Rearview Mirror' - A touching true story about spontaneity, compassion, and the beauty of unconditional affection.

Bob Unger’s blatant and shameless attempt to bully WBSM into towing the “Progressive” Party line on how information is dispensed to the masses is just the latest attempt by the “liberal” (I say Totalitarian) left in this country to stifle free speech…

August 5 – 11 is National Community Health Center Week. It has been 41 years since the first Health Center opened its doors at Columbia Point in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Massachusetts has been a leader in the field of health care, and it anticipated what would become a national movement in community health to relieve any barrier to a person’s access to comprehensive primary medical and dental care.

New Bedford is a safer city today because of a new "can-do" attitude in public safety, after years of accepting the status quo...