By Mickey Friedman November 11, 2016 My mother, before she was shipped out as a child to a bunch of foster homes, each one more miserable than the next, did a stint with the Nuns, who tried to beat the…
Under The Influence
By Mickey Friedman October 22, 2016 We rip ourselves apart. White, black, born again or unenrolled, native born or newly arrived, we tear at each other with ever-increasing fury. That we are all flawed and prone to mess up seems…
Ongoing insult to longstanding injury
By Bill Shein October 6, 2016 Way back in March, 2006, I wrote a newspaper column commenting on the turnover in storefronts in downtown Great Barrington. As old, longtime stores closed up, many of the new ones, I wrote, could…
Star Spangles
By Mickey Friedman October 5, 2016 Remember the black preacher some folks made a fuss about during Barack Obama’s first run for President? Jeremiah Wright, Mr. Obama’s pastor and the man who married him, and baptized his children. During the…
Standing Rock
By Mickey Friedman September 23, 2016 I’ve stopped posting about Hillary on Facebook because my liberal friends just don’t want to know about the Dark Side of the candidate they so desperately need to be an ethical alternative to The…
Parts Per Trillion
By Mickey Friedman September 9, 2016 The story of 100 Bridge Street in Great Barrington is a story of failure. And while it’s convenient to cast blame, the real responsibility lies with those at New England Log Homes who made…
JoJo, Jordan, and the Climate Crisis
August 29, 2016 By Mickey Friedman One of the problems of living in such a sophisticated community is that there aren’t many folks I can talk to about The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and during the summer, Bachelor in Paradise.…
The Burn
August 12, 2016 By Mickey Friedman In the end Bernie was Bernie not Martin. He began as a politician and ended as one. While many millions put their faith in him to bring transformative change, Bernie voted to retain the…
Black and Blue and Dead
July 28, 2016 By Mickey Friedman I mourn for the black and blue and dead. And if the well-meaning prevail, we’ll spend some days talking about what needs to be done. Judging by ESPN’s community conversation with President Obama it…
Our Clear and Present Danger
July 19, 2016 By Mickey Friedman Anyone who has watched the ducks paddle from one end of Woods Pond to the other, would be hard pressed to appreciate that the Housatonic is our very own toxic waste repository. So very…