Posts

-
Image
Money Makes The World Go 'Round      #404 By Hank Silverberg  Money Trap Labor Day has traditionally been the start of the fall election campaign season, though that tradition has pretty much slipped away over the last decade of election cycles.  Money continues to play a big role in who gets elected because it pays for campaign logistics, and more significantly, mass media advertisements.  Now a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has given the GOP a big advantage in what could be the most significant Congressional race in a generation, and the most expensive ever. According to the Federal Elections Commission, more than $670.1 million has been spent on the Senate campaigns so far in 2026 with two key months to go.     In an 8-1 decision on Friday that overruled a lower appeals court, the Justices said there can be no rule that prohibits political parties or fundraising committees from getting favorable television advertisement rates that have been t...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
"Welcome to Trump D.C."                  #403 By Hank Silverberg Any day now I expect to see a proposal to change the name of Washington, D.C. to "Trump, D.C."  After all, the current occupant of the White House has changed the city's landscape substantially already.  He pretty much destroyed the reflecting pool on the National Mall by trying to "fix it". He tore down an entire wing of the White House to build a ballroom that really isn't needed  (with security features underneath), and he destroyed the Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts by trying to put his name next to Kennedy's by installing a Trump-friendly board, which is now pushing for either massive Trump-inspired renovations or has threatened to tear down the building if they don't happen.    Then there's D.C.'s public golf course in East Potomac Park, long a place to play without snooty memberships and expensive tee-up fees. Trump wants to replace the pu...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
Terminology Gone Wild                                                                      #402 By Hank Silverberg  Commentary  The mid-term elections are in full swing. The traditional Labor Day start to such congressional elections is a thing of the past. And this year, the election has higher stakes than at any time in recent memory.  But the rules have changed dramatically. While congressional candidates still pound the pavement attending rallies and events to drum up votes, much of the campaigning is done on the internet, unfiltered and often out of control. We are all used to the lack of facts in internet posts by average people and fake news produced by third parties to deceive us, but this year even the candidates have started to misuse terms. With that in mind, I thought a quick review of wh...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
 News Deserts Get Bigger                      #401 Commentary  In January of 2024 I wrote a blog about the growth of "news deserts" across the country and how local newspapers were dying out, leaving local news basically uncovered in many places. Radio news took a major hit when CBS Radio news ceased to exist on May 22nd. That prompted some local radio stations to eliminate newscasts completely.   And the cuts in funding for public broadcasting have hit hard at the 640 NPR stations across the country, which in many cases were a community's ONLY source of local news. Many of them have cut back on programming, including news.     Now the drought on local news is expanding to small and medium market TV stations. Large TV groups like Nexstar and Sinclair have been gobbling up TV stations over the last few years, leading to mergers of competing newsrooms, elimination of news altogether or dramatic cut...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
 The Puppy and The President                                               #400  By Hank Silverberg  Commentary: You will notice a number at the top right hand corner of this blog today. This edition marks a milestone, 400 weeks of writing "Time To Think".  Some weeks have been easy, others have been hard. But whatever I write, I hope it has been relevant. This week my household is in the midst of disruption. Two months ago we adopted a puppy. He is cute, but lively and he has produced a radical  change in our lifestyle. I thought about documenting it all in this blog, or I could have written about the near miraculous rise of my team the Boston Red Sox, who seemed dead right around the same time we adopted the puppy, but have since moved into playoff contention.    But with all that is going on in the world, those topics seem a bit frivolo...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
Trump Wants His Name Everywhere               #399 By Hank Silverberg    Commentary It's not unusual for airports, train stations or buildings to be named after famous people. There's Lincoln Center, Ronald Reagan Airport, and the Washington Monument.  All those names came after the person they were  named for was dead, and someone else wanted to honor them.   But our current president, with the ego the size of New York Harbor, seems to think he can put his name on everything. The folks in Palm Beach, Florida obliged by renaming their airport after Donald J. Trump. And Trump is now trying to get Penn Station in New York City named after him.  But there is pushback. Some people don't want to fly into Trump airport, and a United Airlines memo indicated that people could get ticket changes to go to Ft. Lauderdale instead. But that was later clarified  after it hit the internet  that the name change was not...
Post a Comment
Read more