Viewsday
Analysis, discussion and opinions by members of Newsday's editorial board.
Lane Filler
Lane Filler is a member of the Newsday editorial board. He came to Long Island in 2010 after working for newspapers in Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
Filler: Deadlines approaching in Albany and no clarity in sight
Photo credit: Getty Images
With about 95 hours to go until the hard deadline for getting legislation passed this week in Albany, the ugliness is mounting and the clarity is not. It’s supposed to be the last week of the session, although Gov. Andrew Cuomo can always make everyone stay after class. More and more of late he does seem to ready to keep them after class, since he's not allowed to cane them. But as it stands, any...
Read more »Filler: Is prostitution really the biggest problem in Nassau County?
Photo credit: Howard Schnapp
In a month-long sting operation begun in April by the Nassau County Police Department and the district attorney’s office, 104 men were arrested for soliciting prostitutes.
Called “Operation Flush the Johns” (oh, to be a fly on the wall at the meetings where they argue over operation names), the plan involved creating online advertisements for escorts, getting men to agree to meet up at a hotel,...
Read more »Filler: Douglas Adams and Google Doodles remind us that technology can be cool
Photo credit: Google
If you know that the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is “42,” then today’s Google Doodle may have been your favorite of all-time. If you remember that "How many roads must a man walk down?" is the answer to the next deep mystery -- which was a Jeopardy-esque query as to what “42” could possibly be the answer to -- then the odds are even better.
March...
Read more »Filler: A nurse refusing CPR to an elderly woman? How callous
Photo credit: Tribune Media Services / Paul Tong
We are, before anything else, human beings.
That comes before our status as employees of a company, or members of a profession, or part of any kind of group. We are, first and foremost, human beings, members of society, part of a community.
And we need to help others when they need it, and if we can.
In California last week that didn’t happen, and an 87-year-old woman died, possibly...
Read more »Filler: Mediterranean diet can be tasty and health, study says
Photo credit: AP
So here comes another study making the point that if you eat right, there’s a much better chance you won’t die, or rather not as soon and not of the same things.
Regardless of what headlines often claim, no diet or safety initiative or smoking reduction can “prevent deaths.” They can only postpone them. The fatality rate of living is 100 percent.
The source of the good news this time...
Read more »Filler: In Nassau and Suffolk, reasonable bus fare hikes
Photo credit: Howard Schnapp
In Nassau County, bus fares are going up, but passengers who choose to pay cash rather than using a MetroCard won’t see an increase.
In Suffolk County, disabled riders who use Suffolk County Accessible Transit will also see a hike, the first since 1994.
In both cases, the increases are reasonable and necessary.
In 2012, Nassau turned its bus service over to private contractor...
Read more »Filler: John McCain finds the only way to insult Mahmoud Ahmadinejad controversially
Photo credit: AP
It is a tribute to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s unique skill set that he was able to dream up a way to describe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that actually angered people.
Ahmadinejad regularly denies the Holocaust happened, has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and stated that the United States planned and carried out the attacks of 9/11 against its own people.
I’m pretty...
Read more »Filler: Tom DiNapoli on socially responsible investing, pension costs and debt
Photo credit: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was at Newsday for an editorial board meeting Thursday morning.
A former Long Island assemblyman, DiNapoli is in charge of the state’s pension funds, and also runs an office that oversees the state’s spending and contracts and does some of the same for local governments and authorities.
An affable and friendly guy, DiNapoli generally doesn't...
Read more »Filler: Could Nassau actually save money by lifting its wage freeze on police officers?
Photo credit: Howard Schnapp
Behind the scenes, the stage is being set for renegotiation of Nassau County’s contract with the Police Benevolent Association. The talks come with almost three years left to run on the current agreement, and it’s almost unheard for a union with a deal as good as Nassau’s to willingly discuss terms early, when it knows the county wants givebacks, but these are peculiar times, for numerous reasons:
The...
Read more »Filler: Staffers deserve credit for reporting alleged drunk dentist
Photo credit: James Carbone
As if going to the dentist wasn’t already scary enough!
Accusations that Lindenhurst dentist Robert Garelick was trying to drill while intoxicated are sure to give pause to his patients in particular, and pop to mind for lots of folks going to any dentist as the whirring tools near their mouths. Garelick allegedly tried to see to a patient after sipping at a squeeze bottle full of vodka throughout...
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