Science Giveth, and Science Taketh Away

Eternal life might not work out if breathing is still required

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

To the graduates of 2013: Have a great life. You are exiting the academy and venturing out into the world at the collision point of two world altering events—the first successful cloning of a human embryo and the news that the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has reached just shy of 400 parts per million.

Wednesday, May 15,2013
SANITY FAIR

What are They Smoking?

Stop pretending medicine is something you light up

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

People who say they want to legalize marijuana for medical use remind me of guys who say they read Playboy for the interviews. Sure you do.

Wednesday, May 1,2013
SANITY FAIR

Free Radicals

Condemnation misses the target: It’s the violence

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

“How could you miss the fact that the guy you were, you were informed by a foreign intelligence service you have a radical in your midst? We can’t track him to Russia. We lose him going to Russia and coming back as far as an interview.

Wednesday, April 24,2013
SANITY FAIR

Boston Strong

Runners shine through despite the bombings at this year’s Boston Marathon

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Lelisa Desisa, 23, of Ethiopia, won the men’s race in a time of two hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds. Desisa has been known as a 10,000-meter runner and a half-marathon (13.1 mile) specialist until this year. He came to Central New York in 2010 and won the Boilermaker Road Race in Utica.

Wednesday, April 17,2013
SANITY FAIR

Can We Afford to Wait for Consensus?

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Democracy can move at a glacial pace, and sometimes that serves us well. Except that glaciers no longer move at a glacial pace. If you care about what’s happening to the global climate, and you look at what’s happening in Washington, or what’s not happening in Washington, you have good reason to worry.

Wednesday, April 10,2013
SANITY FAIR

It’s Not the Socks that Stink

It’s hard to keep up with the elected criminals, although we try

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

To the list of state officials either accused or convicted of criminal acts, add the name of Malcolm Smith, the state senator from Queens who a few years back was briefly the majority leader and president pro tem of the Senate. Since December, he has been a partner of our own state Sen.

Wednesday, April 3,2013
SANITY FAIR

Chavez Leaves a Mixed Legacy

He was a hero to Venezuela’s poor, but made many enemies during his rule

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Like Allende, who nationalized the Chilean copper industry in the early 1970s, Chavez sought greater state control of Venezuela’s rich oil fields. Like Arbenz in Guatemala, he stepped on the toes of powerful landed interests, many of them linked to the United States.

Wednesday, March 27,2013
SANITY FAIR

Can Good Come of Such Evil?

Reactions are complicated after murder of woman, rape of child

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

You can’t live in fear, but no doubt we are all living a bit more fearfully today, holding the children just a bit closer, looking both ways before venturing out in the dark.

Wednesday, March 13,2013
SANITY FAIR

Resigned to the Status Quo

At the top in the Vatican, the name will change but not much els

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

A month ago, on Monday, Feb. 11, most of the world awoke to the shocking news that Joseph Ratzinger, a.k.a. Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church, chief of state of the Vatican, was calling it a day. The tweeting pope announced that day that he just didn’t have it in him anymore.

Wednesday, March 6,2013
SANITY FAIR

The High and the Flighty

A new Hancock airport hangar will cater to well-heeled jet-setters

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

There were a number of solid reasons to move the Centro hub. The corner of South Salina and East Fayette was getting congested. Doughnut shops, law firms and other businesses found their entrances blocked by the crowds waiting for the bus.