The neighborhood where I work is now a crime scene. I wasn’t even in the city on Monday because our office is so close to the finish line of the marathon that the company gives us the day off. I’ve walked the stretch of Boylston Street, where the bombs went off, countless times. I’ve shopped [...]
About Melissa Tingley
Melissa Tingley is a writer, instructional designer, and ten-year veteran of her local school board. A history and political junkie, she has been a blogger since 2006, chronicling life at her personal blog @ Home in the World, discussing public education and workplace learning at Beyond the Blackboards, and showcasing the stories behind heirloom objects at her new blog Artifactual. Her writing has also appeared at The Women’s Colony and The Soccer Mom Vote. She lives and argues politics in Massachusetts.
Evil is Just an Excuse: You Don’t Buy a Gun Unless You are Willing to Use It
There is something seductive about holding a gun; the way it fits in your hand and gives you the illusion of control. There’s power there, very personal power. I have felt it. If you told me I would ever find myself at a shooting range, holding some kind of Glock, I would have done far [...]
Romney, We Hardly Knew Ye
It’s not a surprise that Mitt Romney will not win his “home” state of Massachusetts. He was the last of a long string of Republican governors here who took the job with an eye on the next big thing. Like those before him, he started out as a relative moderate and gradually sharpened his [...]
Election 2012: A Referendum on the Middle Class
In his boldest move since firing Billy Bulger,the former president of the Massachusetts State Senate, Mitt Romney has hired Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. Romney, who has been struggling in the polls, unable to define himself to voters and desperate to distinguish his moderate Massachusetts record from the President’s, finally put a [...]
Sanctum Santorum
Rick Santorum is holier than thou. Truth be told, I’m actually surprised that Rick Santorum hasn’t been the obvious frontrunner long before this, as GOP primary voters tend to be far more conservative than the rest of the population. This is a clear example of where the media has had an impact – deciding who [...]
What We Leave Behind in Iraq: Soldiers are Going, Contractors are Staying
The war in Iraq is coming to a mostly symbolic end this week; the latest step in President Obama’s campaign promise to bring the troops home from Iraq and focus on Afghanistan. The war ends quietly, but its impact on the United States will be felt for a very long time. There are so many [...]
For the Next Generation: An Afternoon with Elizabeth Warren
It was an all-ages crowd at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury that Sunday. As I arrived with my ten-year-old son, I encountered a dad escorting three six-to-eight year-old girls inside to hear Elizabeth Warren speak. The older woman sitting in front of us had worked for Ted Kennedy and the late [...]
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I Want My Mother Back
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Charles Ramsey and the Racial Language Barrier
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Brave’s Merida is Herself Again. But for How Long?
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Can “Maybe” Empower Our Children in Times of Fear?
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When Big Pharma “Strong” Arms Mothers, We All Lose
