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Tom Borthwick – Page 8 – Author, Teacher, Blogger
All Politics Writing
Politics
Dem Debate Recap: Yes, I Watched Despite No Trump
October 14, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

Right off the bat, viewers of last night’s Democratic debate realized it would be a snoozer compared to the Republican debate.  There were no insults.  No discussions of Carly Fiorina’s face.  No gifs of Trump reactions.  Instead, we were forced to listen to policy, constructive criticism, and substance. BORING. But what does that say about […]

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Writing
Solacium: Coming to a Theater Near You!
July 8, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

Okay, semi-misleading title.  But I had to get you here, didn’t I? Here’s the scoop:  One of my short stories, Living in the Singularity, will be a film soon and I’m excited to tell you about it.  A  local production company, Voyager Video, liked a script based on the story written by the very talented Don […]

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Politics
SCPAC: Buying Elections Does Work
May 27, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

After publishing a blog post about a secretive band of wealthy people bent on buying the Scranton School Board election,  many open questions remained that bothered me.  Who is the Scranton City Political Action Committee?  What are their intentions?  Nobody crawled out of the woodwork to explain.  Some people, behind the scenes, said they were uncomfortable […]

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Politics
Election Reflection: Primary 2015
May 24, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

Upsets!  Surprises!  Where did the readers of the tea leaves go wrong? In most elections, those readers of the tea leaves are, like most prophets, colored by their own desires.  It’s like looking at shapes in the clouds or staring at Rorschach blots: we see what we want, a reflection of our subconscious minds. Does […]

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Politics
Stranger Danger: Scranton City Political Action Committee
May 15, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

Political Action Committees (PACs) and their larger cousins, SuperPACs, infuse money into politics on behalf of candidates and ideologies. Simple enough concept, right?  If Mr. Billionaire wants candidate X to win, Mr. Billionaire donates a fortune to a PAC and influences an election.  Except that Mr. Billionaire doesn’t necessarily have to put his name anywhere, […]

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Politics
Bernie Sanders for President!
May 9, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, is running for President and I am happy to offer my relatively meaningless and definitely early endorsement of his candidacy. Of course, Hillary Clinton is going to win.  I’ll cheer alongside her ardent supporters.  With an air of inevitability, why would Bernie run?  Why support a guaranteed loser? Aside […]

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Politics
I May Very Well Be Back
April 29, 2015 By Tom Borthwick

The polite, rote explanations for my blogging absence are good at deflecting any line of inquiry about why: I’m married now.  I’m more involved in my union. I’m on the Scranton Parking Authority.  I’m on the Executive Board of the Scranton City Democratic Committee. Sounds pretty busy, right? It is.  But the truth is that I was possessed, sadly, […]

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Politics
On Scranton’s Commuter Tax
August 3, 2014 By Tom Borthwick

Oh, Lordy-loo.  From the abyssal void in which I lost my blogging self, I emerge to tackle the greatest issue facing our great County: Scranton’s (gulp) Commuter Tax! Nobody likes taxes, period.  And nobody likes taxation without representation.  But wait, don’t we elect the people who write up these laws that allow for commuter taxes? […]

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Politics
On the Lackawanna Study Commission Proposal
April 16, 2014 By Tom Borthwick

Chuck Volpe: Crusader for the Public Good or Megalomaniac Millionaire (or Milgalomaniare)?  It’s the question on barely anybody’s mind (minus three or four hundred political insiders, out of the tens of thousands of voters in the county). Mr. Volpe’s brainchild: The Lackawanna County Study Commission.  Its history is long and storied.  Or maybe brief and […]

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