The passing of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner brought to mind two words: tough love. Steinbrenner succeeded in the world of sports because he wasn’t willing to follow the traditional ways of all the other team owners. He spent money, but he dished out lots of tough love to his managers, his players and his very limited partners. more

A philosopher once said that “the two greatest professions for which there is no formal training are politics and motherhood.” more

Last week, 92 percent of Long Island school budgets won public approval. Aware of the public’s anger over rising taxes, most districts held their growth down to between 2 and 4 percent. Thankfully, the voters didn’t punish the children. more

In anticipation of the 2014 Winter Olympics, I expect to compete in both luge and ice hockey. I'm also forwarding the photo that graces (though some might say, disgraces) this column to the Brad Pitt look-alike contest, while submitting my idea for "Survivor: 5-Towns to CBS, and several of these columns to the Pulitzer Prize Committee for Serious Literature. more

Growing up I was allergic to chocolate so, to me, a "Brownie" was always a Kodak camera. So too, "cheese" was not something you ate, but something you said as you smiled for the birdie. more

It was during Presidents Week 1997 (actually it was 2/13/97, a date my somewhat critical Aunt Zoey refers to as "a day that will live in unfunny") when I wrote (not typed nor texted) my first column for the Nassau Herald. Since then the world (and many stomachs) have turned many, many times, as weekly (and on occasion, strongly) we've reflected on a wide range of topics, played with (and on) words, castigated pretense and affectation (including words like "castigate"), and introduced my readers (or, some might say, my perusers) to some characters and personalities with whom they can relate, but to whom they're happy not to be related. more

Last Friday, I saw the flashing lights of a police car shining into our living room window. I looked out and saw a police officer and two other men who had gotten out of their cars, all trying to entice a large and frightened dog. I suspect they were trying to read his collar, which told us that he belonged to someone and could be far away from home. more