Larry the K's Lineup

  NORTH ATTLEBORO --- The inaugural Leftover Turkey Trot 5K, held Sunday morning in conjunction with the Santa Parade and Kringle Mart to raise money for the Christmas Is For Kids gift drive, exceeded expectations, organizers said. Town Manager Michael Borg, speaking at the post-race awards ceremony, said more than $10,000 was raised for the gift drive as double the number of anticipated runners and walkers, more than 400, entered. In addition, the participants had the gift drive organizers smiling broadly as they donated more than 200 unwrapped toys and other presents, said longtime organizer Alan Goldberg, the husband of Christmas Is For Kids Chairperson Kelly Fox. The first three men and women to finish the race earned awards. Winning the race was Brady King, 16, of North Attleboro in 18 minutes and 34 seconds. He was followed by William Atwood of North Attleboro, 19, in 19:12 and Tanner Silva, 14, of Attleboro, in 20:14. Kimberley Chula-Maguire, 47, of Cumberland, led all ...

  This version of my earlier antisemitism column that was published Nov. 4, 2022, in The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, now appears online at Jewish Rhode Island. It includes poignant comments from Holocaust survivors about how hate speech was the origin of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis. They make the powerful argument that hate speech must be stopped before the kind of hate that led to the slaughter of Jews before and during World War II by the Nazis amid the both the indifference and active participation of the German people happens here. The column also will appear in the December print edition of Jewish Rhode Island, which will be published on Friday, Dec. 2. LINK: https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/it-started-with-words-of-hate,22082?newsletter=22081 ****** Enough is enough, or is it? Are Americans waking up to the disturbing resurgence of antisemitism to the point where they’ll stand up to those trying to make it open season on Jews? Or, will the millions e...

Arianna becomes a US citizen at 3. With the approach of Thanksgiving next week, I thought it’d be timely to share this column on immigration that I wrote for the November 2022 edition of Jewish Rhode Island of Providence. Immigrants have long been used as scapegoats for the nation’s ills, and unfairly so. What I share here are two positive immigrant stories that are worth remembering as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year. Here's the link to the column as it appears on the Jewish Rhode Island web site: https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/angry-sound-bites-wont-solve-our-immigration-problem,21115 ? ***** Immigration has always been a convenient hot-button issue to rile up voters of all stripes in national elections. The subject makes for easy, often stereotypical and misleading, rallying cries and attack ads from the right and left. But the hard truth is that, over the last several decades, neither side has shown genuine interest in taking a serious stab at honest, practical...

  Looking for a race to run or walk right after Thanksgiving while helping a good cause? Then sign up for the Leftover Turkey Trot, a new 5K planned for Sunday, Nov. 27 in downtown North Attleboro. Check out the details in this story, which was published Tuesday, Nov. 8 in The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA. (LINK TO THAT STORY: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/new-5k-in-north-attleboro-to-benefit-christmas-is-for-kids-as-part-of-day/article_3c0bece7-0c4a-584e-9912-cbb20f7bef1b.html BY LARRY KESSLER FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE NORTH ATTLEBORO --- Area runners and walkers will get a chance to work off the extra calories from their Thanksgiving Day feast and help the area’s biggest local gift drive at the same time by participating in the inaugural Leftover Turkey Trot 5K on Sunday, Nov. 27. The race will benefit Christmas Is For Kids, the longstanding gift drive that serves children and teens in Attleboro, North Attleboro, Plainville, Norton, Seekonk and Rehoboth. ...

Here’s a follow-up to my earlier post on Xander Bogaerts’ future with the Boston Red Sox: News that Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has opted out of his contract wasn’t a big surprise since all indications during the waning days of the 2022 season were that Bogaerts had been disappointed with the team’s efforts to redo his contract. But now that Bogaerts is a free agent, don’t expect Chief  Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom to really break a sweat trying to hold on to him or to extend third baseman Rafael Devers (who will be a free agent after the 2023 season) --- despite what Bloom told reporters at the Oct. 6 season-ending news conference about making signing Bogaerts and Devers the team’s top priorities. Bloom had a month from the end of the season until the end of the World Series on Saturday night (Nov. 5), and he probably made no progress on Bogaerts' contract or else the most veteran player on the roster wouldn't have opted out. (Bogey joined the team as a rookie ...

The last thing I wanted to have to do was write yet another column decrying the dramatic rise in antisemitism in the United States, but after Kanye West (now known as Ye)’s rant when he called for “death to Jews” ---- and after several fresh instances of the rising tide of antisemitism --- I felt compelled to write this column. It’s getting increasingly scary these days when so many people are either endorsing antisemitic tropes and language or are indifferent to them, including numerous politicians. This column appeared Friday, Nov. 4 in The Sun Chronicle. (LINK: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/opinion/columns/larry-kessler-think-it-cant-happen-here/article_4f1aef88-7ae9-57e0-b6e3-23e61709474a.html ) Enough is enough, or is it? Are Americans waking up to the disturbing resurgence of antisemitism to the point where they’ll stand up to those trying to make it open season on Jews? Or, will the millions either embracing or acting indifferently toward antisemitic rants by the likes ...

We have several streaming services and had no problem signing up for any of them. Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Paramount+ and Peacock (which we get as part of our Xfinity package) all only required a user name (usually your email) and a password to sign on. Apple TV+ not so much. For months, despite T-Mobile giving us Apple TV+ for free, which was part of their promotion when we reupped at T-Mobile --- our longtime mobile phone carrier --- it was impossible to sign up using the Apple TV+ app on our Smart TV. My wife talked to numerous people at T-Mobile and eventually found out that an Apple product was required to sign up --- which we didn't have. Both of us have Android phones. The other day, another T-Mobile rep actually got my wife an Apple ID and said she’d be able to sign up. So she went to the app on our Smart TV --- only to get more roadblocks. Despite submitting her password and two-step verification code, it was asking for yet another Apple-only product: her I-Tunes ...