Mary M. "Polly" Cleveland https://mcleveland.org/blog/ Tue, 16 Dec 2025 03:21:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Mamdani Needs to Catch the Value Capture Bus https://mcleveland.org/blog/mamdani-needs-to-catch-the-value-capture-bus/ Sat, 15 Nov 2025 23:50:59 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=823 Mamdani is already targeted by big real estate. He has nothing to lose from proposing a tax on properties near bus stops to cover the $800 million cost of free bus fares.

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]]> I Got Scammed Three Times this Month (And I Thought I was Too Smart) https://mcleveland.org/blog/i-got-scammed-three-times-this-month-and-i-thought-i-was-too-smart/ Sun, 27 Apr 2025 13:11:59 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=805 “(Fraud) Alert: Your Chase ATM/Debit card has been suspended. Please call 1-814-201-6859 to verify.” In a panic, I call the number from my landline...

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]]> A Tomb for Tommy https://mcleveland.org/blog/a-tomb-for-tommy/ Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:04:14 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=799 Last month, little orange Tommy the canary began wheezing. Tears filled my eyes as I watched him tumble from his perch only to flutter up and fall again.

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]]> You’re Invited to A New Year’s Eve Celebration of the Life of Tom Haines https://mcleveland.org/blog/youre-invited-to-a-new-years-eve-celebration-of-the-life-of-tom-haines/ Wed, 27 Dec 2023 13:04:31 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=718 Polly is sad to report that Tom died Sunday afternoon, December 17. For a week he refused food and water. Slowly he faded away until, like the Cheshire Cat, all that remained was his smile.

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]]> Happy New Year 2024 (originally 12/16/23) https://mcleveland.org/blog/happy-new-year-2024-originally-12-16-24/ Wed, 27 Dec 2023 04:50:15 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=705 August 9, Tom blew out the candles on an oversized cupcake to celebrate his 90th. Two bouts of summer pneumonia have put him in hospice. Bedridden, on oxygen and with pressure sores, he dines on purees and thickened liquids. Just before Thanksgiving, Polly brought him home from 305 West End Assisted Living. He still sometimes recognizes her  and even says a few words. And his broad smile still brings joy to everyone around him.

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]]> Thomas Haines, Biochemist Who Founded the CUNY Medical School, Dies at 90 https://mcleveland.org/blog/thomas-haines-biochemist-who-founded-the-cuny-medical-school-dies-at-90/ Mon, 18 Dec 2023 15:28:03 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=695 He overcame a childhood in an orphanage and personal tragedies to found an innovative medical school to affordably educate minority and other disadvantaged students. In 2020, he was recognized for his achievement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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]]> True Affirmative Action: Give Those Without Privilege a Fighting Chance to Get Privilege https://mcleveland.org/blog/true-affirmative-action-give-those-without-privilege-a-fighting-chance-to-get-privilege/ Sun, 03 Dec 2023 23:43:59 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=683 Among successful people who start from nothing, some take all the credit themselves and despise those left behind. Witness that member of the Horatio Alger Club, Justice Clarence Thomas. Others acknowledge the help they received and devote themselves to giving back. Witness investigative journalist Greg Palast, scourge of vote-suppressing politicians. Witness also my husband, Thomas Haines.

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]]> Debt Relief for Whom? Part II https://mcleveland.org/blog/debt-relief-for-whom-part-ii/ Tue, 05 Jul 2022 16:03:33 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=668 Christopher Leonard explains how Federal Reserve bailouts “went to large corporations that used borrowed money to buy out their competitors; it went to the very richest of Americans who owned the majority of assets; it went to the riskiest of financial speculators on Wall Street, who use borrowed money to build fragile positions in global markets;and it went to the very largest of U.S. banks, whose bigness and inability to fail was now an article of faith.”

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]]> Debt Relief for Whom? Part I https://mcleveland.org/blog/debt-relief-for-whom-part-i/ Tue, 05 Jul 2022 15:28:46 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=662 The student debt burden has grown from about $481 billion in 2006 to $1,476 billion in 2022. Just wiping it all out would be unfair, because more than half is owed to relatively-high income professionals. Richard Vague proposes that the federal government should expand an existing program, to allow such students "work off" their debt in public service such as providing health care in under-served areas.

READ MORE about Vague's Debt Jubilee proposals for student debt, medical debt, mortgages that exceed home values, bankruptcy reform, and more on Dollars & Sense.

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]]> The Last Tour Guide to Leave Cuba https://mcleveland.org/blog/the-last-tour-guide-to-leave-cuba/ Tue, 03 May 2022 12:29:37 +0000 https://mcleveland.org/blog/?p=652 Mike in hand, our tour guide stands at the front of the bus. “This will be my last tour,” she announces. “I am not the same person I was six years ago. Then I was hopeful. There was so much work I didn’t have time for a break. Now it’s different. My generation, we feel betrayed. Ten years ago they promised reforms. But nothing changes.”

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