'Is Boston Becoming a Better Place?': Chris has an interesting discussion going on over whether Boston is becoming a better place. He thinks not. I tend to agree with him. Boston seems to have hit a stagnation phase of some sort. But putting it into historical context, the city has come so far in the past three decades or so. Perhaps a little stagnation and backsliding is inevitable. ... I like the Florence-Milan comparison. But my own city-to-city formulation (usually used as a club to beat down annoying clowns comparing the Hub to NY) is: Boston is to New York as Edinburgh is to London -- the two shouldn't be compared and I'll take the comparison to Edinburgh any day. ... One thing I'd like to see improved: Our manners. Our Yankee pessimism and testiness can be strangely endearing, but it also seems to have intensified in recent years. ...



Mike Wallace, the human work machine: Mike Wallace is retiring from '60 Minutes.' He's 87 years old. Say what you will about Mike's career or dyed hair, I don't think there's a younger or healthier looking 87 year old around. ... And he's from Brookline. ...  ¶ 7:47 AM