Are you more worried about climate change than nuclear war? In a Washington Post op-ed, George Will observes that negligible public anxiety accompanies the intensifying danger of global incineration from nuclear war in a extinction level event.
President Biden previously promised that American sons and daughters would not be sent to fight and die in Ukraine. But recently he authorized sending 3,000 troops to Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Abortion wasn't always a religious issue as White evangelicals initially had a range of positions on abortion until right-wing evangelical leaders dominated the political scene in the 1970's. The leaders sought to steer evangelicals toward supporting the pro-life movement.
In early February, the Seattle Police Department responded to a massive firefight in one of the city's most liberal neighborhoods and not accustomed to such violence. Multiple shooters fired over 40 shots within the span of a few minutes.
Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid. Variant, variant, variant, variant. Trust me, I'm the government's highest paid employee, and "I represent science." Show your papers, wear a mask, take a shot, or lose your job. It's the law.
"They" say there is no such thing as coincidence. They must have known about Covid-19, the political viral disease. Is it a coincidence that the year of the Covid is also the year that scientific integrity died?
These days more and more apparently intelligent people seem to upspeak. That's the irritating "Valley Girl" inflection where every sentence sounds like a question. Don't these people trust their own thoughts and words?
The conviction of Derek Chauvin appears to have sent a message across society and while this verdict appears to be a victory it is doubtful that it will become a precursor to sweeping, epic changes in policing.
A recent Wall Street Journal article, "Reconsidering Times v. Sullivan," authored by Senior Judge Laurence Silberman of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, argues for the revision of the legal standard, stopping short of including opposed actual malice.
Perhaps in the spirit of bi-partisanship or in the wisdom of the framers, the impeachment trial has strict boundaries and essentially should be completed within a two-week time frame. Yawn, yawn. Get on with it already.
Every four years, in the third week of January and usually very chilly mornings, America inaugurates the incoming administration. On some occasions it is the joy of a second term, a carry over, and in other times, the one-termer is replaced.
One is hard-pressed to deny that Joe Biden is a weak, corrupt, pathologically lying, creepy dirty old man who has lived off the government teat for 50 years. And he allegedly won the 2020 presidential election.
Judge Amy Coney Barret, an impressive and accomplished legal professional, a notable and distinguished academic, who once clerked for the much-respected Judge Antonio Scalia, on paper presents the credentials of a perfect, although left leaning, justice.
Between history and memory, the questions that emerge today in France on the prevalence of racism and xenophobia refer to the apprehension of the ways of thinking of a country with complex relationships with its past.
Injustice is an insidious cancer. It metastasizes without concern, infecting more than society, it kills the cells of humanity, dulling the mind erasing the boundaries of a healthy society. Injustice, like cancer, is color blind.
Throughout this pandemic many say ignore the politicians in favor of "the experts." Nobody has more respect for science than I, but, though I am no fan of politicians either, I must report a bit of ambivalence about that advice.
With Senator Bernie Sanders leaping ahead of the pack in the Democratic Party, chances have greatly increased that he will become the first Jewish nominee to reach the general election for President of the United States.
Bad actors, a term that is evolving into mainstream vernacular, the bad actor, those who wear the "good mask" while performing illegal, undermining and shady deals that act to undermine their industry or more widespread the system, itself.
In the spirit of fake news, Black History Month provides a forum for news pundits to lament that the Founding Fathers thought the relative worth of black persons was three fifths of a person.
Children who grow up on a farm learn the "facts of life" at an early age, such as the observation in an old song: "They're laying eggs now/ Just like they used ter/ Ever since that rooster/ Came into our yard."
The United States has hurled its first airstrikes in nearly a decade against Iran-backed militia forces in Iraq and Syria creating the inevitable question of the ultimate goal of the maximum pressure campaign initiated by the White House.
Once again, Hamas and Islamic Jihad initiated rocket launches against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, forcing him off the podium, and into a bomb shelter to ride out the attack, during a campaign speech in Ashkelon, Israel.
Democrat presidential candidates are sparring over how much to expand Medicare. Should it be Medicare for all, for people over 50, for children, for "all who want it"? Does this include those who entered the country illegally?
Google is universally known as a search and advertising company. Now Google is tapping into the $3.5 trillion healthcare market. To compete with the Apple Watch, Google acquired FitBit, the wearable exercise, heart rate, and sleep tracking device. Data is king.
At a graduation of a family friend, out of the blue, one in our group began lamenting that progressives tended to live in cities. She proposed that progressives should move to rural areas and "purge [such areas] of those awful conservatives."
As we march into the 2020 Election season, the high cost of medical care is on the lips of every politician and draining the pocketbooks of most Americans, and this hot button topic will see microscopic examination.
Buying and selling is in the news lately with President “at some point you’ve made enough money", “climate change is urgent and growing” Obama’s well-publicized imminent purchase of a 7,000 square foot, $14.85 million estate in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard.
The September elections in Israel were not much different than the April elections. Each a statistical tie with neither Benny nor Benjamin willing to join forces so it led to this election which was the essentially same result.
Now that the Russian collusion story has lost its captivating and enticing glow, the left's narrative du jour is that anyone expressing a contrary opinion is a racist. It is so exhausting! What is a racist, anyway?
Bernie Sanders, currently third in the 2020 Democratic polls, is strongly promoting "Medicare for All," and claims to be its father, "I wrote the damn bill," he proclaimed to the nation during the second round of Democratic Presidential debates.
"Healthcare" is supposed to be a big election issue: politicians promise universal and equal "healthcare," or prevent it from being taken away. Everyone wants to be healthy, and a $3 trillion industry wants to keep the money flowing.
When it comes to Trump, it's all about Flair. For several years, media and the Washington establishment have railed against Donald Trump with little success. Porn stars, special counsel, duplicitous lawyers, celebrities—they've all taken him on to no avail.
Hoaxes and scams have dominated the news lately. We have a marginally known actor faking a hate crime supposedly to raise his pay. His attempt to claw his way to the middle could have resulted in race riots, injury, and death. His punishment? All charges dropped.
The new Medicare for All bill (H.R. 1384) has come and hopefully will go the way of the pet rock. Everybody knows the basics: the government will take care of all medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, and long-term care services with no out-of-pocket expenses.
While President Trump called for unity and cooperation in his 2019 State of the Union address, the views of the audience showed a sharp and bitter divide, especially on issues affecting the health and medical care of Americans.
New York's Catholic Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo had the World Trade Center in lights to celebrate its recently enacted abortion-on-demand-until-the-day-of-birth law. This law was framed, and sold to legislators, as empowering women through guaranteeing "Reproductive Health."
I ran into a 20-something fellow wearing a T-shirt that said "I love being black." I had a wave of fond nostalgia remembering how my mother began our outings with "I'm free, black, and 21 – let's do it!"
We should take a cue from the French (minus the fires and looting). We need a middle-class medical care revolt against the elitists and politicians who think more government through high taxes is "The Answer" while ignoring community solutions.
Recent border clashes produced shocking images that triggered condemnation from many who failed to realized there are three aspects to the caravan: what is shown by the media; what is there to be seen; and what is unseen.
After the election, sappy statements on social media exhort us to bow down in praise that the first minority this or the first woman that was elected and how this means we have catapulted our nation out of the Neanderthal era.
Healthcare is the political football of the midterm elections. But unlike the game of football, there are no rules. And the goal is to win – not for the benefit of the team (the voters) but to gain status and power.
Our elected legislators have been at their worst during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. What a shameful display: condescending, arrogant show-boating senators questioning him in a manner reminiscent of the Grand Inquisitor.
The days of trusting legislators to focus on a constituencies best interests are in the rear view as the main interest is parroting the necessary buzzwords for election and then consumed with banking lobbying money.
Kudos to the folks in D.C. who are advancing alternatives to the Affordable Care Act's over-regulated and expensive health insurance policies. Small business association health plans and expanding health savings accounts (HSAs) are among several tools to increase health care choices.
"Disruptive innovation" is all the buzz. Repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is so last year. Well, disrupt this: repeal Medicare and Medicaid and get the government out of the medical care business.
In an entertainment venue called the "Escape Room," participants are locked inside a themed adventure room, and they must figure out how to escape. Themes include prisons, KGB interrogation, and hostage situations. Perhaps a new theme could be ObamaCare.
Today, the term 'Fake News' is firmly entrenched in our lexicon. It seems everyone from Trumpite retirees, to neo-political millennials, freely toss around the phrase. The term was even recognized as, "The Word of the Year" by UK-based Collins Dictionary.
And there it is. The look. The look I knew I would see. And I will get it again and again, and again, from this moment forward. I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
Black History month is a time to celebrate Americans, past and present, whose accomplishments are sometimes overshadowed by the eye-catching negative news stories which contribute to the general dissolution of race relations in contemporary culture.
The media is going berserk over an exchange between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and President Trump about their respective nation’s nuclear arsenals. With Trump taunting the dictator, from one bully to another, with veiled retaliatory challenges.
President Donald Trump recently declared, like his Republican predecessor, a crisis of drug use and addiction that has been decades in the making. Marianne Clyde, a noted mental health expert asks "Is it really our job to save the addict?"
It's supposed to be another nail in the coffin. Every injustice, discrimination, theft, just one more nail in the coffin, until the injustice and discrimination, the injury becomes the final stake and the coffin and secrets are sealed.
Not since Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm sitting across a diner’s table from Billy Crystal in “When Harry Met Sally” have we seen such disingenuous huffing and puffing about sex from Hollywood.
I’ve recently read in newspapers and seen on news reports that protesters, justifiably unhappy with racial bias in our country, are expressing their concerns by disrespecting our American flag and national anthem. This display of anger and frustration is misdirected.
The Entertainment Industry is facing its second major sexual assault scandal, in as many years, with the shocking revelations that everyone seemed to have known, or heard about, and seemed to be generally accepted as commonplace.
The lack of revelry, hushed tones, a quiet reverence in sin city, where usually at 2:00am neon signs advertise with bright allure, ladies can be heard negotiating, and gamblers call it a day or begin anew, it is Las Vegas or was.
Donald Trump has stated he wants to be a President for all Americans. He's not off to a promising start, stumbling from the gate, retreating to tactics that secured the win, and his Putin "bromance" is quite concerning.
Faced with great need America’s Golden Era of Manufacturing rallied during World War II and culminated as it destroyed its enemies chiefly because it out-produced them. Its manufacturing capacity was enormous and efficient. Its workforce was inspired and committed.
Gender norms influence not just what we think, but how. Consider the presence of sports metaphors in American politics. Metaphors are not merely figures of speech. According to the cognitive scientists and philosophers George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980), human thought processes are largely metaphorical.
Like many Bernie fans, now that our man has finally given in and endorsed "that woman," I'm working today on feeling that old "unity" thing that Hillary's supporters have been talking about ever since they prematurely wrote the writing on the wall our side was supposed to have read over a month ago.
The recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a historically conservative firebrand on the Supreme Court, sent shockwaves through the political world. In the middle of a hectic and noisy presidential primary, the Republican candidates shared a moment of silence during their ninth debate — and then dove into a conversation about whether President Barack Obama should nominate a successor.
Although legalized since the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, abortion is far from a settled issue in the United States. While the topic pops up on the national level as a rallying cry during presidential debates and campaigns, the real action takes place on the state level.
"Merica." No, that's not a misspelling. In recent years, we've all heard someone say the name of our nation in this ironic manner. I'd be lying if I told you I've never uttered it myself jokingly.
James Eagan Holmes, former doctoral student, has been found guilty in the Aurora movie theater attack that left 12 dead and more than 58 injured as he stormed, in paramilitary fashion, the midnight showing of the film, The Dark Knight Rises.
The Etan Patz murder trial recently ended after 18 days of deliberation in a stunning mistrial that seemed an impossibility as the defendant confessed and provided sick, demented, details of the child's last moments of life.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is set to begin the sentencing phase of his trial. To understand the jury's responsibilities, Hank Brennan, former Boston prosecutor and current defense attorney in the appeal for notorious mobster James "Whitey" Bulger agreed to explain.
The murder trial of Aaron Hernandez, former tight end for the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, is entering Day 13 as the defense continues its attempts to discredit the prosecution’s case witness by witness.
The murder of Scott McMillan, the three year old savagely beaten and systematically tortured over a three day period by his mother and boyfriend, has drawn attention from media, legal scholars and commentators.
Morgan Geyser, 12, known as one half of the Slenderman Killers, who stabbed a twelve year old friend 19 times, has been found incompetent to stand trial for her participation in the crimes that shocked this tiny Wisconsin city.
Five individuals have been selected as winners of the 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. The fellows will each receive a $35,000 prize and mentorship from an Academy member throughout their fellowship year.
THE LAST STAND, a high body count, testosterone charged, fast action adventure from Korean Director KIM Jee-woon, and action aficionado Lorenzo di Bonaventura, recently held its Media Day at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in partnership for the second year with CHANEL, hosted the Academy Women's Luncheon in Los Angeles today (November 9), bringing together women from all facets of the filmmaking community.
Impact Partners announced today the launch of the new annual Emerging Documentary Producers Fellowship, which will be awarded to some of the industry's most promising new producers at an inaugural ceremony at DOC NYC this fall.
In the days since Hugh Hefner passed away, after the tributes from many who saw someone other than the pajama clad ladies man who insisted his empire celebrated women, a darker side of the men’s magazine founder has emerged.
In a somewhat traditional wedding, albeit for a billionaire, the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos wed his longtime girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, in a lavish Italian ceremony attended by 200 of their closest friends and family.
Don't Worry He Won't Get Far on Foot, from Amazon Studios, brings to the screen the true story of John Callahan, and his amazing transformation from broken, directionless alcoholic to paralyzed, sober, artist who finds purpose.
Wise Guy, an HBO Original documentary, presents a retrospective on David Chase's "The Sopranos," which was born before cable was considered cool, and the idea of changing the programming format with a scripted mob story was ludicrous.
The Conductor, screened at the Tribeca Festival, presents the life and times of Marin Alsop, the first female symphony conductor for Lincoln Center, and her dedicated effort to break the glass ceiling of male dominated profession.
The Lovers, from A24, brings to the screen a tale of two lovers and others, of life disconnected, of lost love and rekindled passion, of complications, of endings and beginnings, of the expected and the unimaginable.
All of Us Strangers, from Searchlight Pictures, brings to the screen a brave and bold gay drama as an adult orphan tries to make peace with his past, while trying to move forward in a lonely world.
The annual Tribeca Film Festival is poised to begin its 14th season bringing the world to the New York City center stage with ten days of fun, film, and free events celebrating the resurgence of lower Manhattan.
