Now that he’s beaten back his opponents and is marching unhindered to the Republican convention, I guess it’s time for me to write about Mitt Romney. But hell, it’s springtime, and the world is awash with color and newness. Who [...]
As details emerged about the identity of the soldier who allegedly murdered 16 Afghani civilians, mostly women and children, on March 11, I called up a college classmate of mine, a physician who for several years had worked part-time in [...]
PEACE, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting. So wrote that intractable cynic Ambrose Bierce in The Devil’s Dictionary, published in 1906. His definition still rings true after over a century, even when peace, [...]
The South Carolina primary is coming up on Saturday, and — surprise! — the Republicans may have found their nominee much sooner than anyone expected, even a month ago. Mitt Romney, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (without the [...]
“Barry, whom shall we get to play Santa for the White House Christmas party this year? Last year’s guy turned out to be a Tea Party operative who told all the kids you were playing Santa Claus with their parents’ [...]
One of the most remarkable things about the “Arab Spring,” besides that it happened at all, is the unique ways in which it happened, country by country. Spontaneously generated and developing more organically than systematically, each of these revolutions will [...]
The following column appeared in the Easy Reader on March 31, shortly after NATO forces began their air campaign over Libya. I reprint it here to remind you of my early take on the situation in Libya; next week, I’ll [...]
Last Sunday, the New York City Community Garden Coalition occupied Wall Street. It was a good day to do it. October 16 is World Food Day, commemorating the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization on that date [...]