If it accomplished nothing else, last month’s Women’s March on Washington highlighted the acidic disdain feminist intellectuals feel toward Donald Trump and his administration. Paradoxically, however, if there’s one group of people who should be grateful for the election of…
It is a melancholy recognition, with Earth Day upon us again, that the calendar has come full circle since the last, and that the human species has squandered yet another annum in the struggle to save the planet. Our collective…
Two quick thoughts on progressive politics and the tragic situation in Haiti: 1) The usual suspects on the left have pounced on remarks by Rush Limbaugh, accusing him of telling listeners not to donate to Haitian relief efforts. In point…
According to Robert and Brenda Vale, the environmentalist authors of Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, feeding and caring for your pet pooch does as much harm to the planet as owning and operating an…
Several years ago, I discovered a curious phenomenon among the diverse freshmen in the developmental English classes I teach. These are students who fail the placement exam and are forced to take a reading and writing refresher course before moving…
The latest controversy in the entertainment world comes from Sunday night’s MTV Music Awards show. Country singer Taylor Swift had just won the trophy for Best Female Video for her song “You Belong with Me,” edging out (among others) Beyoncé,…
Among the more intriguing, and disturbing, questions swirling around the prospect of government-run universal health care is how the final version of the plan will deal with mental health services. While a senator, President Obama co-sponsored the Mental Health Parity…
Brief sidelight on the recent dustup between Harry Alford, President and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce, and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), in which Boxer countered Alford’s skepticism about proposed environmental legislation not with a direct rebuttal of his…
After a week of rolling my eyes at the grotesque verbal pieta constructed around Michael Jackson’s death — with the media casting itself as Virgin Mary, cradling the fallen King of Pop down to the earth — and then, despite…