Beersick for Home
I’ve been drinking a bit more beer than usual, lately. I blame the hot, humid, New Jersey weather, I guess, but also that, since my partner finally came out as an occasional beer drinker, I’ve been picking up the odd six-pack to keep in the fridge – Allagash,...
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American Militarism
The honor guard marched onto the field as patriotic music blared from the minor-league ballpark’s...
Neo-Nazi Déja-Vu Part II: The Big Lie
"I don’t talk to Jew journalists,” Ernst Zundel shouted into the phone before slamming the...
Neo-Nazi Déja-Vu, Part I: Virtual Jackboots
The first hint was a swastika and an SS symbol hastily spray-painted on a plywood barrier outside...
We Are Still Here
We woke on the morning of Yom Kippur to the news from Halle. I felt queasy, but not surprised. My...
Lies, Damn Lies, and BDS
If you spend enough time in the Jewish social media universe, you start to see the same questions...
A Tear in My Beer: Country Music and the Tragedy of Ken Burns
I had a tear in my beer as I watched the conclusion of the Country Music documentary series on PBS...
Personal Sins and Private Failings: Reflections on Complicity
I have been remembering high school this week, in the wake of the revelations of Canadian Prime...
A Cheese Sandwich and Glass of Milk: Canada Goes to the Polls
And they’re off! The Canadian election began this morning at about 10:00, when Prime Minister...
The Myth of the 99 Percent
It started with a blinding light that flooded the encampment at Zuccotti Park at about 1:00 am on November 15, 2011…
Santiago Calatrava’s Space of Alienation
The Oculus at World Trade Center in New York is a genuine, honest-to-god tourist attraction, at...
Mass Demonstrations in America: The Curious Ignorance of Scott Gilmore
There are few things so rank as self-righteous ignorance, and Scott Gilmore’s op-ed article in Maclean’s magazine on August 10 fairly reeks of it…
The Death of Toni Morrison and the Decline of America
Toni Morrison has died. This is inexpressibly sad news, though perhaps not entirely unexpected....
Human Contradictions in Tom Sleigh’s The Land Between Two Rivers
In his collection of essays, The Land Between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees, Tom Sleigh recalls looking down with astonishment from an airplane window, flying from Baghdad to Basra…
This Will Only Get Worse
I saw the headline on my phone’s home screen as we made our way to the Loop (Chicago’s downtown)...
Fishermen of the Hudson
On any given morning, there is a trail of fish parts and entrails leading along the Liberty State...
Chasing Shadows: A New Biography Looks for “the Real Robert Johnson”
If you know anything about Robert Johnson, it is that he sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads…
What Is to Be Done?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of...
“Alas, Poor Alfred:” An Encomium for the Absurd
I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his...
The President’s Speech
We all heard it. In his 4th of July speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking out...
From the Tonkin Gulf to the Strait of Hormuz: A Rumor of War
The voices on the tape are clear, but they betray a sense of anticipation and even excitement....
American Concentration Camps: A History Lesson for Liz Cheney
I don’t really know what to say to Rep. Liz Cheney. She lashed out yesterday after Rep. Alexandria...
That’s Some Catch, That Catch-22
Joseph Heller’s tragicomic novel Catch-22 ends on a strangely hopeful note. Having just learned...
“Premature Anti-Fascists:” The Story of America’s First Antifa
I. Prologue They stood on the stage of the Great Hall at the Cooper Union in New York City in the...
First the Good News: Denmark’s Lesson for the American Left
There was good news for the progressive Left Wednesday when the Social Democratic Party, led by 41-year-old Mette Frederiksen, won an impressive victory in Denmark’s parliamentary elections…
The Game
It’s late enough in the afternoon that the shadows from the New Jersey Turnpike overpass have...
American Pogrom
We have been saying Kaddish all week for eleven people murdered in the sanctuary of the Tree of...
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