It was all going so well here in fortress America, where the formerly welcome from around the globe have become undesirables. The world, at least those who could afford it, arrived for the international crown jewel of sport, the World Cup, and almost everything that was anticipated to go wrong, didn’t. Stephen Miller, America’s very …
With sincere apologies to Christmas, Thanksgiving, May Day and all the other days of note, I think that Independence Day is the most important of the American holidays. It isn’t about the fireworks (we don’t have a local display anyway), or the flags, the patriotic music, or the hotdogs and apple pie. Hold on. Let’s …
An authoritarian has been toppled in Hungary. The rise and fall of Viktor Orban should provide a lesson for nations in the grip of authoritarians, and those struggling with creeping authoritarianism. And that especially goes for the United States. Viktor Orban was in power for sixteen consecutive years. His total stay in power was twenty …
In Washington Square Park the street bound are unfurling from their makeshift bedding, rubbing beards, stretching and shielding the morning sun from their eyes. Dogs are fetching balls on the green and in the shadow of St. Peter and Paul Church the Chinese matrons in colorful garb are practicing their Tai Chi. At venerable Original …
“I was in cities, you know, of, you know, fifty to a hundred thousand in Iraq surrounded by insurgents. And we Marines, well trained Marines, did not act the way that they’re doing, the way they’re treating other fellow Americans right now.” “They’re using tactics that, you know, we didn’t even use in Iraq in …
“This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.” Tweeted by the Department of State, January 5, 2026. “I feel better going into this New Year than I did a year ago,” I told my son. My son disagreed. He and his wife and two children were visiting for …
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet, in her soliloquy, diminishes the significance of a name; in this instance Romeo’s surname, Montague. Romeo would be the same “dear perfection,” she proclaims, if he were a mere Smith or Jones. But maybe not a …
Trump and MAGA; they aren’t unlike the roadkill skunk decomposing down the block that the animal control boys aren’t getting around to picking up. Festering and funky in the afternoon sun it sits there and cooks, the effluvium is never ending, 24/7/365 – for four rotten years. And there’s no escape. It’s dark on the …
The Fourth of July. Its formal name is Independence Day, and with apologies to all the Christians out there, it should be the most revered of American holidays; more revered than Christmas and Easter. Take it from an agnostic. Traditions keep us grounded and I followed one every Independence Day. Before dawn, I would, with …
It was surreal. But there it was. Two apostles of Trump, blood brothers, a pair of the most annoying people in the history of the planet, Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson, in a shouting match. These two are almost always in concert when it comes to – anything. I didn’t know whether to laugh, sing …
The Life in My Years 