We live in a “me” world, where attention to self is a daily preoccupation. “I want this and you want that” is the basic functioning of contemporary society and we routinely go to sleep each night expecting to greet our “selves” the next morning. Our... Continue

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that any action which can be defined as “material support” to an organization deemed “terrorist” is a federal crime. Material support, says the court, includes discussion and/or consultation about non-violence or peace,... Continue

In the 1974 book Lives of a Cell, author Lewis Thomas paints a disarmingly sweet portrait of a single cell that all but imparts a charming personality upon a living thing so small it’s microscopic. The life of a single cell, one of 40 trillion... Continue

I attended a lecture today. The topic was Jews in the 21st Century, but it covered the 20th century as well. All told, it was not a bad talk, if a bit too long and somewhat repetitive. As it pertained to Israel, I found no... Continue

The handwriting is not on the wall; it’s on the computer, the cell phone, the tablet, Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In and Skype. Technology is rapidly making the mailman obsolete. Reflecting on this brings up memories of Al Zooks, the mailman of my suburban youth. As I... Continue

The answer is…more stuff! The continuity of existence is existence itself - an unbroken timeless non-event in which nothing is actually ever the same, and thus never changes. In essence, nothing happens continuously. This conundrum notwithstanding, from time to time most of us would like... Continue

Dogs Howl. A pink twilight speaks of rain. The ground, dear one, Is always shaking. My wife’s sister and our niece were the first to join us a decade ago, moving to town four blocks northwest of us. It turns out she and her daughter... Continue

Last year American men spent over a third of a billion dollars on shaving cream. Until recently, I numbered myself among them. I have nothing against shaving cream per se; however, it does consume a vast amount of environmentally wasteful packaging materials and is supported... Continue

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the distribution of films or videos depicting actual animal cruelty is a protected form of free speech. The case at issue was prompted in part by a video showing a sexy model wearing pointy high heeled shoes walking... Continue