Blog
It’s hard to see loved ones die, whether they go in their prime or linger. Two deaths this month will affect me and millions of others. Fortunately they involve not human beings but TV shows. Dexter and Breaking Bad will arrive at their inevitable ends. I’ll be sad. Well, concerning Dexter, relieved. The show has…
In 1951, Eric Hoffer’s book The True Believer presented a chilling subject. Political and religious mass movements form when leaders promise ultimate truth. Those leaders remain in power by defining truth, no matter how much they have to lie. See: Iran, Islamic Republic of. In the September/October issue of FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Akbar Ganji profiles Iran’s…
I generally see the glass as half filled. Some friends find this amusing. In a world filled by deceit and violence, it’s a real challenge to retain a sense of optimism. Still, I do—particularly during the High Holy Days. On Rosh Hashanah—this past Wednesday night and yesterday morning—congregants and guests filled the sanctuary at Congregation…
Is Starbucks ripping me off? Is a giant corporation picking on—or more accurately, picking the brains of—a little guy? Is the announcement made by Starbucks last Tuesday—which turns fiction into fact—just a coincidence? Fact: Starbucks will launch its first store in Colombia, the South American coffee-growing nation that gave us Juan Valdez. They’ll open in…
I’ve been away for several weeks. My first of two trips took me with several friends on a tour of Midwest baseball parks. The stadiums are eye openers. So are their urban settings. We flew to Detroit, but we stayed overnight in Dearborn. In spite of the comeback of the Big Three automakers and valiant…
This past week, a cyclist named Chris Bucchere pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter. In March 2012, he ran several red lights on his bike, hit and killed a 71-year-old pedestrian. Bucchere received three years probation and a thousand hours of community service. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon believes that this will send a message…
Hollywood used to make movies about performers suddenly discovered and thrust into stardom. It happens to some. But most take their careers a day at a time, becoming highly accomplished but not necessarily famous. I’ve seen it first hand. My wife Carolyn is a very fine actor. She’s had small roles on two network TV…
Check out the news, and you can’t help taking a grim view of humanity. Yet heroes walk among us. Some we see. Many we don’t. After an Asiana Airlines plane crashed on landing at San Francisco International last Sunday, heroes got to work. The flight crew and first responders removed passengers from harm’s way. That…
Yesterday, July 4th, brought to mind Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This thought emanated from reasons historical, personal and contemporary. On July 4, 1776—or close to that date depending on which historian you read—the American Colonies reacted in equal and opposite measure to…
Two days ago, the Supreme Court—on the final day of the 2012–13 session—struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. The justices also ruled by a vote of 5–4 that proponents of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, had no standing to appeal after Prop. 8 was struck down by a Federal judge in San…