I was originally planning on taking my summer break next week, starting Monday, but medical issues – nothing serious, but pretty distracting – have intervened and so I'm starting it today. I definitely need a rest: hey, I'm not getting any younger! But never...
Washington, D.C., is a world unto itself: inside the bubble, where politicians and their kept pundits endlessly massage each others’ egos (and bank accounts), the world is America’s oyster, to be greedily gulped and washed down with a swig of the Imperial City’s most...
If there’s one thing neocons and Obamaites can agree on, it’s the penultimate evil of Vladimir Putin. The downing of MH17 has knitted them so close together that it's hard to tell the difference. No sooner had the airliner hit the ground then, one and all, they echoed...
A group of Palestinian boys is playing on the beach in Gaza, kicking a soccer ball around in the bright sunshine. But not for long: an Israeli missile hits a nearby shack, where their family members keep their fishing boats: it bursts into flames and the boys take off...
Fox News reports it’s entirely legal in many jurisdictions for criminals to change their names, citing the case of an Oklahoma man convicted of impersonating a police officer – as well as a would-be school bus driver who is a convicted sex offender. It’s a problem in...
The media hates Republicans, and so naturally they’re elevating Texas Governor Rick Perry to the status of a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender who must be taken seriously. After his last embarrassing run – embarrassing not only for him, but for the...
Poor Diane Sawyer – recently kicked upstairs by ABC News, she started off her Wednesday report on the Israeli assault on Gaza by giving us the Bizarro World version of the latest news. In a conflict where as of this moment 86 Palestinians have been killed – nearly all...
The latest spate of violence in Israel and the occupied territories has been the occasion for anguished references to the "cycle of violence," as if it were like the procession of the seasons and no one side can be held responsible. This has never been true...
I'm a bit under the weather -- frankly, I'm completely exhausted -- and so taking an extra long weekend: no column today. However, my present unfortunate state may be fortuitous: have the distinct impression the next few weeks will be filled to...
The controversy over the "reinterpretation" of the Japanese constitution – which would allow the military to engage in "collective defense" overseas – is itself being misinterpreted. Instead of signaling a revival of Japanese nationalism, it is in...
