When I first moved to New York, the locals, it seemed, were more than ready to offer advice on anything, whether you asked or not: where to shop, where to eat, which subway to take, who to vote for, who to root for, or the best way to get where you… Read full post »

 In the autumn and winter months following my husband’s death on 9/11, my strength came from the architects and designers with whom I’d been associated for several years. I was at the time public relations director of a large architecture and interior design firm in New York. I loved… Read full post »

The powerful image that appeared on the cover of the recent issue of Time Magazine in one sense represents the terrible problem of global violence against women, sanctioned by a hodgepodge of tribal customs, religious misinterpretation and government-sponsored terror campaigns a… Read full post »

While everyone has  been pouring over the 92,000 unauthorized documents released by Wikileaks about the progress of our war in Afghanistan, I'm busy rereading a seventeen-page report from  two seasoned Washington Post reporters, Dana Priest and William Arkin: their summary… Read full post »

Thinking of family makes me sad. Not for reasons you might imagine: absent or abusive father, distant or alcoholic mother, bullying siblings. I grew up happy and healthy, a middle child in a mid-western, middle-class, middle American suburb. Our extended family (eight cousins from three families) c… Read full post »

Just as the war on immigration is heating up in the west comes word of a new coalition that promises support for our beleaguered president. A group of market-savvy Christian evangelicals is coming out in support of immigration reform, with an emphasis on smoothing the path to legal status for… Read full post »

I've been catching up on the highly original FX series "Justified" and not only because of the incredibly sizzling Timothy Olyphant, but because the moral ambiguities it scatters across the Kentucky landscape feel so absolutely dead-on.  You do what you have to do and if you don't turn&… Read full post »

 I love celebrating Independence Day. I'm grateful to live in this country, grateful for the freedoms we often take for granted. I plant my Independence Day petunias (red white and purple but who's quibbling?)  and stick a little flag in the flower pot by my front door.  My husb… Read full post »

 Every few years I flirt with the idea of becoming a vegetarian. Look at Gwyneth Paltrow; she makes it work. At the very least, I promise to cut out beef. Really, who needs that fat? Those hormones? The carcinogens kicked up by the grill (because of course you're grilling)? What with/… Read full post »

 It’s official. New York/New Jersey will host the February 2014 Super Bowl in the new Meadowlands outdoor arena. Yes, it’s the first time a Super Bowl will be hosted in an outdoor stadium in the middle of winter but we New York and New Jersey people are a hardy bunch. Actually,… Read full post »

Oh no, not another one. Not another smart, ambitious, career-oriented, fifty-something single woman nominated for the Supreme Court. What is the President thinking? It's not just that she knew what she wanted to be early on and focused on achieving her goals. It's not just that she's exce… Read full post »

By now everyone and their mother has heard about, read about, or seen Betty White’s star turn on “Saturday Night Live.” White, at 88 the oldest host the show has ever had, was recruited thanks to a huge fan movement on Facebook. Mission accomplished: White demonstrated why sh… Read full post »

If you've been tooling around the blogosphere, particularly amongst the writings of the so-called conservative intelligentsia, you may have run into the words "epistemic closure." The phrase seems to have originated with conservative blogger Julian Sanchez, who admits on his blog that he's gi… Read full post »

I never knew my mother’s mother; she died three months before I was born. Within a year, my grandfather had remarried his second cousin--a 52-year old single New York City working woman we came to know as Aunt Ray. She was a tiny dynamo of 4'6" and she filled my grandfather's… Read full post »

Y es, I'm pleased some sort of health care reform has passed, no matter that it's flawed, incomplete, and somewhat cumbersome. And thank goodness some of its benefits are kicking in before November rolls around. Fingers crossed, we might find ourselves free of some of the more inane and… Read full post »

 Rumors have been flying that both France President Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife, singer/model Carla Bruni, have strayed. By American standards, things are pretty far along: Bruni is said to have fallen in love and moved in with popular French singer Benjamin Biolay. Meanwhile/… Read full post »

A  series of billboards in Georgia are linking abortion with supposed "efforts" by various groups to reduce or limit the size of the black population. The ads first surfaced at the beginning of February, in time for Black History Month and have gradually been reported in the mainstream p… Read full post »

At issue: How much health care reform is enough?  

I sat down at 10 AM with a cup of coffee, snow falling outside and online video streaming inside, to watch as much of the health care debate as possible. I am surprised to say I'm still here, three hours… Read full post »

Beginning last Thursday, American and British forces joined with Afghan troops in an attempt to weaken the Taliban stronghold in and around the tiny village of Marja. The attack, widely publicized to emphasize its inevitability, was geared to intimidate, to minimize civilian casualties (which… Read full post »

I kept my volume low and my expectations lower for tonight's State of the Union speech. Between the over-worked professional commentators and the overwrought amateurs, the speech was on track to be dissected or disemboweled halfway through the President's presentation.

Moreover, I wasn't sure… Read full post »

In a perfect world, our president would be  judged on incremental achievements as well as on bold visions. We the people would understand and accept that the president must be schooled in both the art of compromise and the messiness of politics. Of course, Washington would be more/… Read full post »

     My old alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis, has announced the opening in January of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. The center is named for the former Senator from Missouri and Wash U. benefactor (and ordained Episcopal minister) John… Read full post »

The first time I saw Bruce Springsteen live was in 2002. I'd already lived in New Jersey for eleven years at that point. I knew he was the boss. I owned several CDs. I'd met a couple of his sidemen years before when I was eking out a living in New… Read full post »

Sarah Palin's new book hits the bookstores tomorrow, just after her much anticipated appearance on "Oprah" and her slightly less promoted appearance on "Good Morning American" with Barbara Walters. Can NPR be far behind?

Since I'm an average Jane, just like former Governor Palin, I will have… Read full post »

How could you not like this incredibly succinct lede from the Christian Science Monitor: "Public likes public option for healthcare. Joe Lieberman doesn’t."

The Independent from Connecticut isn't particularly interested in polls showing a majority - slim but ever-present - of… Read full post »