Please excuse me while I grieve for my boy…

The other day I was walking through the maternity ward
At Pennsylvania Hospital,
And a nurse asked me if I was an expectant father.
I told her no, my baby just died.
Later that day, a man asked me if I was expecting a baby,
I… Read full post »

When criminals are about to be caught, they try to hide their wrongdoing. When drug dealers hear the police sirens, they dump the stash in the alley or flush it down the toilet. When the Nazi officers in the concentration camps heard the allied forces approaching, they destroyed—and in… Read full post »

I was hoping they would cancel Father’s Day this year, mostly because my son Ezra Malik died.

He was my baby boy, and he died the day before he was born, in a hospital in August of last year. He was a beautiful baby with a full head of hair… Read full post »

As you probably heard, the Values Voters Summit was recently held in Washington, DC. What exactly is a values voter, and who exactly decides on the definition of a values voter?

In the Orwellian world of conservative-Republican-Christian-fringe doublespeak, the goal is to… Read full post »

In a recent online town hall meeting at the White House, President Obama was asked by the online audience whether he thought legalizing marijuana would create jobs and help the economy. It was the most popular question asked at the meeting. “I don’t know what this says about the online au… Read full post »

Often, people will look at a high-profile example of corruption, and conclude that the egregious act is an exception to the rule. In reality, it might be the tip of the iceberg.

On October 29, 2009, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania did a wonderful thing when it expunged the… Read full post »

There are many opinions on the Mideast conflict, but one thing is certain: the situation in Gaza is a humanitarian and human rights disaster, and it cannot continue. 

Under the Israeli blockade, the following items are not allowed into Gaza: cars, refrigerators, computers, cement, concret… Read full post »

America’s current economic meltdown has crippled many professions, and the legal professional is no exception. As major law firms are engaging in the wholesale layoffs of lawyers, and freezing hiring for two years, newly minted lawyers must seek employment at department stores and fas… Read full post »

Have you heard about the story of LaVena Johnson? Well, maybe you should read on.

LaVena Johnson, a high school honor student, decided to enlist in the Army in order to pay for college. On July 19, 2005, after serving eight weeks in Iraq, she was killed, just eight days… Read full post »

(This is a continuing, open discussion. Parts I and III are on RonP01’s blog, and Part II is on Faith Paulsen’s blog. Please feel free to go back to any of these posts and leave your comments.)

You can view Parts I, II and III of this dialogue… Read full post »

When the Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) disrupted the President's healthcare address before a joint session of Congress, it was not the first time that a president from Illinois had trouble from a South Carolina lawmaker.

The first time, of course, was when the Palmetto State became the fir… Read full post »

At its worst, America’s criminal justice system represents the place where racism,… Read full post »

On May 26, 2009, a potentially historic human rights trial will take place in a federal court in New York. At issue: What did Royal Dutch/Shell, the multinational oil giant, do in Nigeria?

The case is over a decade in the making. The suit,… Read full post »

When a person commits a crime, everyone has an answer as to what punishment should or should not be meted out. But what do you do when a law is a crime unto itself, and society is committing the crime?

I asked myself that question when I recently saw the film The… Read full post »

My father, Albert C. Love, Jr., died on Sunday, June 28, 2009.  I wrote this poem in his honor: 

Welcome to my father’s homegoing!

He was a simple man with an extraordinary life,

A Georgia boy, born and raised in a wooden shack in… Read full post »

I don’t have to tell you that it’s tough out there. I’m talking about the recession, of course. In the end, the bursting of America’s economic bubble is the worst financial news since the Great Depression. And ultimately, it is clear that the deleterious effects… Read full post »

As the song goes, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere, it’s up to you, New York, New York.” The problem is that if you are counting on making it in New York City, you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.

A recent report by The Center for… Read full post »

Who stopped the presses? Obviously, it is a question that many are asking these days.  

It is a bit sobering to witness the apparent demise of the newspaper industry. Not unlike dominoes, newspapers around the U.S. are toppling, closing their doors, filing for bankruptcy, or ceasing their print… Read full post »

The tea parties that recently took place around the country were billed as a grassroots, bottom-up groundswell against taxes, big government and bailouts.  Fox News, apparently promoting itself as the official teabag network, hopes to grab ratings by embracing the pseudo-populist protests as the… Read full post »