You’ve seen the trending hashtags: #NotMeUs; #StrongerTogether; #WeAreOne. They’re all useful shorthand for complex ideas. On a “normal” day of “normal” news, the concept of Unity strikes most of us as reasonable, a thoroughly un-controversial acclamation of cooperation and fellowship. Great. Sure. What happens, though, when someone drives a truck into dozens of families? What...
If you have friends who don’t quite understand why wealth inequality and political corruption is bad for America (and the rest of the planet), “Noam Chomsky: Requiem for the American Dream,” is the film to recommend. The beloved intellectual and lifelong critic of war-making and corporatism, Chomsky, in his late-80s, remains as incisive and refreshingly...
Go to her official site. Right there on the Home Page: “I may not know how to pick husbands, but I know what’s best for our country! I think she’s being funny? #irony Facts: The marriages. She’s had three of them, so far. None of these husbands has lasted longer than two years. Kept first-husband’s...
Seven years after original publication, “Eating Animals,” by the novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, remains unmatched in providing a provocative, comprehensive and deeply affecting portrait of the carnivore’s dilemma. Employing writing techniques gleaned from memoir, investigative journalism, philosophy, science and editorial essay, Foer systematically and compellingly builds his argument — that there is no moral rationale...
Disease works insidiously, hiding out in hard-to-see places. A badly compromised body often looks normal on the outside, especially if the illness is concentrated in one area. Some systems and organs continue to function perfectly while another organ or system fails. We don’t know disease is lurking in our genes or bowels or lungs until...
Since we’ve collectively agreed that guns are a necessary part of American life, we’re beginning to collectively accept that a certain number of us, the unfortunate ones, child scholars, must die. It’s the price we pay for the privilege of owning firearms and the bullets they propel. Whether or not you think semi-regular campus/church/Cineplex/school-shootings are...
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of global climate change and environmental devastation. Fossil fuels are a major contributor, yes, but livestock are actually the chief malefactors in terms of greenhouse gas emissions – and a litany of destructive ancillary effects. Environmental harms associated with the meat industry include deforestation (particularly in the Amazon basin),...
I learned today Several important things about the world Let’s count that as an epic win While we weep If ignorance is bliss, then knowing must be something else entirely That was not one of the things I learned today I learned today The Pope from Argentina The one with the nice smile This...
An offshoot of the Occupy movement, Strike Debt is helping defaulters retire debt for pennies on the dollar. They’re also helping the 99% understand that the design of our financial system is built to keep masses of workers indentured to creditors. In Strike Debt’s easy-to-understand book, “The Debt Resistor’s Operations Manual,” the entire concept of who owes...
How low has the United States of America sunk? We’re in the process of negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. Yes, negotiating, like, talking with. Iran. Yes, that Iran. The country that once held Americans hostage. The country that fought against Saddam Hussein back when we liked him. The country that arms Hezbollah and Hamas....
At a somewhat advanced age for such youthful pursuits, you’re playing your first-ever organized chess tournament. You’ve entered the Los Angeles Open, along with about 400 other brilliant nerds, many of them teenagers and younger. In fact, every generation is well-represented here. There are players as young as 5 and as old as 90. Indeed, you’re escorting your 86-year-old father-in-law into the playing hall, a giant ballroom that can be entered through a single door….
Writer, poet, artist, improviser, lyricist, former television personality, and generally decent person.
Based on the autobiographical memoir by the groundbreaking author, lecturer and psychonaut Terence McKenna, the experimental documentary “True Hallucinations,” by filmmaker Peter Bergmann, knits together nearly three hours of consciousness-raising McKenna audio recordings with psychedelic imagery and music. The movie itself becomes a kind of trip, a journey to the subconscious and the edges of...
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