Boredom bites. Now wait. Don’t be offended. I truly I don’t know what “bites” means in the vernacular. Is it considered a “bad” word? It sort of sounds bad, right? Anyway, I think boredom bites. It’s aptly defined as “tedium,” and also defined as “ennui” which I always thought was that whitish, long-leafed vegetable people […]

When Tina asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said, “Nothing, I don’t need anything.” A New York Times article about Barbra Streisand’s new memoir, “My Name is Barbra,” solved the problem. Streisand and I are the same age (81), but that’s about all we share. Her father died when she was a […]

Here is the conventional wisdom for 2024. Joe Biden and Donald Trump will face off as their party’s nominees for the presidency. The main issue in the campaign will be Trump himself. The nominees will be selected soon, making most of the year a two-person political war. Unless a realistic third-party spoiler pops up. Trump […]

Here’s a regrettable trend: as profanity has become commonplace, swear words are losing their usefulness. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the language used in movies and television has gotten dramatically more profane . There are a couple of reasons why. First is the rise of subscription-based streaming television, such as Netflix and […]

Of all the principles of democratic governance, free speech is the most important — and in our time, the most contested. Since the mid-20th century onward, the U.S. Supreme Court has steadily widened the boundaries of what is legally known as “protected speech.” In the 1960s, the Warren Court struck down most limits on obscenity […]

THE CONVERSATION — If a student were to walk off the Harvard campus and onto a street in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and argue for the genocide of Jews, the U.S. Constitution would bar prosecuting her for hate speech. If the same student left her perch on the sidewalk and returned to the Harvard […]

THE CONVERSATION — The United Nations, women’s groups and human rights groups are facing criticism for not quickly condemning Hamas fighters for raping and sexually violating Israelis during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Most critics cite rising antisemitism as the reason some experts and advocates did not quickly rally behind Israel’s repeated claims that Hamas fighters committed sexual violence. […]

Capitalism is killing the planet. Or is capitalism saving our planet? Loving money may be a deadly sin, but liking money encourages us to be careful stewards of scarce resources. Saving our money by being thoughtful and well-informed shoppers is an excellent general strategy for sustainability. When we buy only what we actually want and […]