Recently, many progressives have debated the utility/futility of crossing ideological lines and collaborating on isolated joint interests with people who hold opposite views. By ‘opposite’ I mean that while the left works to uphold/expand rights and advocate for justice for all oppressed communities and against moneyed and/or racist agendas, potential collaborators on the right actively…
A Discussion with Professor George Koob on Social Media Addiction Nowadays, virtual spaces make up a significant portion of the contexts wherein people congregate, share thoughts and discuss ideas. Social media is a prominent battleground for the hearts and minds of all smartphone users, which in 2017 totalled a staggering 2.32 billion people worldwide….
The word fascism has undergone a renaissance, and with good reason. A series of global affairs, culminating in the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States have rattled the hegemony of neoliberalism and elevated the reactionary right. But Donald Trump has not revolutionized the presidency. Since taking office, he has continued and…
‘Whiteness’ is a relatively novel concept, which continues to evolve. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it served to stratify Europe and its colonies into classes of privileged white people with full rights and ‘others’ to be disenfranchised, used as manual labor, or eliminated. Societies that champion ‘whiteness’ as the focal point of their identity…
UPDATED 8/24/18 WITH MORE EXAMPLES As a writer/political analyst, I focus on several topics that I believe can benefit from my contributions. These include Israel/Palestine, the arts, sciences and American politics. The combination of my education and experience affords me the knowledge and ability to add my viewpoint to debates that are constructed of many…
Rats are opportunistic social mammals that can adapt to – and survive in – a plethora of environments. They are skilled diggers, climbers and swimmers, have highly developed olfaction and hearing and communicate by leaving scent markings and emitting ultrasonic vocalizations. Rats can serve as vectors for a variety of diseases. For example, the “Black…
Last weekend the personal care brand Dove released an ad that went viral. In it, a black woman was transformed into a white woman after using Dove soap. The public outrage was swift and brutal. How could Dove release such a blatantly racist campaign? Surely the commercial had to go through a rigorous review process….
(supplementary material to my review of “Not by Might, nor by Power” – the Zionist betrayal of Judaism) Born in 1893, Moshe Menuhin was part of the inaugural class to attend the first Zionist high school in Palestine, the Herzliya gymnasium in Tel Aviv. He had grown up in a Hasidic home, but eventually rejected…
Defensive behaviors are highly selected reactions to animate and inanimate threats in the environment, which increase the chances of survival/ reproduction of those who perform them appropriately (Blanchard & Blanchard, 2008). Natural environmental threat stimuli may include predators and associated cues, conspecific attack, and dangerous features of the environment. Researchers investigating the innate aspect of…
Last Saturday night, I was fortunate to see Roger Waters, one of my musical and personal idols, perform live. At age 74, the rock legend still puts on the edgiest, most radical performance in town. An old rocker with an old message is the pinnacle of radical art these days. But is that a statement…