Whatever their crime or sentence, prisoners should not be legitimately fearful of choking to death on their own vomit every time they climb onto their prison bunks. But this is a daily worry for federal…
Posts published in “Essays”
The hope of the brave soldier who sent 92,000 secret US documents to Wikileaks was that their disclosure would prompt public revulsion and increasing political pressure on Obama to seek with all speed a diplomatic…
Bach never went in the ocean for a refreshing dip. He never even set eyes on the Atlantic. He could have made it to the North Sea at Lübeck during his sojourn there to learn…
As summer heats up, the water temperatures in the lower reaches of the North Fork of the Feather River may rise above 70 degrees Fahrenheit — uncomfortably and even dangerously warm for the native rainbow…
Comments on the Oliver Stone film “South of the Border” accompanied by a Carmen Miranda tune, at Berkley’s Elmwood Theatre, July 17, 2011, with economist and scriptwriter Mark Weisbrot (with Tariq Ali-in the film) fielding…
The war in Afghanistan is nearly nine years old — the longest in American history. After the US quickly toppled the Taliban regime in October 2001, the Taliban, by all accounts, came back stronger and…
It is not unusual for members of the diminishing upper middle class to drop $20,000 or $30,000 on a big wedding. But for celebrities this large sum wouldn’t cover the wedding dress or the flowers.…
Bach’s sons remained in the homeland — until the last, Johann Christian. Born in 1735, he was called, though even from beyond the grave, father Bach might have regretted that second name after his youngest…
Once in a while the US Supreme Court gets things right. It did so recently regarding Healthy San Francisco, the city's local “public option” now giving more than 50,000 residents access to health care. The…