The fog of war, again
President John F. Kennedy and his Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara In 2003, Errol Morris released The Fog of War, a documentary built around an unusual act of historical reckoning. Robert McNamara, the former secretary…
Hate is a drug, and social media is the dealer
The call usually comes from the mom of a teenage son. Two years ago, he played soccer and argued about video games. Now he darkly obsesses about Jews the way an addict thinks about the…
Living with taking a life in the line of duty
For years, I experienced moral injury almost every day without understanding what it was. I didn’t know there was a name for what I was feeling. I only knew that something inside of me had…
Warrior men and lessons for the 250th
Despite this summer’s celebrations of the 250th, US democracy looks fragile to some. But there are signs everywhere that what is actually insecure is the ongoing right-wing quest to control the levers of power. As…
Canada’s clock change chaos needs attention
The United States (US) has endured biannual clock changes for 60 years. A recently passed bill in the US House to make daylight saving time (DST) permanentmay finally end this clock change gymnastics. Canada has also endured…
"It Takes a Village" is no longer a proverb, it’s survival
While every child needs loving parents, children also need aunties, uncles, and a host of other adults who are invested in their success to thrive. As childcare costs soar, aunties like us are becoming indispensable….
A rushed ban of 7-OH is lazy governing
Federal drug policy has a habit of mistaking harshness for seriousness. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s latest move against 7-hydroxymitragynine, better known as 7-OH, is a case in point. On July 6, the DEA published a…
Let's make sidewalk vending a safe food choice
Every night on my drive home to the City of Ventura, California, a sidewalk food vendor on Main Street is selling tacos in front of established restaurants. They have a giant cylinder of meat under…
Screens are not why young people are in crisis. The real reason is surprisingly solvable.
This March, a jury found that Meta and Google had deliberately designed their platforms to addict young users and had contributed to depression and anxiety in a young woman who compulsively used social media as a child,…