Essays
1090 results
Page 52
Why I Didn't Vote
Dyspeptic reflections on the electoral process
Election Day is a chance to feel good about America — isn't it?
Essays
2 minute read
How to save America from the Tea Party
An immodest proposal
When the Southern states seceded back in 1860, Lincoln should have let them go. Without the disruptive and destructive South, the rest of the Union would be more stable, more harmonious, and more productive.
Essays
5 minute read
When holidays collide
Here comes Thanksukkah / Hanusgiving!
The holiday season may be even more confusing than usual this year.
Essays
3 minute read
What do artists want?
If I had a hammer— and as a matter of fact, I do
Martin Luther’s message to the Church in 1517 was: You think it’s that, but I say it’s this. Every artist and critic today conveys pretty much the same idea.
Essays
2 minute read
My mid-life crisis
The day I hit middle age
How do you know you’ve reached middle age? The final straw for me was a shopping trip with my teenage daughter.
Essays
4 minute read
To save our schools: Practical solutions
All it takes is ingenuity
Gary Day wants us to save America’s public schools by having fewer children. In fact, far less drastic solutions already exist. Here are four practical suggestions from a teacher and businesswoman who’s been there and done that.
Essays
6 minute read
My eternal life in cyberspace
How the Internet made me a star (without even asking me)
Years ago I wrote a short story for an obscure Maine literary magazine that paid me two copies for my efforts. Now, thanks to the Internet, that same story has resurfaced in Canada, of all places, bringing me fame, fortune and an unsettling feeling of helplessness.
Essays
5 minute read
Pennsylvania and the death penalty
Last refuge of Death Row, or: Is this what William Penn had in mind?
James Dennis spent 21 years on Death Row for a crime he didn’t commit. Yet Pennsylvania continues to churn out slipshod death sentences even as New York, New Jersey and Maryland have all abandoned capital punishment. Would anyone seriously argue that the death penalty is fairer here than it was in our neighboring states?
Essays
7 minute read
30 reasons why 60 is not the new 40
What do you think of Jerry Lewis? (and other reasons why 60 isn’t the new 40)
“Sixty is the New 40” is a reassuring aphorism for Baby Boomers. There’s only one problem: It’s a load of crap. Here are 30 reasons why.
Essays
4 minute read
The Tea Party takes Washington
What should Obama do?
Our government’s present impasse is the product of a strategy long followed by the natural minority party to thwart the majority’s needs and wishes. President Obama could break it if he weren’t preoccupied with turning his enemies into friends.
Essays
6 minute read