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Elayne Clift is a writer,lecturer, workshop leader and activist. She is senior correspondent for Women's Feature Service, columnist for the Keene (NH) Sentinel and Brattleboro (VT) Commons and a contributor to various publications internationally. Her latest book is ACHAN: A Year of Teaching Thailand (Bangkok Books, 2007). She is also the editor of Women, Philanthropy and Social Change: Visions for a Just Society (UPNE/Tufts U., 2007). She lives in Saxtons River, Vt. and invites readers to visit her website: www.elayneclift.com
(12 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 27, 2011 Why Are We Sexualizing Young Girls?
Why is our overly-sexualized culture being foisted on young girls? Parents need to ramp up opposition.
(6 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 22, 2012 DSM-5 Could Be Hazardous to Your Mental Health
The 5th edition of the DSM - the "psychiatrists' Bible" - will be out in 2013. Practitioners who rely on it should remember the Hippocratic Oath: "Do no harm." Patients should beware unscientific labeling.
(48 comments) SHARE Saturday, March 24, 2012 What Ever Happened to Gun Control?
What will it take for Congress and Americans to return to the issue of gun control?
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, October 21, 2013 When It Comes to Mental Health, Do No Harm
An exhibit in NY underscores what care must be taken when it comes to mental health diagnosis and treatment.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 30, 2009 Women's Friendships Lift Moods, Save Lives
" The Girls From Ames" aren't the only ones finding value in female friendship. Studies repeatedly show that friendship is good for women -- and men.
SHARE Saturday, January 2, 2010 Safe Motherhood Revisited
Another look at maternal mortality worldwide asks why we can't end the scourge that kills over half a million women annually.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, January 29, 2010 THE ASSUMPTIONS WE MAKE ABOUT OTHERS CAN BE WRONG
Why do we assume the homeless are dangerous?
When I lived in Wash., DC, I volunteered at a shelter for homeless women. One evening an attractive, well-dressed, middle-aged woman came in. She was made-up, wore silver bracelets, and sported a handsome chenille scarf. I asked if she was a board member. "No," she said. "I live here right now."
The assumptions I made about other women who showed up looking poor were equally
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 5, 2015 Nurses: The Heart & Backbone of Health Care
May 6 - 12 is National Nurses Week. What better time to honor nurses and to remember the difference they make in health care delivery, policy and financing.
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, March 30, 2015 Remembering the Human in Human (Sex) Trafficking
Shame on Republicans for trying to sneak anti-abortion language into the proposed Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015! Do they really think raped girls haven't been punished enough?
(26 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 27, 2016 Why I Will No Longer Post to OpEdNews
OEN readers take note: I will no longer be posting here. That decision is explained here.
(11 comments) SHARE Friday, February 24, 2012 Rising Fundamentalisms Threaten Us All
Fundamentalisms, whether religious or political, are more than a "War on Women." The encroaching signs of totalitarianism should be of concern to all of us.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, April 4, 2015 Prison Health Care Sorely in Need of Reform
Being in prison is no picnic, but few people realize that it can be a matter of life and death for those needing health care. A recent measles outbreak in California help to make the case.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 27, 2011 Understanding Abortion
In an election year it's more important than ever to remember what abortion is really about: women's lives.
(14 comments) SHARE Monday, April 3, 2023 Where is Artificial Intelligence Leading Us?
Ten years ago, I wrote a column called "Are We Headed Toward a Robotic World?" At that time battle robots and alien creatures in movies were imbued with artificial intelligence, an oxymoron if ever there was one, Star Trek and films about robotic warfare were addicting audiences who liked watching battling weird-looking warriors try to destroy each other.
SHARE Sunday, September 10, 2023 The Recovered Joy of Summer Travel
All my life I have disagreed with Henry David Thoreau: Unlike him, I think it is "worthwhile to go around the world to count the cats in Zanzibar." That's why inveterate travelers find the return to post-pandemic travel an exhilarating experience.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, November 3, 2023 Are We Facing the End of Free Speech?
Let us remember that our voices are not weapons. They are instead our monuments and our roadmap to a sane future for all of us. No one should be punished for raising them.
(6 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 27, 2014 Will Our Gilded Age Lead to Another Progressive Era?
In today's Gilded Age, Wall Street bankers dress down for dinner, their women in Gucci, Pucci and Louis Vuitton casual-wear. They live on Fifth Avenue as the barons did, or in rehabbed Brooklyn brownstones perhaps, and keep beachside condos in Boca Raton and Belize.
Will the 1% lead the way to a new Progressive Era?
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, December 24, 2015 The Pathologizing of Children
The over-prescribing of psychotropic drugs to children, some still in the crib, is alarming. Parents, physicians and educators must remember to "do no harm."
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 27, 2022 The Dangers of a Deranged Judiciary
This month as we go to the polls to vote for people to represent us at all levels of governance it is deeply important to remember that these midterm elections are monumentally significant in an unprecedented way, with the possible exception of the Nazi scare in the 1930s and 40s. Results of all elections have consequences, but this time they will serve as a precursor to the most consequential election in our lifetimes in 2024
SHARE Saturday, March 19, 2011 Can We Give Troubled Teens Another Chance?
Should youth offenders be charged and sentenced as adults? Elizabeth Lozano who received a life-without-parole sentence for a crime she committed at age 16 may change your mind.
(19 comments) SHARE Friday, May 1, 2015 A Vote for Hillary May be Hard but Consider the Alternative
Despite the concerns that many progressive have about Hillary,if she is the Democratic candidate we must get behind her. A Right Wing Republican in the White House would spell disaster for years to come.
SHARE Friday, November 30, 2012 Nanny Abuse is a Two-Way Street
Nannies can be abusive to the children in their care, but often they suffer abuse themselves.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, March 27, 2015 What to Do About a Collective Unconscious in Despair
Are we ready for another great social movement that can transform the way we live? The Civil Rights and Women's Movements can serve as models.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, January 1, 2023 Where is Abigail Adams in Today's Political Discourse?
In all the talk about encroaching autocracy in America and elsewhere, politicians, pundits, media personalities and others need to remember the words and wisdom of the revolutionary first First Lady, Abigail Adams, who admonished her husband to "remember the ladies."
(9 comments) SHARE Sunday, March 31, 2013 A Shout Out to the Bad Girls
Literature is full of them. Congress has some. Feminist celebrate them. Know any bad girls?
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, June 1, 2015 Is Lyme the Next Infectious Disease Disaster?
Lyme disease is now endemic in several states and growing exponentially across the country. Why are infectious disease specialists still in denial about its severity and chronic nature?
SHARE Wednesday, November 1, 2023 The Power of Hope and the Promise of the Parkland Generation
Ever since David Hogg, Emma Gonzales, and other high school student leaders began organizing against gun violence when their Florida school experienced a massacre in 2018 that killed 17 people and injured 17 more, I've clung to the belief that if we could get to the Parkland generation as political leaders, we just might save our country. I believe that now more than ever.
(5 comments) SHARE Monday, March 9, 2015 The Myth of a Model Country
Gun violence, wage inequality, racism and more - how can we say America is a model country?
SHARE Tuesday, June 27, 2023 Balfour's Big Blunder and Today's Israel
As a Jewish American, like many others, I am heartbroken by what is happening to Palestinians because of the excessively rightwing government now in power in Israel, a country that was founded because of atrocities committed against them.
(10 comments) SHARE Sunday, October 26, 2014 Is America a Failed State?
Have we become a failed state like those we accuse of being "developing countries"? Given political corruption, police brutality, SCOTUS decisions, gun violence and more it's beginning to look that way.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, September 19, 2022 Is This the Country You Want to Inhabit?
At last alarm bells are ringing. Most sentient Americans are beginning to realize what is at stake in the November midterm elections, and the 2024 election that will follow - unless by then they are cancelled. That's because unless you're a devotee of Donald Trump and his ilk it is now clear that we are in the early stages of full-blown fascism and the death of democracy in America.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, April 24, 2022 An Artist, a Mission, and a Meaningful Moment
There are occasions in life that gift us serendipitously. Often they move us. Such was my experience when I met Russian born Alexey Neyman, an 83-year old Jewish artist whose exhibition, "The Habitual Light of Memory," is raising funds for Ukraine.
(7 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 7, 2022 A Personal Tribute to Mothers and Role Models
It was a house of love and a safe haven where laughter was frequent, anxiety had no place, affection reigned. It was a Cape Cod bungalow with a white picket fence that made me feel warm and happy. In short, it was 1950s perfect and I wished it were mine.
I lived across the street in a house that became a place of illness, loneliness, and "quiet despair."
(32 comments) SHARE Saturday, October 12, 2013 What the Shutdown Means for Women
Why haven't the media talked about the critical impact of the government shutdown on women?
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, December 1, 2022 Election Results Beyond Our Borders Matter
It is November 8th, Election Day in America, as I begin to write this commentary before joining friends to watch early results of our crucial midterm election, and it is not hyperbole to say we are beyond tense. We are terrified. We know what could be coming at us if the wrong side prevails, the side that embraces demeaning language, dangerous behavior, power grabs, and cruel priorities.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, January 2, 2010 Health Screening: What's a Woman to Do?
Women are confused about new recommendations for breast and cervical cancer screening. What do women's health advocates think?
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 25, 2011 Bullying with a Badge
There is no excuse for police brutality under any circumstances. The Kelly Thomas case helps us remember that.
(8 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 25, 2011 Are We Ready to Save Our Planet?
We are fast approaching a tipping point. If we don't act now, climate change will become irreversible. 350.org and Al Gore try to inspire us.
SHARE Wednesday, February 27, 2013 The End of Privacy
Whatever your point of view is on increased surveillance whether by bosses, doctors or drones, we would all be wise to watch out for hackers, identify thieves, and marketers. Given the increasingly complex and intrusive world we live in, personal privacy is a civil rights issues that bears watching.
SHARE Saturday, December 3, 2022 Maternal Mortality, Abortion, and Race: A Dangerous Trifecta
Much has been written in the literature of public health about America's shocking maternal mortality rate. Occasionally media reports the alarming rate when there is a hook. Advocates concerned with women and health illuminate the problem in reports and at conferences. But in light of the SCOTUS Dobbs decision on abortion, new urgency arose in addressing U.S. maternal mortality and its causes because of the link between reprod
(6 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 26, 2022 Another Day, Another Newtown: The Obscenity of Gun Violence
When news of another school slaughter broke, this time again in Texas, the bile that rose in my throat was as bitter as the memory of Columbine, Newtown, Parkland - and the other grievous incidents of gun violence in schools - all 554 of them since Columbine, as NPR has reported.
(6 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 31, 2022 Women Who Change the World: La Pasionarias Past and Present
Throughout history women have left their mark on the world in numerous, and often unknown, unrecognized, or forgotten ways. What better time to honor some of them than Women's History Month, especially the "pasionarias."
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 3, 2022 The Massacre of Innocents Continues
Four mass shootings in less than a week killed nearly two dozen people and grievously injured many more. November saw 32 mass shootings nationally while a tally of more than 600 mass shootings had occurred across the country by then. According to the Washington Post in June, mass shootings had averaged more than one per day and not a single week till then had passed without at least four mass shootings.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, August 11, 2023 Choosing Freedom: A Political Imperative
In his 1941 State of the Union address, FDR said that there was "nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy." He noted that he looked forward to "a world founded upon four essential human freedoms."
(13 comments) SHARE Monday, April 19, 2010 The Shady Side of Sixty
Growing older has its rewards even if it is a bit alarming.
(6 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 9, 2015 Sexual Bliss for Women with a Little Pink Pill - Really?
Flibanserin is Big Pharma's latest controversial innovation designed, it seems, to respond to American women's quest for an eternal wet dream. Why is Puritanical America so fixated on sex, sexual desire and sexual performance?
(6 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 24, 2010 Remembering the Women Who Brought Us the Vote
It's the 90th anniversary of women's suffrage, yet some women still don't vote. If only they knew what women endured to give us that right maybe they would.
SHARE Sunday, January 26, 2014 Why the Millennials Give me Hope
The children of Baby Boomers are socially conscious and pro-active in a way that should give us all hope for the future.
SHARE Monday, October 30, 2023 A is for Absent: America's Teacher Shortage
I am ever grateful for having been educated in a time when they represented the finest members of the teaching profession and I fervently hope that children will fly again once the reasons for our educational crisis are adequately resolved.
(7 comments) SHARE Monday, February 13, 2012 How Did Misogyny Become a Full Time Job?
Misogyny is out of the closet thanks to Republican fundamentalists and the Catholic Church. Is this really 2012?
SHARE Saturday, March 11, 2023 What Would Socrates Say? A Look at America's Education Crisis
I watch our education system crumble into something worse than second rate. It's a system that is being destroyed by political ideologies that influence laws, curricula, teacher qualifications, and students' futures in profoundly troubling and negative ways.
(7 comments) SHARE Monday, October 29, 2012 Rape is More Than a Women's Issue
You can tell a lot about a person or political party by what they think and say about women. Does anyone need to know more than this when they vote on Nov. 6?
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 22, 2012 Milestone for Women Achieved by Affordable Care Act
In August 8 new, important prevention-related services became effective via ACA that will have a profound effect on women and their health. Who could possibly be against that?
(7 comments) SHARE Friday, August 20, 2010 The Insanity of Our Times
Has America gone mad? From building an Islamic community center to DADT, from anti-immigration hysteria to widespread corruption, what will it take to set us right again?
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 18, 2022 The Other Long Haul Covid
As the new Covid booster becomes available it's good to see eligible people lining up to receive it. In addition to providing a new layer of protection against the virus, the vaccine is a reminder that the Covid pandemic is not over, despite changes in safety protocols that contribute to continued resistance to preventive behavior change.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 9, 2014 Women Take Lead as Abolishing Death Penalty Gains Traction
State by state, women are taking the lead in ending the death penalty. They range from activist nuns to exonerees to family members. And they're having an impact.
SHARE Saturday, July 9, 2016 America's Many Faces of Mounting Fury
America's recent violence against Blacks and police reveals how badly it has lost it's way. What can be done about the overt and incipient hatred that is revealing itself in a nation that prides itself on being "better than that"?
(5 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 25, 2013 Are We Headed for a Robotic World?
Are we headed for a robotic world? With Google's recent purchase of Boston Dynamics, the firm that makes battle robots that look like galloping headless horses, people are starting to take note of what our future may look like.
SHARE Tuesday, September 20, 2022 Cybercrime: The Phenomenon That Keeps on Taking
I'm pretty good at spotting scam emails and texts but I still got caught. Alarmed by what seemed like a legitimate PayPal warning that a large sum of money was being charged to my account, I fell for a message that could have destroyed me financially. It took a Herculean effort to ensure my financial safety and identity.
SHARE Friday, April 14, 2023 Growing Older in Challenging Times
Also, with age comes a certain clarity. I know who I am, for better or worse. I'm clear about things I feel passionately about, and what I won't tolerate. I think I'm measurably wiser than I once was. I try to be less judgmental. Even though I rant a lot, I'm fundamentally a nice person.
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, April 20, 2022 Pathologizing Grief: How Long Can You Be Sad?
Here we go again. The so-called experts in psychiatry charged with updating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), the less than empirical "bible of psychiatry" that clinicians rely on for reimbursable diagnoses, have decided that six months, maybe a year if they're generous, is sufficient time to recover from a life-shattering loss.
SHARE Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Can Women Finally Put an End to the Clothing Police?
Patriarchy still prevails when it comes to how women dress. Women can make their own fashion decisions without permission from Daddy, designers and demagogues.
(19 comments) SHARE Sunday, July 24, 2016 Time to Get Behind Hillary
Hillary Clinton may not be perfect, but now that she's the Dem candidate, can we give her her due? Especially in face of the alternative?
(8 comments) SHARE Monday, May 5, 2014 Welcome to the New America, Where Oligarchs Rock!
Is Oligarchy the new "word for the day"?
Is there even a word that captures how dangerous that is for America's future, or a word for the day when democracy died?
SHARE Saturday, August 22, 2015 The Fine Art of Listening
Listening doesn't always come easily but it's deeply important in a world full of pain - and promise.
(8 comments) SHARE Friday, July 22, 2011 The War on Women Persists
An all-out assault on women by Republicans is trying to take us back to the Dark Ages, but we won't go!
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, December 16, 2022 The Wandering Souls of Migration, Immigration and Asylum Seeking
According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), "record numbers of migrants [from just Central America] risked their lives in 2022 to cross the treacherous, remote jungle region bridging Central and South America." More than 151,000 migrants came to the U.S. in less than a year from countries around the world.
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, May 29, 2015 Policing Post Mortem: What Needs to Happen Next?
Let's not let police brutality go the way of gun control legislation or the war on women. Some suggestions for stopping the violence.
SHARE Wednesday, October 26, 2022 The Life Force of Livid Women is at Work
In 1995 when activist, advocate and former Congresswoman Bella Abzug uttered these words at the 4th World Conference of Women in Beijing, thousands of women there and everywhere felt the force of her words: "Women will change the nature of power, power will not change the nature of women. Never underestimate the importance of what we are doing. Never give in and never give up!"
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, August 7, 2014 Standing Up to Corporate Greed
What happens when employees, customers and even management stand up to abuse by the powers that be? This ongoing case study is compelling.
(4 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 13, 2016 The Archetypal Journey of Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Clinton represents a new type of archetype - a female hero on a quest who survives the Underground and comes out intact, changed by the experience, and able to create change because of it.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 30, 2014 Who Will Tell the Stories of Missing Girls & Captured Women?
Why don't we hear the voices and stories of the women and girls captured by Boka Haram and ISIS? Are they less newsworthy than counting drone attacks and the usual war stories?
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, May 20, 2013 Paying Attention to Climate Change Before It's Too Late
Oil covered wildlife. Sludge clogging waterways and snaking down suburban streets. The potential for disaster, especially with a transcontinental pipeline, have never been greater.
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, November 1, 2009 Before You Buy Pink...Think
Now that Breast Cancer Awareness Month is over, can we think twice before we pink?
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, November 12, 2014 The Real Stunner in the Midterm Elections
What Michelle Obama might have liked to say after the way the Democratic Party treated her husband and handed the midterm election to Republicans.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 6, 2013 the Drone Dilemma
For the first time in history a civilian intelligence agency is using robots to carry out military missions -- killing people -- in countries where the U.S. is not officially at war. Shouldn't we be worried about that?
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 6, 2008 The Inspiration of Elder Women
Commentary on older women as inspirational, with a slant towards women as political activists
SHARE Saturday, May 21, 2011 Let's Hear It for the Bad Boys
Enough already with corporate bullies and con artists, banker bums, oil company execs and creeps in political office.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, February 27, 2015 Vaccines, Crusades & VicariousThrills
What do the measles vaccination debacle, the President's speech mentioning Crusades, and Brian William's dismissal have in common?
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, September 12, 2008 The Madness of Powerful Men
This op ed. reflects upon corruption as a characteristic among powerful men (and a few women).
SHARE Monday, November 3, 2014 Two Nobel Prizes, 65 Million Girls Absent From School
This year's Nobel Peace Prize winners have helped shine a light on the urgency of girls' education but millions still have no access. It's an important challenge.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Paying Attention to Fair Pay
On Pay Equity Day women have yet to reach parity in their paychecks. Legislation aims to correct that.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, September 30, 2010 Seeing the World Through the Lens of Gender
When you look through the gender lens at what's happening economically, politically, and socially, all kinds of issues emerge that don't always garner the attention they deserve.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 31, 2011 What Would Moses Do?
What is becoming of Israel, a country that once prided itself on its democratic principles and ethical behavior?
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, March 19, 2011 In Post-Conflict Countries, Where are the Women?
Despite a UN resolution passed in 2000, women in Iraq and Egypt are still not allowed to participate in post-conflict planning. What are men afraid of?
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, June 26, 2011 Proud to Be a Vermonter
Vermont is poised, again, to lead the nation; this time with universal health care.
SHARE Saturday, July 26, 2014 Reacting to Conflict in the Middle East: A Revealing Litmus Test
Reactions to the Israel/Gaza conflict on social media are stunningly bifurcated between those who take a human rights view and those who see events through a political lens. Will enough people find their voices of conscience in time to end the conflagration?
(9 comments) SHARE Friday, March 25, 2016 A Frightening Move to the Right in the US and Elsewhere
We are among many western countries moving dangerously to the right. we need to be mindful of the full picture, and the real threats, surrounding civil rights here and elsewhere.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Patriarchs and Politicians Weigh In on Women
It's been a while since blatant misogyny on the scale we see today reared its ugly head so overtly in political circles. But thanks to Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others on the far right, we are reminded of just how base male attitudes towards women can be.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 13, 2014 What Does the Future Hold for Afghan Women?
With the Taliban making a comeback and President Karzai hostile to the US, what will will happen to females in Afghanistan?
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Revisiting "The Banality of Evil"
Hannah Arendt was pilloried for her contemplation of "Eichmann in Jerusalem" in 1961. But in light of torture, police brutality, sexual assault and political corruption it may be time to revisit her argument about "the banality of evil."
SHARE Thursday, January 1, 2009 Taking Another Look at Breast Cancer
A post-Breast Cancer Awareness Month look at how the cancer establishment frames the disease and how the leading advocacy organization on the topic seeks to reframe the discussion.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 31, 2009 A Woman's Place: The House, Senate and Cabinet
As women gain seats in the halls of policymaking, the promise of women in politically high places is poised to reveal itself.
SHARE Tuesday, April 8, 2014 The Pornography of War
You know its poster child: A "wounded warrior" learning to walk with a prosthesis; a female officer incapacitated by depression; a homeless vet wandering aimlessly. How many more pornographic pictures must we view to see that violence is always trumped by vision, and that suffering is the last, worst solution to conflict?
(5 comments) SHARE Tuesday, April 15, 2014 Corruption, Control and the Pathology of Power
The world is full of Bernie Madoffs. Corruption happens across cultures and none of us fully understands why so many people seek personal gain though unsavory behaviors. What does that say about our collective humanity?
SHARE Saturday, August 13, 2011 Women, Water and Health: Essential Trio
Women and water are both vital resources in a world of climate change. The health of the world depends on both.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, July 27, 2009 Trust Me, We're Just Friends
Why is friendship between males and females so often assumed to be sexual?
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 25, 2016 Fort Hood Survivors Still Struggle to Recover
Seven years ago an army psychiatrist fatally shot 13 people, injuring 30 others, at Ft.Hood. Why is this attack still classified as "workplace violence instead of a terrorist attack?
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 28, 2015 Time to End a Two-Tiered Justice System
Why do white collar criminals get away with murder - sometimes literally - while ordinary people - who are sometimes innocent - languish is inhumane prisons?
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, April 29, 2014 The Elephants in the Pay Equity Room
We lost a great opportunity to talk about myriad issues surrounding pay equity (and discrimination) during media coverage of National Pay Equity Day last month.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, January 28, 2012 It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid!
Now that we're finally in the election year, let's play careful attention to the myriad issues that matter.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 28, 2016 Thoughts From a Disillusioned Democrat
It's hard being a news junkie, especially when sandbox politics prevail, even between the candidates in my party, in light of how vital this election is.
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 28, 2009 There's Hope for Health Care Yet
A commentary on health care reform as new ideas float in the ether of Washington, D.C. among organizations that do their homework and have access to policymakers.
(5 comments) SHARE Monday, May 27, 2013 Lessons From Abroad: Ten Tips in Ten Days
What can we learn from "the old country"? Plenty when it comes to culinary pleasures, transportation and sustainable living.
SHARE Monday, January 14, 2013 Remembering a Rape Victim and the Meaning of Her Death
The rape unto death of an Indian woman is not unlike the massacre of innocent children by gun violence in CT: We must understand the root cause of such violence and put an end to it now.
SHARE Sunday, November 27, 2011 Occupying First Class
The dichotomy between the world's wealth and poverty could not be more stark or disturbing from 40,000 feet above Africa.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, June 26, 2014 Micro-aggression: Subtle But Searing
Subtle forms of aggression - a particular kind of bullying - have a terrible impact and need to be stopped.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 22, 2012 This Election is a Moral Referendum
This year's election is more than a political event of vast consequence. It is a collective decision on the future of morality in the world's leading democracy.
SHARE Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Women Scientists and the Nobel Prize
The bad days of ignoring women scientists may be over, but there are still invisible barriers to overcome.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, September 12, 2008 Where is the Media When it Matters?
This op ed. asks readers to reflect on what has gone awry with a media establishment that can't even react when it is being insulted.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, September 24, 2015 Glimmers of Hope for Our Common Future
It's hard these days to hang on to a positive picture of our common future. But there are some glimmers of hope.
(11 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 1, 2015 He Said, She Said: An Election Dilemma
Choosing between Bernie and Hillary is a real challenge for some Democrats. Here's what I need to see in any candidate.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, January 1, 2016 Overcoming the Politics of fear
FDR was right about not letting fear paralyze us. So are others who refute right-wing scare-mongers seeking to be President. We all have a responsibility as well as a stake in this.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 1, 2015 Is Big Pharma Getting Away with Murder?
When profit-driven Big Pharma behaves badly patients suffer but stockholders rejoice. What's wrong with that picture?
SHARE Monday, May 20, 2013 This Memorial Day, Let's Remember Women in War
Now that women can enter combat officially, it's a good time to remember the many roles women have played during wartime, whether military or civilian.
(5 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 3, 2011 The Death Of Trust
Modern life leaves us little room for trust as we once knew it.
(7 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 29, 2015 The Continuing Harassment of Planned Parenthood
The Gotcha Game surrounding Planned Parenthood isn't likely to end soon. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)is right: "The American people are sick and tired of it."
SHARE Saturday, January 26, 2013 Fifty Years of Milestones for Minorities
Remembering MLK and the Civil Rights Movement as well as the Women's Movement as the president was inaugurated again offered new hope for a better America.
SHARE Wednesday, February 3, 2016 The Perversity of Sexual Assault Knows No Bounds
First it was the military. Then college campuses and churches. Then prisons. Then war crimes and UN Peacekeepers. Now come stories of sexual aggression in Baltimore's public housing sector, refugee and migrant camps abroad, and the public squares of some of Europe's finest cities. How does it end?
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 17, 2014 Unsung Heroes Deserve Attention Too
The world is full of ordinary people whose acts of kindness and generosity go unnoticed. They deserve to be honored as much as media-selected heroes.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 3, 2014 It's Time to End the Epidemic of Sexual Assault
What do city subways, college dorms, and military service have in common? They are all venues for the vulnerable when it comes to sex assaults.
SHARE Sunday, April 17, 2016 The State of the Art: Republican Redux and Reproductive Rights
A good number of Republican states are tripping over themselves to restrict a woman's constitutional right to abortion. Could they be terrified of the number of women gaining agency over their lives - and their votes?
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, January 30, 2009 Reflections on Gays, Israel, and Inaugurations
Thoughts on California's Prop 8, the Mideast conflict, and President Obama's inauguration as January draws to a close.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 23, 2009 Why Not a National Friendship Day?
We have days to honor our mothers, fathers, grandparents and lovers. Why not a day to commemorate our friends?
(2 comments) SHARE Saturday, June 30, 2012 Dear Michelle: Are you There, There?
Michelle Obama has chosen to play her part cautiously, positioning herself as a rather traditional First Lady who chooses safe issues and treads lightly. Is she is more Nancy Reagan than Hillary Clinton?
SHARE Thursday, February 11, 2016 Time for a Second Look at the Second Wave
Young women need to understand what's at stake in this election. Hillary Clinton and her team aren't exactly helping them. They need historical context and full information to make good decisions, and they need to vote!
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 25, 2010 Worrying More and Enjoying It Less
From earthquakes and mudslides to lost civility and educational failures, there's a lot to be concerned about in 21st century America.
(3 comments) SHARE Saturday, June 30, 2012 Never Again? What About Syria?
As Syrian atrocities continue, we must ask when will we really mean "Never Again?"
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 19, 2012 Suffer the Little Children
The time for talk is over. we must stop being a country of killing fields. We must pass sensible gun laws.
SHARE Thursday, January 27, 2011 Questions for the New Year
From Wikileaks to Net Neutrality, there are a lot of unresolved questions lurking in my mind as we move from one year to the next.
SHARE Monday, February 18, 2008 Making Waves for Hillary
A Second Wave feminist reflects on why so many of her generation back Hillary Clinton. Could it be "knee-jerk feminism"?
SHARE Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Getting Away with Murder...and Rape
Why aren't people taking more seriously The Roman Polanski case? Misogyny, pure and simple, says one feminist writer.