“Don’t touch my Medicare!” -Sign held by Tea Party protester               The Republicans’ efforts to rid the country of Obamacare are currently stalled by internal policy differences.  The House version was reportedly dead on arrival in the Senate, but then the Senate bill emerged looking not all that different, and it hasn’t been warmly […]

Heritage.  Ethnic Identity.  Family Ties.  Religious Beliefs.  Tradition.  Cultural History. Joshua Harmon’s “Bad Jews” is about all of these aspects of the human condition.  Nominated as the best new play by three separate organizations (2014 Lucille Lortel Awards, 2012-’13 Outer Critics Circle Awards, and 2014 Off Broadway Alliance Awards), it is a powerful play that […]

              On returning from the recent European vacation my wife and I took with our son, I was asked by more than a few friends and acquaintances if the threat of a terrorist attack caused me to question our decision to travel in Italy and France.  I suppose it’s a reasonable question, since the new […]

              With a son living in Germany (in Berlin for now his third year), my wife and I were anxious to turn a second visit of him into an extended vacation with travel to parts of Europe we longed to see.  And, since he had already proven himself a more than worthy tour guide with […]