Author: Guest Contributor
How to Build a Peace: An Israeli-American’s Vision for Israel-Palestine
As a progressive organization, ACT NOW welcomes diverse views on challenging topics. We have no “position” on Israel-Palestine. But we think it’s important to foster thoughtful discourse on big issues. We hope you will share your own thoughts on this piece below. Peace may sound simple – one beautiful word – but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal. – Yehudi Menuhin (1916 – 1999) It begins with a familiar story. Hamas had … Read More
Politics and Beyond: What do I love when I love my enemies?
Reading John Caputo’s On Religion while the media muse over whether this year’s presidential election campaign is the most divisive in American history has me thinking. In the book, Caputo takes up the Augustinian question “what do I love when I love my God?” and points to the statement ‘God is love,’ for illumination. Some simple substitution might hint at an answer to the question: when you love God, you love love. I think that, semantically, this makes the question a lot more … Read More
Help Obama Take Virginia from Central Park!
Calling all New York Democrats! Many of us would like to think that voting in a Democratic state is enough to re-elect President Obama. We wish it were as simple as that. Romney is launching a major offensive and even in New York voting isn’t enough. Indeed, New York Dems need to consider the battles being waged in states like Virginia and Pennsylvania. So get involved — join ACT NOW’s volunteer efforts. Come to glorious Central Park and call Democrats … Read More
Women, Know Your (Lack of) Rights
I can not be sure, because I am steeped in the world of working family advocacy, but I believe a consciousness raising is afoot. I can barely refresh my Google or Facebook newsfeeds without being met by a new article, study, or controversy around women in the workplace. Most notably, in recent weeks we saw Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article in The Atlantic Monthly, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” which addressed the dilemma of “highly educated, well-off women” who rise … Read More
Help Mom Help You
When my three-year-old son catches a bad cold, I hold him on my lap and press my cheek to his feverish head and wrap my arms around him as he shakes and whimpers. I fix him warm chicken broth with carrots and pastina (just as my mom and my grandmother did), and I sit beside him at the table and spoon-feed him, even though he can feed himself. He stays in his pajamas all day and walks no further than … Read More
Screening Wednesday: Pricele$$
Good movie in Brooklyn this Wednesday: Pricele$$. It’s about campaign finance reform, and it’s terrific.
Redistricting: Drawing a Line
We’re at the end game now, but it’s not too late to let the Governor know that you know that if he holds out for objectively drawn districts, all the same size, all over the state, it will be a big victory for him. And if he compromises, it will be a big loss. You’ve been hearing how “hyperpolitical”– it’s the Governor’s word–the proposed lines are, and the cynics among us have been hearing that the compromise lines have already … Read More
Serve With Care
Recent food writing has made much ado about how our food travels from the farm to our kitchens. But far less has been written about the journey from the restaurant kitchen to your dining table. While we’re cheerfully indulging in a delicious meal, craning for quick service, and self-righteously contemplating whether our server earned a 15 or 25 percent tip, the restaurant workers have most likely been toiling under poverty level wages, with no benefits, and little chance for promotion. … Read More
I Was Kicked Out of a Mitt Romney Event and Arrested. I’m Still Trying to Figure Out Why.
(Originally posted at thewheatandchaff.com) I’d been in New Hampshire for the past several days to follow the campaign and see some of the candidates in-person. Yesterday morning, I was chatting up a Romney campaign staffer before an event at the Gilchrist Manufacturing Company in Hudson, NH, when a police officer approached. Sir, we have to ask you to leave the premises. “Sir, is this about my backpack? I’d be happy to show you – there’s nothing dangerous in there.” “No, … Read More
