Author: Lance Garrison
When I was a college undergraduate 25 years ago, the fancy school that I attended offered what it styled as a “core curriculum” that was really nothing of the sort. Instead of giving students a set of foundational courses and assignments, a shared base of important ideas and arguments, our core assembled a grab bag of courses from different disciplines and invited us to pick among them.The idea was that we were experiencing a variety of “approaches to knowledge” and it didn’t matter what specific knowledge we picked up. There was no real difference between taking the late Helen Vendler’s…
President Biden flanked by Javelin antitank systems in 2022 as he discussed arming Ukraine. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters When the Biden administration ships arms to Ukraine, it pulls out the megaphones. It announces its shipments and hails its own efforts “to support the brave Ukrainian people as they defend their country,” as Secretary of State Antony Blinken put it last month. The White House emphasizes transparency about aid provided to Ukraine, saying it wants to be clear how “that money has been spent.”It’s a different story when the destination is Israel. A few details leak in the American or Israeli press, but…
I often wake up these days feeling as though I’m living in an upside-down world. Thursday was one such morning: Just as Donald Trump prepared to spend another day in a Manhattan criminal court to face charges related to hush money paid to a porn star he allegedly had sex with, in the same spot where Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape four years ago, Mr. Weinstein’s New York conviction was overturned.The decision was determined by a single vote, by a majority-female panel of judges, who ruled that the trial court judge had improperly allowed testimony from accusers who weren’t…
“OK, so we know you’re not going to get pregnant.”Sexuality educator Jane Fleishman, PhD, typically opens with this line when she goes into senior communities to talk about safe sex. It’s her way of trying to break the tension and clear the air. Sex talk can be awkward at any age, whether you’re 15 or 50-plus.Then she brings out the puppets. But these aren’t the kind you see at a children’s puppet show. They’re made in the form of male and female sex organs – a vulva and a penis. That usually breaks the ice and gets a laugh.“But then…
On Wednesday morning, on a corner across the street from Columbia University, a man dressed in black, a huge gold cross around his neck, brandished a sign that featured a bloodstained Israeli flag and the word “genocide” in capital letters. He was also shouting at the top of his lungs.“The Jews control the world! Jews are murderers!”I watched as a pro-Palestine protester approached the man. “That is horribly antisemitic,” she said. “You are hurting the movement and you are not a part of us. Go away.”The man shouted vile, unprintable epithets back at her, but the woman, who told me…
Accessing necessary health care is just one of the many challenges faced when you’re without a home, but there are options available to make sure that you get the care that you need.First, understand that you’re not alone: More than half a million people in the U.S. don’t have access to reliable housing. Whether you’re going through this for the first time or it’s a situation you’ve faced before, it can feel overwhelming to figure out where and how to get medical treatment.For many, the solution is a visit to their local emergency room. Unhoused patients are three times more…
U.S. diplomacy to end the Gaza war and forge a new relationship with Saudi Arabia has been converging in recent weeks into a single giant choice for Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: What do you want more — Rafah or Riyadh?Do you want to mount a full-scale invasion of Rafah to try to finish off Hamas — if that is even possible — without offering any Israeli exit strategy from Gaza or any political horizon for a two-state solution with non-Hamas-led Palestinians? If you go this route, it will only compound Israel’s global isolation and force a real breach…
About 1 in 5 Americans live in a rural area where they are just as likely to have mental health challenges as those living in or near cities. Unfortunately, rural Americans may not have access to the same mental health resources as others. In fact, about 60% of people in rural or remote areas live where there is a shortage of mental health services.And there are other barriers to treatment in these areas. Travel can be an issue. Even if you can find a provider, you may have to travel a very long way to reach them, says psychologist Iva…
A landmark 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Estelle v. Gamble) makes incarcerated people the only group in the United States with a protected constitutional right to health care.But the exact nature of that health care is open to interpretation.For example, in the late 1970s, Jorge Renaud was serving 27 years in a Texas state prison when he somehow caught his head in the mechanical door to his cell. The incident almost severed his ear from his head. Renaud, now national criminal justice director of Latino Justice, a civil rights group, recalls that when he got to the infirmary, “an inmate…
The Federal Trade Commission used two very different rationales to get to its near-total ban this week on noncompete agreements. One of them is a no-brainer. The other is provocative but not completely obvious. I guess I’d call it a brainer.As you may have read, the F.T.C. commissioners on Tuesday voted 3 to 2 on a final rule against noncompete clauses in employment contracts, which limit the ability of an employee to quit and immediately go work for a rival. The commission determined that they are an “unfair method of competition.” The rule takes effect 120 days after its publication…