I had a slight meltdown in the supermarket Saturday. The plastic bottle recycling machine wasn’t working. (It rarely is.) But that’s not why I was upset. I took the bottles to the Courtesy Desk where I encountered a photograph on the front page of the Daily News that I had seen in a smaller version on the front page of The New York Times. Perhaps you’ve seen it. The picture, by Getty photographer John Moore, shows a 2-year-old Honduran child crying at the border as her mother, attempting to cross illegally, is searched.
I’m not a particularly maternal woman. And, of all the arts I’ve covered, photography is hardly my favorite. I hate the way people act around photos, always posing even when they’re being “natural.” But the power of photography to move instantly is undeniable. Something about that photo shook me to my core and, as I held it up in outrage to the young woman at the Courtesy Desk, I found myself choking up. …
Read more
Read MoreI won’t pretend to know what will come of President Donald J. Trumpet’s meeting with “L’il Kim” Jong-un. Even the Repubsare in “we’ll see” mode.On the one hand, this is an extraordinary moment, and you can’t help but root for it. But can we “sleep tonight,” as Donnie Two Scoops tweeted? This is not the first time that we’ve been to the North Korea-turns-over-a-new-leaf rodeo. North Korea still has nukes capable of reaching the United States. Nothing has changed, yet. “We’ll see,” the Donald likes to say famously. We certainly will, won’t we?
The psychological dynamics remain the most fascinating aspect of recent diplomatic exchanges. ...
Read more
Read MoreGee, do you think Justify will be going to the White House?
The massive chestnut colt – huge, as a certain American president would say – secured the Triple Crown in decisive fashion Saturday with a win in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in New York. Schooled by Bob Baffert, 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s trainer, Justify is the 13th colt to win the Crown and only the second to do so undefeated (behind Seattle Slew, 1977). Neigh-sayers (I couldn’t resist) note that …
Read more
Read MoreI tend to use this headline to write about young men who have a disproportionate rage at the world and take it out on others as mass murderers, assassins, terrorists and serial killers. I’ve also written about a number of literary works that deal with such young men – Homer’s “The Iliad,” John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” among them.
But I think it is also an appropriate title for a post about the Lambda Literary Awards, which I attended Monday night at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts as a nominee. My book “The Penalty for Holding,” published by Less Than Three Press, the second novel in the series “The Games Men Play” was a finalist in the Best Bisexual Fiction category. (When I got the news, I had two thoughts: This must be an email for somebody else. And, were any of the characters in my book bisexual? It goes to show that the readers sometimes know more than the authors do.)
As I sat there, I had a feeling of disassociation. I didn’t know anyone …
Read more
Read MoreIn a 7-2 ruling, the United States Supreme Court has decided that Colorado baker Jack Phillips’ civil rights were violated when the Colorado Civil Rights Commission apparently “ridiculed” his religious beliefs for refusing to bake a gay couple’s wedding cake. It may seem that Phillips’ religious objections to gay marriage trumped David Mullins and Charlie Craig’s civil rights as a gay couple. But had the commission not gotten “hostile,” it might’ve gone the other way.
Here, however, is what the “offending” commissioner actually said …
Read more
Read MoreIn my guise as editor in chief of WAG magazine, I had a pleasure of sharing a moment with Ashley Judd on the red carpet of the Greenwich International Film Festival (GIFF) in Connecticut Friday night. She is an exquisite-looking woman who is, more important, exquisite in her manners and manner. I began by thanking her for her work as one of the leaders of #MeToo and asked her if she thought that this time, the response to the sexual harassment women have suffered would really be different.
It already is, she said, and the result will be an improvement not only in the lives of women but of men as well. …
Read more
Read MoreABC, which is owned by Walt Disney, cancelled “Roseanne” immediately after star Roseanne Barr tweeted that Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, was the progeny of the Muslim Brotherhood and “Planet of the Apes.”
One poster on The New York Times’ website suggested that Barr was riffing on the political commentary offered by the movie. But racists have been comparing blacks to apes for centuries. Barr has built her career on what can only be called white trash humor. Somehow I don’t think she was aiming for political allegory. …
Read more
Read More