In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate auto emissions of carbon dioxide and o… Read More

On Friday, the Joes and I spent the day exploring Martha’s Vineyard. Readers of this blog will surely know that Joe and I go there often; it’s one of our favorite spots. What m… Read More

United States Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus today to discuss, among other things, Syria’s role in Iraq, its support of Palesti… Read More

Sowing the wind to reap the whirlwind Read More

Tomorrow night I’ll introduce my son to the Greek Orthodox tradition of dying eggs red (using onion skins) as part of the Easter celebration. Old-school Greek homes don’t usuall… Read More

Would someone please explain to me how the troop surge is supposed to secure Baghdad when we can’t even secure the Green Zone? Today’s blast wasn’t the first time the secu… Read More

Over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve been incensed by Bush’s incessant whining and tough-talking as part of his ongoing battle with the U.S. Congress over funding for the… Read More

I usually want to vomit when I read about insidious evangelical strategies to save the godless bastion of secular humanism otherwise known as Boston. But that wasn’t how I felt when I… Read More

Christine Bakke is a lesbian who was recently interviewed by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. On the show, she talked about her traumatic, disappointing, and often bizarre experience d… Read More

Last night I played Boggle with the Joes. Little Joe loves games. He wants every night to be game night, and we are happy to oblige if it means we can keep him from spending hours in front… Read More

In an appalling, but not at all surprising, change of heart, Rudy Giuliani announced this week that he opposes civil unions for same-sex couples. In response to New Hampshire’s immine… Read More

There’s an inescapable irony in being comforted by truly discomforting stories that serve to remind me that I’m not alone in worrying about the sort of things that could easily b… Read More

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been issued a subpoena to appear before House of Representatives’ Oversight and Government Reform Committee next month to testify about the Bush… Read More

A few weeks ago I posted about Reunion Christian Church and an article in the Weekly Dig about their uber-hip approach to saving your soul. Of course, they’re not the only ones trying… Read More

As soon as I read about the resignation of Randall Tobias (shown left with George W. Bush) last week, I immediately thought of Ted Haggard. Tobias was the U.S. State Department’s top… Read More

The story of Islam told by its most unlikely storytellers...Filmed in twelve different countries and in nine languages, A Jihad for Love is the first-ever feature-length documentary to explo… Read More

I don’t know if anyone else caught the Globe’s article on hookah smoking a couple of Sundays ago. The jist of the article was that health officials are becoming alarmed by the r… Read More

I love getting text messages from friends. This one came today from my friend J, just as the Joes and I arrived home after being in the car for three hours. It was just what I needed.Seven… Read More

Just when imbeciles and bigots thought it was safe to step outside, out of nowhere comes a piano and, WHAM, right on the head.Monica Goodling’s testimony before the House Judiciary Com… Read More

The Pink Ladyslipper, or Moccasin Flower, (Cypripedium acaule) is a wild orchid, native to many parts of the central and eastern United States as well as central and eastern Canada. I saw a… Read More

A few items from our Paschal table this past weekend. Joe and I didn’t host Easter this year like we did last year, so there was no lamb slowly turning on a spit in our yard. We did… Read More

It’s been so long since I posted, is anyone even reading this anymore? I have a few things to say, I guess, to those who continue to check in.First off, I’d like to offer my sin… Read More

I don’t know if anyone else caught Jeff Jacoby’s article “Look in the Mirror, Jimmy Carter” in today’s Globe. In it, Jacoby takes Carter to task for his recent… Read More

Thank you for your comments. They are much appreciated.There is a subtle distinction between my warning young people not to be taken in by the laid back, hip atmosphere of Reunion Christian… Read More

Something stinks in America’s armpit, and it’s the distinctive, rotten funk of inequality. Although New Jersey’s highest court ruled last October that the state’s co… Read More