Volume V, Issue 2

January 1, 2013 was the 19^th anniversary of the first public appearance of the EZLN, the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, in 1994. From late in the night of December 31, 2012, thousands of families arrived, carrying food, blankets and supplies, in the Zapatista town of Caracol de Oventic to celebrate the day.

Caracol is the Spanish word for the shell… full story HERE »

In recent installments of this series, we have employed the metaphor of horse racing’s Triple Crown to describe the challenges faced by the Affordable Care Act. The ACA, known perhaps more widely as ObamaCare, became law in 2010, but in many ways it has faced even greater challenges over the past twelve months. The first test… full story HERE »

Captain’s Log, Stardate 050511.1. Primary Alpha One, Preparatory Exercises for the Newtral Zone War — My suspicion has grown that the other officers on this training mission may actually be insane. Don’t they understand that our prime directive is to determine the fittest, most square-jawed leader in our coming battle with the rebellious Admiral Gingrich? The… full story HERE »

Well after midnight in the early hours of November 7, 2012, President Barack Obama strode on stage at McCormick Place in Chicago. America’s First Lady was radiant. Their daughters, having grown so much and so beautifully in four years, joined them with grace and poise. His audience, representing the new diversity of the nation, felt relief…. full story HERE »

NAKED DINNER

Years ago I was walking the streets of New York City with my youngest sister, when she said “Let’s have fish for dinner.”

I was in my early thirties. She was 15 years my junior and had come in from the suburbs where we both grew up.

“Sounds good,” I said.

I grabbed her hand and we… full story HERE »

John Colella, my best friend, died five years ago this December. He was 42 years old at the time, and I remember simply not being able to process the information when my father called with the news. My dad might as well have told me that he’d just cancelled the family subscription to the color blue… full story HERE »

The impact of violence is usually calculated by the number of deaths per every 100,000 inhabitants. Those merely wounded by gunfire rarely make the headlines. The news often reports on how a bullet ends a life, but seldom on how one can change a life forever.

In Guatemala, nearly 4,500 people were wounded by gunfire in 2011… full story HERE »

… full story HERE »

In late May of this year, I sat on the back deck of my family home in Upstate New York with my brothers and some old friends. Everyone was there for a backyard barbeque, something we only get to do once or twice a year anymore. Brother Ed’s toddlers, the twins, were playing with trucks, being… full story HERE »

The Surly Bartender has spent far too little time slinging mezcal and far too much time watching CNN International in the past few weeks and he has one burning question: Am I the only one who finds CNN International to be physically painful to watch? It’s like resting your eyeballs on a bed of nails while some… full story HERE »