"The guru always said that pain is a gift." I was sitting cross-legged on the floor of a farmhouse in upstate New York, the main house of an ashram I'd frequented for years. It was a familiar place: the dim lights, the incensed air, the walls lined with framed and...

A puzzling thing happened to me recently. Though I'm hesitant to write about it, I've decided to because I believe that it is through sharing we can best help one another feel a little less alone. And there are times in all our lives when we feel desperately isolated: behind...

As the health care debate continues in Washington and those of us who still hope for a public option (indeed a single-payer plan) find our dreams being crushed by the jaw-like machinery of the health insurance lobby, I'm forced to recall my personal saga with for-profit health insurance.
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On Wed. May 13, Craigslist announced that it will shut down its erotic services section, marking the end of an era. With the negative publicity generated by the Craigslist Killer and a stampede of outraged attorney generals calling for its demise, Craigslist Erotic Services will be no more. This is...