Francesca Biller-Safran is an award-winning journalist, editorial writer and humorist. She has been published in The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, Interfaithfamily, The Jewish News Weekly of San Francisco, The Huffington Post, ColorsNW magazine, Salon.com, and many others. Safran is the recipient of The Edward R. Murrow Award, two Golden Mike Awards, two Society of Professional Journalism First Place Mark of Excellence Awards and the Los Angeles Press Club award for Excellence in Hard-News series reports and writing. She can be reached at reportersafran@gmail.com

Blog Entries by Francesca Biller-Safran

To My Fellow Jews, Stop Naming Diseases After Ourselves, Oy Veh!

1 Comments | Posted October 19, 2009 | 05:20 PM (EST)


As a half-Jew, I have heard first, second and seventeenth that we are at times thought of as anxious, neurotic and compulsive about things Gentiles would never ever give a second thought.

Can you imagine Clint Eastwood worrying whether it's more important should his mother attend her local socialist...

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Ten Ways to Sane in an Insane World

Posted October 2, 2009 | 11:38 AM (EST)


Like a lot of people today, you often probably feel anxious, nervous, scattered, overtired, manic, and stressed . . . and those are the good days.

Sure, there are moments when you may pause for a half-second with your vendi-trendy coffee and notice a bird in flight or the color...

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'How to Be Happy' and Stop Being Fearful

Posted September 15, 2009 | 02:36 PM (EST)


Woody Allen, worshiped by some and annoying to others for fearing everything but doing most of them anyway once said, "You can live to be a hundred and give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred."

On the other hand he commented,...

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Minorities and Health Care: What's the Real Story?

1 Comments | Posted September 2, 2009 | 04:11 PM (EST)


Ironically, the most thunderous vitriol about health care being spewed at town hall meetings across the country is both raged and waged by those already gainfully insured who can't bare the thought of sharing the pot with the poor and uninsured.

While health care is in need of radical reform...

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Camelot will never Die with the Lion's Roar

3 Comments | Posted August 28, 2009 | 12:52 PM (EST)


If Camelot is no longer, than what is this steady lion's roar still echoing the chorus of democratic integrity and robust might of the greatest Senator this country will ever know?

With the beautiful Kennedy brothers now all at rest, the high principles, steady hand and well-earned sweat of their...

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Anti-Aging Advice From a 96-Year-Old Hottie

6 Comments | Posted August 7, 2009 | 03:51 PM (EST)


"Don't spend a lot of time with old people, they just make you feel older," my 96-year old grandmother told me at our latest luncheon.

After finishing off a large Caesar Salad and her second glass of Ice Tea, she stood and pointed to her new three inch caramel-colored Ferragamo...

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Revolting Revelation: Michael Jackson Still Not Allowed Burial

54 Comments | Posted July 25, 2009 | 11:03 PM (EST)


It's been more than a month since Michael Jackson's demise and still no burial, cremation, resting place, or any manifestation of the pop psyche term "closure" for this fallen King of Pop.

What is unequivocally true is that the news media has continued their relentless, wretched assault against Jackson's very...

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Ten Things to Do if an Uninvited, Unexpected "Guest" Appears at your Door

1 Comments | Posted July 23, 2009 | 01:26 AM (EST)


1. Always have what I call the U.G.B. handy, which stands for Unwanted-Guest-Basket. This way you can yell at your uninvited guest through your locked door (of course!) and wait three minutes while you throw miscellaneous clutter from each room into the basket. Remember unexpected guests are often nosy...

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Allow Jackson Family to Grieve before Media Circus continues Freak Show

14 Comments | Posted July 8, 2009 | 05:23 PM (EST)



From the very instant we learned of Michael Jackson's death, and before he was finally allowed to rest in peace, if only for a brief moment, the leering lens of media coverage on his life has relentlessly focused on the bazaar, freak-like image that the press has assured...

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Latest Articluate Palinisms, "Golly Gee"

2 Comments | Posted July 7, 2009 | 02:21 PM (EST)


I have to be honest with y'all just why I'm stepping down as Governor. I'm in love with a moose and realized it when I just couldn't blast him to pieces with my new Smith and Wesson. Alaska and my Russian neighbors will just have to understand. You're invited to...

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Jakson's Funeral won't Convince Fans he has Passed, Just like Elvis

Posted July 7, 2009 | 01:32 AM (EST)


As sure as the sun will rise and set tomorrow during Michael Jackson's fairy tale-like, surreal and massively-orchestrated funeral, thousands of fans around the world will claim he is not really dead after all.

Whether or not he will be displayed Snow-Whitish within a glass coffin lead by pristine white...

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Jackson Funeral Won't Convince Followers He Is Dead

3 Comments | Posted July 6, 2009 | 07:48 PM (EST)


As sure as the sun will rise and set tomorrow during Michael Jackson's fairy tale-like, surreal and massively-orchestrated funeral, thousands of fans around the world will claim he is not really dead after all.

Whether or not he will be displayed Snow-Whitish within a glass coffin lead by pristine white...

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Palin to Marry Moose and other Intellectual Pursuits

3 Comments | Posted July 6, 2009 | 03:56 PM (EST)


Breaking News: Palin's Remarks at Second Press Conference not yet Broadcast

I have to be honest with y'all just why I'm stepping down as Governor. I'm in love with a moose and realized it when I just couldn't blast him to pieces with my new Smith and Wesson. Alaska and...

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Fourth of July "Truly" Patriotic and Politically Significant for African-Americans

3 Comments | Posted July 4, 2009 | 04:14 PM (EST)


Fireworks this Fourth of July will glow brighter for many African-Americans who may not have not truly felt the authentic, honest brand of patriotism they now feel since Barack Obama's election.

This may be just another holiday for some to get together while viewing the bombs bursting with glare; Americana...

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Fireworks Brighter for Blacks this Fourth of July

2 Comments | Posted July 3, 2009 | 06:20 PM (EST)


As a person of mixed race, I have had many blacks since Obama's election confide in me with comments along these lines, "We finally have a brother in the White House, and that's more than I ever thought would happen."

An African-American friend who manages a local grocery store still...

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Jackson's Death Means We're All Older Now and Need to Sober Up

3 Comments | Posted June 30, 2009 | 12:35 AM (EST)


The passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett has hit us near-baby boomers and full-on baby boomers with a rock and roll punch to the gut we weren't ready for.

We were the generation who was going to live forever, immortalized with youthful hip-ness, and mastered knowing how to be...

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A Parent's Responsibility to be Happy First

1 Comments | Posted June 26, 2009 | 04:44 PM (EST)


One of the greatest lessons a child can learn in order to grow into a healthy and happy adult is that they are indeed not the center of the universe, whether it be the universe of their parents, or that of their own making.

A generation ago, children felt loved...

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Michael and Farrah's Passing a Death of Our Childhhood

112 Comments | Posted June 25, 2009 | 10:05 PM (EST)


With the deaths of Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and David Carradine, it feels as though a large part of the 1970's has died right along with them, making those of us old enough to remember them feel as though a part of our culture and childhood is gone forever.

Barely...

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A Dad's Male Influence Important for Us All

3 Comments | Posted June 21, 2009 | 04:46 PM (EST)


Fathers matter more than ever, and anyone who doubts their importance has inevitably endured life without one.

Even feminist Gloria Steinem said, "Most American children suffer too much mother and too little father."

The politically correct modern notion is that as long as a child is healthy and loved, it...

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Fathers Matter "Now" More Than Ever

4 Comments | Posted June 19, 2009 | 05:47 PM (EST)


Fathers matter more than ever, and anyone who doubts their importance has inevitably endured life without one.

Even feminist Gloria Steinem said, "Most American children suffer too much mother and too little father."

The politically correct modern notion is that as long as a child is healthy and loved, it...

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