Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy festive holidays as much as the next person, but we eco-freaks can't help ourselves from sucking the fun out of things -- particularly when it comes to harming children.

Do you remember growing up and the only thing to worry about on Halloween...

Okay, okay, it's the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall. I have more pride than I know what to do with or where to put it. There are actually gay and lesbian scholars who are parsing every crumbling edition of Daughters of Belitis and The Mattachine Society and then there are even...

President Obama recently commended House Democrats for their "extraordinary progress" in their discussions on global warming and energy legislation now at the core of his national environmental plan claiming,

This is a major step forward in building the kind of clean energy economy that will reduce America's dependence on foreign...

"It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it."
~The Golden Girls

We all get one -- a mother that is -- and it's no surprise that Mother's Day is one of the most commercially successful of U.S. holidays.

What drives it? Is...

"Like the resource it seeks to protect, wildlife conservation must be dynamic, changing as conditions change, seeking always to become more effective." ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

As the recent PBS Frontline story, "Poisoned Waters" so vividly brought home, once pure and pristine, our extraordinary natural treasure of beautiful shorelines,...

March is when we welcome the first signs of spring -- fading winter; the sound of songbirds; the once bare, leafless branches hosting buds at the end of every twig; the overhead migration of ducks; and the smell of part rainfall, earth and ozone creating a scent that certainly defines...

"They have enough to deal with
without bearing the humiliation of having to wear last season!"
~A classic Absolutely Fabulous moment, when Edina refuses to give her Vivienne Westwood clothes away to the homeless.

Next to the faded glory of black and white Hollywood 30s and 40s celluloid...

N-e-s-t-l-e-s. Nestlé makes the very best - Green-washing!

In one way or another, I've been an environmentalist my entire life (born of Dutch immigrant parents who found a use and re-use for everything.) I've just completed my third book on 'clean living,' and have been blogging about the environment for...

Good old "Susie Homemaker," the iconic 1950s All-American housewife. Black and white TV images of her summon up fantasies of freshly baked apple pie and a gentle squeeze when you crawl into bed. She was the Stepford Wife image of perfection and the ideal stay-at-home wife and mother devoted to...

"L'enfer, c'est les autres."
("Hell is other people.")
--Jean-Paul Sartre

Regardless of the doctrine of "Separation between Church and State," faith has always been a guiding force in our nation's tradition. As a part of it, religion, and in particular, prayer is often offered at events -- Elk's...

Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Michael Bloomberg might each agree that with heightened concerns about drought and warnings of worldwide crop shortages due to rising temperatures, we need to put science first when dealing with climate change.

And to that list we might also include fellow eco-activists equally concerned...

In any theater or movie production, costume design goes hand-in-hand with good direction and help actors "get into their roles." In dramas, tragedies, comedies or musicals, the costumes communicate subliminally who the actors are supposed to be.

Take for instance Willie Loman's thread-bare suit in Death of a Salesman, Scarlet...

It's said that public speaking is one of the most common fears people have. We've all fumbled through a speech or lecture at some point (even if it was a First Grade book report in front of the class)...myself included. In my case, I consider it part of my heritage....

If our last president -- George Bush -- had said in his farewell speech, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" we might have thought he was actually having a moment of clarity and remorse. But unfortunately, these words are William Shakespeare's from Macbeth, and...

"From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men...

At this time of sluggish wages, massive unemployment, home foreclosures, global unrest, mass starvation, multiple genocides, and that ever-looming "Inconvenient Truth" about the state of our planet, is it any wonder that many feel that their personal notion of the American Dream is slowly slipping away? Long gone is the...

In some Christian practices, January 6th is celebrated as "The Epiphany," symbolized by the Three Wise Men delivering gifts to the Christ child 12 days after his birth. It's an opportunity, regardless of your faith, for a greater realization of our Universe and its current need for enlightened insights, increased...

As wisps of the white stuff fill the air and the sounds of Auld Lang Syne echo the memories of years gone by -- we all think forward in an attempt to create lasting New Year's Eve memories.

But while looking back we'll remember the visionless past administration attempting to...

Bowling shoes, golfing shoes, espadrilles, clogs.
Plain-toes, cap-toes, topsiders, Brogues.
Hiking boots, moccasins, loafers, mules.
Wing-tips, slingbacks, ballets dressed with jewels.
Platforms, sneakers, sandals or skates.
No matter what you call them,
they're footwear -- for goodness sake!
~Michael DeJong

Many different cultures,...

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." --Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta

At this time of year, Jewish folks the world over are preparing to celebrate Hanukkah, and have done so for...