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The council of foreign relations is the nickname we have given the weekly meeting between my three very hip, very cool daughters and their very unhip, uncool dad. Once a week, school or business is torpedoed and we meet in a restaurant (I have a fourth daughter, but at 14 months she would destroy any restaurant because she has more destructive moves than Jackie Chan and is way faster).
About a year ago, my mother, their grandmother, the infamous Miriam Weinstein, decided to drop by. Miriam of course, is the one we named Miramax after. By the way, when Disney kept the name Miramax, I always thought my mom was going to take on Michael

There are those of us of a certain age and generation, probably not too many now, who still wonder whether the assassination of John Kennedy marked a turning point not only in American politics but in America itself. We will never know. But it does seem, looking back over the half century, that we, and our politics, have become narrower, angrier, less giving, less civic minded, certainly less optimistic.
All this came to mind when Tom Wicker died yesterday. He was a young reporter who covered the assassination for the New York Times and thereafter rose to become one of its best known

I woke up this morning early to get ready to take my son to play in the third round of a tennis tournament, thinking that would be the big sports story of the day for us. Here’s a playlist for everybody out there with a “Baketball Jones.” As always, please take your shots below.
BASKETBALL JONES – Cheech & Chong
PLAY THE GAME – Queen
IT’S NO GAME (PART ONE) – David Bowie
SHOOTING HOOPS – G.
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Unlike Halloween, it’s not about dressing up in costumes (which my best friend Jen and I do all the time; we don’t need an excuse). Unlike Christmas/Hanukah, it isn’t about gifts and shopping. It’s simply about expressing gratitude.
A recent article in The New York Times points to a growing mountain of research supporting the idea that gratitude is good for

The experience of losing something we value is a part of life no one can escape from. Loss has many shapes and forms, it could be a relationship that comes to an end, a loved one dies, a break up comes, children leave or any other sort of transition that brings about a feeling of loss. When a feeling of loss happens, learning to cope is essential to be able to bounce back. When we lose something, we go through a period of grieving process which can generally start with denial and then go to feelings of anger, sadness and then

Flow — the mental state of being completely present and fully immersed in a task — is a strong contributor to creativity. When in flow, the creator and the universe become one, outside distractions recede from consciousness and one’s mind is fully open and attuned to the act of creating. There is very little self-awareness or critical self-judgement; just intrinsic joy for the task. Since flow is so essential to creativity and well-being across many slices of life — from sports to music to physics to religion to spirituality to sex — it’s important that we learn more about the characteristics associated with flow so that we may all learn how to tap into this precious mental resource.
But who enters flow? What are these lucky folks like? Recent research shows that people differ quite a bit from each other in the frequency and intensity of their flow

There are two support patterns that help to structure our lives–routine and ritual, and they are not the same. Routine means habits that give form to our daily lives–brushing our teeth, changing our underwear, eating at specific times, making appointments. Routine requires discipline, and it begins very early. It sustains us as we

I listened to music on October 18, 2011, and I liked it.There’s only one reason for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I mean it’s fun dressing up in a costume and getting candy and having dinner with family, but Christmas is my favorite time of year. The idea of people actually trying to be nice to each other and giving (and receiving) gifts just brings joy to my heart. The only thing I love more than Christmas and Nancy Drew books is Christmas

For more than a century the creation vs. evolution debate has raged in numerous countries, nowhere more strongly than in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its sensationalist forms are fodder for the media: the Scopes “Monkey Trial” in 1925, the Arkansas trial of 1981, the “Intelligent Design” notion, the “Young Earthers” and the continuing controversy over what to teach in schools. Science friction.
While science and religion operate with different methods, criteria, aims and subject matter, neither has to dominate the

Egyptians from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and religions are back on the streets protesting in a manner that is capturing international attention.
Almost a year ago, Egyptians took the streets and, in a surprising and inspiring manner, overthrew Mr. Hosni Mubarak who had presided over them for thirty years. In the process, they dismantled many institutions and a governance system whose primary purpose had gone from serving the nation to prolonging a tired and increasingly ineffective regime.
Empowered by a new-found ability to better control their destiny, Egyptians turned to the one trusted institution — that of the armed forces, led by a “Supreme Council.” Across the nation, this institution was deemed both credible and critical for guiding the country’s delicate transition from a de facto dictatorship to a democracy.
Work began on the formation of political parties, the drafting of a constitution, and the holding of free and fair elections for parliament and the presidency. Expectations were high, not only politically but also on the socio-economic

I was sent by Al Gore’s 1988 presidential campaign to coordinate an event in Ohio towards the end of Gore’s candidacy.
After it ended, I gave Tom Wicker a drive to the airport.
Turns out he was a close friend of Harvey Sloane, who had run for governor (and later senator) in Kentucky and we had a number of common friends.
We talked far more candidly than a journalist and campaign staffer should but I got his insights on a variety of campaigns and candidates going back to John

Today is Black Friday: the biggest damn shopping day of the year. It’s the horrific occasion where families line up at 4am in front of Walmart — and other big-box stores — with dreams of netting a $20 savings on a flat-screen TV. It’s a sad mirror held up to our nation’s current economic condition, in a a pale, twisted version of the American Dream gone bad.
Violence is always bound to erupt on Black Friday, with the worst of humanity shining through at the kick off to the holiday season. With this antithesis of “peace on earth and good will to men,” you have to ask yourself: Is this what Jesus would have really wanted?
The corporations who own the big box stores have essentially turned the lower class into Pavlovian wild

As I write this on Thanksgiving weekend, I give thanks to the books that turn adolescent readers into adult readers. For me, it was one 19th-century novel by a woman, and one 20th-century novel by a man.
All of us who love books started with simpler fare. Perhaps it was Goodnight Moon, then The Cat in the Hat, and then kid-oriented novels such as Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine (about an early computer big enough to hold gazillions of smartphones!).
But by the time we reach our mid-teens, English teachers up the ante. Two books on their agenda when I was that age included Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath — both of which made me groan before I cracked their

For many of you, Cyber Monday has become the holy grail of holiday shopping. The coveted deals day that also allows you to be a smarter, greener shopper. For the most part, shopping online is smarter and greener, and a great way to finish up those holiday gifting loose ends you likely didn’t cover on Black Friday. Not to mention, shopping online can be a more relaxing and an eco-friendly experience.
Ensure your Cyber Monday shopping is as eco-friendly as possible by following these tips:

So, have you noticed Michele Bachman’s makeup recently? Very provocative. And her hair style? Very Hollywood. According to OpEdNews.com, Bachmann spent about $4700 on a makeover in June, presumably in anticipation of the June 13 Republican Faux Debate.
Now if she were to spend the same amount over the course of the 26 debates (and there’s no reason for her not to since she’s not in it to win it anyway) she will have spent a tidy $122,200 on her hair and her makeup

This weekend as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, it is difficult for those of us in the aid community not to think of the scarcity of food that grips much of the world. With a global recession underway and climate change affecting the way the rain falls and the sun shines, I find it increasingly difficult to sit at my comfy chair, rather than to go where people suffer through poverty and lack of basic services or a functioning government, to bring help — or hope.
But there is little hope I can bring to a world where tradition often trumps progress, and food scarcity is transcending from a scientific term to a tragic reality for more and more people. Today as water tables fall, soils erode and temperatures rise, world grain production has fallen short of consumption, and global grain prices have risen ever higher.
Governments of poorer nations, which often buy basic food supplies to subsidize their people’s nutrition, are paying record prices for food they practically give away as a government subsidy. The result is that they are willing to buy less and less of it, allowing their populations to suffer greater food shortages and more

It was a dispute that left scores dead. When in May 2008 the Lebanese government attempted to dismantle what it alleged was a Hezbollah espionage network at Beirut’s international airport, rival militias took to the streets of West Beirut and other parts of the country and reenacted a microcosm of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.
Although the fighting had been prefigured by months of political standoff, it demonstrated in the starkest possible manner Lebanon’s entrenched spying culture.
An issue that never really went away reared its head again this week, in two ways. Firstly, Hezbollah announced that it had “blinded” American intelligence operations, following the party’s apprehension of alleged CIA

It happens to every service member — usually in airports.
After a little more than two years of wearing this uniform, I still don’t quite know how to respond when a stranger walks up to me and says, “Thank you for your service.”
It’s a mixture of awkward gratitude. Awkward, because I don’t think what I’m doing is particularly notable. Sure, I’d die for my country, but is there any citizen, given the right set of circumstances, who wouldn’t?
Okay… don’t answer

Here are some questions for the Occupiers, the Tea Party demonstrators, the people engaged in the Arab Spring and those around the world who are too hungry, too tired, too discouraged or too occupied with basic survival to protest.
These are questions, too, for the young people who will inherit the future we are setting in motion today, and the elders who are concerned about the world they are leaving their grandchildren.
Most of us want things to be better. We don’t want the kind of world we’ll get if we allow global climate change, resource conflicts, resource constraints, environmental degradation, overwhelming population growth, helter-skelter urbanization, war, social injustice and other looming problems to go unaddressed.
We have a pretty good idea what we should avoid. But what should we build?
We have incredible technologies and tools today – arguably all we need to create communities that are resource efficient, resilient, safe and prosperous while treading lightly on the

Source:Associated Press
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BATON ROUGE, La. — Tyrann Mathieu channeled his best Billy Cannon and No. 1 LSU was on its way to another run-away victory in the biggest game at Tiger Stadium in half a century.Mathieu returned a punt 92 yards for a score and the Tigers punished third-ranked Arkansas with 286 yards rushing, wiping out a 14-point deficit with a 41-17 win Friday that secured a spot in the SEC championship.
SportsNation: Lock for New Orleans?
LSU still has to play Georgia, but is the nation’s No. 1 team already a lock for the BCS title game?• Cast your votes!
Kenny Hilliard, Spencer Ware and Jordan Jefferson all scored on the ground for LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC), which is 12-0 for the first time and will play No. 13 Georgia next weekend in Atlanta.A win over the Bulldogs would assure the Tigers their third trip to the BCS title game in nine seasons. Though at this point, LSU might be able to get there even if it loses.Arkansas took a surprising 14-0 lead on Tyler Wilson’s TD pass to Jarius Wright and Alonzo Highsmith’s 47-yard fumble return, but LSU stormed back by scoring 41 of the next 44 points in the game.The rivalry game known as the battle for “The Boot,” a trophy in the shape of Arkansas and Louisiana, marked the first time two teams ranked in the top three had met in Death Valley since 1959, when Cannon’s 89-yard punt return lifted No. 1 LSU to a 7-3 win over No. 3 Mississippi.Cannon also made a game-sealing tackle on defense late in that game. Mathieu, who was playing safety instead of cornerback much of the game because of Eric Reid’s injury the previous week, had defensive highlights of his own, forcing two turnovers with strips, one of which he recovered.He now has six forced fumbles this season. His fifth was a strip of running back Dennis Johnson in LSU territory late in the first half. That set up a touchdown drive that put the Tigers ahead to stay.LSU trailed 14-7 when Mathieu fielded Dylan Breeding’s end-over-end kick at his own 8, started left, made a hard cut straight up field, then angled left again to break into the clear.
SEC blog
ESPN.com’s Chris Low and Edward Aschoff write about all things SEC football in the conference blog.
More:
• ESPN.com’s DawgNation
• Blog network: College Football Nation
It was Mathieu’s third touchdown of the season, his second on special teams, the other coming on a fumble return.LSU’s defense sacked Wilson five times (twice by Barkevious Mingo) and picked him off once on Morris Claiborne’s team-leading fifth interception of the season.Two plays later, Jefferson ran 48 yards for his score on a quarterback draw that was wide open, making it 38-17.Wilson completed 14 of 22 passes for 207 yards, with 60 yards on a short pass that Cobi Hamilton turned into a long gain. The play put Arkansas in position to tie the game at 21, but LSU’s defense forced a field goal that made it 21-17, and the Razorbacks never got closer than that again.Jefferson was 18 of 29 for 208 yards and one touchdown, a 9-yard pass to Russell Shepard that gave LSU the lead for good at with 59 seconds left in the first half. His first interception of the season kept Arkansas in the game in the third quarter, but otherwise he was excellent.Hilliard finished with a career-high 102 yards rushing on 19 carries, while Michael Ford rushed 11 times for 96 yards.
Links:Full news story
Source:espn.go.com

While Egyptian political parties attempt to gain an edge in the growing vacuum of governance since the resignation of the interim cabinet, it is the people of Tahrir Square who are outmanoeuvring them to win the hearts and minds of the rest of the country.
There are four stories to be told in Tahrir: tear gas suffocation and death; extreme police brutality; incredible acts of sacrifice, and the foundation of a new social contract.
To some, the scenes broadcast through Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr or local networks might at first appear apocalyptic, but I think that is a bit too morose an analysis.
There are those who have told me in recent days that the country is being destroyed bit by bit. I disagree. What I have seen emerge from Tahrir and beyond is evidence that the country is being slowly reconstructed. Bit by bit.
Something remarkable happened in the past

Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man
The question is why the United States was even thinking of selling arms to Bahrain. The answer can be found in the fact that the United States is the number one arms supplier in the world and to maintain its status it cannot be judgmental about the conduct of its customers. If standards of conduct were the operable criteria, the United States’ customer base would be reduced if not eliminated. As it is, sales of arms simply jeopardize the lives of some who live in the customers’ countries as well as those with which they may come into armed conflict, conflicts that might not take place were the adversaries not armed by the United States and other weapons supplying

In the wake of the Congressional super committee’s collapse, we finally have consensus on both sides of the aisle: the lawmakers orchestrating the partisan drama are, behind the scenes, happy to collaborate on destroying economic security for all but the wealthiest Americans.
Though the debt hysteria made good political theater, the main immediate impact on the budget is simply to prolong the sense of doom hovering over struggling households. The budget problem those families face isn’t some theoretical future debt crisis but the possibility of losing unemployment checks when a year-end legislative deadline hits.
Federally funded unemployment benefits, which conservatives dismiss as a fluffy cushion for the shiftless poor, have been a lifeline for some 17 million Americans in the past three years. In addition to helping individual households pay their bills, the benefits have had a ripple effect on cities and towns battered by an anemic job market, “contributing nearly $180 billion in hard cash to those communities struggling with severe unemployment,” according to a report issued in October by the National Employment Law Project.
Those numbers of course didn’t get much airtime as super committee lawmakers grandstanded by slinging around proposed cuts to social programs and tax breaks for the rich. But if deficit-obsessed lawmakers actually examined the impact of unmployment insurance and other endangered assistance programs, they might start to understand how poverty and inequality is entrenched in America

Under the cover of darkness, the pop-pop of a two-stroke motorcycle engine burdened with 400 pounds of illegal livelihood emerges from a muddy path. Rey Gesta, an Agusan del Sur native, is bringing his latest batch of cut logs from the mountains to a storage facility.
Gesta is a woodcutter and hauler in this remote, landlocked region of the Philippines. The jobs are temporary and rely on contractors who manage everything from the hard labor in the forest to the transportation of the timber to a processing or distribution plant.
Gesta transports the timber from a path cut into the upland forests to his contractor’s small facility on a national highway. It is the first stop for the logs, which will await further processing from buyers.
Gesta works