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At the beginning of the Passover Seder, shortly after the introduction and blessings, we hold up the matzoh and issue the invitation, “All who are hungry, let them come and eat. All who are in need, let them come to celebrate Passover.” It is a powerful call, one that resonates with the Jewish sense of “tikun olam”–healing the world–and our own historical memory of what it was like to lack sufficient food.
Imagine if we stopped for a minute and truly thought about all those who die from malnutrition every day. Currently, in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa, an estimated one million children stand on the brink of severe acute malnutrition. Inadequate rain, poor harvests and rising food costs have left children vulnerable and weak.
Not just in the Sahel, but in Somalia and across the Horn of Africa, malnutrition and disease have taken the lives of tens of thousands of

“They welcomed the message very eagerly
and examined the scriptures every day
to see whether these things were so”
–Acts 17:11
As we make our way toward the 2012 elections, many feel tossed to and fro by often contradicting claims about what the Bible says on this or that political issue. Most people just don’t know the Bible well enough to say whether these claims are right, wrong, correct, incorrect or a matter of interpretation. On top of that, political Bible talkers on the campaign trail rarely cite chapter and verse, making it tough for us to check them out for ourselves. The Bible is a powerful weapon that has been wielded for good and for ill throughout American

My mother insisted I have drapes made. They got hung while I was at work and I rushed home as soon as I could leave the office to see how they looked because I’m 50 years old and have never before had real drapes. I was either too broke or still in my wanna-be bohemian stage to consider properly covering the windows. But my mother kept pushing, said she had the perfect decorator and then offered up the

I read an article in the New York Times last week about a convoy of people in the States who are eschewing Smartphones. It was written by journalist Teddy Wayne. And yes, instead of iPhones or Blackberries or watchamacallits, Wayne reports that many folks he’s talked to recently have bought old-fashioned cell phones that do two simple things: make calls and receive them. And boy, are these people happy about it.
For a long time the idea of an old-fashioned cell phone has been sounding like a big relief to

In 1957 real men didn’t wear earrings or beaded necklaces or jeans that showed off the bottom of their butt crack while they were standing up. Dear God! Grandmothers didn’t wear funky T-shirts and tight blue jeans, and they wouldn’t be caught dead without white gloves at church on Sunday. Their fashion statement had to do with plain-weave cotton fabric dresses. (Despite June Cleaver and Harriet Nelson wearing pearls as fashion accessories, most housewives and grandmothers did not wear pearl necklaces Monday through Saturday while vacuuming and washing dishes by hand.)
Today, in 2012, modern grandmothers make their own fashion

It may still be possible to imagine a just political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But, in the real world, politics is not the work of our imagination. Rather it is about power, those who have it and how they use it. Politics, at the end of the day, is not about what we hope for or what we believe is

I’m a product of the 50′s. A boomer. When I was a kid, my Dad, Mom, sisters and I packed ourselves into the wood paneled Mercury for the annual summer road trip. My father refused to fly, so sans seatbelts or air conditioning, we cruised around the western

On February 20, 1962, John Glenn’s spacecraft landed in the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos. Glenn liked the sleepy islands so much that he returned to spear fish and scuba dive. He returned for the same reason I decided to go, the vibrant life in the water.
Stand up Paddle Boarding in Turks & Caicos (Photo courtesy of Big Blue Unlimited)
Alright, I had a few motivations Glenn didn’t: Go stand up paddle boarding, kayak and snorkel, stay at a great resort and have soothing

I think I had more fun in New Orleans than any city I’ve visited in the USA. While full of tourists, it’s also bursting with culture and a contagious love of life that seems to thrive oblivious to its many visitors. At the airport, volunteers slip the famous bead necklaces over your head, like a lei in Hawaii, and greet you with “Laissez les bons temps rouler” — Cajun for “Let the good times roll.”
I was having a long-overdue father-daughter rendezvous with Jackie as a kind of pre-graduation party weekend (she finishes up at Georgetown University this May). Neither of us had been in New Orleans before, so it was all equally new.
New Orleans–a great place for a father-daughter getaway.
Canal Street, famous as “the widest street,” separates the high-rise modern city from the delightfully characteristic, grid-planned French

Spring has sprung and that means Easter is upon us. While it may not mean gifts under the tree, we believe it brings something arguably better — Easter Brunch. Who doesn’t love the combo of booze and food on a Sunday afternoon? And when it’s in the name of all that is holy — well, that’s just an extra perk! A chic hotel is often just the place to find a perfect Easter brunch spread, so check out our slideshow of the top ten hotel Easter brunches and dig in.
–Jane Reynolds
Atrio at Conrad Hotel in Miami
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Atrio at Conrad Hotel in Miami, Florida
On the Menu: This Easter Sunday, Atrio at the Conrad Hotel will be serving up breakfast classics — pancakes, waffles, and eggs — with a gourmet twist.
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Source:Associated Press
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LOS ANGELES — Goran Dragic had 26 points and 11 assists, Luis Scola scored 10 of his 25 points during a 2:39 span of the fourth quarter, and the Houston Rockets capitalized on the ejection of Andrew Bynum to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-107 on Friday night.The Lakers were trailing 80-75 when Bynum took exception to a foul by Samuel Dalembert with 1:18 left in the third quarter and had to be restrained by teammates, earning a technical foul. He got another one with 11:17 left in the game after hitting a hook shot and mouthing off to the Houston bench on his way downcourt.Bynum finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes, after scoring 36 points against the Clippers despite a sprained left ankle.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The

Links:Full news story
Source:espn.go.com

Good Friday: Reliable Narrators
“…all the ends of the earth shall remember”–Psalm 22:27
On October 11th and October 13th, I can tell you what was going on at 10:45am and 8:30am, and on December 18th at 1pm, the days I first held my children. I recall these days, hours well, who was there, how it felt. They are indelibly inked in my brain, on my soul.
As love has the capacity to take us to the mountain tops, so it can take us to deep ravines,
like the week in February when my infant son was hospitalized with RSV, a virus
coating his lungs like tar, making it hard for him to breathe. His lungs eventually cleared, but not before we’d met and gotten to know the entire respiratory staff at the

This week people around the world celebrate Easter, remembering an event that is holy in the belief structure of most Christians. What some churches fail to illustrate is that the Easter narrative is to be understood as more than a miracle of resurrection. Easter, when viewed as a historical event, fueled an entire movement to rebel against the Roman Empire, as well as against the dominant religious structure of that day. Easter provided for the poor and oppressed communities of the 1st century the hope they required to change their worldview and ultimately the world

This week people around the world celebrate Easter, remembering an event that is holy in the belief structure of most Christians. What some churches fail to illustrate is that the Easter narrative is to be understood as more than a miracle of resurrection. Easter, when viewed as a historical event, fueled an entire movement to rebel against the Roman Empire, as well as against the dominant religious structure of that day. Easter provided for the poor and oppressed communities of the 1st century the hope they required to change their worldview and ultimately the world

New York’s war over fracking is lurching toward the state Court of Appeals, where it will languish for the best part of two years to little purpose because everyone involved expects the ball to be lobbed to the state Assembly for clarification after the decision is handed down.
Along the way, the entire thing has gotten so tangled in left/right politics, apocalyptic rhetoric, demonized opponents, shout-down meetings, and two sets of facts that it’s almost impossible for the sides to talk to each other, or, for that matter, anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
Want irony? The sides have swapped political turfs; the politically conservative industry and its supporters are standing for a strong central government, and the people they call a bunch of outsider, tree-hugging hippies want home rule — local control and government devolution.
In a shocking development, things have gotten testy.
Thomas S. West, for instance, a genial and talented lawyer quarterbacking the industry’s legal team, says “The people opposed to drilling will use any tool to their hand to win. They don’t care about the ideological implications.”
Replies Henry Cooper Jr,, a prominent anti-fracker: “I don’t see why the oil and gas industry should not be subject to local control, like all other

Last Sunday night at Sun Life Stadium, I attended Wrestlemania 2012 with my wife and 13-year-old daughter.
To be honest, I was not thrilled at all about shleping an hour down and back on a Sunday night to watch the WWE event — usually I can’t endure watching more than 15 minutes of the fake wrestling on television before I switch the channel or walk out of the room.
I reluctantly bought the tickets after making the very stupid mistake of telling my daughter, an avid WWE and John Cena fan, a week before that it was taking place a mere 51 miles away. For days, I endured an unrelenting barrage of teenage begging and whining (“We never do anything really fun”) until I finally gave in to her on Friday night.
My cynicism was misplaced. It turned out that the WWE presents an amazing show that is true Americana, full of spectacular displays of showmanship, pyrotechnics, and patriotism.
During the show, I made some other observations about the experience which I would like to share with you:
Arrival at stadium: Forty bucks for

Source:Associated Press
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MIAMI — Rudy Gay scored 17 points, Zach Randolph had 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, and the Memphis Grizzlies put seven players in double figures to snap Miami’s 17-game home winning streak by beating the Heat 97-82 on Friday night.Mike Conley and Marreese Speights each scored 15, Gilbert Arenas had 12 and Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo each added 10 for the Grizzlies, who have won six of their last eight games.LeBron James finished with 21 points, six assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who never led and failed in a bid to match the franchise’s longest home win streak, set in the 2004-05 season.Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, Chris Bosh added 19 and Terrel Harris scored 10 for Miami, which last lost at home on Jan. 22 to Milwaukee.It was the second time in two weeks that Memphis got seven players into double figures. Another good sign for the Grizzlies: Arenas had been 3 for 13 from 3-point range in his first six games with Memphis, but was 4 for 5 on Friday.Miami (39-15) fell three games behind Chicago (43-13) in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat have 12 games left, the Bulls have 10, and the teams go head-to-head twice more before the postseason begins.Memphis came into the night only two games out of fourth in the Western Conference, and coach Lionel Hollins talked beforehand about the importance of getting sharper heading into the postseason.His team must have listened, because it came out flying.The Grizzlies forced 11 turnovers in the first quarter — Miami’s most in a quarter since Feb. 14, 2006 — and led 25-12 behind nine points from Gay. By halftime, the lead was 48-32, the second-lowest scoring first half for the Heat since the first game of the Big Three era, the opener at Boston last season.Just about every number imaginable for the Heat in the early going was bad.Wade missed two dunks in the first half, shooting 1 for 7. Midway through the second quarter, Bosh was shooting 4 for 5 and Harris 2 for 2 off the bench — while everyone else in a Miami uniform was shooting 1 for 17 at that point. And the Heat finished the half shooting 33 percent, dropping them to 38 percent in their last eight quarters, all at home.There were chances in the third for Miami to get the lead into single digits, all of them thwarted.The first one came when Conley stole the ball from Mario Chalmers, a sequence capped by Quincy Pondexter getting a dunk. And then about 3 minutes later, Miami endured maybe its most frustrating possession of the night.James spun and tried a left-handed layup with 4:25 left in the third, the ball rimming out but Miami’s possession extended when Joel Anthony was fouled going for the rebound. James then attacked the lane for a jumper that missed, with the Heat getting that rebound as well and Harris finding James underneath the rim.His layup — his third shot of the possession — came up short, a microcosm of Miami’s night.Arenas’ fourth 3-pointer of the night came with 9:40 left, giving the Grizzlies an 81-64 lead. Conley stretched the lead to 86-66 with another 3-pointer midway through the fourth, and after James grabbed his hand in pain after Miami thought he got fouled, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra picked up a technical foul in frustration.Game notes Memphis’ 13-point edge was the biggest lead by a visitor in Miami after the first quarter since San Antonio led 29-14 after the opening 12 minutes at the Heat on March 16, 2010. … Memphis guard Tony Allen was not with the Grizzlies, out because of a facial laceration suffered in Dallas on Wednesday night. … Harris, who has impressed the Heat of late, got first-quarter minutes for just the third time this season.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The

Links:Full news story
Source:espn.go.com

Let’s see, where to begin?
We’ll get to that provocative title in the Talking Points section, never fear. I felt the need for a sort of a rant this week, as well as a little humor to open it up with. Truth be told, I’ve been in a humorous mood all week, as evidenced by my column casting the Republican primary race so far as a climb up the polling mountain range. I think it’s the spring weather or

In their defense, I was a miserable baby.
You see, I cried. Not merely when I was hungry or tired or soiled or generally displeased about the inaccessibility of my favorite small toy animal, a wide-eyed tiger. No, I had colic: intense and frequent crying, nay screaming, doubled down with irritability, sleeplessness and a vigorous inability to be soothed by any of the arrows in the slightly uneasy new parents quiver.
And it was the

Getting an email from Larry Kramer saying he’s disappointed in you is like having your own personal Judgment Day, and God is not amused.
What got Mount Kramer rumbling was my online comments about New York Times columnist Frank Bruni’s recent article on AIDS reporter David France’s forthcoming documentary about the AIDS protest group ACT UP, How to Survive a Plague. Here is what I wrote:
Kramer didn’t like my assessment that ACT UP’s glory days had waned by the early ’90s and that the group’s “power” was in its ability to grab media attention rather than in what is typically seen as “political” power, in the sense of raising money or delivering votes to influence legislation. He implied that perhaps the group, formed in response to his March 1987 speech at the New York Gay and Lesbian Community Center, hadn’t waned after all.
Marking the 25th anniversary of that speech and the formation of the original ACT UP chapter in New York, perhaps those glory days seem like yesterday, which is understandable. But I reminded Kramer that my assessment of the group’s unraveling was based in part on a 1995 interview with him, when he lamented that ACT UP had been taken over by those he called “the crazies.”
Even ACT UP members thought Kramer himself had gone off the track in 1990, when he called for a riot during the international AIDS conference in San

To American ballet fans younger than 35 or so, Sylvie Guillem is a mythical creature. We missed her years as the star of first the Paris Opra Ballet and then the Royal Ballet. Later, when she stepped sideways into contemporary dance, her concerts rarely made it across the Atlantic.
But we all feel we know her

AfterEllen.com is Logo’s site for lesbians and bisexual women in entertainment and media, which means we pride ourselves on knowing all kinds of Sapphic pop culture facts. Each week we’ll share some of the best tidbits on HuffPost Gay Voices in our new series, “Best Lesbian Week Ever.”
Here’s who and what was on our raging gay radar this week.
Rachel Maddow’s press tour: With the publication of her first book (and number-one New York Times bestseller) Drift, the out talk show host has been on everything from The Daily Show to Howard Stern this week, discussing things from the U.S. military (what her book’s about) to her “gold-star status.” The latter was the topic of discussion with Howard Stern, who told Rachel he surmised she’d never slept with a man. As for Rachel, she told Howard it was none of his

James Stewart has doubled down on his infatuation with Paul Ryan. Ryan’s budget, he says, is a viable centrist starting point for budget negotiations, and attacks from “left and right” are mere “partisan rhetoric.”
This is several different kinds of crazy. First, Stewart repeats his belief that Ryan’s plan would increase taxes on investment income. But that belief has no basis other than Stewart’s own belief that it would be a good

I had the happiest baby you ever saw. Through painful ear infections, baby Will smiled and laughed so much that the doctor’s office called him “Happy Baby.” When my beloved son, at the age of 4, told me that something had gone wrong in my belly and that he was supposed to be a she, I assured him that he was wrong. His dad and I were worried about his safety; our child was so very feminine in expression. We took him to a psychologist, who encouraged us to reward “boy” play and actively discourage “girl”