Over the weekend, I was invited to a screening of a new, 11-part webseries, Dude, Where's My Chutzpah?, a one-woman circus (with a lot of help from her friends) by Jessie Kahnweiler, who wrote, directed, produced and stars in the series as...Jessie Kahnweiler.  The webseries will run on YouTube… Read full post »

There was a long, well-researched article on Friday in The Huffington Post that was sort of the opposite-Obama.  The point of it wasn't that there are people who won't believe a birth certificate about where someone was born, but rather that there are people who won't believe a death certificate… Read full post »

As mobile technology expands, so too does the need to run that technology.  And that can mean using a gobsmack lot of batteries, which can mean a gobsmack lot of money to replace.  As a result, a lot of people turn to rechargeable batteries as an alternative.

Perhaps the biggest problem over… Read full post »

A few years ago, I wrote an article explaining why I thought that legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller should be Kennedy Center Honorees.  A few days later, my phone rang and the voice on the other said, "Hi, is Robert there?  This is Mike Stoller."  It was a joyful… Read full post »

"I don't know about you, but watching anti-American globalists plot against our Constitution makes me sick."
-- Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on the U.S signing the United Nations' "Small Arms Treaty"

For once, I agree with Rand Paul.  He's right, he doesn't know about me.

Just so you understand, the Smal… Read full post »

For the February 18 issue of Time magazine, the publication fell all over itself and anointed a new head of the Republican Party.  The man who would lead the floundering and disjointed party out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.  It would be as if they thought him… Read full post »

The conservative National Review magazine has an amusing article about the far-right reincarnation of Joe McCarthy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), considering a run for the presidency.  It’s not intended to be amusing, I don’t think, but it is.  That is, if your definition of “amus… Read full post »

I spent enough of the past weekend watching the NFL Draft.  Wall-to-wall experts.  The commentators, analysts, former players, former coaches, drafted rookies, and more, far more, everyone had an opinion.  Everyone knew The Truth, at least for the weekend.  And it all put the spor… Read full post »

[This is a reprint of a column originally written in 2009.  And this year is the 10th anniversary of the actual event itself!  Some stories simply demand repeating.  Or better put, demand not being forgotten.  This is one of them.]
   
   
April 27, 2009

Oh, Say Ca… Read full post »

 

"I'm going to say there are more people like me who carry this card, and they're proud to have a card saying they support Second Amendment rights, who enjoy the rights I have as a United States citizen."

  -- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVA), on why he's not… Read full post »

If you'd turned on the news and saw wall-to-wall coverage about a fertilizer bomb that went off, killing at least 15 and injuring 150, you'd be horrified, and would completely understand every network reporting on it -- and only it -- all day.  Yet the explosion in Texas on Wednesday just…

Read full post »

"You know, folks mock Mitt Romney for what he said, but he's right. Forty-seven percent of American citizens pay zero in income taxes. It's just true,"
-- Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA)

So, you know that Republican Party "Growth & Opportunity" study that told themselves to be kinder and gentler because… Read full post »

Last Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke to students at Howard University.

"How did the Republican Party, the party of the great emancipator, lose the trust and faith of an entire race?", he asked.

The answer to Sen. Paul's question can actually be answered simply, with just one word.  And that… Read full post »

What with the new movie, Oz: The Great and Powerful out in the theaters, it got me thinking about The Song.  There have been a lot of wonderful interpretations of "Over the Rainbow," but this might be my favorite.  That's because it's done by someone who should know.  E.Y. "Yip" Harbur… Read full post »

One of the great things about reading history and remembering the past is that, as the famous quote suggests, you won't be condemned to repeat its mistakes.

Another is that you don't paint yourself in a fool's corner by getting your facts wrong and misinterpreting what actually happened.

But also, impo… Read full post »

My mother, Betty Lou, loved April Fools jokes.  This may not seem like a big deal, except that she didn’t really have a sense of humor.  I don’t mean that she wasn’t funny or want to like jokes.  Just that she didn’t have a “sense” of them.  Lik… Read full post »

From the Elisberg Industries Mailbag.  Letters We Get Letters.  The following was sent to me.  Really.

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Dear Answer Man,

Perhaps you can write me a column that will instruct me on what to say to my mother.  I was raised by my folks a die-hard liberal – JFK was their hero, the… Read full post »

A few weeks back, I got an email from my pal Bart Baker.  Bart is a wonderful writer, who's written several screenplays (most notably, Live Wire, with Pierce Brosnan), as well as a ton of TV movies -- including a series of Mother of the Bride romantic comedies.  He's also produced… Read full post »

"I think that is not a reasonable question."  
-- Richard Perle, architect of the Iraq War, to NPR's Renee Montagne question whether it was worth it.

So, let's see, there were 4,500 Americans killed, 32,000 Americans officially wounded, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead or wounded. And at a fi… Read full post »

On CNN's program, "The Lead," Wednesday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) was asked by host Jake Tapper what he thought about improving background checks for gun purchases.  The Speaker surprised audiences by replying, "They should actually do a real background check on everyone."Very im… Read full post »

 Yes, Virginia, there still is an iPod Touch

 At first glance, it might seem that the iPod touch today is an orphan.  It’s like an iPhone, but doesn’t have a phone.  It’s like a iPad, but doesn’t have that large display.  However, it not only still ex… Read full post »

"We do not have an immediate debt crisis"
-- Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) on ABC's "This Week"

I was going to write something about this on Monday, but I was only able to unclench my typing fingers just now. 

I almost got them relaxed enough when Mr.… Read full post »

At CPAC on Saturday, there were stories about the speech given by former half-term governor of Alaska Sarah Palin (R-AK-1/2).  I didn't read them because, well, honestly, I didn't care.  Ms. Palin has been a joke since she entered the national stage, and at this point she's an empty joke wi… Read full post »

I was watching the news the other day, seeing several more stories about how states are continuing to get around the legality of abortion.  Though abortion is legal, the states are writing laws to make the availability of abortion near impossible.  These could be from zoning laws, or code r… Read full post »

This is an article that I wrote for Open Salon almost two years ago, on May 5, 2011.  Given that today is International Women's Day, I thought it was appropriate to post here again in honor of the occasion.  (It was that, or buy a cake for everyone.)  It's also worth… Read full post »