‘Brain on Fire’: Autoimmune disease, not demon possession
Were the countless cases of “demonic possession” that have frightened people through history actually manifestations of a rare autoimmune disease with symptoms ranging from numbness, paranoia, and erratic behavior to hallucinations and catatonia? This was...What is a catheter and why is it stalking me?
I’m a political/news junkie who works from home, so the TV on my desk is often tuned to MSNBC. While Morning Joe, The Daily Rundown, Jansing & Co., Andrea Mitchell Reports, The Cycle and the rest are sweeping through the hours like the sun across the sky,...‘Argo’ (Ben Affleck movie, Best Picture of 2012)
Many people know something about the Iran hostage crisis, which began when the U.S Embassy in Tehran was stormed by angry Islamists on November 4, 1979. Fifty-two Americans inside it were then held hostage for 444 days, released only as Ronald Reagan was being sworn...‘Road to Nowhere’ (Monte Hellman movie, 2010)
If you’re acquainted with any wannabe filmmakers, you may know the agony of listening to people spout movie jargon and watching them direct scenes for films that can never amount to more than an indulgent mess of amateur acting, clumsy technique, and flawed...‘Morning Joe’: Chris Matthews nails Reince Priebus on racism
There was an unusually interesting moment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning. Hardball host Chris Matthews took on Kenosha, Wisconsin’s own Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, over Mitt Romney’s thinly veiled appeals to...Mitt Romney lying about balanced budget, taxes
Mitt Romney is lying. He and Paul Ryan teamed up for a joint town hall meeting on Monday at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Here is what Mitt Romney said to the more than 3,000 people who came to hear him: ” … raising taxes slows down...Honey Boo Boo on CNN with Brooke Baldwin, John Berman
Here’s a little TV moment that I’ll be reliving in nightmares for a while. Apparently, “Honey Boo Boo” is the nickname of Alana Thompson, the breakout star of TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras beauty pageant show who will now be featured in her...‘Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson
My sister recently gifted me with a copy of the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, published last year by Simon & Schuster. At 571 pages plus notes and index, it’s a hefty volume, and Isaacson’s plain and linear telling makes the book seem...‘To Kill a Mockingbird’: The book, the movie, the documentary
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’: The book, the movie, the documentary A little while back, one of the DVDs arriving in our mail from Netflix was Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird, the 2010 documentary which also aired on PBS’s American Masters...
