Browsing: Opinions

       As the sun sets on another vibrant summer in Fort Lauderdale, the shimmering waters of our pools and beaches begin to quiet. But for student athletes across the city, the end of summer should not mean the end of swimming. In fact, it’s the perfect time to dive in with renewed purpose. Cross-training in swimming isn’t just a smart move for athletic performance, it’s a life-saving decision that directly impacts the health, confidence, and survival of our youth.

       I’ve been pondering past decisions I’ve made in this life of mine – decisions of enormous impact, decisions that created my future, essentially out of the blue. Forty-nine years ago, for instance, I moved from rural, southwest Michigan to . . . ta da . . . Chicago. I’d been a back-to-the-lander for the previous four years, having transformed with many of my fellow boomers from antiwar activist and hippie to planet-saving environmentalist. I was also married, but that marriage – numero uno – fell apart and I found myself, in my late 20s, with my entire future in my hands. I loved gardening. I’d been raising barred-rock chickens. Every spring we made maple syrup. On and on. Love the planet, man.

       The photos of skeletal children haunt me. At night when I close my eyes. At dawn when I rise. They should haunt us all – along with the unfathomable suffering the families of Gaza have endured over nearly two years of relentless bombings, forced relocation, war crimes, destruction of hospitals, targeting of doctors, ambulance drivers, and reporters.

       Despite real restrictions, Iranian women are far from powerless. In fact, they are among the most educated in the region, and in many cases, more educated than Iranian men. According to UNESCO and World Bank data, Iranian women have made up over 60 percent of university students in recent years, with female enrollment peaking at 70–75 percent in the early 2010s. Today, women account for the majority of graduates in medicine, engineering, and other STEM fields, and female youth literacy exceeds 98 percent. These are not signs of a population waiting to be saved, they are signs of a society where women, despite legal and cultural restrictions, have carved out powerful spaces for agency, knowledge, and resistance. Iranian women have been at the forefront of political protests, student movements, and intellectual life for decades. They do not need Western armies to “liberate” them. What they need is global solidarity that respects their voice and autonomy, not airstrikes framed as feminist interventions.

     When he posted on October 25, 2023, he also shared video of Gaza, in three weeks of bombardment the devastation was already unfathomable. He condemned what was happening but noted the absence of vocal opposition. Some 21 months later children in Gaza are starving to death, the war and restrictions on aid have had predictable consequences. Children die when they don’t have food and water. Yesterday, as I write (July 28th), the AP reported on a 5-month-old girl who was 6.6 pounds when she was born but 4.4 when she died.

        I grew up poor, that is, American poor. I fantasized about food at night–mashed potatoes, buttery dinner rolls, raspberry cheesecake. I would wake up and imagine a breakfast–strawberry waffles with whipped cream, cold orange juice–then, talk myself toward accepting what I knew was there–toast with peanut butter and usually, milk. My dad did not tolerate ungratefulness. 

    Political instability is often best captured through metaphors. Today, America’s democracy isn’t facing some distant threat—it’s already caught in a storm. Like a house in the storm’s path, Democracy—our House of Cards—is in immediate peril. Merriam-Webster defines a house of cards as “a structure or situation that is unstable and likely to collapse.” That’s exactly what democracy becomes when its core institutions are undermined.

Nunnie on the Sideline

Democratic Mayors Can Show Our Party How To Win Working Class Voters Again

If you told me three years ago that I’d be traveling on behalf of a brand trip—for any company—I probably would’ve laughed. Especially for a well-known brand like SHEIN, a brand I actually shop with.