The first point I'd like to touch on is the idea that the Middle East is a culturally violent place that can be made less violent by bombing it. The first problem with this is that bombing places makes them more violent, not less. Nobody is shocked or awed into nonviolence, not 14 years ago and not for the past century. The second problem is that the Middle East's violence cannot be compared with that of other cultures without figuring out how to factor out the influence of the West. A hundred years ago, Britain and France carved up Western Asia, and not to spread democracy.

Liberals in the United States are relatively educated, yet extremely inarticulate when it comes to Trump, his budget proposal, or the U.S. military.

There was something delightfully refreshing about the March 23 champagne gala at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood that kicked off the 24th annual Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival. This brainchild of LAWTF co-founder and President Adilah Barnes places groups that the entertainment community often overlooks or downplays front and center, where they belong: The female of the species, with a special (although not exclusive) emphasis on women of color. In particular, as program notes state, “multicultural and multidisciplinary solo performers from around the globe.”

A grand jury decided that the actions of Officer Jason Bare and Officer Zachary Rosen were reasonable in the shooting death of Henry Green in a secret process that is replicated across the nation. According to witnesses, on June 6, 2016, between 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm, the plain clothes officers rolled up suddenly on Green in an unmarked vehicle with out-of-state plates and tinted windows without identifying themselves. Along with his friend, he was walking to his aunt’s house – just 2 doors away from the shooting. According to Republican prosecutor Ron O’Brien, the grand jury heard from 20 witnesses with varying accounts of what transpired.