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A reflective commentary poem  Wearing a mask
Quarantining in your home for 14 days Having a post removed on Facebook Someone from the other party winning an election Getting blocked by a follower on Instagram Eating meat Vaccine Passports Abortion Background checks at gun shows Taking a COVID test before entering an event High gas prices Obamacare Critical Race Theory The Insurrection at the Capitol Deporting people who enter the U.S. illegally Texas’ new abortion law Magazine clip restrictions Anything that’s not the Holocaust
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Time for Mutual Recognition  Israelis and Palestinians have been at each other's throats for the better part of a century. For Jews, Israel is their eternal homeland. It's the place they returned to after so many years of exile. For the Palestinians, it's the place they lived and were expelled from by the returning Jews. The problem is that Israelis reject the Palestinian love and longing for their home, and Palestinians reject the Jewish connection to the same land. This essay explores how mutual recognition is the only path for peace.
NOW TIME TO GET RADICAL ON RACE  Unsplash Photo Credit: Clay Banks People involved in fighting for racial justice are dancing in the street after the defeat of Donald Trump. Indeed, there was much to be concerned about under his presidency. The election is over now, and author Jeffrey Kass in this essay reminds us that racism didn’t start in the last four years and we can’t let our guard down just because Biden-Harris won. Kass gives real solutions to tackling are centuries old issues,
 Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons Most people opposed to Donald Trump have a tough time understanding how any good person could possibly still support him after all of his nasty statements. After his refusal to loudly condemn white supremacists. And after his barrage of race-baiting comments. Not into cancel culture himself, author and activist Jeffrey Kass dives into a theories why well-meaning charitable people still support Donald Trump.
 Unsplash Photo Credit: Tobias Roth The vice presidential debate between Harris and Pence wasn’t all that exciting but to the chagrin of many, Mike Pence held his own and stuck to his guns. It may have been a big win for the Trump-Pence ticket but then something funny happened. A fly landed on Pence’s white hair. It was the talk of America instead of Pence’s stronger than expected performance and Harris so-so responses. In this essay, author and attorney Jeffrey Kass has some debating tips for Biden and Pence.
 This essay moves us from the Biden-Trump debate into a discussion on cancel culture and mutual respect. Author Jeffrey Kass doesn’t suggest reducing your values or accepting abhorrent behavior or leaders, but he advocates for a more nuanced way of engaging our fellow Americans, which include family and friends so that we do not continue to digress into the abyss of conflict. This piece causes us to reflect on how we deal with people with whom we disagree. Sometimes even strongly.
DEFAMATION AND DISTRACTION  Too often people, particularly on the far left, are so quick to lump the Jews and Israel in with every colonial conquest the world has seen. They do this in the stated name of advocating for Palestinians. This essay dives into why this is counter-productive and actually doesn’t help the Palestinian cause. Author and activist Jeffrey Kass reminds us that the Jews have a 3,000 year connection to the land of Israel and didn’t colonialize anything. Recognizing rather than canceling the Jewish indigenous connection to that land will allow us to practice intellectual honesty and then actually address where the Jewish state has failed the Palestinians.
 This essay comes just after the death of Supreme Court and social justice giant Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The abortion debate is often the first thing one thinks of when we talk about the Supreme Court. Author Jeffrey Kass uses this backdrop to help us reflect on what the sanctity of life must truly mean for all living, walking, breathing people. That we can’t simply focus on an unborn baby and then ignore the quality of a person’s life after birth. Justice Ginsburg spent her life fighting for equality for women and it’s a great example for us to recalibrate our energy.
 Unsplash Photo Credit: Daniel Lincoln At some point, the word conservative got twisted. I grew up thinking it meant an approach that was careful. Not too risky. Cautious. Not loosey goosey. Thoughtful. My best friend’s dad was a conservative and he also was a conservationist. An environmentalist. He wanted to play it safe with our planet and not just hope the scientists were wrong.
Nowadays, though, conservative seems to have lost its meaning. It especially reared its ugly face during COVID-19 where many conservatives were outraged over having to wear mask. This essay undresses conservatism with the hope of returning to its roots. Sending In The Federal Troops: Solution or Accelerant For More Violence?  Unsplash Photo Credit: Sean Lee At one point, the U.S. contemplated sending in federal troops to stop violence in our most dangerous cities. South side of Chicago one of them. But what policymakers don’t understand is that our problems with crime will never be solved with more military style weapons and more police. It’s time to think long term. Mass investment in education, in training and other programs that uplift instead of jail people is our only path forward.
Enough of the Rothschilds Already: What Did Hollywood Personality Nick Cannon Say That Was So Bad?7/26/2020  Unsplash Photo Credit: Josh Appel Conspiracy theories have always been around, but they seem to have increased each year since the Internet. The Jews did it, or the Jews are controlling the world ones seem to have spread like wildfire. Jeffrey Kass uses the backdrop of these absurd theories to remind people that the negative acts of individuals, from any ethnic or ethno-religious group, shouldn’t be used as a reflection of the whole. Enough of the Jewish Rothschild Family already.
 The case for reparations for slavery has been discussed and re-discussed for generations. But it’s usually pro-reparations with vague details versus anti-reparations with no recognition of the havoc America caused to so many families. This essay by race expert Jeffrey Kass discusses tangible ideas for administering a reparations program aimed at actually repairing rather than just compensating.
The Misplaced Decision to Deport 250,000 College Students  Unsplash Photo Credit: Naqi Shahid The Trump administration used COVID-19 to expel certain international students who would not be attending classes in person—which during the pandemic was almost every person from a country of people of color. Author Jeffrey Kass discusses the importance of diversity of people and ideas in education, as well as the untold amount of contributions immigrants, including many of color, have made to this country.
Democrats and Racism  Unsplash Photo Credit: Alfredo Mora Social justice warriors have been conditioned to blame every race related issue on Republicans and the right wing. The Democrats have enjoyed unwavering support from the Black community and its allies for half a century or more. This essay explores that while many on the right have indeed made our race problems worse, we ought not to ignore the failed solutions and racism on the left. We need solutions to systemic racism above party loyalty.
 Unsplash Photo Credit: Spenser With competing policy proposals on what, if anything, to do with the state of police in this country, this essay explores ideas on police reform that are badly needed if we are to prevent our communities from further decay and prevent even more racial division and strife. There’s a of talk about defund the police, abolish the police and the like. Most people know we need police to protect and to serve but we don’t need them to harm, kill and harass. Addressing how Black and Brown men and women have been repeatedly mistreated at the hands of law enforcement is long overdue.
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