1947-2023 Disability rights advocate Judy Heumann transformed my sons’ lives — and mine Michelle Buzgon March 7, 2023 The ‘mother of the disabilities rights movement’ profoundly impacted my family My kids lost one of their greatest champions this week. Though a world-traveler renowned and revered for her trailblazing disability rights activism, the inimitable Judy Heumann took an intimate interest in the lives of so many people — our family included.  I have my 20-year-old disabled son, Judah, to thank for my friendship with Judy. Judah has an extremely rare genetic mutation that science didn’t even identify until 2015, and wasn’t diagnosed in Judah until 2018, at age 16. Because of…

Willie Mays’ treasured bond with a Jewish family Mays, who died June 18, 2024 at 93, counted Jacob Shemano as a friend and financial advisor — and golf coach By Louis Keene  June 19, 2024 Willie Mays was in the prime of his career in 1963, but his finances were a mess. The Giants’ star outfielder had plunged into debt amid divorce proceedings, and even with more than half of his career home runs under his belt, was staring down bankruptcy. Then he met Jacob Shemano. Shemano was a banker whose kid, Gary, was shagging fly balls during warmups that day at Candlestick Park. They connected in the locker room afterward, where…

Individualism Among Incompetency and Injustice June 10, 2024 One fateful day in March 2020, the incompetent men shut down the world with lockdowns. It was the opposite of the premise in Atlas Shrugged. Who is John Galt? Who cares? The incompetent people could stop the motor of the world too. Atlas shrugs either by disappearing competence, or by an overwhelming mass of incompetence too great even for Atlas’s broad, strong shoulders. Competency crises seem to be brewing left and right and are constantly on public display of late. Consider the self-interested testimony of Fani Willis. Jared Bernstein, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, caused an interview to go…

The lost art of handwriting with a pen on paper Charles Krblich March 11, 2024 I remember the joyful, parental excitement I felt when we sent our oldest child off to kindergarten. I can recall his nervous agitation, not knowing what to expect, but also understanding that he was older now, and a big boy. At our first parent-teacher conference that year I noticed something that I had not thought much about until recently. The teacher — who was a fantastic kindergarten teacher — began writing her notes on the parent-teacher conference form. I noticed that her pen was not held, so much as it was grasped. Rather than a traditional writing grip…

Kenny Fries March 5, 2019 Airlines deny disabled travelers their independence with patchwork policies and plain negligence “That is your legs gone. It is a basic human right,” explained BBC journalist Frank Gardner in March, 2018, as he recounted being left on a plane for more than an hour and a half after landing, because Heathrow Airport staff could not find his wheelchair. Months later, a video of paralympic athlete Justin Levene dragging himself through London Luton Airport went viral. Levene was suing the airport over the August, 2017, incident, which occurred when his custom-made wheelchair didn’t make it onto his flight. Upon landing, he was provided with a wheelchair that he couldn’t…

I’m a UCLA professor. Why didn’t the administration stop last night’s egregious violence? The university should have anticipated Tuesday night’s chaos — but security personnel were nowhere to be found UCLA, a prestigious public university in the United States, experienced one of the darkest nights in its 105-year history on Tuesday. Over the course of my 33-year career at UCLA, I have never seen anything so terrifying take place. Around 11 p.m., a group of masked counterdemonstrators made their way to the Royce Quad in the heart of campus and began to attack the encampment set up last week by demonstrators opposing the war in Gaza. They threw a firecracker…

By Arno Rosenfeld May 2, 2024   The coalition concerned about campus antisemitism spans from liberal Jews concerned about hostile rhetoric at protests to ultra-conservatives with little connection to the Jewish community who are seizing on an opportunity to push their longstanding critiques of elite institutions of higher education. But on college campuses themselves, most of the students who have been actively opposing the Gaza solidarity encampments and demonstrating in defense of Israel are young Jews, a generally liberal group. A new campus coalition That’s why I was struck by what happened at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, early Tuesday morning. Before dawn, riot police raided a tent encampment at the center…

assert themselves at college graduations In all cases, the commencement ceremonies went on as scheduled By Philissa Cramer May 6, 2024 (JTA) — Dozens of students unfurled Palestinian flags and banners at the main commencement ceremony of the University of Michigan. A single student staged a provocative demonstration during a ceremony at Northeastern University, raising hands stained with red paint as a symbol of violence in Gaza. And a Palestinian student speaker used her speech to lambaste Israel’s war against Hamas at the University of Toledo. Such were the disruptions during the first major weekend of graduation ceremonies to take place amid a sweeping pro-Palestinian protest movement on college campuses across…

By Thomas Doherty Professor of American Studies, Brandeis University Published: May 12, 2020 8:33am EDT What FDR’s polio crusade teaches us about presidential leadership amid crisis Throughout much of the last century, a lethal and terrifying virus besieged America. Then, as now, the fear of contagion gripped ordinary Americans. And then — unlike now — a president displayed decisive leadership in fighting the virus, maintaining an unfailingly good humor and leaving the immunology to the experts. The scourge was infantile paralysis, or polio, and the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was its most famous victim. First clinically described in the late 19th century and persisting deep into the 20th century, the virus invaded the nervous…

How to grieve a death in the coronavirus pandemic David A. Schuck, Gina Hens-Piazza, Rodney Sadler Editor’s note: Every religion has its death rites, communal practices developed over millennia to honor the dead and console the living. Some of these rituals are unique to one faith, but more are shared – a reminder there’s a common path toward healing. Yet COVID-19 is forcing many people to grieve in isolation. We asked three faith leaders and religion scholars for their counsel on mourning during the pandemic. Honoring the dead and comforting mourners Rabbi David A. Schuck Jewish mourning rituals follow the principles of “k’vod hamet,” honoring the deceased, and “nichum aveilim,” comforting…