When I learned “Avatar” director James Cameron described America under President Donald Trump as “horrifying,” I wasn’t surprised. Even if I wasn’t a longtime Cameron fan who is therefore familiar with his liberal-leaning politics, I’ve seen “Avatar: The Way of Water.” In my opinion, the “Avatar” sequel is more than a cinematic masterpiece and the highest grossing movie of 2022. It is...
This week, the country is officially remembering the late President Jimmy Carter. Today, his body will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Among those reflecting on Carter’s legacy are advocates for people with *disabilities. In 1977, the Carter administration faced demonstrations around the country … demanding greater accommodations for people with disabilities. One of the *longest...
I've watched "Avatar" so many times that, according to some reports, it could be unhealthy. It all starts with my childhood. Growing up as an autistic kid in the late '90s, I went through a phase in which I obsessed over box office statics. This included that period in late 1997 and early 1998 when director/writer James Cameron's "Titanic" became the highest grossing movie of all time (that is,...
Almost three years ago, I dismissed the movie "Pulse 3: Invasion" while reviewing "Pulse 2: Afterlife" by penning the following unflattering characterization: “Pulse 3: Invasion,” directed and written by Joel Soisson, occurs in a world reduced to rubble thanks to the events of the first movie. It tells a rather unsettling story of a 17-year-old girl named Justine (Brittany Finamore) trying to...
Originally published in Shawnee News, a middle school newspaper (June, 1999) The question in this article's headline is not going to be answered. The fact of the matter is, there may never be such an answer, for how can you explain the events in Littleton, Colorado? Or Jonesboro, Arkansas? Or Springfield, Oregon? Or Fayetteville, Tennessee? Or Edinboro, Pennsylvania? It is common knowledge that...
This is the first movie review that I ever had published. It appeared in the June 1999 edition of "Shawnee News," the school newspaper of "Shawnee Middle School" in Easton, PA. Its title was simply, "Movie Review."To better understand who I was as a human being when I wrote this article, I highly recommend this piece I wrote in my career as a Salon Magazine staff writer (2016-Present) on October...
This is the story of how I was assaulted and given a concussion by members of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party on February 3, 2022. They never told me why, but I had been invited to the event and was attacked shortly after one of the members saw one of my Salon articles. On Feb. 3rd, 2022, I went to an event held by the Lehigh Valley Tea Party at the Starlite Ballroom in the Pennsylvania city of...
“Bad day? Kill yourself. Heart broken? Kill yourself. Parking ticket? Kill yourself.” When Dean (Nadine Crocker) utters this line in the 2022 film “Cont;nue,” it is with a wry, glib and darkly self-aware gallows humor. In lesser stories, that approach might be a mere stylistic affect, but anyone who has been suicidal, is suicidal and/or knows suicidal people can instantly recognize the...
My Introduction… to Medium (as shown on medium.com): On Feb. 3rd of this year, an attorney named Tom Carroll physically attacked me. He wasn’t alone; two other men helped him, but I don’t know their names. I do know this: I suffered a concussion, and still have symptoms today. I also know this: A little more than a year ago, Carroll promised to be a fake elector for President Donald Trump during...
Today marks a sad occasion. Exactly 136 years ago, a veteran who was injured serving his country during the Civil War was humiliated by a president... a man who had hired a substitute. The Civil War veteran was Alfred Denny. During his time of service, he was thrown forward on his horse and injured his side against the saddle. It was a debilitating injury and he asked for a pension. President...