“Hi! It is so great to meet you!” It’s good to meet you too. “Can you sign this for me?” Absolutely. “Can you make it out to Cassandra? Its spelled K.A.H.S.Z.A.N.D.R.U.H.” Seriously? What was your mom smoking? “Great. Now can I have a picture?” Certainly. “Ohmigod, you are so nice. [...]

It is always a positive when a work of great literature gets made into a blockbuster movie, and so we have it with the release of the latest of numerous film incarnations of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby this week. The fact that the movie is filled with over-the-top [...]

A new phrase, “supply shock,” entered the lexicon of the global oil business this week when the International Energy Agency reported that unexpectedly rapid growth in tight oil production from North Dakota and Texas is leading to profound changes in the global energy markets. U.S. oil production which grew by [...]

Efforts to reform our current immigration system are likely to dominate congressional agenda for the next few months. To most objective observers from across the political spectrum, it is clear that our current system is outdated, flawed, and inefficient. About 11 million people reside in the U.S. without legal status, [...]

Homophobia remains deeply ingrained in many parts of the world. Some of the worst offenders are petroleum-producing nations. The deluge of oil money leads to corruption, an embrace of fundamentalism, and stunts growth in culture, politics, science, and education. These combustible ingredients lead to human rights violations and create particularly [...]

Since the end of my innocence, when I became a teenager, I have been fascinated by the character traits that make me up. Some come from my father – my discipline, my fierce determination, and, of course, my hardheadedness – while my free-spirited and high-flying idealism come from my mother. [...]