By STEVEN JONAS MD, MPH - 07-28-14

The Hobby Lobby decision has many implications about the future of civil life in the United States and how, now, religious institutions may, under the civil law, intrude upon it. Certainly, one must agree with Justice Ginsburg that regardless of Justices Alito's caveats, the tide unleashed by the decision of the Right-wing Five is not going to stop at the shoreline of the separation of church and state any time soon. And for the long-range future of the United States, that is the most significant element of the decision.

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By STEVEN JONAS MD, MPH - June 13, 2014

Note to the Reader: I originally published this column on BuzzFlash () on June 10, just before the current apparent civil war broke out in Iraq.  It is very interesting to watch the liberal media on this one.  On the limited sampling I’ve seen (e.g., on June 13, The New York Times, and MSNBC, even as represented by Mika Brzezinski Morning Joe), they are hardly jumping in with both feet this time around, which is a good thing.  And now for the original.

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By STEVEN JONAS MD, MPH - 06.08.14

Recently, while preparing a review of the movie Noah, knowing that the Christian Right had their collective noses bent out of shape by the movie, I sought to gather some background on creationism. And so, I thought, what better place to go than the website that bears that name Creation.com. And what a fascinating visit it turned out to be.

Now, I should think that there are those of you who might have only a foggy remembrance of the creation story from the Judeo-Christian Bible (JCB). Be that as it may, you should know that there are almost as many variants on the JCB creation story as there are translations of the...

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By Steven JOnas, MD, MPH - 05.11.2014

Racism in the United States and its predecessor colonies has a long history, dating back virtually to the original founding of those colonies. In the North, it began in the Massachusetts Bay Colony with paternalistic attitudes towards Native Americans, which quickly degenerated into military aggression, forced removal/eviction, and eventually genocide. In the South of course, it began with the importation of the first slaves. During the course of the 17th century, slavery was justified by the artificially developed dogma of white supremacy, which quickly bred the twin dogma of racism.

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By STEVEN JONAS MD, MPH - 04.13.14

Pete Seeger, as almost every reader of these pages will know, passed away at the age of 94 on Jan. 27, 2014. Pete was a great folksinger, explorer of US music, and song writer. In his younger days he was also a great banjo picker, and learned how to play the 12-string guitar (a difficult instrument in its own right) from the legendary Afro-American blues singer Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly. He worked with one of the founding US folklorists, Alan Lomax, as well as his with his father, Charles Seeger and his step-mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger (mother of Pete's step-sister, the folk singer Peggy Seeger), also important folk musicologists. And of course he was...

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By STEVEN JONAS MD, MPH - 02.27.14

This month I am starting a new approach to my column for TPJfPD.  As some of you know, we have a Facebook page.  I regularly post comments on current events on that page.  Now, in my monthly columns I will be sharing with you a set of those comments from the previous month.  They will of course be on several different topics.  I hope that you will enjoy them, and also that on occasion you may visit our page as well, to see what else is up there.  Hey, you never know. You may “Like” us!

For starters (actually last month, Jan. 31, 2014), remember Jamie Dimon’s raise?  Indeed, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, got a grand increase for 2104.  How could that be, many folks have said.  The company paid a record $20 billion in fines for “improper practices” last year. 

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