Guest Columnists

By ANTSY McCLAIN A woman sitting behind me on the airplane asked, “I saw your guitar. Are you guys musicians?” I’m ashamed to say my first impulse was to respond with mild sarcasm. She was with a loud group of women, and we were a...
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By MARGARET BURNS Anyone who ever sat around a campfire in the evening and sang will recognize that phrase from the round, “Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.” At this New Year’s morning brunch, the Olde Phartzes...
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By MIKE McGRAW It’s been several weeks now since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Commentaries from journalists, politicians and interest groups have searched for nuggets of truth to help explain how something so terrible can happen. There must be a pattern...
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  By EDMUND LIS This December, people were asking me if I was going to write a column for the month. My reply was simply, “It’s the holidays and I don’t want to be depressing”. So why is December a downer for me with all...
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  By DIMITRA EKMEKTSIS I am frequently asked whether I was sexually abused as a child, but none of the interviewers ever asked me a single question about economics or politics – my true motivations in my decision to work in the sex industry. I...
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by Edmund Lis My father and I had a special bond that was different than what he had with my siblings or with other people. I know now that we were more alike than I ever wanted to admit while he was alive. As adults,...
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by Edmund Lis I think I’m a defective human being. How’s that for a way to start a conversation. Let me rephrase that a little. I think I’m either a defective human, an enlightened human, or least of the three possibilities, a normal human. Let...
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by Edmund Lis My wife thinks it’s nobody’s business, but if you’re writing an honest commentary then you need to tell the truth. So here is my reality: I’m underemployed, underinsured, underwater on my mortgage, and sadly I’m not alone. Unfortunately, more and more Americans...
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