Is That a Birdseed Milkshake?

October 8, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s a presidential election coming up soon. In this country. America. Last Wednesday evening, the two presidential candidates (one of whom is already President) squared off to talk about domestic policy. I was prepared for a good show, but it was boooooooooooring. I mean, generally, no one can know whose proclamations and views are accurate until they read Politifact the next day, anyhow. Usually, though, there’s at least something I can follow, or... Read more

Happy New Year?

September 14, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

I’ve written a little bit about my relationship with Judaism before. In this Catonsville Patch post from over a year ago, I compare the ways in which I am Jewish to ways in which I am Jew-ish. In a post on my own blog last March, I wrote about how I had a Passover Seder without realizing it. I am continually amazed at how every time I learn something new about Jewish law, customs and teachings, I find myself saying,... Read more

Bizarre Love Triangle – Baseball Edition

September 3, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

Sure, I could be writing about “Eastwooding” and Akin’s thoughts on my magical voodoo vagina. I could be writing about Crazy Uncle Joe Biden’s ridiculous metaphor that cast Republicans as 21st-century slave owners. I could be writing about Lance Armstrong’s doping and Prince Harry’s antics, or the coup de grace: a member of the United States Congress skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee. (Don’t ask me why that last is just coming out now…it happened a year ago.) ... Read more

Munich 11 Postscript

August 12, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

It seems pressure remains high on IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge to honor the Munich 11. I couldn’t be gladder. I am not deluded enough to believe he will bow to international opinion, but I am heartened by the attention the issue has received. In “Doing the Right Thing” and “Bearing the Torch”, Ken Kovacs and I presented our own reasons we felt honoring the Olympians slain in Munich in 1972 was a societal and moral imperative. We were far from alone in our... Read more

I Heart Chevrolet.

August 9, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

Someone listened! They really did!!! ME!!! I changed the world!!! WOOOOOOOOT!!!!! Okay, maybe I’m reaching here. If my daily blog hits reach into double digits, I do a victory dance. (No, I will not post a video of the victory dance. It’s enough that the people who have witnessed it in person are still running around in circles trying to poke out their mind’s eye with a fork.) Last fall and winter, I did a good bit of blogging about... Read more

Bearing the Torch – Part 2 of 2, by Ken Kovacs

July 26, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

Here is Ken Kovacs’ piece on remembering the Munich Massacre. He is a Pastor at Catonsville Presbyterian Church. The piece also appears in The Catonsville Patch. It was a pleasure to work with him, and an honor to be his partner in writing about this important event in our history and how to heal. As Aliza Worthington reminds us, this summer marks the 40th anniversary of the “Munich Massacre.” I was seven years old when it occurred. I vividly remember watching the images... Read more

Doing the Right Thing – Part 1 of 2

July 21, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

“Imagine those poor guys over there. Every five minutes a psycho with a machine gun says, ‘Let’s kill ’em now,’ and someone else says, ‘No, let’s wait a while.’ How long could you stand that?” So asked Frank Shorter, an American long-distance Olympic runner. It was a good question, and it wasn’t hypothetical. He was talking about the Israeli athletes and coaches taken hostage in a nearby building in the Olympic Village. The year was 1972, and it was the... Read more

Is There No Way to Win?

July 18, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

I would love to get Anne-Marie Slaughter and Marissa Mayer in a room together. They could commiserate about how their personal life choices are the subject of such public scrutiny and criticism. They could play a drinking game wherein every time someone cheers for them to succeed they take a shot. Every time someone insists they’ll fail (or has already failed) they take two shots. Before you know it, they’d be sitting back-to-back on the floor, totally blitzed and eating... Read more

Dear Ray Rice, (A message on July 4th)

July 4, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

The first (and only) time I was ever in a room with you, I was unimpressed. It was at Lardarius Webb‘s 1st Annual Bowling Classic. This was an event he held to raise money for disadvantaged youth. I was there because I bid on and won tickets at Casey Cares’ silent auction. (Casey Cares is a wonderful local organization that does the little things that mean so much to children with chronic and critical illness and their families.) I brought... Read more

Women CAN’T have it all. Neither Can Men.

June 28, 2012 By Aliza Worthington

Anne-Marie Slaughter, the first female director of policy at the State Department, wrote a very powerful piece in The Atlantic about the pain and conflict experienced by women who were raised being promised the falsehood that “You can have it all! Career! Family! Balance! Health! And if you don’t, we’ll be sooooo disappointed in you!” In “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All,” she gratefully acknowledges the incredible sacrifices of her forebears, which made her amazing career a possibility. She’s also relieved,... Read more