There's a scary new epidemic sweeping across America.             I call it "Dr. Phil Syndrome".  This mysterious malady occurs when doctors who become tv personalities are referred to by only their first names.  And I'm afraid it's spreading. This week, MSNBC launched a new show featuring Dr. Nancy Snyderman.          Dr. Snyderman will interview guests…

I have a confession to make:  I subscribe to "O", the Oprah Magazine.  I'm not proud of this fact. The truth is, I'm so ashamed, I wish the magazine was shipped in a plain brown wrapper. But there it is, arriving in my mailbox every month, with Oprah's airbrushed visage smiling out at me. Her…

I don’t usually write about fashion.  But I can no longer remain silent about the latest trend in shoes.  Some call them “Strappy Heels”.  Some call them “Gladiator Heels”.  I just call them “Freakin’ Ugly”! I don’t get the “Bondage Chic” look.  But I’m obviously in the minority; these god-awful shoes are everywhere.  The stores…

Food trends always make me nervous.  I can never understand why a food that’s been around forever, just lingering in the gastronomic backwaters, suddenly becomes all the rage.  The latest example of this is the cupcake craze.  In the last year, several “cupcakeries” have sprung up in my neighborhood.  I assumed this was merely another…

This is a late-breaking update to my previous post, "Crimes and Moisturizers".  So…I've just been to Walgreens and it seems the situation regarding locked up merchandise has become even more dire.  I needed to buy a bottle of shampoo.   When I arrived in the shampoo aisle, almost every shelf was covered with a Plexiglass shield. …

Just because you have the technology to do something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it.  Case in point:  High Definition TV. Since the advent of the television set, there have been only a handful of truly useful inventions: color, the remote control and the Mute button are among them (ok, I’ll throw…

According to President Obama, "Americans don't torture."I beg to differ.  Obviously,  our new president  has never sat through fifteen minutes of "Nancy Grace", let alone a full episode of "The Bachelor".  Maybe we don't torture prisoners.  But every single day, millions of innocent Americans are subjected to all manner of excruciating mental and physical agonies,…