ArcaMax

Americans over 65 and those with underlying risk factors are not supposed to travel. Luckily, I have no plans to travel this week. Because I traveled last week. Who knew?

No one. No one and nothing. That is who knows what.

About the variant.

"What is President Joe Biden saying?" I asked one of my news-following friends.

He yawned. It took ...Read more

The worst was the Home Depot store on Friday night. A swarm of robbers ran in and grabbed sledgehammers -- presumably to use to rob additional department stores and high-end boutiques. Later that night, four suspects in the sledgehammer theft were arrested by Beverly Hills police after an "alert" citizen noticed cars driving around Beverly ...Read more

In the last 40 years, I have counseled, represented, supported and cried with thousands of women, many of them students in those criminal law classes, many of them telling their stories for the first time.

And that is why I believe that when a group comes together to abuse the power we have fought so long and paid so dearly for, the most ...Read more

In 1974, when I walked out of an alley in Boston's Back Bay, it was pretty much "just me." Of course, millions of women were raped (we didn't have a word for sexual harassment then), but it wasn't something you talked about or reported. The stigma was sufficiently bad that when I told my mother, she insisted that I tell no one because no ...Read more

The most famous person from my hometown of Marblehead, Massachusetts, is a former vice president of the United States by the name of Elbridge Gerry. Gerry is, fairly or unfairly, not remembered because of any major policies or programs or speeches or the like. His legacy is far more political than that.

His legacy is a salamander.

Drawing ...Read more

It is my first time traveling since the pandemic -- my first plane ride, my first trip in from the airport, my first hotel stay. It feels like a big deal. I -- who flew across the country every week for years -- am scared. Of what, I don't know.

There is a lesson here, and this is it: The world has changed. But what has changed even more is ...Read more

Some people say heaven is the place where you are reunited with all the dogs you have lost. It is as good a description as any I have heard.

My mother never bought it. She didn't want pets in the house because, she said, it would be too sad when we had to put them down. No "better to have loved and lost than never loved at all" for her.

So, ...Read more

I missed the national moment that was Brandon. Blame it on work. If your head has been similarly buried in the sand, the Brandon moment involved a NASCAR audience yelling, "F--- Joe Biden," which the anchor clumsily translated as, "Let's go, Brandon" as she was interviewing the race winner, named Brandon. The moment inspired a rap song called "...Read more

He is President Joe Biden. The answer, at a minimum, is that more of the same just won't do. Biden's presidency, to date, has been a failure.

The real question is whether it is too late.

For cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving (they say the price will be 50% higher if you buy your cranberries in preciously scarce cans).

For sleds for Christmas...Read more

"I have not seen any evidence that whether I am doing well or poorly, whether I have got my agenda passed or not, is going to have any real impact on winning or losing."

So said President Joe Biden on the Monday before the Tuesday that proved how wrong he was. Even on Monday, was there anyone other than him who really believed that? Did he?

...Read more

No, not run a marathon, although that would be nice. Lacing up my sneakers would be a step. This is easier, or it should be.

Make the appointment; that's the first step here.

Going is the second. That's where I ran into trouble.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. It's ending. It's the month where, despite our best efforts at ...Read more

I plead guilty. If I didn't know better, I would just assume that the billionaire being investigated must be guilty. I might even be thinking to myself, "There goes another one."

Except I would be wrong.

This billionaire happens to be a client of mine, and even though lawyers aren't supposed to vouch for their clients (lest we be caught not ...Read more

I represented Fox News creator Roger Ailes five years ago. The New York Times called it "The Curious Case of Susan Estrich." I didn't consider it strange at all. I represented a friend of 30 years, who was being sued by a woman so virulently anti-Hillary Clinton in an election cycle that I had called Roger only weeks before to complain. Roger ...Read more

The answer is almost always $20.

As in, how much do you think this turkey sandwich cost? Hint: it used to be $10.

Extra points: Remember, we're in California, where there is an extra 10% tax on everything.

Extra reminder: There's a tip jar on the counter, a tip reminder on the app and an actor ready for their close-up (LA joke: When you ...Read more

"We are battling with one another," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky told a conference last week, "and not battling with the common foe, which is the virus itself."

Who would have thought the virus would be easier to beat?

What in God's name are we fighting about?

Barely half of the United States ...Read more

Friday. Or next Friday. Or by Thanksgiving. Or by the end of the year.

Anyway, it's coming.

The ax. Or, if you prefer, the stick. As in, the carrot and the stick.

The carrot is you keep your hair appointment or your reservation or your tickets. Those things you might live with or without. The stick is what's coming. If you want to keep your...Read more

My son's longtime girlfriend (her students call her "Miss") teaches physics in an inner-city charter high school. She is, happily, back in school; doing labs online with students, slowly sipping coffee outside at McDonald's as their internet connections come and go, makes teaching law on Zoom look like a snap.

But wait. That's physics. ...Read more

There are two questions relating to vaccine mandates that have become dangerously confused.

The first question is whether, as a matter of public health and safety, vaccines should be mandated -- for public school students and teachers, for first responders, for essential workers, for indoor events, for outdoor events, for gyms and restaurants...Read more

And woke up on Sunday.

In a hospital bed.

In the ICU. We all know those initials. Actually, I was lucky to be there. I didn't have COVID-19. Just the regular ICU. Actually, I was waiting for a step-down unit. The only beds available were non-COVID ICU.

I was lucky. I am lucky. I live in California. The governor did not get recalled. We have...Read more

It's one of those great Latin phrases: in the place of a parent.

It's a great phrase because of exactly how little it proves.

When is someone who is not a parent allowed to act in the place of a parent?

And when is someone who is a parent not allowed to act as a parent?

We never used to ask these questions -- or, at least, we never used to...Read more