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Amazon’s decision to abandon its planned construction of a major campus in Long Island City has revealed deep fissures among New Yorkers. Typical of news coverage and commentary in these highly-polarized times, discussion of the issue has been framed in largely win/lose terms, both from the perspective of politics (progressives versus pragmatics) and the impact on the New York economy and lifestyle (“more jobs is always better” versus “union-busting vulture capitalist billionaires don’t deserve tax breaks”). As with most stories framed in win/lose terms, the narrative unfolds with heroes, villains, victims, and victors.

The events surrounding and following the encounter between the Covington Catholic High School boys, Native American elder Nathan Phillips and the Black Hebrew Israelites at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., last month were deeply troubling, no matter where you stand politically.

Now the family of Nicholas Sandmann, the student in the video standing face-to-face with Mr. Phillips, has filed a defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post seeking $250 million in damages for how the newspaper covered the incident, which occurred after the annual March for Life and turned out to be quite different from the narrative initially spread on social media. 

Most people I know are utterly dumbstruck by the petty politics currently being played between U.S. President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In the throes of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history – and with virtually no end in sight – not only are neither of our national leaders doing anything productive or constructive to find a solution, they’ve also managed to open up another front in the conflict – a high-profile, petty, and pointless power play.

Yesterday, my next door neighbor was murdered in the park next to my house. I walk in this park with my dog Rosie three times a day. It has running paths and fields and a dog park and lots of people of all ages who enjoy it every day.

My neighbor was discovered by a passerby at about 7:00pm. He had suffered blows to the head.

I knew him since I moved to Sherman Street in 2003. Like me, he was one of the four trustees of our small condo association.

Four days ago, I had chance to visit the Moria Refugee Camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Images of the camp’s horrendous living conditions are haunting. Thousands of refugees from countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan have taken harrowing and often deadly trips on rickety boats to escape the horrors of war.

Much ink has been spent lamenting President Trump’s decision to withdraw from The Paris Agreement. Political leaders, scientists, environmental policy experts, and even U.S. companies have condemned Trump’s move. More than just promoting ecological and humanitarian disaster, President Trump’s decision hurts the United States from a diplomatic and negotiation perspective.     

The recent Vatican synod on the family was not the first time Catholic Church leaders came together to discuss a controversial issue of importance in Church doctrine.  But it was the first time Pope Francis oversaw such a meeting – and what happened during the synod revealed a great deal about his negotiation style and attitude towards conflict and disagreement within the Catholic community.

In the tumultuous days since Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, we have witnessed a wide range of reactions, responses, and coping strategies.  Some have been physical in the form of protests or even violence; many have been vocal in the form of speeches, articles, or punditry; and more than a handful have called for, among other things, increased dialogue.

Reading the newspapers recently, we’ve been struck by how similar the presidential debate commentary has been to commentary about “Monday Night Football.”

After the matchups in this year’s “debate season,” political pundits criticized President Obama’s “prevent defense” and “two-yard runs down the middle.” They talked about how Mitt Romney “spiked the football.”

And football wasn’t the only sports metaphor invoked in the coverage. On Tuesday, “CBS This Morning’s” ticker about the previous night’s debate read “Final Face-Off,” while ABC’s “Good Morning America” heralded the “Final Debate Duel.” And the Los Angeles Times headlined with “Obama reverses roles, comes out swinging at Romney in final debate.”

Another week, another nasty battle in Congress.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, dared the Senate on Monday to not return to Washington and negotiate with House Republicans over the payroll-tax holiday, unemployment-insurance benefits, and the Medicare “doc fix.” It was a change of heart that began on Saturday, hours after senators left the District, when a faction of House Republicans expressed their dismay with the two-month deal leadership had struck.