Let’s face it, we all have a burning need to be liked and respected. We want people to think of us as smart and sophisticated. In fact, our need for admiration is so powerful it can drive almost everything we do. We want our kids, co-workers, friends and strangers all to think of us as…
Coming off all of the crazy comments I received over last week’s blog on Goya, I started reading a book titled, Hate, Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another. It’s written by Matt Taibbi, a Rolling Stone journalist who says that the press has mastered the art of monetizing anger, paranoia and distrust.…
Cooking as a family and eating together is a lost tradition that many of us have restarted during the pandemic. I had no idea that my daughter Marisa had become such a great cook; her addition to our kitchen has been a huge positive to the Acosta clan. She loves sashimi and vegan dishes and…
For years, a lot of us have been talking about the disparities in homeownership rates, the lack of Latino representation in the boardrooms and C-suites of America’s largest corporations, the wealth and income gaps, etc. These are real issues that frankly have not seen much progress in the last few decades. On the heels of…
Freedom of speech is a bitch…On one hand, it is the cornerstone of the American system and almost everyone praises it – at least in concept. On the other hand, it can also be infuriating. Most of us love the idea of free speech when it serves our interests but hate it when it doesn’t.…
Barring getting a vaccine sooner than expected, it seems like we’re in for a longer haul than expected with this once-in-a-century pandemic. Businesses, schools and sports are probably going to be a shell of themselves until the end of the year. There is no denying the fact that we have managed this situation poorly. Americans…
After America witnessed the murder, or more appropriately, the lynching of George Floyd, conversations about the treatment of Blacks in America have dominated the national dialogue, and for good reason. However, last week, Andres Guardado, an eighteen-year-old Latino student in Los Angeles, moonlighting as a security guard, was shot in the back and killed by police…
If you haven’t had the privilege of seeing Hamilton, The Musical, you’ll have a chance to see it on Disney+ starting on July 3rd. If you are not a fan of theater, you may not know how rare this sort of thing is. Broadway musicals are almost never shown on television, much less when they…
The first time I looked into the eyes of my newborn child, my life was changed forever. An earthshattering feeling of love, humility and responsibility overwhelmed me and I realized at that moment that I had a new job that would last the rest of my life. Fatherhood has brought me more pleasure than I…
Netflix debuted Dave Chappelle’s most recent comedy special on YouTube. Like a lot of his work, 8:46 is brilliant. The title represents the eight minutes and forty-six seconds that former police officer, Derek Chauvin nonchalantly knelt on George Floyd’s neck until Floyd died. My son, Aaron and I listened to the show while we were…