Government Demands Whistleblower Organization's Encrypted Files
For those people who still do not believe we have crossed a terrible line into a Post-Constitutional state, here's another chance to repent before we all go to hell. The Department of Veterans Affairs'...
View ArticleForget Gun Control: Legislate for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Instead
The NRA has one on gun control advocates: Guns aren't a cause of violence. When used for non-sporting purposes, they're a symptom of emotional disorders. Of fear amplified to irrational levels. Of...
View ArticleMental Health Reform Should Also Help Families
Mental health reform has been in the air since the tragic 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. In that time, the nation has witnessed 74 more school shootings, including one last week. Justified...
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Think Bicycle Commuters Are Good Citizens? You're Probably A Democrat
Last week, Pew Research released a survey of 10,000 voters focused on partisan polarization. In their survey, Pew also collected data about lifestyle polarization. For example, Liberals want to live in...
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Lies, Damn Lies, and Opinion Polls!
Mark Twain once wrote, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." He might just as well have been talking about the weekly surveys we hear about! The rise of public opinion...
View ArticleWhy America Can Never Win in Iraq
I think of it now, all the time. Sometimes I think I even recognize a place on TV I had been, having spent a year in the midst of America's occupation in Iraq, 2009 to 2010. I was a State Department...
View ArticleISIS May Skip Baghdad and Instead Build a New State: 'Syriaq'
The extremist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is not acting alone in Iraq but is part of a de facto alliance of other disaffected Sunni opposition groups, including former Baathist army...
View ArticlePresbyterian Divestment: Contesting Representations of 'the Jewish Community'
Detroit -- Listening to the debate among Presbyterians about whether to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard over the persistent involvement of these companies in the Israeli...
View Article'Corporate Religion' Threatens Everyone
What religion does ExxonMobil observe? How about Cargill, or Ford? If the question seems absurd, that's because it is -- corporations don't have religions. But Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation,...
View ArticleThousands of Rapists Are Not Behind Bars Because Cops Focus on Marijuana Users
A piece in the Washington Post highlights the growing backlog of untested rape test kits that are sitting in police storage units while rapists run free and victims suffer. Missing from the story,...
View ArticleWhy Does NATO Still Exist?
NATO was formed in 1949 because of the threat from the communist bloc, especially the Soviet Union. All of that is ended now. Why, then, has NATO not also ended? The true answer is ugly. Here it is:...
View ArticleMarching Through The Desert To End The Death Penalty
It's 93 degrees in Texas today. And Rev. Jeff Hood is walking 200 miles across the state. What would compel somebody to do that? He wants to end the death penalty... and he is not alone. Rev. Jeff Hood...
View ArticleDon't Be Sucked Into War With Iraq, Again
This article was first published by Defense One and is reprinted here with express permission. We never should have invaded Iraq. It would be folly to recommit United States forces to save an...
View ArticleMr. Biden's Disingenuous Mission to Central America
United States Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Central America (specifically Guatemala City) later this week to meet with the region's leaders to develop a coordinated response to the current...
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The Clean Power Plan Means Changes for Coal, But Not the Ones You Might Expect
Under President Obama's recently announced Clean Power Plan, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed that states cut greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent from...
View ArticleHistoric: The Kurds Seize Kirkuk
People unfamiliar with Kurds may not see the significance of the Kurdish army taking the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk, a rich oil city they've long wanted as part of Iraqi Kurdistan. To take Kirkuk, the...
View ArticleA Profile in Cowardice
Public servants of all backgrounds and political affiliations are familiar with John F. Kennedy's text, Profiles in Courage, which documents moments of moral courage demonstrated by elected officials...
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An Open Letter to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and UNHCR Special Envoy...
Dear Foreign Secretary Hague and Special Envoy Jolie: We congratulate the UK Government's Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative for convening this week's historic Global Summit in London. We are...
View ArticleManaging the State Department
Heather Higginbottom is deputy secretary for management and resources at the State Department. She previously served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and as deputy director of...
View ArticleCreating a culture of accountability
No one in a leadership position wants to hear bad news, that programs or polices are not working as expected, or that irregularities and deceptive practices are undermining an organization's mission,...
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