What New Yorkers Can Do About Money in Politics
There's a meme spreading fast through the tubes of the Internets about what explains Governor Cuomo's refusal to debate Zephyr Teachout. Here's one tweet: So Cuomo won't debate Zephyr Teachout in NY...
View ArticleA Continued Call for Caution in the Aftermath of Ferguson
Police training and the police work environment are defined by low frequency, high intensity events -- the "routine" traffic stop that turns up a combative driver and an unregistered gun, or the...
View ArticleCould Islamic State Defeat the U.S.? Yes - If the Left and Right Continue to...
Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) could win its battle with the West, and advance its cause of Islamic fundamentalism -- if America's two major parties cannot unite in opposing them. I believe...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coyly Campaigning in Kansas
[Note: You'll have to forgive my somewhat-belated commentary on the shakeup in the Kansas Senate race, but I was on vacation all of last week.] Last week, a political tornado of sorts happened in...
View ArticleThe Rift in the ACLU Over Free Speech
In the context of ongoing deliberations over a proposed amendment to the Constitution to authorize the government to enact laws regulating campaign expenditures and contributions, a sharp, even bitter,...
View ArticleExtremism: Its Supporters and a Voice of Reason
Today's New York Times carried an in-depth article about one of the myriad supporters of extremist Islam ("Qatar's Support of Extremists Alienates Allies Near and Far") The article goes into expository...
View ArticleThe Inflation Fighters Want to Increase the Debt Burden on Our Children
Are you worried about the government running deficits in the hundreds of billions of dollars and a debt in the trillions? If so, then you should be really angry at people calling for the Federal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Instead of 'Legitimate Rape' Remarks, This Time Right-Wing Economic Policies...
What's the matter with Kansas? Sorry, couldn't resist. Interestingly, instead of Democrats asking that question and scratching their heads, in 2014 it's Republicans. Sen. Pat Roberts and Gov. Sam...
View ArticleCampaign Finance Reform and Arbinger's Self Deception
Executive branch officials are limited by federal ethics regulations to a threshold of about $35 when accepting or exchanging gifts. As an army officer, I was always taught this was as much about...
View ArticleAsbestos Litigation Summit Tackles Issues of Trust
The insular and well-heeled world of American asbestos litigation is gathering atop San Francisco's Nob Hill this week for what amounts to an annual current-events snapshot, and this year things may...
View ArticleProtecting Gun Owners from Pediatricians: Free Speech Redefined
Why would a gun owner not want to talk to their child's doctor about gun safety? One year ago I wrote an article about how Florida's state legislature had passed a law prohibiting doctors from...
View ArticleUS Must Take a Stand Against Settlements
A report issued this week by the non-partisan Adva Center, which studies social inequalities in Israel, found that in the past two decades the population of Israel had grown by 60 percent and the...
View ArticleImran Khan's Followers -- His Weakness or His Strength?
Pakistan's political frenzy is continuing as the world looks on. It is almost a month since the wave of protests began in Pakistan's Federal Capital Islamabad. Thousands have left their homes at the...
View ArticleWhat Is the Ex-Im Bank Hiding?
It seems the Export-Import Bank of the United States is once again putting up walls to keep the duly-elected representatives of the American people from getting a look at their inner workings. Ex-Im...
View ArticleThe Islamic State and Christian Security
King Carl XVI Gustaf walked down the aisle with the Rev. Dr. Antje Jackelen, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. We opened the prayer service for peace in Iraq and Syria in the name of the Father, the...
View ArticleStumbling Toward a Just Peace
In the mid-1980s, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ voted for our denomination to become a "Just Peace" church. This was seen as an alternative to the Christian model of "Just War" which...
View ArticleFor Profit Colleges: Maintaining a Permanent Underclass
For profit colleges are educational institutions that you see advertised on television, often late at night: University of Phoenix, DeVry, Corinthian College, and ITT Tech. The advertisements that for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka Marry and the "Angry Itch" Takes Over...
Over the weekend, Neil Patrick Harris and his partner tied the knot with their two young kids attending. Harris confirmed on Twitter: "Guess what? David Burtka and I got married over the weekend. In...
View ArticleFrom the Washington Redskins to the Jefferson Davis Highway
When the NFL team in Washington DC takes to the field this Sunday, they will still be called the Redskins. It seems that the team's owner just can't let go of that racist name, even at the request of...
View ArticleDemocracy Matters
Political and income inequality grow in tandem. The two create a self-reinforcing cycle. Increased economic inequality has its mirror image in political inequality. Those whose share of the national...
View Article