What the Mainstream Misses: Observations on the Ukraine Crisis
A great deal has been written regarding the Ukraine events of February and March leading to the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych. In their attempts to explain the upheaval, most of those weighing in have...
View ArticleHow China Benefits From the Ukraine Crisis
As the West and Russia face off over Crimea, China is well positioned to exploit a strategic opportunity given the escalating tension between Washington and Moscow. As has become China's modus operandi...
View ArticleThe News Is Grim, the Need for Action Immediate, But What If No One Is...
Pssst, buddy, you want a report? Hey, I've got three for you, all in the news last week! There was a rare intervention by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which issued a report...
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Chairman Ryan's Budget: 'More Poverty, Less Opportunity'
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s new “Path to Prosperity” is, sadly, anything but that for most Americans. Affluent Americans would do quite well. But for tens of millions of others, the...
View ArticleTurkey Took a Big Time Selfie
Nowadays, people are racing to take selfies and share them on social networks to be part of this phenomenon. On social media, we have seen very different kinds of selfies. It's hard to determine how...
View ArticleA Rare Christie Apology
Chris Christie doesn't apologize for much. This is the guy who told a former Navy SEAL that his "rear end's going to get thrown in jail, idiot," who asked a reporter, "Are you stupid? ... I'm sorry for...
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Was Iran's Nominee for the UN Ambassador Involved in the 1979 Hostage Taking?
While a number of U.S.-based publications have raised serious questions that Iran's nominee for the UN ambassador is amongst students who took 53 American diplomats hostage for 444 days in 1979,...
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Navigating Medical Marijuana in the Mainstream: Advocates Return to D.C. This...
Plotting a course forward for state and federal policy on medical cannabis is the agenda for patients, parents, medical professionals and other stakeholders gathering in Washington, D.C., this weekend...
View ArticleWhat No One Will Say About Pre-K
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposal to create universal pre-K in New York City began as a noble quest. Though rich and poor children do not differ in their innate intelligence, a substantial...
View ArticleCan Disaster Be Averted for the Women of Afghanistan?
There is a potential catastrophe looming when foreign troops leave Afghanistan, as the central government could well sacrifice women and girls in future negotiations with the Taliban. Recently, the...
View ArticleLet's Bring Affordable Rents Back Home
Hand-in-hand with the war on workers, affordable housing is under attack. When the Furman Center reported recently that 31 percent of New Yorkers pay 50 percent or more of their income in rent and...
View ArticleA Tale of Two Siblings: The ACA and the Supreme Court
The Affordable Care Act's first open enrollment period has come to an end. The ACA is not out of the woods, but it is gaining some momentum, and the technological meltdown of October and November is...
View ArticleCuomo Lurches Left/Right
No one is bigger, bolder and more focused than Andrew Cuomo. Nothing is accidental, the levers of power are faultlessly pulled and there's always a plan. That's made him a very effective governor of...
View ArticleLet There Be Peace on Earth and No More Talk About Obamacare... for Awhile
Monday night at midnight, the deadline for applying for Obamacare ended. Sort of. Mostly. People who were unable to complete their applications to the federal website and some state websites will be...
View ArticleThe United States of the NRA
Such as do build their faith upon The holy text of pike and gun. Samuel Butler, Hudibras pt. 1 It is time to consider the possibility of disbanding Congress and turning over governance of the country...
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So Much for the Great GM Bailout
Osama Bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive. That was Vice President Joe Biden's go-to applause line throughout the 2012 campaign. The slogan encapsulated President Barack Obama's greatest...
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Falling Down the Economy's Rabbit Hole
I have had my own business, Clownbank Studio, as a commercial artist for 38 years and made a modest living doing signs, murals, and illustrations for mom and pop businesses such as restaurants, grocery...
View ArticleA Turning Point for Democrats
The 2014 midterm elections are little more than six months away, and already the Republican Party is feeling giddy about the prospect of big wins in several U.S. Senate races, perhaps enough to give...
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No Justice Roberts, the Internet Can't Do Government's Job
Writing for the majority in the Supreme Court's latest effort to dismantle the nation's campaign finance system, Chief Justice John Roberts argued that government doesn't need to restrain big money in...
View ArticleChallenging Condi Rice's Revision of History
Some of us predicted when Condi Rice left office that she would become intent on revising history. Faustian bargains don't end that quickly! It's now come to pass that universities around the country,...
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