Marianne Williamson for Congress: Will It Take a Miracle For Her To Win?
The definition of a miracle is when the seemingly impossible becomes possible. One could say it was a miracle that Henry Waxman decided to retire thus making Marianne Williamson a much stronger...
View ArticleHappy 6th Birthday to New Jersey's Paid Family Leave Program
My daughter, Lauren, was born with Down syndrome. When she was first born, I could basically hold her in one hand. She spent the first two and a half months of her life in intensive care. To be there...
View Article150 Years Since Ulysses S. Grant's Superstition Won a War
May 4 through June 24 is the 150th anniversary of the Overland campaign, which took place during the American Civil War in 1864. Although General Robert E. Lee didn't surrender until April 9, 1865, the...
View ArticleMayor Rob Ford and the Broken Levee
Though Led Zeppelin probably wasn't singing about the disease of addiction in their 1971 classic When the Levee Breaks, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford could now tell you that, for all intents and purposes,...
View ArticleGreat Jobs Report? Not So Fast
While the U.S. economy created 288,000 jobs in April, that's not the number to look at to see how the economy is performing. Two other numbers released today will tell you all you need to know about...
View ArticleCantor's Immigration Obstructionalism
When looking for hollow words in Washington, there is certainly no lack; Eric Cantor (R-Virgina), however, has been an absolute fountain of shallow rhetoric, poorly disguising his ambition for higher...
View ArticleThe Philippine-U.S. New Security Pact: Good Bargain, or a Lopsided Deal?
Recently, I had the opportunity to present at an experts conference on the South China Sea disputes in Myanmar, with maritime specialists from across the Asia-Pacific region gathering to explore...
View ArticleOpponents of Peace
So the opponents of peace have had their way again, for now. Chief among them is Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who threw so many obstacles in front of the peace train that it finally...
View ArticleENDA Days
In New York City a group calling themselves Queer Nation are pretty pissed off, and for good reason. Queer Nation has been around since the early 1990s, actually, but a revival is in play, and it's...
View ArticleRwanda and Reconciliation
All the media attention to the 20th anniversary of the slaughter in Rwanda reeks of irony. If only we had paid as much attention before the blood flowed. Major-General Romeo Dallaire, the heroic...
View ArticleFrom Bundy to Benghazi: WTF?
Republicans aren't for things. Instead they run from one hysterical anti-something scream to the next. They have shifted from the "noun-verb-911" of the Bush years to "Obama said you didn't build this"...
View ArticleThe Budget Is Not Fair, Mr. Chair
“The budget is not fair, Mr. Chair, if 69 percent of the cuts comes from programs for low-income children and families and we are giving extra tax cuts to the wealthiest among us…. If we can afford to...
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Friday Talking Points -- Give America a Raise!
There was a lot of political news this week, most of it pretty good for Democrats. In the Senate, Democrats forced Republicans to filibuster a minimum wage bill (more on that in a bit), and then the...
View ArticleBlair: The Neocon's Dead End
Like many a "hawkish" liberal before him, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair crossed over to the dark side of neoconservatism. This was on display last week in a keynote address Blair delivered at...
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Patronizing Paychecks
In a move as surprising as limos at a state funeral the GOP has misplaced their ticket for the clue train. Yes, again. Just when you think they get it, party leaders move heaven and earth and that...
View ArticleIsrael and the Palestinians - What Now?
The Past - Failed Efforts Despite the heroic efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry and Special Envoy Martin Indyk to bring Israel and the Palestinians to agreement, the current peace process effort...
View ArticleCalifornia Primary: Republican Fight to Lose to Jerry Brown Still Unsettled...
Just one month to go until California's June 3rd primary election. Can you feel the excitement? In the absence of big initiative battles or high-profile, big money candidates slugging it out, we are...
View ArticleThe Claustrophobic Digital Village
Privacy in the future will resemble that in a small village. As with any small community, dissent from the prevailing conventional wisdom will be easy to spot and punish. Welcome to the world of social...
View ArticleSunday Roundup
This week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver brought the hammer down on Donald Sterling over the LA Clippers owner's leaked racist rant, banning him from the NBA for life and pledging to force Sterling to...
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