On June 7th, 2017, a certain political leader shook the world with a tweet. No, not Donald Trump, but Masoud Barzani, President of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government. His tweet proclaimed, “I am pleased to announce that the date for the independence referendum has been set for Monday, September 25th, 2017,” thereby launching a bid […]
International tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world hit a high point this September, when Chairman of North Korea Kim Jong Un sanctioned the launch of a mid-range nuclear missile that flew directly over northern Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean. For the past several years, North Korean leadership has been […]
The nature of Republican party politics in America today can only be described as contentious. Reports of Republican lawmakers privately bashing the President while trying to maintain and foster a semblance of party unity has become commonplace. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has privately conveyed his concern that Trump would not be able to salvage […]
Spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “If we are free from attachment, we can easily recognize ourselves in other people, in different forms of manifestation, and then we don’t have to suffer.” Hanh’s words are dreams to the Kurdish people, who exist today fragmented, stateless, and in a forced union with Iraq. Against the […]
Despite our nation’s deep political divide, there is consensus that reducing rising healthcare costs should be a top policy priority. While overall U.S. prices grew on average at below 2% in 2016, health care grew at 4%. For decades, healthcare costs have continued to grow faster than our economy with no signs of stopping. Health […]
Healthcare has proven to be the ultimate enigma for American policymakers. This year has brought wave after wave of political controversy, but nothing else has so comprehensively perplexed Republicans and Democrats alike. Hell-bent on dismantling the infrastructure left behind by Obama, President Trump regularly issues statements promoting the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care […]
This article is the first installment of a column that will analyze the American news industry, examining the role of the press and of the public with respect to journalism. It will delve into individual and organizational bias, ratings concerns, the impact of the Internet and new technologies, responsible reporting, and news consumption. At the […]
There are no systems more fundamental to American society than the healthcare industry and the U.S. tax code. But they’re also among its most burdensome. In addition to the inherent physical and emotional hardship, health care is a major economic burden, as rising costs put enormous pressure on users. While the insured face ever-rising premiums, […]
An overview of PB and workers cooperatives: Participatory budgeting and workers cooperatives are some of the best institutions being used to build egalitarian, democratic political structures that can transcend national rightwing forces. Participatory budgeting (PB) humbly started in Porto Alegre and has since inspired Leftist political movements across the globe, unleashed political agency, and revolutionized […]
The human predisposition is to fear what we do not know, which helps us to identify potential threats and protect ourselves from them. It is precisely this psychological impulse that both leads a child not to eat a strange new food and has led to President Donald Trump’s protectionist immigration policies, particularly the travel ban […]
