General Commentary Archives | Page 5 of 9

THE UNBREAKABLE HOPE OF ALEXI NAVALNY

December 13, 2017 General Commentary, Russia

“Hope is a good thing – maybe the best thing. And no good thing ever dies.” - Andy Dufresne, “The Shawshank Redemption Like many of you reading this, I’m a child of the 80’s. I cut my teeth on MTV and rode my bike everywhere without a helmet. I owned two pairs of parachute pants which had so many zippers,

The Real War on Christmas

December 11, 2017 General Commentary

For years the GOP has stated that there is a war on Christmas. I have never quite understood this war, but if there is a war, Christmas is winning. Just take a look around. Since as early as September, many retailers had already started playing Christmas music, and selling Christmas trees and ornaments. For all intents and purposes, I do

A Need for Guardians

December 8, 2017 General Commentary

The famed question Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, or, “Who will guard the guards?” is best known from Plato’s Republic. Plato argued that the just are so because righteousness is imposed upon them. When one could get away with being unjust, Plato argued, he would do so. Our country’s founders attempted to prevent injustice by developing a tripartite government in which

THE PERILOUS FUTURE FOR AMERICA’S DAUGHTERS

December 7, 2017 #MeToo, General Commentary

My wife and I went to my eldest daughter’s dance recital last summer. Our daughter is nine, and has enjoyed dance since she was two years old. Like all families of young dancers, our family nurtures her passion for dance. We spend our money on lessons and costumes and hours of our time traveling to and from the studio. She

Not Fair

December 6, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary, Immigration

When I was about six years old, I was visiting with my grandmother. She was driving one of her out of proportionally large Cadillacs. Miles away, in the front passenger seat, sinking in the overly plush leather upholstery, I gazed out the window. I don't recall whether a conversation or something I saw outside prompted me, but I was protesting,

Overturning Net Neutrality is Bad Business

December 6, 2017 Elections, General Commentary, Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is a hot topic this week and rightfully so as the future of the Internet is at stake. While most of the dialogue has focused on what this means for consumers, let’s not forget the big losers will be small businesses and independent contractors who will be strangled by an unfair online marketplace. In short, President Obama’s administration

Shredding the Social Contract of Sexual Harassment

December 5, 2017 #MeToo, General Commentary

Talk of sexual harassment is everywhere these days. It starts with Harvey Weinstein and leads to Roger Ailes, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly, Al Franken, Roy Moore and to former and current U.S. presidents, including the now 93-year-old George Bush. It’s a boxcar effect. Truthfully, every day I worked on this piece for publication, another high-profile offender slid into the spotlight.

Onward. Forward.

December 5, 2017 Elections, General Commentary

So, Democrats it's election night 2016, I’m excited I’m feeling confident going into the polls. I’m excited about voting for our next president Hillary Clinton. I, and so many others thought for sure we would have this election wrapped up a little after 8 PM. We were so wrong and I do wish to apologize I should have done more

Being the Change

December 4, 2017 General Commentary

Every family has traditions. In the Pransky house, we have several, especially around the holidays. The tree goes up on Thanksgiving day, after the meal. Presents are wrapped all at once, on Christmas Eve after the kids are asleep; no one sees the full stack until Christmas morning. There’s an elf on our shelf. In the past, we used to

After Paris: How You Can Save the Planet Without A Treaty:

December 4, 2017 Environment, General Commentary

Creating change as an individual: With much of the scientific community critical of the targets set by the Paris accord and feel they aren’t enough to keep us all from facing a future full of unpredictable, extreme weather and the chaos and violence that will result from a global lack of necessary resources. Change is needed at scale, but individual

Libya’s New Age Slavery

December 1, 2017 Civil Rights, General Commentary, international

The abhorrent and beyond reprehensible slavery that is taking place in Libya speaks to the current times. While America has outlawed the deed almost 200 years ago, African American men in America inadvertently pose as a cultural threat and yet are the most perpetrated against. A black man anywhere is less than an inch away from discrimination, incarceration, and even

Black Eye Economics

December 1, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Black Friday…that wonderful American tradition when we show the rest of the world how prosperous our nation is by diving down shopping aisles, rioting in malls, and fighting over one available television to save money. When the Soviets did it for bread in the 70s and 80s, our nation ridiculed them, but since we do it for consumer electronics it

DISSENT – THE MOST AMERICAN BEHAVIOR

November 30, 2017 General Commentary

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…” – The Declaration of Independence Consider the mood of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Certainly there was joy – the joy of

Embrace Your Voice. And Raise It.

November 30, 2017 General Commentary

It has never been more important to take action in defense of American democracy. It may seem harder than usual this holiday season to find things to be thankful for. If you’re a rational human being who is paying attention, our physically and politically overheated world seems headed straight toward hell in a Trump-branded handbasket. But the first amendment still

The FCC Should Not Give Broadband Providers the Keys to Your Internet Freedom

November 29, 2017 General Commentary, Net Neutrality

By FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn This week, millions of Americans returned to work after spending time with family and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday. Amidst the travel and meal preparations, many may have missed the “Pre-Holiday News Dump” last Wednesday when Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai released his 200 plus page proposal to dismantle the agency’s open internet

#WikiJustice: Plato’s Republic Revisited

November 29, 2017 General Commentary

What is Justice? Well we should start, as is often the case, in both the correct and comically coincidental way by remembering that the word “just” is both an adjective and an adverb. It describes an action or a person (though most appropriately a person who acts justly.) So what is a just act? A just act is one that

GOP: Pro-birth, Anti-Life.

November 29, 2017 General Commentary

GOP: Because the Right to Life Beings at Conception, but Ends at Birth We have all seen the placards at rallies: “Abortion is murder.” We have seen the State and Federal laws seeking to restrict or even eliminate access to abortions. We have seen laws stripping insurance coverage for birth control, passed, ostensibly, to protect religious objections to the

WTF!

November 28, 2017 General Commentary

If Friday was black, Monday was blacker for the Trump regime as inane and self-aggrandizing policymaking began clogging the swamp’s drainpipe. The federal government is beginning to appear more like a three-branch circus than an established democratic institution. At the center of the debacle is a greedy little pig leading the elephants off the high wire — without a net.

Am I Changing or Is the World?

November 28, 2017 General Commentary

Most of us have heard the saying, “if you’re not a liberal by twenty, you have no heart; but if you’re not a conservative by thirty you have no brain.” The context that I’ve most often heard is one person condescending to a younger person, with the presumption that his or her opinion is superior because of age. I have

No One Gets A Pass — Not Even Bill Clinton

November 28, 2017 #MeToo, General Commentary

As the recent flurry of sexual harassment and assault allegations against powerful men continues to snowball, conservatives have relished in reminding liberals that our beloved Bill Clinton is likewise an accused predator. As much as it pains me to admit this—as a Democrat, a Hillary supporter and a fan of the former president’s politics—they are absolutely right. While the image

The Tax Bill is a Raw Deal for Women

November 27, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Nobody likes thinking about taxes—especially when it’s about raising them. But that’s exactly what will happen for hardworking women and their families under the tax bill being considered by Congress. The U.S. Senate is just days away from voting on a bill that will raise taxes on millions of women and families in order to pay for tax cuts for

The #GOPTaxPlan is a #BadDealForWomen

November 27, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

As the GOP tax bill vote looms ahead in the Senate—they could vote as early as Thursday or Friday—it’s imperative to understand which groups the proposed plan protects and which ones it would hurt, and how. In short, the tax plan would benefit corporations and the wealthiest Americans, while devastating our most vulnerable populations: low-income families, women, children, the disabled

Trump’s Tax Plan is a Blessing for Corporations, a Curse for Everyone Else

November 24, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Donald Trump and the Republicans want to cut taxes for the rich. They tell us this will give those at the top the freedom to reinvest, creating jobs, reinvigorating the economy, and raising wages. There’s one problem with this plan: it won’t work. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of economics and economic history knows that cutting taxes for the

A TAX SCAM CAROL – CHAPTER 5

November 24, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Chapter 5 Christmas Renewed Although Scrooge had not slept a wink and had traveled great distances since the ringing of one bell, he found himself possessed of a vigor he had not experienced since his childhood. Bright light streamed through the window, and he grabbed for his telephone, quite uncaring of the hour or the past. “Quickly,” he tweeted, “what

A PUN IN THE OVEN

November 23, 2017 General Commentary

Donald Trump caused some brief confusion on Tuesday when he announced the pardons of “Drumstick” and “Wishbone.” Some White House reporters scrambled to determine the code names of the two persons possibly targeted by Special Counsel Robert Muller, while others desperately sought records to confirm whether Trump’s two sons had changed their names from Eric and Donald, Jr. As it

A TAX SCAM CAROL – CHAPTER 4

November 23, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Chapter Four The Final Spirit Ebenezer Trump had no sooner returned to his bedchamber, cap snugged tightly over his irreverent hair, under which thoughts of Tiny Mike Pence Sanders whirled a-gog, as though dancing to a fiddler filled with frenzy when a single skeletal hand penetrated the curtain surrounding its bed. So unexpected this was, and so terrifying, the

‘ANIMAL FARM’ REVISITED: PUTIN’S RUSSIA IS STALIN’S SOVIET UNION

November 23, 2017 General Commentary

In high school, I hated reading assigned novels for English class. I imagine it was a streak of inner rebelliousness which persists to this day. Why should I let someone else decide which messages are important? I could certainly decide for myself. Because I viewed the reading of assigned literature as a waste of time, I missed out on some

A TAX SCAM CAROL – CHAPTER 3

November 22, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

CHAPTER 3: THE SECOND OF THE THREE SPIRITS Awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, Trump had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of One. He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the special

UNFRIENDED

November 22, 2017 General Commentary

We are truly a nation divided. As much as I want this to change, I have to be honest with myself and I do not believe that it will. I have always prided myself on being surrounded by different kinds of people, politically and otherwise. On the political spectrum, I have Democratic, Socialist, Green Party, Libertarian, and Republican friends. Not

Gun Control: The Time Is Now

November 21, 2017 General Commentary, Gun Violence

I am a gun toting, second amendment advocating, NRA supporter who is ready to talk gun control. Enough is enough, America. Children are going off to school with bulletproof panels in their backpacks because shootings have become so rampant here, and it seems to be the only way to protect them when guns are not going anywhere. In the very

A Tax Scam Carol – Chapter 2

November 21, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Chapter 2 THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS. When Trump awoke, it was so dark, that looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. He was endeavoring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a nearby church struck the four quarters. So he listened for

Roy Moore and the Triumph of Tribalism

November 20, 2017 Elections, General Commentary

Let’s begin with what is known. On November 8, 2017, Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore held a lead on his opponent of anywhere from seven to ten points, depending on the poll referenced. On November 9, 2017, The Washington Post published a bombshell article detailing a number of allegations of serious sexual impropriety, and at least one case of sexual assault, all

A Tax Scam Carol – Chapter 1

November 20, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

Preface I HAVE endeavored in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall put my readers out of humor with their Congress, with each other, and with their President. May it haunt their houses urgently, and may all wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, B.J. Chapter One – Bannon’s Ghost Bannon was

Political Cartoon

November 19, 2017 Environment, General Commentary

Crude Keystone Contributing Editor: Jamie Domnick Twitter: @JNick9456 Instagram:JNick9456 Currently a student at the University of Wisconsin--Green Bay; double majoring in Democracy & Justice Studies, and History. At the beginning of my college career, I intended to major in Art and then perhaps teach the subject. However, as I continued to take various classes, I soon discovered my passion for

The Creative Coalition Launches #KeepTellingPeople™ Campaign

November 17, 2017 General Commentary

Partners with Birds Nest Foundation and Storio Creative To Stand Up Against Sexual Harassment November 14, 2017 (Los Angeles, CA) – Today, The Creative Coalition announces the launch of #KeepTellingPeople™, a PSA campaign created to empower all people to help eradicate the sexual harassment and assault epidemic. The PSA is directed by actor and President of The Creative Coalition Tim Daly

Sixteen Women Sexually Harassed and Assaulted by President Trump Tell Their Stories

November 17, 2017 #MeToo, General Commentary

Sixteen Women Sexually Harassed and Assaulted by President Trump Tell Their Stories Los Angeles – Brave New Films released a new video today, “16 Women and Donald Trump,” which tells the stories of sixteen women who have publicly reported being sexually harassed and assaulted by President Trump. The women have all spoken out individually about Trump’s forcible attempts to kiss, grope,

The fight over taxes and why it matters for so much more than taxes

November 16, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

You’ve probably heard about the tax plan that President Trump and Republicans are trying to jam through Congress. But if you’re a normal person, your eyes probably glaze over when the subject turns to taxes. I am a nerd who spends all day thinking about tax policy, and I am constantly boring the people around me by talking about it.

No Taxation without Rep…er, Medication!

November 16, 2017 Economic Issues, General Commentary

For those without children, baby showers provide the perfect opportunity to explore a foreign and fascinating world almost as alien as the bottom of the ocean. A short visit to any Babies R Us, Target, or even Barnes & Noble will reveal educational baby and toddler toys that new parents clamor for. Ridiculously simple, but so important to early cognitive

All Americans Need to Support the Recall of Brian Kemp

November 15, 2017 Elections, General Commentary

Georgia’s Secretary of State has implemented America’s least-secure elections, and voter data has been compromised multiple times during his tenure. This has been a tough year for those of us who believe in the sanctity of American institutions. We’re tired of corruption and are growing impatient at the intentional degradation of norms from the Trump administration and Congressional GOP. Many

Me Too

November 14, 2017 #MeToo, General Commentary

I was 15 years old, smoking a cigarette at the bus stop right in front of my high school. That is where I met a man I will call Bob. Bob was in his mid-fifties, with salt and pepper hair, pale white skin, piercing blue eyes, with an old-school Chicago accent. He sat next to me and made a comment