BLOG Post #275: Saving Democracy 24 Sep 2020 Friends call it “impotent rage.” I share it. How is it possible that the president of a democratic country can get away with announcing, well in advance of an election,…
BLOG Post #272: The Election: Concerns, Confidence, Candidates 31 Aug 202031 Aug 2020 Five things that worry me about the election: • Biden’s declining support among Latinos; • Trump’s law-and-order appeal amidst violence and destruction of property in protest marches; • Domination of…
BLOG Post #265: Voting for the Human Interest: An Invitation to Readers 12 Jun 2020 We’re in a new and dangerous era now, described by Stephen Heintz, CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, as one in which capitalism, the nation-state, and representative democracy have all…
APB APB: It’s War! 17 May 201917 May 2019 We’re at war, and I don’t mean in the Middle East. I’m referring to the war that the Trump administration, with support from an army of state and local legislators,…
BLOG Post #227: Game Over? Report Card on Our Planet’s Environment 24 Feb 201923 Feb 2019 Unrelenting Warming The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report for 2019 indicates that most experts point to environmental problems as being the most serious threats to global stability—just as they…
BLOG Post #213: While Rome (and Most Everywhere Else) Burns 3 Aug 20182 Aug 2018 By now we’re accustomed to learning that every year brings record high temperatures around the world. Extreme weather, says Prof. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, “is the face of…
American Politics and the World… Post #149: Fighting Back 7 Feb 201727 Feb 2017 Since Inauguration Day, the streets of US cities have been filled with protesters. Major demonstrations are being planned to follow up on the hugely successful Women’s March. Environmental, science, human…
American Politics and the World… Post #141: Can Donald Trump Be Contained? 5 Jan 201727 Feb 2017 There’s just no getting around it: the president-elect of the United States is a pathological liar. He is also a terribly insecure individual who is desperate for attention and spiteful…
BLOG… Post #139: People Power in Seoul 14 Dec 201627 Feb 2017 Over the last several weekends, roughly 4 million Koreans have taken part in demonstrations in Seoul and other cities with the aim of bringing down President Park Geun-hye, who has…
American Politics and the World… Post #112—The Republicans: Cowardice in High Places 27 Mar 201627 Feb 2017 Jeb Bush endorses Ted Cruz. So do Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney. Chris Christie endorses—in fact, practically fawns all over—Donald Trump. Ben Carson suddenly thinks Trump would make a great…
American Politics and the World… Post #101: The Paris Climate-Change Agreement: Hold the Champagne 15 Dec 201527 Feb 2017 Ban Ki-moon called it “a monumental success for the planet and its people.” Secretary of State Kerry said it was “a tremendous victory for all of our citizens—not for…
BLOG… Post #64 – Welcome Back, George Orwell 27 Jan 201527 Feb 2017 I think most of us knew, or feared, that the wonders of the Internet might also become a weapon in the wrong hands, whether of our own government, criminals, dictators,…
American Politics and the World… Post #52 – The Dis-United States and the Withering of the American Model 6 Nov 201427 Feb 2017 American leaders of both parties have always prided themselves on the model democracy that they believe all other countries would benefit from adopting. It’s part of our belief…
BLOG… Post #46 – Scotland’s Vote, Our (Possible) Future 22 Sep 201427 Feb 2017 Scotland’s vote for independence fell well short of victory. But pro-independence Scots will surely try again, just like les Québecois. From a practical point…
BLOG… Post #36 – What Works? Person- and Planet-centered Development 22 Jul 201427 Feb 2017 The usual script for international development is the provision of aid—mostly in loans, occasionally in outright grants—by a “developed” country or international institution to an “underdeveloped” one. The money goes…
BLOG… Post #26-What Works? Good Neighbors Find Common Ground 9 Jun 201427 Feb 2017 It’s a powerful story of grassroots organizing. “Jane Kleeb vs. Keystone” details the tenacious efforts of one person in Nebraska to reach across the usual environmentalist-conservative divide in order to…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 