Editorials
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‘Racist scum?’ Colleges should set higher standard
I believe that most Americans are repulsed by racism. Unfortunately, their feelings of repulsion are often exploited for political gain. Especially now, in a time of hyper-racialization, the rush to frame all issues in racial terms often seems done to create political capital or avenge a political setback. Claims of…
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Privacy and politics: The hypocrisy of the surveillance statists
The New York Times reports that at least six members of the Trump administration used personal email accounts to discuss White House matters. Given president Donald Trump’s campaign and post-campaign harping (as the Times puts it) on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s illegal use of a private server and…
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Trump and Kim are a dangerous pairing
“We’re dealing with somebody that we’ll figure out. He may be smart, he may be strategic — and he may be totally crazy.” That was President Trump speaking of Kim Jong-un at his political rally in Alabama last week. But it could easily have been Kim speaking of Trump —…
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Should social media practice censorship?
In a September 21 post, Mark Zuckerberg shared nine steps the site he started is taking “to protect election integrity and make sure that Facebook is a force for good in democracy,” by “actively working with the government” and “partnering with public authorities.” The day before that, the United Kingdom’s…
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Reclaiming the truth about Vietnam
“From Ia Drang to Khe Sanh, from Hue to Saigon and countless villages in between, they pushed through jungles and rice paddies, heat and monsoon, fighting heroically to protect the ideals we hold dear as Americans. Through more than a decade of combat, over air, land, and sea, these proud…
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Jamie Dimon is right to fear cryptocurrency
When JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a “fraud,” what ensued looked a lot like a “poop and scoop” con: The practice of driving down a thing’s price by saying bad things about it, then buying up a bunch of it before the price bounces back. After Dimon’s comments,…
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Medical care and preexisting conditions
Ask your Congressman to not penalize Americans who have preexisting medical conditions. The idea floating around now in Congress that insurance companies will be able to charge higher amounts to Americans who are sick is a bad idea. This is an idea from the medical insurance lobbyists who continue to…
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World citizenship is more popular than you might think
Has nationalism captured the hearts and minds of the world’s people? It certainly seems to have emerged as a powerful force in recent years. Trumpeting their alleged national superiority and hatred of foreigners, political parties on the far right have made their biggest political advances since the 1930s. After the…
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W3C turns the clock back on an open Web
On September 18, Ars Technica reports, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published a new specification recommendation, Encrypted Media Extensions. The recommendation, which natively implements a “Digital Rights Management” scheme in web browsers, marks a giant step backward for user freedom and an “open” World Wide Web. W3C is the…
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State of America today
World leaders will meet and speak at the United Nations this week during their usual annual meetings. Nevertheless, I believe we can all agree President Trump will be anything but the usual American president speaking and meeting, thus drawing more than usual attention to this year’s event. U.S. Ambassador Nikki…
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Nuclear weapons, natural disasters, bullies and your doctor
The world watches as the natural disasters of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the earthquake off Mexico wreak their devastation, waiting for their final tolls of death, destruction and devastation. Yet on a daily basis the world faces a far greater manmade threat, that of nuclear war, as tensions between…
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Florida Keys: Would you have evacuated?
Multitudes of people are suffering through the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Florida. The Keys and the Caribbean Islands are devastated. Other parts of Florida are suffering from damage and no electricity as well. Food and clean water has run out for some. Hundreds of thousands of people fled Florida…
