There are many factors that contribute to a voter’s decision for presidential candidate: party affiliation, the state of the economy, running mate selection, media coverage, high profile debates, and Saturday Night Live? Maybe not as obvious, but SNL has been influencing presidential races since Gerald Ford’s bid for reelection in the 70’s. You have to … Continue reading
Yearly Archives: 2012
Iran is ten months away
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his grave concern over Iran’s increasingly threatening nuclear ambitions during an address to the U.N. general assembly yesterday. “At this late hour there is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs,” Netanyahu said while standing in front of a cartoonish graph shaped like a bomb … Continue reading
Let the Sunshine In
On September 18th, 8 days after taking to the streets of Chicago with their picket signs and their rhytmic chanting, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted to end their grandscale strike and return to class. The vote was the culmination of a bitter clash between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education … Continue reading
America / Constitution / Foreign Policy / Gov. Officials / National Security / Politics / Rule of Law / Uncategorized
Supreme-ly Ironic: How the Judicial Branch Affects Foreign Policy
In one short, succinct statement Justice George Sutherland altered the relationship between Congress and the executive branch. “The President [operates] as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations,” he wrote in the United States Supreme Court’s decision of U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation. Whereas the Constitution lays out distinct, … Continue reading
Stump Speech at the UN
The General Assembly was in a tremble-y as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran addressed the UN Wednesday morning. The members were awaiting another fireworks display. The United States and Israel had preemptively boycotting the speech. The United States delegation had even gone so far as to say that it was a shame that Iran was … Continue reading
Expert Panels: Both Sides of the Argument
Expert panels have received criticism because of their science-driven approach based on risks and benefits. Those opposed to the idea of these panels argue that any economic approach to medicine does not take into account the value of a life. Others go to the extreme of saying that any analysis of cost-effectiveness or quality measurements … Continue reading
What is Sequestration?
In the spring of 2011, a newly-elected Republican Congress claimed a mandate from the American people to cut spending at any cost. Twice – in February and April – Congress came within hours of a government shutdown before short-term spending measures (Continuing Resolutions) were passed, cutting spending in each case. As spring moved to summer, … Continue reading
The problem with Iran
With the first week of United Nation addresses wrapping up, the United States is still in a sticky situation with what to do about Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad didn’t make any remarks concerning the future of Iran’s nuclear program, so we are led to believe that Iran will continue forward with the program even with … Continue reading
A Tale of Two Economies
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities In the iconic opening lines of a Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens describes pre-revolutionary France, but he could just as easily be … Continue reading
White, Red and Green All-Over
Lost among the conversation of failing economies nowadays are the Asian markets, yet perhaps dutifully so. Standard conversation about Asian markets directs rhetoric towards the rapidly expanding economy of China and the East Asian Tigers, but lost among the success is the historically prosperous island of Japan. Although it still possesses the world’s 4th largest … Continue reading
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