Op-Ed

Your life could get a lot more dangerous. Republican appointees on the Supreme Court seem poised to strip away basic safety standards for our workplaces, our food, our air and water. Congress gives federal agencies the authority to enact regulations that protect us in our daily lives. Congress defines the goals, but leaves it up […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin on stage during a rally in Moscow on March 18, 2022. Sergei Guneyev/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Alexander Motyl, Rutgers University – Newark When Vladimir Putin unleashed an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the Ukrainian media, public and policymakers almost unanimously began calling the Russian president and the state […]

Once upon a time, the tutelary gods of nationalism and internationalism met for a chat. They had a superb perch above the clouds. From there, they could see everything happening on the Earth below and they set to arguing, as they so often did. Sophia, the goddess of internationalism, began by proudly pointing to the […]

The Biden administration will end Title 42—a public health order that has been misused to block and expel people seeking protection at the US border more than 1.7 million times in the past two years—in May, according to multiple media reports today. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) welcomes this long overdue decision to revoke […]

As I write this, President Joseph Biden is signing into law the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act.  It recalls the struggle many in this country had to cut down on extrajudicial killings.  As my college students and I found, calling attention to these illegal acts did make a difference in how many lynchings occurred in America, […]

One million US deaths from COVID-19. Catatonic politics on climate change. Communities suffocating from environmental injustice. All these issues are tragically linked by the hardening divisions in the United States over our acceptance or rejection of expertise in science, public health, and environmental protection. Nearly six decades ago, in 1963, US President John F. Kennedy told […]

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2022—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus and California Federation of Teachers President and AFT LGBTQIA+ Task Force Chair Jeff Freitas issued the following remarks after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure into law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” that bars educators from discussing sexual orientation […]

Two years ago I was panicking, making hundreds of phone calls to postpone my wedding that was a few days away. It was March 2020. A global pandemic had reached the United States and changed each of our lives in ways we never imagined. Millions of Americans would lose jobs, friends, family, and even their […]

In response to today’s sentencing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny to nine years in a “strict regime penal colony,” Freedom House issued the following statement: The sentencing of Alexey Navalny is the latest act of despotism by the Kremlin, which will stop at nothing to crush dissent and hold onto power,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, […]

The Florida Legislature has approved a sweeping election bill, S.B. 524, which would limit voters’ freedom to vote and open the door for voter intimidation and harassment by a new partisan agency under the governor’s control. This bill would also purge thousands of registered voters from the rolls by increasing the frequency of voter registration cancellations, […]

Washington, DC, March 9, 2022 – Below is a column by David Torres from America’s Voice en Español translated to English from Spanish. It ran in several Spanish-language media outlets earlier this week. Trump’s border wall has turned out to be useless and unusable—at least for the purposes devised by his sick mind, before and […]

The Supreme Court is hearing oral argument this morning in West Virginia v. EPA. The case is a challenge by the coal industry and coal states to EPA’s power to limit carbon emissions by power plants. Here’s what to look for today. Q: What is the case about? A: In practical terms, the question is what EPA can […]

February 23, 2022 – As Catholic women, rooted in our faith’s call to love one another and see God in every person, we strongly support the Biden administration’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, is the final arbiter on the most consequential […]

Disruptive passengers remain a threat to Flight Attendants and passengers onboard. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA representing nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants at 17 airlines released the following statement: Get serious. Homeland security is homeland security. Our flights are under attack by a small number of people and it has to stop. […]

The very real potential that Roe v. Wade will be overturned this year is making anti-abortion legislators and religious extremists giddy with anticipation.  In fact, states are doubling down on abortion bans and restrictions in the hopes that abortion will be outlawed if the Supreme Court rules in their favor. And conservative Christians are not […]

ebruary 4, 2022 – Economic sanctions have, in recent years, become one of the most important tools of US foreign policy. There are currently more than 20 countries subjected to various sanctions from the US government. But if more Americans knew how many innocent civilians actually die as a result of these sanctions, would the […]

Members of Congress use privileged information to make money on the stock market, while they’re supposed to be working for you. Make no mistake, it’s legalized corruption. There’s no good reason for elected officials to trade individual stocks at all. Unless you have special insider knowledge, buying and selling individual stocks is a terrible way to get […]

Late January marked the 49th anniversary of Roe. V. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. It could very well be the last. In 1973, Roe codified the right to terminate a pregnancy up until viability — around 23-26 weeks. Anti-abortion forces have fought to negate the decision ever since, and now they appear to be […]

Washington, DC, January 25, 2022 – Even before President Biden took office, Republicans and right wing media allies began engaging in an ongoing attack on what they call the “open borders” policies of Biden.   For example, see former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan on Fox in August 2020 blaming Biden for a 40% increase in […]

January 24, 2022 – To head off disastrous climate change, we need to radically transform the modern energy system. We must largely move beyond the use of fire, the first and most important of inventions. The core energy technology used by humans has always involved, in one form or another, burning things up. To a […]