Illustration of the isolation of the EU. Sascha Steinach/Press Association. All rights reserved. The so-called European migration crisis and the populist political backlash that ensued – even if undoubtedly driven also by a number of other factors – have created all sorts of challenges for civil society actors. How to respond effectively to the increasingly…
Category: News
What Happened To The Openly Gay Athlete?
From late April 2013 to early May 2014, gay and lesbian athletes welcomed breakthrough after breakthrough in the historically closeted world of sports. Journeyman basketball center Jason Collins came out as gay and later signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets, making him the first openly gay player to get into a regular-season game in…
Throwing It Away
Baseball marks the end of winter and the start of spring, and as a nation, we not only delight in watching the pros, but also in watching our kids play this great game. Unfortunately, we sports medicine doctors are seeing an increase in injuries to the throwing arm in youngsters, and many of these require surgery. Most…
The importance of Europeans sticking together to achieve a progressive Europe
Screenshot: Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Saturday, September 9.You don’t need me to tell you BREXIT is a dangerous mess. Ever since Theresa May – in that common sense tone which is a sure sign of ideology in Britain – uttered the fateful words “BREXIT means BREXIT!” – we have been trapped on a…
Stephen Hawking Predicts How Many Days Earth Has Left
Stephen Hawking is at it again, filling our hearts with optimistic predictions about humanity’s boundless potential. Just kidding. His latest estimation gives us about 100 years to leave the planet or die. Although, given the Trump administration’s latest attack on health care, a 100-year window to set ourselves straight seems pretty generous. Last year, the…
Laura Loomer Banned From Uber And Lyft After Making Bigoted Comments About Muslim Drivers
Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect in custody for the recent attack in New York City, is a 29-year-old former Uber driver. Originally from Uzbekistan, he reportedly was inspired to commit the attack after watching by ISIS propaganda videos. After the tragedy, far-right activist Laura Loomer responded with this tweet criticizing the ride-share company. Loomer followed up with more anti-Muslim tweets,…
Michelle Obama Says Her Husband’s Presidency Was Like Having ‘The Good Parent’ At Home
Speaking at the Simmons Leadership Conference in Boston on Thursday, April 5, former first lady Michelle Obama used a parenting metaphor to compare her husband’s time in the oval office to Donald Trump’s. She said that when Barack Obama was in the White House it “was like having the ‘good parent’ at home. The responsible…
The mystery of the Russian planes that never were
An overhead view of Admiral Kuznetsov, aircraft carrier, August 2012. Wikicommons, Ministry of Defence. Some rights reserved.Most analysts blame Vladimir Putin’s aggressive political stance for the renewed hostility between Russia and the western states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). The deteriorating relationship has been evident for a decade and more. The fallout from…
Benji Lives
On the South Side of Chicago, Ben “Benji” Wilson was more than a high school basketball star — he was a lightning rod of unstoppable hope, crossing over crack pipes, spinning around rat-infested sewers, and dunkin’ over abandoned buildings that stand as ghetto tombstones. At the freshly plucked age of 17, he was a messiah,…
American carnage, fighting the forever war
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, 1974 St. Martin's Press hardcover first edition. Wikicommons. Fair use.In his inaugural address, President Trump described a dark and dismal United States, a country overrun by criminal gangs and drugs, a nation stained with the blood seeping from bullet-ridden corpses left at scenes of “American carnage.” It was more…