On Wednesday, October 12, the US Congress passed three trade agreements after five years of hold ups in the Bush and Obama administrations. This is a victory for US manufacturers, employers and consumers, the economy’s short-run and long-run projections, and the world as a whole. It is also a rare example of our legislators’ ability … Read more
“In a country of contradictions, a generation leads double lives.” The white words hang starkly against a black background in the trailer for My Tehran for Sale, the film that has landed lead actress Marzieh Vafamehr 90 lashes and a year in prison. The film was an official selection in the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 … Read more
“In a country of contradictions, a generation leads double lives.” The white words hang starkly against a black background in the trailer for My Tehran for Sale, the film that has landed lead actress Marzieh Vafamehr 90 lashes and a year in prison. The film was an official selection in the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 … Read more
Last week, following intense negotiations between Likud and Hamas, Binyamin Netenyahu announced that 1,027 Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006. The agreement was brokered by Egypt, who received a formal apology from Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak in reciprocation. This news was met … Read more
If all the criticisms about Occupy Wall Street converge on one point, it’s this: OWS is a disarticulate, catch-all kaleidoscope of grievances with no focused goal and no real structure to bring it into being. A walk through Zuccotti Park seems to give credence to this point: the jumbled array of sleeping bags, hipsters with … Read more
As high unemployment persists in the U.S. and frustration with political leaders rises, citizens across the nation are increasingly calling upon Congress to do something about their precarious economic situation. One such proposal that has passed the Senate is a bill that punishes China for its “manipulation” of currency. The bill was able to garner … Read more
Leading water conservationist, Amy Vickers put it rather succinctly: “America’s biggest drinking problem isn’t alcohol, it’s lawn watering.” Rare, yet essential to life, fresh water is the precious elixir we take for granted. Among all of the environmental specters confronting humanity in the 21st century – global warming, destroyed rainforests, over-fished seas – the catastrophic shortage … Read more
2011 is a year of many anniversaries, both somber and joyous. While Harvard will celebrate its 375th anniversary on October 14, earlier this year marked the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The beginning of the Confederacy itself actually took place on December 20, 1860, with South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession. But those first shots, … Read more
The HPR reports on a Forum discussion of the #Occupy protests. 5:56 Sarah Coughlon here! Really excited for the IOP’s discussion of the #Occupy protests. The speakers are: Marshall Ganz, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at HKS; Todd Gitlin, Professor and Chair, PhD program, Columbia Journalism School; Ed Rendell, IOP Visiting Fellow, Governor of Pennsylvania (’03-’11), … Read more
In his speech before The Citadel on October 7, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney unveiled a plan to increase non-combat defense expenditures to four percent of GDP, while upping the level of active military personnel by 100,000. His goals epitomize the contemporary shift in dialogue over American military appropriations from policy to ideology. Whereas social programs … Read more