IMPORTANT READS

NYC HOUSING-Dozens of neighborhoods in New York City have been upzoned based on contrived, and even false, claims made by the city, which promised more diversity, affordable housing, minimum displacement, and other worthy goals.

POLITICS--Republican senators on Thursday unveiled an infrastructure counteroffer calling for just $257 billion in new spending over the next eight years,

CEASE FIRE WATCH--Gaza, “The president reiterated his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attack,” The Guardian has informed us, as conflict flares once more in the Middle East.

PEACE WATCH--U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to go “beyond the restoration of calm to start a serious dialogue to address the root causes of the conflict.”

WAR RETURNS TO MIDDLE EAST--Riding in the back of a truck into Afghanistan during the 2001 U.S. invasion, a journalist colleague from Russia who served in the Red Army during the 1980s asseverated that he was happy to be back in the country. 

WHY ARE THE ARABS AND THE JEWS AT WAR?-As my grief and outrage mount at the predictable escalations of violence in Israel/Palestine, I once again marvel at the chasms of misunderstanding and miscalculations in describing events as they unfold and the script that frames most mainstream media reporting. (Recently, The New York Times is a notable exception.) 

DEATH BY COP--On the day Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, local law enforcement in my hometown killed my nephew’s father. His name was Jose Flores. 

THE CHARMED LIFE OF DAVID PETRAEUS--I ran into David Petraeus the other night. Or rather, I ran after him.

WORLD WATCH--After neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, North Carolina, and then President Donald Trump responded by saying there were “good people on both sides,” people who abhor white supremacism stood up, took notice, and condemned the marchers.

ALL GENOCIDE’S COUNT--Attributing names to the brutal acts humans are capable of inflicting upon each other is never without problems.

CLIMATE POLITICS--President Joe Biden recently announced that the United States will cut emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 as part of its commitment to the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change. 

IN COLD BLOOD-I’ve watched all of the footage of George Floyd’s murder. I’ve seen the crime from every angle.

GUEST WORDS-Finding George Floyd’s murderer guilty on all three charges was a significant victory for us at the very moment when we, Black people, need to see some justice.

LEGACIES OF RACISM-A few years ago, while covering a story on Republican New Hampshire legislator Werner Horn, I summoned the best and brightest scholars that America had to offer.

THE GOP ISSUES SEARCH--In the wake of Donald Trump electoral defeat and the failure of the January 6^th attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Republicans are actively searching for issues that will reinvigorate their future electoral possibilities. 

GENDER POLITICS-A Supreme Court case challenging the requirement for men, but not women,

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICAID SHOULDN’T BE PUNITIVE--While the White House in recent weeks has taken steps to overturn a Trump-era initiative enabling states to restrict Medicaid eligibility by imposing punitive work requirements, healthcare advocates on Monday urged President Joe Biden to rescind all Medicaid work requirement policies approved by his predecessor.

THE CHAUVIN TRIAL-In more damning, searing testimony on the fifth day of Derek Chauvin's trial for murdering George Floyd, Minneapolis' most senior police officer condemned Chauvin's use of force against Floyd as "totally unnecessary."

CYBERBULLYING FALLOUT-When 14-year-old Brandi Levy didn't make the varsity cut as a freshman cheerleader for the Mahanoy Golden Bears, she sounded off on social media, as teenagers are known to do. 

VOTING RIGHTS FIGHT-With dozens of Republican-authored voter suppression measures advancing through state legislatures across the country, progressive advocacy groups are imploring Democratic lawmakers to stop dragging their feet and immediately abolish the Senate rule that is obstructing an ambitious plan to shield the franchise from the GOP's onslaught.

WAR POLITICS-Will Joe Biden end the endless wars or won't he?