ANDREA PLATE WRITES – What’s the big deal about Dr Ronny L. Jackson, President Trump’s embattled nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs? It’s obvious, if the allegations are true. They include: creating a hostile work environment. Drinking excessively on the job. Prescribing and dispensing medications inappropriately, to his own staff,…
DIANA JABLONSKI WRITES- Malaysia’s government has proposed new legislation to outlaw spreading “fake news” by punishing purveyors with up to six years in prison and fines of up to $130,000. The proposed legislation would punish not only those directly responsible for “fake news” articles, but also those who participate in…
MICHAELA MERTZ WRITES — The highly followed social media account, Feminist Voices, was suspended on International Women’s Day after initiating a discussion on issues of sexual harassment. The campaign began on March 6, when the account asked users to post their own photos about sexual harassment with the hashtag #March8againstharassment.…
EMILY CARMAN WRITES – On January 9, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis IEEFA published a report naming China the global leader in building and financing of clean energy technology. Meanwhile, the U.S. persists in clinging to coal. On his campaign trail, President Donald Trump promised to…
WRITES TOM PLATE – In the pantheon of American movies, the 1985 flick ‘Back to the Future’ does not rank at the top of temple Hollywood, as do canonical masterpieces such as ‘Casablanca’, ‘Gone With the Wind,’ ‘Lawrence of Arabia” and others. Yet the movie title alone enriched American argot,…
AASHNA MALPANI WRITES – Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, invited Ivanka Trump to speak about female empowerment at the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo recently. Ivanka Trump, daughter of current U.S. President Donald Trump– a man infamous for repeated offenses and disrespectful comments against women – spoke about the…
ELIZABETH SOELISTIO WRITES – To support or not to support, that is the question when it comes to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 12-day visit to Asia. Nowhere is that more true than in South Korea. As tensions between the United States and North Korea continue, many South Koreans have taken…
FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL DAVID STOCKMAN WRITES – Most of the Donald’s tweets amount to street brawling with his political enemies, but occasionally one of them slices through Imperial Washington’s sanctimonious cant. Indeed, Monday evening’s 140 characters of solid cut right to the bone: The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the…
[three_fourth_last]KATIE TRINH WRITES – As President Trump’s term proceeds apace, so does the steady drumbeat of his Twitter output. It is to no surprise that almost any criticism directed towards President Trump will rate a response by none other than Trump himself. And that can make for a whole lot…
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR CHUNG-IN MOON WRITES — Unsettling shadows descended on the Korean Peninsula at the end of 2016. A security threat on top of domestic troubles with the South Korean president under impeachment proceedings, politics swept up in turmoil, candlelight vigils likely to stretch into next year, and depressing economic…
The following letter, in translation, was recently sent from the Kremlin to Trump Tower in New York: HIS EXCELLENCY DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Dear Mr. Trump, Please accept my warmest Christmas and New Year greetings. Serious global and regional challenges, which our countries have to…
WROTE LMU PROFESSOR MICHAEL GENOVESE WITHIN MINUTES AFTER THE 1ST CLINTON-TRUMP DEBATE – It was perhaps not a knockout, but certainly a TKO. Hillary was the clear winner in a lively and fascinating debate. On body language and facial expression, Trump looked like a spoiled child, smirking his way from…
EXCERPTED FROM ‘THE ORIENTAL ECONOMIST’ – Michael Green, the prominent and respected former George W. Bush foreign-policy adviser, on why he will vote for Hillary Clinton in November: “… During the primaries, I worked for Jeb Bush, and I briefed him on Asia. I was never going to vote for…
TOM PLATE WRITES: Stumped by Trump? Horrified by Hillary? Apprehensive about America? As a therapeutic aid, dear distinguished reader, this column proposes to examine – and even appreciate – a totally different style of public leadership: the low-key. Yes, that kind. Remember the old days? Remember Hu Jintao, the predecessor…
TOM PLATE WRITES – These are times that try one’s pro-American soul. To succeed Barack Obama as president, the fight looks to have come down to a duel between know-nothing and a know-it-all – between a candidate who has never held any political office, and one who has held only…
MERLIN EVANS WRITES – A US Presidential election victory for Donald Trump could force Australia to more than double its defense budget. A former defense official who now heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Peter Jennings, warned the reduction in US involvement in Asia that Trump proposes would force the…
