With Russia’s presidential election this Sunday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wrote this 7,500 word opus in Moscow newspaper Moskovskiye Novosti, outlining what the once and apparently future Russian president thinks of the United States and NATO, the use of NGOs in foreign lands (like Egypt), Afghanistan and drug trafficking, the civil conflict in Syria, human rights in Russia and around the...

Has enough time passed since the nuclear disaster in Japan for the world to resume nuclear plant building? Last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a construction permit for the first nuclear power plant to be built in the United States since 1978. According to this editorial from Japan’s Shimpo Hebei Shimbun, in Japan and the U.S., voices calling for a ‘nuclear renaissance’...

For nearly 2,000 years and starting again today, Christians spiritually begin their 40-day Lenten celebrations to prepare themselves for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during the Easter Triduum. Ashes placed on the foreheads of believers constitute an ancient symbol reminding the faithful of their human mortality (from dust to dust). It is also the visual cue to begin a serious period of prayer,...

It seems everyone appreciates the meteoric emergence of Jeremy Lin as an NBA superstar. But as far as Beijing’s news masters are concerned, Lin is nearly a miracle worker. In this editorial from the state-run China Daily, the young Taiwanese American is credited for, among other things, improving China’s image, helping to change ‘stereotypes and prejudice regarding Chinese-Americans,’...

Challenges that the internet poses to health, economic and social well-being of people, especially the young, is becoming a major topic of concern worldwide. The first internet addiction rehab clinic in the United States of America, reStart, has opened in the state of Washington. The clinic works mainly with young adults who have lost control of their internet, gaming, pornography or social media usage, reports...

After months of complaints about unseen money men unleashing SuperPAC attack ads under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, one of them steps forward to show us what we’ve been missing in not hearing directly from them. Rick Santorum’s backer, born-again billionaire Foster Freiss, shows up on MSNBC to tell Andrea Mitchell his views on the Pill, “Back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for...

By building up the reputation of one of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords and then allowing him to remain free, is the United States building a case for intervening in an incompetent Mexico? For Mexico’s La Jornada, columnist Jorge Carrillo Olea asserts that the U.S. has failed to help capture Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as El Chapo, in order to demonstrate that Mexico is a failed state...

How badly is the Mexican drug war going? According to this news item from Mexico’s El Universal, to better communicate the gravity of the situation and send a message to the people and government of the United States, Mexico President Felipe Calderón has unveiled a huge sign within a stone’s throw of the U.S. border that says: ‘No More Weapons!’ For Mexico’s El Universal, reporter...

For years people have talked about “pack journalism,” but increasingly our politics is “pack politics.” Someone seizes on an attack point, and then it’s all over the ideological cable shows, talk show hosts pick it up and run with it as an attack point. And then — before the people using the attack point know it — it seemingly has a life of its own. Perceptions are formed...

For me, the drug methotrexate is the difference between discomfort and comfort. For children with certain forms of leukemia, it is the difference between life and death. And yet another cautionary tale about regulation of the profit-greedy American drug industry. Methotrexate has been around for six decades and has long proved to be effective against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which strikes thousand...

The fabricated contraceptive debate that has raged in certain quarters of Washington DC, in various places across the US, and within the blogosphere and our hyper-partisan political system, is another diversion from reality. I had hoped saner minds would have emerged by now, but unfortunately we are left with a narrow analysis of HHS guidelines and the various arguments by a plethora of viewpoints that completely...

Roman Catholic bishops oppose birth control. Many Republican congressfolk and some Democrats oppose birth control. All of the Republican presidential candidates, to one degree or another, oppose birth control. All this despite the fact that a strong majority of Americans are adamant about having the right to decide whether to use birth control and what method to use, and support the Obama administration’s...

ANNUAL VALENTINE’S STORY: The Underlying Meaning of Valentine’s Day………….. Valentine’s Day Alert, Anywhere USA: A woman punches another woman to seize the last red-flocked candy box at the drug store. Children fear going to school for they might not get as many valentine cards as some other kids. What used to be honorable behavior during an onslaught of the citadel, has...

It is a tragic fact that in every war the civilian population pays a very high price. Afghanistan is no exception. According to the UN mission in Afghanistan’s (UNAMA) annual report, a total of 3,021 civilian died in 2011 in Afghanistan — an eight percent increase in the number of civilians (2,790) who died in 2010. According to the same grim report — “Afghanistan Annual Report 2011: Protection...

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

WASHINGTON — Politicized culture wars are debilitating because they almost always require partisans to denigrate the moral legitimacy of their opponents, and sometimes to deny their very humanity. It’s often not enough to defeat a foe. Satisfaction only comes from an adversary’s humiliation. One other thing about culture wars: One side typically has absolutely no understanding of what...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The news that GOPers in Congress will soon move to try and make it so any employer (not just a religious organization) can deny women birth control coverage will likely not help how Republicans in Congress are faring. Just keep the newest push in mind when you read this poll: While positive ratings for Congress remain at an all-time low, more voters than ever see the Republican agenda in Congress as extreme....

Just declared: the Republican Party’s war against contraception.

A new poll finds that Catholic voters support President Barack Obama’s new — and controversial — contraceptive policy compromise: Catholic voters largely approve of President Obama’s new policy on contraception, according to a poll released Saturday by groups that support the policy. Supporters say the poll shows that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and congressional Republicans,...