By Clay Calvert, Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication, University of Florida. Students from South Plantation High School, carrying placards, protest in support of gun control. Carlos Garcia/Reuters Thousands of high school students across the nation today are expected to leave their classes precisely at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes. The walkout serves two purposes: to… … [Read more...] about What the National School Walkout says about schools and free speech
Cartoon: Stephen Hawking
Email Clay Jones at [email protected] … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Stephen Hawking
Better City Planning Can Reduce Water Pollution
There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the vast majority of our urban infrastructure is exacerbating the risk of flooding and missing a serious opportunity to recycle our water in a sustainable and beneficial way. The good news is that urban planners realize this and we are starting to move toward the mentality of the Dutch — the pioneers of the water … [Read more...] about Better City Planning Can Reduce Water Pollution
A revolt in Trump country
WASHINGTON -- President Trump put his political standing on the line in western Pennsylvania's special congressional election on Tuesday. He lost. Republicans and their allies threw every attack in their political arsenal at Democrat Conor Lamb. They apparently fell short. The GOP found that its big corporate tax cut had scant appeal in a district that had voted for Trump by … [Read more...] about A revolt in Trump country
Trump’s presidency is becoming ‘The Purge
WASHINGTON -- It's official: President Trump's 2020 re-election slogan will be lifted from a dystopian thriller in which a white-nationalist U.S. government suspends the rule of law. Variety described the film, "The Purge: Election Year," as "a squalid B-movie political horror film that plays to our most reptile-brained basic instincts." Could there be any better description … [Read more...] about Trump’s presidency is becoming ‘The Purge
British Prime Minister’s five point retaliation against Moscow for double agent poisoning
From expelling Russian diplomats to keeping royals at home during the World Cup, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a series of measures against Moscow on Wednesday in response to the poisoning of a former double agent. Here are five key points from the prime minister's speech: - Blaming Russia - May said the Kremlin had… … [Read more...] about British Prime Minister’s five point retaliation against Moscow for double agent poisoning
Scandal Update: Intel Committee Repubs Run Up The Treason Flag & Proudly Salute It
Imagine that members of an frontline congressional committee, sworn to seek out the truth and punish wrongdoers in connection with the greatest assault on American democracy since the Soviets stole atomic bomb secrets over 70 years ago, instead decline to interview important witnesses and follow important leads, ignore salient facts and then issue a report that contradicts the … [Read more...] about Scandal Update: Intel Committee Repubs Run Up The Treason Flag & Proudly Salute It
Cartoon: Putin on Fifth
Puppy Dies in Cabin on United Airlines Flight After Attendant Insisted It Be Put Overhead
A dog reportedly died on Monday night after a United Airlines flight attendant forced the 10-month old puppy into an overhead compartment during a flight from Houston to New York. According to witnesses, the flight attendant, who hasn't been identified, required the pet owner to store her pet carrier, with the dog inside, in the overhead… … [Read more...] about Puppy Dies in Cabin on United Airlines Flight After Attendant Insisted It Be Put Overhead
Five ‘March Madness’ Predictions for American Politics
By Colleen O'Connor In a bit of March Madness, here are five fearless predictions that may actually come true. 1. President Trump will defy his critics and meet with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un. China and Russia will guarantee that the Hermit Kingdom keeps its pledge to suspend all missile tests until that “summit.” Why? Because the international press that … [Read more...] about Five ‘March Madness’ Predictions for American Politics
Great Music: Chapter 11
This week Great Music returns to the Classical music world. The performance of Franz Schubert’s Impromptu Opus 90, #3 in Gb Major In the Classical period of music, composers did not give their musical compositions a name, like popular music does. Each piece of music is usually identified by it’s key signature, in this case Gb Major which uses 6 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb … [Read more...] about Great Music: Chapter 11
Cartoon: Russia
Trump Fires the Man Who Dared Speak Truth to Power (UPDATED)
Update: Just hours after his “tweeter firing,” a somber Secretary of State addressed State Department personnel to “tell his side of the story.” In the only reference to the man who had just fired him, Tillerson said he had received a call from Trump shortly after noon from Air Force One. Sounding emotional and exhausted after just returning from a five-country trip to … [Read more...] about Trump Fires the Man Who Dared Speak Truth to Power (UPDATED)
Trump’s craven surrender to the NRA
WASHINGTON -- Once again, President Trump has made a cowardly, cynical and monumentally stupid retreat on the issue of guns. No one should have expected otherwise. Forget everything he said in the wake of the Parkland shooting about the urgent need for meaningful action. Trump now takes a position that will almost surely guarantee more gun violence in schools, not less. It … [Read more...] about Trump’s craven surrender to the NRA
Trump, Democrats Face Major Test in Today’s Election
Voters in Pennsylvania head to the polls Tuesday in a special congressional election with national implications for President Donald Trump and opposition Democrats. The election is taking place in a congressional district that Trump won by 19 points in 2016, but where Democrats now hope for an upset that could be a preview of the midterm… … [Read more...] about Trump, Democrats Face Major Test in Today’s Election
Cartoon: Pennsylvania Special Congressional Election
Putin on a Happy Face: House Republicans Declare No Evidence of Collusion
Country over party. How 20th century. Putin Putting yet another step in the Republican Party's brand transformation from the party of Ronald Reagan -- which trusted American intelligence agencies, held them in high regard and didn't trust the Soviet Union -- to the Trumpublican Party, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have declared no evidence of Russian … [Read more...] about Putin on a Happy Face: House Republicans Declare No Evidence of Collusion
Townhall Columnist hilariously suggests that GOPs will win next Civil War
Some might recall that my last column partially dealt with my suggestion that GOP hatespeak was leading us to a new civil war (2007) and Sean Hannity, Brent Bozell and Ted Nugent's on-air freakout about it. Today, (or toady) Town Hall columnist Kurt Schlicter cooks up this meadow-muffin of a column: Why Democrats Would Lose the Second Civil War, Too It’s obvious that the … [Read more...] about Townhall Columnist hilariously suggests that GOPs will win next Civil War
The Thick Plottens: They Call It Stormy Daniels, But Tuesday’s Just The Same
Its utter tawdriness aside, what is so mind blowingly delicious about the Stormy Daniels saga is that unlike the many other scandals swirling around the presidency of a profoundly unqualified and very sick man, this one is sticking, and a porn star may end up doing to Donald Trump what no one else has done -- seizing and keeping control of the narrative, something Trump has … [Read more...] about The Thick Plottens: They Call It Stormy Daniels, But Tuesday’s Just The Same
SCOTUS Defends DACA for Now, but Can America Afford to Dismiss Dreamers?
For more than 700,000 people living legally in the United States thanks to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act, the emotional rollercoaster that began when Donald Trump took office continues to twist and turn. Trump promised to end the program shortly after taking office. To the GOP base that got Trump elected, the “dreamers” protected by DACA are getting a … [Read more...] about SCOTUS Defends DACA for Now, but Can America Afford to Dismiss Dreamers?