Image Source: asia.nikkei.com With crimson garments and gold-framed dark turquoise curtains providing an impressive backdrop, the new emperor of Japan, Naruhito, was officially enthroned on Tuesday with all of the ceremony that might be expected from a family who claims a royal lineage over 2,500 years old. But on the sidelines, Japan’s president, Shinzo Abe, […]
Image source: Reuters/Yuri Gripas One had to flee and fled his capital city, two have been buried at the polls, and three others are hanging on by their nails. Since the beginning of the year, social movements have, via the ballot box, the streets, or both, seen the end of Greece and Ukraine’s leaders, while […]
Illustration credit: Peter Naktin French Ex-President Chirac Dead at 86 By Hal Conte Jacques Chirac, president of France from 1995 to 2007, and prime minister twice, during the 1970s and 1980s, died on Thursday. A Gaullist, Chirac’s attempts to install Thatcherite economics after being elected as prime minister under Socialist François Mitterrand was met with […]
Illustration credit: Peter Naktin Russia By Hal Conte President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party saw sweeping losses as voters took revenge over economic stagnation and a rise in retirement ages last year, with the main opposition Communist Party gaining seven seats and smaller parties six of the 38 won by United Russia in 2014. The […]
Photo: BBC The politics of climate change are often portrayed as a clash between the hopelessly idealistic and the depressingly cynical. Activists and scientists alike push strongly for change which is needed for modern civilization to continue, while the hard-nosed reality of legislative business permanently halts every measure in its tracks. But now a new […]
A consortium of 90 anti-war, peace and environmental groups are seeking to divest Temple University and other colleges as well as municipalities citywide and nationwide from weapons manufacturers and military contractors, with their next Philadelphia meeting to be held on Sunday, April 7th. “Our long term goal is creating a global security system, an alternative […]
What connects southwestern Germany, central Japan and 22 suburbs surrounding Temple University? Activists in all three, along with homeowners, conservationists and public opinion at large are increasingly outraged over massive contamination of drinking water by Per and Poly Fluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS). And all of these chemicals come from the same source: the U.S. Air Force. […]
It’s safe to say that the Congressional Resolution to create a Green New Deal is no ordinary government matter. Overnight, it has drawn intense reactions: Some Democrats and Democratic Socialists have forcibly occupied public offices and are planning to knock on doors en masse to gain support for the resolution while conservatives and even some […]
Poland By Hal Conte A Middle East-oriented diplomatic conference was thrown into turmoil when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made comments that were translated into English by his Twitter team as reading “the common interest of war with Iran.” The event was seen by many as an attempt to rally support for isolating Iran among […]
As 2018 draws to a close, and we reflect upon all that has happened over the past 12 months, it is easy to see why many people are relieved that it is over, and it is surprising that so much has occurred in what seems like a short period of time. The main existential challenges […]
At a time when the president of the United States, the London Times, and scholarly researchers are all equally alarmed over the rise of “fake news,” it’s clear that the problem has captured the attention and concern of the world. It’s equally obvious that those focusing on fake news have no consensus on what the […]
Described variously as “the most successful democratically elected leader of the 21st century,” “the real leader of the free world,” and the woman who gave a “breakthrough” to the far right and crushed Greece, Angela Merkel is finally preparing to give up the leadership of Germany after 13 years as the country’s chancellor. She will […]
Humanity has faced a fork in the road and must undertake “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” in order to prevent a cataclysmic increase in warming, according to a highly publicized new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.). But is any action being planned to mitigate this? According […]
