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Policy

An Open Letter to President Obama About Afghanistan From William R. Polk

The Nation | Posted 11.11.2009 | World

Read More: Russia, Afghanistan War, Nato, Afghan Election, Tribes, Durand Line, Kabul, Middle East, Taliban, Policy, Hamid Karzai, Afghan War, Chicago, Afghan Strategy, Un, South Waziristan, Soviet Union, Pentagon, Britain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Troop Levels, Terrorism, Pashtun, Foreign Policy, Kashmir, Insurgency, Al Qaida, State Department, Pashtunwali, Soviet Afghan War, Counterinsurgency, World News

I was an early supporter of yours. So I hope you will accept the following analysis and proposals as being from a friend as well as a person with cons...

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Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: "I'm Doing God's Work."

Times Online | John Arlidge | Posted 11.07.2009 | Business

Read More: Timothy Geithner, Goldman Sachs, Economy, Derivatives, Bailouts, Black Pools, Regulation, Credit Default Swaps, George Bush, Lloyd Blankfein, Policy, Goldman, London, Tim Geithner, Recession, Mortgage Crisis, Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, The City, Bailout, Barack Obama, Predatory Lending, Blankfein, Banks, Hank Paulson, Bonuses, Wall Street, Executive Pay, Business News

Goldman's reputation is suddenly as toxic as the credit default swaps and other inexplicably exotic financial instruments it used to buy with glee. Th...

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Global Warming Debate Gets Strange

Bill Chameides | Posted 11.06.2009 | Green

Read More: Politics, Glaciers, Chewang Norphel, Nepal, Africa, John Kerry, U.S. Chamber of Congress, Maldives, Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, Policy, Global Warming, Kerry-Boxer Climate Bill, Legislation, Green News
Bill Chameides

Someone tell me ... which is the real environmental news and which is fake?

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Food Lobby Mobilizes, As Soda Tax Bubbles Up

HuffPost Investigative Fund | Posted 11.05.2009 | Green

Read More: Funds, Fast Food, Congress, Nhma, Snapple, Senate Finance Committee, Lobbyists, Agriculture, American Beverage Association, Soda Tax, Food Loby, Funding, Hispanics, National Corn Growers Association, Health Insurance, Policy, National Hispanic Medical Associaiton, Huffington Post Investigative Fund, Coca-Cola, Soft Drinks, Chuck Grassley, Dr. Pepper, Food Politics, Health Care, Beverage Tax, Aba, Lobbying, Corn, Americans Against Food Taxes, Supermarkets, Coke, Alex Padilla, Pepsi, Corn Syrup, Nutrition, Grocery Stores, Health Care Reform, Max Baucus, Green News

By Christine Spolar, Huffington Post Investigative Fund and Joseph Eaton, Staff Writer, Center for Public Integrity Washington lobbyists have been en...

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Health Insurance Companies Price Gouging the US Economy

Damien Hoffman | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Family, Price Gouging, Americans, Health Insurance, Healthcare, Policy, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Crisis, Economy, Politics News
Damien Hoffman

At the current pace, on my 54th birthday I can look forward to spending over $1 million a year on healthcare (but my bank will be broken many years earlier).

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Economic Crisis Compels Economists To Reach For New Paradigm

Wall Street Journal | MARK WHITEHOUSE | Posted 11.02.2009 | Business

Read More: Economy, Policy, The Fed, Recession, Ben Bernanke, Collateral, University, Mortgage, Credit, Economic Policy, Lenders, Finance, College, Rational Expectations, Bernanke, Crisis, Economists, Banks, Academics, Theory, Colleges, Economic Theory, Universities, Business News

The pain of the financial crisis has economists striving to understand precisely why it happened and how to prevent a repeat. For that task, John Gean...

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A Paucity of Hope

Gerald Sindell | Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care Reform, Hope, Barack Obama, Audacity of Hope, Hope Gap, Policy, Thanksgiving, Politics News
Gerald Sindell

Hope was intrinsically too big a promise to run on. Hope unleashes dreams of the beautiful, while politics by its nature can only deliver the truly ugly and barely functioning compromise.

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Back to the Future With Mike Bloomberg

Jarrett Murphy | Posted 10.27.2009 | New York

Read More: Term Limits, Campaign 2009, William Thompson, Mayoral Campaign, Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg Third Term, New York Times, Policy, Affordable Housing, New York News
Jarrett Murphy

He says he will deliver us a city "safer, stronger, greener and healthier -- and better than ever." Who can argue with that? As for the details, polls indicate he'll have four years to nail those down.

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Drugs: Losing the Longest War

Michael Kaplan | Posted 10.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Durgs, Marijuana, Los Zetas, War, Addiction, Failure, Policy, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Politics News
Michael Kaplan

On October 14, 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs ... again. There have been one or two conflicts in human history that lasted longer -- though we'd better win this before 2012, or we'll find ourselves alone in a league with the Hundred Years' War.

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A Remix Manifesto for Our New Copyright Czar

Jonathan Melber | Posted 09.30.2009 | Media

Read More: Lawrence Lessig, Remix, Kanye West, James Boyle, Copyright, Copyright Czar, Copyright Law, Policy, Music, Victoria Espinel, The Legendary K.O., Fair Use, Sampling, Media News
Jonathan Melber

Obama has appointed the first U.S. copyright czar. Our profoundly broken copyright laws, rather than fostering creativity, as they were originally intended, now inhibit it at every turn.

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Armenia's Progressive New AIDS Policy Suggests It Can Be a Regional Leader

Jirair Ratevosian | Posted 09.22.2009 | World

Read More: Msm, HIV/AIDS, Hiv, Armenia, Policy, Sex, World News
Jirair Ratevosian

Active participation of civil society is critical for success, including participation from organizations representing sexual minorities and people living with HIV/AIDS.

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Why Is AAA Offering Brain Training to Older Drivers?

Alvaro Fernandez | Posted 09.15.2009 | Living

Read More: Insurance Companies, Driving Fitness, Aging, Crash Rates, Cognitive Fitness, Mobility, Safety, Peter Kissinger, Traffic Safety, Policy, Seniors, Dmv, Insurance, Teens, AAA Foundation, Cognitive Training, Driver Safety, Posit Science, Computerized Cognitive Assessment, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Aaa, Driverzed, Drivesharp, Living News
Alvaro Fernandez

Peter Kissinger, CEO of the AAA Foundation: Part of making our nation's roads safer is helping mature drivers who wish to stay active -- a quickly growing population -- maintain or improve their driving safety.

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Obama Wall Street Speech To Focus On Regulation

AP | PHILIP ELLIOTT | Posted 09.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Finance, Banks, Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, Speech, Obama, Policy, Obama Speech, Regulation, Health Care, New York, Economy, Politics News

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to use the first anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse to talk about plans to wind down the governm...

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Tom Ricks And The Military's New Philosophical Embeds

Columbia Journalism Review | Tara McKelvey | Posted 09.13.2009 | Media

Read More: Kabul, Iraq Surge, Washington, Tom Ricks, Pakistan, War, Philosopy, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq, Surge, Afghanistan War, Al Qaeda, Embedded Journalists, Journalism, Iraq War, Baghdad, Taliban, Ethics, Insurgency, Policy, Foreign Correspondents, Counterinsurgency, Media News

Thomas E. Ricks has a photograph of a general--Ulysses S. Grant, looking haggard and defeated in Cold Harbor, Virginia--on the wall of his office. His...

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Listen to Mr. David Walker

John David Lewis | Posted 09.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care Reform, Bankruptcy, David Walker, Policy, Spending, Federal Government, Economy, Politics News
John David Lewis

Officials must often make a choice: to remain silent and keep their jobs, or to resign and speak the truth. Faced with this dilemma, on March 12, 2008, David Walker chose to resign.

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Let the States Decide: Proposing an Optional Public Option for Health Reform

D. Brad Wright | Posted 09.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Opt-In, States, Public Option, Health, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Policy, Health Care, Politics News
D. Brad Wright

Is there any way to make the public plan option more palatable to the public? I believe there is.

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Counting What Counts: Accurate Data Leads to Effective Policy

Michael Laracy | Posted 09.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Annie E. Casey Foundation, Child Indicators, Census, Children, State Child Well-Being Research Act of 2009, Politics, Congress, Child Poverty, Political News, National Academy of Sciences, Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, Policy, Poverty Measure, Poverty, Data, Kids Count, Politics News
Michael Laracy

It's time to update the poverty measure. The current U.S. poverty measure is a 1960s creation -- needless to say a lot has changed since then.

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Marriage and Health: Et Tu, New York Times?

Bella DePaulo | Posted 09.04.2009 | Living

Read More: Depression, Singled Out, Divorce, Matrimania, Marriage Movement, Media, Obesity, Policy, Myths, Marriage, Singlism, Methodological Problems, Health, Single, Health Insurance, New York Times, Discrimination, Finances, Living News
Bella DePaulo

I am disappointed with the recent Times article that claims that married people tend to be healthier than single people. Here's why the piece is misleading.

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Newsweek's Misleading Account of Latest Marriage Study

Bella DePaulo | Posted 08.28.2009 | Living

Read More: Mark Sanford, Depression, Singled Out, Divorce, Marriage, Jon and Kate, Marriage Movement, Widow, Media, Policy, Myths, Age of Marriage, Journalism, Singlism, Methodological Problems, Health, Single, Chronic Illness, Remarriage, Newsweek, Living News
Bella DePaulo

A new day has dawned, and with it another study of marriage misrepresented in the media: as always, implying that getting married results in better outcomes than it actually does.

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Job Training: Often Misunderstood But Too Important to Dismiss

Brandon Roberts | Posted 08.21.2009 | Business

Read More: Political News, Politics, Poverty, Unemployment, Economics, Working Poor Families Project, Employment, Economic Crisis, Jobs, Workforce, Job Training, Business, Policy, Economy, No Worker Left Behind, Business News
Brandon Roberts

States' retraining efforts should use a sector-based focus with the goal of transitioning displaced workers into positions that the stimulus will support, in infrastructure and emerging fields.

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On the Climate Bill Fence: What Sen. Alexander Is Thinking

Bill Chameides | Posted 08.16.2009 | Green

Read More: Politics, Cap and Trade, Climate Change, U.S. Congress, Lamar Alexander, Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, Policy, Legislation, Global Warming, Green News
Bill Chameides

Despite Alexander's conservative credentials, the environmental community has long hoped he could be counted on in a legislative vote to sap greenhouse gas emissions.

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False Confessions: What Would It Take to Make You Confess?

John Terzano | Posted 08.14.2009 | Home

Read More: False Confessions, Criminal Justice System, The Justice Project, New York Times, Reform, Texas, Policy, Chicago Tribune, Electronic-Recording, Home News
John Terzano

Most people find it hard to understand how anyone could ever confess to a crime they did not commit. But it happens over and over again. False confessions are a well-documented reality.

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Climate Legislation: Countdown to the House Showdown

Bill Chameides | Posted 07.27.2009 | Green

Read More: Politics, Cap and Trade, Economics, Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, Policy, Legislation, Global Warming, American Clean Energy and Security Act, Green News
Bill Chameides

wo recent polls show that a large majority of Americans want the United States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Today the U.S. House of Representatives just might deliver.

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Cap and Trade Part 5: What's With the Add-Ons?

Bill Chameides | Posted 07.25.2009 | Green

Read More: Cap and Trade, Economics, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Washington Post, Policy, Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, Legislation, Green News
Bill Chameides

The Waxman-Markey climate bill is attracting a lot of criticism aimed at the non-cap-and-trade add-ons, which begs the question: are they really necessary?

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Cap and Trade Part 2: Walking the International Tightrope

Bill Chameides | Posted 07.11.2009 | Green

Read More: Thomas Friedman, Cap and Trade, Global Economy, Economics, Economy, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, United States, Policy, China, Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, Legislation, Politics, U.S. Congress, Climate Change, Paul Krugman, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Global Warming, Green News
Bill Chameides

Any international climate treaty that omits an eventual cap on China's emissions will be a treaty that fails to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference on the climate.

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