Obama Finalizes Proposal To Expand Background Checks On Gun Sales
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Some who have become radicalized may be motivated by their own experiences with discrimination or unjust treatment. Others may join out of fear, and the promise that aligning with ISIS will keep them safer now and, perhaps, in the afterlife. Still others may experience disenchantment with Western ideals or have been disappointed by Western promises of freedom, employment, or financial stability. Through social media, ISIS has also engaged many younger Westerners who feel isolated and angry, and are seeking an outlet in which to rebel. But there's also another explanation that's been talked about less, and that's mental illness. The idea that radicalization may be a mental health disorder, or at the very least linked to one, is just beginning to be examined.
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Climate change is not the only crisis we face. We also face a crisis of joblessness. Of inequality. Of racial and gender injustice. So when we talk about climate solutions in this context, it has to be about designing and then fighting for integrated solutions, ones that radically bring down emissions while simultaneously building more just economies and democracies based on true equality.
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Choosing to invest in others when everyone and everything is telling you to continue investing in yourself and your career shows strength of character and a willingness to live your principles. Why can't we learn to evaluate the success of a life, or even of a career, as a blend of money and meaning, of both climbing a ladder of accomplishment and building a web of relationships? We can, of course.
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The double standard can't be more jarring: For days television networks and media outlets have been parroting the FBI in telling us how the San Bernadino shooters were "radicalized" at this or that time, or speculating on their "radicalization" and how it occurred.
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Much of the discussion about health in recent years has focused on new medications and technologies, expanded insurance coverage, and improved quality of care. What also demands attention is a fundamental building block of health that millions of Americans are lacking: food.
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This is real and personal. It is close to my heart and makes me, as a proud American and a valuable contributor to my society, feel personally victimized. It makes me sad and hurt and anxious.
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And we all ask ourselves: How could this keep happening again and again? Knowing that this cannot be normal? Or: Is this really who we have become? I ask these questions not just as a White House official who has attended far too many memorial services during the last seven years, but also, sadly, as a granddaughter with first-hand experience.
Many see student debt as a young person's problem, but it affects all generations. People ages 65 and older owe $18.2 billion on student loans. People ages 75 and older owe around $2 billion on outstanding student loans. As the population ages, the amounts owed by those age groups are increasing rapidly.
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Contrary to Prime Minister Netanyahu's assertion, the occupation erodes rather than buttresses Israel's national security and cannot be justified on either security or moral grounds.
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I am the greatest threat to ISIS and all Islamic terrorists world wide. I am an educated, independent, ambitious young Muslim American woman and I am immune to their nonsense.
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Blocking humanitarian aid to innocent civilians living in conflict zones is a violation of international law; however its effectiveness is dependent on the will of the world's leaders to uphold and implement the law in favor of the civilians under attack.
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Donald Trump didn't become the frontrunner because of his brilliant vision for America. He has no vision. He doesn't even have a cohesive political brand, to use his favorite word. That makes him a charlatan.
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The Venezuelan political system, with all its flaws, is much more democratic than the conventional wisdom has maintained. Now, what about the future? Opposition leaders will still face the same choice they have faced for the past 16 years: Do they want to participate in the political system, or simply vanquish their enemies (the Chavistas)?
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The holiday season is a busy time of the year for identity thieves and other kinds of identity-related fraudsters. Scams abound, but if you follow a few simple rules, you can sidestep some avoidable holiday blues.
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As the deadline for a deal approaches, transparency and verification of progress are not the only unresolved issues. There still are the perennial questions of how much money richer nations will provide to poorer nations as they attempt to solve poverty and develop their economies with clean energy.
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To be Muslim today is to live an apologetic life as a scapegoat for the radicalized. The underlying basis of ideologies and motives behind terrorism is hidden and, in turn, Islam continues to be misrepresented as an aggressive religion.
My daddy died in January 2013, and one of the last things we talked about was the Chicago police. He was an optimistic man with a fierce passion for social justice, but after a protracted debate with an ultra-idealistic me, he shouted, "Marilyn, don't you know that the police is the biggest gang in the city?"
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I've always pretended to be American. I pretend because it is feels great to be "exceptional" and more civilized than the rest of the world. I pretend because it makes me feel safer to fear others who are different. I pretend because American Republican politicians aren't afraid to demonstrate their overt bigotry by generalizing an entire group of people. Now, it's time to finally stop pretending and fulfill my true destiny.
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The Korean War ended more than 62 years ago, but not really. The warring parties only agreed to an armistice. Technically everyone still is at war.
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If you wish political talk radio felt as hot today as it did 15 or 20 years ago, take some consolation in the Donald Trump campaign. It's pretty much the same thing.
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Beyond the bigoted speech and the violent readiness to kill, the worst aspect of all of this is that the compass guiding these statements and much of the sentiment that I hear coming from many Christians is not Love -- but rather it is fear.
Thin was in, so chubby at six, I was put on a diet. Diets were also in. In fact, perhaps a peculiar corollary to the sexual revolution, was the mass diet industry. Women were dieting. Mothers were dieting. So for the first time, it was conceivable that little girls could diet along, too.
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It is natural to want to be surrounded by positive people. If there are two people capable of doing a job, selling a product or service (or even sitting next to us) the likable person will win every time. Here are seven reasons likable people succeed:
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There is fierce movement taking place right now that is awesome to watch and be a part of where people are stepping into the light and showing what recovery looks like. We are coming together to end the stigma and live out loud as people in long-term recovery from addiction.
This Human Rights Day is particularly significant. In Paris, negotiators are trying to come to agreement on a global climate treaty, and a lot is on the line -- especially for women.
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Among those calling out Trump on his opportunistic xenophobia are, thankfully, numerous faith leaders. One faith leader who didn't join his peers is Franklin Graham. He didn't remain silent, mind you, but doubled down, boasting that he beat Trump to the punch.
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This may seem like the most obvious advice you've ever read. But for some strange reason, a lot of beginners believe that everything revolves around the equipment they have. Nothing is further from the truth.
In the America of haves and have-nots, fewer folks are "movin' on up" like George Jefferson of the classic sitcom. In a new paper for the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Peter Temin, MIT economist and economic historian, breaks down how it happened.
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Today, December 10, we observe Human Rights Day, marking the 67th anniversary since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the end of the UN's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.
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She made headlines and history by becoming the first African-American female principal dancer at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, she debuted on Broadway in the hit show On the Town and launched her MindLeaps Girls' Program in Rwanda, which uses dance to prepare disadvantaged youth for school.
