Mar 15 2014 - 2:16pm
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, who lived from October 27, 1466, to July 12, 1536, faced censorship in his day, and has never been as popular among the rich and powerful as has his contemporary Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli. But at a distance of half a millennium, we ought to be able to judge work on its merit -- and we ought to have regular celebrations of Erasmus around the world. Some of his ideas are catching on. His name is familiar in Europe as that of the EU's student exchange program, named in his honor. We ought perhaps to wonder what oddball ideas these days might catch on in the 2500s -- if humanity is around then.
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Mar 13 2014 - 6:10pm
In a rare show of unity, the governing and opposition parties in the Guyana legislature have demonstrated an outstanding and continuing commitment to the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Despite their differences over domestic matters, the parties in the legislature unanimously agreed an amendment to the Caribbean Community Free Entry of Skilled Nationals Act to allow for the spouse of a skilled national to work.
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Mar 11 2014 - 11:10pm
Not being mush of a masochist, I don't usually read emails from the Democratic Whip in Congress, but I opened one Tuesday night and was mildly excited to read that the U.S. House of Representatives would spend Wednesday debating the "ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014." Wow, I thought, which law will they pick? Read more
Mar 11 2014 - 9:34am
One of my favorite sayings about being a parent is that you must be your kid’s best parent, not their best friend. Far too many parents are concerned about being their kid’s buddy, being liked by their kids, and by their friends. Sure, it’s cool to be in the good graces of our children, but that is NOT our job. Our job is to educate, raise, and equip our children to live good and productive lives. Our job is not to be their entertainment director and master of good times.
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Mar 10 2014 - 10:24pm
When then Senator Barack Obama went to meet -- under heavy and disruptive security -- flew to Iraq to meet with American military commanders in 2008 -- coming between President George W. Bush and his field generals -- he declared he would pull out troops "when" he would become president about 15 months later.
He was correctly admonished by the GOP leadership with the statement: “We only have one president at a time.” I cannot recall how Obama responded to this appropriate criticism, but the incident came right back to my mind with the foolhardy CPAC that said little for the same GOP that defended President Bush correctly.
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Mar 10 2014 - 5:47pm
By John Heid
“You have no rights here!” barked a U.S. Border Patrol agent to a resident of Arivaca, AZ who was passing through a Customs and Border Protection checkpoint 23 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Mar 10 2014 - 2:57pm
You don’t have to be Irish to wear the green on Saint Patrick’s Day!
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Mar 7 2014 - 1:48pm
2014 is shaping up as a classic off-election year victory for the Republican Party nationally and across West Virginia. The opposing party almost always picks up seats in the sixth year of a two-term President's tenure.
This year looks bleak for the Democrats and correspondingly rosy for Republicans, as many polls are already showing. Read more
Mar 6 2014 - 5:23pm
SEATTLE, Wash. (Special to Huntingtonnews.net) -- Every year when I receive my automobile insurance bill my blood pressure rises when I see the line item for uninsured motorists. Almost every state has a law that requires every vehicle owner to have liability insurance but this is seldom, if ever enforced. And as a result we all subsidize those who are uninsured. But Canada may have the best solution.
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Mar 6 2014 - 10:26am
The governing Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP) and the opposition parties in Guyana are locked in a unique governance struggle in which two combined opposition parties command the majority in the legislature and, thus, can block legislation introduced by the government.
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Mar 4 2014 - 9:42pm
Harrison County resident Mike Queen has been making waves from the moment he decided where he would attend college. The North Central West Virginian had an opportunity to attend West Point.
However, he decided to attend college closer to home.
Yet he didn't go to WVU, the more familiar institution in his part of the state. Rather, Queen chose Marshall University and was later elected Student Body President. He parleyed that first successful experience in campaigning into becoming the youngest member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Read more
Mar 4 2014 - 2:24pm
Today is primary election day in Texas, where I've lived since the summer of 2008. I've voted, but I didn't get wet standing in line to cast my ballot on this rainy day in Coastal Texas: Texas is one of 37 states with some form of early voting and I voted a week ago with a mail-in ballot. Read more
Mar 3 2014 - 6:03pm
Updated 4 years ago
By Arthur Solomon
It didn’t take long for the friendly Russian bear of Sochi’s closing ceremonies to revert to the carnivorous Ursus Arctos of the Cold War era.
But instead of admitting its mistake and speaking out for freedom the boys from Lausanne remain voiceless in their Winter Olympics bear den.
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Feb 28 2014 - 7:59pm
Updated 4 years ago
The major headlines assert the alleged gravity with which the Obama administration views potential Russian overstepping with respect to Ukraine. Pushed to explain what is meant by our gravity, Presidential spokesman Jay Carney used words that sounded as if we could do something.
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Feb 24 2014 - 9:17pm
As the United States begins to grapple with the issue of growing economic inequality, it should not ignore the widening income gap on American college campuses.
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Feb 21 2014 - 1:12am
Annie Jacobsen's new book is called Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America. It isn't terribly secret anymore, of course, and it was never very intelligent. Jacobsen has added some details, and the U.S. government is still hiding many more. But the basic facts have been available; they're just left out of most U.S. history books, movies, and television programs.
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Feb 20 2014 - 6:04pm
Editor's note: HNN contributor Sir Ronald Sanders sent this on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 20, 2014
The Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter repudiate the events that occurred during and after the peaceful demonstrations by student organizations on February 12, 2014 in Venezuela. The group of Friends laments the loss of life and the wounded, and expresses its strong condemnation of the detention of more than 100 students, some of whom reported violations of their physical integrity.
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Feb 20 2014 - 10:23am
Caribbean governments that are members of the Petro Caribe Agreement with Venezuela would be prudent by beginning to adjust their budgets to take account of the loss of benefits now derived from the oil arrangement. This is especially important for the countries of the Eastern Caribbean that appear to have made little provision for the possibility that the arrangements with Venezuela could end abruptly.
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Feb 17 2014 - 9:05pm
1. War is immoral.
Murder is the one crime that we're taught to excuse if it's done on a large enough scale. Morality demands that we not so excuse it. War is nothing other than murder on a large scale.
Over the centuries and decades, death counts in wars have grown dramatically, shifted heavily onto civilians rather than combatants, and been overtaken by injury counts as even greater numbers have been injured but medicine has allowed them to survive. Read more
Feb 16 2014 - 5:03pm
There was a major story in Time magazine this week that military personnel were cheating on competency tests relating to the command and control of American nuclear missiles. This was one more confirmation of what we already know in our hearts but prefer not to examine too closely: humans are too human, too small, too fallible, to be in charge of the unfathomable destructive power of nuclear weapons.
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Feb 15 2014 - 4:21pm
Several years ago, I wrote in these pages that "Troops' Mental Health Is Off the Nation's Radar". Shamefully, that remains a startling fact!
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Feb 13 2014 - 10:01am
Of all the offensive –- and unintelligent -– statements made in the politics of the post-independence Caribbean, an assertion, that Dr Keith Rowley, the leader of the Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago, is “too black” to be Prime Minister, has to rate as the worst.
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Feb 12 2014 - 2:17am
Updated 4 years ago
by Marilyn Howells
The Coalition of Retired Public Employees (CORPE) will hold its annual legislative rally at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb 13, 2014 in the very nice food court area in the basement of the Capitol. Breakfast is being will be provided. "Legislators, members of the Board of Public Works and the governor have been invited to speak to the retirees." Some issues include the need for a cost of living increase, a $20,000 tax exemption, and erosion of health care benefits. It is open to retired and active workers, families, and supporters, (Non Union or Union, State County, Municipal, City, and Federal, WVPERSA, CWA, AFSCME - WV, UE local 170, AFT WV, WVEA, etc. Read more
Feb 11 2014 - 1:42pm
“If you can cut the people off from their history, then they can be easily persuaded.” -- Karl Marx
February is Black History Month and America will not forget her past!
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Feb 8 2014 - 11:44am
Updated 4 years ago
By Ira Helfand and Robert Dodge, MD
In March of last year (2013) the Norwegian government convened a gathering of 129 nations in Oslo for a two-day Conference on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear War. Read more
Feb 8 2014 - 11:43am
By Ira Helfand and Robert Dodge, MD
In March of last year (2013) the Norwegian government convened a gathering of 129 nations in Oslo for a two-day Conference on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear War. Read more
Feb 8 2014 - 7:57am
The debt of small Caribbean states has been unsustainable for some time now and, unless it is tackled effectively, it will further retard their economic growth and the quality of their human development.
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Feb 7 2014 - 2:38pm
Updated 4 years ago
In his State of the Union address, the President embraced unilateral Executive action as a means to breaking the legislative gridlock in Washington. He vowed to act “wherever and whenever” necessary in advancing his economic agenda, and “without legislation.” Read more
Feb 7 2014 - 11:50am
If you can remember when you could open a savings account at your local post office, you're on Social Security. Yes, the postal savings plan was dropped in 1967 and I'm guessing the culprit that killed this convenient idea was the bank and S&L lobby.
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Feb 6 2014 - 1:53pm
Updated 4 years ago
This month, millions of Americans will take time out of their schedules to watch the greatest athletes in the world compete in one of history’s best events — the Olympics.
The Olympics are a time when the impressiveness of our nation is on display for the entire world to see. Athletes who compete have spent their lives preparing for this moment, as have their families and friends who support them through good times and bad.
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Feb 6 2014 - 9:00am
Updated 4 years ago
Last time I wrote about things that trouble me in my current home state of Florida, I received some pretty nasty responses. One person emailed that my criticism of some of the laws in the state was an affront to those who have served the U.S in foreign wars (I still don’t see how, but never mind) and strongly suggested that I move to Russia or Saudi Arabia. But, eight years after my arrival, I am still here, and at the risk of receiving even more hateful responses, I am again compelled to offer a criticism of some of Florida’s latest dandies.
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Feb 5 2014 - 3:59am
Updated 4 years ago
In late January in a room in Kabul, Afghanistan, I joined several dozen people, working seamstresses, some college students, socially engaged teenagers and a few visiting internationals like myself, to discuss world hunger. Our emphasis was not exclusively on their own country’s worsening hunger problems. The Afghan Peace Volunteers, in whose home we were meeting, draw strength from looking beyond their own very real struggles. Read more
Feb 1 2014 - 3:36pm
Updated 4 years ago
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey lauded Delegate Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson, and others for taking the steps to introduce a bill that would require all state agencies, departments, and offices to undergo regular reviews and audits to ensure they are operating as intended.
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Jan 31 2014 - 4:52am
Updated 4 years ago
Dr. Simonton is taking a beating over his discovery of formaldehyde in the drinking water.
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/x238620882/Officials-dispute-spill-claimFormaldehyde has many uses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formaldehyde#Uses There may be sources of pollution on the Elk River, other than Freedom Industries.
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Jan 30 2014 - 10:27am
Negotiations on a trade agreement between Canada and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have limped along for over five years. Unless political will and energy is now put into the process, the negotiations could fizzle out by the end of June – a ‘drop-dead’ date now accepted by both sides.
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