Picks of the Week: The White House’s New Cybersecurity Action Plan & Budget
Cybersecurity National Action Plan | The White House, The Real Reason to Like the President’s Cybersecurity Plan | Net Politics Opinion: $19 billion alone won’t fix Washington’s cybersecurity problem | Passcode President Barack Obama recently announced the Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP), which would allocate $19 billion for cybersecurity initiatives at federal agencies and would establish a chief information security officer (CISO) for the federal government. The plan, although … Read More
Picks of the Week | The Long Game
President Obama: the 60 Minutes Interview | CBS News Rift in Obama administration over Putin | Politico Who is a Better Strategist: Obama or Putin? | Foreign Policy Last week, during an appearance on “White House Chronicle,” the show’s host, Llewellyn King, asked me whether a lack of leadership on the National Security Council and at the State Department was to blame for the impotence of U.S. policy in the Middle … Read More
Picks of the Week: As One World Leader Leaves the Nation’s Capital, Another Arrives
Same (Red) Carpet, Different Climate Conflict Flavors Obama’s Meeting With Chinese Leader | New York Times Full Transcript: Interview With Chinese President Xi Jinping | The Wall Street Journal A President and A Pope Head to Washington | The Washington Post Two prominent world leaders—Pope Francis and Chinese President Xi Jinping—are in Washington DC on official state visits this week, and although both leaders will be afforded red-carpet treatment they … Read More
Identity, War and Peace
Two articles have recently caught my attention—one about the rise of Christian militias, financed by American evangelical Christians, who are fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The other about the first signs of hope in Iraq in a long, long time. They reflect different dimensions of the same conflict, and those differences give me pause. In Baghdad, the curfew imposed after the American occupation began has been lifted. People are … Read More
Picks of the Week | Attitudes Towards Science, Ebola News Coverage, U.S. Air Campaign Against ISIS
Attitudes Towards Science What Scientists Really Do | New York Review of Books Media “Echo Chambers” and Climate Change | Yale University A current article in the New York Review of Books addresses Americans’ attitudes towards science. On one hand, we say we tend to trust and value scientific findings, and on the other hand, we’re willing to throw out scientific perspectives if they clash with other priorities such as … Read More
Roundtable – Dysfunction in Washington
Washington, DC—the name of the capital city is more often a punch line for late night comedians than it is a place associated with serious people. And for good reason. Amidst sequesters, government shutdowns, and the threat of a looming default on America’s debts, the public is left to wonder if Washington will ever work again. Join us Friday, October 18, 2013 TIME: 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. … Read More
A Different Arms Race: Newtown Tragedy Brings Gun Control to the White House
On Friday, December 14, 2012, one of the most devastating American tragedies since 9/11 happened at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. At 9:30 am, twenty-six victims–twenty children, six adults–were killed by Newtown resident Adam Lanza. Many suspect that Lanza, suffered from a developmental disorder, most likely Asperger’s syndrome. He had obtained the guns used at Sandy Hook from his mother, Nancy Lanza, the first victim of that Friday, who used to go trap shooting. … Read More
Tracing the Origins of the “Fiscal Cliff”
Shortly after the re-election of President Barack Obama, there was an immediate and pressing concern to address the termination of tax cuts by January 1, 2013. The expiration of several tax cuts worth billions of dollars—the Bush tax cuts, the payroll-tax holiday, the alternative minimum tax, and tax credits—would result in raised expenses across the board, from the middle class to the affluent “one-percent.” The phrase used to define this … Read More
Presidential Election 2012: Obama Re-elected (Op-Ed)
Last night and early this morning, it was clear America had spoken. President Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term in office, despite the delayed rescindence of Governor Mitt Romney and the very disappointed Karl Rove as seen on Fox News. The president won the Northeast, the West Coast, and most of the swing states–Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. President Obama was earned votes … Read More
The Significance of “Faithful Citizenship” in the Voting Booth and Presidential Debate Watch II
On Tuesday evening, Oct. 17, 2012, the Pell Center co-hosted a lecture and presidential debate watch with The Mercy Center of Spiritual Life and the Religious & Theological Studies Department in Bazarsky Lecture Hall. The featured lecturer, Dr. Peter Steinfels of Fordham University, discussed Faithful Citizenship in a Partisan World. Dr. Steinfels defined the meaning of faithful citizenship; explored the conflict between religious faith and political affairs; and connected the … Read More