BRITAIN AFTER THE MAY ELECTION

By Michael Faulkner - 06.12.15

The outcome of the general election that took place on the 7th May confounded the expectations not only of all the pundits but of almost everyone else as well.  For months opinion polls had been predicting that neither of the two largest parties, Conservatives and Labour, would win an overall majority, pointing inescapably to a hung parliament. Despite the protestation of the two party leaders, Cameron and Miliband, that they were each expecting to form a majority government, it was obvious that neither of them believed it to be within their reach. Serious discussion focussed on computing the likely tallies of seats to be won by the smaller parties – Liberal Democrats, Greens, UKIP, Scottish and Welsh nationalists and a handful of others in Northern Ireland – and how they might align themselves to prop up a minority government. In the end it all turned out to have been a futile exercise. The Tories won the election with an overall majority of 12 seats in the House of Commons.

Read More
More info

TPJ MAG

Once Upon a Time…

By Loren Adams, 6.14.2015

Ever’ so often, folk like to listen to storybook tales. Accounts, if well written, serve to create intriguing visuals that assist the reader in their understanding of current dilemmas they may be encountering. A clear moral conclusion may be drawn.

Here’s a new, but old one to decode.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a kingdom far, far away lived wicked nobles. Not only did they hoard land, but wealth, treasure and power.

Read More
More info

TPJ MAG

Yemen War: Redrawing The Fault lines

By Conn Halliman - 06.14.15

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world, bereft of resources, fractured by tribal divisions and religious sectarianism, and plagued by civil war. And yet this small country tucked into the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula is shattering old alliances and spurring new and surprising ones. As Saudi Arabia continues its air assault on Houthis insurgents, supporters and opponents of the Riyadh monarchy are reconfiguring the political landscape in a way that is unlikely to vanish once the fighting is over.

Read More
More info

TPJ MAG

Iran, “The Bomb,” and “The Deal”

By Steven Jonas, MD MPH - 06.14.15

Ah yes, “the Iran Deal,” which isn’t actually a deal yet, but rather an apparently very detailed framework for one.  David Stockman of all people has provided one of the more lucid and detailed descriptions of the “framework” that I have seen.  (Remember Stockman?  He was one of Reagan’s hatchet men who himself eventually got “taken to the woodshed” in Reagan’s quaint terminology for daring to think that the laughable “Laffer curve might not be so funny.  He is now a man of further changed politics.)   Stockman also explains why the deal is nothing like “Munich.”

Read More
More info

TPJ MAG

RED SCARES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: REWRITING THE NARRATIVE OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM

By Harry Targ Thursday, May 21, 2015

Purdue University has become the first public institution of higher education to adopt a free speech policy called the ‘Chicago principles,’ condemning the suppression of views no matter how ‘offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed’ they may be. (Tyler Kingkade, “Purdue Takes A Stand For Free Speech, No Matter How Offensive Or Unwise,” Huffington Post, May 15, 2015).

“Colleges and universities often boast of their diversity in terms of race, sex, gender or sexual orientation, but too often they fail to encourage diversity of thought.” (Kathleen Parker, “In Name of Free Speech at Purdue, Beyond,” Lafayette Journal and Courier, Thursday, May 21, 2015, 7A).

Read More
More info

TPJ MAG

Political Paradoxes and Other Strong Evidence of Human Depravity and Dumbass in America

By Mickey Walker-June 10, 2015

Have you ever paused to ask if a notion or a government policy is sound, logical, and rational?  As a poster child for the lame logic of why Bush and all his minions were so hell-bent on attacking Iraq back in 2003 the following points were assumed to be true:

1.      Bush had acquired knowledge that Saddam Hussein was attempting to buy some “Yellow Cake” fissionable Uranium235 from….. (Drum roll)……. Africa.  Bush had pre-decided that Hussein had intentions of building atomic weapons to point them at American cities.  And though George Tenant, CIA Director at the time had told Bush that they information had been gathered from British Intelligence, and that even the Brits said that that intelligence was BOGUS, and that it 

Read More
More info

TPJ MAG