Columnists

THE PUBLIC EYE: Five Presidential Candidates

Bob Burnett
Friday January 02, 2015 - 11:49:00 AM

Happy New Year! Welcome to the start of the presidential campaign marathon. For your consideration are five likely candidates, each representing a distinct segment of the US political spectrum. -more-


DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: Dispatch Awards 2014

Conn Hallinan
Thursday January 01, 2015 - 04:45:00 PM

Each year Dispatches From the Edge gives awards to individuals, companies and governments that make following the news a daily adventure. Here are the winners for 2014.

The Pandora’s Box Award to Israel and the U.S. for launching the world’s first cyber war and creating a monster in the process. In 2010 both countries secretly released the Stuxnet virus to disable Iran’s nuclear energy program, in the process crashing thousands of Teheran’s centrifuges. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Aging With

Jack Bragen
Friday January 02, 2015 - 11:53:00 AM

It is important to realize as persons with a chronic mental illness who, all of us, are not getting younger, that we are not alone. The facts of life are applicable to all known forms of life. Life is temporary. -more-


ECLECTIC RANT: Normalization of US-Cuba Relations begins

Ralph E. Stone
Wednesday December 31, 2014 - 04:58:00 PM

President Obama’s move to normalize relations with Cuba deserves applause. Normalization, however, will not be complete until the U.S. ends its economic embargo and returns Guantánamo Bay to Cuba. -more-


DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: Syria: Turkey In the Fray

Conn Hallinan
Sunday January 04, 2015 - 08:29:00 PM

The pieces for a political resolution of the Syrian civil war are finally coming together, but the situation is extremely fragile, which is not good news in a region where sabotaging agreements and derailing initiatives comes easier than sober compromise. But while many of the key players have already begun backing away from their previous “red lines,” there remains one major obstacle: Turkey. -more-