Category: Politics

Breaking the "Silents" - how generational factors could help America elect a 72-year-old president.

If elected, Senator Clinton would be the first woman President of the United States; if elected, Senator Obama would be the first African-American President; and if elected, Senator McCain would not only be the first President from his generation - the Silent Generation - he would represent the new face of how America is redefining age.

Hillary notwithstanding, the United States doesn't even come close to leading the pack when it comes to women in politics. But don't take our word for it, ask Indira Gandhi or Golda Meir.

When it comes to political equality for women, the United States ranks “middle of the pack” compared to most other countries, according to the authors of a recent book on women and global politics.

A new study of eyewitness reports published in assassinationresearch.com has revealed a major discrepancy between the actual sequence of events these witnesses observed and the sequence presented in home movies of the assassination known as the Zapruder film and the Nix film. The witnesses reported that a motorcycle patrolman rode forward to the lead car to advise the Chief of Police that the President had been shot. Neither film shows it.

The editor of Assassination Research, James H. Fetzer, Ph.D., has announced the discovery of new proof that the home movies of the assassination of JFK known as the Zapruder film and a second known as the Nix film are fakes. (The Nix film was taken from the opposite side looking toward "the grassy knoll.") Both were subject to extensive alteration to fabricate evidence of the crime and keep the truth about the sequence of events in Dealey Plaza from the American people. Fetzer, McKnight Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, observed that the films are authentic only if the visible events they record correspond to the actual sequence of events at the time. "This proof is based upon the convergent testimony of motorcycle patrolmen, members of the Secret Service, and the Dallas Chief of Police," said Fetzer. "That it contradicts the official account of the assassination recorded in the films qualifies as a major breakthrough."

Although the Dems won't be playing much of a role in the Florida primary, we all learned in 2000 that The Sunshine State can make or break you in national elections. Besides, there are other states where the demographics skew old - so we might as well learn how to act.

While much attention has focused on getting out the youth vote, especially in places like Iowa and Michigan, in the upcoming Florida primary the focus of the candidates needs to embrace and understand older Americans, according to Ann A. Fishman, an expert on the habits of different generations.

A poll released last week notes that Americans and Russians agree that their governments should work together to prevent an arms race in space. Large majorities in both countries favor unilateral restraint and a treaty that would keep space free of weapons.

Most Americans and Russians agree that their governments should work together to prevent an arms race in space. Large majorities in both countries favor unilateral restraint and a treaty that would keep space free of weapons.

A tongue in cheek look at the rigors of being an elected official. With Iowa just a few days away, we couldn't resist.

As we face the end of the calendar year, the National League of Cities would like to offer a lighthearted look at the serious job facing local elected officials every day.

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says that abuses include forced displacement and labor, attacks on civilians by soldiers, and injury from landmines.

Gross human rights violations, including forced displacement, forced labor, attacks by soldiers on civilians, injury from landmines and destruction or theft of food supplies, have been widespread in eastern Burma (also known as Myanmar), with over half of households in displaced areas reporting incidents in the 12 months prior to a 2004 survey. The study, completed by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions, is published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

A new study led by Sarah Soule, professor of sociology at Cornell, and Brayden King, assistant professor of sociology at Brigham Young University, examines how organized public protest affects "abnormal stock price returns."

Corporate leaders at Dow Chemical, Cracker Barrel and Eastman Kodak have learned the hard way that public protests can drive down the value of an otherwise healthy stock.

Three in four want city and local governments to take more action to reduce greenhouse gases.

On Wednesday, GfK Public Affairs and Media, a division of GfK Custom Research North America and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies released the first installment of a new quarterly survey called the GfK Roper/Yale Survey on Environmental Issues. The first of its kind to measure public opinion of local government-led green initiatives, the survey found that a majority of Americans support a variety of city and local climate change policies to minimize the effects of global warming.

A new study by University of Alberta researcher Paul Joosse cautions against any surety about the ideological motivations behind the Earth Liberation Front. The Earth Liberation Front (or ELF, for short) uses an organizational strategy called ‘leaderless resistance,’ whereby small cells choose when, how, and against whom to act - and then make a claim of responsibility on behalf of the mother group.

Ask the FBI, and they will contend that a dangerous wave of "ecoterrorism" has swept North America in the past decade. Ski resorts, new condominium developments and corporate logging headquarters have all been the target of arson attacks, pushing the damage tally of a shadowy organization called the Earth Liberation Front past the $100 million mark. The FBI’s concern has reached such a fervor, in fact, that it labeled environmental terrorism as the number one domestic terrorism threat in 2005.