AL JAZEERA 12/23/12 By Michael Shank Now that the National Rifle Association is playing hard ball by suggesting today that we provide armed guards in every school across America at a cost of nearly $6bn, it is quite clear that this conversation has gotten completely out of hand. The idea […]
AL JAZEERA 12/16/13 By Michael Shank The foreign policy docket of President Barack Obama’s second term seems to be giving short shrift to the security threats of the next four years. This is not merely because the US intelligence and defence agencies continue to be wracked with scandal, thanks to […]
AL JAZEERA 11/21/12 Huffington Post 11/26/2012 By Michael Shank and Sonia Manzano No longer can the President of the United States defer dealing with immigration. While it was barely a campaign issue, for America to continue avoiding comprehensive immigration reform is plainly inexcusable. When President Obama takes up immigration reform […]
AL JAZEERA 11/13/12 By Michael Shank Of the two rivers that cup our nation’s capital – the Potomac and the Anacostia – the latter of the two is, perhaps, the most apt reflection of where America is at socio-economically. The Anacostia River – the Anglicised namesake of which was first […]
AL JAZEERA 11/01/12 By Michael Shank Watching television this week, as Hurricane Sandy descended on Washington, DC, and meteorologists scurried to remain atop the latest forecasting, myriad presidential election campaign advertisements were met with one major marketing competitor: the American Petroleum Institute and its various oil, coal and gas bedfellows. […]
Huffington Post 10/30/2012 Al Jazeera 11/01/2012 By Michael Shank Watching television this week, as Hurricane Sandy descended on Washington D.C. and meteorologists scurried to remain atop the latest forecasting, myriad presidential election campaign advertisements were met with one major marketing competitor: the American Petroleum Institute and its various oil, coal […]
AL JAZEERA 10/09/12 By Michael Shank If someone got physically violent on the Metro in Washington, DC, they would get kicked off the train or bus. Similarly, if someone indecently exposed him or herself (as noted in the new Metro ads threatening action against indecent exposure) or yelled incendiary, racist […]
Huffington Post 10/07/2012 Al Jazeera 10/09/2012 By Michael Shank If someone got physically violent on the Metro in Washington DC, they would get kicked off the train or bus. Similarly, if someone indecently exposed him or herself (as noted in the new Metro ads threatening action against indecent exposure) or […]
Huffington Post 09/28/2012 Al Jazeera 09/30/2012 By Michael Shank The riots across the Muslim world give warning to something much direr than a diplomat’s death, however deplorable the Benghazi tragedy. What we say, do, and eat has global implications, and on these three major security frontiers we must do better: […]
Huffington Post 08/13/2012 Al Jazeera 08/21/2012 By Michael Shank Look past the boyish, small-town Wisconsin charm, the incredible commitment to physical fitness, and the impressive clarity in communicating fiscal conservatism, and what does America get with the Paul Ryan vice president pick? Having served as a senior policy advisor to […]