In 7th grade a classmate came up to me at recess on the playground, puffed out his chest, and proudly announced, “I’m in the Four F Club.” I had heard of the 4H club (Head, Heart, Hands, and Health), though it was not prominent in my suburban commuter town. I bit....
Even as the world witnessed newly liberated Syrians desperately searching Syria’s notorious Saydnaya Prison where Basshir Al Assad had routinely jailed and tortured many (or even any) who vocally opposed his tyrannical rule, Vladimir Putin granted Assad asylum in...
We have reached a very odd place in our national politics: not long ago, Republicans would consistently out-gun Democrats on being “tough on communists,” especially Russia –– who can forget President Reagan saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The...
In the U.S., we enjoy the protections of the First Amendment, particularly around political speech –– talking or writing about the wrongs that government and its agencies do. In Russia, as in many other autocratic legal/political systems, dissent is punished by the...
