Would the discovery that, every day, nearly 6 million youths in America are immersed in abusive environments create a shock wave and a call to action? That is, in essence, the finding of a report recently released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University: The public outcry remains to be heard. The results of two concurrent surveys, each of 1,000 students aged 12 through 17, revealed that 27 percent of those in public schools reported that their schools were infected with both gangs and …
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently stated that there is no proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons. The Russian Federation has held this position for a long time. However, Lavrov apparently has not heard what his boss, president Dmitry Medvedev said—and did—on this matter. Moscow voted in favor of all the four rounds of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran aimed at pressuring the country to stop its nuclear weapons program. Russia also joined the ban on supplying arms and military aircraft to Iran. Significantly, the Kremlin …
China and Japan had a diplomatic disagreement this past week. Of the many facets to this dispute, at least one has implications for the U.S.: during the diplomatic standoff, Chinese shipments of rare earth minerals to Japan were interrupted. The U.S. is in a much stronger position than Japan but this incident is a pointed reminder to avoid trade dependence on strategic competitors in security-related products. The interruption by China was informal and intended from the start to be temporary. It caused no real economic harm to Japan and might …
House Cloakroom: September 27 – October 1, 2010 Analysis: The House will be in its final week of action before recessing until after the election. The target adjournment had been October 8th, but with a tough election cycle ahead and holdups on legislation in the Senate, House leaders are pushing to get their members home to campaign. The main floor action that needs to be taken before they recess, though, is the Continuing Resolution (CR) to appropriate funds to keep the government running until sometime in November. This vote could …
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker appeared on the Oprah show last Friday to accept a $100 million gift from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Derrell Bradford, executive director of Excellent Education for Everyone in New Jersey, told the New York Post that “the mayor has a very compelling vision about what should be done with the schools. He was able to convince Mark to be part of it.” But will Zuckerberg’s first foray into philanthropic giving result in more money being thrown into the black hole …
My fellow conservatives, The stakes couldn’t be higher for our nation at this moment. In the coming months, Americans will help choose which direction our nation’s future will take. Will the federal government continue to spend more, tax more, control more, and defend our liberties less? Or will we choose a new and bolder direction that returns power to the people? All indications are that we are approaching one of those pivotal moments in our political history, a tipping point. It will be a test of our national character. Like …
National attention has been focused on education reform at unheard-of levels in the last weeks, with the release of the new documentary “Waiting for Superman” and the launch of NBC’s week-long Education Nation series. Education reformers from across the political spectrum are calling even louder than ever for much-needed measures akin to progress made by DC Schools Chancellor Michele Rhee and New Jersey governor Chris Christie. In this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast, Heritage Visiting Fellow and executive director of DC Parents for School Choice Virginia Walden Ford discusses education …
On Tuesday, September 28, at 4 pm, the former Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. John Howard, will deliver the seventh Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture at The Heritage Foundation, under the auspices of the Margaret Thatcher Center, on The Anglosphere and the Advance of Freedom. The Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture invites distinguished advocates of freedom to explore fundamental questions surrounding freedom as a primary principle of foreign policy. The first Freedom Lecture was delivered on September 7, 2006, by the Honorable Natan Sharansky, who asked the eloquent question “Is Freedom …
Most Venezuelans do not want to live in a socialist/authoritarian state. Most aspire to live productive and independent lives and escape poverty through work and property ownership. They hope to remain free citizens in a genuine democracy rather than red-shirted comrades in a communist clone. On September 26, Venezuelans will vote for the 165 members of the national assembly that approves future laws, and, at least in theory, reflects the consent of the governed. Hugo Chavez’s poll numbers continue to sink. His 21st century brand of socialism suffers the same …
After its Coast Guard arrested the captain of a Chinese fishing trawler in waters claimed by Tokyo, Japan surprised the world by showing uncharacteristic steadfastness in standing up to Chinese pressure. Indeed, despite increasingly bellicose Chinese rhetoric and threats, Tokyo valiantly stood its ground. And the fact that the left-of-center DPJ-led government was the purveyor of this newfound strength made Japan’s stance all the more impressive. Yet, as suddenly as the conflict arose, it was ended by Japanese capitulation. It remains unclear whether local Japanese prosecutors acted unilaterally in releasing …
