Part 5: After Ukraine

Revelations of the War in Ukraine: An anti-war activist’s personal and political reckoning

The Ukraine war has revealed, that is, that the single stoutest pillar of the current strategic “balance” is off kilter—a dangerously leaning tower, as it were, of peace....

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Part 5: After Ukraine

What You Don’t Know Can’t TIF You

Pretend something isn’t a problem and it goes away, right?

TIFs date back to the 1950s, and every state except Arizona has them in one form or another. There are thousands upon thousands of TIF districts all across the country. Chances are decent you’ve heard about one in your local area....

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What You Don’t Know Can’t TIF You

Is Putin Bluffing in Ukraine?

Though many Russians are anxious about Putin’s new mobilization of citizens to fight in Ukraine, some are also preparing to survive a nuclear conflict

Putin’s nuclear threats provoked immediate reaction among leaders of Western countries, including Ukraine. The world community is concerned about Russian tactical nuclear weapons intended for use on a battlefield. ...

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Is Putin Bluffing in Ukraine?

The Elusive Latino Voter

History reconsidered

One place to understand how Republicans have stumbled when it comes to Latino voters is the attempt by the Reagan administration to simultaneously declare an end to racism in 1980—mission accomplished!—and woo Latinos as a racial group because they presented as religious and more socially conservative. Yet, as White House ...
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The Elusive Latino Voter

Turning Art into a Political Weapon

Scholars Terri Gordon-Zolov and Eric Zolov discuss the aesthetics and significance of the Chilean estallido

Wearing protest iconography was also a way to support the movement. And it was potentially risky. You could wear a handkerchief to cover your eyes from tear gas or to make yourself more anonymous or you could wear a green scarf to support reproductive rights. ...

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Turning Art into a Political Weapon

The Walls of Santiago

How the Joker and Pikachu become symbols of the Chilean social uprising, in an excerpt from Terri Gordon-Zolov and Eric Zolov’s new book

Humor provided a powerful weapon in the fight to topple the civic-military dictatorship. The radical deprivation of human rights during the Pinochet regime had secondary costs, among which were the loss of a sense of freedom, spontaneity, and overall well-being. ...

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The Walls of Santiago

Labor (Day) Parade in New York City

A photo essay

The AFL-CIO held its first Labor Parade since 2019.  It’s always held on the Saturday after Labor Day. (Even union members want three-day weekends). This year’s theme was Workers Leading, Workers Rising. The Grand Marshall was US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.  He was joined in the front line by New ...
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Labor (Day) Parade in New York City

Different People

After fleeing war-ravaged Kharkiv, many have found refuge and hospitality in Poltava. How does it feel to be an internally displaced person in one’s own city of birth?

The displaced can be recognized by their backpacks and the plastic bags they’re carrying, filled with humanitarian aid. Also, by their rapid pace. The displaced move fast: from explosion to explosion. ...

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Different People

Part 2: My Convictions

Revelations of the War in Ukraine: An anti-war activist’s personal and political reckoning

Having faulted American policies myself—emphatically so from Clinton forward, when I took on that role of Boston Globe op-ed pundit—I nevertheless refused now to place blame for Putin’s war on America’s drive to protect, in the left-wing argot, its “global hegemony.”...

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Part 2: My Convictions