Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJune 10, 2015

Amid the flotsam of a journalism instructor’s desk at the end of a hectic academic year – strewn business cards, papers never picked up by students, memos, meeting notes, neon pink paper clips and half a pack of Ice Blue breath mints – lies a stub of a burned-out candle. “Every journalist has talismans,’’ says […]

Guest AuthorJune 4, 2015

Recently on Memorial Day, Americans honored the sacrifices of those American soldiers who fought and died in the various wars and “conflicts” of our nation. This year, like last year, and the year before, we also honored the many soldiers who made sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan. America has been at undeclared war since the […]

Marc YachtApril 15, 2015

I started medical studies in Liege, Belgium, in 1973. The Université de Liège had students from many countries. Americans studied there but also Arabs, Palestinians, Israelis, Russians, Chinese and many other nationals. I struck up a friendship with a Tunisian and we shared an apartment while attending to our studies. Being Jewish, my loyalties were […]

Mitch PerryApril 14, 2015

The White House announced Tuesday that President Barack Obama intends to remove Cuba from the U.S. government’s list of nations that sponsor terrorism, eliminating a major obstacle to the restoration of diplomatic relations after decades of hostilities. The move had been a top priority with the Raul Castro-led Cuban government since diplomatic relations between the […]

Mitch PerryMarch 5, 2015

There are 196 nations on Earth, yet the U.S. State Department lists only four as state sponsors of terrorism: Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Cuba (Saudi Arabia didn’t make the list). Getting removed from that list is a huge issue for the Cuban government, since all banks that engage with them are subject to U.S. screenings […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 16, 2015

There’s an anniversary today regarding U.S. foreign policy that I’m sure nobody will bring up, and why would they? We like our anniversaries in round numbers, so maybe you’ll hear something next year on the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the 1991 Gulf War, when the United States and a coalition of allies attacked Iraq, with U.N. […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 14, 2015

My husband wanted to go to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest last summer as we traveled in Germany. We were planning our itinerary for our time in Munich and I responded as if he’d just admitted to buying tickets for “The Jerry Springer Show.” Why would I want to go to the Alps retreat where Hitler hung […]

Guest AuthorNovember 12, 2014

A large man in a black bear suit walks onscreen in a YouTube video. He stops in the middle of some guys tossing around two basketballs, makes some awkward 80s dance moves, and then moonwalks off the screen so well even Michael Jackson might have been impressed. More than 100 of my students watch the video […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 16, 2014

As a country, we can’t yet agree on whether we’re fighting ISIS or ISIL (as the White House would have it) and whether we should hunt them down in Syria, or not. But we’re abundantly clear that “boots on the ground” is jargon du jour for the people we’re sending to risk their lives. At […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 15, 2014

On Sept. 10, I flew from Boston to Fort Lauderdale on JetBlue just before 8 p.m. That meant we would be airborne during President Barack Obama’s speech at 9 p.m., outlining his plan to destroy ISIS (or ISIL as he calls it). Well before the president began to speak, on the TV monitor at my […]

Tag: Syria
Image via AP.

Rick Brunson: A journalist’s life snuffed out reminds us to ‘Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way’

Steven Kurlander: False sacrifices: Debating the wrong question on Iraq

Marc Yacht: Israelis and Palestinians weary of conflict

Kathy Castor praises, Marco Rubio condemns Cuba’s removal from terrorist list

Marco Rubio urges John Kerry to leave Cuba on terrorism list

Mitch Perry Report for 1.16.15 — Foreign policy priorities

Laurie Uttich: Bearing witness even when it seems too much to bear

Laurie Uttich: The social media mirage — and what we’re missing

Stephen Goldstein: “Boots on the ground” is euphemism for “soldiers being killed”

Stephen Goldstein: Everything that’s wrong with America I saw at 30,000 feet