Mr. Samra is a Recovery Specialist for the Center for Social Innovation. He earned his BA and MPA at California State University, Chico and has dedicated his life to working with underserved populations. For the previous six years, Mr. Samra provided street outreach and oversaw a Veterans Service Center that specializes in serving veterans experiencing homelessness. He spent two years as a team member of a national training team for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and continues in a national training role in his current capacity as Recovery Specialist with the Center for Social Innovation. He serves on the Board of the Continuum of Care Steering Committee, co-founded The Contributor, a street newspaper produced and sold by the homeless in and around Nashville Tennessee, is a contributor to the Homelessness Resource Center’s website and writes freelance for Change.org’s Homelessness section. During his spare time, he blogs at Stone Soup Station.
An opinion piece rather than an analysis, Bernstein brings forward an interesting and seemingly workable idea to assist with the foreclosure crisis in the US.
“The rental market is far from glutted (rents are rising even while home prices are falling).” More »
Multiple sources, input from both sides of the political aisle, and buttressed by empirical evidence, Sunshine's piece attempts to provide an honest interpretation of a difficult and complex subject, corporate tax law.
Perhaps the biggest problem is the complexity with which US tax law is applied. Because it's such a challenge to understand I suspect most people immediately begin to experience "eye-glaze" and move quickly to something else that doesn't demand such a large part of the brain to process (Garfield comics come to mind here). As a result, the policies are made without much challenge because most of us - self included - wouldn't have a clue one way or the other on how the policy will ... More »
"Following the conclusion of the last tax holiday, in 2004, corporations actually increased the rate at which they moved investments out of the U.S, according to a ... More »
Well balanced and well sourced. Presents as honest as possible analysis of the possible health risks and potential dangers of Depleted Uranium in the environment.
Anytime anything is made with plutonium, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This has become even more so after the Chernobyl and Fukishima disasters, but found its genesis in the videos and stories of nuclear weapon testing and the actual attack on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Regardless of what I hear my government say about the safety of using dp rounds, I can't help but think that I'm getting just half the story, and frankly, if I was in an area that had seen recent combat ... More »
“Although our assessments to date, under conditions prevailing in the Balkans, have concluded that DU contamination does not pose any immediate risks to human health ... More »
Well-sourced, factual and well-rounded, this is an excellent article on the importance of our world's oceans and the live that lives above and below the surface.
“the 23 most important of those creatures – in the water and the air – have revealed a far more complete picture of the behavior patterns and environments ... More »
This piece, while certainly enlightening, needs the input of a rep from the opposing side to provide some balance. CNN's physicist expert brings a bounty of excited opinion intermingled with the facts of the Fukushima disaster, which makes it difficult to assess objectively.
The fact is, we may never know the full impact of the greatest industrial disaster in our history, and there is little doubt that Fukushima has won that dubious title. The world will for decades, perhaps even thousands of years, experience an altered environment as a direct result of this catastrophe. Regardless of how you feel about nuclear power, the fact that runaway reactions caused by forces beyond man's control should give you pause before advocating for the new or continued ... More »
“If they have another aftershock, and they’re not in cold shutdown yet till next year, the accident could start all over again.” More »
Stewart utilizes an outside, non-partisan group to buttress the factual basis of his piece while ensuring his own accuracy by immediately accepting responsibility for a factual error from him on another program.
“Well, I’ll tell ya what, they got a lotta f*cking correcting to do!” More »
Tiabbi tends to sensationalize a skosh, but w Michelle Bachmann, it's frankly hard NOT to be sensational. That Bachmann has really done little as a rep of congress that can be pointed to as "substantial" or "meaningful" is certainly evident to anyone who examines the record. Unfortunately, as Woodrow Wilson sagely pointed decades ago, "the bulk of humankind is ignorant" and most don't select their candidates based on rational thinking. "That bulk votes" mused Wilson, and nowhere ... More »
Michele took a job as a tax attorney collecting for the IRS and spent the next four years sucking on the tit of the Internal Revenue Service, ... More »
The challenge for anyone who blows the whistle is to retain their previous status after the whistleblowing has run it's course. This is no easy task, just ask the top cop of the National Park Service, Chief Teresa Chambers. I interviewed her for a graduate school project on whistleblowing and know from firsthand conversations with both her and others, as well as months of research, that whistleblowing often ends - permanently - the careers of those who spoke out. Protess is the ... More »
It’s a textbook case of how not to manage conflict.” More »
Goodman presents the plight of a community under siege by a ruthless, lawless criminal enterprise, fueled by American greed and dependence on illicit drugs from Latin America. In highlighting the cost of human life in Mexico, Goodman links the war on drugs in the US directly to the carnage.
The war on drugs has been a complete and utter failure, wreaking havoc in every facet of our society while destroying forever the lives of people who did nothing more than to alter their consciousness briefly for fun. It is a ridiculous waste of money, time and scarce resources and has caused more misery and death than Vietnam and the Iraq wars combined. It is way past time to end this madness for good.
“we heard testimonies, mostly from victims. It was something that was incredibly effective and had a huge impact emotionally on the hundreds of people who were ... More »
Fiore's comedic take on serious issues usually provides insight with levity. He doesn't disappoint here with the recent Weiner scandal and "Little Suzie" hits the nail on the proverbial "head" with her understanding of "grown-up" behavior towards serious and complex issues.
Goodman impresses with her own knowledge of a clandestine operation and her choice of guests who bring supporting information to the discussion that broadens and deepens the context.. Balance may have been improved had she brought in an official to rebut, refute or explain the US effort in Yemen, but I suspect there are few who would talk candidly about this situation on a show like DN
“when the U.S. starts to hit people who aren’t members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, then I think the real worry is that it expands this war to the point ... More »
Goodman is a careful and thorough journalist with an eye for integrity and honesty. She doesn't disappoint here, either, although it would have been nice to hear a counter to the claims made by her guests, and that is perhaps the only criticism I can muster about this piece.
The US has some of the highest cancer rates in the world and there is little doubt that we've seen an exponential increase in cancer as a direct result of the "industrial" age. The more we tinker with the base elements and combine them in ways "unnatural" to their traditional environments, the more we create conditions ripe for unintended consequences. I suppose this is a portion of the price we pay for an "advanced" civilization, but I would argue here that if we were truly ... More »
“OK, my chemical causes cancer. Yes, you’re exposed to my chemical, but that your levels are too low.” More »
The challenge, of course, is to get those of us whose eyes glaze over about two paragraphs into this 16-paragraph read to understand the real problems facing Americans today, rather than listening to the hyperbole and misinformation coming from both sides of our political aisles. until we can begin to address systemic issues we are doomed to continue the downward spiral.
Lee highlights a potentially dangerous situation for all users of the internet in the state of Tennessee. Sources are appropriate and exhibit expertise in relevant areas. Information is factual and the article provides empirical proof to buttress its claims.
Kristof provides numerous links to support his claims and raises awareness about an issue that doesn't seem to garner much attention when competing against more sensationalist news available at just about any hour or any day. Although it is written in an informal style, this may indeed be a plus in that it has the potential to reach a larger audience, including people who ordinarily may not open a newspaper or spend much time laboring through formally crafted "investigative" pieces.
Given that the US experiences cancer rates of 1:3, as well as the fact that antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria surface daily, understanding where the barriers are in changing our food industry are essential. Kristol's piece brings us this information and helps us understand not only who, but why as well.
We have an industrial farming system that is a marvel for producing cheap food, but its lobbyists block initiatives to make food safer. More »
In a these times of a "global economy" at least some large banks must be complicit in laundering drug profits. There is no way in hell cartels worth billions of dollars could operate without their assistance, period.
Solid and informative, paints a robust picture of Gingrich's dilemmas in fulfilling his presidential bid.
Sourcing is perhaps the weak point in this piece, but it is understandable that many officials quoted do so only on the condition of anonymity. Unfortunately, this lowers the overall credibility of the piece, relegating it to the "he said, she said" argument.
As an opinion piece, McManus delivers a fair and balanced assessment of one doctor's views on his practice in Switzerland. Really cannot ask for much more out of an opinion piece.
Stelter struggles to maintain an air of objectivity in the piece and in doing so, seems to lose sight of the larger issues being put forth about the network by the Obama administration. Simply because a television program has large numbers viewers does not make that program somehow more relevant, accurate or fair. Stelter would have increased his competency on the piece by presenting additional examples of why the Obama administration has reached the conclusions about Fox news that they have; Stelter's piece makes it look like the administration is sniveling about unfair attacks while ignoring the very issues that have prompted this response from Obama's administration. This, by the way, is a favorite tactic of Fox "News"....
Branfman carefully explains the danger in expanding the troop presence in the Middle East and does so with factual, logic-based arguments originating from knowledgeable and pertinent sources.
Dickinson ties together the threads of a complex web of Republican/Right-wing deceit, misinformation and diabolical dirty tricks to illuminate and provide a cohesive and comprehensive view of exactly how this faction of American politics operates. It is a sad but all too familiar pattern that leaves most logical, moral and ethical people scratching their heads in amazement that they are able to retain any political power whatsoever. Kudos to Mr. Dickinson for a strong expose.
Not only would renting these homes help with offset the tremendous losses of foreclosure, it would increase inventory in a market where demand for rental property exceeds supply, pushing the cost of renting beyond the reach of many who otherwise would have been able to afford the cost. Resources could be brought to bear for those experiencing homelessness as well, rehousing a very costly sub-population of the country (average cost for one chronically homeless individual on the ... More »