Author: Lance Garrison
Oleksii Polukhin’s 64 days in detention began when Russian soldiers stopped him at a checkpoint. They found that he’d been gathering information about Russian military positions to share with Ukrainian forces; they also discovered he was gay. Mr. Polukhin gave a detailed account of his detention to Projector, an Odesa-based human rights organization. He also confirmed the details to me in a series of interviews.It was May 2022, just 10 weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Polukhin lived in Kherson, a southern city of around 250,000 people that the Russians conquered with blinding speed in the…
This is a story about you and your favorite credit card, the one that earns you points. You use your card for everything. You pay off your balance every month. And you watch with glee as your rewards grow and grow and grow. And when it’s time to cash in, you announce that you’re going to get a family gift. And each member will get one vote. And then your daughter argues that the family needs another iPad. And your son has fallen in love with the ugliest garden gnome that you’ve ever seen. And so to break up the…
The breakthrough studies of a world-renowned Crohn’s researcher have helped millions – including himself
Like many progressive organizations, the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, a union that represents public defenders in the New York City area, has been convulsed by battles over Israel’s war in Gaza. A recent article in the right-leaning Free Press revealed the strident and sometimes ugly language that union members used during a fight over a resolution, passed in December, condemning Israel’s actions and supporting a boycott of the country. In messages from a group chat, defenders of Israel were called “fascists” and, in one case, “mentally disturbed.”It’s easy enough to see why some union members found the environment toxic,…
A few days ago, the Biden administration released its budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year (which begins in October). Given that Republicans control the House, this budget isn’t going to happen, so it serves mainly as a statement of principles and intent.But that doesn’t make the budget irrelevant. It clearly signaled Democrats’ vision for the future — in particular, their belief that we can preserve the solvency of Social Security and Medicare by raising taxes on high incomes rather than by cutting benefits. And it draws a stark contrast with the vision of Donald Trump, who appeared to say…
March 14, 2024—Actress Olivia Munn’s candid disclosures on Instagram about her aggressive breast cancer — a surprise discovery after a “clean” mammogram and negative genetic tests — were a poignant mix of details about her cancer journey and a cautionary tale for women. Munn earlier this week revealed her 10-month battle with breast cancer, which resulted in four surgeries and a double mastectomy, and used the social media site as a way of encouraging women to educate themselves about the disease and the importance of appropriate screening tests.Munn’s experience reveals some truths that women may not know: Most women who get breast…
This Monday, March 11, roughly 200 Jewish students and supporters marched through the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, and it was newsworthy that they were not attacked. Local news hailed that they were able to, as one headline noted, “successfully march without confrontation.”The march came two weeks after violent protests forced the cancellation of an event that was to feature an Israeli speaker and was organized by Jewish students. The event — which had already been moved from another location because of safety concerns — was canceled, and the building evacuated by police, after protesters broke through doors…
That’s three down: Last week, Brown University reinstated standardized testing as a part of its admissions requirements, following Yale and Dartmouth, which did the same earlier this year. For all that we have heard about how standardized tests propagate injustice, the decisions at these Ivy League schools are antiracism in action, and should serve as models for similar decisions across academia. (M.I.T. was an even earlier re-adopter of testing requirements, back in 2022.)Of course, for years, the leading idea has been precisely the opposite: that the proper antiracist approach is to stop using standardized tests in admissions. Many schools first…
In The Washington Post, Matt Bai reflected on the entire surreal arc of Donald Trump’s political, er, progress since 2015: “Trump didn’t begin his presidential campaign in 2015 with some Wile E. Coyote-type plan to upend the party and take over the country. Like everything else Trump had done in his life to that point, that campaign began as little more than a Barnumesque exercise in self-promotion, a chance to further the family brand.” Bai added: “It must have surprised Trump to find that the Republican Party could be acquired and replaced as easily as a failing hotel chain.” (Jeanette…
To the Editor:Re “Covid Funds Shrinking, Paid Family Caregivers Face Big Cutbacks” (news article, March 5):The story of Kacey Poynter and her son, Sonny, puts a spotlight on the precarious state of family caregiving in America. Indiana’s decision to slash funding for its attendant care program threatens to throw families like Ms. Poynter’s into financial turmoil and disrupt the critical care their loved ones require.Indiana is just the latest state grappling with this issue. The bigger picture reveals a fragmented system struggling under the weight of insufficient federal investment. The influx of federal pandemic funds offered temporary relief, allowing states…