1. Athens Ablaze
January 5, 2009 Kyle Kubler Last month, riots have been raging in Athens, Greece, due to the police shooting of 15 year-old Alexandors Gringoropoulos. The riots began in the Exarchia district of Athens, fueled by local anarchist groups. Shops have been burned and police cars have been toppled. So far, an estimated 70 people have been injured with more than 400 people ...
2. Council Watch: Lieber Cedes Mayorship, Hands It Off To Atkinson
December 19, 2008 Mac Zilber After an election in which his two pet candidates, his pet ballot measure, and his tactics were rejected by voters, Robert Lieber decided it was a good idea to pass off the mayor's gavel to somebody who was up for re-election in two years: Marge Atkinson. Lieber, who survived re-election by a margin of about 250 votes, ...
3. Governor Of Illinois Shames Self, Country
December 9, 2008 Mac Zilber Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is already known as a reasonably corrupt man, and has been rumored to have "sold" political appointments before, but has done nothing like this. Verified recordings from November 3rd indicate that Blagojevich planned to sell the senate seat in Illinois, which was going to be vacated by Barack Obama, to the highest bidder. ...
4. Canada’s Democracy Grinds to a Halt
December 5, 2008 About three years ago, I remember seeing a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle that had an article about dogs in New Orleans on page 1, with a tiny article on page 6 entitled "Canada's Government Topples." I always thought that was a wonderful microcosm for how much we care about our biggest trade partner. Due to the ...
5. Filibuster Watch: You Can Make The Difference
November 21, 2008 Mac Zilber Having Withdrawals from politics? Well, luckily for you, Georgia's senate race is still undecided, and they want you to make calls and get out the vote. Why would anybody in their right mind bother making phone calls for a runoff senate race? Because it's the most important senate race in many years. Allow me to explain. It takes ...
6. Can Zimbabwe Learn to Share?
On September 15 of this year, current president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a historic power sharing deal. This is one of the first times Mugabe has ever had to consolidate power; he has been the president of Zimbabwe for over 20 years. The decision for a power sharing deal between the two political rivals comes ...
7. Mark Begich Wins Senate Race, Daschle appointed Secretary of HHS
November 19, 2008 Mac Zilber You know, Alaska really needs to follow their neighbors' examples as far as counting ballots goes. Canada, to the east of Alaska, has their ballots counted within hours of an election. Russia, to the west of them, counts their ballots before people even vote! Regardless of tardiness, Alaska has finally counted enough ballots to determine that Mark ...
8. Four Years Later, Howard Dean Is Proven Right
November 10, 2008 Mac Zilber Not so long ago, the future of the Democratic party was centrist Al Gore, centrist Joe Lieberman, centrist John Edwards, centrist Hillary Clinton, centrist Evan Bayh, centrist Mark Warner, and others. The "third way" was the only way, and to be branded as a liberal was a quick way to lose an election. In 2004, Howard Dean, ...
9. Alaska’s Election Rumored To Be Stolen
November 7, 2008 Mac Zilber Initially, there weren't any allegations of voter fraud in this election because the Democrats had won by too much to want to press charges and the Republicans enjoyed best case scenario results in the house and senate, and didn't want to ruin a good thing (before you puzzle over this sentence, the Republicans lost fewer seats in ...
10. Schwarzenegger proposes massive tax hikes, spending cuts
November 6, 2008 Mac Zilber In a move that will endear him to few, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed $4.4 billion of raised taxes and an equal $4.4 billion of cut spending in his favorite areas to cut: Education, Health Care, and Social Services. He also cut prison spending, in one of the few parts of this move that should be somewhat popular, ...
11. Shadow Government: November 6
November 6, 2008 Mac Zilber "Cabinet Watch" was too dull a name. Shadow government is going to be a periodic article that discusses every notable public decision made by Barack Obama. Skip past Rahm Emmanuel if you already read the Cabinet Watch article. Barack Obama Chooses Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel is probably the most well-known person to be chosen as ...
12. Roy Blunt Steps Down, 2012 Election begins
November 6, 2008 Mac Zilber Roy Blunt, the minority whip of the House of Representatives, has stepped down, and the Republican leadership now consists of two men: John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. This is just further demonstration that the Republican party is in tatters, and is essentially starting from ground zero. They have few promising up-and-coming political stars and fewer leaders who ...