John Nordin

John Nordin is a Mint Press columnist who divides his time as a professor and a researcher between the Twin Cities and Greece, where he specializes in Greek politics, international relations and the economy. John holds a Ph.D. from MIT, and has worked as a Lutheran pastor, a computer science teacher in Kenya and a writer.

Risky Words: How Media Obscures Syrian Conflict

For now, let us put to one side who is right and who is wrong and even ignore the question of what actually happened.

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin

What’s in a name? Our language is flexible, adaptable, a source of delight for many – but it is also the case that the subtlest choice of words can imply ideas in ways we may not notice. Recent press reports about the Israeli intervention into the Syrian conflict provide many examples. For now, let us put to one side who is right and who is

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Two (Unconvincing) Arguments Against Gay Marriage

One argument comes from the political right; the other, from the left.

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin

While support for gay marriage is steadily increasing, and Rhode Island having just become the 10th state to approve the practice, opposition to it has certainly not gone away. While there can be legitimate issues about when and how to talk to children about it in the schools and what private organizations must or can allow, there have also been

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The Year Of Terror – But Without State-Sponsored Crackdowns

The Sterling Hall Bombing, aftermath pictured, which occurred on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus on August 24, 1970 was committed by four young people as a protest against the University’s research connections with the US military during the Vietnam War. It resulted in the death of a university physics researcher and injuries to three others. […]

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin

It was only the second day of the year when it began. An explosion at an electrical substation in Oakland, Calif., damaged some transformers but did not succeed in disrupting the electrical grid. No one was ever arrested. The very same day members of an anti-war group threw a bomb at the ROTC offices in Madison, Wis. During that week there were

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Forbidden Knowledge

John Nordin We seem to live awash in information, overwhelmed by it. Endless channels of cable, more and more AM and FM stations and, of course, the ever-expanding Internet. Yet, there are some things we don’t permit ourselves to know, or, in some cases, are legally inhibited from easily knowing. Just this week, after a […]

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin

John NordinWe seem to live awash in information, overwhelmed by it. Endless channels of cable, more and more AM and FM stations and, of course, the ever-expanding Internet. Yet, there are some things we don’t permit ourselves to know, or, in some cases, are legally inhibited from easily knowing.Just this week, after a four-year struggle, U.S. Sen.

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No Shortage Of Political Gaffes

John Nordin It happened to President Obama this past week: a gaffe.  He was introducing California Attorney General Kamala Harris, he called her “brilliant” and “dedicated” and “tough.”  He also said that “she also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general in the country.  It’s true! C’mon.” Oops. A mistake. A gaffe. […]

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin

John NordinIt happened to President Obama this past week: a gaffe.  He was introducing California Attorney General Kamala Harris, he called her “brilliant” and “dedicated” and “tough.”  He also said that “she also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general in the country.  It’s true! C’mon.” Oops. A mistake. A gaffe. Protests.

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Liz Cheney’s Wall Street Journal Column: A Piece Of Crap

Vice presidential hopeful Dick Cheney talks with daughter, Elizabeth, after arriving at the convention center on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, July 31, 2000. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) A column last week by Liz Cheney in the Wall Street Journal (“Republicans, Get Over the 2012 Loss – and Start […]

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin
Vice presidential hopeful Dick Cheney talks with daughter, Elizabeth, after arriving at the convention center on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, July 31, 2000. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

A column last week by Liz Cheney in the Wall Street Journal (“Republicans, Get Over the 2012 Loss – and Start Fighting Back”) provides a disappointing insight into the broken nature of our public debate. The column, a strong attack on President Obama, displays the hysteria, unsupported claims and lack of context of much right-wing writing, but

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Really Supporting The Troops: Recognizing The Sacrifices Soldiers Make

Military Veterans sit a listen to a Veterans Day Tribute ceremony, during which they will receive their high school diplomas that they did not get since they left school to serve in the military at Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, NJ, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/The Express-Times, Matt Smith) Memorial Day and an Internet […]

John Nordin
بواسطة John Nordin
Military Veterans sit a listen to a Veterans Day Tribute ceremony, during which they will receive their high school diplomas that they did not get since they left school to serve in the military at Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, NJ, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/The Express-Times, Matt Smith)

Memorial Day and an Internet discussion. The opening post was about how Canadian forces had fought so many times outside of Canada but never for territorial gain. I read that and wondered if the poster was really memorializing the sacrifice of a soldier or just bragging about his nation. But much worse was to come. In the comments came a stream

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