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Warner Slack—Doctor for the People Forever

July 18, 2018
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By Ralph Nader July 18, 2018 Warner Slack was a humble, multi-faceted great American physician at Harvard Medical School’s affiliated hospitals. Yet after he passed away last month at age 85, Dr. Slack did not receive the news coverage accorded numerous late entertainers, athletes, writers and scoundrels. In fact, his life was ignored by the…

Universal Voting Dissolves the Obstacles Facing Voters

July 11, 2018
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By Ralph Nader July 11, 2018 When will the authoritarians and their political henchmen stop harassing American voters and let all citizens vote? No other Western country comes close to imposing so many obstructions for certain categories of people to keep them from the voting booth. In Canada, England, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, it…

Letter to Senator Grassley, July 6, 2018

July 8, 2018
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Chairman Charles Grassley Senate Judiciary Committee U.S. Senate SH-135 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Chairman Grassley: It’s been a while since our spirited meeting in your office after you came back from a meeting where Senators Schumer and Kerry were defending the “carried interest” tax escape and you amusingly asked, “Why are…

Letter to Trump, July 6, 2018

July 8, 2018
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President Donald Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Trump: It has become overwhelmingly clear that your Administration has supported with arms sales, refueling, daily operational logistics and other ways and means the governmental actors opposing the rebels in the Yemeni Civil war. The bombing raids and blockades combine…

Recommendations for Engrossing Summer Reading and Viewing

July 2, 2018
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Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Taleb (Random House, 2018). Taleb writes: “The necessity of skin in the game is a simple rule that’s necessary for fairness and justice, and the ultimate BS-buster. Never trust anyone who doesn’t have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will benefit,…

Mugger Mick Mulvaney—Trump’s Sadist-in-Chief

June 27, 2018
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By Ralph Nader June 27, 2018 Mr. Mulvaney’s title seems uninterestingly bureaucratic—director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). But as Trump’s chief hatchet man extraordinaire, Mugger Mick Mulvaney is easily one of the cruelest, most vicious presidential henchman in modern American history. From his powerful perch next door to the White House, he…

The Unsurpassed Power trip by an Insuperable Control Freak

June 21, 2018
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An open letter to Jeff Bezos: June 21, 2018 Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com, Inc. 410 Terry Ave N Seattle, WA 98109 Dear Mr. Bezos: You’ve come a long way from being a restless electrical engineering and computer science dual major at our alma mater, Princeton University. By heeding your own advice, your own hunches and…

The Constitution and the Lawmen are Coming for Trump—He Laughs!

June 14, 2018
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By Ralph Nader June 14, 2018 The law has never caught up with Trump. In his bullying and bankrupting business career, he laughed at the law – hiding behind corporations, tying up plaintiffs – workers, creditors, consumers, and shareholders – with court battles of attrition. His snarling lawyers either wore down Trump’s pursuers or settled…

Slogan Voters: The Road to Political Masochism

June 6, 2018
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by Ralph Nader June 6, 2018 Nearly a year and a half into his presidency, Donald Trump continues to hold his base and maintain an approval rating of around 40% – close to the same percentage he polled at just after his inauguration.  Let’s try to figure out why. It can’t be because he lies…

Professional Societies: Corporate Service, or Public Services for You!

May 30, 2018
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by Ralph Nader May 30, 2018 They call themselves non-profit professional societies, but they often act as enabling trade associations for the companies and businesspeople who fund them.  At their worst, they serve their paymasters and remain in the shadows, avoiding publicity and visibility.  When guided by their better angels, professional societies can be authoritative…