Nov 22, 2013 | Autobiographical, mic
Published: mic (November 22, 2013) Matthew Rozsa is a Pennsylvania patriot, a self-proclaimed history nerd, and our thoughtful politics pundit of the week. As part of the "pundit of the week" column, we spotlight one PolicyMic-er to share personal experiences with our community, and pose one never-been-asked question to a staff member. Matt asks me to take on his question about what PolicyMic...
Published: mic (November 19, 2013) On Thursday, the Harrisburg Patriot-News printed a long overdue retraction. How long, you ask? Try about 150 years. Indeed, as the Harrisburg Patriot-News looked back to the days when it was still the Harrisburg Patriot & Union, it recalled how it had panned President Lincoln's legendary Gettysburg Address, dismissing his words as "silly remarks" deserving...
Nov 12, 2013 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2012), Libertarianism, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (November 12, 2013) Double Down, the new book on the 2012 presidential election by John Heilemann and Mark Helperin, falls short in one way that has been overlooked by the media. While it contains nifty insider tidbits about Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and other major players from that epic political battle, it overlooks one man whose influence may prove as lasting as the others...
Nov 11, 2013 | Autobiographical, Bullying, Jewish Experiences, mic
Published: mic (November 11, 2013) While I’m no stranger to covering stories involving discrimination, this one was especially personal to me. In the aftermath of a New York Times story on a rash of anti-Semitic incidents in New York’s Pine Bush Central School District, Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that he was directing the state police and Division of Human Rights to investigate any...
Nov 3, 2013 | Arts and Entertainment, Civil Liberties, Gay Rights and Other LGBTQIA Issues, General Advice, mic
Published: mic (November 3, 2013) It is perhaps fortuitous that Ender's Game is being released as the Senate is preparing to vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Not only does this offer me this fantastic opportunity at punny wordplay, but it draws attention to how America's present social debate is severely inhibited by stigmas — both against homosexuals and against those who...
Oct 21, 2013 | General Advice, mic, Science and Technology
Published: mic (October 21, 2013) The headline of the new Huffington Post article says it all: "Young People Say Technology Is Often Dehumanizing But Makes Life Easier" As Apple, Nokia, and Microsoft all prepare to unveil new tablets on Tuesday, this succinctly summarizes the root of our generation's dilemma. While we naturally lap up the benefits and conveniences that come with technological...
Oct 20, 2013 | Arts and Entertainment, General Advice, mic
Published: mic (October 28, 2013) Whoever said that horror shouldn't be taken seriously? Well, a lot of people, actually. Although some of the most widely recognized artistic geniuses of our time have dabbled or even specialized in horror, from Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft to Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, the genre still tends to receive less acclaim, at least when compared to...
Oct 19, 2013 | Gay Rights and Other LGBTQIA Issues, mic, Supreme Court and Other Judicial Issues
Published: mic (October 19, 2013) You may not have realized it, but October has been a portentous month in the fight for gay marriage rights. Let's go through the list: -Most pressingly, the Supreme Court of New Jersey rejected Governor Chris Christie's effort to block same-sex marriages, thereby affirming a ruling by a state Superior Court judge last month that declared a civil-union law to be...
Oct 18, 2013 | Democrats, Economic Policy, Immigration, mic, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (October 18, 2013) Right now congressional Democrats have an abysmal approval rating of 31%. Not surprisingly, however, their Republican counterparts are doing even worse, polling at only 20%. By comparison, President Obama's approval rating remains in the low 40s, suggesting that if anything, legislative Democrats are being damaged more by their institutional association with...
Oct 17, 2013 | Democrats, Economic Policy, mic, Political Parties, President Obama, Republicans
Published: mic (October 17, 2013) America, it is time to doff your proverbial hat to President Barack Obama. This is what a leader looks like. It isn't simply that he managed to protect his signature legislative legacy, the Affordable Care Act, from being mutilated and/or defunded by congressional Republicans. While that is quite the accomplishment in its own right (one that will be appreciated...