The Free Press Journal | The Strategic Import of Pelosi Meeting the Dalai Lama

The last time then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went on a diplomatic mission, the world almost changed. It was August 2, 2022, and despite the stiff resistance from China, and a token opposition from President Joe Biden, Pelosi went ahead with her visit to Taiwan, a country China claims is its territory. Beijing’s retaliation was quick and unequivocal — several military exercises that may have given both the Taiwanese and Biden more than a few moments of anxiety. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Why The Young American Vote Won’t Impact Biden

Several leading American universities at present are under siege by two things: 1) Students, and 2) The shortsightedness of their managements, who have abdicated administrative responsibilities and handed them over to law enforcement. Following nationwide protests against the Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has left nearly 35,000 Palestinians dead, universities around the US allowed the police to take action against their students. In some cases, like Columbia University in New York, administrations have cancelled graduation ceremonies, locked up hostels and dorm rooms, and cancelled all classes, leaving thousands of students in the lurch. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Trump Trial Busts The Myth That in America, All Are Equal

A few years ago, a popular Hindi film actor was asked about the books she reads, to which she replied, among other things, that George Orwell’s Animal Farm can teach children to love and care for animals. Whatever one may think of Orwell and his writing, he was not a writer of children’s books, and Animal Farm is as dystopian as it can get. One of the great aphorisms the book included was a proclamation by the pigs on the farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: America’s Tragic Tryst With Gun Control Laws

On November 30, 2021, a 15-year-old boy in the otherwise quiet township of Oxford in Michigan, in the upper midwestern region of the United States, entered his high school premises with a semiautomatic handgun he had picked up from home and began shooting indiscriminately at his teachers and fellow students. Ethan Crumbley continued firing for four minutes until he was captured, but those 240 seconds were enough to kill four teenagers and injure seven others. Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: Biden May Not Like It, But His Age Will Play Spoilsport

In 1984, when then US President Ronald Reagan was 73 and running for a second term, he had to debate with Walter Mondale, a former Vice President under Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party’s frontrunner against the Republican incumbent. Mondale was 17 years younger than Reagan. The debate’s host — Henry Trewhitt of The Baltimore Sun — asked Reagan on live TV: “You already are the oldest President in history. Some of your staff said recently that you looked tired after your recent encounter with Mr Mondale. I recall that President Kennedy had to go days on end without sleep during the Cuban missile crisis. Any doubt in your mind whether you will be able to function under such circumstances?” Read the full article here.

The Free Press Journal | Analysis: For Both Biden And Trump, It Ain't Gonna Be Easy

On Wednesday, February 28, the results of the Democratic and Republican primaries from Michigan state in the US were declared. Expectedly, both current President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, won easily. Their victories, though, had a scratch card feel to them — you’d think you won a ₹100 cashback, but all you got was a 20% discount to a product you will never buy or is cheaper on Amazon. Read the full article here.