Three hours before the first presidential “debate” debacle kicked off, as I was blithely sautéing a batch of mushrooms, my kitchen sink inexplicably plunged—with
Author: Gloria Shur Bilchik
Gloria Shur Bilchik is a freelance writer and community volunteer in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the editor of Occasional Planet. She views the preservation of democratic values and progressive programs as vital to making the US a humane, livable place for her children and grandchildren.
Senior analyst quits Defense Intelligence Agency, citing U.S. “slide into authoritarianism”
It was another of the many “last straws” in the Trump era. Kyle Murphy, a senior analyst in the US Defense Intelligence Agency, went
Today, I almost fell for a scam. I hope you’re smarter than I was.
Did I just almost fall for a scam? I thought I was smart, but they almost got me by making me doubt myself. It
Behind the scenes at LA County’s Super Tuesday election meltdown
For Los Angeles County election chief Dean Logan, Tuesday, March 3, 2020 was, to quote a famous children’s book, “a terrible, horrible, no good,
Ballot design is important, especially now
In the 2008 Minnesota election for US Senate, Al Franken beat Norm Coleman by less than three hundred votes. In that race, almost four
New rules for absentee voting in Missouri: More complicated than ever
In the final hour of the 2020 legislative session, the Missouri Senate passed SB631, which would allow Missourians to vote absentee by mail in
16 phones: Theme song for Michael Cohen’s tell-all book on Trump and Company
Trump’s former consigliere, Michael Cohen, is reported to be writing a tell-all book. Whether he’ll be writing in in a jail cell or at
How to vote in Burundi
For those who don’t vote in the US because they think it’s too time-consuming, too complicated or too confusing, consider the voting process in
Oregon knows how to vote by mail
Oregon has conducted all of its statewide elections entirely by mail since 1998. A Huffington Post article explains how it works: The process is
Life after the Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder—to overturn the “pre-clearance” requirement in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act—continues to have major