USA Today

Don’t Let Yemen Turn Into Syria

USA TODAY 03/17/17 By Michael Shank Diplomacy and foreign aid are best ways to end terrorist groups. Why is Trump slashing them? President Trump, who promised as a candidate to “bomb the hell out of ISIS,” authorized a military raid in Yemen during his first couple of weeks in office […]

Why Obama Should Pardon Snowden

USA TODAY 09/14/16 By Michael Shank The real threat to national security is our own egregious activities in war zones. The American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others are launching a campaign this week to get President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden for his 2013 whistle-blowing […]

We’re Fiddling as the Climate Burns

USA TODAY 04/19/16 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Michael Honda The elites are aflutter about the climate crisis. Here’s how to get more people alarmed and engaged. The latest frightening climate study, predicting a devastating rise in sea levels in the lifetimes of babies born today, isn’t generating the […]

Let’s Slow Down the Next Superstorm

USA TODAY 10/05/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Charles Rangel New research on the frequency of Sandy-type storms makes acting on climate change more urgent The news last week that New York City faces Superstorm Sandy-level flooding every 25 years, instead of every 500 years, is a wet blanket […]

Texas Flood’s Climate Change Irony

USA TODAY 05/27/15 By Michael Shank The state is actually leading the nation in green energy. From devastating droughts to flash floods, it seems that Texas can’t get a break from extreme weather associated with climate change. Emerging recently from a multiyear record-breaking drought, with reservoirs at near record lows, […]

More Record Warmth Means More Flooding

USA TODAY 01/16/15 By Michael Shank and Rep Alan Lowenthal In the coming years, thanks to a rapidly warming climate, sea level rise and flooding will become a frequent occurrence on every coast of the North American continent. While Southern California will suffer from some of the most significant sea […]

Ebola Research Flows Away From Poor: Other Views

USA TODAY 08/06/14 Steven Hoffman and Julia Belluz, Vox.com: “Ebola will continue to move through Africa — this time, and again in the future — not only because of the viral reservoirs and broken health systems specific to the continent. There are much larger issues at play here. … Most […]

Small Town America Shouldn’t Resemble War Zone

USA TODAY 03/10/14 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) Why do police departments need military vehicles and weapons? Something potentially sinister is happening across America, and we should stop and take notice before it changes the character of our country forever. County, city and small-town police departments […]