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It is often said that a man's character is his fate. But the presidency magnifies character far beyond the man himself. For four years, George Bush's character was America's fate. This good man was our good fortune.

Masha Alekhina

If we in Europe call humanity one of our fundamental values, ​​then we cannot leave the people who are turning to us for help to freeze in the field.

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Sometimes, figuratively speaking, all the money in the world can't change a political outcome. This very idea runs counter to all the dire warnings about money's corruptive influence on American politics, of course, but it makes it no less true -- at least in certain situations.

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Most people don't spend their days enmeshed in policy issues; they have jobs and lives. They rely on the media to let them know what is important. Unfortunately, this has generally not meant much coverage of global warming.

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Much has been written about the anger of white men, and in some ways, their anger is given support and the systems in place which have caused and supported white supremacy lend a sympathetic ear, for the most part. But what about the anger of black people?

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Fifteen years ago, the Democrats' heir apparent sought to succeed a termed out president, but was faced with a challenge on the left from a popular senator and persistent net negative approval ratings. Sound familiar?

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I need you to give my daughters a chance to have a full spectrum of dolls in their room that is more reflective of their reality, so that they can also springboard their imagination.

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This story has been circulating pretty steadily, but if you teach juniors (or have one in your home) you need to be paying attention, because all indications are that when the new SAT rolls out in a few months, high school juniors should avoid it.

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The correct solutions for our country are progressive ones, not centrist, Third Way half-measures. But we need to avoid breeding cynicism by spreading the idea that electing Democrats will produce the same results as electing Republicans.

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Economics is economics, and no matter how well-intentioned, Larry Page and Sergey Brin's brainchild has not only succumbed to the realities of a dog-eat-dog world, in many ways it's become the alpha male.

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To quell any fears and to put a great deal of misinformation to rest, here are five things that democratic socialism is not.

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Race-based police use of lethal force against black persons may be the smoldering fuse of a ticking time bomb.

Alyssa Ramos

Why am I heartbroken? I didn't end a relationship or lose someone I love. I didn't find out the person I like cheated on me or is in love with someone else. So why on Earth do I feel so sad about going home? It took a few glasses of wine, but I think now I know why.

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A friend of mine who is traveling in London sent me a text message of a photo she had taken of 12-foot-high, white marble statue of an armless pregnant woman with truncated legs set atop a giant pedestal in Trafalgar Square. The caption read: "Thalidomide?"

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Sure, they're more work than cats. Sure, they make bigger messes (and bigger poops). Sure, they eat more. But they also have bigger hearts. They just want to love and be loved. And really, what is easier than that in this life? What other species wants love and only love, nothing in return?

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We are living longer than ever. Progress has lifted billions out of poverty and hunger. The overall rate at which humans are killing other humans is at an all-time low. But the rationalists who cite these statistical realities and poo poo our paranoia are too, well, rational.

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Bereaved parents aren't completely honest with you. However, if we could be truly honest and vulnerable, here's what we would tell you:

Spike Lee's Malcolm X

It is arguable that among the most salient signs that a society has a viable social contract between seculars and religious is the porousness of the markets for its arts and entertainments.

Everytown for Gun Safety

These ads represent a level of interest and concern that could be (pardon my pun) a real game-changer when it comes to the national discussion about guns.

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She changed the cultural landscape, for better and worse, and gave us all a platform we never had. We're not quite to the status of "just another American minority group," but we're on our way.

Annette Bonnier

There is an unusual dichotomy in the role of the elephant in Indian society. The animal is seen both as an enlightened, spiritual being and a beast of burden. Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, is venerated as one of the highest deities in the Hindu religion. Many temples in southern India house an elephant for worshippers to visit. But elephants are also chained and used for logging and tourism.

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It is now strikingly obvious that bodily fluids, especially women's bodily fluids, drive Donald Trump up the wall. This might look like behavior in the script for a fictional film called, "Frat Guys Talk Women," but it's not. It is a profound theological problem.

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The United Nations top official on human rights recently told the U.N. Security Council that the U.S.-supported, Saudi Arabian-led coalition of Sunni nations fighting Shi'ite Houthi rebels in Yemen bore a disproportionate responsibility for attacks on civilians.

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Criminal justice reform continued to build momentum this year within the inner sanctum of the Beltway and across the nation in a handful of states. It emerged as a significant issue in the presidential campaign, and looks likely to stay front and center into 2016.

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Star Wars, opening with that great sound, calls us into what J. R. R. Tolkien called a heterocosm, an other world, completely unlike, yet, not unlike our own. Such worlds highlight one element of what it means to be human and to exercise our free will: choice.

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But when you've lost a close family member, the holidays have the opposite effect. Your family feels painfully small, excruciatingly tiny. During this happy time of year, you are forced to accept how incomplete it is, and the fact that it will never, ever feel whole again.

We organized online and off, sending millions of comments in support of an open Internet, beating back efforts to build even larger broadband monopolies, and creating new online tools to safeguard the privacy of our online communications. Here are the many highlights... and a few less-than-spectacular moments.

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The efforts that the military are expending when it comes to reducing the rate of suicide among active duty troops should be commended. That doesn't mean that the fight is over, however, and I think the numbers back that statement up pretty well.

I'm grown, but my emotions are sometimes larger than I want to handle, and these moments encourage me to remember how my girls must feel -- so small are they; so big are their experiences.