Author / Aryeh Mellman
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One Vote, Many Obstacles
My quest to submit an absentee ballot began easily enough. Since I had realized early on that the Missouri presidential primary was taking place over spring break, I had ample time to send in a request for an absentee ballot, and simply had to check a box stating that I needed one because I would…
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Entropy in Egypt
As usual, the Middle East is dominating headlines. The bloody war in Syria drags on with no signs of slowing, Saudi Arabia is launching airstrikes at Yemen’s Houthis, ISIS continues its rampage into Iraq and Syria, and the U.S. is watching carefully to ensure Iran implements its part of the nuclear deal signed over the…
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Criminal Justice Reform’s Shaky Coalition
With the United States at historic levels of political polarization, it’s shocking that a topic as ripe for controversy as criminal justice reform is currently enjoying a rare bipartisan moment. Nonetheless, the push for a smaller prison system, abolition of mandatory minimums, and fewer causes for arrest, has brought together a wide range of political…
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Oblivious
BY ARYEH MELLMAN The shooting of Michael Brown is just one example of the notion that in a myriad of ways in their everyday lives, people with black skin are treated differently than people with white skin. But don’t just take it from me: ask President Obama, who remarked in a speech about Trayvon Martin…
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Obamacare: Cost vs. Access
BY ARYEH MELLMAN After five years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is staggering toward the end of its gauntlet of political, legal, and implementation challenges. To paraphrase Nancy Pelosi, it’s time to find out not just what is i n the law, but the ultimate effects of the law. From the time the ACA was…
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More Than War
BY ARYEH MELLMAN When Israel appears in American discourse, it is inevitably as a precursor to the words “—Palestine conflict.” The vast majority of Americans have no real reason to care about Israel beyond this discussion, so their knowledge base is restricted to what they see on the news. Inevitably, only wars can make far-off…
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How United are the Nations?
The United Nations (UN), like its predecessor, the League of Nations, was born out of the ashes of a world war. With the advent of atomic weapons, a third world war could have been apocalyptic. And so, in a quest to quite literally save the world, the founding countries of the UN strove to create…
