Woke up this morning and this was on our minds: Do we have the use of the word “woke” and the phrase “cancel culture” backwards? Is it liberals and those on the left who are woke and employing the cancel culture? Or is it conservatives and those on the right? The Oxford English dictionary defines woke as “alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.” The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines cancel culture as “the practice or tendency of mass … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
Frank’s most recent blogs are highlighted on this page. To read other blogs or articles by Frank, click on the categories or publications links on the left.
Why Biden delayed offering help to India
The delay could have been due to the US’ unfinished battle with the virus, its deliberative decision-making process, and, the desire to avoid a controversy. On Sunday, the United States (US) announced that it will immediately make available raw materials requested by vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) and will also send supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment to India. A statement released by the … [Read more...]
USS John Paul Jones incident: Navigating through not so troubled waters
On April 7, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John F. Kerry met with Prime Minister Modi in Delhi to discuss collaboration between the two countries on one of the Biden administration’s signature issues. The meeting, the highest level engagement between the two countries to date on the issue, took place a little more than two weeks before President Joe Biden’s scheduled April 22 -23 virtual summit on climate change. However, it was not the high-level bilateral event — … [Read more...]
SUPPORT SOCIAL VENTURES TO BUILD BACK BETTER
“While the American Rescue Plan is changing the course of the pandemic and delivering relief for working families, this is no time to build back to the way things were. This is the moment to reimagine and rebuild a new economy.” … [Read more...]
Time to Ride the 2021 Civic Wave
2021 began with a wave of material and dialogue on the importance of constructive civic learning and engagement to the future of our American democracy. The question is whether this wave will sweep across the country in the years to come, substantially strengthening our common purpose, or die far short of the reform shore. America’s Civic Conundrum The answer is most probably neither. This is the case because the wave is confronting decades of decline in civic education and … [Read more...]
Earth Day: A Day to Renew the Commitment to Defeat Climate Change
On April 22, 2020, when most of the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the United States did not participate. On Earth Day this year, the U.S. will do more than participate. President Joe Biden will host a Leaders’ Climate Summit on Earth Day. The Summit will commemorate the signing of the Paris Agreement five years ago, and to encourage leaders of major nations to increase their commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The … [Read more...]
A glimmer of hope for Pakistan-India peace
After years of tensions, it appears that there may be a glimmer of hope for peace between India and Pakistan. This hope has been precipitated by reports that the UAE helped to broker the recent India-Pakistan Kashmir border ceasefire and a road map to peace between these two nuclear-armed south Asian neighbours. The ceasefire was announced in the last week of February in a joint statement of the Director Generals of Military Operations of Pakistan and India. Immediately after that … [Read more...]
The Big Tent of the Democratic Party: Past, Present and Future
In spite of Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump for the presidency, much of the media coverage after the November 3 elections related to the future of the Democratic Party. That discussion was precipitated by the Democrats’ loss of 13 seats in the House in 2020. By contrast, the Democrats gained 41 House seats in the midterm elections of 2018. The events of January 6 and the subsequent turmoil focused public attention on the future of the Republican Party, rather than that of the … [Read more...]
Under Joe Biden, a return to professional diplomacy with India
Under the current secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the US is more likely to play the role of a firefighter, rather than that of an arsonist. That does not, however, mean Washington will be blind to potential Chinese aggression. India, United States (US), Japan and Australia came together for the Quad summit on March 12, 2021, hosted by US president Joe Biden. This was the first interaction between Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden in a multilateral forum … [Read more...]
RIP GOP. HELLO POT
They look at Donald J. Trump and they look at the millions and millions of people inspired, who went to battle fighting alongside President Trump, and they’re terrified and they want him to go away. Let me tell you this right now: Donald J. Trump ain’t going anywhere. - Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator(R-TX) Ted Cruz made this proclamation on February 26 on the opening day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Orlando, FL. On February 28, the closing day of … [Read more...]