U.S. Department of State

Latest Articles

Freedom Watch: Speak no evil

Why are African-American leaders silent about slavery in Sudan?
It wasn’t the first time members of the Congressional Black Caucus had heard – and done nothing about – Sudan’s dirty secret. Even before a recent House international-relations subcommittee hearing on human-rights violations in Sudan, they knew that kidnapping and slavery had become a barbarous byproduct of Sudan’s bloody holy war.
By TIM SANDLER | May 20, 2010

Culture and choreography

Horse and Yellow Bird Dancers at FirstWorks
Not only is the FirstWorks organization devoted to presenting “first-time-in-Rhode Island” performances throughout their seven-week fall festival (through November 15), but the staff is also always seeking diversity of cultures, media, and experiences.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | October 15, 2009

Shooting from the lip

Kennedy's gaffe on Iran manages to make a bad image worse
Washington – Edward M. Kennedy's presidential campaign has a serious problem, and the problem appears to be Edward M. Kennedy. During the week in which leadership was transformed from a word in the lexicon of his campaign rhetoric to a measurable reality, Kennedy succeeded in verbally vanishing himself to a political isolation.
By MARCO TRBOVICH | August 26, 2009

Battle of the banned

Authorities kick out the jams
It's one thing to be a musician and get thrown out of Disneyland (Velvet Underground) or banned from a national landmark (Ozzy Osbourne at the Alamo), but you've hit rock paydirt when you become the target of an entire nation.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | March 02, 2009

She's back - almost

Why Clinton's appointment is good for Obama. Plus, better Boston graduates.
Why Clinton's appointment is good for Obama. Plus, better Boston graduates.
By EDITORIAL | November 24, 2008

Wallowing

Lockerbie overdoes the melodrama
Playwright Deborah Brevoort looked at the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, shook her head, and reduced the tragedy to its effect on one family and one town in The Women of Lockerbie , being staged by Roger Williams University Theatre (through November 22).
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 19, 2008

Mao's ghost

The spirit of the chairman haunts the Beijing Olympics
When the 21st century is old enough to support a sense of historical perspective, the date 8/8/08 may well be more significant than 9/11.
By EDITORIAL | August 08, 2008

Immigrant song

How US terror policy is ruining your summer concert season
You, my young British friend, start a band.
By JASON O'BRYAN | June 18, 2008

Intelligence deficit

Bush fooled voters and the press once on Iraq. Can McCain get away with the same thing?
The American press and public rarely get riled up these days over new revelations concerning President George W. Bush and his administration’s sorry history.
By EDITORIAL | June 11, 2008

Building better bodyguards

Inside a Connecticutt "anti-terrorist driving school"
This article originally ran in the May 2, 1978 issue of the Boston Phoenix .
By MICHAEL MATZA | May 01, 2008

What about Tibet?

The Olympics may prove to be China’s Achilles’s heel
It is about money.
By EDITORIAL | March 28, 2008

On the national affront

An inescapable year reaches its inevitable conclusion
Where does one begin to recap 12 months of such willful self-parody?
By BARRY CRIMMINS | December 19, 2007

A tragicomedy of errors

In an excerpt from his new book, The Fall of the House of Bush, author Craig Unger details how Bush is, well, screwing up the world
It was not until after George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were narrowly re-elected that many Americans began to realize that the Iraq War represented a dangerous moment in American history.
By CRAIG UNGER | November 20, 2007

Rudy's mayor problem

Giuliani’s campaign-trail fortune could lay in the hands of New York City’s pesky other Hizzoner, Michael Bloomberg
The biggest threat to Giuliani’s campaign can be summed up in two words: Michael Bloomberg.
By STEVEN STARK | August 08, 2007

Letter to the Portland editor: July 13, 2007

Real ID is here
The reason conservatives don’t want everyone to get a passport is that they don’t want Americans to go overseas.
By LETTERS TO THE PORTLAND EDITOR | July 11, 2007

The 10th Annual Muzzle Awards

Silencing free speech
Mitt Romney will say or do anything if he thinks it will help him become president.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 10, 2007

Annals of termination

Yet another mission to accomplish
George W. Bush is guilty of a lot of things. But in her just-released book, former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega gets specific.
By MIKE MILIARD | May 02, 2007

The song remains the same

Did last weekend’s march on Washington mark a new surge in street activism or the waning of an old-school protest style?
At one point early on in last weekend’s anti-war rally in Washington, DC, a speaker instructed the crowd, which was facing en masse toward the Capitol Building, to turn around and look in the other direction — toward the White House, the State Department, the Justice Department, and the Pentagon — and then to turn back around. Slideshow: Images from the January 27th march on Washington, DC. Photos by Matthew Craig
By DEIRDRE FULTON | January 31, 2007

Major and minor Billy

The HFA celebrates Wilder’s centennial
Billy Wilder’s expansive career began in Germany at the end of the ’20s, continued briefly in Paris when he fled Hitler in 1933, and picked up in Hollywood the following year.
By STEVE VINEBERG | December 07, 2006

Flashbacks: November 24, 2006

The Boston Phoenix has been covering the trends and events that shape our times since 1966.
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Dan Peleschuk, Ian Sands, and Eva Wolchover.
By FLASHBACKS | November 21, 2006

A force for change

Phil West bids farewell after an eventful 18 years at common cause
Arriving in 1988 as the corrupt misdeeds of then-Governor Edward DiPrete were bursting into public view, H. Philip West Jr. picked an opportune time to take the helm of Common Cause of Rhode Island.
By IAN DONNIS | November 21, 2006

Stripped bare

Cell + home + spirits in Two Rooms
Lainie has stripped one room in her house of art, furniture, carpets, and even paint.
By MEGAN GRUMBLING | November 15, 2006

Africa's invisible slaves

Human bondage resurfaces in the dark heart of Sudan
This article originally appeared in the June 30, 1995 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By TIM SANDLER | November 14, 2006

Satire versus spoof

Gina Gionfriddo’s After Ashley ; A.R. Gurney’s Screen Play
The American media have long pigged out on titillation and tragedy. And in After Ashley , Gina Gionfriddo has written a frighteningly funny work about that particular eating disorder.
By CAROLYN CLAY | November 08, 2006

An empty gesture

Why Menino’s police reform is a bad joke
Boston mayor Thomas Menino’s plan for a panel of three civilians to review complaints about the police is vintage Menino. And that, sad to say, is not a compliment.
By EDITORIAL | September 05, 2006

Flashbacks: July 7, 2006

The Boston Phoenix has been covering the trends and events that shape our times since 1966
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Doug Fleischer, Sam MacLaughlin, and Hannah Van-Susteren.
By EDITORIAL | July 05, 2006

Breslin turns bard

The columnist’s play goes up on the Cape
Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer-winning columnist and author, has turned playwright.
By IRIS FANGER | July 05, 2006

Graham Greene’s last interview

A great writer condemns US interventionism
This article originally appeared in the June 28, 1991 issue of the Boston Phoenix .
By JOHN R. MACARTHUR | June 28, 2006

Won’t get fooled again

With reports of Iran-war drums beating, how will the media react this time around?
Seymour Hersh’s April 17 New Yorker article, which reported that a “messianic” Bush White House was contemplating regime change and tactical nuclear strikes to pre-empt Iran’s bomb-building program, landed with its own explosive power last week.
By MARK JURKOWITZ | April 25, 2006

Opera’s great loss

Sarah Caldwell, 1924–2006
When the curtain went up at Boston’s Back Bay Theatre for the American premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron , in November 1966, two figures were standing back to back in a spotlight on a small disc.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | March 29, 2006