Unfiltered with Josh Cohen

This essay explores a dual-mandate that I have; a general repudiation of the socialist tendencies that many on the Left are so fetched by, as well as offer whatever insight or attention I can to a pressing geopolitical concern.  In that vein, let's turn our gaze to Venezuela. I will do my best to maintain a respectable amount of indignation throughout. Bus driver turned much-disputed President Mr. Nicolas Maduro has amassed an impressive litany of crimes against humanity since assuming office back in 2013. Despite plunging his own country into misery, desolation and bankruptcy, Mr. Maduro has ordered the expansion of an entirely civilian militia by one million members. This army has come to be called the National Bolivarian Militia and will be a reserve force to complement  Maduro's "official" cadre.  The announcement was made during a ceremony honoring late President Hugo Chavez's return to power after a failed attempt at a coup d'etat. This seem

 Juanita Broaddrick is a retired registered nurse and former nursing home owner.   In 1999, she burst into the public consciousness when she accused President Bill Clinton on national television of raping her as he ran for Governor of Arkansas.  It was a TV appearance she dreaded but felt compelled to come forward after being deposed by Independent Counsel regarding the events of April 25, 1978.   The NBC Dateline interview, however, was held by NBC until after the Impeachment hearing was over and finally aired two weeks later opposite the Grammy Awards. After the trauma of relating the horrific events on national TV, Juanita wanted nothing more to do with the media and faded from the public eye until the Presidential Campaign of 2016.    It was then she heard about a tweet Hillary Clinton had made late in 2015.  Hillary tweeted, "I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault.  Don't let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard.  You h

Richard Carrier, Ph.D., is a philosopher and historian with degrees from Berkeley and Columbia, specializing in the contemporary philosophy of naturalism, and in Greco-Roman philosophy, science, and religion, including the origins of Christianity. He blogs and lectures worldwide, teaches courses online at The Secular Academy, and is the author of many books, including his defense of a naturalist worldview in  Sense and Goodness without God , his academic case for the non-existence of Jesus in  On the Historicity of Jesus , his work on historical methodology in  Proving History , his study of ancient science in  Science Education  and  The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire , his responses to 21st century Christian apologetics in  Why I Am Not a Christian  and  Not the Impossible Faith , and an anthology of his papers on the subject of history in  Hitler Homer Bible Christ . He has also authored chapters in many other books, and articles in magazines and academic journals, and on