A story from northwest Pakistan involves a discrepancy between reality and perception with regard to U.S. drone strikes. Last month two attacks in the tribal belt generated the kind of spreading news that has come to be routinely associated with the drones.

Last week, StandWithUS and I-LEAD brought two Israel Defense Forces soldiers to campus with the goal of humanizing the IDF because they felt that the “media presented a skewed portrait of them.” How did the soldiers attempt to do this? By dehumanizing the Palestinian narrative — its culture, politics and people. The discourse used during the event didn't simply cater to a specific audience; it was grossly offensive and inaccurate.

TEHRAN — Truth be told, this American observer has attended his share of international  conferences and has traveled in more than 70 countries. But never has he  visited such a complex, evolving, striving and energized society, populated by idealistic people of great warmth, sense of humor and caring for those  in need as he has experienced in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the corporate/banking world the term "stakeholder" is used to describe investors who are given special preferred treatment. How does this exclusionary perspective compare with a government that is charged with the responsibility to look at and after all Americans as "stakeholders"?  In the 1950s American President Dwight David Eisenhower  warned the American people about the "Military-Industrial-Complex;" a structure that through corporate lobbying efforts has leveraged Congress to suit its agenda for monetary gain. 

I find deeply troubling the White House claim that their use of drones to assassinate suspected terrorists is "legal, ethical and wise." The release of a Department of Justice "White Paper" that purports to establish the Administration's legal justification for these killings only compounds my concern.

We have a cockeyed national debate on gun violence in which some motivated by political expediency seek to dodge core issues, while others driven by political ideology work to misdirect the discussion diverting it away from the core issues.