Born at the end of the so-called “long Enlightenment,” Lincoln had no reservations about being guided by “Reason” or preferring it to passion. Providence, however, also played its role.
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“Satire works by inference,” cartoonist G.B. Trudeau says in Brian Walker’s new book Doonesbury and the Art of G.B. Trudeau. “What you condemn should reveal what you value, what you […]
After a few months of intermittent explosions since late 2010, Bulusan in the Philippines looks to be at it again (although not really a “major volcanic eruption” as the Huffington Post […]
A new study of Sweden’s sex trade laws sheds new light on the age-old debate about criminalizing prostitution.
On Sunday morning President Ali Abdullah Salih gave a speech in front of roughly 30,000 supporters in Sanaa. Foreign journalists were invited to document the event and see the widespread […]
Protestors and opposition leaders in Bahrain are calling on the Sunni king to dissolve the government. Will these protests successfully usher in a revolution or be stifled like in Iran?
What did countries such as Britain and Italy think they were doing when they began to cultivate their relationships with Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gadaffi a few years back?
I said in my previous post that I had a second big move to announce. Well, it’s now official. Starting in August I will be a faculty member at the […]
So the BIG THINKers have reminded us that one of the most personal and technologically promising ideas of our time is DESIGNING BABIES–or making the result of our reproduction better than natural. I’ve […]
M.I.T. physicist Alan Guth has suggested that new universes—known as “pocket universes”— are constantly being created, but they cannot be seen from our universe.
It was heartening to see that there are tens of thousands of people protesting in Madison day after day. That’s the beginning, maybe, of what we really need here: a democracy uprising.
Deep in the lush undergrowth of corporate America, security, consulting and PR companies see lucrative business opportunities in helping WikiLeaks targets get their retaliation in first.
Bernie Madoff languishes in jail; bankers continue to profit as the poor lose their homes. Stealing from the rich is punished more than stealing from the poor, says Danny Schechter.
In a different age, politicians quoting Shakespeare might not have gotten far with voters; in Bard-mad 19th-century America, it was a sure way to win over a skeptical audience.
The ultimate question is not whether cameras work. It stands to reason that they can work when used wisely—just as a hammer works for certain tasks. But not everything is a nail.
When the actor and director Dennis Hopper died last year, it sparked renewed interest in his ‘other’ career—a chronicler of Sixties America with a stunning collection of photographs.
In recent years, scientists have begun to outline the surprising benefits of not paying attention. Sometimes, too much focus can backfire; all that caffeine gets in the way.
Surely there is something more ambitious to be done with our modern technology than trying to guess what kind of microwave someone will want next. Something like preventing murders.
For poets and philosophers through the ages, the mind and heart have been fellow travelers. Now medical researchers are putting the dark bond between the two under a microscope.
Montana State Representative Joe Read doesn’t deny global warming is real. He just thinks it is we’re not causing it—and that it’s a good thing anyway. That’s why the Republican […]
The situation in Bahrain is approaching a fever pitch, and the neighboring Saudis are expected to intervene to rescue the ruling Bahraini family and shore up the regime.
At this month’s Vanity Fair, best-selling author Michael Lewis chronicles Ireland’s collapse into the deepest recession of any European Union country. In a guest post today, my American University colleague […]
A: Soldiers dressed in civilian clothes, who were ordered into the street. Most people have assumed that many of the thugs beating back protesters every day in Sanaa have been […]
The day started off bad in Sanaa when students managed to beat GPC-paid thugs* to the area outside of Sanaa University. (Michelle Shephard details the day in an excellent report […]
Apple has levied a new tax on publishers who sell subscriptions through the Apple iTunes Store. Now, one new report suggests Apple is being investigated by two federal agencies.
The true worth of a film is no longer decided by the crowd that assembles in an American city. It is decided by youngsters in countries such as Russia, China and Brazil.
Congress has no chance of closing the budget gap unless lawmakers go to where the big money is: defense, entitlements and tax breaks. The defense budget is not sacred.
People confess under torture, or if they are mentally incapable of grasping the situation. But sometimes suspects who are perfectly healthy still confess to crimes they didn’t commit. Why?
An emerging field of neuroscience indicates that the endocannabinoid system may be more responsible for feelings of euphoria after exercise than endorphins.