I remember when the internal strife in Syria first began back in the spring of 2011. Like most people, I considered it to be a continuation of the events that had begun in Tunisia and made its way through Egypt; another Middle East dictator swiftly ousted at the hands of the “Arab spring.” Yet two [...]

In early summer, a small, heavily militarized country invaded its southern neighbor. The local conflict soon grew regional as other nations allied with both original participants began to support their respective friends, thereby making escalation a serious concern. Three years later, over 1 million people had died as a result of the disastrous war, yet [...]

There is an popular opinion piece on FoxNews.com right now by John Kartch of Americans for Tax Reform called “Five Major Obamacare Taxes that will hit your wallet in 2013.” Shockingly, it is very misleading on nearly every issue it discusses.

There is a reason that presidents have been fighting for a better health care system for 100 years. In 2010, over 50 million Americans went about their daily lives with no health insurance. If they got sick, odds are they went bankrupt and you had to foot the bill. Insurance companies could look at an application of a newborn infant, born with a defect, and deny the child coverage. A man who had diligently paid for his own health insurance for his entire life, could get cancer, and the insurance company could drop him. Insurance companies would set annual or lifetime dollar limits on needed care, leaving patients who thought they had coverage with massive medical bills and no hope.

Back in January, in response to Fair Trade USA’s (FTUSA) decision to begin certifying plantation-grown coffee, I wrote that fair trade was dead. Some critics vehemently disagreed with my assessment, seeming to take issue with the sweeping declarative statement I made, and accusing me of conflating the concept of “fair trade” with the products distributed [...]

In the midst of the George W. Bush Administration, science writer Chris Mooney’s The Republican War on Science (Basic Books, 2005) noted an increasing trend: the rejection of science by a growing number of Republican Party members, not just on evolution, but on topics as varied as stem cell research, the hole in the ozone [...]

“There is no such thing as work-life balance,” Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, boasted earlier this year. But don’t believe her. This message that the only way to succeed is to live an unhealthy life focused on your work is a farce. By Debra Guckenheimer Sandberg doesn’t appear to live up to [...]

Members of the Wisconsin legislature may vote today – March 6, 2012 – to suspend recently agreed upon rules in the state that streamlined and made more efficient the state’s wind siting requirements. Although the legislators pushing for suspension cite the need for local control over wind rules as their motivation, many of them are [...]

On October 3, 2011, the Obama administration said it was moving forward with oil-drilling leases off the coast of Alaska issued by the Bush administration in 2008. The leases had been challenged by environmental groups, opposition that gained momentum after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Yet the Interior Department said it would uphold nearly [...]

It’s been four months since the day an elite team of Navy Seals swooped down onto a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan and vanquished the most wanted terrorist in the world.  One of President Obama’s principal foreign policy goals was that if he had actual intelligence on Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts, he would not hesitate to [...]

The most striking aspect of my time in Israel with the group, Interfaith Peace-Builders, was in many ways the lack of compassion and the high levels of complicity, which brought to light just some of the ways that we as Americans are blinded by our own complicity and lack of compassion. It is easy to [...]

Israelis are setting up tents around the country in this newest phase of protest against the rising costs of living. That may be the only news of Israel you’ll see this week, aside from the gunfire exchanged between Israeli and Lebanon troops on the border Sunday, but you would be unlikely to see any other [...]

“Unwed mothers suffer long-term health woes,” read the headline in the Los Angeles Times on June 2. I felt myself cringe as I took it in, not just because of the significance of this statement, but also because of the use of the term “unwed mother.” After reading the full article, my initial cringe turned [...]

Much of the coverage and discussion on Federal and State budgets centers on the politics of the situation, rather than the responsibilities and role of government. Is this because people’s eyes glaze over when huge numbers are thrown out or because we have been convinced that the economy is beyond our control? Or is it [...]

In light of last month’s tragedy in Japan, I addressed natural disasters in the first installment of this tw0 part article that searches for deeper meaning behind global catastrophe.   Here, I continue to explore the positive side of tragedy by shedding light on our recent wake-up call now known to many as the Great Recession.   Economics is the [...]

We can thank the British for many things: the colonization of much of the world, not passing on their dentistry or cooking skills, our accents, the postage stamp, Mr. Bean, the pay toilet and gravity, just to name a few. But one thing we have never given them credit for is creating the wedding industry. [...]

As our hearts ache watching the images of Japan’s Eastern Shores and our anger stirred by another nature-spawned catastrophe worsened by human imperfection, many of us pray for those affected by the tsunami and radiation fall-out in the Pacific. In this two part article, I will discuss global crises within a larger discussion about humanity’s need [...]

Ohio faces an $8 billion ‘deficit’ for the 2012-2013 budget, but the state will give away $14 billion in tax loopholes and credits over that same time.  Interest ‘deficit.’   So why does Governor Kasich’s budget, released on March 15th, shuffle and slash programs and services even as he keeps proposing new tax breaks?  Just [...]