Fairness is the basis of the social contract. As citizens we expect that when we contribute our fair share we should receive our just reward. When social benefits are handed out unequally or when prior agreements are not honored it represents a breach of trust. Based on this, Americans were …
If citizens don’t have the right to know and scientists don’t have the freedom to speak the truth, we are creating societies that are dangerous — for democratic freedom and for biosafety Science is considered science when it is independent, when it has integrity and when it speaks the truth …
Nearly all of the couches tested in a country-wide analysis contained toxic or untested flame retardant chemicals at concerning levels as high as 11 percent of the weight of the foam in the furniture, according to a new study published today in the journal of Environmental Science & Technology. The findings of …
Washington, DC – Without further action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions the world could be as much as 4°C warmer by 2060, threatening the world with devastating food shortages, extreme weather and sea-level rise, according to the World Bank in a new report published today on climate change titled Turn …
Barbara Starr, CNN’s Pentagon reporter (more accurately known as: the Pentagon’s reporter at CNN), has an exciting exclusive today. Exclusively relying upon “three senior officials” in the Obama administration (all anonymous, needless to say), she claims that “two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed US Air Force Predator drone …
Under pressure from its donors Syria’s opposition looks poised to agree to forming a new broad-based Syrian National Initiative after its fractious conference in Doha, Reuters reports. A source inside meetings that lasted into the early hours of Friday morning said members of the Syrian National Council, a group made …
Publicly-owned banks work as intended. Colonial America had them for 25 years. Tax and inflation-free prosperity followed. Money created produced economic growth. It ended when Bank of England scoundrels regained control. Public banks aren’t predatory profiteers. They’re not beholden to Wall Street, shareholders, or greedy corporate executives. They …
A new poll of Israeli Jews by Camil Fuchs and commissioned by the New Israel Fund has alarming findings concerning the deterioration of democratic values in Israel. Yediot graphic juxtaposes Israeli ID with Kach party emblem, a closed fist, for an article on the threat of Jewish fascism Gideon Levy writes in …
“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.”—William Arthur Ward What goes on in America’s schools is essentially identical to what goes on in the Madrassas of the Muslim world. In both, orthodox beliefs are taught as truth and critical examination is discouraged. Two worlds clash in loggerheads. In …
A new study shows slight mercury exposure during pregnancy could be linked to a higher risk of ADHD-related behaviors. This study, led by Susan Korrick, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and Sharon Sagiv, PhD, MPH, of Boston University School of Public Health, is published in the online …
The overwhelming impression from watching the Republican and Democratic conventions is this may be the first national election in which voters are being told by both parties notto ‘vote for’ their candidate but to ‘vote against’ his opponent. The main message of the Republican convention and Romney team is: ‘if …
There are a lot of big issues that you won’t be hearing much about during the closing weeks of the presidential race One of them is the war in Afghanistan. Don’t expect either candidate to offer any fresh ideas – they have none – about how we are going to extricate …
Aside from the rise of concerted trolling (which Barry Ritholtz discusses in a post today), it has been hard not to notice what amounts to an increase in collective pissiness among the NC commentariat. One might ascribe it to a multitude of influences: elevated stress produced by a lousy …
The outburst of anti-Americanism sweeping much of the Arab world was ignited by an off-the-wall film insulting Muhammad, but the underlying outrage is fed by decades of resentment against the U.S. and its ally, Israel. Nothing fueled that anger more than the massacre of what’s estimated to be 800 to 2,000 Palestinians …
The world’s high-income countries are in economic trouble, mostly related to growth and employment, and now their distress is spilling over to developing economies. What factors underlie today’s problems, and how appropriate are the likely policy responses? The first key factor is deleveraging and the resulting shortfall in aggregate demand. …