The word "loophole" is constantly used by politicians and the media to justify situations of extreme injustice or inequality. The word itself has a clear definition, "A loophole is an ambiguity or omission in the text through which the intent of a statute, contract, or obligation may be evaded" but...

In cleaning up my apartment a few weeks ago, I came across a letter that was nearly 20 years old. It was a semi-formal letter, written on official stationary by an eminent scientist.

How did I end up with this letter? The scientist had published a reader-friendly book on...

With Rutgers University's Mike Rice video and subsequent firing now in the news, many are tempted to talk about the special treatment given to sports. This conversation makes me wonder, which special treatment are they talking about?
• Is it the fact that children who show athletic talent receive...

News of Hugo Chavez's death is spreading rapidly. In America, we can anticipate a large collection of articles noting his activities, articles that are nearly all a product of our American/corporate view of the world.

These American articles will be mostly negative, a one-sided portrayal of a complex leader who...

As Americans discuss our system of social supports, we constantly hear the word "entitlements" and rarely the word "rights." Of course, in America the word "entitlements" is not a neutral word. Rather, it is a loaded word, laced with specific attitudes and associations in both the speaker's mouths and listener's...

There seems to be two very separate conversations regarding nuclear technology, one about its use as a power source and another about its use as a weapon. This separation is understandable, after all, people often distinguish between ensuring energy supplies and military goals. Of course, in the real world, military...

Medical science moves in painfully small steps and occasionally huge leaps. Giant jumps such as the polio vaccine, insulin's use to control diabetes and HIV/AIDS treatments are mixed in with the far more frequent introduction of "me-three" drugs and minor tweaks on well-established procedures.

This past week, the FDA approved...

Surveys repeatedly show that Americans are more religious than other developed countries. We are an anomaly compared to other wealthy democracies in our comparatively high rate church/synagogue/mosque attendance. Moreover, America is the only wealthy democracy where there active debates as to whether evolution should be taught in school...

Gerrymandering congressional borders based on party affiliations, race, or some other criterion in order to maximize your support and minimize your opponent's creates congressional district maps that look like a combination of computer-drawn algorithms and children's crayon art. The idea is to pack the other party's voters into fewer districts,...

This weekend I had a brief conversation with a high school friend that went something like this:

Friend: Sure, it was okay for us to walk to school when we were kids but these days it's much too dangerous.

Me: Actually, America, and the world more generally, is much safer...

We don't saddle up the horses to ride into town nor do we use candles as our only source of light in our houses. In fact, can you name a technology that you use regularly that has not been improved in the last two hundred years? No, you probably can't....

There are few greater examples of the irrationality of investors than the world of hedge funds. Hedge fund managers are paid enormous sums, usually 2 percent of the investment amount and 20 percent of profits above a fixed level. As money has poured into these funds over time, hedge fund...

The book Measure of a Nation identifies which countries are leading in areas of health, education, safety, democracy and equality and for those leading countries what are the policies and practices that can be adopted in the US. While the concept sounds straightforward, one of the key concerns...

As I was approaching an airport security checkpoint recently, a funny thing happened. The TSA agent looked at my boarding pass, smiled and invited me to pass through the TSA Pre Check line. This line had only one person in it while the regular security line had at least 20....

Mitt Romney has stated that he is done running for president and there is little reason to doubt him. But as people start tossing around names for 2016, many are placing Paul Ryan at the top of the potential Republican ticket. Their logic is obvious, after all Ryan is young,...

The nation will soon decide who will lead our country for the next four years. No matter who wins, pundits will jump up with explanations of what were the make or break moments of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Hindsight, they say, is 20/20. After Kennedy won the 1960 election, pundits...

For some voters, there is no thinking involved. They are kneejerk voters for one party or another, regardless of the candidates or how disgruntled they might be with their party. Nothing will bring them to vote for the candidate from a different party. Many of them vote exactly the same...

Hiring time is coming! Sorry, it's too late to submit your resume but at least you get to be part of the hiring committee. The two finalists have gone through all of the interview rounds, kissed all the babies, shaken all the hands, memorized all their talking points and are...

Politicians learned long ago that optimism draws people much more than pessimists, regardless of what the facts say. This means that the Romney/Ryan ticket needs to convince Americans that our country was on a positive trajectory before President Obama and we can recover that lost momentum by returning to a...

As the Presidential candidates argue over which group is paying too much in taxes and which one can afford to pay more of "their fair share" a broader perspective should be taken. That broader perspective is the fact that today Americans pay far lower taxes than citizens of nearly any...