The last few weeks were quite dramatic for American judicial system. We were told that the Constitution forbids an absolute ban on an individual owning a gun. We saw that the death penalty cannot be applied to individuals guilty of raping a child. And we learned that there continue to...

People throw around the word "brand" without having a precise understanding of its meaning, and maybe that's because every business book gives you a slightly different definition.

Here's one definition:
A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, organization, product or service.

Twenty-seven words. That's the full text of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It reads:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

The Supreme Court's decision this morning in Kennedy v. Louisiana to ban use of the death penalty in cases of child rape is consistent with its historical position on the issue (as part of the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment").

Since its 1977 ruling in Coker...

My Dad turned 70 a few weeks ago. It was the first time I realized that one day he won't be around.

I have many grown male friends, and I am one of the lucky ones. A number of my friends have lost their dads. And of...

I voted for Hillary Clinton in the California primary because I buy the argument that experience counts, even if that experience only amounts to being at the table to listen to the conversations. Senator Clinton is clearly a smart lady, and I have no doubt she learned a lot in...

Pat Robertson announced his support for Rudy Giuliani's presidential candidacy. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about this one endorsement ... other than the fact that Robertson seems to have spent his entire life arguing against Giuliani's position on abortion and gay marriage.

Robertson indicated that these disagreements pale in comparison...

Under the category of strange bedfellows, could the alliance of evangelicals and environmentalists change the world?

In the world of politics, odd couples are no strange phenomenon. When Congress discussed a national I.D. card, the ACLU and NRA found themselves on the same side of privacy concerns. The death penalty,...

It's always heartwarming to hear politicians whine about the other guys acting unfairly. It reminds me that there is some ultimate justice, karma, or whatever you want to call it in the world.

Today's whine happens to be around the fact that the House Democrats have scheduled a vote on...

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama ... where God is in the classroom.

The Alabama Board of Education just voted to approve a specific textbook for the classroom. The book, The Bible and It's Influence, is published by the Bible Literacy Project, a non-profit organization whose mission is "to encourage...

With the White House within reach, what's a few numbers?

Last Friday, the Senate intelligence committee voted to provide retroactive immunity for telecoms, a measure which will likely pass the Senate in coming weeks. As a consequence these companies will be immune from civil suits brought by individuals whose personal...

Eleven-year-olds shouldn't be having sex.

A middle school in Maine is handing out condoms. Middle school children are as young as 11 years old. Is it just me, or is 11 just a tad shy of an appropriate age for intercourse? I don't think I had...

Time's cover article entitled, "Does the Supreme Court Matter?" seems to want to marginalize the role of the Court in contemporary society. The conclusion is that the Court's hot-button decisions (e.g. abortion, affirmative action, etc) affect fewer and fewer people, while the rest of the decisions are merely hyper-technical distinctions...

I've got a little (state) secret to tell you.

Unless you're a total ignoramus, you must be aware that the Founding Fathers believed in creating a government that was permitted to keep secrets from its citizenry. I mean, come on, what could be more in line with the principles of...

Clinton's cackle was a prominent media story the past few days, sharing screen time with the equally important story of Britney losing custody.

In case anyone noticed, the Supreme Court opened its new term yesterday with several important issues on the docket.

Given that event, I was wondering if...

******** Two Justices Added to Supreme Court********

Congress Trades Unlimited War Funding for Two New Justices

Washington, D.C.-- Over the weekend, Congressional leaders and the White House convened a secret meeting that may change the course of history. In exchange for unconditional support for the war in Iraq, the...

Is it just me, or has the media recently become homo-centric? In just the last ten days, we've learned the following:

1. Hillary Clinton is not a lesbian.

2. Iran doesn't even have gay people.

3. If Iran does have gay people, the government kills them.

4....

Columbia University president Lee Bollinger invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the World Leader's Forum yesterday. In a decision that was criticized (see here and here, he defended the decision based on First Amendment grounds stating, "It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that...

Did the United States expressly authorize the use of deadly force in its security contracts?

You would think that killing eight civilians in a foreign country would get you in a bit of trouble. I'm referring, of course, to Blackwater USA losing its license to provide security in Iraq based...

Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said yesterday that Osama bin Laden should get "due process of law." Later in the day he indicated that bin Laden should be "caught and killed." Neither of these statements is particularly surprising in and of themselves, but taken together they don't seem to...