As natural gas exploration expands throughout our energy starved nation - from the West and now into the South and Northeast - many folks living in drilling country are rightfully expressing concern that their groundwater may be susceptible to pollution from the fracking fluids that are central to drilling...
Melanie Nayer | Posted July 29, 2010 | Travel
When the boat docked on Necker Island, I knew I had landed in the lap of luxury. The private island in the middle of the Caribbean, complete with its own restaurants, infinity pools, tree houses, boats, water-sports equipment, a full staff and on-site landscape artists is a dream for most...
Greg Mitchell | Posted July 29, 2010 | Politics
The Time magazine's cover story this week arrives with a graphic cover image next to the title, "What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan." It shows an Afghan teen named Aisha whose nose and ears had been sliced off by the Taliban.
Inside, editor Rick Stengel explains that he...
Wendy Schmidt | Posted July 29, 2010 | Technology
Today's announcement of the newest X PRIZE Foundation competition comes at a time when Americans are dismayed and frustrated by the messy, uncoordinated clean up operations in the Gulf. Every day, it seems, we witness the needless destruction of nature and of people's livelihoods, without any confidence that the harm...
Eric Alterman | Posted July 29, 2010 | Media
Republicans earlier this week succeeded in their effort to filibuster the Disclose Act, which would have required corporations and unions that produced political campaign ads to disclose their involvement. The bill passed easily in the House of Representatives, but progressives in the Senate could muster only 57 members. The 40...
Josh Shahryar | Posted July 29, 2010 | Politics
As the American public continues to get weary of the Afghan War, and every day brings a new depressing development, our hearts -- the hearts of us Afghans -- are broken ever so slightly. There are daily more deaths, more schools demolished, more suicide bombers and more government corruption. Then,...
Nick Nyhart | Posted July 29, 2010 | Politics
We've just learned that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) won't be facing the ethics committee for trial, though that doesn't mean Republicans will stop attacking him as a sign of Democratic corruption.
But to say that Rangel is the only one mixed up in the unsavory combination of...
Tonya Plank | Posted July 29, 2010 | Entertainment
Well, almost! Really hoping that whatever happened to Lauren that required her to see a medic at the end of last night's show is not serious. I'm beginning to feel like I'm jinxing people! Whoever I end up favoring as a possible winner gets hurt...
Anyway, onto last night's...
Karen Benke | Posted July 29, 2010 | Books
I attended my friend David's fiftieth birthday last week. The party was at a fancy Persian restaurant. At the table where I was seated were two lawyers, two doctors, a website designer, and a financial analyst. When the financial analyst asked me what I do, I smiled and told her...
Gloria Flora | Posted July 29, 2010 | Denver
The ongoing oil-induced catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico shows what can go wrong when measures to prevent accidents are absent or ignored -- and when there is lack of responsible and essential oversight of oil and gas activity.
As an employee at the Forest Service for 22 years,...
Gadi Ben-Yehuda | Posted July 29, 2010 | Politics
The Center for American Progress (CAP) found that millennials, defined as Americans between the ages of 18 and 32, have far greater faith in and expectations of government than their older compatriots. This proved true regardless of political affiliation or ideological bent.
Two graphs from the report, "
Adam Elkus | Posted July 29, 2010 | World
While WikiLeaks' release of the Afghanistan "War Logs" may be controversial, its significance in information strategy isn't difficult to understand. Advocacy groups like WikiLeaks and intelligence organizations need secret information to pursue their goals. Any piece of information is accessible if the seeker has resources, talent, luck, and risk tolerance....
Riva Greenberg | Posted July 29, 2010 | Living
Education has fallen so low as a health priority that it's barely noticed when the lack of it causes devastating consequences, including death. What are health insurance companies thinking when they cover the cost of life-saving health equipment and deny the cost of learning how to use it?
My...
Cecile Richards | Posted July 29, 2010 | Politics
The sun is blazing at the Jersey shore this month, but no one is feeling the heat more than women in the Garden State. Late last week, Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill passed by the legislature to restore $7.5 million in funding for state family planning services....
by Annie Shields, Media Consortium blogger
Yesterday, 9th Circuit Judge Susan Bolton struck down many of the most controversial provisions in Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, including the section requiring police to ask anyone they suspect of being undocumented for proof of citizenship. It's a small victory. Today, a modified version...
Scott M. Helfrich | Posted July 29, 2010 | College
Recently there has been much discussion related to budget cuts, accountability, and what institutions of higher education need to learn for the future in order to survive and thrive. These are very critical and timely questions, given the current status of the economy, and its impact upon institutions of higher...
Despite the ongoing labor battles, it is a minor upset that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady do not have contract extensions by now as camps begin. At the moment, both will become free agents in a matter of months. And, of course, they would be the biggest free agents in...
ARTINFO | Posted July 29, 2010 | Arts
Every Thursday, ARTINFO reviews the carnage and glory of the previous night's episode of Bravo's art-world reality show Work of Art. (Be sure to visit ARTINFO each Friday for an interview with the participant(s) voted off the show.)
Tony Schwartz | Posted July 29, 2010 | Business
In psychology, the term "identified patient" refers to a family member -- often a child or a teenager -- who acts out and then gets scapegoated for behavior that's really just a predictable response to the stress of dealing with a dysfunctional family.
Tony Hayward, now the former CEO...
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David Sirota | Posted July 29, 2010 | Politics