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Tea Party leaders in the House have dramatically stepped up their assault on America’s environmental and public health safeguards. Last week alone they used about 50 floor votes and more than 30 policy riders on spending bills to undermine the protections that keep our air safe, our water clean, and our public lands intact.
Another barrage of anti-environment bills is on its way. The upcoming debate in the full House on funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department will likely feature votes on even more policy riders designed to prevent the government from upholding basic environmental

When I first arrived here in Japan in 1971, many traditional skills and crafts had already been lost. It seemed that most Japanese simply did not appreciate the genius of their own culture. Over time, however, I have been watching a gradual turnaround in awareness. One person who not only has been watching Japan longer than me, but has actually been participating in the turnaround is Amy Katoh, a cultural explorer in Tokyo since her arrival in the

We cannot see the truth without love. Discovering the truth is not a neutral enterprise. It requires a dedication that ultimately derives from love, a love of the truth, a passion for the truth. And the fount of all love is God’s

So far, the campaign by aspirants for the Republican nomination has generated more heat than light as concerns the United States’ foreign relations. There are three principal reasons why the torrent of words has conveyed so little about their thinking.
First, they share an aversion to staking out specific positions in the belief that doing so carries the risk of being targeted by critics within and outside the party. Failure on the part of the media to press them makes this strategy politically

One of the most deeply imbedded ideas in our political culture is the notion that the public supports harsh drug laws and will punish politicians who deviate from the tough-on-drugs script. Unfortunately, that’s precisely why a lot of good ideas never make it out of the conference room. It goes something like this:
One could hardly begin to imagine how many times this exact exchange has taken place in political circles, but what makes this story unique is that Sen. Tallian understood something her colleagues did not:
In so many ways, all it takes to move this issue forward is a willingness to ignore the people who don’t know how to have a serious conversation about

Why did June’s unemployment report look so bad — a net 18,000 nonfarm payroll jobs created, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics? Well it looks like the BLS got it wrong this time. And understanding why may help to understand some of the pervading pessimism that is hurting economic growth — both for consumers and employers. The U.S. economy has become too complex to be understood by one set of statistics — such as the monthly jobs

I struggled with the decision to write a response to Herman Cain’s recent appearance on Fox News Sunday in which he declared that local communities across the U.S. have the right to ban the construction of mosques. His statements were so ludicrous, so bigoted and so fundamentally at odds with contemporary understandings and applications of the First Amendment that, on one level, they hardly merit a response. But I also recognize that Islamophobia is a growing problem in the

Grover Norquist is everywhere. In recent weeks, the head honcho at Americans for Tax Reform has been profiled, lauded, or excoriated by a slew of media outlets. I was interviewed earlier this week for a piece on NPR, and a quick search turns up recent items at CNN, The Week, the Washington Post, and the New York Review of Books, among others. The guy is really on a tear.
During the NPR interview, I was asked if I could think of a left-leaning counterpart to

By Josh Israel and Aaron Mehta, iWatch News 7:45 pm, July 18, 2011As the phone hacking scandal grows around Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, disclosure records show that the company spent over $1.5 million on federal lobbying in the first three months of this year — including lobbying on issues of digital privacy. Disclosure forms filed with the Senate Office of Public Records show that News Corp’s American arm, News America Inc., employed seven in-house lobbyists supplemented by six outside lobbying firms hired by the company. The lobbyists worked on an array of issues relevant to broadcast television, but also crossed into issues of free trade, defense spending, and increasing the debt ceiling.
FBI investigation may make Murdoch political beneficiaries skittish By Josh Israel July 13, 2011 The growing controversy about alleged illegal hacking by employees of News Corp. has laid bare the company’s broad influence on British politics writ

The constitutional response:
One of the most precious rights guaranteed by the Constitution is included in the Fifth Amendment: “nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”
This protection against double jeopardy begins the moment that a jury is chosen and sworn in. The key question in the case of Roger Clemens is when the protection stops (though this isn’t the first time baseball and the constitution have crossed paths).
And the answer is: It depends.
The right clearly applies after a jury has reached a not-guilty verdict. But the extent of protection is less clear when a trial is ended before a jury reaches a verdict. If a jury is deadlocked and cannot reach a verdict, a mistrial is declared and a new trial usually is allowed.
Another kind of mistrial, declared in Clemens’ case, came with the ruling by Judge Walton to stop the trial on the second day of

For what it’s worth, here’s one forecast from 2011q2 to 2013q1, by the estimable Mark Zandi and the Moody’s Economy.com team. Like most forecasts right now, it shows slow improvements in GDP, jobs, and unemployment, though the latter glides down slowly to about 8% at the end of the forecast.
Source: Moody’s Economy.com, Mark Zandi
Zandi writes:
Most forecasts expect this type of pattern because once the “corrections” (e.g., high debt levels) or headwinds (e.g., high gas prices) dissipate, the models assume the natural growth cycle takes over. Investors respond to low interest rates, there’s more economic activity (consuming, building, investing), job growth picks up, and you’re off and running into an expansion.
And, in fact, this forecast has employers generating around 300,000 jobs per month by 2013, a decent pace that would put faster downward pressure on the jobless rate, so that’s the number to watch.
The problem is that so far, the expansion has been jammed by all the factors mentioned here.
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The economic forces that pummeled every American newspaper from the New York Times to the San Francisco Chronicle have barely disturbed Rupert Murdoch’s media properties. The Wall Street Journal, for one, has not only weathered the storm that decimated competitors’ newsrooms, but it has added editorial staff, news features and online resources.
This considerable achievement, however, did nothing to insulate News Corp from the firestorm of scandal involving its tabloid newspapers in Great Britain. A besieged Murdoch has had to shutter the News of the World in London, cancel a strategic satellite-TV acquisition, jettison long-time News Corp editors and executives by the masthead, and hunker down with his high-powered lawyers to map out strategy for saving his company… and himself.
As this story unfolds, one should bear in mind that this is a media feeding frenzy of a media feeding

Reflexively blasting President Obama over his appointment of anyone* other than Elizabeth Warren to run the CFPB was a well-intentioned friend’s reaction. It feels off the mark. Very far off, in fact. Our reply was this:

*–The President’s choice, Richard Cordray, is unlikely to be an industry

By guest blogger Mao Shing Ni, DOM, PhD, ABAAHP, Lac; doctor of Chinese medicine, antiaging specialist, and author of Secrets of Longevity: Hundreds of Ways to Live to Be 100 (Chronicle Books, 2006)
When so much is uncertain in the world around us, it is natural for our anxieties to rise and for our emotions to fluctuate. But when you let your emotions run wild, the imbalance can spell trouble for your long-term health.
The Chinese healing tradition groups emotions into five predominant states: joy, rumination (including worry), sadness, fear, and anger. Experiencing these emotions is a normal part of life, and you usually shift naturally from one to the next in reaction to events that pop up in your day. However, when one single emotion dominates, it brings your entire body out of balance and can produce

One of the reasons the United States’ economy did so well in the last half of the 20th century is that we ignored ideology in favor of pragmatism. Since ideology gave us first fascism and then communism, and World War II followed by Korea, the Cold War and Vietnam, perhaps ideology just had a bad name.
In the first decade-plus of the 21st century, that is no longer true. Ideology has again become

Photo: The “fab five” of Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, as profiled on “60 Minutes” — Bob Petrella, Brad Williams, Rick Baron, Marilu Henner, Louise Owen.
According to Wikipedia, notable people who have died on July 15 through the years include John Lennon’s mother, Julia (1958), actor and game-show host Bert Convy (1991), and fashion designer Gianni Versace (1997).
Someone should add Rick Baron to that list, following his passing this past Friday at the age of 53.
It would be fitting, because Rick was exceptionally good at recalling when people

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder that typically afflicts people over 50 and is more common in men than women. Its most striking symptoms include tremor (in the hands, legs, jaw and face), stiffness, slowness and problems with balance and coordination. Parkinson’s is chronic and progressive, usually starting with a subtle tremor but often progressing in a downward slide, resulting in difficulties with basic functions such as walking, talking and the physical actions of eating (swallowing and chewing). A minority of cases run in families, but most do

Depression affects more than 6.5 million (or 18 percent) of the 35 million Americans aged 65 years or older.1 Most people in this age group who experience depression have battled the condition on and off throughout their lives, but for others, even those in their 80s and 90s, it may be their first bout of the disease. The risk of depression in the elderly rises with a person’s age, with the prevalence of other illnesses and as their ability to function decreases. The rate of depression among elderly people with a level of functional disability that requires home health care is 14 percent (the rate among nursing home residents is 22 percent).2
Unfortunately, much of the depression in the elderly goes unrecognized, and therefore untreated, by medical professionals. Even family caregivers who are intimately involved in care often mistake depression as an expected response to the loss, illness or difficult life changes the elderly often

When Rick Perry told the Des Moines Register he felt “called” to run for president, he wasn’t exactly the first Texan to claim a landline to god. George Bush famously related to Mahmoud Abbas that god had told him to invade Iraq and that if Abbas didn’t act quickly on a peace plan for the Palestinians god might give Bush other jobs. When it comes to sorting through presidential timber, god’s judgment appears to show some weaknesses. Whether she likes it or not, the Christian god is getting credit for a lot of weird things down here in the Lone Star

Why don’t we begin with a premise: that life is an evolutionary journey, and humankind is on an evolutionary path. Yet let us not get into a Darwinian frame of mind; instead, we can try to be open to some alternative thinking on this issue. Further, let us say that this journey toward more evolved forms of intellect, understanding and creativity requires capacities that lie latent within our very selves. Like many others before me, I will label this form of evolution as “conscious evolution.” And to accept conscious evolution suggests we also accept that individually and collectively we have a responsibility toward our

It’s baaaack! This week, Congress will vote, yet again, on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
A two-thirds majority in each house of Congress is required to amend the Constitution. Since 1980, Congress has voted on a balanced budget amendment five times. The closest it has come to passage was in 1995, when it passed the House of Representatives but failed to pass the Senate by one vote.
The American public has long supported a balanced budget amendment. Why? It’s common

The doors will soon unlock, but let’s still proceed with caution. As I always say, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
With core issues resolved, this is the time for horse-trading of what’s left on the table, meaning an opportunity for concessions to be made and an opportunity for emotions to run high yet again.
Some of the issues still in play as we near the finish line are:
Resolution of Brady v. NFL</em: When the Eighth Circuit allowed the NFL lockout to continue indefinitely, that was the death knell for any strategy to keep this lawsuit pending through the time it takes to proceed to trial. While Players have a strong case, the court calendar is their nemesis.
Resolution of television lockout funding case: Judge Doty has not made an award about the Owners' brazen lockout funding at the expense of maximizing television

Fashion should make life more beautiful, it’s (or more specifically ITS is) all about nurturing dreams and creating beautiful fantasies. The United Nations has Geneva, while fashion, and its international creatives, last weekend all converged on Trieste, the Italian seaside port on the border of Slovenia, for the finale of ITS# TEN, the International Student Fashion Competition.
While Graduate Fashion Weeks showcase the achievements of their own, this incredible fashion competition had reached a milestone decade of dream searching and making. Over the past ten years, founder Barbara Franchin and the EVE Agency have dedicated themselves to visiting over 880 schools in over 70 countries, sifting through 7,500 applicants from 80 nations and has with her team and an industry invited jury selected 344

Takashi Murakami’s latest group of paintings explores his complex ambivalence to the legacy of cosmopolitan painter Kuroda Seiki, who brought Western-style painting to Meiji-period Japan. Kuroda broadly promoted the genre of history painting, as well as the validity of the nude figure as a subject for art. Taking Kuroda’s famous triptych, Wisdom, Impression, Sentiment (c.1900), Murakami consciously reclaims it in a new iteration by applying traditional nihonga techniques, as well as recasting the realistically rendered nude figures in contemporary manga style.
In Murakami’s paintings such as Shunga: Gibbons and Shunga: Bow Wow, graphic depictions of exaggerated and engorged male and female genitals are set against delirious backgrounds of image and pattern. The Shunga theme continues into life-size sculptures, such as Nurse Ko2, a leggy, busty verticality figure with a sexy uniform, or 3-Meter Girl, an absurdist composition that pushes form and content to