Patching Up the Democrats
Forty years ago two good Democrats divided the Democratic Party. Supporters of each candidate lost perspective and the resulting tensions hurt the party. But this year, unlike 1968, Democrats have a chance at reconciliation.
The New Look of School Integration
A bad Supreme Court decision overturning race-based integration programs in Louisville, KY, and Seattle, WA, has produced a positive result. A new initiative in Louisville does something even better for children — it integrates them by class.
Curing the Developing World’s Water Woes
Online Extra: We have an unprecedented opportunity to prioritize safe drinking water and sanitation investments.
Water Technologies Somewhat to the Rescue
Online Extra: Often, in the water world, large changes can be made with simple, no-cost policy decisions.
Grabbing the River Jordan
Online Extra: The World’s First Water War.
Water and Climate Change: Perfect Storm in Sight
Online Extra: The reality of drought will require tremendous resilience in adapting to the untoward impacts.
Suprising Progress in Teeming Manila
Online Extra: Many poor residents benefit from a creative enterprise between a family company and the government’s water agency.
Contempt for Karl Rove?
As Karl Rove is subpoenaed to testify before Congress, the White House fights a congressional law suit aimed at forcing the testimony of administration officials.
The Logic of the Low Road
Americans have become unfortunately used to gutter politics. What are the chances McCain and Obama will be able to transcend our institutionalized, sordid political traditions?
The Trade Debate We Need
Much of America’s economic elite continues to promote an absurdly simplistic theoretical case for the necessity of “free trade.” But, as more thoughtful globalizers are starting to admit, the reality is much more complicated.
Battle of the Budget Slideshows
Budget hawks are trying to convince the public that we face an unavoidable choice between cutting social programs and budgetary Armageddon. But in reality, our budgetary problems stem from our out-of-control health care system.
Pedal Pusher
As gas prices rise and congestion worsens, cities and commuters alike are starting to embrace bicycles.
Modern Pressures on a Prized Ecosystem
Claustrophobes beware — every October or November, millions of Cambodians jam into their capital city, Phnom Penh, for a riotous three-day water festival, clogging the riverside boulevard that runs in front of the royal palace. Although Bon Om Touk is much beloved for providing opportunities to watch boat races, slurp fertilized duck eggs, and indulge…
The Missing Piece: A Water Ethic
Now for the million-dollar questions: Why has so much of modern water management gone awry? Why is it that ever greater amounts of money and ever more sophisticated engineering have not solved the world’s water problems? Why, in so many places on this planet, are rivers drying up, lakes shrinking, and water tables falling? The…
Changing Water Policies in the Dry Southwest
Water is taught by thirst. — Emily Dickinson Most of us in this country haven’t had to think about water very much. We turn on the tap, and out it comes, clean and cheap. What more do we need to know? Or so we thought. Then last year there was an unusual convergence of events…
The Perils of Privatization
If adequate water for drinking and sanitation is essential for life, shouldn’t we consider water a human right? Not everyone thinks so. In February, the United Nations Human Rights Council missed a critical opportunity to recognize a human right to water. As a result of lobbying by the United States and Canada, the council derailed…
Water Wisdom
Recently I visited water expert Peter Gleick at the Oakland, California, headquarters of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, where he is president and co-founder. A MacArthur Fellowship award winner for his work on water issues, Dr. Gleick has been a practitioner in the field for some 20 years. His institute’s…
The Backlash Against Bottled Water
The worldwide demand for water is doubling every 20 years. By 2025, two-thirds of all people may be facing severe water shortages. Concurrently, the bottled-water market has been exploding in North America. Today, close to one-fifth of the population relies exclusively on bottled water for its daily hydration. In the past decade, North American sales…
Facing Up to Freshwater Pollution
The state of freshwater in the United States resembles A Tale of Two Cities. It is the best of times in that, in the latter portion of the 20th century, we reversed the general disregard for water bodies. Our nation rallied in the face of flammable rivers, water bodies used as dumps for industrial waste…
Where Has All the Water Gone?
From our June special report: The world’s water crisis poses grave threats to our survival. Can we change course?
You May Say I’m a Dreamer
Two men of the ’60s considered: Charles Halpern, who helped create public-interest law, and Tony Mazzocchi, who helped create occupational health and safety standards.
The Real Third Way
Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein argue that by structuring our choices, government can save us from bad economic and social decisions.
Close of an Era
Several new books on the rise and fall of conservatism look at the secrets of the movement’s decades-old success — and modern-day failures.
This Old Medium
The new museum of journalism only serves to highlight how the industry has failed to fully adapt to the digital age.
The Officers’ War
The case of Iraq War opponent Lt. Ehren Watada reveals the toll the war has taken on career military personnel. Though his refusal to serve in Iraq is unusual, his disenchantment with the war is not.
How Big Government Got Its Groove Back
The New Democrats’ intellectual architect argues that today’s economy requires an expanded role for government and a commitment to ensuring economic growth benefits everyone.
Offshoring Silicon Valley
American computer software engineers go the way of factory workers.
Can Identity Politics Save the Right?
In response to their standing in the polls, the GOP is falling back on identity politics, branding itself as the party of “Real Americans.” How far can this take them?
