In the spring of 1837, a “long, gawky, ugly, shapeless man” walked into Joshua Speed’s dry goods store in Springfield, Illinois, requesting supplies for a bed. Speed said the cost…
On Friday night, U.S. District Judge James Robart of Washington state blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban. In the hearing, Robart said, Immediately following the ruling, the Department of Homeland…
Freshly planted flowers surrounded the Baghdad Women’s centre, one of nine US-funded centers built across the city in 2004 that aimed to promote women’s rights in Iraq’s nascent democracy. I was…
Demotix/Jacob Simkin. All rights reserved.With the advent of the Syrian uprising in 2011, the monopoly over political truth-telling shifted away from the established dissident man of letters, whose voice remained…
President Donald Trump recently pledged to “destroy” the Johnson Amendment, a 63-year-old law that bans charities from engaging in political activities. As Trump said this at the National Prayer Breakfast,…
Poppy cultivation in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein. All rights reserved. In April 2016, the international community will convene for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on…
A recent study by Pew Research found that Democrats with a solid background in science are more likely to correctly believe that humans are causing climate change. But Republicans tend…
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2004 poses for pictures with soldiers, marines and airman outside the Abu Ghraib Detention Center, in Iraq. Wikicommons/ US Air force. Some rights…
“I call you Saint Richard. Because that’s who you are.” It’s four in the morning—modern life’s most vulnerable hour—when a semi-depressed 14-year-old with light insomnia catches the beginning of an infomercial…
The Disarmament Sculpture outside the UN building, New York. Luke Redmond/Flickr. Some rights reserved.To the vast majority of people 'disarmament' may sound like an ancient practice that Cold War rivals…
It may be hard to believe, but we’re only 75 days into Donald Trump’s presidency. That means there are 1,385 days left in his first term—and any scenario that suggests otherwise…
Due Process of Law Foundation/Jaume Escarta. All rights reserved. After World War II, a paradigm of States’ promotion of social welfare was predominant in several western governments, including those…