Watching Out for Our Water

Water is at risk in the United States and around the world. Its quality and availability is in peril. Today, nearly one in eight people lack access to adequate supplies of safe drinking water. Globally, water-borne diseases kill more people than tuberculosis or...

Tap Water’s Budget Bottleneck

Washington is humming with debate about how to trim the debt without stunting our economic recovery. Yet somehow, with all the recent rancor over spending cuts, pundits and politicians have largely overlooked one of our most essential public services–supplying...
Civil War and the Safety Net

Civil War and the Safety Net

With this year marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, get ready for grand pontificating on its meaning for whites, African-Americans, the nation, and the world. Here’s what it meant for my family. My great-grandfather Albert Cordner was a private in the...

Modern Mad Men, Targeting Our Kids

The television series Mad Men, set in the early 1960s, shocks young parents today with scenes of children riding in station wagons without seat belts and putting dry cleaning bags over their heads for fun. Thank goodness we know so much more about keeping our kids...