Rights and Democracy
Bossy Is Bossy, Leadership Is Something Else
For someone who doesn't like the word "Bossy," Sheryl Sandberg sure likes to tell us what to do. "Lean in," "You can't have balance," "Get someone else to do your laundry for you." I'm not saying bossy's a good word. It can be used to paint girls as shrill. But it...
A Silver Anniversary for the World Wide Web
Exactly 25 years ago, the British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee conceptually "invented" the World Wide Web — and set in motion a process that would rapidly make the online world an essential part of our daily lives. By 1995, 14 percent of Americans were surfing...
Caught in the Act
Medical science has long known that the optic nerve runs from the retina of our eyeballs to the visual cortex of our brains, letting us see what's going on around us. Don't look now, but another "optic nerve" has evolved. Rather than running to our brains, however,...
Why You Should Fear Big Bad Cable
Twenty-five years ago this month, Sir Tim Berners-Lee introduced an open protocol for sharing information that gave everyday Internet users the power over what they created and whom they connected with online. His concept quickly evolved into the World Wide Web. One...
Exporting Extremism
In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill that would have written anti-gay discrimination into state law in the name of religious freedom. In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni signed an even more extremist law that sentences LGBT people to life in prison and...
Ted Nugent Falls off His Rocker
Ted Nugent, the old rocker from the Seventies, is now just plain old. And off his rocker. A political novelty act for the far right and a front man for the National Rifle Association, Nugent regularly spews venomous, vulgar, race-laced, abusive hate speech about...
Lobbying for Tollbooths and Speed Bumps on Our Information Superhighway
Back in the infancy of the Internet Age, our hippest policy wonks orated endlessly about the emerging “information superhighway.” But that mouthful of a moniker would soon fall out of fashion. Anyone today who talks about the “information superhighway” comes across as...
Arizona Swims against the Tide of Growing Equality
The choice for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was clear: “religious freedom” or the 2015 Super Bowl. Just when it looked as if social conservatives would force the state into taking a giant leap backward in the fight for LGBT equality, Brewer vetoed a blatantly anti-gay...
Crossing a Fine Line
Olympic ski champion Bode Miller's impressive bronze showing in the men's super-G was overshadowed by the interview with him afterward. The race was an historic one for the 36-year-old skier, who became the oldest Alpine medalist in the history of the Olympics. But...
The Senator from Oz Fights Crazy with Crazy
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy assessed the odd things she was experiencing and said to her little dog, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Lately, Sen. Pat Roberts has gained a new understanding of what Dorothy meant. The Kansas Republican has been in...
