The Republican Party has a gay marriage problem that seems intractable, at least in the short term. On one side of the party divide is the Religious Right, which provides money and manpower to help get candidates elected. They effectively use primaries to position themselves as gatekeepers, using fear and [...]

Almost all knowledgeable observers of the American health care system are concerned about the decreasing numbers of our Medical School graduates who have chosen to enter primary care practice in the past two decades. There is a considerable amount of data that a health care system weak in primary care, [...]

When peak oil first came to widespread public attention some 10 or 15 years ago, there was some debate about whether peak oil was the solution to climate change caused by carbon emissions. After all, if we are forced by geology and economics to burn decreasing amounts of oil, won’t [...]

One will be born. One will live. One will die. These three basic certainties bind us all in the same race to the finish line. There are other certainties we learn over time. In general, one must work hard to achieve something great. One must avoid jail by murdering another. [...]

The extremely stupid but likely so-called “sequestration” will apparently become the best that Congress can do next week, and despite devolution of the process into a “blame game,” there is little doubt who, in the eyes of anyone paying attention, is responsible. Once again, this travesty owes to the continued [...]

I wouldn’t be surprised if schoolchildren across America thought the word “gay” is a synonym for “old,” because every time a professional athlete comes out of the closet he promptly retires. The latest competitor to come out, and then promptly get out, is Robbie Rogers, a 25-year-old who plays for [...]

I wake up, barely, and sloth my way through the apartment. I make a cup of coffee, check my phone for any late-night emails, texts, or breaking news. I finally open my email to find an endless amount of work messages, in addition to spam advertising Valentine’s Day flower arrangements, [...]

Tuesday night, President Obama delivered his fifth annual State of the Union address. I strongly support most of the proposals in his address, including the President’s determination to end the war in Afghanistan by 2014, his commitment to increasing the federal minimum wage, and proposal to provide high quality early [...]

In 1984, I was placed on the varsity basketball team as a high school sophomore – a team that held a daily Evangelical Christian prayer after practice. Even though it was a public school, we were forced to gather in a circle near center court and offer pleas to God [...]

The single most influential point made by President Obama in his historically-memorable State of the Union address Tuesday came right at the end, summing up the intent and spirit of the entire speech. As he also did in his Second Inaugural Address three weeks before, he challenged the American people [...]