On Monday, Columbia University announced the 2014 recipients of the Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s most prestigious honor. Chris Hamby of The Center for Public Integrity – a Washington, DC-based non-profit – was awarded a Pulitzer for his report, Breathless and Burdened, on “how some lawyers and doctors rigged a system to deny benefits to coal miners stricken with black lung disease, resulting...

On Monday April 14, it was announced that the Washington Post and Britain’s Guardian newspapers shared the 2014 Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s highest award, in the area of public service for their reporting on the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program. However, the documents supplied to both the Post and Guardian were leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Last June,...

At the time of his retirement in 2010, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court John Paul Stevens was the oldest Justice then serving and the second-oldest serving in the history of the Court. This excerpt, from his latest book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution first appearing in The Washington Post (Apr. 11), offers both clarity and context...

It was the authority of an Ohio minister who first brought the power of positive thinking to the national stage. Norman Vincent Peale’s landmark book, The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952, remained on The New York Times bestseller list for a staggering 186 consecutive weeks. While much of the philosophy lacked named sources and direct evidence, Peale claimed his work was...

If confession is good for the soul – as all good Catholics avow – what about the Pope and his “staff”? Journalist and peace advocate Colman McCarthy always demonstrates a wise and clear-headed way of looking at issues. McCarthy is a latter-day Socrates always questioning the status quo to get at the truth. “The greatest way to live with honor...

Two headlines; two very different perspectives. The Wall Street Journal:“High Court Ends Limit on Donations” The New York Times:“Supreme Cour Strikes Down Political Donation Cap” In a decision that builds on the 2010 Citizens United case, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 decision on Wednesday, ruled that placing limits on the total amount of money individuals can donate to political candidates,...

What happens to a whistleblower after they blow the whistle? Are they considered heroes or villains? Do their actions inspire others, or are the personal risks too great? Those are some of the questions that are explored in a podcast(Mar. 11), by Julia Taylor Kennedy for the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Taylor Kennedy begins her conversation by talking to...

Hold on folks, we’re about to enter The Corporate Zone – that bizzaro world where upholding the law and common sense go to die. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, corporations are not only people entitled to as much free speech as money can buy, but may soon be able to claim that their religious beliefs can determine what...

Confession: I once cheated, big time, on a college Astronomy test, but I had several good reasons. 1. The text was over-the-top incomprehensible. 2. The teacher was over-the-top boring. 3. The class was held at 7:00 in the morning! (Mornings are notmy best time.) Fortunately, I had a friend who was “over-the-top” crazy about astronomy. So,  » Read more about: Cheating  »...

When it comes to privacy and your personal information, the NSA is not the organization we need to worry about the most, data brokers are. As I discussed on Monday, data brokers are busy compiling detailed profiles not only of your likes and dislikes, but considerably more personal information than the NSA, including but not limited to, any diseases you...