During the 2012 national elections, it is well known by all the world that Barack Obama handily won a second term in office. And it is pretty well known that the Democrats retained control of the United States Senate, while the Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives. What most people probably have not…
On the evening of March 13, 2013, a narrow column of white smoke rose from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel, in Vatican City. The College of Cardinals had just chosen one of their own—a Jesuit from Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio—to become Pope Francis, the first Catholic leader to adopt the name of the…
There is a new bicameral Carbon Fee coalition in the House and Senate. The coalition is led by Rep. Waxman, Sen. Whitehouse, Rep. Blumenauer, Sen. Schatz & their respective staff, and they are asking for public comment. Here are the four questions upon which the legislators are seeking particular guidance: What is the appropriate price…
The NOW Labz project is a collaboration between the HotSpring Network, Quipu.cc, and partners, aimed at bringing thoughtful people together to brainstorm solutions to big problems. Quipu.cc will be hosting a NOW Labz series of cyberdialogues, timed to coincide with the Commission on the Status of Women, to discuss women’s rights, gender rights, childhood equality…
Austerity means more than reducing budgets or trimming around the edges; it means making services that are standard scarce and directly impacting citizens’ quality of life. And at 11:59 pm Friday, March 1, 2013, austerity came to the United States. The legislation requiring budget sequestration will force 9% cuts to every project of every office…
In the first State of the Union address of his second term as president of the United States, Barack Obama outlined an ambitious agenda, to reform economic and social policy, education, immigration, energy, gun control laws, and laws governing gender equality. He laid down the most direct and explicit challenge to lawmakers on climate policy,…
The year is 2013. The world did not come to an end in the last month of 2012, as so many had feared. Cynicism and existential terror have not won the future. It is Martin Luther King Day, three weeks to the day after the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation—which declared in the gravest…
