All Commentary
OpinionGregg Williams audio and Saints bounty program test my football faithFootball for me has always been a kind of faith. But now the audio of former New Orleans Saints defensive coach Gregg Williams instructing his team to injure players is testing that faith. As a lifelong NFL fan, I need to know that I’m not financing cruel blood sport.
- A Christian Science PerspectiveA 'spam filter' for your thinking
A Christian Science perspective.
- Readers RespondReaders Write: Is America's gun culture useful or dangerous?
Letters to the Editor for the weekly print edition of April 16, 2012: One reader argues that a recent cover story ('Inside America's gun culture') didn't give adequate coverage to the use of guns for hunting, competition, and sport. Another worries that 'any angry malcontent with a short fuse and a chip on his shoulder, could pull a loaded gun.'
The Monitor's ViewThe Ann Romney flap and women's rolesThe flap over the Hilary Rosen comment about stay-at-home mom Ann Romney only exposes a deeper issue about self-sacrifice – for both men and women.
OpinionNorth Korea rocket launch: Why Kim failed the testNorth Korea's failed rocket launch symbolizes the inefficacy of Pyongyang's economic and political system and the crash of brief hopes that the new Kim regime might lead to rapprochement with South Korea and the United States.
No crusty journalist complaint here: Caine's Arcade is more than a distracting fadWe sometimes complain that fickle Internet fads drive our news coverage. But Caine's Arcade made the virtual front pages for all the right reasons. The phenomenon provides another example of how the Web 2.0 world informs media coverage – and better yet – inspires action.
OpinionIran talks: Why time is ripe for compromisePositive signals from Iran and the United States are encouraging as talks on Tehran's nuclear program get underway, writes a political expert from Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- A Christian Science PerspectiveAn Advocate who's always with you
A Christian Science perspective: Paying taxes can be a stressful endeavor. Whether you have professional tax help or not, you have an Advocate.
The Monitor's ViewLift Latin America's 'drug curse'At the Summit of the Americas, Obama will likely be asked to discuss alternatives to the get-tough tactics on the drug trade – even to endorse legalization. He should point to Latin America's successes in giving economic alternatives to drug trafficking.
The tax man taketh -- and sometimes givethFrom outside, the workings of a big bureaucracy like the IRS seem mysterious and arbitrary. From the inside, it all makes perfect sense. Actually, you could say that about most workplaces.
OpinionThe danger that Saudi Arabia will turn Syria into an Islamist hotbedA tentative UN-brokered ceasefire does not settle Western concerns over Saudi intervention in Syria. While the US and its allies are wary of seeing Syria become a sectarian battleground, the power brokers in Riyadh seem to have been hurtling toward it – with a form of state-sponsored jihad.
OpinionHey SCOTUS, we already have a federal mandate for health careUS law requires emergency rooms to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. As a hospital CEO, I assure you, we already have a form of universal health care. We simply fund and supply it in an exorbitantly expensive way. Obamacare's individual mandate provides the solution.
- A Christian Science PerspectiveA fresh view of health care
A Christian Science perspective.
The Monitor's ViewA tsunami-warning system makes wavesBig lessons can be learned from Wednesday's giant earthquake off Indonesia that led to an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami warning. The new system, set up since the big 2004 disaster, worked.
OpinionPost-parenthood: When adult children move home, is it OK to be friends?Facing a slow economy, three of our children moved back home after college. New unemployment figures show we're not alone. I worried: Are these roommates? What are the rules? Beyond the questions, something strange and wonderful was taking place. Mirth. And laughter.
Walter RodgersPolitical dynasties (Romney, Bush, Kennedy) betray basic American valuesFamilies like the Kennedys, Bushes, and Romneys will likely ever seek political power – and the public may well respond with a certain star-struck awe. But hereditary ambition and home-grown royalty run counter to the American Revolution premise ‘that all men are created equal.
- Walter RodgersPolitical dynasties (Romney, Bush, Kennedy) betray basic American values
Families like the Kennedys, Bushes, and Romneys will likely ever seek political power – and the public may well respond with a certain star-struck awe. But hereditary ambition and home-grown royalty run counter to the American Revolution premise ‘that all men are created equal.
- A Christian Science PerspectiveFor Syria, prayers that bring peace
A Christian Science perspective.
The Monitor's ViewNorth Korea rocket launch: fireworks of fearNorth Korea plans to launch a missile by April 16 in violation of UN sanctions. It will be yet another provocative act by a regime that has long used blackmail and crisis to simply survive and to win concessions.
Global ViewpointRemembering Fang Lizhi: 'hero of the people,' hated by China's regimeFellow dissident Wei Jingsheng pays tribute to Fang Lizhi, who inspired pro-democracy students in China. Fang warned in 2010: 'Regardless of how widely China’s leaders have opened its market to the outside world, they have not retreated even half a step from their repressive political creed.'
