Politics & Civic Life / Articles

THE PRECARIOUS “RIGHT” TO PRIVACY: TECHNOLOGY, TERROR, AND THIN WALLS

Believe it or not, the Superior Court of New Jersey recently ruled that high-volume sex is cause enough for police to search a home.

DISUNITED STATES

From our 21st century vantage point, the States of the Union may seem solidly established, with firm borders and a pleasingly even roster of 50. But much weird underbrush underlies this seemingly stalwart forest.

ARE POLITICS GENETIC? THE NEW SCIENCE OF POLITICAL PHYSIOLOGY

Red or blue, right or left—we have plenty of ways to identify our politics, and they don't usually include the anterior cingulate cortex. But what if political leanings are actually hard wired?

POLITICS AND THE PEOPLE: POLITICAL EXPRESSION IN THE AGE OF OBAMA

As the punditry furiously analyzes every nuance of President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union Address, it’s worth recalling how Obama got here: his campaign is credited with having run the most prolific fundraising operation in the history of politics, raising an epic $745 million.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY 2010: WHERE WE STAND TODAY

The election of the first black president is a measure of how far the country has come from the days of segregation. But the numbers reveal we still have some distance to go before Dr. King's dream is realized.

CREATIVE GIVING

Samgo, a remote village in the Himalayas, has limited electrical service and little in the way of modern conveniences. It is in many ways cut off from the rest of the world. But this particular village has one item that allows it to connect: a cell phone.

BACKGROUND CHECK: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS' ODD JOBS

“Being short of a job, his uncle had advised politics.” –John Buchan, The Thirty-nine Steps

A tugboat captain, a vintner, and an astronaut walk into a bar—no scratch that—walk onto the Senate floor. This isn’t a joke. Members of Congress have a surprising amount of experience in fields beyond politics.

AGAINST THE ODDS: THE ODDS OF BEING JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

Modern Americans are familiar with the Kennedy and Bush dynasties, but the first American political dynasty was the Adams family. John Quincy Adams, son of the 2nd president of the United States, was the first presidential offspring to be elected to the office—despite the fact that his mother Abigail declared she would rather see her son “thrown as a log on the fire than see him president of the United States.” The odds that a US president is the son of a former president are 1 in 21.5.

NEW SUPREME COURT SESSION CHANGES THE JUSTICE EQUATION

At 10:00 this morning, October 5, the first Hispanic US Supreme Court justice in history will take the bench for her first hearings.

ANDREW JACKSON, ONE KILLER PRESIDENT

Odds that a president of the United States has killed a man in a duel: 1 in 43.*