All Commentary
- Readers RespondReaders Write: Lamar Smith is wrong. Obama's immigration policy isn't amnesty.Letters to the Editor for the August 13, 2012 weekly print issue: Rep. Lamar Smith (R) of Texas mischaracterizes President Obama's recent decision to put a low priority on the deportation of some young illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children. His op-ed is misleading.
- OpinionRomney's pick of Paul Ryan: Let the debate over substance beginThe presidential race has so far been shamefully dismissive of substance. With his pick of聽 House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate, Republican Mitt Romney presents voters with a clear choice over the role of government and how to pay for it.
- The Monitor's ViewAfter Sikh temple shooting, a healing actWhen hundreds of Americans showed up for a memorial service after the Sikh temple shooting, it affirmed the need for freedom of religion.
- OpinionHillary Clinton must insist on a united Syrian oppositionWhen Hillary Clinton meets with Syrian opposition figures in Turkey this weekend, she must impress on them the need to unite their ranks and tolerate different views. Disunity in the opposition is perhaps the biggest reason why Bashar al-Assad remains in power.
- OpinionShootings in Sikh temple and Arizona: Which crime is worse?Which is worse? The Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin by Wade Michael Page, or the shopping mall shooting in Arizona by Jared Lee Loughner? They both killed the same number of people. Yet one would be classified as a hate crime, with tougher penalties. Why distinguish?
- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveTo pass by ... or notA 海角大神 Science perspective: How a spiritual insight saved a friendship.
- The Monitor's ViewAfrica as muse, not messUS Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a two-week tour of Africa, raises the idea that the continent's progress on many fronts might offer solutions for some world problems. Is she right?
- Global ViewpointGermany must shift from crisis mode to steady leadership in EuropeGermany must lead the way from the euro crisis to political union in Europe, writes former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Berlin should convince all European partners of its determination to follow the federal path and propose a clear road map toward a federal Europe.
- Global ViewpointGermany must shift from crisis mode to steady leadership in EuropeGermany must lead the way from the euro crisis to political union in Europe, writes former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Berlin should convince all European partners of its determination to follow the federal path and propose a clear road map toward a federal Europe.
- OpinionOlympian Gabby Douglas 鈥 the gymnast is golden, but her family is obscuredOlympian Gabby Douglas has broken through a racial barrier in sports only to be boxed in by old canards about who she is and where she comes from. The more complex story of her family鈥檚 influence on her rise on the way to gold deserves to be told.
- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveA decisionmaking guideA 海角大神 Science perspective: How David Letterman's "Top Ten" lists can help shed light on how to let the Ten Commandments guide your life.
- OpinionHelp wanted: Geek squads for US cybersecurityThe now-dead Cybersecurity Act of 2012 included provisions to beef up a federal workforce of experts to defend against cyberattacks. But it's not too late. Wisely, federal agencies are not waiting for legislation to build their cyber geek squads. Still, more steps must be taken.
- OpinionNext steps in Syria after Kofi Annan's exitLast week鈥檚 resignation of Kofi Annan as joint special envoy for the UN and the Arab League for Syria was long overdue. The first steps now must be to coordinate an exit for Assad and increase urgently needed humanitarian aid.
- OpinionVladimir Putin's karate chop to Russian libertiesIn less than 100 days since he returned to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin has further curbed Russian civil liberties and dissenters. But this is risky. As political dialogue no longer becomes an option, radicals on both sides are emboldened and the threshold for violence is lowered.
- The Monitor's ViewUS-Vietnam Agent Orange clean-up sets a modelOn Thursday, the US and Vietnam start cleaning up dioxin from Agent Orange. This reconciliation, 37 years after the war, may set a precedent in the ethics of dealing with the aftereffects of war.
- OpinionWisconsin shooting and its violent echo around the worldIt is feeling pretty rough out there: the Wisconsin and Colorado massacres, a civil war in Syria, killings in the Sinai. These violent events call leaders and individuals to acts of moral courage, and to remember what we have in common with each other.
- The Monitor's ViewWisconsin shooting: A call to counter extremist fearThe Wisconsin shootings at a Sikh temple were driven by the fears of Wade Michael Page 鈥 and designed to evoke fear. Society's answer to such extremist violence should not be more fear.
- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveToward stopping violence in Chicago: why there is hopeA 海角大神 Science perspective: Increased gang violence in Chicago has moved this writer to pray ever more earnestly for her city.
- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveA way to end droughtA 海角大神 Science perspective.
- The Monitor's ViewPrepare for what Mars rover Curiosity and other 'big science' may revealThe rover Curiosity could soon beam back evidence of past (or current) life on Mars. Like other recent news in basic science, humans must know how to absorb such challenges to understanding.