In Texas, Keeping Kids In School And Out Of Court

The sort of offenses that might land a student in the principal’s office in other states often send kids in Texas to court with misdemeanor charges. Some schools have started to rethink how they punish students for bad behavior after watching many of them drop out or land in prison because of tough disciplinary policies. [...]

In South Carolina, A Resurgent Gingrich Attracts Jubilant Crowds

Newt Gingrich traveled across South Carolina this week appearing at a number of town-hall-style meetings where he talked to voters and answered questions — mostly the same questions at every stop. He talked about the improving the economy, creating a new immigration policy, repealing President Obama’s health care reform plan and transforming Washington. Gingrich himself [...]

Health Law’s Popularity Rises … Ever So Slightly

Can you say blip? Apparently that’s what last month’s all-time low popularity numbers were for President Obama’s health overhaul law, according to this month’s tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Overall, the federal Affordable Care Act still remains slightly more unpopular (44 percent) than popular (37 percent), but that’s down from last month’s 51-34 [...]

Tax Credit Task Force Coming to an End

A task force looking at the possible elimination of tax credits for businesses held the first of two final meetings on Wednesday.

In Gingrich, Romney May Be Facing Toughest Foe Yet

Republican voters may have saved the best for last in terms of the latest obstacle they’ve placed between Mitt Romney and what was supposed to have been his inevitable march to the 2012 Republican presidential nomination — Newt Gingrich. Essentially written off after his campaign seemingly imploded last summer and because of the manifest personal [...]

Alan Rickman: From Severus Snape To ‘Seminar’

Actor Alan Rickman has played a loving husband, a terrorist leader, a stern professor of the dark arts and even a caterpillar; from Sense and Sensibility to Die Hard to Harry Potter, his talents have made him recognizable to several generations of moviegoers. Now, Rickman — a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company — [...]

Interpreting The Constitution In The Digital Era

GPS monitors can track your every movement. Brain scans can now see lies forming in your brain. And advancements in genetic engineering may soon allow parents to engineer what their children will look and be like. These new technologies are “challenging our Constitutional categories in really dramatic ways,” says George Washington University law professor Jeffrey [...]

Sorting Through Statuettes: A Skeptic’s Guide To Surviving Awards Season

As the 10 Best Swallows Who Returned To Capistrano In 2011 would tell you, it’s awards season again. The New York Film Critics Circle handed out its prizes yesterday (on Twitter!), Kevin Smith is already swearing at the Independent Spirit Awards for overlooking the cast of Red State, and we’ve already switched Oscar hosts once, [...]

The Library Phantom Returns!

He? She? It? Whoever it is, the Phantom Sculptor is suddenly back! As I recently reported, somebody has been dropping glorious little paper sculptures into libraries and museums all over Edinburgh, Scotland, and we’ve just heard (thank you, alert reader Paul Smith) that there are now three more. And they will be the last. In [...]

Is Fair Trade Coffee Still Fair If It Comes From A Big Farm?

When you buy food that is labeled fair trade, you do so to support farmers who meet certain social and environmental standards. But some companies now disagree about whether a new take on fair trade can really be called “fair.” Traditionally, fair trade has been “the idea that the small farmer gets a direct connection [...]