Getting Ready for the Thunder Games

Part of the experience of going to an Oklahoma City Thunder game is the entertainment from fans on the jumbo-tron to free t-shirts shot from a cannon.

In A Year Of Partisan Brawls, Congress Goes One More Round

In a year of deadlines and political fights, Congress is closing with one last partisan brawl. At stake are billions of dollars in tax breaks and unemployment benefits for millions of Americans set to expire Jan. 1. Just in case you’ve been out buying presents, working or not watching C-SPAN with bated breath, what happened [...]

Unusual Diego Rivera Work Restored in Mexico City

The Mexican muralist Diego Rivera painted in New York City, San Francisco, Detroit, Europe and the Soviet Union. But some of Rivera’s most famous murals and most unusual projects are found in Mexico City. In Mexico City, Rivera did far more than just paint. He collected pre-Hispanic pottery and indigenous folk art. And he experimented [...]

Costa Rica’s Peaceful Reputation At Risk From Cartels

Costa Rica is Central America’s most stable democracy, a peaceful country that abolished its army in 1948 and now draws nearly a million U.S. tourists a year to its national parks and beaches. But it’s also right in the middle of the world’s most lucrative cocaine trafficking corridor. As Mexican drug cartels push deeper into [...]

White House Faces Tough Choice On Iran Sanctions

Let Iran off the hook or undermine the global economy? Slap sanctions on an Iranian energy company or provide Europe with an alternative to Russian gas? Washington policymaking is especially difficult when the aims conflict, and few cases illustrate that principle more clearly than the challenge of finding a way to punish Iran without hurting [...]

How Do You Hold Mentally Ill Offenders Accountable?

Part of an ongoing series Mental health and law enforcement officials in California are trying to find ways to hold violent psychiatric patients accountable without punishing people for being sick. It’s a response to escalating violence in the state’s mental hospitals, where thousands of assaults occur annually. Only a tiny fraction of them, however, result [...]

A ‘Happy Burden’: Reflections On The Medal Of Honor

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Medal of Honor. It is the highest military decoration in the United States, reflecting great service and sacrifice. Of the more than 3,400 recipients, fewer than 85 are still living. Among them is Hershel Williams, who served as a Marine corporal in World War II. He says that [...]

Calls For More Reporting Of Suspected Child Abuse

The revelations about alleged child sex abuse by a former Penn State football coach have caused policymakers to propose new measures to broaden who is required to report suspected abuse. Each state already has laws that require some combination of doctors, teachers, day care providers and others who work with children to report suspected abuse. [...]

The Thunder Returns to OKC

The Oklahoma City Thunder ends its preseason with a home win against its 2011 Western Conference foes.

Two Key Iowa Christian Conservatives Endorse Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum may be a particularly long shot for the Republican presidential nomination, showing up as he does at the bottom of national polls and not even breaking into the top tier of candidates in Iowa where his socially conservative message appeals to many evangelical voters. But for those who call themselves “conviction conservatives,” electability [...]