Progressive Nation

Mismanagement, Continued

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

One benefit of the presidential campaign season is the opportunity for some national self-scrutiny: What are the problems we need to address at home and abroad? By nature, the actual resolution of these problems doesn't accompany their discussion. Those resolutions are put on the backburner until the next president arrives at 1600 Penn.

New Orleans

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

In late August 2005, I, along with the rest of the country, watched Hurricane Katrina's wrath on TV: flip-flops floating in chest-high waters and stranded New Orleanians fighting for their lives atop roofs and starving in the Superdome. Instead of a strong emotional reaction, however, I-as a landlocked resident of central Indiana-felt somewhat desensitized, unable to comprehend the full scope of the damage.

From Dorm To Hogan

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

"Your thoughts are so loud when you're out here, aren't they?" Marie Gladue asked me as I returned to her homestead. Sitting beneath the shade of a small shrub where I had been watching a herd of sheep drifting across the Arizona desert, I had never felt so alone, yet so at peace.

Lessons From '52 and '76: What to Expect in Denver

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Senator Bob Casey's surprise endorsement of Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary was just another step in the long protracted road to the Democratic nomination. The endorsement helps restore some of the firepower the Obama camp lost in response to the controversial comments of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but with August's Democratic Convention in Denver approaching and the contestants still deadlocked, whispers of a brokered convention are beginning to rise.

A Prescription for the USG?

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Whenever the USG happens to come up in conversation, I usually see a mix of tempered enthusiasm or awkward skepticism-some deserved, some probably a natural consequence of much of the quiet, unrecognized work of many USG members.
Before I begin with my own experiences, I'd like to get a few business items out of the way first.

A Progressive Solution to Long-term Fiscal Deficits

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

When it comes to policy, I spend most of my time working on energy - how to get more efficient, reduce our oil use, and mitigate global warming. I feel it is a necessity to work on these issues so America insulates itself from the very problematic possibilities of continued rising costs of oil and damaging effects of climate change.

Here's an Idea - A War on Waste

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

For all the progress the United States has made to adjust and improve its recycling process for consumers, we may have forgotten the founding words of sustainability - Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle. Ironically, these words actually were introduced hierarchically, but we have always deemphasized the first two R's.

Column: The Tory's Hot Air on Global Warming

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

In its last issue, the Princeton Tory ran a misleading article, "Global Warming: A Conflated Orthodoxy." The article represents a narrow interpretation of scientific data, as the authors argue that because historical ice cores show temperature rises before carbon dioxide levels rise, it may not be true that CO2 increases can precede temperature increases and cause global warming.