The presidential campaign of 2004 promises to be the most expensive in U.S. history. Unfortunately, and not by accident, the most expensive presidential campaign in history also threatens to be the least enlightened. The enormous sums available to campaign organizations are for the most part investe

On May 17, 1954, neither the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, nor anyone else, could have predicted that 50 years later both the U.S. secretary of state and the president’s national security advisor would be African-Americans. But on that Monday morning, the court announced its decisio

There is another killer disease besides AIDS, but it receives far less attention in the wealthy nations of the Northmalaria. Malaria has been almost completely eliminated in the United States and other developed countries. It is often included among the so-called neglected diseases, neglected in the

George W. Bush is a high-stakes gambler. When the going gets tough, he is inclined to up the ante. Whether it is tax cuts, the prescription drug benefit, bringing democracy to the Middle East or sending astronauts to Mars, he reaches for the sky. His endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharo

This year, the United Nations proclaimed April 7 an International Day of Remembrance. For in the 100 days beginning on the eve of that date 10 years ago, 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda. The divisions between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples in Rwanda were not always as deep as those that separated t

In Bach’s oratorio The Saint John Passion, a bass aria begins: “Eilt—Hurry, hurry you suffering souls.” In an urgent whisper, the chorus responds: “Wohin—where to?” The soloist replies, “Nach Golgotha—to Calvary.” That chorus represents the