Issues

Chris Payne writes: I pay tribute to the undervalued segment of Americans workers who labor in this manufacturing sector. They are a cross section of young and old, skilled and unskilled, recent immigrants and veteran employees, some of whom have spent their entire working lives in a single factory. Together, they share a quiet pride and dignity, and are proof that manual labor and craftsmanship still have value in the 21st century US economy. more »

Two computer science graduate students have found that the NSA's mass collection of phone records can yield much more information about people's private lives than the US government claims. New research shows how "metadata" surveillance can be used to identify information about callers including medical conditions, financial and legal connections, and even whether they own a gun. more »

Listen and view North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitcamp's questions and a witness stating the difficulty in finding teachers for the Indian community schools. Is catching up with middle-class children's vocabulary impossible or is early childhood intervention a reachable goal for the children of Indian country? In another hearing, VHA administrative data sources show a similar pattern of findings in that Military Sexual Trauma is significantly associated with risk for suicide for both women and men. more »

The 90-minute television presentation tells the epic, inside story of the collapse of the Benedict Papacy — and illuminates the extraordinary challenges facing Pope Francis as he tries to reform the powerful Vatican bureaucracy, root out corruption, and chart a new course for the troubled Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion followers. more »