Another day, another apparent suicide in Afghanistan. This time a Commander with the Navy SEALs – one of America’s toughest, most highly trained, and rigorously psychologically screened special operations forces. No one can really know why an individual commits suicide, if Cdr. Price even did. But what can be known is that the American military is [...]

Arizona’s stringent abortion law, which includes a ban on all abortions beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy, was upheld by a federal judge yesterday, setting up a potential showdown at the Supreme Court that could further chip away at Roe v. Wade. The Arizona law will now take effect tomorrow, as scheduled. U.S. District Judge James [...]

Talking about the “human cost” of austerity is a bit too anodyne to get across the reality of the situation. It’s not just that those subjected to budget cutbacks will have to pay a bit more in taxes or do with a bit less in revenue. It’s that the total effect of austerity causes suffering. [...]

The CDC has done an eighty-year study of suicide rates and economic performance, which reaches the unsurprising but still bracing conclusion that suicide goes up in times of economic stress. If that’s the case, we’re not only in the midst of the biggest economic hole since the Depression, but the biggest suicide risk. And notably, [...]

James Surowiecki rejects the notion that the current unemployment rate is somehow “structural” and unchangeable. While I think there are minor structural elements to the jobs crisis, it’s far more clear that the structural unemployment myth serves the ends of those who don’t want to react to fix the problem. If the problems with the [...]

Seeking to repair a shattered image with the LGBT community, and joining the chorus of those shocked by the recent rash of gay teen suicides, President Obama recorded a video as part of the It Gets Better project, to encourage gay and lesbian teenagers that they are not alone and their lives will improve. In [...]