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Why do men like meat? Answer may be obvious

Duh. A terrific new insight about guys is reported in a study published in the current issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. The findings come out just in time to kick off the summer grilling season. “We examined whether people in Western cultures have …

How HGTV paved the way for gays

There are two ways to bring about positive, long-term social change: the fast one and the slow one. In the first version, statues are toppled, walls are torn down, laws are dramatically enacted. There is, forever, a clear before and after. It’s days like July …

NATO leaders can learn from Ricketts Ruckus

Will it be war or peace? Do you negotiate with your enemies or threaten them with destruction? Can bitter political enemies find a way to live together in harmony? I’m not talking about NATO and world affairs, but Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Ricketts …

America’s right wing just  can’t let go of Rev. Wright

There’s a persistent belief on the right that President Barack Obama sneaked into office in 2008 because an awestruck media refused to look into his background and personal associations, preventing voters from learning about all sorts of radical, anti-American connections that would have turned them …

  • Building better city schools

    During my campaign for mayor, people would often ask me why I wanted the job. Given all the challenges facing our city, I understood their skepticism. After one year in office, I don’t hear that question any more. I hope people can tell that I …Read More

  • Romney is inconsistent on topic of gay marriage

    Last Thursday, the day after President Barack Obama finally endorsed gay marriage, his campaign released a video that faults his presumptive Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, for not doing likewise. “President Obama is moving us forward,” the ad says. “Mitt Romney would take us back.” In …Read More

  • Violence Against Women Act needs strong reauthorization vote

    Since 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has strengthened communities and provided critical, life-saving support to victims of violence. It has helped millions of victims move from crisis to stability and has saved taxpayers millions in averted societal costs. Unfortunately, for the first time in …Read More

    • Small leaders vs. big problems

    It is twilight in America. We stumble in the gloom. Our leaders do not lead. They scuttle. Some say the coming election will be about the economy, stupid. I wish. Pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV, click on a radio, check your Twitter …

    Nurses push tax on trades to help sick

    Of all the street actions leading up to the NATO summit, the one that might seem most perplexing is a nurses’ rally for a tax on securities trades. Financial markets are pretty remote from hospital bedsides, you might think. Why would nurses get mixed up …

    Today’s GOP: You can’t reason with crazy

    After the comprehensive failures of President George W. Bush, conservatives faced a hard choice: rethink or go crazy. For too many, the election of Barack Obama appears to have made it a no-brainer. Millions have chosen the comforts of delusion, envisioning the ordinary give-and-take of …

    CPS teachers are schools’ backbone

    I entered the classroom as a teacher for the first time almost 26 years ago, and I still feel the same rush of excitement every time I step into a school. Over the last year, I’ve visited dozens of schools throughout our district and have …

    Closing 2 adult, juvenile  prisons is the right move

    Despite a drop in crime and the need to close a multibillion-dollar budget hole, politics again threaten to derail plans to cut spending on prisons. Bowing to pressure by those opposed to closing any state facilities to save money, a legislative commission rebuffed Gov. Pat …

    Bias isn’t to blame for wage gap

    Politics, it has been said, is the skilled use of blunt objects. Perhaps predictably, given the salience of women’s issues this election season, Rachel Maddow recently launched one of the most nuance-resistant blunt objects —the gender gap — into the election fray. She should have …

    Ryan right to talk of morality of reforms

    Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro­voked angry pushback when he claimed that not only is his proposed revamp of the U.S. budget fiscally sound but morally sound. In a Christian Broadcasting Network interview, Ryan said he drew inspiration from his …

    Mitt can’t beat Obama at optics

    It’s good to be president. True, you get blamed for stuff. But if you are smart, you control events far more than events control you. Take campaign optics. The optics of a political event not only establish context and shape meaning, but people remember the …

    CTU’s reckless strike talk is bad for Chicago’s kids

    For much of the last year, while parents, community leaders and policymakers have been focused on bringing much-needed improvements to the Chicago Public Schools, the teachers union has been not-so-secretly planning to hold our city — and our schoolchildren — hostage by calling for a …

    Abused wife stands her ground, gets 20 years

    ‘I got five baby mammas, and I put my hands on every last one of them except for one,” Rico Gray confessed during a November 2010 deposition. “The way I was with women . . . they had to walk on eggshells around me.” He …

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