Time for NASA to dream big again

Susan Reimer: We thought Sanford was different

We thought we'd found true love.

Obese and malnourished

A report released last week shows that obesity is harming the health of millions of Americans, including children and teens. The report, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009," from the Trust for America's Health, says that 28.8 percent of Maryland youths ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese - and thus at increased risk of a long list of chronic health problems such as type 2...

Obama's dangerous game with energy policy

President Barack Obama is playing Russian roulette with America's quest for energy independence by rushing to replace fossil fuels with unreliable and expensive renewable energy.

The myth of 'safe drugs' from abroad

More than 150 years ago, Baltimore's port inspector saw Europe's poorest-quality drugs being dumped on the United States. He knew substandard medicines hurt soldiers abroad and wanted to defend citizens at home. Port inspectors, doctors and pharmacists demanded higher standards for drug safety. As a result, the United States has the safest drug use system in the world.

Avoiding war's cost

Tuesday, the U.S. "stood down" in Iraq, finalizing the pullout of 140,000 troops from Iraqi cities and towns - the first step on the long path home. After more than six years, most Americans are war-weary, even though a smaller percentage of us have been involved in the actual fighting than in any major conflict in U.S. history. We have relegated the car and suicide bombings to the inside pages of newspapers,...

Viewpoint: Society needs to talk about dependence, too

This is probably not the best week to air any reservations about the American passion for independence. After all, we don't have fireworks for Dependence Day. We don't hold parades to celebrate Interdependence Day. We don't get a holiday for Connections.

Why the search for evidence in matters of faith?

Sometimes faith is not enough. Last Sunday in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI stood in the warm Basilica of St. Paul and announced that scientists had conducted carbon-dating tests on bone fragments found in what has long been believed to be the sarcophagus of the Apostle Paul. According to Pope Benedict, "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul....

When in the (appetizer) course of human events ...

I walked the length of the westbound Lake Shore Limited as it left Albany last Sunday, six crowded coaches, and counted three Twitterers and a couple of phone texters, six laptoppers (two of whom were watching movies), four video gamers, and 27 people reading books. Books made of paper! Turning the pages with their fingers one by one, reading the lines left to right, just as people have done for hundreds of...

Dan Rodricks: Forced into closet by nation they serve

Wednesday in Annapolis, the United States Naval Academy welcomed the most racially and ethnically diverse class in its history: 14 percent Hispanic, 10 percent African-American - and perhaps 2 percent to 3 percent homosexual. I added that last part. No one knows how many plebes are gay or lesbian, but studies have placed the percentage of homosexual men and women serving this nation's military in that range,...

Fairness for disabled kids

The Supreme Court recently ruled that a child with special needs does not have to first experience failure in a public school setting before parents can choose private special-education options. Those who are celebrating this decision (parents of children with disabilities) and those who are condemning it (public school administrators) are both overstating its likely consequences.

Fleeing Md. taxes? Forget Delaware

Tax increases on their way in the First State

Dynamic downtown

Our view: Hotel bookings and racing proposal are positive signs for Baltimore

Losses in Lutherville

Our view: A light rail accident in Lutherville takes two teenagers' lives, raising questions about unusual circumstances and employee (in)actions

Behind the wheel

Marylanders who took to their cars over the long July 4th weekend likely noticed the trend: fewer fellow travelers on the roads. The dip in holiday traffic was a revealing reflection of the bigger picture: On a year-to-year average, Americans are driving about 4...

The mother of all loopholes

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. has been raising money for months for an all-but-declared campaign for state comptroller. But this week he announced he's not going to run. That surely must be an annoyance for the donors who pushed his account to well...