Tuesday evening, I live Twittered President Obama’s speech to Congress, which I’m now columnizing for your reading displeasure. Follow the DI Opinions page on Twitter at twitter.com/diopinions. The...

I’ve never really had a culture of my own. Oh, the grand sweeps of national character, maybe, participating in this or that element of Americanism — I know what a fast-food cheeseburger tastes/looks/hurts...

The recent brouhaha over Facebook changing its terms of service offers a good illustration of how easily issues can be blown out of proportion in online discussion. Columnists, bloggers, and a wide assortment...

People have favorites. Favorite color, favorite team, favorite movie/book/painting/teenage mutant ninja turtle — people will gravitate toward, identify with, and vehemently defend a favorite on even...

As our law currently suggests, the behavior of a person when he or she is a minor is likely to reflect the way in which this person will behave as an adult. A 17-year-old marijuana addict and occasional...

Idly gazing at Venus on the half-sky, I wonder about the economy. And Republicans. And Roland Burris. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe because Venus burns brighter than the economy. But then, these...

There is a movement among the Iowa lawmakers to change the state’s Electoral College voting system. The system currently mandated by the Constitution may seem to be outdated, cumbersome, and unfair at...

The UI Hygienic Laboratory is now the first state public-health institution to offer a new method of screening for early term birth defects. The test, called an “integrated screen” because it cross-references...

I find it bitterly ironic that Cadbury cream egg season comes around right about the same time as Lent. This year, I said I was going to give up refined sugar, but the sight of those delicious little...

On April 10, 1948, the New York Times reported on the massacre of the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin thus: “200 Arabs killed, stronghold taken. A combined force of Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Stern...

Naomi Klein revealed through her demeanor a solid sense of self-confidence as she took the stage to speak at the IMU on Wednesday. Proving her rhetorical prowess, she skillfully directed her audience’s...

Sometimes, classes take a timely unplanned detour, and that happened in one of my journalism classes a couple of days ago. Instead of our ostensible focus, commentary and column writing, discussion turned...