The Constitution of the United States requires Congress to declare war. Without such a legislative declaration—made by the people's elected representatives—the President does not have lawful authority to initiate hostilities. The Constitution puts strict contraints on the ability of all public servants to use violence against anyone: •...

On Thursday, the crew of the Artemis II mission executed a maneuver called the Trans Lunar Injection burn. The TLI burn reoriented their Orion spacecraft, called Integrity, and added sufficient thrust to push them out of Earth orbit, on course for the Moon. They are the first human beings to leave Earth orbit since 1972. This is, in a ...

In 2021, on the way to leading a team of observers and advocates taking part in the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, I created the Blue Planet tartan. The purpose was fourfold: • To commemorate the work of non-governmental observers and stakeholders; • to honor the host country, where I personally, and others ...

We are told these days to believe that rights are not universal, that they are not unalienable, that they can be selectively erased by the whims of people who wish to wield power without restraint. Some of these assertions are subtle, like the Speaker of the House saying agents must wear masks, or they would face certain danger. • This...

There is struggle and resolve in the eyes of the watchers, the ones who stand at the boundary between humanity and madness, knowing they risk everything, but also feeling a certainty that the price of not doing so would be intolerably high. That feeling is courage. Courage does not mean they are not afraid. They act with dignity, human...

Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse who cared for gravely ill and dying veterans. He devoted himself to serving those who offered the greatest of all sacrifices in defense of all of us, in defense of our rights and liberties, in defense of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Alex Pretti was kneeling, and was being restrained, when a fede...

To be subjected, on a daily basis, at multiple times throughout the day, to the dangerous, dehumanizing ramblings of a person devoid of any moral fiber, is to be subjected to abuse. The trauma is evident in the fact that you already know who we are talking about. The entire country, along with much of the world, is being psychologicall...

There is something deeply dangerous and menacing about the untrue assertion by DHS that it is unlawful to film or observe ICE operations. The essence of the argument is: When ICE shows up, the Bill of Rights is dissolved—for everyone. Let's be clear: Rights cannot be dissolved, by anyone for any reason. Under the First Amendment, you h...

On the day Renee Good was murdered, I saw my country burning—not from the righteous and necessary rejection of the horror of a rogue regime, but from the cruelty and corruption of that regime. People resisting evil brought peace and reverence; those pretending to represent the law brought chaos and terror. It was, in the midst of horro...

We all know several ways in which the world could be improved. Many of us experience them every day; many millions suffer deep and ongoing injustice, and some of us fight to make positive change. There is always more work to do to bring justice and improve the human condition, so both the work and its intended results are needed. Makin...

Time is our ally and also the great conflicted ocean that roils and froths and refuses to give ease and comfort in remembering we hope to be reborn and we are … to the extent that our remembering is both honest and welcoming of new light the winter air sifts centuries and the daylight crackles with departures toward tomorrows already p...

For many, this holiday season is the worst of times. It is an ancient source of friction that many cannot see this, because they are enveloped in luxury and affluence. So, for some, times may be exactly as they have always hoped. Whatever our circumstance, we all have obligations, above and beyond the trappings of influence and finance...

Let's be honest: Everything is worse now. On January 20, 2025, the newly sworn in President of the United States began issuing executive orders that would undo decades of progress for the health, safety, economic opportunity, security, and wellbeing of the American people, and for the defense of their fundamental rights. Among those ac...

We place a lot of conditions on the question of whether hope is warranted. That common practice deserves some scrutiny, though. 1. Asking “Is hope warranted?” often leads to claims of “realism”, which is treated as justifying pessimism. 2. As a result, hope can seem foolish, baseless, or simply a naïve way of seeing a world that is des...

Climate change cannot be ended by a piece of paper; that is not the point of global climate action negotiations. The goal is to formulate legal language that will, in a sustained way over time, incentivize and support cooperative innovation toward future security and prosperity. Even if we stop global heating, restore degraded lands, w...

Alaska. A vast wilderness, the Arctic frontier, a preserve of ancestral epochs, in which continents were reshaped, glaciers molded mountains, and rivers were born from midnight suns. A white bear hibernating between two seasons of vast unknowablility—one gripped by imperial nostalgia, the other doubting its values-based origins. A vall...

The hour a small device tells us the sun has risen sometimes before the light of the sun is visible before we have accepted that everything is always moving and the new day is here the way a long ago summer afternoon smelled as cooling breezes wafted over waves and people who knew us like home sat inches away discussing dreams the way ...

David Nabarro was a mentor and friend to some close colleagues of mine in climate, diplomacy, food systems, and sustainability. He reached so many more people, however, because he was open to treating anyone with good ideas and a good heart as a colleague, even if they were much younger or just starting out. I met him many times, but o...

The summer of 2025 is a time of turmoil and tension. While just 22% of the U.S. population voted to give Donald Trump a second chance at the office of President, his administration is rapidly moving to remake American governance and reshape American communities, with few clear legal foundations for its actions. Even the Supreme Court, ...

One of the great mysteries of the last 10 years of American politics has been the increasingly outspoken aversion of tens of millions of Americans to information and news sources that prioritize facts and evidence. At the same time, virtually everyone is using existential rhetoric about their need for more access to truth and authentic...

On Monday, January 27, 2025, AI-related stocks lost more than $1 trillion in value. NVIDIA alone lost around $589 billion in a single day. The reason was a stock-selling panic induced by release of a new chatbot service from Chinese firm DeepSeek. The panic has been explained as a market reaction to key details of what DeepSeek claims ...

At some point in the future, artificial intelligence may provide meaningful improvements to data cross-referencing, statistical analysis, tracking of atmospheric and ocean fluid dynamics, and advancing medical science. Some researchers claim they are already benefitting in these ways. None of that means we should accept "generative AI"...

The news that the General Services Administration has contracted to secure electricity from nuclear plants for 14 federal agencies is a reminder of how much is yet to be done to establish conditions for an economy free of climate pollution and its related costly and damaging effects. This would not be the approach to lower carbon energ...

When Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, passed away at the age of 100, this past Sunday, the country and the world lost a vital example of citizen leadership, devoted service to the public good, and the prioritization of decency above all other political ideas. Even his fiercest critics can learn vital lessons from ...