Shreveport

Kneeling and shady dealing in sports

Two stories have yanked the world of American sports onto front pages (and to the top of online news feeds). In recent weeks some players in the National Football League (NFL) have knelt during the pregame playing of the national anthem to highlight what they see as racial injustice in society. Meanwhile, the biggest college basketball recruiting scandal in many years – perhaps the biggest ever – has already taken down one of the best-known and most successful coaches, Louisville’s Rick Pitino, who has been fired by the university.

'Casting couch' or 'crime scene'? How language promotes culture of sexual harassment

Before “Harvey Weinstein: The Scandal” captured the national conversation, there were whispers. When The New York Times published a scathing report earlier this month accusing the Hollywood mogul of engaging in a decades-long pattern of sexual harassment, coercion, and abuse of young actresses, few were entirely surprised.

Trump and the nuclear button: Does presidential authority need curbs?

It takes at least two people to launch a nuclear weapon at almost every point in the US chain of command. Missile silos, bombers, nuclear submarines – all require more than one officer to validate a “go” order. President Trump’s behavior in office has raised anew this old question.

'People power' for rule of law in the Philippines

One gift to the world from the Philippines has been the term “people power,” or peaceful resistance in the streets against a leader’s arbitrary rule and violent suppression. Three decades later, Filipinos are at it again. This time they are quietly resisting President Rodrigo Duterte’s neglect of both the rule of law and the presumption of innocence in a violent crackdown on drug users and dealers.