March 22, 2010, 6:09 pm
By THE EDITORS
In 2002, Norway enacted a law requiring that 40 percent of all board members at state-owned and publicly listed companies be women by 2008.
Since then, Spain and the Netherlands have passed similar laws. Now Belgium, Britain, Germany, France and Sweden are considering legislative measures involving female quotas. And although Germany is also debating such a law, Deutsche Telekom, which is based in Bonn, announced last week that it would voluntarily introduce a quota aiming to fill 30 percent of upper and middle management jobs with women by the end of 2015.
Do quotas work? Would they work in the U.S.? Does the U.S. need them?
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March 21, 2010, 10:52 pm
By THE EDITORS
Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders after the health bill vote on Sunday night on Capitol Hill.For many, the health care overhaul, which was approved by the House, 219 to 212, and will be signed into law by President Obama, is far from perfect. For some, it’s a disgrace. But for others, it’s a bold effort that expands health care to more Americans than ever in the nation’s history. Whatever the assessments, today’s vote in the House represented change.
Is this legislation as significant as the creation of Medicare? Will it fundamentally alter the social safety net?
We invited several public figures and historians to give us their thoughts on this moment.
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March 18, 2010, 8:56 pm
By THE EDITORS
Left to right: Tom Green County Jail via Getty Images, Ed Andrieski/Associated Press Colleen R. LaRose, the self-described “Jihad Jane,” and Najibullah Zazi, who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. Several terrorism cases in recent months have involved American citizens or residents, many from backgrounds that do not fit the expected profile of a jihadist.
The cases of Najibullah Zazi, Colleen R. LaRose (“Jihad Jane”) and David Headley suggest that radicalization in the U.S. is increasing. Another American, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, was detained and released last week in connection to a terrorism case in Ireland.
On Thursday, Ms. LaRose pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to kill a Swedish cartoonist, who had drawn the prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body. Mr. Headley, a Chicago businessman, pleaded guilty on Thursday to helping to provide surveillance for the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
How significant is the radicalization threat? What are the factors driving this trend?
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March 17, 2010, 6:09 pm
By THE EDITORS
Andreas Solaro/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. As the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church continues to unfold, Pope Benedict XVI said he would issue a letter to Irish Catholics on Friday to help “repentance, healing and renewal.”
The pope himself has been embroiled in the case of Peter Hullermann, a German priest who was convicted of molesting children but had been allowed to work in Munich for more than 30 years until his suspension on Monday. The pope, the former Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, had served as head of the archdiocese where the priest worked and was later the cardinal in charge of reviewing sexual abuse cases for the Vatican.
What lessons should have been learned from the church’s handling of the American sexual abuse cases? What questions should be asked of the Vatican and what should it do?
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March 16, 2010, 1:03 pm
By THE EDITORS
Left to right: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times, Doug Mills/The New York Times House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with children’s health advocates on Capitol Hill on Monday, while President Obama spoke on health care in Strongsville, Ohio. Updated, 6:40 p.m. | Jacob S. Hacker, a political science professor at Yale, joins the discussion.
The House leadership is now engaged in the art of procedural jujitsu in hopes of winning 216 votes to approve the Senate health bill and push through the most expansive health care overhaul since the creation of Medicare.
Efforts over four decades have gone down to defeat. Will health legislation pass this time? We asked some political observers for an assessment of the forces that are driving this effort to a conclusion.
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March 14, 2010, 7:00 pm
By THE EDITORS
Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times Democracy Prep Charter School in Harlem. Two recent New York Times articles have described opposition to the thriving charter school movement in Harlem. An influential state senator, Bill Perkins, whose district has nearly 20 charter schools, is trying to block their expansion. Some public schools in the neighborhood are also fighting back, marketing themselves to compete with the charters.
This is a New York battle, but charter schools — a cornerstone of the Obama administration’s education strategy — are facing resistance across the country, as they become more popular and as traditional public schools compete for money. The education scholar Diane Ravitch, once a booster of the movement, is now an outspoken critic.
What is causing the push-back on charter schools, beyond the local issues involved ? Critics say they are skimming off the best students, leaving the regular schools to deal with the rest? Is that a fair point?
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March 12, 2010, 7:11 pm
By THE EDITORS
Jessica White/The New York Times We all know them. We avoid them on playgrounds. We shudder at their comments on parenting Web sites. They are the perfectly nice women who turn into mothers with strong opinions about how to raise children. Whether it’s VBAC vs. Caesarean, breast milk vs. formula, disposable vs. cloth or wraps vs. strollers, these moms know what they think and will stop at nothing to show you the light.
Are new mothers more judgmental about child-rearing than they used to be, or does it just seem that way? What’s the psychology and history of this mentality? It can’t all be hormonal.
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March 11, 2010, 7:15 pm
By THE EDITORS
Facing low enrollment and a $50 million budget deficit, the Kansas City Board of Education announced on Wednesday that it would close almost half of the city’s public schools. The “Right-Size” plan will mean closing 28 of the city’s 61 schools and eliminating 700 out of 3,000 jobs.
National education experts have said that the Kansas City schools were not responding to demographic changes and academic failure. District officials say the closings will improve achievement by allowing the system to focus its resources.
How much does school size matter? And what are the lessons learned from Kansas City?
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March 10, 2010, 7:37 pm
By THE EDITORS
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Palestinian construction workers in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish neighborhood in north Jerusalem. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was unpleasantly surprised in Israel on Tuesday when the country’s Interior Ministry declared that it would expand housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem. Mr. Biden, who earlier that day had expressed American support on Israel’s security needs, condemned the announcement, which had been made without the knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
What did the incident reflect about the state of the Obama administration’s relations with Israel and the future of talks with the Palestinians?
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March 9, 2010, 6:49 pm
By THE EDITORS
Updated, March 10, 1:45 p.m. | Kenneth Anderson, a professor at American University, joins the discussion.
A video released last week by Keep America Safe, a group led by Elizabeth Cheney, takes aim at lawyers who have represented Guantánamo detainees and are now working in the Justice Department. It asks, “Who are these government officials? . . . Whose values do they share?”
This week, a group of prominent lawyers, many of them conservatives and former Bush administration officials, signed a letter denouncing the attack as a “shameful” effort that “maligns the patriotism of people who have taken honorable positions on contested questions.”
Is it fair to criticize lawyers for the actions of their clients? And why is there always mileage to be gained from attacking lawyers (with the attackers often lawyers themselves)?
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Six authors read favorite passages from books they would never discard. 
