Health-care law tug of war
House Republicans tried to repeal President Obama’s signature health-care law for the 31st time in 18 months this week. Every vote to repeal or dismantle the law has predictably died upon or before reaching the Democratic-controlled Senate, but House Speaker John Boehner said, “We want to show people we are resolved to get rid of this.”
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Americans' high rate of anxiety
Americans are more prone to anxiety than citizens of any other nation. A new study by the World Health Organization found that 31 percent of Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder in the course of their lifetimes, because of work and financial worries and pressure to succeed. That’s five times the anxiety rate among people in Third World nations such as Nigeria.
The Atlantic
Cell phone tapping increases
The nation’s cellphone carriers handled 1.3 million requests by law-enforcement agencies last year to snoop on users’ calls, text messages, and location. The number of such requests is rising by about 15 percent every year.
The Wall Street Journal
Political advertising soars
Political advertising on the presidential, congressional, state, and local campaigns this year will approach $10 billion nationwide, according to Borrell Associates, a media consulting firm. That would be a 43 percent increase from the $7 billion spent during the 2008 election.
Los Angeles Times
In spite of drug war, cost of cocaine drops
Despite the $25 billion the U.S. has spent on “the war on drugs,” the price of one gram of cocaine has actually dropped 16 percent since 2001.
The New York Times
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What will security guarantees for Ukraine look like?Today's Big Question From boots on the ground to economic sanctions, here are the measures that might stop Russia taking another bite out of Ukraine
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The US Open's controversial 'superstars' doubles formatTalking Point New shortened competition attracts star pairings and bigger audiences to grand slam tennis event
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Crossword: August 21, 2025The Week's daily crossword
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State prison admissions fall, and morefeature With states decriminalizing marijuana and scaling back 1970s-era drug laws, admissions to state prisons have declined.
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Abortion rate falls to new low, and more
feature The U.S. abortion rate has fallen to its lowest level since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
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The Roberts court, and more
feature The John Roberts–led U.S. Supreme Court is actually less activist than any Supreme Court in the last 60 years.
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Largest campaign in history, Abstinence sex-ed, 390-foot yacht
feature Barack Obama's campaign has already hired 1,400 part- and full-time workers, triple the number of John McCain’s, and is hiring more.
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Legally blind, Spitzer's room, Friday the 13th
feature There are some 10 million visually impaired people in the U.S., including about 1.3 million who, like David Paterson, the new governor of New York, are legally blind. Despite laws making it illegal to discriminate against the blind. . .