One way the Tea Party has benefited female candidates - and the conservative movement generally - is by consciously steering clear of social issues.

Ever since viewing screens entered the home, many observers have worried that they put our brains into a stupor. An early strain of research claimed that when we watch television, our brains mostly exhibit slow alpha waves - indicating a low level of arousal, similar to when we are daydreaming.

I grew up in a working-class Israeli family, which was feminist only in its female-dominated structure.

When women gain access to higher education and then suddenly start doing better at it than the men, that can really throw the prevailing social order out of balance. That's exactly what's happened in South Korea, which is a highly patriarchal society. They started educating women, and then they were no longer the women that society wants them to be. That caused a real cultural crisis.

To apply for a gifted program, children as young as 4 are required to sit through hour-long verbal exams.

As we get used to women in power, we are likely to discover that they behave much like powerful men - vain, entitled, always looking for more.

The launch of a space shuttle can still make you weep with amazement and wonder, if you happen to be watching it.