Every congresswoman surely endures the same strains that drive some of her male colleagues to have affairs: lots of travel, families far away, heady work that makes a domestic routine seem distant and boring. But the stakes are much higher for women, because they are still judged by a different standard.

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

The general image of a man in an American sitcom is like a complete moron. You'd think the industry was run by a feminist cabal.

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

NASA projects often have romantic names that link into a long history of exploration and adventure: Atlantis and Discovery, for example.

There are always signs that a reign is ending, and they are usually spotted not in the king himself but in his court. In the inner circle, latent jealousies between advisers spill into open conflict, as they angrily debate who is to blame for the calamity, chewing over each other's past errors and pointing the finger at old and nascent enemies.

That's not a convincing argument. Public sector jobs are cyclical. Teachers get fired when money is tight, then rehired when things get better. Manufacturing jobs, on the other hand, aren't coming back. They're relics of a past age.