| Free-speech debate: How does a tolerant society defend its values? Posted: 30 Aug 2017 01:35 PM PDT ![Free-speech debate: How does a tolerant society defend its values?]( "Free-speech debate: How does a tolerant society defend its values?") It's trickier than it might seem, given the First Amendment to the Constitution and America's general heritage. Consider the American Civil Liberties Union, which earlier this month defended the right of white supremacists to march in Charlottesville, Va. The ACLU leadership faced a blistering backlash from many members who felt that some speech might indeed be too offensive to protect. "Where is the line between protected speech and that which is unacceptable in public discourse?" says Gordon Coonfield, an associate professor of communications at Villanova University in Philadelphia.
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| Harvey’s lesson in weather forecasting Posted: 30 Aug 2017 12:52 PM PDT ![Harvey's lesson in weather forecasting]( "Harvey's lesson in weather forecasting") The letter states: "Dear weatherman, I just shoveled a foot of 'partly cloudy' off my driveway." Such easy jabs at inaccurate forecasts are much fewer these days. Satellite imaging, sensors, and computer modeling now provide forecasts with a far better record than even a few years ago. The forecasts were not yet perfect enough for first responders to know every neighborhood that might be inundated.
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| How Poland is testing the limits of the EU 'experiment' Posted: 30 Aug 2017 12:34 PM PDT ![How Poland is testing the limits of the EU 'experiment']( "How Poland is testing the limits of the EU 'experiment'") Poland is testing the limits of Europe's 70-year-old experiment in conferring peace and democracy on this once bloody continent by the soft power of cooperative integration. The European Union's confrontation with Warsaw concerns nothing as tangible as austerity (as with Greece) or taxes (as with Ireland). What has brought the first-ever disciplinary action against an EU member is Poland's political encroachment on the intangible principles of rule of law and democratic separation of powers that Warsaw vowed to uphold when it joined the EU in 2004. Far from contesting specific charges, the ultranationalist government of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) revels in its expanding influence over the judiciary, media, military, civil service, education, and civil society since it won the general election of 2015.
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| How Big Labor is wooing working-class Trump voters back to Democratic fold Posted: 30 Aug 2017 12:03 PM PDT ![How Big Labor is wooing working-class Trump voters back to Democratic fold]( "How Big Labor is wooing working-class Trump voters back to Democratic fold") President Trump kicked off his sales pitch for a tax overhaul Wednesday, speaking in the red state of Missouri where endangered Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is up for reelection. It's meant to keep white, working-class voters – and many others – backing his agenda and in his camp as Congress returns to work next week with an eye toward the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats cast themselves as the party of "the little guy," though Trumka also said he would support anyone who is good for working people.
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