"The Tears of Dark Water" is about Somalia and the multi-dimensional fallout of the 20-year civil war on the Somali people and the rest of the world, including piracy, terrorism, child soldiers, and refugees. I wanted to write a book that would tackle the age-old problem of violence and its consequences for ordinary human beings, both those who perpetrate it and those who are victimized by it.

The US Congress passed a five-year, $305 billion highway construction bill Thursday, sending it to President Obama who will sign it into law. The final bill, after protracted bipartisan negotiations, cleared the House of Representatives by a 359-65 vote and passed the Senate by a margin of 83-16. Three Republican senators who are running for president, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, voted against the bill.

some notes on the film "Suffragette": women suffering=>women's suffrage

If Republicans want to vote down this largely symbolic and hypocritical gun control legislation by Democrats, that's their prerogative. But let's not pretend that they suddenly care about the due process rights that they have spent the last decade and a half attempting to destroy.