Margin Notes by Kevin Clarke

Work-related injury
How much do workers have to celebrate this labor day?

Harmful effects
The war on drugs isn't working. In fact, it is making the problem even worse.

Our seamy garments
Buyer beware: That low-priced shirt might have cost someone their life.

A disarming deal
Can a global pact control the world's leathal weapons trade?

Direct deposit
Cutting out the middleman may increase the value of our charitable donations.

Full of surprises
Pope Benedict kept us guessing—especially on matters of social justice.

A farewell to arms
Our best shot at protecting the common good isn’t to keep loading up on guns.

No small sacrifice
We can’t afford to lose our children to the ravages of war.

Left out to dry
Those least responsible for our flood of climate change concerns are bearing the brunt of the storm.

Out of the ashes
Can an ambassador’s death be the seed of a better future?

Less isn't more
Solutions to poverty’s big challenges don’t come in smaller packages.

Sleeping through genocide?
The world needs a wake-up call to save a population at risk of meeting a violent end.

Invest for success
Bonding with those most in need can yield big returns.

Waist management
Banning the Big Gulp isn’t enough to tip the scales in America’s obesity epidemic.

Poor spending choices
Getting our nation’s budget priorities in order will require a show of solidarity.

Under the influence
The special interest groups pulling legislators’ strings can no longer hide in the shadows.

This means war
Arguments for U.S. military action in Iran feel like a case of déjà vu all over again.

Down and out of site
Those who’ve become last in the unemployment line should be our first priority.

Smoke and mirrors
America’s inflated self-image doesn’t reflect our nation’s obvious flaws.

Unbalanced diet
Our eating binge is purging the developing world of access to healthy foods.

Of human bondage
How oppressed exactly do workers have to be before we consider them slaves?

Yule shall overcome
Amid cries of economic catastrophe, let holiday cheer take the place of fear.

A killer toothache
It’s the hidden tragedies that tell the real tale of our nation’s economic woes.

Starved for attention
With billions in aid on the chopping block, who is looking out for the world’s poor?

The wages of war
A trillion-dollar price tag isn’t the only cost of war.

Leave no trace
The modern world threatens the existence of a small group of our own species.

Little house in the big city
Can the $300 home add dignity to the lives of the world’s poorest people?

Star power
The energy policy of the future should be sung to the tune of “Here Comes the Sun.”

We're sticking to the union
Don’t paint public workers as a public enemies; they’re just working for the common good.

Tweet like an Egyptian
The Internet keeps its promise in Egypt.

Collateral damage
If profit is the prime motive, the poor will always get the raw end of the deal. 

Papal prescription
The pope’s stance on health care may be hard pill to swallow for opponents of reform.

Broke in the 'burbs
The country's cities may no longer be the epicenters of poverty.

Silent flight
The land of Jesus' birth may soon be without Christians to celebrate it.

Take the next exit
When it comes to economic growth, the express lanes are closed.

Born in the U.S.A.
American birthright citizenship is downright Constitutional.

Union made in China
Workers might have to go half way around the world to celebrate Labor Day this year.

Let's do shots!
Booze and bullets are a lethal cocktail no matter how you shake it.

Bombs away
President Obama wants to lock up nukes—but he isn’t about to throw away the key.

Can this marriage be saved?
A little counseling might help get the Israel-U.S. partnership back on track.

Working for the common grid
Reducing our collective carbon footprint can be as easy as plugging in.

Go outside and play
Falls and fresh air can teach kids the most important lessons of faith and life.

More out of Africa
A deal that sounds too good to be true probably is-especially for subsistence farmers

A few fit men
We should be helping America’s young people really be all that they can be.

Welcome to the Motel California
What was once such a lovely place is becoming the country’s financial flophouse.

This is your country on drugs
Countries who live in glass houses should take care when criticizing others’ anti-drug efforts.

Please, Sir, I want some more
The nation's most vulnerable children are getting the short end of the spending stick.

You want fries with that
Fast food has meant a slow death for thousands. Why aren't we doing more about it?

Let them eat cash
The hungry of the world make an uncommonly good investment opportunity.

Whose child is this?
"Banning" Mexico City's street kids only moves their plight from sight

Will teach for tenure
Glaring double standards on workers' rights are far from a class act.

The drone wars
High-tech warfare administers death from a great distance

When enough is enough
Why a future of endless economic growth is not the cure for what ails the earth

¡Romero vive!
"The harvest comes because of the grain that dies."

Promises to keep
Barack Obama's election was historic, but can his presidency be great?

We should still give unto others 
After the Wall Street wipeout, in a world full of hurt, we're still our brothers' keepers.

Between Iraq and no place
Iraqis are on the move away from their broken nation. Who will be responsible for them?

Let my people stay
How to deal with the immigration “problem”? Give people a real choice on migration.

Let them eat corn
Our agricultural priorities should be on filling hungry bellies, not fuel tanks.

Now that’s a cold war!
Let’s melt these nationalists’ cold, cold hearts and build an Arctic circle of cooperation.

Paper chase
The right paperwork can save lives among the world’s stateless people.

Reality bites back
New show ideas are endless—and depressing—when real life is the true basis of TV.

Spending like there's no tomorrow
It's time for Uncle Sam to call a credit counselor

I think I can, I think I can
A 19th-century mode of transport may be the answer to our current environmental woes

Home sweet biohazard
There's no place like home, as long as parents prevent it from becoming toxic

Womb for rent
Have infertile couples taken a maternity leave of their senses?

Hot enough for you?
The world's poor face an even bleaker future than polar bears, thanks to global warming

No more CARE packages
Instead of dumping grain in poverty-stricken regions, we should be investing cash

Cracks in the system
Deferring infrastructure maintenance for war spending builds a bridge to nowhere

Code blue
The patient is ailing, the prognosis is poor. It's the nation's major medical emergency

Be our guest
The U.S. should be a good host and protect the migrant workers who knock on our door

Troubled waters
Billions of the world's poorest are being denied even the most basic natural resource

Dispatches from Decatur
Community is the first casualty in America's labor wars

They can do it
Third World women could be the new recruits in the global war on poverty

These American lives
Undocumented stories