From time to time, I wonder what happened to Kiki. I interviewed her at a pizzeria in downtown Merrick in June 2004. At the time, she was 16 and a Calhoun High School junior. And she drank –– a lot. more

I plugged a simple search term into Google last week: “Were Afghanistan and Iraq worth it?” Tens of thousands of entries popped up. more

The dichotomy between inBloom’s website, featuring photos of smiling elementary-age children seated beside young teachers, tablets in hand, and its seven-page Privacy and Security Policy, full of legalese, could not be more stark. more

If New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were trying during an April 25 news conference to reassure the public that the city’s security infrastructure was tight enough to stave off a terrorist attack, they weren’t doing a very good job of it. more

There has long been a terrible assumption about school success: It largely depends on the genetic code with which you were born. more

I was standing atop a mound of dried reed grass, piled high inside a circle of scrub brush, plucking up plastic pens and aluminum cans and depositing them in a big black garbage bag, when the ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way. more

The book’s front cover looks friendly, uplifting even. The title –– “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” –– is set against an azure sky flecked by wispy white clouds. more

President Obama was officially sworn in for his second term on Sunday, and the inauguration festivities got under way early on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. more

The eight students and one teacher shuffled into the center of what was left of the dining room of a red-brick ranch home on a canal in Long Beach’s East End last Friday. more

Quick: Where do hurricanes originate? A. Antarctica B. The Southern Ocean C. The Sahara Desert D. The Indian Ocean. more