Osama bin Laden is gone. The war in Iraq is over. Afghanistan is coming to a close.

Whether you agree or disagree with privatization, two things are obvious. First, taxpayers need to be asking more and better questions before handing over control of critical public assets like a highway, an airport, or a parking meter concession. And second, Uncle Sam is being played for a sucker.

When we engage in the critical decisions about our nation's future budgets, I want progressive voices at the table to argue that we must protect the most vulnerable in our society and demand fairness in budget cuts.

I have always been critical and skeptical of fast-tracking. It is a take-it-or-leave-it approach to trade agreements which really deals members of Congress and their concerns out of the picture.

Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave.

For a man who has done his natural duty, death is as natural as sleep.

My life was very tenuous last year. My daughter's death, in March in 2007, was unexpected. It was a shock. I didn't know if I'd survive it.

I've realised darkness and light are inter-dependent, just as death is an enhancer of life.