A whole bunch of big technological shocks occurred when Asian innovations - paper, gunpowder, the stirrup, the moldboard plow and so on - came to Europe via the Silk Road.

Artificial lighting, air-conditioning, and automobiles, all powered by fossil fuels, swaddle us in our giddy modernity. In our ergonomic chairs and acoustical-panel cubicles, we sit cozy as kings atop 300 years of flaming carbon.

Americans are willing to cheer on politicians who denounce bureaucratic overreach and job-killing red tape in abstract terms. But they turn out to like specific regulations against toxic chemicals in their drinking water.

The queue of activists, interest groups, and ordinary people wringing their hands over what a President Donald Trump might do in office is long, and environmentalists are at the front of the line.

The details surrounding both my marriage and subsequent filing for divorce are private, and I had hoped to keep them that way for the sake of my family.

Divorce is never a nice thing, but it's very easy to take family for granted, and when there's a divorce, you don't take things for granted so much.

Growing up, I used to watch 'Happy Days,' 'Laverne & Shirley,' 'All in the Family.' Those were the shows I watched growing up with my family. And, believe it or not, 'McMillan and Wife' and 'Columbo.'

The fate of a child is in the hands of his parents.