A conversation with any Chicagoan will inevitably yield a horror story or two about riding the Chicago Transit Authority, ranging from tales of pushy solicitors to unexplained, lengthy delays. But in the winter, some passengers have a more olfactory anecdote: the ripe smell of feces in train cars.The unwelcome stench is most common on the Red and Blue lines because homeless individuals are more likely to take shelter in the 24...

The inaccessibility of vaccines kills 21,000 children every day in underdeveloped countries, accordingto the World Health Organization.Many of these countries and the United Nations lack the means to pay for the distribution of lifesaving treatments they desperately need, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund, and the vaccines that are paid for are often damaged during the transportation process. The question has been ra...

As a young woman, I understand the fear of having a child too early in life. I’m not yet prepared to give up my life in order to raise another. College, jobs, friends, family and my future financial security trump any minute desire to have babies. And trust me, it’s minute.Thankfully, I’ve never had a pregnancy scare with ex-boyfriends nor have any of my close friends. But we all talk about it in hypothetical terms. ...

Once Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination this summer, a buzz over the “Texas jobs machine” started up in political circles and commentaries. The charismatic, coyote-shooting, bible-thumping George W. Bush clone has since jumped to the top of the polls in the Republican field, surpassing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and replacing U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann as the lea...