During the week of May 7, 2017, the news that the Trump Administration is considering re-escalating U.S. efforts in the Afghan conflict made headlines. In response to what appears to be a resurgent Taliban, military and foreign policy advisers worry that without new, decisive military actions, much ground could be lost in what is now recognized as “America’s longest war.”

We usually applaud those who take initiative and “go above and beyond.” But sometimes “going beyond” is not a good idea. For example, why are there many differing Christian denominations? Did they go “beyond what is written”?

The astonishing outcome of the United Kingdom’s June 8 General Election was the one least expected or desired: a “hung” parliament, in which no clear winner emerged. The pound slumped against the dollar and euro to its lowest levels in seven months. Several newspaper headlines proclaimed “May’s Gamble Backfires.”

Cutting-edge British research published in the prestigious journal Archives of Toxicology reveals that maternal cigarette smoking damages the livers of unborn fetuses. “Scientists found that the cocktail of chemicals in cigarettes is particularly harmful to developing liver cells… Smoking cigarettes, which contain around 7,000 chemicals, can damage foetal organs and may do lasting harm” (BBC, May 29, 2017).