This week in OtherWords, Jill Richardson looks at the Texas factory explosion in the context of whether we should be using so much nitrogen fertilizer in the first place and William A. Collins and I review recent progress toward ending the prohibition on pot.

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  1. A Reasonable Food Fight / Ryan Alexander
    President Obama’s efforts to overhaul the nation’s global food aid system are sensible.
  2. Our Biggest Terrorist Threat / Marc Morial
    Senate inaction on guns was inexcusable in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
  3. Shameless Bipartisanship / Richard Long
    Two once-prominent politicians who disgraced themselves in sex scandals are angling for a return to public life.
  4. Saber-Rattling on the Korean Peninsula / Justin Bresolin
    Aggressive posturing only increases the likelihood of a dangerous miscalculation.
  5. Stopping the Senseless Carnage / Donald Kaul
    Could we just cut back on warfare a little?
  6. Tracking CEO Pay / Sam Pizzigati
    The most important executive compensation indicator is the gap between what CEOs and their workers are paid.
  7. The Price of Our Fertilizer Addiction / Jill Richardson
    Compared to the lifetime of grieving ahead for the people of West, Texas, a few years of reduced crop yields is a small price to pay for converting from “conventional” to organic farming.
  8. Making Poverty a Crime / Jim Hightower
    Jailing indigents for debts costs the courts way more than the fines they owe and violates the Constitution.
  9. The Pot Prohibition Runs Its Course / Emily Schwartz Greco and William A. Collins
    Now that most Americans support the legalization of marijuana, some Republicans back the right of states to stop banning it.
  10. Holy Smokes / Khalil Bendib
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Emily Schwartz Greco

Emily Schwartz Greco is the managing editor of OtherWords, a non-profit national editorial service run by the Institute for Policy Studies OtherWords.org

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