Archive
Don’t Make the Border a Wasteland
Some Americans think of the U.S.-Mexico border as a wasteland. In fact, the mountains and deserts of our borderlands are teeming with wildlife. Here you'll find large cats like the jaguar, the subject of my research. Jaguar sightings have been reported in New Mexico...
Billionaires Won’t Save the World — Just Look at Elon Musk
Will Mars save humanity? Or will our savior be billionaire Elon Musk? Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, humbly believes we don’t have to choose. Mars will save us, he promises, and Musk himself will engineer this Mars miracle. In 2019, Musk claims, SpaceX will start...
Nurses Are Calling #TimesUp on Domestic Abuse
Few people think of nurses like me as being on the frontlines of domestic violence prevention, but we are. Among the thousands of patients I’ve treated, I’ve seen countless women who were abused. When my decades of experience and instincts as an ER nurse prompt me to...
To Believe In Science, You Have to Understand How It’s Done
I met a climate crisis denier today. It came out of nowhere. I was getting my camera repaired, and I was chatting with the repairman afterward. Just before I left, he dropped into our conversation that he didn't believe in manmade climate change. After all, the earth...
What’s the Point of Satire Anymore?
Some might call the Trump administration a murderous mob. Specifically, they've been serial killers of the English language. The word "fact" was their first victim, assassinated last year by one of Trump’s mobsters who poisoned it with a toxic substance named:...
The ‘Other Shoe’ Just Keeps Dropping on the White House
In OtherWords: March 14, 2018
This week, thousands of students are walking out of classrooms all over the country to advocate for stronger gun control measures. In case you missed it, we've covered this issue a lot lately: Mitchell Zimmerman says that putting armed guards in schools is no...
Teachers Deserve a Raise. Here’s How to Fund It.
Teachers are ready to revolt. That’s the message we should take away from West Virginia, where educators in every county went on strike recently. The teachers secured a major victory, including a 5 percent raise for state employees. The win couldn't be more...
Business Leaders Agree: Inequality Hurts The Bottom Line
For decades, big business leaders have warned that redistributing wealth is bad for business. Taxing the rich to pay for infrastructure and education, they say, will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. But what if it’s the opposite? What if decades of stagnant...
Clean Energy is Calling. Will Your Phone Company Answer?
There currently is a cavernous lack of leadership in our federal government on tackling climate change. Fortunately, cities, states, universities, and some businesses have stepped up to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and grow our renewable energy. But there’s...
