Archive
Cat’s Pajamas and Other Signs of Holiday Endtimes
Your cat doesn't want to wear pajamas. Really. This shouldn't be a revelation to anyone who's ever seen or met a cat. And yet there are now advertisements for cat pajamas. Apparently, according to the advertiser, you should buy your entire family matching pajamas for...
The Real Spirit of Giving
This special day got me thinking about America's spirit of giving, and I don't mean this overdone business of Christmas gifts. I mean our true spirit of giving — giving of ourselves. Yes, we're a country of rugged individualists. Yet there's also a deep,...
Death and Taxes
In OtherWords: December 13, 2017
This week saw Doug Jones beat Roy Moore, the accused serial sexual predator and GOP Senate candidate, in deep red Alabama. It was a narrow miss, but black voters and millennials helped Jones eek out a victory. Of course, it's hard not to notice that a man also accused...
Corporate Interests Are Warping the Internet
My identity was stolen this year. The perpetrator didn't open credit cards in my name or gain access to my finances. Instead, they used my name to submit a comment to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of repealing net neutrality rules. Those...
A Cruel Holiday Gift for Refugee Families
Two months after experiencing the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, my dad finally made it back home to Boston. What had started as a holiday vacation turned into weeks of sleeping outside the family home in Haiti, fearful that it...
We Agree Assault Is Bad. Let’s Agree on How to Punish It.
Our national debate about sexual harassment and assault seems to be missing a bit of nuance. As a woman who's been sexually harassed and assaulted many times, here's how I see it. Sexual predators aren't the same as pigs. Roy Moore is a predator. His systematic,...
Is This the End of Free and Open Internet Access?
Free and open access to the internet is a virtuous democratic principle known as “net neutrality.” It means that it doesn't matter if you're a brand-name corporation or an unknown start-up, a billionaire or a poverty-wage laborer — you're entitled to equal treatment...
Big League Predators
In OtherWords: December 6, 2017
This past week, the Senate passed the GOP tax bill we've been railing against for weeks at OtherWords. (Clearly many senators need to read better op-eds.) This week, we pile on some more: Jim Hightower explains that this bill is really, really bad for you if you make...
