Archive
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...
We Need to Talk About ‘Free Trade’
America, can we talk? We need to talk about "free trade." We've needed to have this conversation for a while, actually. Like, since the 1980s. For the past several decades, the U.S. political establishment has advocated free trade as part of a broader economic...
Forget the Dow Jones. How’s Doug Jones?
Language matters. For example, the words that corporate and government officials use to report on the health of America’s economy can either make clear to us commoners what’s going on — or hide and even lie about the reality we face. Consider the most common...
Jeff Sessions Vs. Civil Rights
In OtherWords: March 7, 2018
Would armed guards in schools prevent mass shootings? This week in OtherWords, my colleague Karen Dolan surveys the evidence and concludes: unfortunately, no. In fact, she points out, there are thousands upon thousands of armed guards employed by public schools...
