Archive
For-Profit Colleges Are Scandal Machines
The nation's for-profit, private college industry is a study in horror. Start with the fact that it actually calls itself an "industry." Excuse me, but education is a social investment — not an industrial product. Next, this so-called "private" industry depends almost...
A Chip Off the Old Pharmaberg
The Trans-Pacific Trade Scam
Last spring, President Barack Obama got downright crabby about people criticizing the mammoth Trans-Pacific Partnership he's trying to sell to Congress and the public. More and more Americans are learning that the TPP would undermine America's very sovereignty, giving...
Partnering with the Devil
As a raker of muck, it's my job to root out the nefarious doings and innate immorality of the corporate creature. But these days I'm being rendered obsolete by how ordinary corporate nefariousness has become. The wrongdoings of major corporations, and even entire...
In OtherWords: December 16, 2015
This week in OtherWords, Jill Richardson questions whether America was so great for everyone during those supposedly halcyon times GOP candidates want to bring back, Ethan Miller explains why millennials better start saving for retirement, and John Kiriakou points out...
A Green and Dirty Gift
As lawmakers scurried to keep the government open and head home for the holidays, they wrapped spending and tax deals into a costly measure that highlighted our nation’s mismatched energy policies. Specifically, this monster bill extended and restored tax incentives...
In Dark Times, Poetry Can Enlighten Us
Following the Paris terrorist attacks, the colors of the French flag appeared on American computer screens, in the icons of apps and the faces of friends on Facebook. As this solidarity with the people of France surged, Americans with connections to the Middle East...
Fear-mongering Hurts Us All
Representative Loretta Sanchez voiced the fears of a growing number of Americans when she spoke recently with Larry King as details about the San Bernardino shooters emerged. “We know that there is a small group” of Muslims, the California Democrat said — “anywhere...
Millennials Better Start Thinking About Retirement
I’m only 24, but I signed up for the 401(k) plan at work as soon as I qualified. I’m privileged to have a responsible employer and to belong a union that fought for its members’ right to enjoy decent retirement benefits. Many of my friends aren’t so lucky. My employer...
The San Bernardino Massacre Isn’t Part of a ‘World War’
Why should a “Muslim” shooting outrage us so much more than other mass shootings? “Our nation is under siege,” Chris Christie declared after the San Bernardino murders. “We’re facing the next world war.” Other candidates issued their own battle cries. Donald Trump...
