Archive
The For-Profit College Scam
This spring, around 100 indebted college grads came up with a novel strategy for dealing with their crushing debt: They simply weren't going to pay it. These students — the so-called "Corinthian 100" — attended schools owned by the now-defunct for-profit education...
Coddling the Rich
Question: How much did Congress save taxpayers last year when it cut food stamp benefits for 16 million poor children? Answer: Less than the windfall Congress is trying to bestow on a few of the richest American families by ending the federal estate tax. The House has...
Converting the Fossil-Fuel Fundamentalists
Kicking humanity’s addiction to oil, gas, and coal before those industries render the planet uninhabitable may take a miracle. So it’s a good thing that the climate movement found a patron saint. I’m talking about Pope Francis, of course. Before an upcoming encyclical...
Drink Outside the Box
I recently checked out an upscale yoga studio here in Madison, Wisconsin and discovered a new and disturbing trend: boxed water. Boxed water? OK, I've heard of boxed wine — and maybe even drunk a little. But water? The yoga studio in question appeals to a young,...
The Real Drug Racket
Al Capone, the infamous mob boss and bootlegger in Chicagoland during the 1920s, always maintained that he was just a businessman. The only difference between him and others, he insisted, was that the law criminalized his business while legalizing the criminality of...
Baltimore’s Tolerance Double Standard
Letting Deadly Bosses off the Hook
They say there's honor among thieves. I say: That depends on the thieves. Your common street thief, yes — but not those princely CEOs of corporate larceny. The elites in the top suites are pickpockets, swindlers, thugs, and scoundrels, routinely committing mass...
Letter to Loretto
John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer. Back in 2007, he became the first U.S. government official to confirm — and condemn — the practice of torture by CIA interrogators. After a drawn-out legal battle, federal authorities convicted Kiriakou of leaking classified...
The Baltimore Uprising’s Backstory
What started out as righteous protest over the death of a young black man in the hands of Baltimore cops (he had been accused of “making eye contact with a police officer”) quickly degenerated into a full-scale riot. By nightfall the city was on fire, its hopes for a...
In OtherWords: April 29, 2015
This week in OtherWords, Jill Richardson weighs in on Kraft's macaroni and cheese and Tiffany Williams explains how a government program that encourages public service helped make some of her dreams come true. Do you want to make sure you don’t miss the latest from...
