Archive
The War on Hen-Pecking
Chickens had plenty to celebrate on New Year’s Day. Supposedly. After a long wait, California’s 2008 ballot measure to improve conditions for laying hens finally went into effect. Instead of living in cramped cages that give each bird less room than a sheet of paper,...
Obama Strengthens His Backbone
Republican lawmakers are setting the stage for a disastrous two years in Congress marked by manufactured crisis after crisis and ignoring the needs of working families. Fortunately, President Barack Obama is showing some much-needed backbone by refusing to cave to the...
Finally, Some Common Sense on Cannabis
Until recent years, marijuana prohibitionists have been able to intimidate most reform-minded politicians by simply threatening to brand them as "soft on drugs." But finally, thanks to determined activists and broad support from the general public, politicians are...
Who Polices the Pay Police?
One difference between top executives and worker bees is that those at the top can lower the pay of those down below while simultaneously raising their own. If you wonder what's causing America's rapidly widening income gap, there it is. Technically, CEOs do not set...
A Muslim Cartoonist Draws Lessons from the Charlie Hebdo Massacre
As a political cartoonist who happens to be both American and Muslim, I often find myself at the intersection of media curiosity: Muslim, with all the stereotypical notions attached to that, but also a freedom-loving artist and a humorist. I'm not just the butt of...
Ink, Blood, and Tears
In OtherWords: January 7, 2015
This week in OtherWords, Isaiah Poole talks about how the Fight for $15 will ramp up in 2015 and Jim Hightower tackles the corporate hyping of college football. As this new year begins, I would like to offer my deepest thanks to everyone who made a year-end...
Your Smartphone Could Be Poisoning Children
Kim Gunoo is a 15-year-old South Korean boy who has lived with perpetual diarrhea since birth. His first seven months were spent in and out of the hospital, where four major surgeries resulted in the full removal of his large intestine. Ever since, Gunoo has required...
Fight for $15 in ’15
Looking for some good news on the job front? This should be a big year for the "Fight for $15," a national movement to turn low-wage jobs into "living wage" jobs that pay enough to lift workers out of poverty. The movement got a big push in December when pro-living...
Black Wealth Matters
As protesters march through our cities to remind us that black lives matter, grievances about our racially fractured society extend far beyond flashpoints over police violence. What is the state of the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about, particularly as...
