Archive
The Case for Making Foreign Aid a Two-Way Street
What if I told you there was a lot in Africa that was going right? Now, I don't mean programs that are successfully handing out food aid, treating malaria, or preventing elephant poaching, although I'm sure some of those are succeeding too. I mean intrinsic parts of...
Dr. Spoilsport’s CEO Treatment
Clamping Down on the Labor Extortion Racket
This Labor Day, you can mull some good news about American jobs for a change. Take the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour — please! That poverty pay is a shameful stain on our extremely rich nation. But don't count on Washington, D.C. to lift our wage floor....
Ferguson Exposes the Creeping Militarization of Police Forces
The tragedies unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri, are doubly infuriating.First, there is the obvious outrage of yet another unarmed black teenager being stopped by one of the town's white police officers as he was walking to his grandmother's home. A scuffle...
Racism Goes Postal
In OtherWords: August 13, 2014
This week in OtherWords, William A. Collins and I explain why most efforts to block the spread of green energy are losing and Ron Carver reflects on how Mississippi has (and hasn't) changed half a century after the Freedom Summer. Our longtime columnist Donald Kaul...
As Mississippi Moves on, a New Struggle Arises
Fifty years ago, shortly after the Ku Klux Klan abducted and murdered civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, I was sitting in one of Starkville, Mississippi's few black-owned cafes when Police Chief Thomas Josey stormed in and...
Extreme Makeover: Canal Edition
Panama! Panama-ah-ah-ah! The lyrics from the eponymous Van Halen song could just as easily be the nation's port policy — if the country had one. Panama is nearing completion of retrofitting the Panama Canal to accommodate much larger ships. The prospect of these ships...
Port Truck Drivers Draw a Line in the Sand
Imagine your boss suddenly told you that from now on you were going to be considered an independent contractor. You'd have to pay for your office space, supplies, and equipment. Your employer would deduct those expenses from your paycheck. And you'd have to pay all...
Solar Power Gets Hot, Hot, Hot
With so many homeowners and businesses making greener energy choices, private utilities — along with big oil, gas, coal, and nuclear companies — see the writing on the wall. Unlike some other denizens of the fossil-fueled set, this gang isn't beating oil wells into...
