Archive
Unfriending ALEC
Exactly 54 days after Lisa B. Nelson started her job as the CEO of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), she got some bad news from a major supporter: The tech giant Google wanted out of its relationship with ALEC. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt...
Here Come the Rain and Drought
What is it about natural disasters and irony? Just as local authorities in Detroit were denying thousands of people access to running water, the bankrupt city experienced an epic downpour. More than 4.5 inches of rain pounded Motown in mid-August, causing $1.2 billion...
America’s Grand Fortunes Go Overboard
Imagine yourself part of the typical American family. Your household would have, the Federal Reserve reported in September, a net worth of $81,200. That's not a whole lot of money. But half of America's households would actually have less wealth than you do. Now...
Walk Softly and Carry a Big Beer
OK, that's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. The avarice of corporate power is getting personal. I'm talking about beer, the nourishing nectar of a civilized society. Since my teen years, I've done extensive consumer research on the brewer's art, from the full array of ales...
‘Leave’ Them Alone
This time of year, your trees are sending you a message. Although I grew up in the Midwest, I'm experiencing it anew. After spending eight blissful years in California, I've returned to a state where people wear hats shaped like cheese and where leaves turn colors and...
No Exit Strategy
The Outgoing Texas Ag Commissioner’s Red Meat Agenda
In Texas, not all goobers are produced by peanut farmers. A bumper crop of some of our nuttiest goobers comes out of far-right-wing political soil. Check out this blue-ribbon specimen: Todd Staples. Carefully cultivated by corporate agribusiness powers, he's served as...
In OtherWords: October 8, 2014
This week in OtherWords, Sarah Anderson invokes the Three Stooges to put some rich news on runaway CEO pay into perspective and Peter Hart says that big media outlets are engaging in a new form of climate denial. Do you want to make sure you don’t miss the latest from...
It Takes a Mentor
As high school seniors start to churn out their college applications, elite campuses are trying to catch the attention of high-achieving and gifted low-income students around the country. It may be hard to believe, but schools like Harvard University and Amherst...
The Media’s New Climate Denial
What planet does Big Media think it's living on? Over 300,000 people filled the streets of New York City in September as part of the worldwide People's Climate March, a stirring call for action on global warming. But if you watched TV news that day, you may not have...
