Archive
Fast Food Giants Picking Their Workers’ Pockets
No matter how small the haul, a thief is a thief, right? If a poverty-wage fast-food worker sneaks out a couple of burgers to take home to the kids, the bosses yell: "Thief!" But what do you call it when the bosses steal from those same workers? How about outrageous,...
The Manning Up Problem
Putting Main Street in the Driver’s Seat
As we know, the barons of Wall Street haven't hesitated to raid our public treasury and haul off trillions of dollars worth of government bailouts and special tax breaks to subsidize their "free market" ventures. So guess who's the major force pushing policymakers to...
This Week in OtherWords: May 28, 2014
This week in OtherWords, Fran Teplitz questions the Justice Department's reluctance to prosecute banks and bankers for their misdeeds that triggered the financial crisis and Sam Pizzigati applauds California and Rhode Island state lawmakers for taking steps to rein in...
Modernizing Memorial Day
Whoever made the decision to open the National September 11 Memorial Museum just a few days before Memorial Day was both bold and intuitive. The theme of remembrance unites both events, but the 9/11 memorial is a departure because it is dedicated to those so often...
Too Big to Sue
The range of abuses and crimes committed by banks seems to grow without end. As soon as one predatory practice fades from the headlines, another appears moments later. Remember bank payday loans, a kind of short-term lending with annual interest rates of up to 365...
Rape 101
Prospective female students may have a new question for admissions counselors as part of the college decision-making process: How likely am I to be raped on your campus? This is no idle inquiry. According to new statistics, women have a 1-in-5 chance of being the...
A New Front in the CEO Pay Wars
Have you heard about Domino's Pizza CEO J. Patrick Doyle? He pocketed $43 million over the last three years running an operation that stiffs low-wage workers and rakes in taxpayer subsidies. That news prompted the New York Post to open its coverage with a rather...
A Gust of Nuclear-Powered Hot Air
Have you heard how nuclear power is a low-carbon solution that could ratchet down climate change? Even former Environmental Protection Agency chief Carol Browner is touting the industry for its supposed reliability, low-cost, and diminutive carbon footprint. For...
Samsung’s Broken Apology App
Sometimes, corporate chieftains actually step forward to apologize for the abuse they inflict on workers, consumers, communities, and the environment. The word "sometimes" makes such apologies seem more common than they are. "Once in a blue moon" is more like it....
