Archive
A Step the Government Can Take to Reduce Inequality
Americans don't like Big Business. And they don't like government waste. Put the two together, and we have a nightmare scenario: public money lining the pockets of corporate bigwigs. Even as federal government workers' pay is repeatedly targeted for reductions and...
Why I’m Breathing Easier in 2014
For the first time in years, I've got health insurance. Before now, my "insurance" was nothing more than exercise, a healthy diet, and medicinal herbs. I've gotten insured through the Affordable Care Act without dealing with a buggy website because I live in...
This California Scheme Is Bad for Your Health
In this wicked world of woe, there are hucksters, flimflammers, plain ol' crooks...and Republican members of the California Assembly. This last bunch of scoundrels went out of their way to monkeywrench the rollout of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. This...
The War on Ourselves
When Newtown observed the first anniversary of its tragic 2012 massacre, the locals asked for the media to stay away. For the most part, journalists gave them the space they needed to privately grieve. That quiet reflection didn't mean there was no wallowing in and...
Finding the Real Mother of Obamacare
Flashback: The Red Sox and the White House
Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little's team was on track to beat the New York Yankees in the American League baseball playoffs when he made the decision to stick with a faltering star pitcher rather than change strategy and call in relief help. Thus he became the...
A Financial New Year’s Resolution
On Nov. 26, a group of witnesses, citizens, journalists, and elected officials filed into a public hearing in Washington, DC on how the government might divert taxpayer dollars from supporting the most polluting fossil fuel companies. Are you surprised? Do you think...
Leasing Out Integrity to Coca-Cola
Irony is dead. It has been garroted by reality. For proof, check out the Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness. Sounds like a spa in Arizona where you might enjoy a cleansing regimen of aloe vera smoothies, doesn't it? But, no, it's a hokey "science" front owned...
This Week in OtherWords: December 27, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Bob Lord delves into the question of what it will mean when someone becomes the first trillionaire, Jill Richardson encourages everyone to adopt a low-carbon diet, and Donald Kaul shares a Christmas memory from 50 years ago in a poignant new...
Chill the Drills in America’s Arctic
America’s Arctic is a place like no other. Its unique conditions — extreme weather, long periods of darkness, and its remoteness from infrastructure, make it both extremely harsh and fragile. Here, sea ice meets the northern edge of the continent, and animals...
