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This Week in OtherWords: November 20, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Jill Richardson talks turkey, William A. Collins and I call for a new economy, and Marc Morial asks whether we're becoming a nation of bullies. Be sure to check our blog, especially on Tuesdays. That's when we run a bonus commentary by Jim...
A Typhoon Tax
Americans are generous by nature. About half of U.S. families contributed to earthquake relief in Haiti in 2010, and millions of us have already supported typhoon aid for the Philippines. But there’s a golden opportunity for our country to do much more. We can help...
The United States of Bullying
When 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick jumped to her death from an abandoned concrete plant tower in early September after intense bullying by two other girls, it made headlines around the world. While some teen-on-teen bullying was once accepted as a rite of passage, we...
Save the Turkeys
It's odd that the most iconic feature of Thanksgiving — the turkey — is likely the most unnatural. It's got competition, of course, from the jellied cranberry sauce that retains the shape of its can and various food products sold in boxes marked "Just Add Water."...
‘Tis the Season to Celebrate Mammon
Here come Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. It's a month-long season of friends and family, spiritual reflection, and time to decompress from our usual helter-skelter lives, right? Good lord, shout the corporate bosses, are you nuts? Do you think America is some...
Upgrading Our Clunker Economy
Pondering America's economic system is a bit like going to the mechanic with your old heap and being told there's nothing more he can do. It's time for a new economy, but we're going to keep our clunker economy that persists only because so many bigwigs profit...
Genetically Engineered Truth
The Swiss Take Aim at Executive Excess
Something astounding is happening in Switzerland. For the first time ever, citizens in a modern nation are voting on whether to create what essentially amounts to a "maximum wage." On November 24, the Swiss will vote on a ballot initiative that bans any Swiss...
Genetic Engineering Lies Prevail Again
If you doubt that big money and lies can pervert elections, look at Initiative 522 in Washington State. A grassroots coalition of consumers, organic producers, environmentalists, and others who want honesty in food labeling put it on the ballot. They lost. The measure...
CEOs Against Grandmas
David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell, has more than $134 million in his personal retirement fund. If I were sitting on a nest egg that big, I might feel a bit sheepish about telling ordinary grandmas and grandpas to take a cut in their Social Security payments. But Cote —...
