Archive
The 2013 Corporate Chutzpah Award
What's simply delicious, even if it's genetically engineered? Irony. For years, advocates of growing crops with genes from other species spliced into their DNA have claimed that this newfangled farming increases crop yields, reduces pesticide use, and provides a host...
A New Housing Emergency
Folks, there's a serious housing shortage in America these days. The stress it's creating for needy families is approaching heart-attack levels. Did you know, for example, that the inventory of million-dollar homes in Carmel, California, dwindled to only four...
Fair Elections, RIP
Voting rights are under attack again — this time it's the Supreme Court's turn. The majority's ruling in the Shelby County vs. Holder case gutted key Voting Rights Act provisions at a time when minority access to the polls faces new obstacles. As Justice Ruth Ginsburg...
Corporate Witchcraft
A Raw Deal from TransCanada and the Texas Railroad Commission
Arrogance is an unpleasant trait. When overlaid with ignorance, it really gets ugly. Meet Arrogance: TransCanada Corporation. The Calgary-based $1.3 billion pipeline giant is now demanding a U.S. permit to run its Keystone XL pipeline right down our country's center...
This Week in OtherWords: June 19, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Sam Pizzigati points out that the contracts our government doles out to private companies to snoop on us are making some corporate executives very rich. As always, our commentaries and cartoons are available for use at no charge in newspapers...
A New Education Debate
You may have seen stories about the poor quality of Washington, D.C.'s public schools. You probably have also heard about how Michelle Rhee was brought from near-obscurity to take over the city's schools, overnight becoming a national symbol of dramatic education...
Failing a Test of the Emergency Broadcast System
In the early morning hours of April 19, some residents of Watertown, Massachusetts, received an automated phone call telling them to "shelter in place" while the suspected Boston marathon bomber roamed the neighborhood. The system worked — to a degree. One homeowner...
Our Star-Spangled Banner Waves for All of Us
Before game three of the recent NBA Finals in San Antonio, Sebastien de la Cruz stepped up to the microphone and belted out the National Anthem. Decked out in his mariachi suit, the 11-year-old "America's Got Talent" alum wowed the crowd with his singing. On social...
Fantasy Budgeting Won’t Make Us Safer
The watchword in Washington has been "cut" for some time. But the House of Representatives headed in the opposite direction when it adopted its version of the National Defense Authorization bill. The bill authorizes $552 billion in military spending next year. That's...
