Archive
Obama’s Bloody Red Line
Getting Mother Nature’s Drift
My father was an early member of a group now known disparagingly as "ultra-lawn people." "High," as everyone called him, was dedicated, body and soul, to the Sisyphean task of trying to maintain a lawn full of lush St. Augustine grass in hot, dry Texas. He planted,...
This Week in OtherWords: August 28, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Sam Pizzigati and Emily Swift unpack the shocking findings from the 20th yearly edition of the Executive Excess report on runaway CEO pay from the Institute for Policy Studies. I also encourage you to read the full report, which my IPS...
The Men’s Club
Most people would probably guess that the upper echelon of corporate America is an exclusive, virtually males-only club. And they'd be right. A new Institute for Policy Studies report shows just how exclusive this club is. Over the past two decades, there are only...
Where Are the Women?
At the exact moment that I'm writing this, the New York Times homepage is displaying stories authored by 35 men — and eight women. And three of those eight articles were coauthored with men. You can find this data at WhoWritesFor, a website that tracks authorship on...
America the Wild and Beautiful
In late August, I was lucky enough to celebrate in person the fifth anniversary of the Wild Sky Wilderness area in Washington's Cascade Mountains. This 106,577-acre region is home to rugged mountains, beautiful stretches of pine forests, miles and miles of hiking...
Mexican Food for Thought
As I stepped off a bus in Mexico earlier this month, a tour guide urged my family and everyone else on the trip to go home and tell others that his country was safe. "Nobody got shot, eh?" he asked, explaining that stories about Mexico as a modern-day Wild West...
Nelson Mandela’s Distinction
The year 2000 marked not merely the end of a century but the end of a millennium, a thousand years of history. The media's desire to fill empty space with naming "the Person of the Millennium" became all the rage. George Will, the unfailingly smug conservative...
Paying for Poor Performance
On Wall Street, they're giving Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer the bum's rush. Ballmer has just announced he'll soon retire. After his announcement, Microsoft's shares shot up 7 percent. The wise guys on Wall Street obviously can't wait to see Ballmer go. And neither can...
Back to School Lunch
"It tastes like…" my six-year-old friend paused to search for a word disgusting enough to describe school lunch. "Throw up," she concluded. Her sister, a fifth grader, nodded in agreement. Really? I've heard fantastic reviews of the cafeteria director there. No doubt,...
