Archive
A Big Season for Falling Stars
Reversals of fortune can be breathtaking. One minute, people are riding high, surfing the wave of life. The next, they tip over like capsized canoes. Take Paula Deen. This Typhoid Mary of the obesity epidemic made untold fortunes in becoming the unchallenged champion...
A More Perfect Union
Ten generations have come and gone since 1776. Yet the Founders still fascinate us. Books about Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington still regularly dot our best-seller lists. What so attracts us to these men of means who put their security and...
Canning Ain’t Rocket Science
When I arrived to help my friends Tom and Terri with their garden, they eagerly showed me a 10-pound zucchini. "I just wanted to see how big it would get," Tom said, explaining why he didn't pick it when it was smaller. "Do you want it?" "I'll take it," I replied,...
Padding the Bottom Line by Gouging the Customer
Mothers the world over have told their children a zillion times: "Stop playing with your food!" I now share their frustration. I'd like to yell at the conglomerate packagers of America's victuals: "Stop playing with our food!" Actually, they're playing with our heads,...
Grave New World
On the web, Or on the phone, One thing's sure: You're not alone. In my own malcontent civic organization, Veterans For Peace, we've always known we were being watched. We are, after all, against war. And we're impolite enough about it to hold up signs. We've been...
One More Untaxed Bite at the Apple
Oh Say Can You See Through the Frackers’ Big Lie?
Big Oil's frackers are wrapping their shameless profiteering in our flag. In shale fields across the country, you'll see fracking rigs festooned with Old Glory, and they even paint some of their rigs red, white, and blue. This ostentatious patriotic pose is part of...
Battle of the Studies
Before I went to college, my high school advisors strongly encouraged me to choose a "practical" major. Science, technology, engineering, math — any of these fields would lead to a promising career. I rebelled. I chose to study international affairs and history....
DOMA’s Demise
I arrived at the Supreme Court a half hour before decision time, only to wade into a sea of rainbow, red, white, and blue. The last time I was here was in March. Bundled into my coat and scarf, I joined a demonstration outside the court as opening arguments were heard...
This Week in OtherWords: June 26, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Julian Bond calls on Congress to fix the mistakes the Supreme Court made in its ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act. Given that our cartoonist Khalil Bendib had so masterfully illustrated the many ways that voting rights were under attack...
