Archive
A Primer for Taming Corporate Power
The 79-year-old corporate gadfly Robert Monks, the former top federal regulator over America's pension system, earlier this year opined that Corporate America operates "for the personal enrichment and glorification of its manager-kings." Too harsh a judgment? Hardly....
Those Uninvited Guests at Your Barbecue
Planning a Memorial Day barbecue? When you buy meat for that festive meal, watch out for some uninvited guests. An alarming amount of American meat harbors not just pathogens, but "superbugs" — antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For now, you'd better cook your meat well...
The Parched Truth about American Jobs
At last, some excellent economic news for folks long-mired in the stagnant labor market. "Jobs Spring Back," exclaimed a typical headline on recent reports that 165,000 private-sector jobs were added in April. Wow — the thunderous, three-year boom of prosperity that...
Don’t Fence Me In
No job now, Provides the pay, To let me find, A place to stay. Many folks with big incomes are responding to the tensions of America's growing economic inequality by moving into gated communities. This isn't new, just growing more common. Ten percent of us are already...
Superbugs at the Supermarket
Rep. Gohmert Wins Nincompoop Roundup
My state of Texas seems to have an inordinate share of nincompoops in public office. But it's only fair that office holders from other states be considered before deciding which one is the nincompoopiest of all. Give credit to Pennsylvania, for example, whose GOP...
Heritage’s Immigration Nightmare
The Heritage Foundation's recently unveiled and long-awaited report on the Senate immigration proposal certainly brought the ultra-conservative think tank lots of attention. But it's not the kind that's likely to prove influential. Republican leaders, including Rep....
This Week in OtherWords: May 8, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Jason Salzman makes the case against the Koch brothers' potential purchase of the Los Angeles Times and other Tribune Media newspapers while Jim Hightower weighs in on the larger context behind the recent garment worker tragedy in Bangladesh....
Turning Journalism into a Joke
If you hear someone talking about journalism these days, they're usually complaining about how the industry is collapsing. Or how terribly biased the media is, one way or the other. But every time the annual White House Correspondents Dinner rolls around, the word...
Ohio’s Poorly Performing School Assessment
I recently learned that I teach at a persistently poor performing school. It happened after Ohio bureaucrats unveiled new, "more rigorous" criteria for determining success and failure in the state's public schools. My district, previously deemed worthy of "continuous...
