Archive
The Price of Admission
Gosh, I feel so much safer now that teenage ticket takers at the Regal chain of movie theaters have been directed by corporate chieftains to search the purses of their female customers.
Vote for This Clown
Just Don’t Say Climate Change
Our weather keeps getting weirder. We’re seeing record-busting heat waves, droughts, thaws, and forest fires, freakish “derecho” storms, and spring striking weeks too early. Most of these trends are either caused or exacerbated by another, underlying problem: climate change.
The One Percent Supreme Court: A Conversation with the Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel
Martha Burk interviews Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation magazine and a Washington Post columnist. They talked about the poisoning of politics by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, and what can be done about it.
This Week in OtherWords: September 17-23, 2012
Katie Halper’s second guest column unpacks Rep. Joe Walsh’s “greatest hits.”
Baseball Escapism
Seated in the upper deck at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, during a Giants-Rockies game, you wouldn’t know millions of Americans are underwater and unemployed, or that the 2012 elections were less than two months away. The large man seated next to me cups his hand over his mouth to scream, “Colorado, you suck” and other such sagacious slogans as the game creeps on, and the sun sets over San Francisco Bay.
The Latest Battle in the War on Voting
The Republican Party claims to be the party of small government — with the obvious exceptions of denying marriage equality and reproductive rights. But there is another kind of big government that the party has overwhelmingly, enthusiastically gotten behind: expensive and intrusive attempts to make it harder for Americans to vote.
Poor Visibility
If you listen to the experts, the presidential election comes down to one thing: the economy. The job market is awful, and both of the major party candidates talk a lot about what they propose to do to strengthen the middle class.
Disabled on the Job, Fired without Severance or Benefits
Jorge Parra, a welder at General Motors’ South American Colmotores subsidiary, performed manual labor at an assembly plant near Bogotá until he was disabled. The Colombian underwent three surgeries and now walks with a cane and has several screws in his spine. GM fired him when he could no longer work due to his repetitive strain injuries. He wound up with no medical benefits or severance pay.
Chicago and the Psychology of Teacher Bashing
Last year, state lawmakers in Illinois did their best to make a Chicago teacher strike impossible. They passed a new law that required at least 75 percent of the city’s teachers to OK any walkout in advance.
