Archive
Cutting Your Benefits Isn’t the ‘Middle’ Way
The federal budget is, according to many experts, a "political document." It's how our political leaders convey their priorities to the people they serve. So what's the political lesson of Barack Obama's recent budget plan? He apparently thinks older people could get...
ExxonMobil’s Mayflower Mess
Several weeks after ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline gushed at least 500,000 gallons of tar sands crude and water into the Arkansas community of Mayflower, many of the evacuated families still can't return to their homes. Sierra Club organizer Glen Hooks, who grew up...
No Progress on Gun Control to Report
Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to write any more columns on gun control, largely because the exercise is: Futile. A waste of time. Unproductive. But with Congress taking up the issue again and Washington awash with hypocrisy amid rumors of progress, it is a time...
The Art of Inequality
Thomas Campbell directs the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. He's smiling a great deal these days. Why? Campbell has just received something museum directors only dream about: a donation of paintings, drawings, and sculptures worth over $1 billion. The donor:...
How to Send Less Trash to the Landfill
My new neighbor knocked on my door and introduced herself as the vice president of the local homeowner's association. "How friendly!" I thought. "She's welcoming me to the neighborhood." Then she wrinkled her nose and motioned toward an enclosed bin on my porch,...
The Army Goes Off the Grid
Do you know about "net zero"? That's the wonky phrase attached to an elegant idea: converting communities to total renewable energy, complete recycling, and a culture of conservation to bring humankind's carbon footprint into a sustainable balance with a healthy...
Where the Money Is
As foreclosures Trim our ranks, The biggest scoundrels Are still the banks. The nation's big banks are making big profits again. Whew! I was a little worried there for a minute. During America's recent financial meltdown we actually lost a few biggies, and plenty more...
Sacrificing Social Security
This Week in OtherWords: April 10, 2013
This week in OtherWords, David Elliot highlights some of the hidden costs of the nation's supersized military might and Raul A. Reyes applauds the Associated Press style book update that may herald the end of "illegal" people in the mainstream media. If you're an...
On Tax Day, Consider the Hidden Costs of War
April 15 isn't just Tax Day. It's also known as the Global Day of Action on Military Spending. People around the world mark the occasion by protesting the vast resources allocated to militaries, often at the cost of human needs. According to a new report issued by the...
