Archive
Why does a university need a Chief Marketing Officer?
A new fad is sweeping across America's university campuses — and it's seriously goofy. This latest craze is not led by students making a cultural statement, but by top administrators trying to make a corporate one. It's called "rebranding," an attempt to modernize the...
Giving Away the Store
Sure, I'll move My business here; Whisper tax breaks, In my ear. There's a certain political irony surrounding WWE, that unrivaled producer of violence and misogyny for fun and profit. As a significant employer with 700 workers here in otherwise dowdy Connecticut, the...
Tar Sands Illustrated
This Week in OtherWords: January 9, 2013
This week in OtherWords, Sam Pizzigati explains how the recent budget deal will benefit the richest Americans, Jill Richardson calls on President Obama to take decisive action on climate change during his second term in office, and Donald Kaul follows up on his Dec....
Plotting an Uncivil War
At this point, it's far from certain whether the massacre of 20 Connecticut first-graders and six educators by a madman armed with an assault rifle in December will lead to meaningful gun control. But a month after the Dec. 14 bloodbath, the American far right is...
Let’s Pay Our Bills
Sometimes when I get a bill I don't feel like paying it. But I do, because I'm a responsible adult. If I don't pay my bills, I get in trouble. It's true for a family and for a government. Republicans in Congress are creating another manufactured default crisis....
On to the Next Cliff
The now infamous "fiscal cliff" Congress averted just hours before the New Year's deadline left most Americans with more questions than answers. Though the deal covers some of the most contentious tax issues, it leaves open the possibility that automatic spending cuts...
President Obama: End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
I remember the first mountaintop removal coal mining site I ever saw. Those images of Kayford Mountain in southern West Virginia have never left my mind — a barren landscape where there was once lush forest. And right around the destroyed site, homes where people were...
When Uncle Sam Pays Dividends
Who won the New Year's Eve budget standoff? In one sense, everyone scored a "victory." The deal that Congress eventually blessed includes scores of provisions. Most Americans can point to at least one that works to their financial favor. But the real winners don't...
A Green and Golden Legacy
Much of the nation is still suffering the worst drought in half a century, which began in 2012. Consumers are just now beginning to feel its effects in the form of higher food prices. Texas suffered another catastrophic drought in 2011. Full recovery from Superstorm...
