Archive
The Lineup: Week of March 21-27, 2011
In this week’s OtherWords editorial package, an op-ed by Alice Slater, a column by Donald Kaul, and a cartoon by Khalil Bendib put Japan’s nuclear emergency into context. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.
CEO Pay Bashing, Tea Party Style
Even hypocrites can sometimes have a point. Take Jim DeMint, for instance, the U.S. senator–and tea party favorite–from South Carolina.
Japan’s Chaos is a Wake-up Call
Sometimes chaos comes along as a wake-up call to humanity. Japan’s double-whammy earthquake-tsunami is overwhelmingly tragic. Being at the mercy of the total chaotic effect of the elements–able to be wiped out by a wave of water from the sea–is an insult to the arrogance of modern humanity that thinks it can insulate and protect itself with technological know-how from the calamities visited upon our earth by Mother Nature.
No More Deals with Unscrupulous Government Contractors
The Pentagon reported in January that it had awarded more than $270 billion in contracts to companies found guilty of fraud, and millions more to companies suspended or debarred from federal contracting. Our military brass didn’t seem too worried about these findings, however. The Defense Department assured the public that “existing remedies with respect to contractor wrongdoing are sufficient.” Really?
Entrepreneurship by Necessity
There’s a silver lining in the dark cloud of the Great Recession. A new Census Bureau report reveals that from 2002 to 2007, the number of black-owned businesses in the United States increased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 million–more than triple the national rate.
The Dangers of Nuclear ‘Ice-Nine’
The great cautionary tale of the 19th century is Frankenstein, Mary Shelly’s novel. It’s the story of a brilliant scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who builds a monster out of spare parts and then breathes life into it.
Newt Fakes It
At last, Newt Gingrich has come bucking out of the presidential chute, shouting “Yippie-ty-yi-yo, here I go!” On March 3, that grizzled old cowpoke working the far-right-wing corral of American politics declared that he’s raring to go for the Republican presidential nomination.
Nuclear War and Peace
OtherWords cartoonist Khalil Bendib compares Japan’s two nuclear disasters.
Big Bankers Aren’t Like the Rest of Us
You may have noticed that laws governing you and me tend to be rather rigidly enforced, whereas laws governing banking and finance are more loosey-goosey.
The Lineup: Week of March 14-21, 2011
Sanho Tree explains why adopting Colombia’s failed anti-drug policies in Mexico is a mistake and Donald Kaul says we should stay out of Libya.
