Archive
Jim Crow Immigration Law
The Lineup: Week of June 27-July 3, 2011
Peter Certo explains why he’s not buying a shiny new iPad and William A. Collins says that big business is trying to keep climate change out of the news.
Three Strikes against Apple
Apple, like most other electronics companies, makes liberal use of an ore called columbite-tantalite — widely known as coltan — whose electrical retention properties improve the battery lives of electronic devices. While Australia is the world’s largest coltan producer, suppliers for Apple and its competitors often prefer to buy their coltan at lower cost from mining operations in war-ravaged eastern Congo.
One Montana County’s Medicare-for-All Coverage
Back when he presided over the Senate’s health care reform debate, Max Baucus, chairman of the all-powerful Senate Finance Committee, had said everything was on the table — except for single-payer universal health care. When doctors, nurses, and others rose in his hearing to insist that single payer be included in the debate, the Montana Democrat had them arrested. As more stood up, Baucus could be heard on his open microphone saying, “We need more police.”
Tell the People about the People’s Budget
If you listen to the pundits and TV commentators, the federal budget problem has a simple solution: cuts, cuts, and more cuts. They cheer politicians for making “tough choices,” which usually entails taking money away from schools, stiffing public workers, and telling the poor and the elderly they need to make do with even less. Tough choices, indeed — but for whom?
America the Vulnerable
This March, federal prosecutors charged six members of an antigovernment group called the Alaska Peacemakers Militia with plotting to wage a campaign of murder and kidnapping against court officials and state troopers. They had already amassed an arsenal of weapons, including hand grenades, assault rifles, and a .50-caliber machine gun.
My Favorite Fourth of July Speech
I like the Fourth of July. Almost everyone does. Friends and neighbors gathered in parks and back yards throughout the nation, sharing food and drink and happy thoughts in a festive atmosphere. What’s not to like?
Perry’s Prayer-Palooza
When Texas became a republic in 1836, its constitution banned “ministers of the gospel” from holding any political office.
Think Indifferent
Pay Attention to Climate Change, Even if It’s Bad for Business
If a meteor were headed for Earth, there would be saturation media coverage. Little else would occupy the headlines. Schemes to deflect the collision would dominate the news.
