Archive
A Nation of Laws?
The failure of the U.S. war strategy in Afghanistan to contain the anti-government insurgency has led the Obama administration to expand the undeclared war in Pakistan. According to the Long War Journal, the number of U.S. attacks in Pakistan, using unmanned Predator drones, has gone from five in 2007 to 117 in 2010.
A Climate-Friendly Farm Bill
We’re in a rut when it comes to taking action on climate change. Congress has stalled on passing climate legislation. International negotiators failed to agree on binding emission cuts in Cancun late last year. And it’s unclear whether the EPA will have the power to regulate greenhouse gases.
Standing Up for Farmers’ Markets
Almost $1.5 billion changed hands at farmers’ markets across the United States in 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of markets rose by 16 percent last year–from 5,247 to 6,132. More than three million Americans regularly buy food from the more than 60,000 farmers who sell at these markets each year.
Perfect: The Enemy of the Happy
Unhappiness is New York City after an 18-inch snowfall.
The Glory of War
Some 32,000 Americans have been maimed in Iraq and another 8,000 so far in Afghanistan. And for what?
America’s Expendable Workers
Back in business school, they taught us that a company’s major costs were land, labor, and capital. There were strategies to minimize each, with labor the most complicated cost to control. That hasn’t changed, even though workers have increasingly become replaceable parts, the federal government has weakened labor rights, and much U.S. manufacturing takes place in other countries.
Unmanned Drones
The Lineup: Week January 3-9, 2011
Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.
Our Slow-Motion Global Accident
The Cancun agreement could open a loophole that lets companies in the United States continue to pollute–as long as they pay someone else in another country to reduce their emissions. It’s called carbon offsetting, and it means U.S. families living in the toxic shadow of big polluters will have to suffer the health impacts of dirty energy, while companies get to claim credit for cleaning up their act.
Enough Already: Close Gitmo
In January 2009, as one of his first acts as president, Obama signed an executive order that committed the United States to closing the prison within a year and ending the practice of torture.
