Archive
Egg Recall Reveals our Broken Food System
This mind-boggling egg recall, involving half a billion eggs from Iowa, is no fluke. It’s just the latest example of how the consolidation of our nation’s food production puts consumers at risk. The recall involves 30 different brands but only two factory farms–Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. Massive egg facilities on this scale are prone to frequent disease outbreaks.
Setting the Record Straight
Increasingly we live in a world–alas–of deliberate misrepresentation and mischaracterization. Or you could call them lies.
A Gentler Name for Psychic Warfare
Adopting an alias has also been tried as a public relations strategy by corporations that find themselves struck with an image problem. Most recently, this deception has been employed by Blackwater, the infamous government contractor involved in so many nefarious deeds that it now disguises itself with an inscrutable new moniker: Xe. Fittingly, Xe is the abbreviation for xenon, a chemical defined as a colorless gaseous element.
Riled West
For a Yankee, driving to the West can painfully confirm many previously unverified suspicions. First, of course, one must stifle guilt for driving at all. This burden is fortuitously lightened by discovering that the car, which normally gets 40 mpg around home, ramps up to 45 on the road.
Pumped CEOs
Killing Jobs is Bad for Business
Corporate America loves layoffs. No matter the cost to the affected workers, many investors see job cuts as an encouraging sign that CEOs are making the tough decisions necessary to make their company “lean and mean.”
The Stakes Are High for Latino Workers This Labor Day
Across the United States, Labor Day marks the end of summer, and a day off from the job for the lucky ones. We often forget that this holiday originated from strife, not leisure. Labor Day finally only became a national holiday to celebrate America’s workers only because when workers rose up to demanded it.
Happy Birthday, Social Security
Social Security, created by FDR in the midst of the Great Depression, recently turned 75.
Climate Currency
If the recent record-breaking temperatures and freak thunderstorms in Washington were nature’s way of telling Congress that climate change is real, it’s here, and it’s time to do something about it–it didn’t work.
Much Ado about Non-News Stories
The tea party tempest unleashed by the First Lady’s mid-summer vacation–only Marie Antoinette would have left her husband alone on his birthday, apparently–is a function of the August news cycle.
