Archive
GOP Goes ‘Grassroots,’ Washington-Style
Congressional Republicans have spent the first two years of the Obama administration as the rock-solid party of “no,” “uh-uh,” “no way,” “forget about it,” “nothing doing,” “we’re-agin-it-and-we’ll-kill-it.” This is one reason their job approval rating is in the ditch.
Our Prisons Don’t do us Justice
Prison numbers are tough to pin down. There is the federal system, there are 50 state systems, and no one is just sure how many local jails or military brigs. All told, professionals estimate that one in every 100 Americans resides in one of them.
Plugging WikiLeaks
Corporate Negligence by any Other Name
The BP oil disaster is wrecking many things, including company’s brand. Americans don’t seem to be losing interest in driving their cars, but many of us aren’t willing to refuel at a BP pump any more. “Some BP-branded gas stations reported sales declines of 10 to 40 percent from Florida to Illinois,” the Associated Press reports.
Wikileaks’ Afghan War Diary
Wikileaks released the Afghan War Diary this week, a compilation of 91,370 war documents that reveals what the Guardian calls “a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan.”
Beware of the Cowardly Deficit Vulture
There’s an invasive species in our national discourse, a recent arrival in our civic forest. It’s the “yellow-bellied deficit vulture,” recently spotted circling the Capitol building and heard squawking on syndicated talk shows.
Take Our Jobs
American agriculture depends on a hardworking, dedicated immigrant workforce. About three-quarters of all crop workers were born outside the country. Since the 1990s, at least half are not authorized to legally work in the U.S., according to government statistics.
Americans are Dying to Eat
Try pronouncing disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl) azo)-2-naphthalene-sulfonate. It’s not easy, right? That explains why this mouthful goes by its friendlier name, Red 40. It might sound innocent, but this ingredient and others like it are far from harmless. And they’re in our food.
Let’s Get Sensible about Immigration
On Mother’s Day, three months before Arizona’s draconian new immigration law was to go into effect, a mother of two addressed a vigil outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. The woman had been intercepted, without papers, on her way to work. Unable to fight back tears, she told the crowd of the months she spent in this privatized detention center, wondering if she would ever see her children again.
Remembering John Wooden
Wooden died at the age of 99 in June, 35 years after retiring as the most successful (and many would say best) basketball coach of all time. During the final 12-year stretch of his career, his UCLA teams won 10 national championships, a record unlikely ever to be broken.
