The Bully Party

The Bully Party

If our government were a card game, the American people would surely have realized by now that they’re playing with a marked deck. The Republicans are cheating. In the 2012 elections, Democratic candidates for House seats collectively won about five percent more...
Beefing Up Food Safety

Beefing Up Food Safety

In a 1968 comedy called The Secret War of Harry Frigg, Paul Newman is captured during World War II in Italy. After the prisoner of war spends several weeks trying to escape, his captor tells him some great news: The guards now have bullets in their guns. The Food and...
Steve Cohen, Meet Al Capone

Steve Cohen, Meet Al Capone

Al Capone was a bad boy. How bad? He cheated on his income taxes. He went to prison in 1931 for that. Not for the people he gunned down, nor for any of the other gross illegalities the guy committed as a notorious Chicago mobster. Tax evasion landed Capone in the...
Just Follow the Oil

Just Follow the Oil

Like the United States and most other world powers, Iran foolishly wants to be in the nuclear power business. Atoms offer energy diversity and national prestige, plus a lot of bucks for somebody. There are plenty of environmental and safety reasons to oppose the...
Depending on the Kindness of Strangers

Depending on the Kindness of Strangers

The other shoe finally dropped in Detroit. The once-proud city — variously known as “Motown,” “the Arsenal of Democracy,” and “the City of Champions” — filed for bankruptcy. There’s a local effort to head off the filing, but...