Greening Spring Cleaning

Greening Spring Cleaning

What’s that smell in the air? It’s fresh and floral — and probably filled with formaldehyde. It’s spring-cleaning time once again. And in the name of cleanliness, people everywhere are dousing their homes and workplaces with dangerous, even toxic, cleaning...
Did Slaves Catch Your Seafood?

Did Slaves Catch Your Seafood?

A few years ago, a friend promised Asorasak Thama a job in the Thai fishing industry. The job offered good pay for a few weeks of work. Instead, he wound up trapped at sea for a year, working in terrible conditions for no pay at all. Thama had become a slave....
Don’t Let This Cable Giant Stamp Out Democracy

Don’t Let This Cable Giant Stamp Out Democracy

Comcast’s gleaming tower soars over its hometown of Philadelphia. The cable giant’s presence in the city is palpable. You’d like to believe that the company would have a sense of what’s going on in its backyard — and what its neighbors need. But Comcast isn’t paying...
Wine over Brine

Wine over Brine

My home near Seneca Lake in New York is famous for a lot of things — good wine, fine food, and the Finger Lakes region’s beautiful scenery. Now, though, Crestwood Midstream — a Houston-based company that drills, stores, and distributes fracked natural gas — wants to...
Footing the Bill While Israel Thumbs Its Nose

Footing the Bill While Israel Thumbs Its Nose

It’s tax season again. How about a little accounting? Every year, Washington sends $3.1 billion of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to Israel. It’s only fair to ask what Americans are getting in return. That seems especially appropriate now. Israeli Prime Minister...