50 Years of Gutting America’s Middle Class

50 Years of Gutting America’s Middle Class

Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas, 50 years ago this month. Sprawled along a major thoroughfare outside the city’s downtown, that inaugural store embodied many of the hallmarks that have since come to define the Walmart way of doing...
Pumping Gas Prices for All They’re Worth

Pumping Gas Prices for All They’re Worth

Oh my God. Gasoline is headed for five bucks a gallon. I read it in the newspaper, so I know it’s true. The national average is already creeping up on $4, and it’s bound to climb higher as the summer surge in travel approaches. FIVE DOLLARS A GALLON! Oh...
‘Tis the Season to Shop at Tiffany’s

‘Tis the Season to Shop at Tiffany’s

The economy is expanding, the unemployment rate is down, and consumers are spending again. The National Retail Federation expects holiday season sales to be up 3.8 percent over 2010, and other organizations predict increases of 3.5 percent to 4 percent. It all sounds...
Cereal Crimes

Cereal Crimes

Remember when “natural” meant things like blue sky, green grass, and food you could trust to be good for you? No more. Thanks to corporate greed, “natural” foods aren’t necessarily wholesome. Even when applied to granola, the term often...