A Dubious Honor

A Dubious Honor

Global pork titan Smithfield has ranked second among food production companies on Fortune magazine’s 2013 list of “Most Admired Companies.” Before untangling how terribly strange and ironic this is, I’d like to address just what “most...
Close the Gun Show Loophole

Close the Gun Show Loophole

Dozens of Americans will be murdered, hundreds of others will be shot, and nearly 1,000 will be robbed or assaulted with a gun — today. The United States has some of the weakest gun laws in the world. To make us, our families, and our communities safer, we need to...
A More Down-to-Earth CEO Pay Plan

A More Down-to-Earth CEO Pay Plan

When do societies start taking a new idea seriously? Easy. New ideas gain traction when starkly different sorts of people champion them. This process is beginning to unfold with the notion of a “maximum wage,” the idea that we should limit the income of...
Betting on Gambling

Betting on Gambling

Tainted money For your state, When legislators Take the bait. The gambling industry’s under-the-radar political heft got a shot of overdue publicity when Sheldon Adelson, its biggest mogul, tried to use casino profits to buy the U.S. presidency last year....
High Time for Hemp

High Time for Hemp

Four years ago, Michelle Obama picked up a shovel to make a powerful symbolic statement about America’s food and farm future: She turned a patch of White House lawn into a working organic garden. I’m guessing that now, as she begins another four years in...