By Robert Reich – The great American middle class has become an anxious class – and it’s in revolt. Before I explain how that revolt is playing out, you need to understand the sources of the anxiety. Start with the fact that the middle class is shrinking, according to a new Pew survey. The odds…
By Marjorie Cohn – The war in Vietnam resulted in the deaths of more than 58,000 Americans and more than 3 million Vietnamese. Twenty years ago, the United States and Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations in an effort to put the terrible legacy of the war behind them. But for the survivors—both Vietnamese and American—the war…
By Juan Cole – The price of petroleum fell Monday to levels not seen since the crash of 2008, at one point hitting $35 a barrel in New York. There is every reason to expect prices to remain low for a few years, and they could easily go lower as Iranian crude comes back on…
By Glynn Wilson – Finally, the despised and unworkable George W. Bush-Republican Congress “No Child Left Behind Act” is history. President Obama on Thursday signed a new law, which passed the House and Senate with rare bipartisan support, called the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” which gives state governments the power to evaluate schools and determine…
By Anne Applebaum – Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he wants to give away $45 billion. I’m sure he needs some advice on how to spend it. Here’s mine: He should use it to undo the terrible damage done by Facebook and other forms of social media to democratic debate and civilized…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. – A fog rolled through the historic Oakleigh Garden District this morning as I opened my eyes, got out of bed, started the coffee and cranked up the Internet on the Mac. We have a team together and will be meeting with lawyers and accountants today to begin finalizing…
By Glynn Wilson – MONTGOMERY. Ala. – Governor Robert Bentley issued a statement on Wednesday in response to the Obama administration’s announcement of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation into the proposed closure of state driver license offices in mostly poor counties populated by minorities. Bentley claimed there were no offices closed and…
By Bill Boyarsky – Watching Donald Trump on television Monday urging that Muslims be banned from entering the United States was like listening to Hitler on the radio in the early 1930s. As was the case with Hitler, Trump appeals to a substantial number of angry people who cheer his call for making outcasts of…
By Eugene Robinson – “A cancer that has no immediate cure” was not the most soothing metaphor President Obama could have chosen, but it was the most honest. He has no idea how to prevent another terrorist attack like the one in San Bernardino – and neither does anyone else, including his Republican critics. The…
By Chris Hedges – The charade of the 21st United Nations climate summit will end, as past climate summits have ended, with lofty rhetoric and ineffectual cosmetic reforms. Since the first summit more than 20 years ago, carbon dioxide emissions have soared. Placing faith in our political and economic elites, who have mastered the arts…
By Edgar Wilson – America’s political leaders are not agents of change. They campaign as thought-leaders and strategists, but they are really glorified marketers. Their primary wares for sale to the public? Overwhelmingly, incentives and punishments—typically financial in nature—that will supposedly herald a sea change in behavior, shepherding the country into the future. Everything from…
US Department of Agriculture warns of danger of ‘business as usual’ approach – Rising temperatures to hit poor and those in tropics hardest – WASHINGTON, D.C., THE GUARDIAN – Unchecked climate change risks plunging a further 175 million people into hunger and undernourishment worldwide, undermining progress in reducing food insecurity, a U.S. government report warns.…
By Will Dunham and Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Habitat destruction poses an increasing peril to migratory birds around the world, and not enough is being done to protect breeding grounds and other important feeding and resting areas along migration paths, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Scientists said they…
While the Poorest Half Only Produce Ten Percent – LONDON (Reuters) – The richest tenth of the world’s people produce half of all carbon emissions, while the poorest half – most threatened by droughts and super storms linked to climate change – produce only one tenth, according to Oxfam, an international confederation of 17 organizations…
By Darryl Fears and Glynn Wilson – Exposure to emissions from coal-fired power plants over a long period of time is significantly more harmful to the heart than other forms of carbon pollution, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, released early Wednesday to coincide with the world climate talks…
By Robert Reich – In this holiday season it’s especially appropriate to acknowledge how many Americans don’t have steady work. The so-called “share economy” includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents. Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes. It’s estimated that in five years over 40 percent of…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBIlE, Ala. – While the national news is rife with stories about the death of the Keystone XL Pipeline out west, the ongoing climate talks in Paris and the low price of oil internationally, a local petroleum industry front group and the politicians and media they are trying to buy seem…
A cheat sheet on how epic floods have shaped civilization – By Andrew Lawler – When it comes to confronting global climate change, we don’t have much experience to draw on. As world leaders prepare to meet in Paris starting on November 30 to hash out a binding international agreement to limit greenhouse gases, it…
By Eugene Robinson – The Republican presidential candidates and the far-right echo chamber have made “politically correct” an all-purpose dismissal for facts and opinions they don’t want to hear. Take Donald Trump’s claim that when the World Trade Center towers collapsed on 9/11, “I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of…
By Glynn Wilson – When we were young and naive, back in the day before the Bush Years, we consumed the government and American history text books that told us how the judicial branch of government is supposed to be above politics. When I first set foot in a newsroom across the street from a…
