Our lives are defined by invisible wars, wars whose theater of combat is the human imagination. These economic and political wars are waged year in and year out, decade after decade, century after century. Words are the weapons of choice in these wars, and the corporate-backed radical right adds new ones to its arsenal every [...]
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You may have heard that Verizon is going to charge customers a $2 “convenience fee” to pay their bills online. You may not have heard that Verizon is asking its workers to take cuts in their pensions, sick pay, health insurance, even disability for employees injured on the job. These examples of corporate greed are [...]
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I heard one of my favorite holiday songs on the radio yesterday — John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” I’ve always loved it, but this year it holds special meaning for me — especially the children of the Harlem Community Choir singing “War is over, if you want it.” on the chorus . This [...]
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At the end of the year the Washington Post published as “news” a story, “Support grows for tackling nation’s debt” that pushed the idea of “a special commission to make the tough decisions that will be required to dig the nation out of debt” and “rein in skyrocketing spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security” [...]
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See if you can spot the big mistake (giving them the benefit of the doubt) in this Washington Post story: Payroll tax cut raises worries about Social Security’s future funding: This year, the Social Security system projects that it will pay out $46 billion more in benefits than it will collect in cash. It made [...]
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As New Year’s Day approaches, here’s wishing you a Happy New Year 2001! That’s right, 2001. With wages stuck at 2001 levels, it’s been a lost decade for working families.
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For a ten-year stretch in my life I was fortunate to spend every Christmas in Jamaica. In Jamaica, Christmas is a far more modest affair than it is here in the US. For sure, during the days leading up to “the Christmas,” the markets are packed with shoppers and the transports whizzing up and down [...]
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In November President Obama said, “enough is enough” to China’s currency manipulations. Today the Treasury Department said it hasn’t seen enough to call China a currency manipulator. This is happening because certain powerful interests are benefiting tremendously and using their wealth and power to keep things from changing. China’s Currency Manipulation China manipulates its currency [...]
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“Smokestack Lightnin’,” with Hubert Sumlin backing Howlin’ Wolf in 1964 This is the time of year when we’re reminded of all the famous people who died over the last twelve months, a list which includes two of my favorite guitar players (Hubert Sumlin and Cornell Dupree). But there were also some notable non-human deaths in [...]
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In the iconic Christmas film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” an angel offers the beleaguered main character, George Bailey, the stark choice between a hometown named for a cruel banker or one created by and for the middle class. The banker’s town, Pottersville, is filled with bars, gambling dens and despair. The people’s town of Bedford [...]
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