Monthly Archives: December 2015

Martin Shkreli Arrested: Of Rotten Apples and Rotten Systems

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By Robert Reich – Martin Shkreli, the former hedge-fund manager turned pharmaceutical CEO who was arrested last week, has been described as a sociopath and worse. In reality, he’s a brasher and larger version of what others in finance and corporate suites do all the time. Federal prosecutors are charging him with conning wealthy investors.…

Scrooge Stuffs Your Stocking — Alabama Governor Gives a Wad of Glop

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By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – You must have been naughty children. Although you didn’t get a lump of coal in your stocking, you got a wad of glop. It’s your present from Alabama governor Robert Bentley, often confused with creepy Mr Burns in The Simpsons show. But that’s only because of their eerily…

Politicians Are Seldom Innovative

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By Edgar Wilson – As popular as it has become (frankly, it has crossed the threshold to cliché) to compare governance to private-sector business management, America’s selection of would-be Manager-Politicians routinely fail to grasp the single most dynamic force of business today: innovation. It isn’t entirely their fault. By design, America’s political structure is slow…

American Public Opinion 2015 Year in Review

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By Art Swift and Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The year 2015 was an “intriguing, complex and turbulent year,” according to Gallup. A politically independent Vermont senator surged in the Democratic presidential race. Same-sex marriage became law in all 50 states. Russia’s leadership received the lowest approval ratings worldwide for the eighth consecutive year.…

Wind Power Continues Steady Growth Across the U.S.

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By Jeff Brady – The U.S. wind power industry is celebrating after reaching a new milestone in November: 70 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity. “That’s enough to power about 19 million homes,” says Michael Goggin, senior director of research at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). There are more than 50,000 wind turbines operating across…

Paris Climate Agreement Deals a Crushing Blow to Coal

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By Paul Brown – LONDON — After a decade of aggressive growth in demand, the market for coal has stalled and is unlikely to recover, according to the International Energy Agency. Its report on the medium-term coal market says that demand in China — which uses 50 percent of the world’s coal — has begun…

‘Aquanox: A DeltaWorld Thanksgiving Solstice’ Premiers Saturday Night

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DeltaWorld Entertainment, a new fun, worker-owned company on the Gulf Coast, announces its first public launch Saturday night in downtown Mobile at Portal Studios. “Aquanox: A DeltaWorld Thanksgiving Solstice,” a short film co-produced by Glynn Wilson and Walter Simon, will premier Saturday, December 19, beginning at 6 p.m. Summary In the year 2050, an environmental…

The Republican Clown Car Threatens to Pollute the Paris Climate Deal

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Nearly 200 countries agreed to save the planet, but the Republicans have a different idea. By Ben Adler – Republicans didn’t even wait for a global climate change deal to be struck in Paris to start trying to undermine it. Last month, congressional Republicans were loudly discouraging other nations from signing onto any agreement, arguing…

The Revolt of the Anxious Class

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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…

Forty Years Later, Vietnam War Continues for Victims of Agent Orange

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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…

‘No Child Left Behind Act’ Bites the Dust: Obama Signs New Education Law Shifting Power to the States

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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…

Why American Workers Hate Their Jobs and What To Do About It

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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…

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley Responds to Investigation into Racist Closure of Driver License Offices in Poor Counties

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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…