Guest Columns

Government Spends More Per Pupil at Private Universities than Public Schools?

portrait

By Robert Reich – Imagine a system of college education supported by high and growing government spending on elite private universities that mainly educate children of the wealthy and upper-middle class, and low and declining government spending on public universities that educate large numbers of children from the working class and the poor. You can…

Why We Allow Big Pharma to Rip Us Off

portrait

By Robert Reich – According to a new federal database put online last week, pharmaceutical companies and device makers paid doctors some $380 million in speaking and consulting fees over a five-month period in 2013. Some doctors received over half a million dollars each, and others got millions of dollars in royalties from products they…

Most People Are Not Predisposed to Kill, Even in War

th1BZE507V.jpg

Note: When the U.S. went to war in Iraq under the Bush administration, I noticed an immediate shift in the media. Suddenly, the major media used the work “kill” this and that. There was also the “de-humanizing” of Saddam Hussein and demonizing of Iraqis who surrounded and supported Hussein. I knew this was the major…

Views of Grand Tetons National Park

gt-sunburst

By Bob Wells – I always try to break up my posts and have some variety so today I’m going to post photos from last July when I was in the Grand Tetons National Park. For a long time the Grand Tetons have been on my Bucket List of places to intensively photograph but the…

Why the Economy is Still Failing Most Americans

portrait

By Robert Reich – I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country. Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example. Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will…

Africatown Leaders Travel the World for Conservation, Environmental Justice

Africatown_map2

Africatown News – By Joe Womack – A Renaissance is unfolding surrounding the Africatown Community here in Mobile County Alabama. The Africatown Community received a visit from a member of the Council for The Preservation of National Historical Treasures located in Washington,D.C. to determine dangers posed to Africatown by decisions made by businessmen and politicians.…

Raising Most People’s Wages

portrait

By Robert Reich – I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country. Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example. Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will…

Why Ordinary People Bear Economic Risks and Donald Trump Doesn’t

portrait

By Robert Reich – Thirty years ago, on its opening day in 1984, Donald Trump stood in a dark topcoat on the casino floor at Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza, celebrating his new investment as the finest building in Atlantic City and possibly the nation. Last week, the Trump Plaza folded and the Trump Taj Mahal…

Living Healthy on the Road and Beating Stress

flow1

By Bob Wells – We’ve been on a long series about lessons I learned from our Alaska Trip and the last two posts were specifically on taking care of your health both as a full-time vandweller/RVer and on a road trip. Since I’m not qualified to tell anybody how to live, we stuck to common…

Adding Up the Billions Wasted by House Republicans

USCapitol2-13c1-1024x755

By Nicholas Sheppard – How much have the Republicans cost the taxpayer, directly and in terms of hindered economic potential, since they took over the House in 2010? A few days ago, the price tag was announced for the Republican lawsuit against the president. House Administration Chairwoman Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., said the firm BakerHostetler…

Clearing Up the Hysteria Over Proposed Fees on Public Lands

law-wave-002.jpg

By Bob Wells – There is an uproar going around the blog-o-sphere right now about proposed new rules that govern use of Public lands. I’ve had several people write me very concerned that our right to use Public Lands was at risk and we would either be kicked off the land or be charged for…

The Disease of American Democracy

portrait

By Robert Reich – Americans are sick of politics. Only 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, a near record low. The President’s approval ratings are also in the basement. A large portion of the public doesn’t even bother voting. Only 57.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential…

The Rebirth of Stakeholder Capitalism?

portrait

By Robert Reich – In recent weeks, the managers, employees, and customers of a New England chain of supermarkets called “Market Basket” have joined together to oppose the board of director’s decision earlier in the year to oust the chain’s popular chief executive, Arthur T. Demoulas. Their demonstrations and boycotts have emptied most of the…

Amazon and Hachette Face Off in E-Book Price War

ebook640

Guest Editorial Amazon Books Just before World War II, there was a radical invention that shook the foundations of book publishing. It was the paperback book. This was a time when movie tickets cost 10 or 20 cents, and books cost $2.50. The new paperback cost 25 cents – it was 10 times cheaper. Readers…

Is A Two-State Solution In the Mid-East All But Dead?

1348277865

By Nick Sheppard – From The Sheppard Post – There is an increasingly openly-stated view amongst the Israeli leadership that the conflict with the Palestinians can only be managed, not resolved by the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. In a recent press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I think the Israeli…

A Heartbreaking Lack of Understanding

MichaelWadeDouglass1

Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – I guess I’m naive. It was obviously a mistake to open my head and heart and share my thoughts on something as profoundly controversial as the Israeli Palestinian conflict. A mistake to speak out against war in general and this one in particular. In hindsight it occurs to…