Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – LOS ANGELES, Calif. — What’s mind blowing about the whole Snowden thing is not what huge deal it was, it’s what a huge deal it is. To my dismay I have become cynical, so it occurred to me at the time that it really sucked but I wasn’t…
By Robert Reich – It’s seed time for the 2016 presidential elections, when candidates try to figure out what they stand for and will run on. One thing seems reasonably clear. The Democratic nominee for President, whoever she may be, will campaign on reviving the American middle class. As will the Republican nominee — although…
Education Matters – By Larry Lee – Let’s say that Santa brought you a new chainsaw and in your haste to put it to work you gashed your leg severely. With blood gushing everywhere, do you holler for someone to bring you some band-aids? It’s doubtful. And more likely that after you scream for help,…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – I finally know how to fix the world’s intractable problems. I saw the answer in a dream this morning. It is the vision I have been preparing for and waiting for my whole life. I knew when I took elaborate steps to escape the situation I was…
By Robert Reich – GM is worth around $60 billion, and has over 200,000 employees. Its front-line workers earn from $19 to $28.50 an hour, with benefits. Uber is estimated to be worth some $40 billion, and has 850 employees. Uber also has over 163,000 drivers (as of December – the number is expected to…
By Robert Reich – Suppose that by enacting a particular law we’d increase the U.S.Gross Domestic Product. But almost all that growth would go to the richest 1 percent. The rest of us could buy some products cheaper than before. But those gains would be offset by losses of jobs and wages. This is pretty…
Education Matters – By Larry Lee – Contrary to what many think, miracles still happen these days. In fact, one just happened in Alabama concerning public education—though no one seemed to notice. I refer to recent news from the Alabama State Department of Education that four schools formerly on the “failing” school list were removed…
By Glynn Wilson – I woke up Sunday morning thinking about something besides aphrodisiacs and Valentines Day, same sex marriage and Mardi Gras. While everyone else seems to be focused on these things, including the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, I am still wondering when the devastating news about the rapid pace of climate change…
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – The threat of gay marriage in Alabama has roused governor George Wallace to rise from the dead and stand again in the schoolhouse door. When Roy Moore, chief justice of the state supreme court, flung himself this week between a federal judge in Mobile and the local bureau…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — A few years ago, Princeton graduate Charles Scribner with the Black Warrior Riverkeeper in Birmingham saw my coverage of the BlueGreen Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in Washington, D.C. and sent me an e-mail asking an important question: Do you think it would be…
Thank You Jere Beasley and Alabama Trial Lawyers – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — I wonder if Jere Beasley and the Alabama trial lawyers are happy now? Old Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore is making headlines around the country again in another stand in the courthouse door, this time against a growing federal…
By Joe Womack – Africatown’s Magazine Point Neighborhood sets on the southern and southeastern portions of the Africatown community. It is situated on both the Mobile River and the Three Mile Creek. The part of Magazine Point that sets on the Mobile River is where that last shipment of slaves in America actually landed, whereas…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – Earlier this month, almost every Republican in the U.S. Senate went on record that “climate change is real and not a hoax.” All but a handful, however, balked at agreeing that humans are contributing to that change. The “not a scientist” club has a new line in the…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — It is quiet on Texas Street as people sleep late on Sunday after the first weekend of Mardi Gras parades for 2015 comes to a close. A writer needs some quiet time to reflect. It is supposed to rain later today so I am…
Education Matters – By Larry Lee – Some of us can recall when Art Linkletter did a segment on his radio show called “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” He would ask questions of children and in their wonderful innocence they would give answers that often made us laugh. I read or hear comments from politicians…
By Robert Reich – Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are zeroing in on inequality as America’s fundamental economic problem. Bush’s new Political Action Committee, called “The Right to Rise,” declares “the income gap is real” but that “only conservative principles can solve it.” Mitt Romney likewise promised last week that if he runs for president…
By Robert Reich – Jobs are coming back, but pay isn’t. The median wage is still below where it was before the Great Recession. Last month, average pay actually fell. What’s going on? It used to be that as unemployment dropped, employers had to pay more to attract or keep the workers they needed. That’s…
Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – Does it occur to anyone else that the Joni Ernst story about bread bags on her shoes has to be complete bullshit? She’d wear holes in them on the way the to goddamn bus fer crying out loud. I read over the Internet that you’re supposed to wear…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — How can I explain this in a way everyone will understand, including conservative Republicans, liberal Democrats and the national and state press corps? President Barack Obama is and must be our political Jackie Robinson. You may recall or have heard that Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson was the first…
By Hank Sanders – It’s a once in a lifetime experience! I know you have heard that statement before, but this really is a once in a lifetime experience. It’s once in a lifetime because it happens only once. It’s once in a lifetime because it’s so big. It’s once in a lifetime because it’s…
