What Afghan Citizens Really Think
Cross-posted with MotherJones.com Flick/rybolov (Creative Commons) In the Western media, the views of Afghanistan’s political leaders and news of their latest political debacles—President Hamid Karzai’s standoff with the Parliament over his 24 cabinet nominations the most recent example—tend to dominate over all else; few and far between are the perspectives... Read More
‘The Doctor Can’t See You Now’
Here’s my latest story for MotherJones.com on the less-covered, under-the-radar health-care crisis that practically nobody’s talking about. *** THE DOCTOR CAN’T SEE YOU NOW (at MotherJones.com) It’s a year from now, and you wake up with a sore throat. You’re not worried, because not too long ago the Obama administration successfully passed comprehensive... Read More
TOTAL COMPENSATION FOR CEOS OF TOP HEALTH INSURERS
Source: Health Care for America Now Read More
Why We Can All Move Past Co-ops and Public Options
Now that the public option in health care reform seems to be nearing its demise, non-profit co-ops are all the rage, with every damn media outlet in the Union scrambling to pick apart the latest player in the health-care debate. Just as the public option’s merits have been debated and fought over ad nauseum, so, too, will this latest twist in the health care battle, an idea... Read More
On Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida & Sam Mendes’ new movie, “Away We Go”
Courtesy of Focus Features Because Ann Arbor has 826michigan, one of the 826 writing centers begun in San Francisco by writer/publisher Dave Eggers, we were treated to an early screening of the film “Away We Go,” co-written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, the writer and Eggers’ wife, directed by Sam Mendes and starring a slew of star actors, like... Read More
Has the NYT’s chief political correspondent confused journalism with stenography?
Minnesota governor (and potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012) Tim Pawlenty — the beneficiary of a glowing piece of New York Times stenography. Photo via flickr user marcn True newspaper reporting is often criticized for striving for objectivity in its reporting, its effort to avoid focusing on or favoring one side or party or argument over the other. (This is not... Read More
An environmental silver lining to the global recession?
From a environmental standpoint, the ongoing economic meltdown might not be all doom and gloom. Partly due to the global economic crisis that began in the second half of 2008, CO2 emissions for the European Union’s 27 members dropped six percent last year, to 2.11 billion tons of greenhouse gases from 2.24, Terra Daily reported today. “Today’s numbers tell us... Read More
Extending sustainability to the laundry hamper
Here’s one of my newer posts from UWireGreen.com on green laundry habits. *** Having lived on my own and washed my own laundry for almost seven years now (two years of high school and five years of college), you’d think I have a system, a time-tested routine of some type. But no. That is, unless you consider waiting until socks and shirts begin to spill out of my hamper... Read More
Recycling: The small act that can make a huge difference
My latest post at “Going Green” is all about different ways college students can recycle more—an easy, important act that can have a huge impact on one’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. Check it out. *** The tower of New York Times editions that once sat on my desk Ready, set, recycle! When it comes to getting the news, I’m old-fashioned (The... Read More
Global warming in 2008 far outpaces climate models, recent rate of warming
In the past year, the Earth warmed as astounding 0.37 degrees Celsius, which, as Joe Romm over at Climate Progress reported, is 20 times the rate of warming predicted by certain climate models and 20 times the annual rate of warming in the past twenty years or so. Despite dubious claims that the cooler temperatures we’ve recently seen throughout the country are part of a “global... Read More
