Perspectives
Seeger’s true politics
Folk singer Pete Seeger, who died at age 94 last month, provided a soundtrack for every progressive crusade of our time, from labor unions to civil rights, from world peace to environmentalism. He wrote, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” “If I Had A Hammer” and “...
The death penalty: Are we getting it right?
The idea of Georgia inmate Troy Davis lying on a gurney in an agonizing wait for nine justices hundreds of miles away to resolve in a single-sentence statement that he should in fact die — even if innocent — should be enough to give pause to the most ardent ...
Walmart is still bad for the planet
In May, Walmart was hit with $110 million in environmental fines after pleading guilty to improperly dumping pesticides, fertilizer and other hazardous materials into public sewers and landfills. The Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section said that it was ...
The cold realities of a complicated conflict
A trip to this Palestinian town can shatter preconceptions and compel the mind to dream about the possibilities of peace and then awaken to the cold realities of a complicated conflict...
Amendments 60, 61 and 101 would be disastrous
Natalie Menten, the voice behind the uber-libertarian movement to pass Amendments 60 and 61, as well as Proposition 101, has accused the groups working to stop those measures of using overblown scare tactics and deception to win support...
Winds of change in the Middle East
On Feb. 11, 1979, Islamic revolutionaries took power in Tehran. On Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden and his al- Qaida terrorists launched their attacks on New York and Washington, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. On Feb. 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of...
A more egalitarian economy
It’s easy to get depressed. Every social advance that progressives have won is in danger. There is a growing despair over the inability of traditional politics to address the immense economic/environmental/political crises and the deep crevasse between the rich and ...
Remembering the real dream
Every January on Martin Luther King Day, people across the political spectrum claim King as one of their own. Few remember that he had become a pariah in mainstream politics in his last days. He was widely condemned for his opposition to the Vietnam War. Right-...
Inspiring ideas missing in Palin’s book
The whole phenomenon of Sarah Palin, I admit, is a mystery to me...
FCC breaks Obama’s promise on net neutrality
On Dec. 21, the FCC passed new rules — written by corporations — that will end net neutrality. For the first time in history, the U.S. government approved corporate censorship of the Internet, putting the future of online free speech at risk. Unbelievably, the person...
Another water battle to keep an eye on
While citizens of Boulder and Larimer counties battle horizontal fracking and the mess associated with it, countless communities in Latin America, Asia and Africa are trying to stop open-pit mega-mining in order to save their water...
