Perspectives
The racial wounds of 9/11
On Sept. 11, I was a 28-year-old attorney working for the Department of Justice. I remember being evacuated from my federal office building that morning, and later heading across the 14th Street Bridge to my home in Arlington, Va. I could hardly believe the sight ...
Renewable energy threatens big utilities
Solar power and other renewable energy technologies may destroy U.S. investor-owned utilities...
The silent jobless
Jobs are slowly coming back, but that’s small comfort to more than 13 million Americans who remain unemployed. For every current job opening, four people are still looking for a job. Many others have given up even trying to find work...
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 ...
After the deluge: What I told city council
On Sept. 17 I ended up the first to address the Boulder City Council during citizen participation. Several council members were nodding their heads by the end of the first sentence ... but soon they stopped. Here’s what I said, prettied up for print...
A fracking credibility gap
On Nov. 6, the city charter of Longmont banned fracking from its city limits...
Cooperating on health care
Many people believe Obamacare (or the Affordable Care Act) established a universal health care system like those that exist in every other industrialized country...
If the NRA has its way on gun control …
It’s a weekday at the Follis household, and 12-year-old non-identical twins Button and Pout are headed downstairs — getting ready for school. This morning, the girls are being “difficult...
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...
For kids’ health, Ronald McDonald and Joe Camel both deserve the...
As part of an effort to snuff out youth smoking, selling candy-, fruit- and spice-flavored cigarettes is now illegal in the United States...
Harry Potter explores life’s big questions
Parents who take their children to see the Harry Potter films enjoy a fun family night. But unless they dig deeper into the stories, parents miss a great opportunity to explore life’s biggest issues with their children...
