Commentary

491 posts

Meet Christian-Libertarian-Environmentalist-Capitalist-Lunatic Farmer Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms

You wouldn’t expect a farmer from Virginia to draw such a huge crowd, but when Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms spoke at the University of Northern Colorado in March of 2010, the audience of thousands was absolutely enraptured. “Consider this; he who feeds you, owns you.” The thousands of students, farmers, and thinkers collectively drew in our breaths as we heard this.  “Every paradigm can exceed its efficiency. Our twentieth century model of the industrial food system is cracking and on the verge of collapse!” Continue reading →

Academic Experts Discuss the Talking Pineapple Test Question

New Yorkers this week are increasingly perplexed by a reading passage appearing in a standardized state exam for eighth-graders that at first glance appears to be an Aesop’s fable haphazardly rewritten by a 12-year old with ADHD. Yet despite the best efforts of Jeopardy winner Ken Jennings to answer the questions, his analysis was woefully limited in scope and failed to consider the far-reaching ramifications of the answer choices in the context of all available knowledge. Thus, we asked our fictitious team of self-proclaimed legal and economic experts to address the questions in greater depth, let’s call them Bill and Ted. The following discussion did not ensue: Continue reading →

Are We on the Brink of a Generation War?

Generation gaps, misunderstandings, and firm convictions about what the lives of young people should be about have emerged through the ages where shouts of “Get a haircut! Stop listening to all that rock & roll music! That damn rap is just noise! Why do you text so much?!” and the like have been the requisite commentary that’s followed most every generation. I’m sure at some point God asked Jesus what the deal was with sandals. Yet, as we move further forward, and technology offers us something new about every few years, just how far apart are we really? Continue reading →

Seventeen Years Later Oklahoma City Still Has Lessons for America

Today is the seventeenth anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 168 people lost their lives on that day and the small, tightly-knit community they lived in has never been the same. The striking thing about this year’s anniversary is that it seems to have been forgotten. The national media is busy discussing the Secret Service Scandal, the death of Dick Clark, and the character of Ann Romney. The largest terrorist attack on American soil before 9/11 is not worthy of a front-page mention of any of my usual news outlets. Continue reading →

What Now for Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton?

The subject of the Change.org email said it all: ‘Finally’

In the words that followed, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, the parents of Trayvon Martin, expressed their satisfaction and relief that their son’s killer, George Zimmerman, had been charged with the murder of their son. It was a battle that spanned more than six weeks for Martin and Fulton as they sought justice for their son. Certainly, there are no guarantees that the Florida court system will provide the measure of justice Trayvon’s parents desire. However, the fact that Zimmerman will face a jury weeks after Sanford police seemed content to allow him to simply walk away under the cover of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law has to feel like justice in and of itself. Continue reading →

America’s Love Affair with Rick Santorum Comes to an End

On Tuesday, at a rail yard hobo-camp near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, not far from where old Zebulon Romney sold loads of defective beans to Union Army quarter-masters during the Civil War, news spread like cholera or wildfire or some other fast-spreading thing that Richard “Shoeless Dick” Santorum, the hobo senator, was ending his presidential campaign. The senator, wearing his trademark overalls and clutching a Big Gulp cup full of gin and Sprite, spoke before a small crowd of hobos, tramps, pimps, train-whores, steampunks, and blood plasma merchants. Tears and gin streaked his grimy face. Continue reading →

#Tuesday4Trayvon: Some Difficult Conversations

As most of you are aware, I have spent the last few weeks working on the Million Hoodies campaign trying to pressure the Florida authorities to indict George Zimmerman for the shooting of Trayvon Martin. It has been an emotional and exhausting few weeks. The shooting of Trayvon is a heavy tragedy and seeing the pain of his family is heart breaking.

However, it has also been incredibly inspiring to see people from all over the world come together to demand justice and show their support. I have received emails from people all over the country, hoodie pictures from elderly white ladies, and music videos from young rappers who put their heart and soul into this cause. High school students, church groups, and even politicians have put on their hoodies and raised their voices. It’s incredible, but what do we do next? Continue reading →

Little Big Scam

Recently, I booked an airline ticket through United Airlines and decided to pop for the “Economy Plus” seating. It added $54 to one leg and $64 to the other but I figured: why not. The ticket was actually less than I’d expected and I’m an adult with long legs and a little money in the bank. I deserve it. When I happened to check my bank statement on-line (I pay for everything with my debit card) I noticed that I’d been charged twice for each of the economy plus additions; a total of $118 that United, essentially, stole from my bank account. Trying to reverse these charges has plunged me into a bureaucratic rabbit hole of hell that has gotten me thinking: just how much is corporate America filching from us, right beneath our noses? Continue reading →