In the Public Interest

Anybody who played schoolboy sandlot baseball in Winsted, Connecticut with David Halberstam back in the nineteen forties would not have been very surprised to observe his spectacular journalistic career that took him to the civil rights struggles in the South, the war torn African and Asian continents, and the writing of some 20 books which…

This column heralds a pioneering conference next month in Washington, D.C. But first a little background. Back in the nineteen thirties, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt went on the national radio and declared what the basic necessities were for the American people — a wage that can support a family, decent housing, the right to health…

The current issue of the UTNE Reader (May — June ’07) carried a short but sensibly provocative article protesting the stagnation and the cul-de-sac nature of street protests that involve nonviolent civil disobedience. Joseph Hart, the author, asks why the current antiwar movement is so impotent, despite “a staggering 67 percent disapproval of President Bush’s…

T. Christian Miller works hard year after year as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He has reported on topics ranging from gross corporate profiteering in Iraq to the production and use here and overseas of older, dangerous pesticides that are either shunned or restricted for use in this country. Mr. Miller spent months…

Could anyone have imagined that the major commencement protest at a University graduation thus far occurred April 26 at Brigham Young University (BYU)? Probably not. But then could anyone have imagined that the Vice President with the lowest approval rating in modern American history would request and receive an invitation to be the commencement speaker?…

Earth Day the First — launched in April 1970 with 1500 events mostly on college campuses by enormous student energy — led the television network news and made the covers of the national news magazines. Earth Day the Thirty Seventh — in April 2007 — was broader based than the First Day but in many…

Now that the Don Imus flameout has once again demonstrated that vile words energize many activist groups and many media more than do devastating deeds, it is useful to revisit this strange dimension of public furor. The latest three word outburst in Mr. Imus’ practice of sexist and racist remarks may be compared with the…

The IRS has a $10 billion tax credit for 140 million American taxpayers. But the deadline is April 17th — unless you file for an automatic extension. On May 25, 2006 the U.S. Treasury Department decided to stop fighting successful litigation over a federal excise tax on long-distance service first imposed on wealthy people owning…

Years ago, when leaded gasoline was what gas stations sold to motorists, I would be driving through the fertile valleys in California and see the crops growing right up to shoulders of the narrow blacktop roads that coursed the expansive fields. “Doesn’t this lead coming out of many vehicular tailpipes get into the soil and…

Was Connie Leas, the author of The Art of Thank You: Crafting Notes of Gratitude (Beyond Words Publishing, 2002) engaged in a thankless task? For the most part, probably. For conveying “thank yous” these days seems to be a vanishing art. This impression is nourished with everyday experience by just about everybody who says they…