In the Public Interest

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…

The global movement to ban cluster munitions received a big lift last month when forty-six nations at the Oslo Conference agreed on an action plan for “developing a new international treaty on cluster munitions by the end of 2008.” Neither the United States, China, Russia nor Israel — manufacturers of cluster bombs — were participants…

On many occasions, President George W. Bush has lectured the American people that “amidst all this violence and bloodshed” in Iraq, “is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it, and it is vital to the security of our country. Well then, why don’t his daughters, 25 year olds Barbara and Jenna join the armed…