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A Mother's Load

Elisabeth Badinter is picking a fight with her book The Conflict, in which she demonizes pretty much every form of maternal bonding. And I was pleased to see Sarah Blustain give it to her in “Mère Knows Best”, rightly mocking Badinter’s attacks on social science, breast-feeding, and ecology. No writer should get away with defending the cancer-causing chemical BPA in the name of feminism, and Blustain doesn’t let her.
September 11, 2012 |
Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
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Economy & Opportunity 
Health of Muslims, Arab Americans Another Victim of 9/11

More than a decade after September 11, 2001 and we are only now really beginning to comprehend the health fallout from the terrorist attacks. The effects suffered by first-responders and those who lived in downtown New York City have become increasingly clear, and have rightly been the subject of much attention. Indeed, only yesterday it was announced that 58 cancers had been added to the list of illnesses covered in the wake of 9/11.
September 11, 2012 |
CNN
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Economy & Opportunity 
Missouri At Risk for Voter Bullying This Year

Missouri is at a higher risk for bullying this year but it's not at school. Missouri has made a list of ten states at risk for voter bullying this election year. Missouri made the list because it is expected to have some highly contested races.
September 11, 2012 |
KMBZ
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Democracy & Elections 
Paring 401(k) Expenses

NOW that some sunshine is being shed on 401(k) expenses, it’s time to see how you can improve returns by lowering the costs of the middlemen.
September 11, 2012 |
The New York Times
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Economy & Opportunity 
Retirement Security 
How We Can Bring Millions of Americans to the Middle Class

The United States needs to be reimagined. A recent study from the Pew Research Center tells us that in economic terms the middle class "has suffered its worst decade in modern history." It's shrinking.

With jobs scarce, wages declining and the nation's wealth concentrating ever more intensely at the top, the middle class has shrunk in size for the first time since World War II.
September 4, 2012 |
The Huffington Post
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Economy & Opportunity 
The Middle Class 
The Role of Money in Politics: Extreme Energy Edition

The last few weeks have not brought good news for those of us wanting a future powered by clean energy. Thesouthern portion of the TransCanada pipeline is under construction. On top of that, New York State will lift its moratorium and allow fracking to occur in the state.
August 30, 2012 |
Huffington Post
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Campaign Finance Reform 
Democracy & Elections 
The US Chamber of Commerce's Multimillion-Dollar Attack Plan

“Obamacare will be a nightmare for Florida seniors,” a grim voiceover announces. “Did Bill Nelson consider the consequences when he cast a deciding vote for Obamacare?”
 
“Tell Jon Tester: the Washington way isn’t the solution,” another intones. “We need less government and lower taxes.”
 
“Sherrod,” a third asks, referring to Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, “what planet are you on?”
 
August 29, 2012 |
The Nation
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Democracy & Elections 
Carbon Tax Silence, Overtaken by Events

DON’T expect to hear much about climate change at the Republican and Democratic conventions.
August 25, 2012 |
The New York Times
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Consumerism & Sustainable Economics 
Who Is Responsible for the Way Felix Trinidad Died?

I felt sick when I heard about Felix Trinidad, a 34-year-old man who died in July after working through months with stomach cancer. Trinidad worked at Golden Farm, a Brooklyn market that sells produce and groceries. And he was so worried about losing his job, he didn’t take time off to go to the doctor to get a diagnosis until he had no chance of beating the disease.

Why would someone so sick soldier, working six days a week, 12 hours a day with so little apparent concern for his own life?
August 24, 2012 |
Parents.com
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Economy & Opportunity 
Study: College Becoming Unaffordable to Middle Class

Many Florida families have been paying up to 25 percent of median income for public in-state college costs — out of reach for some middle-class parents who have taken recent pay cuts or lost jobs, according to a new study.
August 23, 2012 |
The Sun Sentinel
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Economy & Opportunity 
Higher Education