Talking Loud and Saying Nothing
Reading Time: < 1 minute Corporations may not be willing to change who they are or what they do, but they are willing to say whatever it takes to protect their bottom line.
Can Worker Participation on Corporate Boards Fight Income Inequality?
Reading Time: 8 minutes A corporation’s board of directors is elected by its shareholders, presumably with company profit and higher share value in mind. But what if the employees had some say about who sits at the table?
How Corporations Force States to Stifle Local Rule
Reading Time: 15 minutes The American Beverage Association basically extorted California’s government into preempting the authority of cities and counties to impose soda taxes over the next 12 years. Unfortunately other large corporate interests are also using similar tactics to get what they want.
When Golf Clubs Kill — Federal Rule Ineffective in Curbing Conflict Minerals
Reading Time: 2 minutes Minerals found in thousands of products Americans use every day are paying for weapons in one of the bloodiest conflicts in Africa. Federal rules intended to get companies to stop buying them have proven ineffective.
Corporate Personhood in the Fast Lane: Jonathan Frieman, Citizen, Takes a Stand
Reading Time: 6 minutes Russ Baker interviews Jonathan Frieman, who took an unusual stand against corporate personhood. Frieman was stopped in October by a sheriff in Marin County (a San Francisco suburb)—for driving solo in the lane for high-occupancy vehicles. He then pulled out corporate papers and argued that he was traveling with another person—since corporations count as persons. In January, he got his day in court. He didn’t win, but he did show how creative approaches can make people pay attention. His action drew local and national media coverage.
Russ Baker in San Francisco
Reading Time: < 1 minute Russ Baker lecture in San Francisco. On the tabloidization of life, the stories we’re not getting, liberal vs. conservative, our heroes, elites vs. common people, how the powerful keep their power, and why we must read books. (One hour)
Times Square: Nuthin To See Here, Folks
Reading Time: < 1 minute WhoWhatWhy’s Lori Harfenist takes her camera to Times Square. And find that it isn’t what it was (once) cracked up to be. Unless you’re a Smurf.
Obama: “Yes, I’m in a Can”
Reading Time: 4 minutes Let’s look a little further at what ails Obama—and us. It’s about the pretty small part of the One Percent that really calls the shots, and keeps a president from doing what he surely knows he must.
George Carlin on “The American Dream”: A Few Dirty Words and A Whole Lot of Sense
Reading Time: 3 minutes If George Carlin were still with us, we’d have recruited him for the WhoWhatWhy advisory board. He had a certain clarity about the world that is sadly lacking. Accept no substitute….
Getting Real on Budgets—and Who Won’t Budge
Reading Time: 4 minutes Now’s the time to shake off the slumber and look—gasp—look at who’s really benefitting from the shutdown threat.