IPS Blog

This week, OtherWords features an op-ed by Sarah Anderson and a cartoon by Khalil Bendib that highlight the dangers of the "Fix the Debt" campaign. Spearheaded by big corporations and their CEOs, this slick and well-financed initiative could only make our national financial situation worse by slashing tax revenue and cutting Social Security and other earned benefits.

As always, I encourage you to visit the OtherWords blog and subscribe to our weekly newsletter if you haven't signed up yet.

1. The Trojan Horse in the Debt Debate / Sarah Anderson
   Dozens of CEOs are running a misleading campaign that would just make matters worse.
2. Our Nuclear Insecurity Complex / Peter Stockton
   The government has yet to address the lapses in bomb-grade uranium storage security that an 82-year-old nun and her accomplices revealed months ago.
3. Fracking our Thanksgiving Feast / Joel Greeno
   Could mining Wisconsin sand lead to butter and cranberry shortages?
4. Voting Can Be Good for Your Health / Hillary Gibson
   Obama's re-election means insurance companies won't be able refuse to cover the treatment I will need for the rest of my life.
5. The Return on Those Bad Bets on Romney / Sam Pizzigati
   Billionaires can win politically even when they lose on Election Day.
6. Without Unity, We'll Tumble Over the Fiscal Cliff / Mattea Kramer
   Our lawmakers have an opportunity to negotiate a better budget deal for this country.
7. The Biggest Loser in Politics / Jim Hightower
   Billionaires expect better returns than Karl Rove pulled off on Election Day.
8. Please Don't Shoot the Messengers / William A. Collins
   Official secrecy doesn't just shield high-ranking officials from the personal embarrassment that comes with taking the term "embedded" too literally.
9. The 'Fix-the-Debt' Racket / Khalil Bendib Cartoon

As authorities in the Northeast order new evacuations and the airlines cancel hundreds of flights in anticipation of another fierce storm, OtherWords is taking stock of the many ways in which Sandy may prove a teachable moment.

Daphne Wysham and John Talberth show how this latest bout of extreme weather exposes the shortcomings of relying on GDP to measure economic progress. William A. Collins, one of the 8.5 million people who lost power last week, asks whether Mother Nature was disciplining Wall Street for its dirty-energy finance. Michael Brune, who grew up in one of New Jersey's hardest-hit towns, calls for bigger investments in clean energy. Ryan Alexander calls for a more responsible approach to the nation's flood insurance system. And Khalil Bendib's cartoon can accompany any of these commentaries.

Be sure to visit the OtherWords blog, where many of our writers are parsing the elections. And please subscribe to our weekly newsletter if you haven't signed up yet.

1. How Sandy Reveals the GDP's Twisted Logic / John Talberth and Daphne Wysham
   Extreme weather doesn't boost the economy.
2. Hurricane Sandy's Wakeup Call / Michael Brune
   Sandy is only the latest and most devastating incident in a pattern of extreme weather that's become impossible to ignore.
3.  Social Security: It Ain't Broke / Elizabeth Rose
   It's a basic part of what makes America run, like our national highway system.
4. Rebuilding Resilience / Ryan Alexander
   We have to stop subsidizing people to live in harm's way.
5.  The Invisible Hand Won't Stop Inequality in Its Tracks / Sam Pizzigati
   We'll have more economic and climate disasters on Sandy's scale unless our political systems intervene.
6. Why the Chicken Crossed the Road / Jim Hightower
   Factory farms are animal concentration camps.
7. Shivering in the Land of Climate Denial / William A. Collins
   If Wall Street doesn't get Mother Nature's hint, it will become the entire world's tragedy.
8. Sandy Trumps Romney's Climate Joke / Khalil Bendib Cartoon
   
    
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It's a relief to keep the OtherWords editorial service running on schedule when so little is going as planned. At my house, we just had an unexpected four-day weekend and a downed fence. And our little ladybug and cop trotted back to school in time to celebrate Halloween.

While I'm concerned about the damage from this extreme weather, I'm also thankful that my loved ones are safe and sound. I hope that the same holds true for you, your friends, and relatives.

Thanksgiving is when we contemplate everything we take for granted, and "Frankenstorm" Sandy made that holiday arrive early this year. In addition to being thankful that the neighbor's towering tree didn't crush my house, I'd like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for your continued support.

I'd also like to thank the editors who make it possible for OtherWords commentaries and cartoons to appear in 310 newspapers that reach more than 6.5 million readers. And thanks to the editors that enable us to run on dozens of websites too.

I also want to thank everyone who reads our work online and in other publications and to the many organizations and individuals who write (or draw) for OtherWords. And thanks to anyone who has made a donation to support this important work. With the dizzying number of media alternatives out there, we need your help more than ever to keep our progressive and newsroom-ready perspectives on everything from nuclear dangers to health care challenges in the conversation.

This editorial service is free of charge for editors to use in newspapers and new media outlets under a Creative Commons license. If you know anyone who might want to become an OtherWords subscriber or run our work in their opinion section or website, I'd really appreciate it if you could let them know about us.

This week in OtherWords, we're emphasizing military and foreign policy priorities. Miriam Pemberton explains how rebalancing our national security spending would make our embassies safer. Lt. General (USA, Ret.) Robert G. Gard outlines the next administration's top foreign policy challenges. Khalil Bendib's cartoon can accompany either of those commentaries, as well as William A. Collins' column summing up his take on Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Be sure to visit the OtherWords blog, where you'll find a bonus column by Jim Hightower in a few days. And please subscribe to our weekly newsletter if you haven't signed up already.

1. How to Make our Embassies Safer / Miriam Pemberton
   Paul Ryan's spending plans call for slashing the money the State Department can use to protect diplomats.
2. The Next Administration's Top Five Foreign Policy Challenges / Lt. General (USA, Ret.) Robert G. Gard
   The next administration's top short-term challenge will undoubtedly be to end U.S. involvement in combat operations in Afghanistan.
3. Isolation on Both Ends of the Line / Chancellar Williams
   In a complete distortion of free-market economics, the phone companies that secure contracts with prisons are often the ones that charge more than their competitors.
4. A Nuclear Strike on States' Rights / Deb Katz
   Vermont's Yankee reactor would have closed this year had a power company kept a decade-old promise.
5. The Dead-End Servant Economy / Sam Pizzigati
   We're going down the road toward becoming a nation of servants.
6. Politics Creep to a New Low / Jim Hightower
   Both presidential campaigns are going overboard with their snooping into voters' lives.
7. Dining with Mahmoud / William A. Collins
   That night, he left out his signature anti-Semitic rhetoric.
8. The Horses and Bayonets Strategy / Khalil Bendib

This week in OtherWords, you'll find several commentaries about the scary stuff we eat.

Guest columnist Jill Richardson talks about how food companies scoop too much sugar into our bread and salad dressing. Former dairy farmer Donna Hall introduces readers to an under-regulated ingredient that's in everything from candy to pizza — her op-ed will make you spend way more time reading food labels. Andrew Korfhage's commentary about how Big Chocolate hasn't yet kept a longstanding pledge to fight its suppliers' reliance on child labor in West Africa is accompanied by Khalil Bendib's weekly cartoon.

I've been getting a few questions about our schedule. So here's a quick reminder: OtherWords is now distributing our newsroom-ready commentaries and cartoons on Wednesdays. We made this change earlier this month and hope that it hasn't proven too disruptive to your own schedules. As always, everything we run is free of charge for editors to use in newspapers and new media outlets under a Creative Commons license.

I also encourage you to visit our blog, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, and send me any feedback you may have. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. Remembering George McGovern and Old-School Campaign Tools / Steve Cobble
   Being decent, humane, smart, caring, and brave was not enough.
2. The Spooky Side of Chocolate / Andrew Korfhage
   There's nothing sweet about child labor.
3. The Ingredient Haunting our Candy / Donna Hall
   Milk protein concentrate is in thousands of the things we eat, but there's no government oversight ensuring that this ingredient is safe for consumers.
4. Supremely High Stakes in This Election / Marge Baker
   When it comes to workers' rights, some of the most influential government officials we'll be voting for are ones whose names don't actually appear on the ballot.
5. Where's Joe the Plumber When You Need Him? / Sam Pizzigati
   Without someone at least ranting about sharing the wealth, no one's talking about sharing the wealth.
6. Tricky Treats / Jill Richardson
   Sugar haunts too much of what we eat these days.
7. GOP Looks in Mirror, Spots Voter Fraud / Jim Hightower
   Records show that a Republican running for county commissioner in Texas has been casting ballots there and in Pennsylvania.
8. Middle Class Fantasy / William A. Collins
   Median family income is sliding, the social safety net is tattered, and only the top 5 percent are making any real monetary headway.
9. Trick or Mistreat / Khalil Bendib (Cartoon)

Half a century ago this month, the Cuban Missile Crisis didn't culiminate in an exchange of nuclear blows between Washington and Moscow. This week in OtherWords, Arnold Oliver recaps the lessons of that showdown, reminding us of how lucky we were and still are for that. And guest columnist Jill Richardson points out that just eating a bowl of rice is more dangerous than it needs to be.

As always, I encourage you to visit our blog and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. Can Obama Get His Groove Back? / Steven Gray
   This election is the president's to lose.
2. Pulling the Plug on Ex-Gay Quackery / Christine Sun
   More states should follow California's lead and protect minors from the junk science known as "conversion therapy."
3. A Plan for the Democratic Party / David Elliot
   If the Dems win big in November, they should use their newfound political capital.
4. More Lucky than Brilliant / Arnold Oliver
   Moscow and Washington almost blew up the world during the Cuban Missile Crisis over a misunderstanding.
5. Empty Anti-Wall Street Rhetoric / Sam Pizzigati
   Lots of office-seekers this fall are campaigning against the 1 percent, but will they govern that way?
6. The Risky Business of Eating in America / Jill Richardson
   How can eating too much rice can give you cancer?
7. Fracking Liars / Jim Hightower
   Supporters and leaders of the hydraulic fracturing industry aren't being honest about government support for this new natural gas boom.
8. One Nation, Under Surveillance / William A. Collins
   The cell phone has become the instrument of choice for tracking your every move.
9. Anti-Proliferation Brigade / Khalil Bendib (Cartoon)