by WALTER BRASCH It’s time to retire the 99 percent. Not the people, but the slogan that identifies the Occupy Movement. “We’re the 99 percent” slogan focused upon two completely different groups of people. The 99 percent are the masses, the impoverished, the disenfranchised, the middle class; the 1 percent refers to the concentration of wealth in the top one percent of the population and in the dominance of large corporate and global financial systems. The...
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Mission Impossible: Finding a Mini-Van Made in America by Union Workers
by WALTER BRASCH Last year, not one of the 491,687 new minivans sold in the United States was made in America by unionized workers. Some were manufactured overseas by companies owned by non-American manufacturers. The Kia Sedona, with 24,047 sales, was built in South Korea, Russia, and the Philippines. The MAZDA5, with 19,155 sales, was built in China, Japan, and Taiwan. Some minivans from Japanese companies were built in the U.S., but by non-unionized workers. Honda sold...
Spearing a Tax Deduction
by WALTER BRASCH On a bright Monday morning, a day before tax returns were due, I bumped into my ersatz friend Marshbaum who was placing a change container at the Gas-High Mini-mart on Low Octane and Greed avenues. “March of Dimes?” I asked. “Dimes. Quarters. Ten-dollar bills. Whatever.” Since he misunderstood my question, I tried it another way. “What charity? Humane Society? MS? Veterans Relief?” “Even better. A museum.” “Science museum for kids? Art museum?” “Not even close.” “I’m...
Reality, News Perception, and Accuracy
By Walter Brasch She quietly walked into the classroom from the front and stood there, just inside the door, against a wall. I continued my lecture, unaware of her presence until my students’ eyes began focusing upon her rather than me. “Yes?” I asked. Just “yes.” Nothing more. “You shouldn’t have done it,” she said peacefully. I was confused. So she said it again, this time a little sharper. “Ma’am,” I began, but she cut me off. I...
How Do We Improve Public Schools? Take Away Their Funding, Terrorize Teachers, and Send Kids Somewhere Else (According to lawmakers)
By Elizabeth Walters How can we improve public education for our children? The answers to this question–and the perspectives on the current quality of public education in the United States–are as varied and individualized as the 55 million students who attend public school in this country. Recently, legislators in Louisiana, like their counterparts in many other states, have sought to improve their state’s educational climate. They have good reason for doing so–in its annual Kids COUNT ratings,...
Collateral Damage in the Marcellus Shale
by WALTER BRASCH There’s nothing to suggest that in his 51 years Kevin June should be a leader. Not from his high school where he dropped out after his freshman year. Not from his job, where he worked as an auto body technician for more than 35 years. Both of his marriages ended in divorce, but did produce two children, a 31-year-old son and a 28-year-old daughter. June readily admits that for most of his life,...
FRACKING: Corruption a Part of Pennsylvania’s Heritage
by WALTER BRASCH (part 3 of 3) The history of energy exploration, mining, and delivery is best understood in a range from benevolent exploitation to worker and public oppression. A company comes into an area, leases land in rural and agricultural areas for mineral rights, increases employment, usually in a depressed economy, strips the land of its resources, creates health problems for its workers and those in the immediate area, and then leaves. It makes no difference if...
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