UEPI News and Commentary

Clean

Last week I had a suit cleaned at OK cleaners, one of the growing number of garment care businesses that use environmentally friendly commercial wet cleaning technologies rather than dry cleaning machines, which depend on a toxic solvent.

Golden Arches & Magic Kingdoms

The Los Angeles Times reported monday that Disney and McDonalds would not be renewing a 10 year exclusive deal that cross promoted  disney movies & McDonald's happy meals. The word from movie industry insiders was that Disney was concerned with being linked to McDonalds food given the increasing concerns over childhood obesity. Company spokespersons denied that the obesity angle had anything to do with the end of the deal, but often these denials only serve to reinforce the original story. The damage is done. The obvious implication is that an all-american brand like the happy meal is becoming tarnished by health concerns. Whether kids movies and theme parks are paragons of physical health is another topic. (Don't get me wrong, there are some ggod disney films & disneyland/world have their own creepy fascination as long as you don't visit too often.)

John Edwards and the Politics of Poverty

In a walnut paneled conference room, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with Georgian chandeliers, Remington-style bronze reproductions, 17th century Flemish art and Persian carpets, including one woven by servants of the Shah of Iran, John Edwards sat in the same chair at a small round table for two days taking copious notes, as panels of policy wonks expounded on new approaches to fight poverty.

In the age of George W., Wal-mart, and free market ideology, few public officials or candidates for office have much to say about the persistence of poverty in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet here was Edwards, calculating whether and how to run for president, at a two-day seminar on poverty that, while attracting 200 people, really had only one student. Read the rest of my article on the Common Dreams website...

Double decker highways and additional highway lanes on the 710 Freeway..do we really need more?

It's unfortunate, but buried within the legislative package of infrastructure projects that the Legislature passed last week, and that otherwise includes important goals such as affordable housing and education, will be a big chunk of change that will go to freeway building, particularly for increasing the ability to expand the movement of goods that flows through -- and pollutes -- the Southern California region. Translated: more freeway lanes or even a double decker of that most notorious of Southern California freeways, the 710.