Stories by Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the new book, "Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow." (Wiley, March 2008) He publishes the monthly "Hightower Lowdown," co-edited by Phillip Frazer.
Plain old "hypocrite" just doesn't do the job when describing the audacity of George W. Bush, who has suddenly started painting himself as "Mr. Green, The Environmentalist."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Today, Spaceship Hightower takes you on a journey to an exotic junkyard, where you can get all sorts of useful spare parts. But these are not parts for your car, or even for your spaceship -- they're spare parts for you."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Today, Spaceship Hightower takes you into an alien universe where animals abound ... yet they're really not animals. For example, a dog barks, wags its tail, and even fetches its bone -- yet it's not a dog at all. Instead, it's a computerized creature, a microchip mutt that is riding the latest wave of toy technology: virtual pets."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"More and more cranky rich folks are literally lifting themselves above us riff-raff in the slow lanes of life by buying personal helicopters to take them to and fro their suburban enclaves. Of course, it's pricey, but what's money good for if you can't look down at the rabble below?"
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"You've seen the ads pleading for your donations to help save children who live in poverty; ads featuring sad-eyed, malnourished waifs that just tug at your heart. Well, if you really want your heart strings plucked, wait 'til you hear about the tribulations of little Jeffrey, Lisa, and Alexa. Their problem is: They're rich."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Scientists have patented a process of splicing a flounder gene into the growth-hormone gene of the Salmon, causing the resulting fish to grow twice as fast and more than twice as large as normal. This would seem to be a bonanza for fish farmers -- double the fish in half the time. But it's not nice to try to fool Mother Nature, and the scientists' genetically engineered supersalmon comes with a devastating flaw... "
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"There are laws in our country that proclaim to human criminals 'three strikes and you're out' -- why not for corporations? Each year, hundreds of doctors, lawyers and other professionals have their licenses permanently revoked -- why not corporations? People who murder are removed from society -- why not corporations?" A fiery selection from Jim Hightower's new book, "If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.
"The US Department of Agriculture has authorized giant meat packers to zap our burgers, chops, and steaks with a heavy dose of X-rays, using radioactive cobalt-60 to do the job."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"We've learned in recent years that privacy is passŽ in practically every aspect of our lives as corporate and governmental snoops track our movements at work, in schools, walking down the street, browsing on the Internet ... and now, even while we eat."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"A new study has found that the use of such stimulants and antidepressants as Ritalin and Prozac have increased dramatically in the past few years among preschoolers. What kind of doctors are doing this? Where's the federal 'Drug War' when we really need it?"
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Maybe you can't live forever, but your dog Fido, your cat Fluffy, and all your other pets can. A host of new companies have sprung up which will collect and store your pet's DNA for a fee, with the hopes that someday cloning technology will bring them back to life."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
There's a crime wave underway in America, but the Powers That Be are getting sore necks from looking the other way. When it comes to robbing us blind, the Armani-clad criminals in corporate boardrooms have it over the hoods on the street. While burglary and robbery cost U.S. taxpayers $3.8 billion annually, securities traders alone cream four times that amount from their clients in fraudulent deals every year -- and securities fraud is small potatoes.
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: Hightower Lowdown
"There's a bunch of cranks out there suffering from a raw case of 'class envy.' No, I'm not talking about your ordinary working stiffs. Instead, this is a case of Executive Class Envy -- multi-millionaires who are becoming more and more envious of the growing crop of youngish mega-billionaires in our society."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"America's drug war is so stupid that if you pay close attention to just how stupid it is, it'll drive you to use drugs."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Here's a sorrow-filled story from the New York Times about the personal side of downsizing. It's about the emotional trauma suffered by those who get caught up in the blizzard of pink slips in today's harsh, corporate climate. Only, the Times story is not about the people getting pink slips ... but about the sad plight of bosses who hand them out."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"When Edgar Rosen bought a Sunbeam Grillmaster home, he found that he was the one getting grilled. At the risk of losing his warranty, Rosen was required to fill out a foot-long questionnaire, demanding he reveal his income, marital status, what credit cards the Rosen household uses, whether anyone there smokes cigars, wears contact lenses, or is a veteran."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"A group of Republican attorneys general have devised a sneaky way to take secret campaign contributions from tobacco companies, high-tech firms, gun makers, and other giant corporations, promising not to file big lawsuits against them."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Three years ago John Deutch -- head honcho of the CIA -- transferred some 200 of America's secret documents onto computers that he had in his home. But was Deutch prosecuted for reckless endangerment of our secrets, as any other agent would have been? Hardly."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Jim Hightower airs out the issues the presidential front-runners aren't talking about in Campaign 2000.
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: Hightower Lowdown
Joseph W. Luter III, boss hog at the nation's biggest pork producer, is buying out his competitors, squeezing out the family farmers who raise hogs, and contaminating the air and water for miles around.
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
A plant owned by Phillips Petroleum recently exploded, killing one employee and sending 71 others to the hospital. Will Phillips executives even do what it takes to stop this from happening?
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
28
