Robert Weissman

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Ten Worst Corporations of 2000

Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman return with their annual list of the worst corporate citizens of the last 12 months, from the makers of StarLink genetically modified corn to the manufacturers of those magically disintegrating Firestone tires.

Wed Jan. 3, 2001 12:00 AM PST

Conspiracy of Polluters

How the Big Three automakers have spent decades dodging lawmakers' efforts to make them develop clean alternatives to the internal-combustion engine.

Thu Jul. 27, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

Big Tobacco's Big Loss

The massive jury award in Florida against the tobacco industry should be celebrated as evidence of a civil justice system that works, proof of the value of juries, and a major public-health achievement.

Tue Jul. 18, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

The Solution to Rising Gas Prices: Antitrust Action

Merger mania in the oil industry demands more government intervention in the market, in the style of the Microsoft breakup. The only other choice is anathema to big business: federal regulation.

Thu Jul. 6, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

Who Owns the Consumers Lobby?

The Consumer Federation of America is run by a former Monsanto lobbyist, and ever more of the group's funding comes from corporations. So exactly who is looking out for consumers?

Thu Jun. 8, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

Corruption Tsunami

From small towns to Washington D.C., America is awash in political payoff scandals. Mokhiber and Weissman take you on the tour.

Wed May. 31, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

General Electric's Global Assault

How one huge company is giving the shaft to tens of thousands of workers around the world -- and even its own suppliers.

Thu May. 25, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

Earth Day is Evil?

The Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism wants you to lie back and think of Microsoft.

Mon Apr. 24, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

What We've Won

The anti-globalization demonstrations in Seattle and DC were remarkable victories for grassroots activism, and it's worth taking the measure of everything that's gone right. Of course, the struggle has only just begun.

Thu Apr. 20, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

Pin Stripes or Prison Stripes

When a private citizen steals just a candybar from a business, it buys him 16 years in prison. When businesses steal millions from private citizens, they get a slap on the wrist.

Wed Apr. 12, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

The IMF's Dirty Dozen

The top 12 reasons to protest the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, D.C. on April 16.

Wed Apr. 5, 2000 11:00 PM PDT

The Net As Ponzi Scheme

If history is any indication, when the irrationally exuberant bubble of the Internet-fueled stock market bursts, millions of investors -- and the working poor -- will be left holding an empty bag.

Fri Mar. 31, 2000 12:00 AM PST

The IMF Stumbles

The International Monetary Fund's strategy of blackmailing developing countries into opening up to trade is finally drawing fire from economically dominant nations, including the United States.

Fri Mar. 24, 2000 12:00 AM PST

Gore's Gassy Excuse

The Veep's role in the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles won't solve our current gas crisis, but it does make him an environmentalist only an automaker could love.

Thu Mar. 9, 2000 12:00 AM PST

Big Tobacco Bounces Back

Philip Morris et al. are recasting themselves as kinder, gentler companies concerned about their communities. Meanwhile, they're strong-arming the TV networks to block counter-ads which might persuade you otherwise.

Tue Feb. 22, 2000 12:00 AM PST

The Cost of Biotech Fever

Martha Crouch became a scientist because she loved nature. Then agribusiness began using her research to destroy the things she loved. When she spoke out, the scientific community made her a pariah.

Tue Jan. 11, 2000 12:00 AM PST

Top 10 Worst Corporations of 1999

The economy boomed in 1999, and the corporations who benefitted continued to exploit and abuse labor, the environment, the poor, the elderly, and anything else which threatened the bottom line.

Tue Jan. 4, 2000 12:00 AM PST

The Corporate Century

From Union Carbide in Bhopal to Exxon in Prince William Sound, evidence that corporations have forgotten their charter to serve the greater good has blossomed in the last half of the 20th century.

Thu Dec. 30, 1999 12:00 AM PST

The Wealth of Nations

Winona LaDuke's new book unflinchingly describes how traditional Native American lands appropriated by white settlers often formed the foundations for huge monolithic corporations, such as Weyerhaeuser.

Thu Dec. 23, 1999 12:00 AM PST

Clinton: A Corporation's Best Friend

The Justice Department's new hard line on corporate crime sounds swell. Too bad the Clinton Administration isn't walking the walk.

Wed Dec. 1, 1999 12:00 AM PST

Top 10 Reasons to Shutter the WTO

Commercialism trumps human rights, democracy, the environment, and labor, while communities and developing nations get the shaft.

Wed Nov. 24, 1999 12:00 AM PST

The New Activism: An Uprising of the Soul

Sam Smith of the <i>Progressive Review</i> has written a powerful new book on the corporate state and how the public has been lulled into a false sense of powerlessness by a culture coopted by corporate interests.

Wed Nov. 17, 1999 12:00 AM PST

Robert Rubin Rewrites the Rules

Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin gets cozy with the banking industry while helping push through a bill freeing financial institutions to merge into ever larger megacorporations while largely absolving them of much of their legal obligation to invest in the communities in which they do business.

Tue Nov. 9, 1999 12:00 AM PST

Cell Phone Nightmare Returns

Remember that old wives' tale about cell phones causing brain tumors? It may not be a myth after all, according to the cellular industry's own researcher.

Wed Nov. 3, 1999 12:00 AM PST

Corporate Panhandling in Seattle

The World Trade Organization all but hung out a shingle saying 'Will trade government influence for cash'. To sponsor its Seattle conference, the WTO is offering executives the chance to rub shoulders with world leaders in an exclusive setting, for just $ 250,000 a pop.

Wed Oct. 27, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Dow 36,000? Shyah, Right

In their book, 'Dow 36,000' -- released just weeks prior to the recent stock-market dive -- James Glassman and Kevin Hassett claim the stock market is grossly undervalued and will soon escalate to 36,000. But the authors' bold forecast fails to consider the enormous costs of corporate crime, which more than negate misleading profit figures.

Tue Oct. 19, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Hold On to Your Phone Bill -- It's Merger Time!

Wall Street is happy, and the Federal Communications Commission is complacent, but nobody seems to be looking out for consumers in the recent rash of communications mergers.

Tue Oct. 12, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Our New and Improved! National History

Corporate donors are reaching out to the Smithsonian and other institutions, making sure that history gets told in a corporate-friendly way. Companies from Disney to DuPont have jumped in the game, and our history and national identity hang in the balance.

Mon Oct. 4, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

AIDS Patients Win Over Big Money

Thanks to well-orchestrated pressure, the U.S. makes a 180 on plans to block AIDS drugs to South Africa

Sun Sep. 26, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Taming the Corporate Criminal in 11 Easy Steps

Bring back the death penalty for corporations, and other good ideas

Mon Sep. 20, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Moving Slowly on East Timor
Tue Sep. 14, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s
Mon Sep. 6, 1999 11:00 PM PDT

Big Tobacco's Ruse

The industry doth protest too much--in fact the McCain bill is just what they've always wanted.

Mon May. 11, 1998 11:00 PM PDT

A Corporate Takeover

Once a legitimate watchdog, the National Consumers League now celebrates sweatshop abusers and takes a fat chunk of its budget from major corporations.

Mon May. 4, 1998 11:00 PM PDT