October 17, 2006 -
A couple weeks ago, Wal-Mart announced that -- in addition to expanding its Blue Light Special empire into China (where, unlike U.S. employees, Wal-Mart workers will have unions) -- it is launching a drive to register 1.3 million of its "associates" to vote.As Daniel Gross points out at Slate, it wouldn't be a stretch to doubt the motives of the Bentonville, Ark. retail goliath's experiment in civic engagement:
October 16, 2006 -
Mining is a dangerous job, and this year it's taken an especially big toll.
October 16, 2006 -
Last week, the Institute released the findings of a major project we've been working on for over six months -- a national public opinion poll, one of the first surveys to take an in-depth look at Southern attitudes towards the Iraq war.
October 13, 2006 -
One of the "big trends" of the South since World War II was the shift from a rural, farm-based culture to an urban one. And where urban areas were created, suburbs soon followed. In recent years, suburban growth has slowed nationally, but it's still on the march in the South.
October 13, 2006 -
The following is a special Facing South report on work at Smithfield Foods, the meat-processing giant with its main pork plant -- the largest in the world -- in Tarheel, N.C. Earlier this month, Smithfield -- already the country's largest hog and pork producer, and fifth-largest beaf producer -- bought out ConAgra Foods Inc.
October 12, 2006 -
The World Bank and Columbia University yesterday released a report calling on governments to institute comprehensive approaches to easing the effects of natural disasters. Incidents related to such events killed more than 90,000 people in 2005, setting a new record.
October 12, 2006 -
UPDATE: Welcome all readers from DKos (where a great discussion has broken out about this new poll) and other places. Make yourself at home. As part of our Peace and Security Program, today the Institute released a major new poll on how Southerners view the Iraq war. The results are eye-opening and signal a big change in attitudes about the war in the South. Below is the complete press release. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 12, 2006