This week in OtherWords, Donald Kaul skewers the “progress” Congress is making on gun control, Chris Schillig weighs in on the Boston Marathon attack from a runner’s perspective, and Jim Hightower marvels at the Army’s green ambitions.

Here’s a clickable summary of our latest commentaries and a link to our new cartoon. If you haven’t already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please do.

1. Under-Regulating the Regulators / Michael Smallberg
   The career moves of the latest SEC chiefs underscore the agency’s revolving door problem.
2. Let’s Lace Up and Keep Running / Chris Schillig
   We can’t close down the world and huddle in our houses after the Boston Marathon attack.
3. Cutting Your Benefits Isn’t the ‘Middle’ Way / Peter Hart
   The rest of us are being left out of the “entitlement reform” story.
4. ExxonMobil’s Mayflower Mess / Michael Brune
   Tar sands crude is both more toxic and much harder to clean than ordinary oil.
5. No Progress on Gun Control to Report / Donald Kaul
   Gun lobbies have our legislature of cowardly lions in their teeth.
6. The Art of Inequality / Sam Pizzigati
   Monumental gifts to museums are coinciding with the erosion of arts programs at the nation’s public schools.
7. How to Send Less Trash to the Landfill / Jill Richardson
   Make a down payment on your own soil’s fertility by composting.
8. The Army Goes Off the Grid / Jim Hightower
   Fort Bliss, a base near El Paso, is a hotbed of solar power and other green energy initiatives.
9. Where the Money Is / William A. Collins
   America’s banks have always been shady.
10. Sacrificing Social Security / Khalil Bendib cartoon

Sacrificing Social Security, an OtherWords cartoon by Khalil Bendib