Still, it seems strange that legislators in so many states — from California to Vermont — have simultaneously been pushing “ag-gag” bills that are not merely outrageous, but downright un- American.

Welcome to the Brave New World of “ag-gag” laws being pushed by agribusiness corporations to stop reporters, workers, animal rights advocates and even curious 25-year-old truth-seekers like Ms. Meyer from recording abuses that are routinely taking place on farm-animal confinement factories.

First, some background. A decade earlier, WCS parlayed political donations to Gov. Rick Perry into a special deal to build a low-level nuclear waste dump in a West Texas county, right up against the New Mexico border.

Factory farms are not farms at all. They are corporate-run concentration camps for pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys and other food animals.

Earth Day cometh — the 43rd year of this national focus on our globe. Should we weep? Or cheer? Both.

I like the word “lift.” It implies upward progress and a can-do communal spirit: Yes, let´s all put our backs into it, and lift this load. It´s so American!

Turf wars can be the silliest of all scuffles, and no place does silly with more zeal than Texas.

It’s one thing for Big Oil frackers to bust into our Earth, our communities and our economic well-being — but the fracking fad is also busting the free speech rights of locals who dare to speak out against it.

Great news, people. As a recent headline puts it: “Household wealth back at pre-recession levels.” Oh joy — we’re all rich again! Or not.

America’s founders were strong promoters of this extraordinarily useful agricultural crop, and both Jefferson and Washington grew it. The first draft of our Constitution was written on hemp paper, and as late as World War II, the government urgently pushed farmers to grow the crop as part of a “Hemp for Victory” program.