Sunday morning roundup: income inequality edition

Um, is Chrystia Freeland forgetting a demographic or two when she describes the 19th century United States as "one of the most egalitarian societies on the planet"? Did she feel no need to point out that (one of the) ironies in part the Thomas Jefferson quotation she included--"Most of the laboring class possess property"--was that the rest of the "laboring class" was property? Wow.

By the way, I saw her on Colbert and thought to refer her to a speech coach. Unless she's trying to serve by example to show that shrill, inarticulate woman can be successful, girlfriend needs to work on her public speaking skills.

Which is too bad, because the content she's shrilly presenting has validity. Look no further than South Africa for a case study of inequality's deleterious impact on an economy. But not voting is not the answer.

Is it time to salvage affirmative action by rethinking it?

Have I told you that Mark Bittman is my hero? This, in spite of the fact that he featured bacon recipes in the Times Magazine Food Issue. Let's just let that be and revel in his brilliant ideas for food labeling, which would factor in "foodness"--or naturalness, unprocessedness, etc.--and welfare, i.e., impact on workers, animals, and the environment. Here's a sample label.