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Dispatch

Restoring Classroom Justice

Restorative justice in schools has picked up steam in response to "zero tolerance" policies, which lead to "schoolhouse-to-jailhouse tracking"

Lewis Wallace

Feature

Labor Takes a Seat in the Classroom

Educators are taking steps to bring union history into American schools

Adam Doster

Feature

Creating the 21st Century Library

The Prelinger Library eschews the Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress systems, and is organized instead by what Megan Shaw Prelinger calls "a map of my brain"

Aaron Sarver

Viewpoint

Offsets Aren’t Enough

Two environmental groups cave in to Big Coal in Texas.

Megan Tady

Feature

Extending Tours, Stressing Troops

Despite a growing body of medical research, the Pentagon is extending tours of duty to their longest levels since World War II, precipitating the first time in history that active-duty soldiers will spend more time in combat than at home

Sarah Olson

Viewpoint

How Does Laura Bush Sleep at Night?

The worst First Lady in recent memory has had no consistent program or agenda to changes things for the better, while at the same time providing PR cover for her husband

Susan J. Douglas

Culture

The Secret Lives of Plutocrats

In Richistan, Robert Frank offers a breezy, well-observed peek into this gated community. You too could visit if you graduate from "butler boot camp" and become a $120,000-a-year "household manager"

David Moberg

Feature

The Trial (And Errors) of Hugo Chávez

Venezuelans are debating whether Chávez is putting the windfall of revenue from oil revenues to good use or squandering it through disorganization, corruption and misplaced priorities

Steve Ellner

Viewpoint

Mining Roves Katrina Legacy

Rove was the man President Bush quietly put in charge of overseeing the administration's response plan, though he had no expertise in homeland security or disaster relief

Amanda Terkel

Feature

Farming the Concrete Jungle

In cities across the country urban farmers are growing communities, greening the landscape and revolutionizing food politics.

Phoebe Connelly and Chelsea Ross

Viewpoint

The Counterproductive War on Gangs

The conclusion of the report, "Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies," persuasively argues that punitive policies of policing that specifically target gangs increase rather than decrease gang violence

Salim Muwakkil

Dispatch

The Promise of Low Power FM

The voices aired on low-power stations include evangelists, social critics, tomato pickers and indie rockers--all linked by the credo that radio should reflect the heterogeneity of the communities it serves

Michelle Chen

Feature

Perverse Justice

Jose Padilla’s conviction raises questions about whether detainees who undergo extreme isolation can be given fair trials

Lindsay Beyerstein

Viewpoint

The Crafting of Obama

When Barack Obama launched his presidential bid, he decided to build a staircase, not merely a platform, thereby differing with most African-American presidential aspirants

Laura S. Washington

Dispatch

Universal Health Care for Wisconsin?

In late June, the Wisconsin state senate ratified "Healthy Wisconsin," a plan that is "the boldest and most comprehensive health care reform from any state," according to the Progressive States Network

David Moberg

Feature

In Condemnation of Opting In

Our voices are being drowned out by our peers in the supposedly independent media, like Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, who calls Starbucks "the new record store," and music journalists like the Chicago Reader's Miles Raymer, who argued in a piece called "In Praise of Selling Out" that the music industry's decline can be "rescued by corporations that make everything but music"

Anne Elizabeth Moore

Viewpoint

Gitmo’s Last Honest Man

Abraham found that "evidence" was generally gathered by inexperienced staff with little legal or intelligence training, and he got no assurance that he was given access to all available evidence on a detainee

H. Candace Gorman

Dispatch

No Match? No Mas!

The Department of Homeland Security is trying to force employers to either fire workers whose names and Social Security numbers don't match. Widespread job loss often results when the government dons its immigration-enforcement blinders

Mischa Gaus