I am from a farming community near Fresno, California. It's so small that it's not even an incorporated town. The post office is a window in the drugstore. I have lived here the majority of my life, and love it here because the people are very warm and friendly. I have a passion for social justice that probably came partly from seeing Mexican farm workers toiling in vineyards. My grandfather, a farmer, always treated his farm workers like family and they loved him. However, there were farmers who did not and the contrast was quite apparent to me, even as a child. I love to write, and that's why I got a degree in journalism. I am also passionate about the environment and taking care of it.

Instead of receiving treatment many drug addicts in the U.S. are incarcerated in state of federal prisons. The past three decades have brought changes in sentencing for drug offenses, some of which critics call racist. The harsher sentencing laws have not led to higher incarceration rates for high-level drug dealers. C... continue reading

Three decades after the beginning of the women's movement, fashion magazines, which are aimed at women, female sexuality is used to sell almost every product. The advertisements placed in fashion magazines communicate to women that they exist only for male gratification. As an article in Ms. Magazine puts it, "With eac... continue reading

The American self-help industry sells one main message in a myriad of forms: you have a problem. In a time when the economy is in shambles, many lack health care insurance while the CEOs of corporations make top dollar. The truth is that self help books don't work. The current situation keeps people focused on themselv... continue reading

President Obama has proved during his first month in office that his environmental policies are radically different than those of his predecessor.

During President Obama’s election night victory speech he promised, “We cannot go back to the old way of doing things.” In his inaugural address, Obama mentioned the imp... continue reading

Next week Americans are going to elect the next president of the U.S. Twenty years ago NASA scientist James Hansen warned that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) were warming the planet. This year Hansen co-wrote a paper with other authors titled "Target Atmospheric Carbon." The paper said, "If humanity wishes... continue reading

The New York Times published a story in December 2005 revealing President Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to engage in warrantless electronic surveillance of telephone calls and emails. On December 17, 2005 President Bush admitted to authorizing the NSA program.
 
Congress passed the Foreign ... continue reading

Ironically, Operation Iraqi Freedom was first called Operation Iraqi Liberation: O.I.L. In the words of a song by folk singer David Rovics, “It’s Operation Iraqi Liberation; tell me what does that spell? Operation Iraqi Liberation: O.I.L.”
 
The Bush administration has ties to the oil industry. President Bush de... continue reading

 
The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq is what international law experts call a preventive war. The Center for Constitutional Rights calls a preventive war a “crime against peace” because the UN does not authorize it. “One country cannot attack another just because at some time in the future it believes... continue reading

Rep. John Conyers and his congressional committee based their findings on the Bush administration, which were compiled into a report titled The Constitution in Crisis, on a number of documents, including the Downing Street Documents which consist of eight British government documents. Among the documents is the Downing... continue reading

In his 2003 State of the Union address Bush made many claims concerning Iraq, namely Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and supported terrorist networks (including al-Qaeda). The previous year Bush made the assertion during a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio that surveillance photos showed Saddam Hussein’s ... continue reading

As part of his inauguration, President Bush repeated the presidential oath of office. He pledged to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." The oath serves to "guard against presidential excess or wrongdoing."[i][i] It also defines the job of the president. Failing to preserve, protect, o... continue reading

A week ago an article appeared in the New York Times titled, "The fourth branch of government: contractors." According to the article, "spending on federal contractors has soared during the Bush administration . . . fueled by the war in Iraq, domestic security and Hurricane Katrina." Private contractors hired by the fe... continue reading

 
 
If I had a dime for every time I heard someone refer to under-developed countries as the "Third World," I would be a rich woman.  It is rather ironic that we use such an outdated title, given that two-thirds of the world lives in dire poverty.  That title helps keep us ignorant of the majority... continue reading