The legal struggle continues for South Bronx-based hip-hop activists Rodrigo and Gonzalo Venegas, who were aggressively arrested by New York Police Department officers June 18. The brothers, members of the popular group Rebel Diaz, said they were trying to help a street vendor on Southern Boulevard in Hunts Point who, they felt, was being harassed by police officers. read more »

Designed to be a beacon of multiculturalism, KGIA was surrounded by controversy from its inception (see below). Parents, students and educators say that inadequate classroom resources, an unresponsive school administration, lack of support from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and teacher firings pushed the school to the brink of failure. read more »

For the past six years, several environmental groups have been prodding Albany to pass the “Bigger Better Bottle Bill.” It would expand the state’s Returnable Containers Act to require deposits on all glass, metal and plastic beverage containers, not just beer and soda bottles and cans. read more »

It will be a year this November since billionaire — and possible mayoral candidate — John Catsimatidis tore down an entire block on Myrtle Avenue between Navy and Prince Streets. read more »

More than 100 students, parents, city politicians and educators rallied on the steps of City Hall Aug. 14 in support of new legislation that would reform the heavyhanded policing of New York City schools. read more »

Third Root Community Health Center, which opened its doors Aug. 22 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, seeks to provide alternative healthcare services to the community at affordable prices. read more »

The venerable progressive radio station 99.5FM WBAI has gone into yet another month-long fundraising drive this September as bitter infighting continues on the station’s ruling Listener Station Board (LSB) and the budget deficits mount. read more »

Texas resident Mario Castellon Leiva cruised through New York in late August on his nationwide bicycle tour to raise awareness about families affected by recent massive immigration raids. read more »

Events in and around New York City, September 12-October 2, 2008. read more »

Readers respond to the August 8th issue. read more »

This year’s national political conventions were a magnet for everyone from corporate fatcats and the politicians they fund to protesters clamoring about the failures of the Bush administration and the two-party electoral system. read more »

DENVER-- "It was completely mystifying to me. I couldn't tell what they were protesting about,” said the young downtown office worker who was sitting across from me on a light rail train. She was heading to her home in the suburbs of south Denver as she related her experience of watching a clash between police and protesters that sent scores of people to jail on the first night of the Democratic Convention. “It seems like they just wanted attention,” she concluded. read more »

DENVER, CO—Although the corporate media is transfixed on the spectacle of a convention centered on a candidate that promises “hope” and “change,” a real agenda for social justice was being pushed forward Aug. 25 just blocks away from Pepsi Center at the Mercury Café on California Street. read more »

As New Orleans and hurricanes once again share headlines, this moment offers an opportunity to examine how three years of disastrous federal, state and local policy have affected the people of New Orleans. read more »

More than 300 New York City high school students spent part of their summer vacation in New Orleans with the youth-led organization, the New York 2 New Orleans Coalition (NY2NO). They participated in rebuilding, yard work, building gutting and community organizing. read more »

Asif Ali Zardari — singled out by fate to become Benazir Bhutto’s husband and who, subsequently, did everything he could to prevent himself from being returned to obscurity — was sworn in as president of Pakistan on Sept. 9. read more »

The Other September 11ths; FBI: Neo-Nazis Infiltrating the U.S. Military; Contaminated Water in Iraq Leads to Cholera Outbreak; Questions Raised Over "Suicide" of Female Soldiers in Iraq. read more »

Journalism in America today is a primitive craft. Corrupted by monopoly ownership, it is uninformative and belligerent. It manipulates the truth on behalf of political power, social control, money-making and military enterprises. read more »

Stone rightly credits Ronald Reagan and the New Rightists who got him elected with promulgating a “help is harmful” mantra that both parties have since put forward. To wit, most Republicans and more than a few Democrats now argue against government aid. read more »

Today most newspapers have no labor reporters. New York Times correspondent Steven Greenhouse’s new book, The Big Squeeze, makes the case that the media should pay more attention to the plight of the working class and the labor movement. read more »

A review of Bush vs Chavez: Washington’s War on Venezuela By Eva Golinger and Revolution!: South America and the Rise of the New Left By Nikolas Kozloff read more »

Eight essays merge righteous indignation with solid policy recommendations about ways to close the gaps between those with opportunities and those without. read more »

Tarting up the one we love is an all-too-rare chance to invite our partners into our fantasies and an opportunity for them to explore safe and dirty possibilities behind an indefatigable mesh façade. read more »