AltWeeklies Wire
California is in the Worst Mess in its History ... Who Will Save the Golden State?new
California's economy looks like it's driving off a cliff. But we've already crashed over the railing and are now free falling towards certain doom.
Monterey County Weekly |
Jessica Lyons |
07-16-2009 |
Politics
Swipe Happy: How Paying Tuition With Plastic Can Cost Younew
Since February 2008, University of Virginia students have been able to pay tuitions online through Quik Pay@UVA using an e-check, which drafts money from checking accounts or credit cards. But paying by credit card involves an additional 2.75 percent convenience fee.
C-Ville Weekly |
Caitlin Speaker |
07-15-2009 |
Education
Despite Hopes, Incoming Soldiers Won't Bolster Colorado Springs' Housing Marketnew
Take close to 6,000 soldiers -- many with families -- and make them move to Colorado Springs. Add a federal program meant to help troops with reassigned units sell their homes, and sprinkle in some hope that the local housing market has bottomed out. You have the makings for a healthy local housing boom, save for one crucial thing: Many soldiers are in no position to buy.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
07-14-2009 |
Housing & Development
Cash for Clunkers: Buckets of Bolts for the Low, Low Price of $1 Billionnew
Theoretically the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) -- aka "Cash For Clunkers" -- sounds like a swell idea. But it's also pretty pie-in-the-sky. I'm not the first to notice that this bill assumes that there are lots of people driving around a car that is worth less than $4,500 and can actually afford a new car.
Pasadena Weekly |
Jennifer Hadley |
07-13-2009 |
Economy
William I. Robinson's Latest Outlines a Mad Rush Toward a World Where Cars Consume Cerealnew
In Latin America and Global Capitalism, Robinson uses research from years of on-the-ground work, and sifts through rafts of data to map out how neoliberal trade agreements and other mechanisms for greasing the machine of global commerce have increased profits for global elites while deeply disrupting traditional patterns of life and balance with the natural world.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Ben Terrall |
07-01-2009 |
Nonfiction
How Identity Thieves Get Away Free and Clearnew
Police and prosecutors can't seem to catch up to the growing number of identity theft crimes each year. The Houston Police Department alone receives about 1,400 identity theft complaints each month, and usually, those result in about 25 arrests. Not 25 percent. Twenty-five arrests. Meanwhile, the victims are often forgotten, left to deal with cleaning up the mess on their own.
Houston Press |
Paul Knight |
06-30-2009 |
Crime & Justice
How Does the Bad Economy Affect Connecticut's Sex Trade?new
Connecticut sex workers are increasing advertising and considering returning to street-walking during the recession.
New Haven Advocate |
Erin Holroyd |
06-30-2009 |
Sex
Why I Miss George W. Bush
I bashed George W. Bush as the worst president ever. I'm not taking that back -- I'm arguing that Obama is even worse.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-29-2009 |
Commentary
Who, Exactly, Does Gay Marriage Benefit?new
Gay marriage has become a black hole that is sucking untold amounts of money, time, and energy out of the LGBT community.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Tommi Avicolli Mecca |
06-24-2009 |
LGBT
Foreclosure and Its Aftereffects in East Oaklandnew
The wave of foreclosures affecting East Oakland and other low-income neighborhoods has been accompanied by a related wave of blight, decay, and crime.
East Bay Express |
Sam Levin |
06-24-2009 |
Housing & Development
Greeting Society's Collapse with a Smile and a Shovelnew
Transition was launched when one Rob Hopkins recognized that modern Western society cannot continue at its current pace of life as fast access to oil begins to dwindle. Global warming and economic meltdown are the two other principle drivers of the Transition movement, but in an ideal "Transition Town," society would be ready for such changes.
North Bay Bohemian |
Alastair Bland |
06-22-2009 |
Environment
Exposing The Biggest Scam In The Auto Industrynew
While insurance companies vehemently deny that "steering" is practiced throughout the industry, the evidence gathered by a Press investigation suggests that some of the largest and most popular auto insurance companies in the nation are involved.
Long Island Press |
Michael M. Martino, Jr. |
06-19-2009 |
Economy
How the Recession Created a New Breed of Stay-at-Home Dadsnew
When the economy finally collapsed a few months back, my short-lived run as the only stay-at-home dad in the neighborhood evaporated along with tens of thousands of jobs. Dads began popping up everywhere. At the park. At the library for Storytime. At Baby Gap.
New York Press |
Chuck Pagano |
06-18-2009 |
Culture
Two New Books Try to Explain How We Lost a Truly Productive Economynew
The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences by John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff, and Alan Beattie's False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World try to explain how we got here.
The Texas Observer |
Anis Shivani |
06-17-2009 |
Books
GM Hits the Rocks: Will it be a 'Surgical' Bankruptcy?new
GM will now concentrate on small cars, and it is expending a lot of capital on the Chevrolet Volt, a radical plug-in hybrid still due in late 2010 that can travel 40 miles on its lithium-ion batteries alone.
New Haven Advocate |
Jim Motavalli |
06-16-2009 |
Business & Labor
