AltWeeklies Wire
On American Campuses, Esperanto is an Extracurricular Languagenew

A recent Tuesday night meeting of the MIT Esperanto Club attracted four bookish-looking guys, chatting confidently in a language that sounds not unlike some weird mashed-up version of the Romances, with a dash of something possibly Slavic.
Boston Phoenix |
Eva Wolchover |
01-12-2009 |
Education
Galveston and the Texas Gulf Coast Struggle After Hurricane Ikenew

While Katrina's destruction of New Orleans monopolized the eyes of the country and the world for weeks in 2005, Galveston was not as fortunate.
Dallas Observer |
John Nova Lomax |
01-12-2009 |
Disasters
In Life and Death, Tattoo Artist Kauri Tiyme Made Her Marknew
Kauri was an artist. She put ink under people's skin and transformed them. In many ways, she was her own finest achievement. Not just the tattoos; she had made her own body a canvas for others, but anyone can do that. What she did was much edgier, more daring. She changed her name, her identity, her ideas as she saw fit.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
01-12-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Single-Sex Schools Test the Limits of Equal Opportunity in Public Educationnew
New Village Charter High is part of a national mini-boom in single-sex public education. Many of the single-sex schools across the nation have opened in the past three years, thanks to federal regulations that have effectively loosened non-discrimination laws that had often barred their operation.
Pasadena Weekly |
Elizabeth Zwerling |
01-12-2009 |
Education
The World of Cryptids: A Creature Featurenew

As our planet edges closer to the apocalypse, the escapist, fantasy world of cryptozoology -- literally, the study of "hidden animals" -- is suddenly coming to life.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
01-09-2009 |
Animal Issues
Prosecution's Case Against W.R. Grace is Dying as Time Drags Onnew
U.S. attorneys intend to prove at an upcoming trial that six W.R. Grace executives conspired to keep the truth about asbestos contamination secret from the federal government for more than a quarter century--contamination that has claimed the lives of hundreds of residents.
Missoula Independent |
Patrick M. Klemz |
01-09-2009 |
Environment
The Cuban Revolution at 50new
I have learned one thing from my various visits to Cuba over the years, and that is not to predict the demise of the regime. Nevertheless, change may be lurking around the corner at last, for Barack Obama represents the greatest danger that the regime has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of its subsidies seventeen years ago.
NOW Magazine |
Gwynne Dyer |
01-09-2009 |
International
This Bailout's a Bomb -- There's No Worse Industry Than Autonew

What we really need is investment in local infrastructure for sunrise industries that make the things we need, thereby shifting the focus from mobility of goods to local provision and access. By contrast, auto is a sunset industry from the horse-and-buggy age.
NOW Magazine |
Wayne Roberts |
01-09-2009 |
Economy
There Are More Pressing Issues Than Same-Sex Marriage for LGBT Communitynew
The LGBT political movement has become so impassioned by bourgeois equality values that it's turned its back on the needy of its own "community." AIDS claimed untold numbers of mentors, teachers, artists and role models, and current generations need to assume these roles.
New York Press |
Charlie Vazquez |
01-09-2009 |
LGBT
Two North Texas Daily Papers Have Reached a Partial Detentenew

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News have begun sharing content, but the cooperation between competing media companies in the same media market is raising red flags. Some question whether the agreement may violate federal antitrust laws.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Dan McGraw |
01-08-2009 |
Media
S.C. Officials are Giddy Over Obama's Promise of Infrastructure Aidnew
Obama's proposal for more than $750 billion in federal aid could mean a steady paycheck for the 8.4 percent of South Carolinians who are jobless. But for local and state officials, it's an opportunity to get money for dozens of projects that have been given the green light, but have been left unfunded.
Charleston City Paper |
Greg Hambrick |
01-08-2009 |
Policy Issues
Porn Industry After $5 Billion Federal Bailoutnew
As the 2009 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo opens in Las Vegas this week, Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis and HUSTLER magazine publisher Larry Flynt are hoping to get a financial bailout for the adult entertainment industry, a spokesperson for Francis announced today.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Staff |
01-08-2009 |
Economy
An Insider's View of the Gaza Conflictnew

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian activist with the International Solidarity Movement, a group that opposes Israeli policy in Gaza, and despite damaged cell phone towers and infrastructure in the area, she was able to talk us about what is happening in Gaza.
VUE Weekly |
Bryan Birtles |
01-08-2009 |
International
San Fran's Plastic Bag Ban Has Left the City with More Pollution and Costnew

It has become apparent that many of the rationales used to justify the ban -- such as its benefiting the environment and alleviating the city's litter problems -- are not playing out in the real world.
SF Weekly |
Joe Eskenazi |
01-07-2009 |
Environment
Virginian Artists and Teachers Struggle with Gov's Budget Cutsnew
As part of Gov. Tim Kaine's Oct. 9 budget cuts, state funds for the Virginia Commission for the Arts were reduced by 15 percent, and the Virginia Arts Foundation fund has been frozen.
C-Ville Weekly |
Brendan Fitzgerald |
01-07-2009 |
Economy