DEMOCRACY NOW! SPECIAL ALERT

[The following is a message written by Democracy Now! producer Ana Nogueira who was arrested Friday evening while covering the FTAA protests in Miami. We thank the listeners and viewers who responded to our action alert last night and called officials demanding her release. She was released early Saturday morning. For full coverage on the FTAA protests tune into Democracy Now!]--read more >>

On Wednesday, armed officers stormed a public school and, in the course of a "commando" sweep, forced students face down on the floor while performing a raid.

Click here for CBS News report on the raid

Where did this happen? Iraq? Afghanistan? One of the many countries controlled by dictators where citizens have no constitutional protections?

No. This attack happened at a high school in South Carolina. --read more >>

As you may have heard, here in sunny Southern California (too fucking sunny for my tastes, by the way) there is a grocery workers strike underway -- and goddamnit, am I proud of how my fellow San Diegans are turning out -- or rather, NOT turning out -- in favor of these union workers who are courageously and audaciously standing up to the management of the big three chains down here: Von's, Ralph's, and Albertson's.--read more >>

K Records band Dub Narcotic Sound System had a rollover accident last week in Montana. Please check out the K Records site for updates on their health and information about benefit shows and donations to cover medical costs:

http://www.kpunk.com

Punk Planet says Daphne Gottlieb's work speaks to the present historical moment in a beautifully eloquent, dramatic, and everyday kind of way. Roger Corman calls her poems courageous and startling. Lynn Breedlove reports that Daphne's machete take on life leaves no one standing except us, for it's us she aims to elevate, the fucked over and the fucked up, and for that we thank her.

Final Girl
an excerpt from the new book
by Daphne Gottlieb

bikini killer

at 4, it's already clear
that mimi's going to grow
up to be one of those ladies --read more >>

Contemplating a vegan diet? The vivacious and engaging Sarah Kramer, co-author of HowItAllVegan and The Garden Of Vegananswers questions from the Hip Mama studio audience about all things vegan!

HM: Have you always been vegan?--read more >>

The Elizabeth Seton Birthing Center, the first free-standing birth center in the USA, is being forced to close after almost 30 years of service. Malpractice insurance premiums have soared to unprecendented levels leaving the center with no option but to close its doors.This is a disaster for the thousands of families who have relied on the center for vital healthcare options and community services.--read more >>

I call my husband at 6:45, my sister at 6:50. The first says, "I'll cancel my eye appointment, I'll be home as soon as I can," and, rather inexplicably, "You're going to have to tell them everything that happened." The second doesn't answer the phone. I wait some more, lying in bed, reading an annoying novel, about a 20something guy who doesn't shower and lies to his girlfriend. I have been awake since 3:30 AM when I got up to go to the bathroom and a gush of fluid fell from my womb. At three months pregnant, this is not something that you just fall back to sleep after. --read more >>

The baby was about four months old when I figured I should start doing some "mom stuff." But what did moms do?--read more >>

"Can we share?" I say to Hank. Obviously I'm overdressed for the occasion wearing a pink tanktop and sagging black military pants. He sizes me up wrong as we stand outside of Trader Joes, the California grocery store. He mistakes me for a yuppie. Which is what all the other people are who are outside of Trader Joes are. He mumbles something about being homeless. I jump in. --read more >>

I have always felt secretly selfish about my own compassion for others. My instant tearing at someone else's loss, or sadness, or agonizing over something to do with family; anyone's family. It's not that I feel for them, but that I feel. It is a personal fear that sets in: It could be me; it could be my daughter who is lost forever, my little boy who has disappeared, my heart that is broken. People call me a 'bleeding heart.' I feel that I am fooling the world.--read more >>

Mothers get to watch a lot of sunrises. One of nature's biggest practical jokes is that babies and toddlers most often have needs that are in no way conducive to nighttime sleep. My nine-month-old daughter is cutting two enormous front teeth, and so has taken to living a cranky-baby swing shift: bed at four a.m. up at nine or ten, with a nice big nap around two in the afternoon.--read more >>

An Interview with Ayun Halliday--read more >>