The politics of medical marijuana cafes
By Isabel Braverman
In a typical morning at Ganja Gourmet, owner Steve Horowitz whips up some lasagna… with pot sprinkled in. Ganja Gourmet, located in Denver, Colo., is the first ever restaurant in the U.S. to serve food with medical marijuana as a main ingredient.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Colorado [...]

How illegal immigrants don’t fit into Obama’s healthcare plan
By Katherine Rausch
On April 10, more than a thousand people gathered at the University of Texas in El Paso to march in support of illegal immigrants and their rights. The crowd marched through the streets chanting “Obama, eschucha estamos en la lucha.”  “Obama, listen to us in [...]

Why Wal-Mart?
By Stephen Burke
It is not difficult to write an article about how terrible Wal-Mart is. The body of research on the subject is astounding. Their labor practices and environmental policies are well documented.
In 2008, a Minnesota judge ruled that the company had violated worker’s rights more than 2 million times over a period of [...]

Building a community by building houses

By Emily Miles
Amid a national depression, skyrocketing rates of foreclosure and record-breaking debt, Americans are struggling to buy and maintain homes. In the city of Ithaca, however, one organization strives to change that. 
Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services functions under the motto of “Building neighborhoods, community, ownership,” and lists one main goal: [...]

Deciding the nuclear haves and have-nots
By Shaza Elsheshtawy
Nuclear weapons are the single most powerful, devastating, and authoritative artillery a country can possess. In a word, they’re potent—both physically and politically. Only nine countries worldwide are in possession of nuclear weapons, which constructs a great imbalance of power between the haves and have-nots of this technology. For [...]

The history of a struggle for national identity

By Gena Mangiaratti
Kurdistan is a country. Kurdistan is a virtual state. Kurdistan is a bad country. Kurdistan is an illegal country.

“I usually say I’m from southern Kurdistan, which of course, politically correct, would be northern Iraq,” Dabagh said. “However, if the person asking doesn’t seem open-minded and generally educated, I prefer not to get in a conflict and, therefore, tell them that I’m a Kurd from Iraq.”

Gun ownership and civil liberties
By Gena Mangiaratti
As I pointed the gun down range, trying to exact the position of the bright red dot on the bull’s eye, I was hesitant to pull the trigger, even if it was just at a paper target 20 feet away. The first time I pulled the trigger, [...]

Paying the bills in post-Katrina New Orleans
By Lyndsey Lyman
Sixty-seven-year-old Audrey Armour of the Uptown area of New Orleans knows from experience how helpful income-based housing can be. Earlier in life, she lived in the St. Bernard projects in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans for 23 years while raising her six children. She also stayed [...]

Oil and imperialism in the modern world
By Chris Zivalich
Political theorists and outraged citizens of all countries continue to grapple with the term “neo-imperialism.” What does it mean? How exactly do modern economic constructs and international relationships constitute a “new” form of imperialistic operations? In reality, the word’s actual meanings and applications are as highly controversial [...]

What happens to the guide dogs that don’t make the cut?
By Marc Phillips
They’re loud and make a mess. They keep you up at night. They chew or eat inappropriate things. No, I’m not talking about unruly infants and toddlers, but puppies. 
Just like raising a child, training a puppy can be a very rewarding experience. However, [...]