Opinion

A friend sometimes quotes her late father, sometimes with a Middle European accent:

“The Shtupids! They’re everywhere!” -more-

The girl pictured at this site was last seen at People's Park. Her friend Andrea has written asking us to post this notice, because she's missing and her family is very worried. Her name is Hannah--she's about 5 feet tall, with black hair and brown eyes. -more-

November, November, November is the siren song so many Republicans and Tea Partiers are singing. But the road to this year's midterm elections is not a cakewalk for anyone who voted against health care for all Americans, against the stimulus bill that has turned around a faltering economy and those who voted against unemployment benefits for American workers. Republicans voted no on all of them. -more-

On our Iran Air flight from Frankfurt to Tehran, each of the stewardesses wore a "hiyab." When we entered Iran's airspace, an announcement over the intercom told the women to put on their hiyab or a head scarf. My wife, as did the other women on the flight, obliged by putting scarves on their heads. My wife wore a scarf covering her hair for our entire Iran visit. -more-

Last week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) instructed UC Berkeley to modify its “Bring Your Genes to Cal” program. From the beginning, UCB’s controversial plan to test the DNA of incoming freshman for three genes, brought into bold relief many of the complex questions that engulf emerging biotechnologies, for example: how best to protect privacy rights; informed consent; the integrity of medical testing and research; and how to identify and reduce conflicts of interest? -more-

I am part of an extended family of Jews, Christians, Hindus, atheists, Muslims, Sikhs and a beautiful Seventh Day Adventist saint. Part adoptive, part family by marriage, and part by blood, we thrive in venues from Bangladesh to the Left Coast of California. Some of the most interesting people in this family are Muslims, including one of my own children. For this reason, I am angry and frightened—mainly angry—at the spectacularly ignorant hate rhetoric against Muslims used recently by some politicians -more-

Between 2.3 to 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness and it is estimated that the recession will force another 1.5 million more people into homelessness. The 2010 Update of "Without Housing - Decades of Federal Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness and Policy Failures" by the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), an update of its 2006 report, has arrived. -more-

Without the intervention of the broader progressive community, KPFA as we have known it, is about to disappear. It is confronted by two serious crises. The first is ‘objective’ – that is, arises from factors outside of the station’s control. The current global economic crisis has hit the station and the whole Pacifica Network hard. While the number of listeners contributing to KPFA has remained steady (perhaps even rising slightly), the amount of individual contributions have declined significantly. Large donations and grant money, in particular, have been sharply reduced. At the same time, costs have risen. In this digital, internet-driven Age, KPFA has to continually modernize its equipment while at the same time providing the basics for its dedicated but woefully underpaid staff. -more-

This is a response to an essay by Matthew Hallinan called "The Crisis at KPFA -more-