by Olivia Loyd
- USA -

My industry is hemorrhaging, the pink slips keep coming, the center is not holding. Almost 30,000 people in the media industry have been laid off in the past year. Mastheads are shrinking. Newspapers are shuttering. Entire magazines are fading into oblivion while we print journalists, in particular, flounder around looking for an e-brake.

by Alice Alech
- France -

Since the French revolution, town councils have been responsible for water management throughout France. Yet, most municipalities have been delegating the job to private water companies.

As a result, 72% of French people use water distributed by three leaders in water supply: Veolia, Suez and Saur. Each year, these companies increase the price of France’s water an average of 10%.

Today, in a bid to reduce costs and control privatization, the French government is finally returning the country’s water to the public sector.

by Afsaana Rashid
- Indian-administered Kashmir -

In what is being hailed as a victory for democracy, the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir recently concluded a two-month round of elections at the end of December. Despite calls from separatist groups like Hurriyat Conference to boycott the polls, Kashmiris came out in overwhelming numbers to vote.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

Charles Kapuscak and his wife Sharon moved to the Phoenix metropolitan area from Pennsylvania over thirty years ago. They installed low-flow toilets, a low-water-usage washing machine, and they under-water their plants. Unlike many transplants to the “Valley of the Sun,” they also embraced desert landscaping – meaning no grassy yard, the symbol of the American dream.

by Philo Ikonya
- Kenya -

On the 17th of December, a year after the country flared up in violence, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga signed an agreement as the first step in what is popularly known as the Waki Commission, created to examine Kenya’s Post Election Violence (PEV). They barely beat the midnight deadline by hours. As a result of the agreement, a recommendation put forth by the Commission for a Special Tribunal for Kenya is in the process of being fulfilled - much to the happiness of many Kenyans. This Tribunal will continue to investigate Kenya’s violence, which started in December 2007 as soon as presidential poll results were announced.

by Lesley D. Biswas
- India -

Commuting along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass that runs parallel to the Indian city of Kolkata, the huge expanse of the East Kolkata Wetlands is a daily sight for city dwellers, and yet most of us are unaware of the important role this natural habitat plays in our lives. Despite acknowledging the escalation in Kolkata’s urban development, hardly anyone seems to notice how the congestion of the city’s skyline is leading to a loss of habitat for many living in its shadow.

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

Oscar season usually guarantees that there will be at least one film about the Holocaust starring an A-list actor. 2009 is no exception: Tom Cruise stars in Valkyrie; Viggo Mortensen (of Lord of the Rings fame) in Good; and Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) in Defiance. These films reenact the lives of Nazis (Cruise), academics recruited by the Third Reich (Mortensen), and resistance fighters (Craig). While the holiday movie season is rife with little known Holocaust-era stories about men, what about the stories of women’s experiences?

by Aditi Bhaduri
- India -

It has been a momentous year for Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. It began with the state government’s controversial transfer of land to the Hindu Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, and ended with the just concluded elections. 2008 saw mass demonstrations and protests erupt in Kashmir, as much against the Indian state as local politicians and leaders. When elections were announced for November-December, they were met with astonishment. What followed, however, has left many in Kashmir and in India surprised.

by Jennifer I. Fenton
- USA -

"Steal my horse, run off with my wife, but damn you, don't touch my water." - Unknown

Unlike many modern cities and towns across the United States, the town of Bishop, California bursts in failed attempts to sprawl across the landscape that surrounds it. Pressed into the floor of the Owens Valley, and hedged in by looming mountain ranges to the East and West, Bishop’s city limits have remained virtually unchanged for decades. But while Bishop's population remains stagnant, to the South, the city of Los Angeles continues to grow at breakneck speeds - growth that would be impossible without the clear gold that flows from the Sierra, through the Owens Valley, and into the gaping mouth of the City of Angels.

by Janelle Weiner
- USA -

As school districts across the United States brace for midyear budget cuts, nervous teachers are whispering about the layoffs that could follow. In this bleak economic climate, where one state’s proposal calls for eliminating $10.6 billion in education spending, teachers are hesitant to ask administrators for classroom extras or even necessities.

Teachers often reach into their own wallets to bridge the gap.

by Handan T. Satiroglu
- Turkey / Western Europe -

Not too far from the Baroque palaces and Gothic cathedrals that made the city of Vienna famous, a group of jubilant men and women are packed into a café. Glasses clink with each congratulatory toast. Jubilations like “long live populism,” and “Austria is the Freedom Party” fly randomly across the room. On that memorable September evening, I watched the celebration of the far-right triumph in Austria. It was the Austrian ‘extremist’ right’s best performance since World War II.

by Patricia DeGennaro
- USA -

Barack Obama promised Americans that he would move to withdraw American troops from Iraq once he takes office as President of the United States. As troops were “freed” from that war, he would send them to Afghanistan. “That’s where the real war needs to be fought,” said (then) Senator Obama. As President, however, Mr. Obama may find it difficult to keep his campaign pledge.

“It is easy to leave,” says a military colleague of mine, “but the real question we need to ask is, ‘What is our primary mission?’ If it is just leaving Iraq, we could do so at a deliberate pace in 18 months; if it is to set up a sustainable transition, it could take years.”

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

After seeing the new documentary Flow, my 2009 New Year’s resolution is to stop buying bottled water. Over $100 billion is spent annually on bottled water, but it would cost only $30 billion to provide clean drinking water to the entire world. Unlike tap water, bottled water is not regulated for cleanliness. And don’t even get me started on the mountains of plastic bottles created by the bottled water industry.

For 84 terrifying and informative minutes, filmmaker Irena Salina makes a very persuasive case for stopping the commoditization of water and ensuring that everyone has access to clean drinking water. Salina interviews an array of researchers and activists who all describe the frightening international situation: dirty water kills more people than wars, the world is quickly running out of clean water, and water has become a valuable commodity for multinational corporations to exploit for profit. Flow is currently available on DVD.

by Wenonah Hauter
- USA -

Think of the last time you turned on a tap while washing dishes, brushing your teeth or grabbing a glass of water. If you’re like most people, it probably doesn’t stand out as a momentous experience. That’s because most of us don’t give much thought to this resource that we tend to take for granted. But our water service is becoming less reliable as the infrastructure that delivers it to us falls apart and private companies threaten to take it over for their own financial gain.