Editor’s Introduction: November 2013

Editor’s Introduction: November 2013

by: Read The Dirt Posted on: November 08, 2013

Welcome to our November 2013 Editor’s Introduction—published on the 8^th of every month.

Join us in continuing the conversation. Send op-eds and leads to info@readthedirt.org.

Read the Dirt continues to scale up: Our October 8, 2013 feature “When the State Pushes Back” has been reprinted on truth-out.org. See it here.

Read the Dirt periodically provides opportunities for other young journalists to find a niche within RTD. We work with our collaborators to brainstorm a place where their passion jives with RTD’s mission. Past collaborators have contributed extensively to our copy-editing team, written feature stories, and conducted internal research. If you’re interested in collaborating, send a CV and writing sample to info@readthedirt.org.

Become a RTD Community Proofreader: email info@readthedirt.org.

Coming Soon (Book): Read the Dirt: Best of the Early Years, A Sign of Things to Come—Read the Dirt Press 2013. Email info@readthedirt.org to secure a first edition copy.

The Articles:

Ugly Mirrors: Can we stop Cheaters?: Are the cheaters we let get away an indication of our civic vitality? In this piece we look at an outfit of ‘cheaters’ based in Lane County, Oregon. Though their doings are merging on common knowledge, no one seems able to stop them, yet.

Read the Dirt has been aided in this article by several citizens and organizations of Lane and Benton County, OR—who wish to remain anonymous.

The First Big Win for the $15 Movement: The first big win for the $15 movement has happened before many thought it was possible. We speak with Sage Wilson, a spokeswoman for Working Washington—just days after workers at SeaTac airport won a $15 minimum wage—about how opportunities are seized and realties shaped.

A Legal Definition for ‘Unsustainable Energy’?: A small town in New Hampshire has banned ‘unsustainable energy’ development within it jurisdiction, and elevated it’s right to do so above corporations’ rights. Section 2e of the local ordinance defines ‘unsustainable energy’ as follows: “Unsustainable energy systems” means those systems that are controlled by state and federal energy policies, rather than community controlled energy policies; hydroelectric power and industrial scale wind power when it is not locally or municipally owned and operated; energy systems using fossil fuels, including but not limited to coal, natural gas, petroleum products, nuclear and radioactive materials, and other fuel sources that are non-renewable, or which produce toxins and substances that cause injury to humans or natural communities and ecosystems, or that are in violation of residents’ rights to a sustainable energy future. The phrase shall also include any energy system which violates the rights secured under this Ordinance or under other laws. The term shall not include the use of propane, kerosene, heating oil, coal, or natural gas when combustion of those fossil fuels is used solely to generate on-site heat or power and the energy produced is not commercially sold, transmitted, or distributed.”

Politicizing a Social Worker: How does ‘neoliberalism’ and the concept of government ‘neutrality’ relate to initiatives like Washington’s recent I-522? A social worker in training links food labeling to social justice.

Sacred Democracy-Enlightenment and Democracy: In a retrospective piece on the New Age, Damon navigates the link between personal awareness and democracy in his seventh Sacred Democracy column.