Amazon Watch explores the impact of Occidental Oil's legacy along the border of Peru and Ecuador. Home to the Achuar people, the land and the lives of the people who live there has been polluted. Over 150 wells and 300 miles of roads and pipeline were built, the water and land contaminated.

Free speech in school: does it exist? That's the theme of this year's 2009 YFEN film contest. So if you're out of school for the summer and have something to say, submit your entry soon. The first place winner will receive a scholarship to the New York Film Academy. You can find out more about the contest here.

It's not such a surprise that the American Medical Association is fighting against single payer. Dr. Ollie Fein of Physicians for a National Health Program explains why. What's the best system in his opinion? Medicare 2.0. It's a simple, economical, and humane program he says.

An interview with Hamza Perez, a Puerto Rican rapper who gave up his life as a drug dealer 12 years ago and converted to Islam. He is the subject of the film New Muslim Cool, an exploration of Perez’s efforts to build a religious community in post 9/11 America.

During a press conference yesterday, President Obama voiced support for government-administered health insurance for all who need it (aka the “public option”), as a key component of healthcare reform. Though Obama stopped short of threatening to veto a bill that didn’t contain such an option,he said that a public option is needed to enforce market discipline.

As a primary candidate, Barack Obama posited himself as the Fair Trade candidate in opposition to Hillary Clinton whose support of NAFTA during the Clinton administration was seen as a liability. But as soon as Hillary was out of the picture Obama began to backpedal on trade telling Fortune magazine that his anti-NAFTA stance was “overheated and amplified.” Now that he’s in the White House what do we know about his

As a primary candidate, Barack Obama posited himself as the Fair Trade candidate in opposition to Hillary Clinton whose support of NAFTA during the Clinton administration was seen as a liability. But where does Obama stand on trade issues now that he's in the White House? Lori Wallach and others on the president's trade policies. Puerto Rican rapper Hamza Perez on his journey, conversion to Islam, and life in America since 9/11. And the destructive legacy of big oil in Peru.

Then, Obama’s regulation policy is being carefully scrutinized. Will he subject banks, rating agencies, and financial institutions to the kind of regulation that many think necessary to prevent another financial train wreck? William Black, Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a former senior bank regulator, Nomi Prins, Senior Fellow at Demos and author of It takes a Pillage:

President Barack Obama rolled out his plan to overhaul financial regulation last week. While much of the Obama plan relies on the same regulators and structures that led to the current meltdown, there is one key exception.

40 years after Stonewall, a defining moment in the struggle for gay rights and social justice, discrimination against LGBT people is still common throughout the world. What does it tells us about the role of the state in legislating desire and codifying what is normative and what is not? Kenyon Farrow, Sangeeta Budhiraja, and Mab Segrest on the history of discrimination, the gay rights movement, and defining the limits of love. Then, will Obama stand up to Wall Street, finally? William Black and others on the President's new regulation policy. Finally, the ANP reports on thousands of GM workers who will lose their jobs.