Elizabeth DiNovella

Here in Wisconsin, the first state to enact unemployment insurance, the headlines blare that more than 100,000 Wisconsinites could lose their unemployment benefits by the end of April.read more

“Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens, ” wrote Howard Zinn back in March 2008. Zinn was a columnist for The Progressive and we are deeply saddened by the news of his death.read more

On his second day on the job, President Barack Obama promised to shut down Guantánamo by January 22, 2010. As we near the deadline, the U.S. detention center remains open, and nearly 200 detainees are still being held at the prison, including dozens already cleared for release. To mark the ninth year of detaining prisoners without charge or trial, human rights activists are protesting in Washington, D.C.read more

“Bicycling, once largely seen as a simple pleasure from childhood, has become a political act,” writes Jeff Mapes in his new book, "Pedaling Revolution--How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities". Mapes, a Portland-based reporter for The Oregonian who regularly commutes by bicycle, offers a thoughtful account of the bike scene, past and present, with a glimpse of the future.read more

I’m inspired by the grassroots activism happening at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Police have arrested more than 1000 people so far.read more

November 30 marks the tenth year anniversary of the Battle in Seattle, a proud moment in activist history when protesters shut down the free trade talks of the World Trade Organization. Now we are days before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Copenhagen December 7-18. Activists are planning public protests in Copenhagen to push governments to demand action on climate change. With little doubt, activists will once again be portrayed as violent.read more

A coalition of Latino groups has been going after CNN host Lou Dobbs for spreading misinformation and fear about immigrants and Latinos. This week the coalition announced that 100,000 people have joined it in demanding that Dobbs be dismissed from the network. CNN and Dobbs are feeling the heat.read more

“It is due to the wrong and devastating policies of the U.S. government and NATO countries that unfortunately today Afghanistan is a mafia state and ranked at the top of the most unstable and corrupt countries in the world," says, Malalai Joya, Afghanistan's leading democracy activist.read more

"Abstinence education works," says Orrin Hatch. But it doesn't. Congress's own research has proven it doesn't work.read more

President Barack Obama is traveling to Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics. If the International Olympic Committee has any sense, it will resist his charms (and Oprah’s) and give the games to another city.read more

The new documentary, Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos, examines the disappearance of 30,000 people during Argentina’s military dictatorship of 1976-1983. Though Argentina’s history differs from ours, we can still take away a valuable lesson: those who participated in state-sponsored torture must be held accountable.read more

Opponents of abortion are backing legislation across the country that would give legal rights to embryos from the instant of conception.
These efforts might be wrapped up in the rhetoric of dignity, but make no mistake: “Personhood” laws would weaken women’s rights.read more

On the anniversary of 9/11, Attorney General Eric Holder should scrutinize our counter-terrorism policies. The seemingly endless revelations of detainee abuse, which began shortly after 9/11, demand no less.read more

This past Sunday goes down as a great day for biking in Madison. From 8 am to 2 pm, Madison closed off major avenues to cars, and opened up a whole new public space.read more