The US Plasma Industry Has Blood on Its Hands
America’s blood plasma industry is the largest in the world and preys on the economically desperate.
15 Articles by: Abe Asher
Abe Asher is a journalist whose reporting on politics, social movements, and the climate has been published in the Nation, VICE News, the Portland Mercury, and other outlets.
In Chicago, Expect the Police to Make Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Life Very Difficult
When politicians threaten police power, police often take matters into their own hands, frequently causing social chaos by refusing to perform basic duties. That’s likely to occur in Chicago. In fact, it might be happening already.
In Texas, Water Infrastructure Problems Mean More Bottled Water — and Extra Costs
Hundreds of thousands of low-income Texans lack access to public water utilities, relying on expensive water delivery. Many more are skeptical of their water quality and opt for bottled water — a huge expense for people already living in poverty.
Unnecessary Traffic Stops by Police Make Public Safety Worse
All too often in America, stops for minor traffic offenses turn into deadly episodes of police violence.
In Los Angeles, the Left and the Labor Movement Are Shifting the Center of Power
Between several massive strikes, democratic socialists getting elected to city council, new union organizing campaigns, successful ballot measures to tax the rich, and the ouster of several reactionary political figures, it’s a good time to be a leftist in Los Angeles.
West Virginia Coal Miners Who Fought Their Bosses Are Getting the Monuments They Deserve
As statues of tyrants and reactionaries come down, organizers in West Virginia are building monuments to the coal miners whose resistance to corporate domination a century ago has largely been forgotten.
For Grant Wahl, Soccer Was a Window Into the Best and Worst of Humanity
The late soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who died suddenly at age 49, imbued his coverage of the sport with his love for humanity. For him, soccer was a microcosm of the world, from greed and corruption to the universal joys that unite us across our differences.
Los Angeles’s Garment District Is Still Home to Severe Exploitation
Over 45,000 workers are concentrated in Los Angeles’ Garment District. Long faced with paltry wages and inhumane working conditions, those workers are now taking significant risks to organize for better pay and workplace protections.
To Win Reelection, Keith Ellison Has to Survive the Black Lives Matter Backlash
Minnesota is still living in the long shadow of George Floyd’s murder, the uprising it sparked, and the backlash that followed. Keith Ellison’s reelection bid for the state’s attorney general is playing out in that shadow.
Oregon Might Get a Republican Governor for the First Time in Decades
Thanks to Nike CEO Phil Knight’s cash, the ripple effects of the George Floyd protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, and a deepening housing crisis, Oregon is on the brink of electing its first Republican governor since the 1980s.
Amazon Is the Largest Employer in California’s Inland Empire. Workers There Want a Union.
Ten years ago, Amazon operated zero facilities in California. It now operates close to 40 facilities in the Inland Empire alone, making it the region’s largest employer. Workers essentially live in a company town — which may be why many want to unionize.
Rick Caruso Is a Los Angeles Good Old Boy Posing as a Political Outsider
Taking a page from Trump’s playbook, billionaire real-estate developer Rick Caruso is campaigning for LA mayor as an antiestablishment maverick. In reality, like Trump, he’s just another wealthy conservative out to protect himself and other rich people.
San Francisco Elites Scapegoated Chesa Boudin for the City’s Problems. It Worked.
A billionaire-funded recall campaign pinned San Francisco’s myriad problems on progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin. That recall succeeded on Tuesday, but the city’s problems aren’t going anywhere as long as inequality remains meaningfully unaddressed.
San Francisco’s Economic Elite Is Gunning for Chesa Boudin
Wealthy San Francisco residents are pouring money into the recall campaign against progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, who’s being blamed for out-of-control crime. There’s just one problem: the city’s supposed crime wave is a paranoid fantasy.
On His Way to Theoretically Colonize Mars, Elon Musk Is Actually Colonizing South Texas
When Elon Musk chose land in South Texas for SpaceX operations, he said it was “cool” if a rocket blew up because there was “nobody around.” Brownsville is one of the country’s poorest cities, and its residents are tired of being treated like they don’t exist.