On a mid-December Monday night at 6 p.m., a few hours after winter's first snowfall, Red Emma's Bookstore / Coffeeshop was alive with sunset-like, vibrant energy. Surrounded by winter's narrow darkness, ten or so mostly young people talked at the counter bar, surfed the Internet, studied textbooks, or flipped through alternative books and magazines.

U.S. Senate Candidate Kevin Zeese brought his campaign platform of “Peace, Justice, Democracy, and Prosperity” to a Charles Village audience at All People’s Congress on Wednesday, Dec. 14, the chilliest, most briskly clear night of the year.

On Dec. 14, 2005, the Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in MD, Kevin Zeese, ripped into President Bush calling his Annapolis speech, “filled with lies!” He also demanded the U.S. get out of Iraq and admit it’s a “failed policy.” He labeled the Military-Industrial Complex, the “greatest threat to our country.” Zeese also wants a “Single Payer” health care system, a “share the wealth” economy and a fair and balanced Middle East policy.

The Village co-op in lower Charles Village may close in mid-January if the co-op doesn’t receive new leadership and funds, according to the most recent decision by the board of directors. In the meantime, The Village has reduced its hours and now is open three days per week: on Thursday and Friday from noon to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A monthly column of sociopolitical commentary. This month: political communication

In (Re)living Democracy, artists Scott Berzofsky, Lasse Lau, Nicholas Petr, and Nicholas Wisniewski have collaborated with East Baltimore organizers to turn the Contemporary Museum into a platform for participation in a critical dialogue concerning the residents of East Baltimore's struggle against urban renewal. The exhibition is accompanied by public programs addressing these issues. The program on November 5th featured David Harvey, author of The Limits to Capital, The Urban Experience, and The Spaces of Hope, and Marisela Gomez, Director of Save Middle East Action Committee. Harvey and Gomez addressed urban economic and political problems of Baltimore through the lens of gentrification on the eastside and Johns Hopkins University projects. (Thanks to the Megaphone Project for access to technology for transcription, which is based on detailed notes from videotapes done by Lasse Lau; it's almost, but not entirely, word-for-word).

For 25 years, the boring Ted Koppel was the anchor on ABC TV’s “Nightline” program. He toed the Establishment line! Now, David Zurawik, a media critic for the Baltimore Sun, wants us to believe that Koppel is leaving behind “a legacy of innovation and integrity.” This is pure nonsense! Koppel, among other faults, failed to challenge the serial lies of the Bush-Cheney Gang, and the Neocons, too, that led us into the Iraqi War. That is his real legacy!

The Ehrlich Report is a monthly column of sociopolitical analysis.