Meribeth Deen visits Fair Trade coffee farms in Nicaragua.

Are you really in love? Does your best friend really hate you? Are you an annoying person? There is now a new quiz on the market to help with an even more important question: What gender are you, really? Kate Bornstein's My Gender Workbook uses the artistically neglected literary form of the women's magazine quiz to address the realities of gender politics. Since the demographic that magazine quizzes usually address is overwhelmingly female, and a fairly specific spin on female at that, Bornstein's quiz creates a tension within women-focused "literature".

- by Max Liboiron -

The battle over genetically engineered (GE) foods raged on in the month of May, with uncertain victories declared on two fronts. On May 10th, biotech giant Monsanto announced that it was "deferring all further plans to introduce Roundup Ready wheat" into the marketplace. While opponents to GE foods were still celebrating, however, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Monsanto on May 21st, in the controversial Schmeiser case. As the dust settles on fields across Canada, farmers, consumers, and activists are struggling to understand the implications of these decisions.

- by Hillary Lindsay -

Independent reporting from Iraq

The past two weeks have seen a remarkable effort on the part of the US government and numerous media outlets to directly contradict reality. The single most remarkable instance of the contradiction came from US military spokesman Mark Kimmitt, who said that "the stations that are showing Americans intentionally killing women and children are not legitimate news sources. That is propaganda, and that is lies."

Dahr Jamail describes the current state of independent journalism in Iraq.

"Chi," by Heather Meek

Mix the Beatles' The White Album with rapper Jay-Z's Black Album and what do you get? DJ Danger Mouse's experimental CD, The Grey Album. You also get a cease-and-desist order from EMI Music. Tracks from the 3000 now-illegal copies of this CD have spawned countless downloads and are just one of hundreds of examples in the current debate over what is art and what is piracy.

- by Jane Henderson -

According to Amenga-Etego, the World Bank has left this critical component out of its plan for water delivery in Ghana. "Their formula does not include communities. Basically, they promote a development that transfers money from banks to governments to multinational corporations. The multinational corporations then deliver the resources to the people who have no say."

- by Hillary Lindsay -

The number of homeless in Ontario is on the rise. So is the enforcement of the Safe Streets Act, which bans panhandling, and various other legislation designed to keep people off the streets.

- by John Dunn -

During a protest that I conducted on Rideau Street in the summer of 2002, I noticed some very disturbing things about the homeless population. The vast majority were youth, and almost all the long time street people that I had met over the years were nowhere to be seen. And despite the massive cuts to the welfare system, I noticed that the number of homeless persons had remained constant. This did not make any sense. I knew by experience that the vast majority of people who were cut off welfare would not have been capable of going to work because of the major barriers to employment.

- by Jane Scharf -