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December 18, 2006 - Thirteen years ago this month, I was in New York City finishing journalism graduate school and wrapping up an internship at an alternative news weekly when I made a decision that some of my classmates and colleagues found shocking. I was moving to the South.

December 18, 2006 - The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals -- regarded as the most conservative in the country -- may be the first legal arena to be affected by the winds of political change.

December 16, 2006 - I spent yesterday meeting with community groups in Mississippi, including the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance and MS Worker's Center for Human Rights.

December 14, 2006 - Jobs with Justice's sixth annual online "Grinch of the Year" contest is underway, and one of the companies nominated for the dubious distinction -- designed to recognize the national figure who did the most harm to working families in the past year -- is Joseph Luter III, chairman of

December 14, 2006 - This past weekend, Congress passed a bill requiring the federal government to share offshore oil and gas royalties with Louisiana for coastal restoration efforts, something state leaders have long pressed for.

December 14, 2006 - Executive Director Chris Kromm hasn't donned a Santa outfit and stood outside your local Wal-Mart ringing a bell (yet) because he is down in New Orleans getting the latest first-hand reports on the recovery effort.

December 14, 2006 - The number of U.S. homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments is climbing, and the delinquency problem is especially severe in storm-ravaged Mississippi and Louisiana, where many people face the threat of losing the roof over their head from a disaster of a different kind.