We at CommonSense2 welcome you all to this, our 5th issue. We are proud of our publication, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy bringing it to you. We endeavor to present to the public the progressive point of view that is largely ignored by the mainstream media. We also want to contribute our part to growing a progressive community. We feel that only an ever-expanding and vocal progressive community can force the politicians to do the right thing.

We like to profile and introduce to the public local Berks County progressives who are working locally to inject meaning into our politics. One such local activist is Kathi Ember. Kathi is the President of the Kutztown Area Democratic Club and a Berks County Democratic Committeewoman. She is also a great illustrator of children’s books which we feature in Kathi Ember, Book Illustrator.

We’d like to welcome M.G. Piety in her debut appearance in CS2. M.G. is a pseudonym for this associate professor of philosophy. Here is a woman that pulls no punches when examining an issue. If you like good writing which holds back nothing, then you’ll love M.G.’s look at the institution of marriage in On Marriage: A Caution To Its Enthusiastic Proponents.

Linda Kenepaske is a lawyer who specializes in immigration cases. Although she lives here in Berks, she practices in New York City. Immigration threatens to be a hot-button issue in the presidential campaign. Here we interview Linda about this issue in what we hope will be the first of many appearances in Linda Kenepaske: Immigration Lawyer.

Ron Stouffer is no stranger to readers of CS2. His reputation for being a straight-shooter remains intact as he tells it like it is in The Corporate Takeover of America.

Long time activist Dorothy Reilly has finally had enough of the Democratic Party. She resigns her Berks County Committeewoman spot and tells us why in I Resign.

Leslie Welch, a mother who faces the challenges of life with an autistic child, tells of her quest to get medical help in “Western Thinking vs. BioMedics/Alternative Medicine.

Sylvia Baylor returns with her dry wit and eagle eye. She won’t let those Harrisburg politicians slip anything past us in 2008: Deja or Vu? Sylvia also wishes our pols a Happy 325th Anniversary General Assembly.

Last Month’s Unsung Hero Darree Sicher returns with a big box essay on The Hidden Cost of Feeding a Giant.

In an important and well done article, Ron Stouffer and Rosie Skomitz consider the behavior of Union Leaders towards single-payer health insurance in Union Leaders: Impediments To Health Care Reform?

Bob Johns covers a local demonstration against the Iraq war in We’ve Been Here Before.

Louise Grim who is the chairperson of The Berks County Pandemic Preparedness Advisory Council asks Are You Prepared for The Next Pandemic?

CS2 readers will remember the plight of 15 year old Dylan, the young man from Berks county who is battling neurosarcoma. Here is an update in Dylan’s Update.

Another state rep has signed up to cosponsor single-payer legislation in Santoni Supports Single-Payer.

We feature two great new poems this month. First from Jack Romig is Second Growth.
And from Jack Linderman Ode to Muammar Qaddafi.

We’re back with more quotes in Quotes for a New Year.

How does an average Berks County worker view the issues? Find out in A Citizen’s State of the Union.

Jack Linderman has his second travel piece to appear in CS2 in Travel in Milan.

Kathleen prepares us for her trip to India in the latest installment of The Road Less Traveled with Experiment in Personal and Global Social Change.

The latest in Sheldon Kaplan’s Dark Visions are 4 on the $1 Knucklehead and USA, The Nation of Addicts.

Please note that our Unsung Hero, Analysis of the Presidential Campaign and Chuck’s continuing tirade about activism, will appear January 15 as our mid-month supplemental.

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