Stories by Kelly Hearn
Kelly Hearn is a correspondent to National Geographic News and The Christian Science Monitor. His work has been funded by The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and The North American Congress on Latin America. A former UPI reporter, he has published in The Nation, Grist, High Country News, The Washington Times and World Politics Watch. He is a frequent contributor to Alternet.
Is the crackdown on biopiracy protecting the rights of indigenous people or putting the freeze on beneficial science?
Posted on Jun 15, 2006
Sonia Shah's new exposé reveals how drug companies prey on poor people overseas by using them in tests for new -- and often dangerous -- meds.
Posted on Jun 9, 2006
Is the federal government so concerned about Hugo Chávez that it's questioning college professors about their ties to Venezuela?
Posted on Mar 16, 2006
Activists are using a 200-year-old law -- originally intended to fight piracy -- to hold human rights abusers accountable under international law.
Posted on Mar 10, 2006
Why are some of America's biggest technology companies helping Beijing crack down on Chinese cyberdissidents?
Posted on Feb 15, 2006
With a former coca farmer in charge of the country, Bolivia under Evo Morales has the power to dramatically change the U.S.-led 'War on Drugs.'
Posted on Jan 26, 2006
In the midst of an Amazonian oil boom, classified documents reveal deep links between oil companies and Ecuador's military.
Posted on Jan 17, 2006
More than 2.2 million Americans are behind bars today. In an exclusive interview, Nell Bernstein talks about the illogic of incarceration and how kids pay for their parents' crimes.
Posted on Nov 15, 2005
As President Bush visits Latin America this weekend, he faces local hostility about why the U.S. military has stationed soldiers in Paraguay.
Posted on Nov 4, 2005
The defeat of a historic referendum to ban guns in South America's largest country has the American pro-gun group's fingerprints all over it.
Posted on Oct 25, 2005
A coordinated campaign by conservative lawmakers and the FBI aims to label environmental protests the newest form of terrorism.
Posted on Sep 30, 2005
The authors of 'Selling Sickness' explain how pharmaceutical companies make everyday life into an illness. Now the backlash against Big Pharma has begun.
Posted on Sep 14, 2005
Hugo Chávez has responded to Pat Robertson's call to assassinate him by offering discounted heating oil and health care to poor Americans.
Posted on Sep 7, 2005
In 1970, Junior Allen received a life-sentence for stealing a television. He spent the next thirty-five years in prison.
Posted on Aug 26, 2005
A non-lethal -- but potentially harmful -- crowd control weapon that heats human skin is bound for Iraq, and possibly to a police department near you.
Posted on Aug 19, 2005
On the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, groups across the country are working to reinstate suffrage for reformed criminals.
Posted on Aug 5, 2005
Did Tre Arrow take environmental activism too far, or is the FBI desperate to make arrests in its domestic 'war on terror?'
Posted on Aug 2, 2005
Last week, Wal-Mart opened an "eco-store" replete with wind turbines and bio-fuel recycling. It also applied for a banking license in Utah. Will the superstore never stop?
Posted on Jul 28, 2005
Is the fluoride controversy -- once a litmus test for crackpot-dom -- finally getting a little respect?
Posted on Jul 21, 2005
An FEC commissioner's comments flame through the blogosphere, mobilizing bloggers and questioning the role of 'citizen journalists.'
Posted on Jul 18, 2005
Could the popular search engine's quest for news quality leave alternative sources in the dust?
Posted on Jul 14, 2005
Paul House was convicted of a murder in 1984 on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death. New DNA evidence suggests he's innocent; but with his health deteriorating, it may be too late.
Posted on Jul 1, 2005
Activists across Latin America are taking a stand against devastating mining plans. If CAFTA passes, they won't stand a chance.
Posted on Jun 28, 2005
If Congress ratifies Bush's controversial CAFTA bill, pharmaceutical companies will be in for a windfall -- and the casualties will be poor AIDS patients.
Posted on May 25, 2005
To balance the anti-Chavez local press and pro-American CNN, Venezuela is launching a South American Al Jazeera. With journalistic heavyweights and a non-corporate vibe, the channel arrives on the scene as a number of Latin American nations are leaning politically left.
Posted on May 13, 2005
Brazil has become the first country to reject AIDS funding from the U.S., citing its unwillingness to play by Washington's ideological rules.
Posted on May 10, 2005
Home to 65 percent of the world's Catholics, Latin America is increasingly at odds with church doctrine -- especially over abortion. The appointment of ultraconservative Joseph Ratzinger as pope offers little to close the rift.
Posted on Apr 21, 2005
A softer, gentler megacolossal? Wal-Mart would like you to think so.
Posted on Apr 13, 2005
A new book explains how the medical industry, pharmaceutical companies, the media and politicians all prey on the public's fears to sell them new drugs and the latest technology.
Posted on Mar 28, 2005
Determined to get affordable drugs for its citizens living with HIV/AIDS, the Brazilian government threatens to break some of Big Pharma's patents.
Posted on Mar 25, 2005
Toxic cosmetics ingredients were recently banned in the European Union. Here in the U.S., the $35 billion cosmetics industry is fighting a similar ban tooth and nail.
Posted on Mar 11, 2005
The confrontational founder of Women on Waves is determined to bring safe abortion services to women living in anti-choice countries – any way she can.
Posted on Jan 24, 2005
A new report saying Latinos bear the brunt of environmental health threats in the U.S. prompts soul-searching among green groups and adds new fuel to the Latino environmental justice movement.
Posted on Dec 10, 2004
An herbal drink that busts flab, sharpens immune systems and heightens energy without any jittery side effects? Right.
Posted on Nov 30, 2004
How drug companies are pushing ADHD drugs for children by funding researchers and advocacy groups – and ignoring the studies which question their claims.
Posted on Nov 29, 2004
The porn industry resists efforts to mandate condom use in its films, saying it 'destroys the fantasy.' But getting HIV is no one's fantasy.
Posted on Oct 25, 2004
The EPA faces a lawsuit over its insistence on keeping a powerful pesticide that sickens workers on the market.
Posted on Oct 6, 2004
In order to elect politicians friendly to the pharmaceutical industry, its trade group has quietly funneled millions of dollars to non-profits – in violation of the law, says a watchdog group.
Posted on Sep 28, 2004
The real cost of the Medicare prescription drug bill is finally emerging: The drug industry gets more than $100 billion in profits, while seniors and taxpayers get the tab.
Posted on Sep 20, 2004
A visionary biologist says mushrooms are potent antiviral and antibacterial agents, as well as key boosters to the human immune system. They also might end up saving the Earth.
Posted on Aug 29, 2004
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