Talking About Guns, Fighting About Race. In a provocative article on America's recently renewed debate on guns and the constitution, Kristian Williams and Peter Little argue that "both the gun-control and the gun-rights arguments — that is, both the liberal and the conservative positions — represent the defense of white supremacy."

Keep the Heat on Obama. "A left that expects nothing from Obama will demand nothing — and a left that demands nothing from Obama will get nothing," writes In These Times Editor and Publisher Joel Bleifuss. Read his prescription for holding Obama to a progressive line here.

No JROTC Left Behind. Are military schools recruitment pools? The country's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs are expanding, part of a growing trend to introduce military schools into the public school system in primarily poor urban areas where many school systems are struggling, if not failing. Check out Allen McDuffee's story here.

Feeding the Beast. In order to weaken federal agencies, the Bush administration has expanded them to the point of collapse. Christopher Moraff reports.

NEXT WEEK: LIVE BLOGGING from the DNC in Denver on our blog from David Sirota and ITT editors... Senior Editor David Moberg on Moving Obama Left... and Slavoj Zizek on the audacity rhetoric...

Finally: You're invited to "The Labor Movement and Progressive Politics in the Post-Bush Era," an event co-sponsored by In These Times and the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America. The panel discussion will feature Bill Fletcher, Jr., past President of Trans Africa Forum and Education Director and Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO, In These Times Senior Editor David Moberg and Richard Berg, president of the Teamsters Local 743.

To attend the free event, head to the first floor of the UE Hall at 37 S. Ashland Ave. in Chicago Wednesday, October 1st, at 7:30 p.m. Hope you can make it.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.

Cheers,

Jeremy Gantz

Web editor