Welcome to the newsprint edition of Eat the State! Besides allowing us to print more copies, this format gives us more space for articles, letters, and new features.

You'll notice that we're debuting a new section: "One Planet." It will run every other week opposite American Newspeak, and will feature international news not covered by the mainstream press, with an emphasis on the struggles of everyday folks and their efforts to make this a better world for all of us, not just a few very wealthy people.

Short Takes, a selection of editorial bits and pieces that used to run opposite American Newspeak, has become "Eat These Shorts," and will run every week. We'd like our readers to continue sending us bits and pieces of tantalizing info to include in the Shorts section. We welcome your contributions!

In planning for the newsprint edition, we realized that we'd have room for an extra feature along the lines of Stump Talk and Media Watch--and that we could run it in this space. Each staff member had a different idea about what we should run in this section, and they all sounded terrific. After lots of talking, joking, and planning, we decided in true ETS! fashion to run them all (on an alternating basis).

So here's a brief rundown of the types of columns you'll see in the coming months here in our new feature section:

Local Heroes. The column you've been waiting for to inspire you to get up and get involved. It will feature interviews and comments from notable people in the community: rabble rousers, entertainers, ecofreaks, political junkies, earth shakers, and movement movers ... with accompanying photos (or mug shots!), as available.

Labor. Local papers love to give you tips on where to find a job, but never tell you about your rights in the workplace ... or where to find help in dealing with a nasty boss if you need it ... or which unions are really working in your best interest. Here's a column that will do that and more: it will cover workplace issues and news from your perspective, not from the eyes of business owners, shareholders, employers, and those smarmy people who spend their time hiring, firing, and supervising you.

Culture. Ever wonder why arts and entertainment writers never write about the social and political issues raised by books, movies, music, TV shows, etc.? Good writing about culture and the arts shouldn't be considered just filler or fluff, and it doesn't deserve to be ghettoized in the back pages with the classified ads or dumbed down to be made "more entertaining." Stupid art and stupid writing are boring. We want to have fun, and so do you. So we'll shine some light on what our society does in its spare time, dissect the motives of the entertainment industry, discuss specific artists and their works, and answer the all important question: why does a city with two weekly entertainment papers still lack a decent, thoughtful, and entertaining commentary that combines culture, the arts, and politics?

Economics. It's like the scab over an old wound: it itches, it's gross, but it's also fascinating. So we just have to scratch it. Sorry. But we know you're watching, even though you're pretending not to!

Marketing. What do you find when you turn on the light in the kitchen at night? Marketers, advertisers, and public relations people scurrying for cover. This is a closer look at how this enormous industry governs our choices from what we buy at the grocery store to what we watch on TV or read in the newspaper. Do marketers determine what drugs are available when you go see your doctor? You bet. And how much are your personal tastes and attitudes really a reflection of who you are, instead of what a public relations firm wants you to be? It's scary, but fascinating stuff ... and a little like what you might find underneath that scab.

Farm. What, you might ask, is this? Are you guys nuts? Well, not really. We're proud to have a staff member who was born and raised on a farm and has 18 years of stories to tell. She also has an interesting perspective on modern agricultural horrors like Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), Mad Cow Disease, and "Dairy Nutrients" (that's "cow shit" to you and me). Family farms are being rapidly replaced by factory farms, a whole way of life is vanishing, and it's all having an enormous impact on what you eat, drink, and wear. We hope you'll be entertained by and learn a little bit from what she has to say.

It's an ambitious lineup ... full of fun and interesting stuff. Oh, yeah, did I mention that we'll have room for more letters? That means you'll have to let us know how we're doing. Frequently.