Knowledge of the risks associated with speaking out has been with me for a long time. People may have become accustomed to seeing my byline on Activist Post articles, but may not know the route by which I arrived here. They may not know that I was mainstream educated and that through most of my writing career, wrote for mainstream press.

All of that ended abruptly one spring afternoon in 2004, when I made my way over to City Hall in Santa Monica and plunked down a public records act request. I was requesting some water records from the City, an act which ended up terminating my "mainstream" career.

Within hours I picked up a voicemail from my editor at the Santa Monica Daily Press. The SMDP is a free local newspaper which focuses on the news of the City. Santa Monica is a rich little town, nestled between Los Angeles and the surf, which is home to movie stars and magnates. The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica is currently over $3000 a month. The city is also home to a large homeless population, drawn by awesome weather, homeless services and a once-upon-a-time reputation for political activism.