magazine November 2007

Make-a-Sheikh

How the Pentagon transformed a contractor into a symbol of the surge's 'success'

By David Enders    administration administration administration administration iraq military military military

A Mother's March For Justice

Jena Six mother Tina Jones talks about clearing the reputation of her son Bryant Purvis

By Christopher Weber    civil rights race social justice

Harry Potter and the Muggle Activists

Harry Potter is filled with a childlike magic that plays out in a world whose "dark and difficult times" often mirror those of our society

By Andrew Slack    books theory

The Left's Identity Crisis

What does it mean to be a progressive in 2007? What do we stand for? What do we believe in?

By Ken Brociner    activism books politics

Pirates of Private Equity

An insanely lucrative investment strategy finally faces public scrutiny

By Adam Doster    corporation economy

Has the Change Led to Wins?

Not yet, but organizers from the seven unions that split from the AFL-CIO have big plans.

By David Moberg    labor

Banana Republic to Baby Republic

Guatemala could shut down its massive adoption industry

By Jacob Wheeler    central america immigration

FCC Rocks Chicago, Chicago Rocks Back

At the recent FCC hearing in the Windy City, citizens came out in droves to voice their displeasure over the media landscape

Harassment Unchecked at Army Hotel

Sexual abuse and rape in military culture--and a lack of action by military authorities--are long-standing problems, brought to light with the Tailhook scandal in 1991

Lobbying for Cancer

Corporations are co-opting the federal Data Quality Act to paralyze scientists with frivolous allegations of inaccuracy, driving a stealth assault on public-health research

Transgendered Behind Bars

A recent study by the San Francisco-based Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project on rape in California prisons found that 59 percent of transgender people reported being sexually assaulted in prison in 2006, compared to 4 percent of the general prison population

The Politics of Everyday

The political changes for which we've striven have made a material difference in the way women conceive of their lives, writes Katha Pollitt in Learning to Drive and Other Life Stories

books

Survival of the Adapted

The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin's Theory takes the theory of evolution--"survival of the fittest," a phrase that appeared only in a later printing of Charles Darwin's classic text--and, in alternating chapters, juxtaposes the relationship between Darwin and fellow biologist Alfred Russel Wallace with Fries' curiosity about his own adaptations to a world unprepared for his body and his means of motion

By Achy Obejas    books theory

books

Suffering Secondary Trauma

Finding Iris Chang: Friendship, Ambition and the Loss of an Extraordinary Mind explores the complexity of Chang's psychology as it formed around the demands of her profession and her personal struggles stemming from her writing about The Rape of Nanking

By Silja J.A. Talvi    book war

books

Youth Gone Wild

Jared Cohen's book Children of Jihad: A Young American's Travels among the Youth of the Middle East seeks to understand an area of the world where hatred for his country and religion run rampant

Blackwater Nation

Those seeking to pinpoint the date that propelled the private military firm Blackwater into its prominent (and disastrous) position in the U.S.… more

The Times vs. Feminism

Don't become a feminist. I mean it. Because then you might end up like Katha Pollitt. Wait, isn't Pollitt an award-winning poet… more

E-Wasting Away in China

The highway of poisoned products that runs from China to the United States is not a one-way street. America ships China up… more

Suicide and Spin Doctors

Never knowing when--or if--you will be released is a cruel form of torture. It allows you to keep hope while filling you with fear.

Jena and the Post-Civil Rights Fallacy

Black America is under the assault of a biased criminal justice system, and the Jena protest was a spasm of its collective consciousness.

Katrina Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Race matters in the post-Katrina era. The world still perceives us as 'refugees'--permanently scarred victims forever adrift in tragedy.