Communities Without Borders
David Bacon
:
Guest worker programs are a threat to the communities Central American
migrants forge as they sweep across the US. These programs undermine
the economic rights of immigrants and natives alike.
In a photo-essay, David Bacon explores the impact of guest-worker programs on indigenous peoples of Central America, Michael Klare warns of a new cold war with China and Stuart Klawans reviews A History of Violence and Good Night, and Good Luck.
David Bacon
:
Guest worker programs are a threat to the communities Central American
migrants forge as they sweep across the US. These programs undermine
the economic rights of immigrants and natives alike.
Robert L. Borosage : The Gulf Coast hurricanes could dislodge decades-long conservative domination of US politics, but only if Democrats offer an alternative vision of government and society to voters.
David Dyssegaard Kallick
:
People of the Gulf Coast should build community networks to ensure they
have a voice in rebuilding discussions usually limited to real-estate
developers and government officials.
Michael T. Klare : The Bush Administration's stance on China has gone from worry about their economic strength and oil consumption to full-on preparation for a new cold war.
: Democrats have a chance to stand up for competence, civil liberties and the integrity of the Supreme Court by challenging Harriet Miers's lack of credentials and blocking Bush from using the Supreme Court to expand presidential powers.
:
Tom DeLay's indictments open the door for Congress to overhaul current
lobbying laws and fix the broken system of campaign finance,
redistricting and electoral laws that foster misconduct on both sides
of the aisle.
Dave Zirin : War hero and former NFL star Pat Tillman was not the GI Joe icon created by Pentagon spinmeisters. He was a fiercely independent thinker convinced that the war in Iraq was illegal. Bereaved military families, also angered at Pentagon exploitation of their loved ones, are joining the critical chorus.
David Cole : Recent rulings upholding the right of the executive branch to jail and try terror suspects in military tribunals raise questions about whether the judiciary can keep presidential powers in check. Will a realigned Supreme Court give Bush a blank check to rise above the law?
Ian Williams
:
Conservatives have undermined the credibility of the United Nations by
exposing corruption in its oil-for-food program. But the inquiry led by
Paul Volcker didn't look at the mishandling of billions of dollars in
oil-for-food surpluses given to US occupation forces or the alleged
looting of such funds by US companies.
Andrew Rice : As Asian countries grow in economic power, Africa lags behind the developed world. Can it ever catch up? Will corruption, geography and disease always hold it back?
Mark Lotto : Critics have been trumpeting Benjamin Kunkel as the voice of his generation. But his first novel, Indecision, about a 28-year-old empty vessel, is little more than an empty vessel itself.
Elif Batuman
:
For prose scholar Viktor Shklovsky, who lived by the
code of style and studied its depths, an unhappy love affair can be as
much a personal tragedy as a plot device for more writing.
Stuart Klawans : A History of Violence examines one man's attempt to protect his family from the murderers drifting into his small Indiana town. Good Night, and Good Luck presents a portrait of Senator Joseph McCarthy to a generation that knows him only as the front end of an "ism."
Calvin Trillin
:
For working in the shadows of K Street pay-to-play, here's to The
Hammer getting the slammer.
Patricia J. Williams
:
The Wicked Witch stomps in his defense and the wise old tortoise
explains his reasoning. But Mother Courage knows the truth behind
William Bennett's racist comments.
Eric Alterman : As the Bush Administration's incompetence turns Iraq into a terrorist training camp, Americans should look to FDR, who waged war for unavoidable threats, not ideology, while still fostering good will among US allies.
Tom Hayden : From the beginning, the Iraq War has been driven by perceptions. Why do mainstream media continue to avoid reporting that a majority of Iraqis want US occupation forces to leave?
Robert Scheer : An endorsement from James Dobson is scary enough, but the vituperative attack on Harriet Miers by the right raises other questions about why some conservatives are agitated about her nomination.
Morton Mintz : Corporate power and money control our lives and our politics as never before. As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for Harriet Miers's nomination hearings, here are ten legal questions worth pondering about corporations, individuals and the law.
Mike Davis : Geophysicists are debating whether recent catastrophic storms signal an abrupt climate change that will trigger seasons of permanent icelessness in the Atlantic and return the earth to the torrid chaos of an earlier era.
Félix Jiménez
:
When the FBI hunted down and killed one of its most wanted fugitives in September, outrage over the botched operation may have energized the Puerto Rican independence movement.
Nicholas von Hoffman : Stocks crash and housing prices tend to go down with a whisper. But a disturbing number of signs now point to a sudden burst of the real estate bubble.
Cover art from "Line Up," an installation by Nora Ligorano and Marshall
Reese, cover design by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels