An Elite Consensus We Can’t Afford An Elite Consensus We Can’t Afford
Calls for bipartisanship ignore the simple reality that the GOP has been captured by the extreme right.
Apr 18, 2012 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Help Gulf Residents Reclaim Their Lives Help Gulf Residents Reclaim Their Lives
It's outrageous that, nearly two years after the spill, not a single bill has been signed into law to protect or restore the ecosystem and communities of the Gulf.
Apr 18, 2012 / NationAction
Police, Protests and Pepper Spray in California Police, Protests and Pepper Spray in California
According to a new report, the pepper spraying of peacefully protesting UC Davis students last year “should and could have been prevented.”
Apr 18, 2012 / Tom Hayden
Hundreds Protest America’s Crooked Tax System Hundreds Protest America’s Crooked Tax System
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets yesterday to protest America’s crooked tax system, in which the richest corporations and individuals avoid paying taxes and the res...
Apr 18, 2012 / Allison Kilkenny
In Annawadi: On Katherine Boo In Annawadi: On Katherine Boo
Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a superb, empathic account of life in a Mumbai undercity.
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami
Ideology and Electricity: The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan Ideology and Electricity: The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan
Rodric Braithwaite, Jonathan Steele and Artemy Kalinovsky analyze the forgotten history of Afghan communism and the Soviet occupation.
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Christian Parenti
Pikuach Nefesh: On God and Gays Pikuach Nefesh: On God and Gays
Mark Jordan and Jay Michaelson seek hope for gay religious practice in heretical churches and the Hebrew Bible.
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Mark Oppenheimer
Puzzle No. 3236 Puzzle No. 3236
Don’t miss Kosman and Picciotto’s crossword blog, Word Salad.
Apr 17, 2012 / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Letters Letters
Feedback on the April 9 issue: trusting government (“again?”), Katha Pollitt’s plea to affluent pro-choicers and Burt Neuborne's open letter to the ACLU
Apr 17, 2012 / Our Readers and Burt Neuborne
The Drought The Drought
Dip him in the river who loves water… said the cook on the cooking show… Take the hearts of thirty ducks… and here’s the trick… You must keep them wet… the way to go… the way to go is broth… Ok… Broth of hearts of duck… I went to go buy broth stuff… a bay leaf… Oh said the grocer… With duck heart what you want is spice… Curry the thirty hearts he said… Back home… Hurrying… Ok, curry… The mailman smelled the place… Oh Ho he said… I smell blood… he opened the pot… Why if it isn’t 30 duck hearts… Of course you’re going to skewer them…? Skewers… I had to… I had to go… I ran down to the hardware depot… Skewers…? Well it’s not BBQ season… I persisted… I explained the meal… the populace… Meanwhile… customers were coming… buying out all the salt and shovels… for the blizzard… buying out all the fireworks… for the Fourth… buying out all the hammers and nails… for Hurricane Ross… Remained: some rope… I’d hang them… if I had to… It’s not thirty duck hearts is it… asked the clerk… I didn’t dare talk… To skewer the hearts of thirty duckers… he said… you need the beaks of thirty ivory-billed woodpeckers… Are those… rare?… As rare as they come, he said… Better give me 31… Ran home… the kitchen was smelling… majestic… Ok…Ok… Almost ready… The places set… Candles lit… The downstairs neighbor tuning her pipe organ… 29 special guests filed in… Please sit… May I present… In the heart of each duck… there was a glint… majestic… They said, Is that…? Yes, I said… Yes… each one swimming in sauce and broth… Oh, they said… Oh no no no… Had I…? Were they…? No, no no no no … Dip him in the river who loves water… Yes that’s the recipe I followed… That’s not the way it goes… anymore… they said… They said… each heart should be served raw… and drowning… in a sacred diamond-flavored fountain… I was so… I didn’t usually believe in impressing… But these guests!… Honestly… They were just… They were as hungry as I was… One especially kind… one offered to… to pawn the woodpecker skewers… I lied… said they were worthless… said Oh they were free… Oh just papier-mâché… Oh found a ton of them lying around… down… where the river used to be…
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Darcie Dennigan