What Can Obama Do in Latin America?

On nearly every issue that could either relieve the suffering of Latin Americans or help the US to win back allies, domestic politics will hinder Obama's range of action.

Greg Grandin

Hearts, Minds and Hollywood

American ideals no longer dominate the global public square. So how do we compete for hearts and minds?

Nathan Gardels and Mike Medavoy

Thailand’s Tranquility Crumbles

As mob violence and political strife destroy Thailand's reputation as Southeast Asia's magic kingdom, the fortunes of Vietnam and Indonesia are rising.

Barbara Crossette

US Must Stop Mixed Signals on Iran

Anything short of a categorical, even vociferous US refusal to countenance an Israeli attack on Iran might have horrific consequences.

Roane Carey

Environmental Showdown on the Irish Coast

A seaside community's battle to prevent a gas pipeline from ruining fragile coast and bog lands enters its tenth year.

Alexander Zaitchik

Morality Play

In the wake of the Gaza incursion, the self-deceptions of the Israeli military have been exposed.

Liel Leibovitz

A System From Hell

In my family, two medical crises have added up to financial disaster.

Kate Michelman

Casualties of Care

The privatization of veterans' healthcare limits the government's ability to honor those who serve.

Tara McKelvey

Behind the Abortion Color Line

Reducing unintended pregnancies is an urgent priority for African-Americans.

Sheryl McCarthy

Healthcare Lifeboats

The Massachusetts healthcare reform model may rest on impeccable political logic, but it's economic and medical nonsense

Steffie Woolhandler and David U. Himmelstein

Fighting for Our Health

Can Washington summon the will to cut costs, raise revenues and cover the uninsured?

J. Lester Feder

Reach Out to Cuba to Heal Guantánamo’s Wounds

As Obama seeks to remake the US-Cuba relationship, why not form a partnership to transform the prison into a health research center?

Marcus G. Raskin and Joshua Frens-String

Ten Things You Can Do to Oppose the War in Afghanistan

Get involved in the peace movement. Demand oversight hearings. Read up on the war--and more.

Z.P. Heller

Dennis Ross’s Iran Plan

Is Obama's dialogue with Iran already doomed?

Bob Dreyfuss

Noted.

John Nichols on rainbow pusher Merle Hansen; Richard Kim on April's "queer quake."

the Editors

Not Our Department

For the Labor Department damaged by eight years of Bush neglect, help is finally on the way.

Christopher Hayes

Operation Healthcare

Obama's hybrid approach to healthcare reform will succeed if progressives come together to support smart, incremental improvements in public programs.

the Editors

Judgment Day for Tax Cheats

GOP "tea-baggers" take note: The Justice Department is closing in on offshore tax cheats. And former Sen. Phil Gramm, their chief enabler, could be caught in the net.

Robert Scheer

The Upside of Piracy

The rise of blue-water criminals may not be anything to cheer about, but it just might force us to consume less foreign oil.

Nicholas von Hoffman

Obama’s Wall Street Rat Pack

President Obama needs to ditch the idiot savants of high finance and bring in advisers dedicated to doing something more than gaming the economy.

Nicholas von Hoffman

Lose the ‘Business'; Save the News?

As newspapers become increasingly irrelevant, is making them tax-exempt their last, best hope?

Eric Alterman

Mrs. Obama Meets Mrs. Windsor

Michelle Obama defies the boxes in which women have been caged, expanding the force field of feminism in ecumenical and unsettling ways.

Patricia J. Williams

Rush Limbaugh Threatens to Leave New York City if the State Raises Taxes on People Making More Than $500,000 a Year

Is that a promise?

Calvin Trillin

What Can Obama Do in Latin America?

On nearly every issue that could either relieve the suffering of Latin Americans or help the US to win back allies, domestic politics will hinder Obama's range of action.

Greg Grandin

Hearts, Minds and Hollywood

American ideals no longer dominate the global public square. So how do we compete for hearts and minds?

Nathan Gardels and Mike Medavoy

Lingo: And Then Some

Would a master thesaurus contain the history of human perception?

Ange Mlinko

Laurels for Ange Mlinko

Poet and Nation contributor Ange Mlinko has won the Randall Jarrell Award in Poetry Criticism for work that is "eclectic and astringent yet always lucid and generous."

John Palattella

Lose the ‘Business'; Save the News?

As newspapers become increasingly irrelevant, is making them tax-exempt their last, best hope?

Eric Alterman

They Fought the Law: Fred Strebeigh’s Equal

An outstanding history of women's struggle for equality through the courts and in the legal profession.

Michael O’Donnell

Back Talk: Young Jean Lee

A conversation with the author of The Shipment about American theater, irony and Mariah Carey.

Christine Smallwood

Violent Grace: Anne Carson’s An Oresteia

Anne Carson's An Oresteia offers a dark vision of violent grace.

Emily Wilson

The Hundred Days War: Histories of the New Deal

FDR's first hundred days were unprecedented in their ambition and scope--and anything but politically coherent.

Thomas J. Sugrue

The Hub

William Corbett

Clear November Morning

William Corbett

Sexual Trauma & Repressed Memory

Cambridge, Mass.

JoAnn Wypijewski and Our Readers

Puzzle No. 3166

ACROSS

 1 and 4 A gun-toter had to be, as does a speed artist. (5,2,3,4)

Frank W. Lewis