July 30, 2007 Issue

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Feature

Outsourcing Intelligence

Key aspects of national security, including intelligence and analysis used to create the President’s Daily Brief, have been turned over to private corporations.
R.J. Hillhouse
Gardening for Change in the City

Local food projects and community gardens are springing up in urban areas all over the country, cutting a promising new path to empowering the poor.
Sophie Johnson
Why the US Military Loves Ron Paul

The anti-war Texas Republican is pulling more campaign contributions from the military than John McCain. That says a lot about the mindset of the troops.
Tom Engelhardt
Red Mosque: Endgame for Musharraf?

In the violent aftermath of the storming of Islamabad’s Red Mosque, the military-mullah alliance that kept Pervez Musharraf in power is unraveling, the Taliban is ascendant, and hopes for stability are fading.
Graham Usher
The Virginity Mystique

Wendy Shalit’s new book pits “good girls” against “girls gone wild.” But where’s the middle ground?
Nona Willis Aronowitz
What Causes Cancer? Probably Not You

The perennial temptation to blame disease on sin or some grave moral failing just took another hit.
Barbara Ehrenreich
YearlyKos Sticks With the Issues

A netroots political convention in Chicago aims to transcend the horse race and let the people, not the media, frame the questions put to candidates.
Ari Melber and Andrea Batista Schlesinger
Riot and Reunion: Forty Years Later

In the summer of 1967, Plainfield, New Jersey, and scores of other US cities exploded in racial violence. Forty years later, the impact is still palpable.
Peter Dreier
A Way Out: The Union of Iraqi States

A managed partition of Iraq into a European-style union of three politically independent but economically linked states is the best scenario to reduce violence and allow a drawdown of foreign troops.
Pauline H. Baker
The Swift-boating of Mitt Romney

Christian conservatives play the porn card in an attempt to discredit Mitt Romney and advance the cause of Fred Thompson.
Max Blumenthal
Surge Mentality: White House in Denial

A White House report that claims the surge is working only throws fuel on the fire among both parties in Congress to push for withdrawal.
Bob Dreyfuss
A Migrant Summit

Immigration reform may have crashed in Washington, but a very different discussion of the same issues continues below the border.
Roberto Lovato
Artists Pursue the Disappeared

With greater efficiency than the slow efforts for truth and justice, a traveling art exhibition bears witness to the victims of Argentina’s “dirty war.”
Marian Schlotterbeck
The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness

In a special investigation of the impact of the war on Iraqi civilians, interviews with fifty combat veterans reveals disturbing patterns of behavior by US troops in Iraq–brutal acts that often go unreported and almost always go unpunished.
Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian

Editorial

A Challenge to Progressives on Choice

New reproductive technologies that could allow the rich to become genetically richer and the poor even more disadvantaged are challenging progressives to take a fresh look at core principles.
Samuel Berger
The Surgeon General’s Commissars

The testimony of three former Surgeons General offers more proof of how the Bush Administration’s corps of inept political operatives subverts our system of checks and balances.
Stanley I. Kutler
Argentina: Where Jobless Run Factories

Almost entirely under the media radar, unemployed workers here are taking over bankrupt businesses and reopening them under democratic management.
Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis
Harvard’s Humanitarian Hawks

Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights doesn't officially favor the war in Iraq, so why is it helping Gen. David Petraeus devise a counter-insurgency doctrine?

Tom Hayden
Happy Birthday, George McGovern

As he observes his eighty-fifth birthday, here's a tribute to 'the most decent man in the US Senate,' who has left his mark on politics and on the American people.

Rep. Jim McGovern
Healthcare vs. the Profit Principle

Sure we have a healthcare system in America. The trouble is, it’s designed not to make people healthy but to make money.
Barbara Ehrenreich
Murdoch & the Journal

Under Rupert Murdoch, the paper of record for the global economy won’t survive as an independent voice.
John Nichols
The Virtual Primary

MoveOn.org’s issue-driven primary may not end up naming a winner, but it’s shaping up to be more substantive, thoughtful and participatory than the actual presidential primary.
Ari Melber
Poison for Profit

We’re sickened by tainted food because our government is unwilling to eat into the profits of the corporations our regulators serve.
David Goldstein
Racists & Robber Barons

Rather than build a unified culture in a diverse society, the conservative Gang of Five that now dominates the Supreme Court is polarizing the country.
David Kirp
The Deadly Occupation

Veterans of conscience have come forward with evidence that US forces kill Iraqi noncombatants every day. Now America must bring this deadly occupation to an immediate end.
The Editors
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Column

A War Not Worth Fighting

Public sentiment is solidly against the war; when will the President and political leaders of both parties have the courage to end it?
Robert Scheer
Who Let the Dogs Out on Michael Vick?

With the indictment of the Atlanta Falcons quarterback on federal conspiracy charges for running an alleged dogfighting operation, the media went into attack mode.
Dave Zirin
King George W.: James Madison’s Nightmare

This is the belllicose imperial presidency the authors of our Constitution warned us about.
Robert Scheer
Why Milk Costs More Than Gas

America’s kids will get less calcium because of our unabated appetite for gas-guzzling cars–and the wrongheaded belief that ethanol is the answer.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Mourning in America

As the Supreme Court rules public schools cannot take voluntary action to overcome racial inequality, what’s surprising is the lack of outcry.
Patricia J. Williams
Pardon Whom?

Dear George Bush: Don’t stop with Scooter Libby. Why not go all the way and pardon everyone unfairly held behind bars?
Katha Pollitt
Support Their Troops?

If the American people are largely against the war, what’s the matter with the antiwar movement? The answer lies with what has happened over the years to the American left.
Alexander Cockburn
Two Sets of Parents Hear That Ralph Nader May Run Again

The word “spoiler” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

Boys (and Girls) of Summer

Live Free or Die Hard is boot camp for slackers. Knocked Up takes measure of the inadequate man.
Stuart Klawans
King George W.: James Madison’s Nightmare

This is the belllicose imperial presidency the authors of our Constitution warned us about.
Robert Scheer
Artists Pursue the Disappeared

With greater efficiency than the slow efforts for truth and justice, a traveling art exhibition bears witness to the victims of Argentina’s “dirty war.”
Marian Schlotterbeck
My Life

Is made of the banging
Shock-absorbers
And hydrosulphuric stench,
And the boiling, stinking, panting
Factory line
Henia Karmel
Sanger vs. Sanger

Demonized for decades by ideological foes on the right and left, the mother of the birth control movement is finally able to speak for herself.
Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
Kings of the Road

Two big literary anniversaries: Jack London’s forgotten gem The Road turns 100, and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road hits 50.
Jonah Raskin
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

A Letter From IAVA

A veterans group takes issue with The Nation‘s investigation of the impact of the US military occupation on Iraqi civilians.
The Nation
Letters

Responses to articles by Katha Pollitt, Joaquín Villalobos, Jon Wiener, Charles Glass and David Yaffe.
Our Readers

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July 30, 2007 Issue

Feature

Key aspects of national security, including intelligence and analysis used to create the President’s Daily Brief, have been turned over to private corporations.

Local food projects and community gardens are springing up in urban areas all over the country, cutting a promising new path to empowering the poor.

The anti-war Texas Republican is pulling more campaign contributions from the military than John McCain. That says a lot about the mindset of the troops.

In the violent aftermath of the storming of Islamabad’s Red Mosque, the military-mullah alliance that kept Pervez Musharraf in power is unraveling, the Taliban is ascendant, and hopes for stability are fading.

Wendy Shalit’s new book pits “good girls” against “girls gone wild.” But where’s the middle ground?

The perennial temptation to blame disease on sin or some grave moral failing just took another hit.

A netroots political convention in Chicago aims to transcend the horse race and let the people, not the media, frame the questions put to candidates.

In the summer of 1967, Plainfield, New Jersey, and scores of other US cities exploded in racial violence. Forty years later, the impact is still palpable.

A managed partition of Iraq into a European-style union of three politically independent but economically linked states is the best scenario to reduce violence and allow a drawdown of foreign troops.

Christian conservatives play the porn card in an attempt to discredit Mitt Romney and advance the cause of Fred Thompson.

A White House report that claims the surge is working only throws fuel on the fire among both parties in Congress to push for withdrawal.

Immigration reform may have crashed in Washington, but a very different discussion of the same issues continues below the border.

With greater efficiency than the slow efforts for truth and justice, a traveling art exhibition bears witness to the victims of Argentina’s “dirty war.”

In a special investigation of the impact of the war on Iraqi civilians, interviews with fifty combat veterans reveals disturbing patterns of behavior by US troops in Iraq–brutal acts that often go unreported and almost always go unpunished.

Editorial

New reproductive technologies that could allow the rich to become genetically richer and the poor even more disadvantaged are challenging progressives to take a fresh look at core principles.

The testimony of three former Surgeons General offers more proof of how the Bush Administration’s corps of inept political operatives subverts our system of checks and balances.

Almost entirely under the media radar, unemployed workers here are taking over bankrupt businesses and reopening them under democratic management.

Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights doesn't officially favor the war in Iraq, so why is it helping Gen. David Petraeus devise a counter-insurgency doctrine?

As he observes his eighty-fifth birthday, here's a tribute to 'the most decent man in the US Senate,' who has left his mark on politics and on the American people.

Sure we have a healthcare system in America. The trouble is, it’s designed not to make people healthy but to make money.

Under Rupert Murdoch, the paper of record for the global economy won’t survive as an independent voice.

MoveOn.org’s issue-driven primary may not end up naming a winner, but it’s shaping up to be more substantive, thoughtful and participatory than the actual presidential primary.

We’re sickened by tainted food because our government is unwilling to eat into the profits of the corporations our regulators serve.

Rather than build a unified culture in a diverse society, the conservative Gang of Five that now dominates the Supreme Court is polarizing the country.

Veterans of conscience have come forward with evidence that US forces kill Iraqi noncombatants every day. Now America must bring this deadly occupation to an immediate end.

GET UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS FOR LESS THAN $3 A MONTH!

Column

Public sentiment is solidly against the war; when will the President and political leaders of both parties have the courage to end it?

With the indictment of the Atlanta Falcons quarterback on federal conspiracy charges for running an alleged dogfighting operation, the media went into attack mode.

This is the belllicose imperial presidency the authors of our Constitution warned us about.

America’s kids will get less calcium because of our unabated appetite for gas-guzzling cars–and the wrongheaded belief that ethanol is the answer.

As the Supreme Court rules public schools cannot take voluntary action to overcome racial inequality, what’s surprising is the lack of outcry.

Dear George Bush: Don’t stop with Scooter Libby. Why not go all the way and pardon everyone unfairly held behind bars?

If the American people are largely against the war, what’s the matter with the antiwar movement? The answer lies with what has happened over the years to the American left.

The word “spoiler” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Books & the Arts

Live Free or Die Hard is boot camp for slackers. Knocked Up takes measure of the inadequate man.

This is the belllicose imperial presidency the authors of our Constitution warned us about.

With greater efficiency than the slow efforts for truth and justice, a traveling art exhibition bears witness to the victims of Argentina’s “dirty war.”

Is made of the banging Shock-absorbers And hydrosulphuric stench, And the boiling, stinking, panting Factory line

Demonized for decades by ideological foes on the right and left, the mother of the birth control movement is finally able to speak for herself.

Two big literary anniversaries: Jack London’s forgotten gem The Road turns 100, and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road hits 50.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

Letters

A veterans group takes issue with The Nation‘s investigation of the impact of the US military occupation on Iraqi civilians.

Responses to articles by Katha Pollitt, Joaquín Villalobos, Jon Wiener, Charles Glass and David Yaffe.

Is made of the banging
Shock-absorbers
And hydrosulphuric stench,
And the boiling, stinking, panting
Factory line