October 17, 2005 Issue

Cover art by: Cover by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels

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Feature

25 Questions About the Murder of New Orleans

New Orleans did not die an accidental death–it was murdered by deliberate design and planned neglect. Here are twenty-five urgent questions from the people who live in a city submerged in anger and frustration.
Mike Davis and Anthony Fontenot
Letter From Iran

While his ideological style may be rough, is Iran’s newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the fire-breathing conservative that the mainstream Western media makes of him?
Negar Azimi
A Disease for Every Pill

What do you do if you want to profit from the everyday aches and pains of human existence? Invent a disease, then convince people they need drugs to cure it.
Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels
Can It Happen Here?

With religious school vouchers and public displays of the Ten Commandments on government monuments, the United States is following Europe’s path to a melding of Christianity and the state. That’s no way to instill loyalty among Islamic immigrants.
Richard Alba and Nancy Foner
Running on Fumes

Unless the federal government does something now, rising gas prices have the potential to break the blue-collar backbone of many American towns.
Sasha Abramsky

Editorial

Darwin and God

Darwin’s discoveries about evolution never argued against the existence of God. And the theory of “intelligent design” is a dangerous attempt to undermine science and justify a literal reading of the Bible.
Dr. Marc Siegel
Bill Bennett’s Abortion Fantasies

What’s really shocking about Bill Bennett’s public fantasies of reducing crime by aborting black babies is the ease with which conservative critics cast lawlessness in racial terms.
Mark Sorkin
AIDS Cure

David Levine
Minority/Majority

Three senators caved and supported the nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. as Supreme Court Chief Justice. But one lawmaker, banking on the public’s cynicism of the oil industry, wants to tax its windfall profits.
David Sirota
In Fact…

Critics have attacked Gulf Coast reconstruction, but the system–or at least Bush’s system–is working just fine. Just ask the usual suspects who are raking in the cash.
The Editors
Gitmo’s Hunger Strikers

The US military is keeping the ongoing hunger strike and forced feedings of Guantanamo Bay under wraps. And an apathetic American media is showing no interest in exposing the situation.
Clive Stafford Smith
Peaceniks Flood DC

Last week’s antiwar rally in Washington sent a single, unequivocal message: At home and abroad, the Bush Administration is a complete failure.
Liza Featherstone
Global Storm Warning

Scientists universally recognize the devastating effects of global warming, including its possible role in creating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It’s time for skeptics to listen up before another devastating storm hits.
Mark Hertsgaard
Out of Gas

Before 9/11, the Bush Administration thought tax breaks and environmental deregulation would solve the energy crisis. They were wrong. Now it’s time for policies that promote conservation and energy alternatives.
The Editors
‘The Hammer’ Gets Hit

Tom DeLay’s indictment on criminal conspiracy charges comes at a moment of acute public awareness of the culture of corruption the GOP has created. What happens next is up to the Democrats.
Ari Berman
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Column

The Action-Figure Governator

Faced with an historic opportunity to give gay couples equal protection under the law, Arnold Schwarzenegger proved he was made of bendable plastic.
Robert Scheer
Desperate Housewives of the Ivy League?

Why does the New York Times feel compelled to perpetuate the myth that smart, striving women are increasingly opting out of a career to be stay-at-home moms?
Katha Pollitt
From Lynndie England to Shaquille O’Neal

Americans are becoming more hostile by the day to the war in Iraq, the nation is demoralized over official abandonment of the victims of the Gulf Coast storm, but the Democratic Party is missing in action.
Alexander Cockburn
A New Gilbert and Sullivan Song About George W. Bush as a Take-Charge Guy

Where normal human beings see a storm-devastated community, George W. Bush sees only a photo opportunity.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

25 Questions About the Murder of New Orleans

New Orleans did not die an accidental death–it was murdered by deliberate design and planned neglect. Here are twenty-five urgent questions from the people who live in a city submerged in anger and frustration.
Mike Davis and Anthony Fontenot
Mute Point

The undulating monoliths in architect Peter Eisenman’s Holocaust memorial in Berlin are more banal than beautiful–which suits Eisenman fine.
Arthur C. Danto
Fighting the Abyss

Although The Aesthetics of Resistance delves into leftist notions of art and class struggle, this account of an anti-Nazi youth group in Germany seems outdated now.
Noah Isenberg
Crime and Punishment

A recent surge of novels and memoirs reveals for the first time the ways in which Germans suffered from Allied “total war” strategy during World War II.
Mark M. Anderson
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Letters

No Child Left Behind?

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Annette Fuentes and Our Readers

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October 17, 2005 Issue

Feature

New Orleans did not die an accidental death–it was murdered by deliberate design and planned neglect. Here are twenty-five urgent questions from the people who live in a city submerged in anger and frustration.

While his ideological style may be rough, is Iran’s newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the fire-breathing conservative that the mainstream Western media makes of him?

What do you do if you want to profit from the everyday aches and pains of human existence? Invent a disease, then convince people they need drugs to cure it.

With religious school vouchers and public displays of the Ten Commandments on government monuments, the United States is following Europe’s path to a melding of Christianity and the state. That’s no way to instill loyalty among Islamic immigrants.

Unless the federal government does something now, rising gas prices have the potential to break the blue-collar backbone of many American towns.

Editorial

Darwin’s discoveries about evolution never argued against the existence of God. And the theory of “intelligent design” is a dangerous attempt to undermine science and justify a literal reading of the Bible.

What’s really shocking about Bill Bennett’s public fantasies of reducing crime by aborting black babies is the ease with which conservative critics cast lawlessness in racial terms.

Three senators caved and supported the nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. as Supreme Court Chief Justice. But one lawmaker, banking on the public’s cynicism of the oil industry, wants to tax its windfall profits.

Critics have attacked Gulf Coast reconstruction, but the system–or at least Bush’s system–is working just fine. Just ask the usual suspects who are raking in the cash.

The US military is keeping the ongoing hunger strike and forced feedings of Guantanamo Bay under wraps. And an apathetic American media is showing no interest in exposing the situation.

Last week’s antiwar rally in Washington sent a single, unequivocal message: At home and abroad, the Bush Administration is a complete failure.

Scientists universally recognize the devastating effects of global warming, including its possible role in creating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It’s time for skeptics to listen up before another devastating storm hits.

Before 9/11, the Bush Administration thought tax breaks and environmental deregulation would solve the energy crisis. They were wrong. Now it’s time for policies that promote conservation and energy alternatives.

Tom DeLay’s indictment on criminal conspiracy charges comes at a moment of acute public awareness of the culture of corruption the GOP has created. What happens next is up to the Democrats.

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

Column

Faced with an historic opportunity to give gay couples equal protection under the law, Arnold Schwarzenegger proved he was made of bendable plastic.

Why does the New York Times feel compelled to perpetuate the myth that smart, striving women are increasingly opting out of a career to be stay-at-home moms?

Americans are becoming more hostile by the day to the war in Iraq, the nation is demoralized over official abandonment of the victims of the Gulf Coast storm, but the Democratic Party is missing in action.

Where normal human beings see a storm-devastated community, George W. Bush sees only a photo opportunity.

Books & the Arts

New Orleans did not die an accidental death–it was murdered by deliberate design and planned neglect. Here are twenty-five urgent questions from the people who live in a city submerged in anger and frustration.

The undulating monoliths in architect Peter Eisenman’s Holocaust memorial in Berlin are more banal than beautiful–which suits Eisenman fine.

Although The Aesthetics of Resistance delves into leftist notions of art and class struggle, this account of an anti-Nazi youth group in Germany seems outdated now.

A recent surge of novels and memoirs reveals for the first time the ways in which Germans suffered from Allied “total war” strategy during World War II.

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

Letters

Nashville