magazine December 2008

What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been

Looking back on a surreal campaign season

By Bill Ayers    1960s bill ayers elections

The War Dividend

Will the Pentagon lock the Obama administration into ever-escalating military budgets?

By Mark Engler   

Beyond Casino Capitalism

Bush let the gamblers run wild. Here's how Obama can rein them in.

By David Moberg    economy obama

El Salvador’s New Left

Once a guerrilla movement, the FMLN has swapped revolutionary rhetoric for pragmatic politics.

By Jacob Wheeler    central america politics

The Margin Walker

Veteran punk rocker Ian MacKaye on what has shocked him most during the Bush Era and why Obama gives him hope

By Jarrett Dapier and Jeremy Gantz    art politics

Morales Remakes Bolivia

A new constitution grants indigenous people unprecedented rights

By Alex Van Schaick   

The Body Count On Main Street

The financial crisis takes a human toll

By Nick Turse   

Union-Made Lattes

The Industrial Workers of the World ramps up its campaign to organize Starbucks

By Sam Stoker   

Monsanto Beets Down Opposition

Environmental and public health groups are suing the USDA to stop the planting of Roundup Ready-proof GMO sugar beets

Dead Man Waiting

For the second time, a court has stayed the execution of Georgia death row prisoner Troy Davis

Illinois Schools On Uneven Field

A Chicago educational reform movement keeps fighting to address the suburban-urban funding disparity

Ban the Cluster Bomb

More than 100 countries have agreed to stop using them. Guess which one hasn't

Reach Out and Rob Someone

After federal investigations into the $4 billion prepaid phone card industry found deceptive practices, state officials and Capitol Hill are finally cracking down on companies

television

Our Vampires, Ourselves

HBO's 'True Blood' is fangtastic

By Laine Bergeson    movies television vampires

film

‘Milk’ Does the Man Proud

The first major Hollywood film portraying a gay historic figure, Milk pushes gays to come out and fight for equal rights

By Gary Barlow    lgbt movies

books

Inside the Shadow Factory

James Bamford's important new book details America's post-9/11 surveillance-industrial complex

By Brian Beutler   

books

Operation Infinite Imperialism

Two recent books examine America’s military and diplomatic forays into South and Central Asia.

By Robert S. Eshelman    books middle east military military

Editorial

We Have Much to Celebrate

Next year, President Barack Obama and the solidly Democratic Congress can pass legislation that provides universal healthcare, establishes a sustainable energy program, reforms… more

The Third Coast

Proud of Obama … For Now

The election of a black president was considered so unlikely that it seemed silly to contemplate. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime.

Views

An Injury to Eid is an Injury to All

‘The only way working people ever win is if we stand together. It doesn’t matter whether it’s race or religion: United we stand, divided we fall.’

Droppin' a Dime

Obama Needs a Black Agenda

Black America must demand that Obama cease pandering to the People of the Gun and launch a crusade for practical solutions to urban violence.

Back Talk

How Will the Media Cover Obama?

If and when there is Bush ‘legacy’ talk, one big topic should be his administration’s blatant use of PR, censorship and propaganda.

[sic]

Regulating Good Government

The world is sighing with relief. The Bush era is dying, but the toxic legacy of America's worst president will linger like DDT… more