March/April 2006 Contents

\| March/April 2006 Last Days of the Ocean We're pushing our seas to the brink. Can they be saved?

FEATURES The Fate of the Ocean By Julia Whitty Assaulted by pollution, overfishing, climate change, trash, and noise, our oceans are approaching a point of no return. The health of the world they feed and protect won’t be far behind. P L U S : Whales hit the beaches, and polar bears face extinction The Catch By Michael W. Robbins If America’s fisheries are regulated, how can they be overfished? Because the regulators and the fishermen are one and the same. P L U S : The ocean’s top enemies, and a field guide to failing fish Net Losses By H. Bruce Franklin How a football tycoon took George H.W. Bush’s oil company and used it to declare war on the fish that built America.				Heroes in Error By Jack Fairweather Before the war, how did the press get Iraq so wrong? Because a key source was an impostor. The Street Samaritans By Tim Shorrock Post-Katrina volunteer medics on bicycles sparked a new model of community health care in New Orleans. In a Brothel Atop Street 63 By Scott Carrier The intimate face of slavery in Cambodia—where buying and selling children is family business.

DEPARTMENTS Editor's Note Masthead Contributors Backtalk OUTFRONT Withdrawal Symptoms; Just plain Jane for Congress; the best congressional doublespeak; tasteless eats in Phnom Penh; taxes made simple; Texan made vengeful; Operation Desert Smarm; the worst job in Washington and Fords in flames EXHIBIT Intellectual Property Run Amok The comedy of intellectual property overkill. SIGNS ALONG THE ROAD Homeland Security on the Range By Joann Wypijewski Down on the farm with Homeland Security. PRACTICAL VALUES Navigating the Catch of the Day By Daniel Duane Overfishing...mercury...but they taste so good! How to eat fish without fear. MEDIA JONES Nell Bernstein on the war on hugs; Corporal Sean Huze tours a soldier’s soliloquy; plus more book and music reviews RE:ACTION Resources for getting involved P.S. Who's Got Street Cred? Cartoon by Greg Clarke