\| September/October 2007 School of Shock By Jennifer Gonnerman Electric shocks. Withholding food. Social isolation. Why are we paying for autistic, mentally retarded, and emotionally troubled kids to be treated like enemy combatants? PLUS: The cult that launched the tough-love teen industry. As a public service, Mother Jones, which is a non-profit magazine, will release the full contents of this issue online over the next several weeks. If you'd like your Mother Jones sooner—and you want to support independent investigative journalism—please subscribe now.

FEATURES Hillary's Prayer By Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet Is Hillary pandering to the religious right—or truly committed to her faith? Wrong question. Sea Change Photos by Robert Knoth, Text by Julia Whitty and Robert Knoth As climate change melts the permafrost, Arctic villages slip into the sea, taking a way of life with them. Gay by Choice? By Gary Greenberg How the new science of homosexuality could turn the equal rights movement upside down. Mr. Clean By David Case Ever since Rick Ness was accused of poisoning thousands of Indonesian villagers, he's been spending a million a month to convince the world that he's innocent. And once you meet him, you'll want to believe him.				DEPARTMENTS Editors' Note Masthead Contributors Backtalk OUTFRONT Al Franken—laughing all the way to the Senate?; the cia's funny money; Jack Bauer, class of 2010; take the M16; Bush's Peter Principle; predicting the odds of winning in Iraq; whom does food aid really aid?; our 14th annual student activism highlights. EXHIBIT House of Cards By Dave Gilson Signing up a new credit card customer: $58. Buying off Congress: $8.5 million. Keeping Americans in hock for life: Priceless. WITNESS Breathless in Brooklyn By Frank Koughan An Exxon Valdez-sized oil spill grows in Brooklyn. PRACTICAL VALUES Hard to Break By Elizabeth Grossman What's the latest everyday product we should be freaked out about? Just one word: plastics. MEDIA JONES Ted Genoways on Beowulf, cable news, and other great works of fiction; down and out with former Fugee Pras Michel; video games that try to win you over; plus more book (The Argument, Nobodies, Beyond the Green Zone), film, and music reviews. P.S. The George W. Bush Presidential Library Drawing by Steve Brodner