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The Chain Never Stops

Eric Schlosser’s definitive book on America’s addiction to cheap eats, Fast Food Nation (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), provides a vertical exposé of this uniquely American industry, from the fry counter to the factory farm.

The Workplace Injury Litigation Group is the nation’s only membership organization for workplace injury lawyers. Read updates on federal legislation or find a lawyer in your state by visiting www.wilg.org or contacting the group at (303) 830-0112 or P.O. Box 300488, Denver, CO 80203. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Web site was created by Bob Dugan, who had suffered his own work-related injury; it offers 550 pages on everything from state laws to activist groups. Visit www.workerscompensationinsurance.com, or contact Dugan at 10 Nonantum Lane, Chatham, MA 02633. Read about actions by meatpacking unions at the United Food and Commercial Workers Web site, www.ufcw.org/worker/, or contact the union at (202) 223-3111 or 1775 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006.

Huntsville’s Missile Payload

The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization manages U.S. national security strategy, including the missile defense program designed to protect the country from attack by a “state of concern.” Access information about missile technology, defense budgets, and countries considered to be military threats at www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo, or call (703) 697-8472.

The Center for Defense Information is an independent research organization founded by retired military officers to analyze military policy and programs. Read the organization’s report, “National Missile Defense: What Does It All Mean?” at www.cdi.org or contact the group at 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 or (202) 332-0600.

Where the Other Half Lived

See more Jacob Riis photos and read about Mulberry Bend and other late-19th-century New York tenements in a new edition of Riis’s 1890 book, How the Other Half Lives (Dover Publications, 1971). More Riis photos are available at the Museum of the City of New York’s online archive ( www.mcny.org/riis.htm).

The Method and the Madness

To help the refugees in Guinea, contact Human Rights Watch at (212) 290-4700 or 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10118. For updates on the civil war, search for Sierra Leone on the United Nations’ Refugee NewsNet Web site at www.unhcr.ch/news/newswire/newswire.htm.

Behind the Veil

The Iranian Women’s Studies Foundation sponsors an annual conference to explore themes related to Iranian women through scholarly presentations, art exhibits, and performances. Learn more about the conference and the organization at www.iwsf.org or contact the group at (617) 492-9001 or P.O. Box 380882, Cambridge, MA 02238.

The Texas Solution

The National Council for Science and the Environment’s research brief, “Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal,” provides analysis on the issue of nuclear waste at www.cnie.org/nle/waste-2.html. Contact the council at (202) 530-5810 or 1725 K Street NW, Suite 212, Washington, DC 20006.

See and Be Seen

The Privacy Foundation keeps an eye on communications technology that may pose a threat to personal privacy. Contact the organization at (303) 871-4971 (2199 South UniversityBoulevard, Denver, CO 80208) or learn more about protect-ing your privacy at www.privacyfoundation.org.

Caste Away

Learn more about this fall’s World Conference Against Racism, which will address discrimination against the Dalits in India, at www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/index.htm. Or contact the Development and Human Rights Section of the United Nations at Room S-1040, New York, NY 10017 or (212) 963-3771.

Clueless in Langley

In The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA (Tree Farm Books 2001), journalist and Fulbright scholar Burton Hersh offers a critical take on the cia, from the aftermath of World War I to the Bay of Pigs. Other readings and links about American intelligence are available online at the Intelligence Forum ( www.intelforum.org), Columbia University’s U.S. Intelligence Community ( www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/dsc/intell.html), and the Intelligence Network ( www.intellnet.org).

The nonprofit National Security Archives offers online sourcebooks ( www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/) with information from declassified cia documents on terrorism, wars in Afghanistan, and programs in biological warfare. Visit the archiveÑthe world’s largest nongovernmental library of declassified documents — at George Washington University (Gelman Library, Suite 701, 2130 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20037) or call (202) 994-7000.

Airline Insecurity

To learn more about long-standing problems in airport security, read the General Accounting Office report at www.gao.gov/archive/2000/rc00075.pdf or order report rced-00-75 by calling (202) 512-6000. The Aviation Consumer Action Project, founded by Ralph Nader, takes on a wide range of issues, including airline safety. Contact the group at (202) 638-4000 ( www.acap1971.org or 529 14th Street NW, Suite 1265, Washington, DC 20045).

Recruiting the Class of 2005

A report critical of the Army’s jrotc curriculum is available from the American Friends Service Committee (1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102) or online at www.afsc.org/youthmil/jrotc/download.htm. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, which says jrotc “helps build solid citizens and successful students,” posts its report on the program at www.csis.org/polmil/jrotcreport.html. To order a copy, call (202) 775-3119 or write csis Books, 1800 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006.

To contact jrotc, log on to www.rotc.monroe.army.mil/jrotc, or contact Headquarters, U.S. Army Cadet Command, attn: atcc-jr, Fort Monroe, VA 23651, or call (757) 788-2437.

Big Brother and the Bookie

Journalist George Anastasia traces the rise and fall of the Philadelphia Mafia in his profile of the violent Scarfo family, Blood and Honor (William Morrow 1991). For information about civil liberties and privacy rights such as those brought to light in the case against Nicodemo S. Scarfo, contact the Electronic Privacy Information Center at (202) 483-1140 (1718 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20009) or visit www.epic.org.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

To learn more about the Church of the Brethren’s response to the war in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism, visit www.brethren.org/usresponse/index.htm or contact the church at (847) 742-5100 or 1451 Dundee Avenue, Elgin, IL 60120.

Nuclear Denial

The Nuclear Control Institute, a watchdog group, monitors industry efforts to weaken security requirements at nuclear power plants. Contact the organization at (202) 822-8444 (1000 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 410, Washington, DC 20036) or visit www.nci.org.

Up Close and Personal

For information about how your privacy rights might be affected by face recognition and other biometrics software, link to the American Civil Liberties Union at www.aclu.org/issues/privacy/hmprivacy.html or contact the group at (212) 549-2500 or 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004. The Biometric Consortium provides information about types of biometric software and their uses at www.biometrics.org or (866) 246-6387.

Hellraiser: Sohail Mohammed

To learn more information about Sohail Mohammed’s work protecting the rights of American Muslims, contact the Human Rights Education and Law Project at (877) 865-5026 or 41 Wathcung Avenue, #210, Montclair, NJ 07042.

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