May/June 2003

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MOTHER JONES NEEDS YOUR HELP

We need to raise $390,000 in online donations by June 30 to finish our fiscal year break even. We’ve already cut everything we can. We cannot afford to come up short. It's tough right now. And there’s more about why this is so urgent and the big, entirely fixable challenge journalism faces in “News Never Pays,” or in this primer about our nonprofit journalism and finances. If you can right now, please pitch in at whatever level works for you. We need more help than normal this month.

Mother Jones needs your help. We need to raise $390,000 in online donations by June 30 to finish our fiscal year break even. We’ve already cut everything we can. We cannot afford to come up short. Learn more about why this is so urgent in “News Never Pays,” or about our finances and nonprofit operation here, and please support the journalism you get from us if you can right now. We need more help than normal.

	Cover Story: Soldiers of Good Fortune By Barry Yeoman They’re in the Army now: how the Bush Administration is using private military companies to wage the war on terrorism.

	FEATURES What’s a River For? By Bruce Barcott Farmers, ranchers, fishermen, Native American tribes. In the fight over the Klamath River’s water, everybody loses — especially the salmon. Where Are You, Beloved General? By Jonathan Watts A xenophobic leader, an economy in free fall, a dogma of belligerent brinksmanship. Welcome to North Korea. The Torturers Next Door By Karen Olsson A thousand human-rights violators reside in the United States. Now, their victims — and an amateur detective in South Florida — are determined to bring them to justice.				In the Valley of the Dictator Photo Essay by Jonas Bendiksen Text by Matthew Brzezinski Uzbekistan is a crucial ally in the war on terror. So why should we care what Islam Krimov does to his own people? Fear and Fallout in Los Alamos By Bill Donahue In the town that Oppenheimer built, nuclear families and nuclear bombs go hand in hand. Cruising on the Ark of Taste By Michael Pollan Listening to Slow Food: notes on the art — and politics — of eco-gastronomy.

	DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note Masthead Contributors Backtalk OUTFRONT The hydrocarbons behind the hydrogen car; fighting terrorism with Ecstasy; money orders and McCarthyism; supplements to die for; plus, the revolution will be emailed EXHIBIT Death, be not serious; pop and politics; stamping out drug use PUBLIC DOMAIN Stop Making Sense By George Packer Living with uncertainty: a guide to the mind at war. THE SLANT A Bully’s Pulpit By Jack Hitt The president of our TV Nation doesn’t understand how media now works. And it’s costing us dearly. EXPOSURE Tour de Force Pedaling weapons in Sudan MEDIA JONES Joshua Wolf Shenk on drug propaganda and functioning potheads; Lucinda Williams makes some noise; windows on war; Lil’ Kim vs. Kim Jong II, a Mother Jones smackdown; plus more book, music, film reviews P.S. Electronic Anti-Missive Defense Shield to Protect White House Cartoon by Bruce McCall

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