January/February 2005 – Mother Jones

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A Gathering Swarm By Todd Gitlin It wasn’t quite enough on November 2—but the movement that rose to challenge George W. Bush may yet portend a historic turnaround for the left. The Party That Never Ends By Michael Kazin The Democrats were once a strong, grassroots “people’s party”—and as Republicans well know, that’s what it takes to win elections.

FEATURES The Condemned By Gary Greenberg Intended to enable government to tear down homes for public projects, eminent domain laws are instead being used to clear space for box stores and office parks. In Ohio, threatened homeowners are fighting back. A Touch of Crude By Peter Maass How Teodoro Obiang’s brutal West African kleptocracy became a darling of American bankers, oil companies, and the administration of George W. Bush. Coming Home Photographs by Paul Fusco Text by Anthony Swofford Seven families lay their fallen soldiers to rest.				Dozens of Words for Snow, None for Pollution By Marla Cone The industrialized world is contaminating Arctic wildlife, which puts the Inuit in a terrible dilemma: ingest poison, or abandon their hunting culture. Life on the Inside By Douglas McGray It seems like a social conservative’s worst nightmare: free apartments for the homeless, no requirements for sobriety or other strings attached. But the Pathways program has worked so well, even the Bush administration is getting behind it.

DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note Masthead Contributors Backtalk OUTFRONT Licensed to bill; Small-tent, big-closet politics; “Don’t test, don’t tell” at the Pentagon; Rats rule the EPA; What’s Arabic for toupee?; Big Pharma targets the weary well; A pill full of sugar; plus our peer-to-peer Hellraisers EXHIBIT For Richer or Poorer Whose wedding is it, anyway? NOTEBOOK Little Big Companies By Michael Scherer The number of no-bid federal contracts for Alaskan tribal companies is soaring. Good news for their corporate partners—like Halliburton. DISPATCH Exiles of the Kalahari By Tom Price They were exiled from their homeland in the name of progress. Is the Kalahari big enough for the Bushmen and the diamond industry? EXPOSURE From Rubble to Republic Photos By Jeroen Oerlemans/Panos Afghans cast a vote for hope. MEDIA JONES Matthew Brzezinski surveils the “security-industrial complex” in his review of No Place to Hide; The grunge politics of Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic; plus more book, music, and film reviews RE:ACTION Resources for getting involved P.S. The Bay of Indifference Cartoon by Peter Hoey