October-November 2007
COVER STORIES
Why Pakistan and Benazir Bhutto are Important
On October 18th, less than twelve hours back from exile, a massive bomb exploded near Bhutto's motorcade on a jam-packed Karachi boulevard. Read this in-depth account about the the life and times of this dynamic leader, from the early days of her father's administration in the 1970s (he graduated from U.C. Berkeley), to the present quagmire.
Rodney, J.R. and Holly Robinson Peete
With the release of Jenny McCarthy's new book, Louder than Words - A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, a new chapter has opened for tens of thousands of parents battling the disease. It turns out that autism is not so incurable after all. Diet modifications and other therapies are helping kids like J.R. Peete, the son of a former NFL quarterback, finally recover.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In 2005, the son of Bobby Kennedy reported that the Centers for Disease Control knew mercury-laced vaccines could be linked to autism but covered it up. And he had transcripts obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request to prove it. So why hasn't the mainstram media picked up the story?
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NATIONAL NEWS
Mary Pipher
Famed Author of Reviving Ophelia Protests CIA Torture Policy
In 1993, a Nebraska child psychologist shook the nation when she published her book about the epidemic of cutting and anorexia in adolescent girls. Recently Mary Pipher made headlines again when she announced she would return a presidential citation awarded her by the American Psychological Association. That's because when the APA held its annual convention in San Francisco this summer, its leadership council refused to ban its clinicians from participating in CIA-run torture sessions.
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LOCAL NEWS
S.F. Mayor's Office
Cruising to an easy re-election this November, the mayor of San Francisco raised a $6 million campaign chest that simply blew the competition away. With his first term marked by an affair with his appointments secretary, a bout with alcholism, and a deepening fiscal crisis at Muni, one would have expected a litlle more of a race.
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ARTS AND MEDIA
Sex, Lies, and Night Vision Video
Susan Faludi takes on the damsel in distress myth in a fascinating account of how the American public was subliminally coersced into supporting the Administration's war plans and dismantling of civil rights. While the Jessica Lynch episode may offer the most searing indictment of a propaganda machine gone wild, it appears that this same storyline has been reprised over and over since colonial times.
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EDITORIAL
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, sworn in last January, worked for former CIA Director Bill Casey during the Iran/Contra arms for hostage deals.
With all the talk of taking a kinder, gentler approach to Iran's ayatollahs, people in Europe must be wondering what Americans are smoking. Since the Reagan Administration first took office in 1980, the Bush/Cheney/Pentagon team has maintained an ongoing, covert relationship with the dictatorship. The results of those consultations have not been pretty, and just as the Trojan Horse got through the front door of Troy, the progressive movement has been cleverly connived into defending one of the grisliest governments on earth.
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