Harper's Magazine: September 2008

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September 2008

CONTENTS
THUMBNAILS
WEB ONLY

	Photo [Cover art] By Thomas Allen (Photog.) SEE ALSO: School children; Textbooks; Urban schools PDF IMAGES
4-7	Letters/Department Letters On Fear review, from June 2008: Letter By Barbara Romano On Letters, from July 2008: Letter By Tom Genoni On Candid camera, from July 2008: Letter By Gilead Ini On High noon for the Republican Party, from July 2008: Letter By Gerrald Darr Letter By Gil Leppelmeier On The Magic Olympics, from July 2008: Letter By Allan Zola Kronzek Letter By Lance Lawson Letter By Alex Stone On The wrecking crew, from August 2008: Note/correction PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
9-12	Notebook/Article Elegy for a rubber stamp By Lewis H. Lapham SEE ALSO: Death and burial; Objectivity; Press and politics; Television journalists; Russert, Tim PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
15	Harper's index/Department Harper’s Index PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
17-20	Readings/Article The naughts By Roger D. Hodge SEE ALSO: Journalistic ethics; Political corruption; Press and politics; Satire, American PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
18	Readings/Article Many people have done worse SEE ALSO: Akaev, Askar Akaevich; Career as Kyrgyzstan ex-president; Career as lobbyist; Dosmukhamedov, E.K.; Exile; Kyrgyzstan; Lobbying; 2001-; Political corruption; Payne, Stephen PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
19	Readings/Illustration Made-to-measure on site—laymen and professionals By Goran Djurovic SEE ALSO: Businessmen; Models and modelmaking; Professional employees PDF IMAGES
20-23	Readings/Article The western cannon By Jason Armagost SEE ALSO: Aerial operations, American; Iraq War, 2003-; Literature and the war; Personal narratives, American PDF IMAGES
22	Readings/Photo Beds By Cyrus Karimipour (Photog.) SEE ALSO: Beds PDF IMAGES
23-25	Readings/Article Inhuman resources SEE ALSO: Abuse of; Cuba; Geneva Conventions (1949); Guantánamo Bay; Legal ethics; Military interrogation; Military law; Prisoners; Prisoners and prisons; Torture; War on Terrorism, 2001- PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
24	Readings/Article Teen beat SEE ALSO: Abuse of; Canadians; Cuba; Guantánamo Bay; Imprisonment; Military interrogation; Khadr, Omar; Prisoners; Prisoners and prisons; Teenagers; Torture; War on Terrorism, 2001- PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
25	Readings/Illustration Memories of the factory By Li Domínguez Fong SEE ALSO: Factories PDF IMAGES
26	Readings/Article God does play dice By Stephen Haliczer SEE ALSO: Board games; Catholic Church; Popes PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES Readings/Article Paper Pushkin By Simona Schneider (Trans.) and Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin SEE ALSO: Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich; Correspondence; Poets, Russian PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
28	Readings/Poem Pity the elderly gray translator By Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov PDF IMAGES
29-32	Readings/Fiction A new paradise, or a new hell By Margaret Jull Costa (Trans.) and José Saramago PDF IMAGES
31	Readings/Illustration Wall view By Amer Kobaslija SEE ALSO: Artists' studios; Walls PDF IMAGES
32	Readings/Article On the economy of the dead By John Berger SEE ALSO: Capitalism; Dead; Life; Time PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
33	Readings/Photo Houston 45 By John Herrin (Photog.) SEE ALSO: Houston (Tex.) PDF IMAGES
35-46	Article Tyranny of the test: One year as a Kaplan coach in the public schools By Jeremy Miller SEE ALSO: Biology; Educational tests and measurements; Federal aid to education; Privatization in education; Public schools; Teachers; Training of; United States. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
47-58	Article Through the open door: Searching for deadly toys in China's Pearl River Delta By Donovan Hohn SEE ALSO: Commerce; Safety measures; Safety regulations; Toy industry; Toys PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
60-68	Article Human quicksand for the U.S. Army, a crash course in cultural studies By Steve Featherstone SEE ALSO: Afghan War, 2001-; Afghanistan; Civil-military relations; Civilian relief; Military policy; Public Relations; War and society PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
69-76	Article Radiant poison: Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and the end of the Jew as metaphor By Vivian Gornick SEE ALSO: American literature; Criticism and interpretation; Herzog (Book); I can get it for you wholesale (Book); Weidman, Jerome; Misogyny in literature; Roth, Philip; Pictorial works; Portnoy's complaint (Book); Bellow, Saul; The adventures of Augie March (Book) PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
77-84	Fiction Willows village By Dagoberto Gilb PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
85-86	New books/Review New Books By John Leonard SEE ALSO: A universal history of the destruction of books (Book); Exit music (Book); Báez, Fernando; Kureishi, Hanif; Rankin, Ian; Eburne, Jonathan P. (Jonathan Paul); Something to tell you (Book); Surrealism and the art of crime (Book) PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
87-92	Review Books and circuses: The politics of literary scapegoating By Francine Prose SEE ALSO: Autobiography; Blackburn, Julia; The three of us: a family story (Book) PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
92-98	Review Congenial disorder: Why should we look for comfort in poetry? By Denis Donoghue SEE ALSO: Parini, Jay; Why poetry matters (Book) PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES
99	Puzzle/Department That's an order By Richard Maltby PDF IMAGES
100	Findings/Article Findings By Rafil Kroll-Zaidi PDF FREE TEXT IMAGES

WEEKLY REVIEW
WASHINGTON BABYLON
SENTENCES
NO COMMENT
MR. FISH
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
COMMENTARY

Weekly Review By Gemma Sieff	Sep 2
Weekly Review By Christopher R. Beha	Sep 16
Weekly Review By Claire Gutierrez	Sep 9
Weekly Review By Genevieve Smith	Sep 30
Weekly Review By Sam Stark	Sep 23

By Ken Silverstein

Stanley in Africa: Former Halliburton exec’s history of bribes and kickbacks	12:43 PM Sep 8
Six Questions for James Galbraith on the Financial Crisis and the Bailout	6:27 AM Sep 24
Three Cheers for Teen Pregnancy	11:32 AM Sep 3
Palin’s Vetting: Five Colleges, None Contacted by McCain	7:29 PM Sep 4
How bad is the economy? Don’t jump, but “We’re going to have to redefine what we mean by normal growth”	11:07 AM Sep 17
The Jackass in Red: Meet the G.O.P.’s most famous convention delegate ever	1:44 PM Sep 19
Self-Shill: Ashgabat Calling	11:11 AM Sep 19
McCain Cronies Hit Jackpot with Gtech	10:48 AM Sep 28
Senator Robert Bennett: There’s no time to do this “right,” just give Wall Street the money	11:01 AM Sep 25
Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Rove	7:40 AM Sep 4
Galbraith on Stock Market Crashes and Stuffed Shirts	1:54 PM Sep 17
Does the “Media Elite” Have It In For Sarah Palin?	9:09 AM Sep 27
“A Blessing to America”: Joe Lieberman’s effusive endorsement (of Obama)	9:34 AM Sep 3
Congress Still Taking Money From UBS Despite Multiple Investigations	12:33 PM Sep 16
McCain’s “Bittergate”: Fallows on the Contingencies article	6:26 PM Sep 22
Punditry and Wishful Thinking	10:15 AM Sep 17
Drill, Baby, Drill: Newt strikes it rich	3:50 PM Sep 25
She’s Not Just a Russia Scholar: Palin’s foreign-policy expertise includes Ireland	9:48 PM Sep 3
RSVP for the Bailout	12:08 PM Sep 24
Six Questions for Nate Silver on Polls and the Election	8:06 AM Sep 23
Karl Rove to Chris Wallace: “I think I’m with you”	9:21 AM Sep 3
In Case of Palin, Hypocrisy Might Have Been Easier to Understand	10:31 AM Sep 2
Will McCain Dump Palin? Not likely	8:51 AM Sep 29
Alaska: More Diverse than G.O.P. Convention	7:53 AM Sep 4
Criminal Ingratitude: Congressman Doolittle’s aide complains about poor view from stadium skybox	5:13 PM Sep 9
What Would Newt Do?	9:03 PM Sep 1
“Submersion Journalism”: Book Event at New York University on Wednesday	12:55 PM Sep 16
McCain Strategy: “These Little Facts Don’t Matter”	8:35 AM Sep 10
Sarah Palin Still a “Stay at Home” Mom at Heart: Which netted her almost $17K from Alaska state coffers	11:11 AM Sep 9
Lousy Is As Lousy Does: McCain puts his finger on the economic problem	8:19 AM Sep 27
Free Hookers and Blow For G.O.P. Convention Revelers	8:32 AM Sep 2
Former CIA Official Cops Plea	11:55 AM Sep 29
Cheney Watch: Halliburton Bribery Investigation Proceeding in UK and US	1:22 PM Sep 30
A Bipartisan Guide to the Financial Collapse: Who’s not taking money from Merrill and Lehman?	10:36 AM Sep 15
Does McCain Campaign Chair’s Lobby Shop Share Skybox with AT&T?	8:37 AM Sep 8
Torture and Logic	8:56 AM Sep 5

By Wyatt Mason

An Object of That Desire	12:34 PM Sep 22
Our Blunted Rhetorical Daggers	3:26 PM Sep 10
I AM SCREAMING! AAAAAAA!	12:55 PM Sep 24
Weekend Read: Fire the Bastards!	2:58 PM Sep 26
Weekend Read: Bearing Down on the Banks	3:20 PM Sep 5
Unconsumed Holes	3:41 PM Sep 3
A Patter of Quick Steps	3:10 PM Sep 29
Pushing Slightly Against the Skin of his World	12:10 PM Sep 17
An Alien Door	1:51 PM Sep 8
Weekend Read: “Nature Seems to Exist for the Excellent”	7:07 PM Sep 12
Weekend Read: “We become less alone inside”	7:51 AM Sep 19

From Goethe’s Divan	8:44 AM Sep 14
A Brecht Premiere	10:14 AM Sep 14
A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words	6:05 PM Sep 22
The History We Need	1:19 PM Sep 19
Goethe’s Freedom	5:58 AM Sep 13
Six Questions for Steven Calabresi, Author of The Unitary Executive	2:02 PM Sep 30
Bruno on Cultivating the Heaven Within	7:25 AM Sep 27
Plotinus: The Contest Between Drugs, Magic and Reason	9:51 AM Sep 6
Update on the Gonzales Report	10:12 AM Sep 3
Sakharov on Scientific Inquiry and Human Crisis	7:31 AM Sep 20
Tansillo’s Wings of Desire	7:54 AM Sep 28
Taxi to the Dark Side: Monday at 9 p.m.	10:23 AM Sep 28
Bush Justice for Sarah Palin and Jack Abramoff	8:42 AM Sep 18
O Fortuna!	3:48 AM Sep 7
Six Questions for Bart Gellman, Author of Angler	9:17 AM Sep 17
Internal Justice Probe Suggests Political Manipulation of Prosecutions, Obstruction	11:25 PM Sep 29
Pushkin’s Remembrance	8:43 AM Sep 21
Next Up: U.S. Attorneys Scandal	2:43 PM Sep 26
Public Integrity, Redefined	1:43 PM Sep 19
An October Surprise in Pakistan?	10:08 AM Sep 22
Another Political Prosecution Fails?	9:47 PM Sep 8
Unexpected Consequences from a Mug of Soda	10:16 AM Sep 20
Goldfarb Plays the Baby Card	1:04 PM Sep 25
Has Fredo Dodged a Bullet?	10:26 AM Sep 2

By Mr. Fish

A Cartoon	4:00 PM Sep 18
A Cartoon	9:25 PM Sep 11
A Cartoon	6:53 PM Sep 4
A Cartoon	8:10 AM Sep 26

Palin Using Her Child as Political Prop By John R. MacArthur	12:13 PM Sep 17
The Presidency in Wartime: George W. Bush discovers Woodrow Wilson By John R. MacArthur	5:13 PM Sep 30

Talking with Jeremy Miller, Author of “Tyranny of the Test” By Benjamin Austen	12:05 PM Sep 2
David Foster Wallace	11:46 AM Sep 15
The Sweet Smell of Success: Coiffed and cutthroat, Sarah Palin gives us the story we’ve been looking for By Gemma Sieff	11:50 AM Sep 17
Talking with George Michelsen Foy, author of “Bollywood Shuffle” By Benjamin Austen	4:23 PM Sep 23
Poetry Bailout Will Restore Confidence of Readers By Charles Bernstein	12:33 PM Sep 26

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December 2009

THE GENERAL ELECTRIC SUPERFRAUD
Why the Hudson River Will Never Run Clean
By David Gargill

THE MASTER OF SPIN BOLDAK
Undercover with Afghanistan’s Drug-Trafficking Border Police
By Matthieu Aikins

MERMAID FEVER
A story by Steven Millhauser

UNDERSTANDING OBAMACARE
By Luke Mitchell

Also: Dave Hickey and Wendell Berry

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