Street Gang Exports:
The Road from Los Angeles to Latin America

Photos by Donna DeCesare; text by Fen Montaigne
During the past decade, vigorous enforcement of U.S. immigration laws has sent many street-gang members from American cities back to native countries they barely know. The policy hasn’t broken up the gangs — it has only exported the problem to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Features

Razing Appalachia
by Maryanne Vollers
How much is West Virginia’s remaining coal worth to the energy industry? A lot. But some residents say it’s not worth leveling the mountains, devastating the environment, and tearing their communities apart.

High-Caliber Carnaval
by Ken Silverstein
Arms sales to the Pentagon have slumped a bit since the demise of the Soviet Union. Still, there’s one thing a poor weapons hawker can do: Hop a jet to the arms show in Rio and hit the emerging South American market.

Jerry Brown Gets Real
by Dashka Slater
He’s been a seminary student, a progressive governor, a presidential hopeful, and a populist radio host. This time around, the new mayor of Oakland is remaking himself into a hard-nosed urban pragmatist.

System Failure
by Jon R. Luoma
When scientists first reported that PCBs and other "endocrine disrupting" compounds might be wreaking havoc on humans as well as lab mice, the chemical industry scoffed. Now, as the evidence mounts, the potential impacts on human health seem clearer — and far more ominous — than ever.

Low Power To the People
by Alex Markels
For years the Federal Communications Commission has waged war against microbroadcasters, the so-called pirate radio operators. In the face of media consolidation, the pirates claimed they were bastions of free speech. Suddenly, they have an unlikely champion: the FCC itself.

 

Departments

Backtalk Don’t dis Beattyville; Borders’ separate but equal bookshelves; obsessing about office bullies

Outfront Fox in McCain’s Henhouse; Depleted Uranium, Depleted Logic; Professor Gates’ race-blind hiring; Shielding the Mangroves

Wide Angle Fighting History: old vendettas in Northern Ireland and Sicily

Exhibit
The Journal of Public Domain
Cinematically Postal
No Bullets for Hitler
Mother Jones Photo Fund Award Winners

Power Plays Liberal militarism? A 10-point primer on the wars that conservatives love to hate.
by William Saletan

The Commons
by Sue Halpern
When a town creates a library, it does more than gather books — it forges community.

The Rant
by Jack Hitt
Is your inner child afraid to go outside? Detroit has a sport utility vehicle with your name on it.

Media Jones
Hollywood’s finest arms bazaars; Salman Rushdie rocks (‘n’ rolls); book, music and film reviews

The Future of …
…Frequent Flier Miles
Cartoon by Gary Baseman