30 August 2004

From the Editor…

Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

Bush, the working class hero

Thomas Frank on the extraordinary story of how poor Americans were persuaded to vote for right-wing conservatives, in defiance of their own economic interests

By Thomas Frank

Features

In defence of skiving

By Tom Hodgkinson

Absenteeism wasn't invented at British Airways; the workers have been at it for centuries. And quite right too. Throw a sickie and get a life, urges Tom Hodgkinson

Why it's right to hate traffic wardens

By Nick Cohen

Good citizens should support a war on illegal parking. But not when enforcement is in the hands of private companies, using dud theories about law and order

Whatever happened to lovely Rita?

By Joe Moran

Fertile ground for the bad guys

By Michela Wrong

As politicians focus on Darfur, another African conflict threatens open warfare again. And the west's record on the Ethiopia-Eritrea dispute does not inspire confidence. A special report from Michela Wrong

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Lessons from America

The Politics Column

Politics - John Kampfner reveals Operation Bush Distance

By John Kampfner

The PM has at last grasped the extent of Bush's unpopularity in the UK; and his officials are alarmed at Washington's belligerent talk on Iran. Operation Bush Distance has begun

Darcus Howe - revisits the flying fish

By Darcus Howe

A strange epilogue to the case of the flying fish, which threatened a Caribbean war

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

Wake up, Britain: we gays have moved on

By John Lyttle

Thirty years ago, outrageous camp might well have been the preferred public image of homosexual men. But no longer, writes John Lyttle. So why won't television executives acknowledge it?

Culture club

By Richard Cork

Arts on TV - Arts programmes on British television have endured third-class status for years - but Richard Cork suggests all that is about to come to an end

When millions of machines roared

By Lilian Pizzichini

Photography - Lilian Pizzichini reveals how the photographic skill of a band of brothers managed to establish Italy's classic national image

Film

Mark Kermode - Learning curves

By Mark Kermode

Film - A note-perfect blend of the personal and the political. By Mark Kermode The Motorcycle Diaries (15)

Television

Zoe Williams - Ghost stories

By Zoe Williams

Television - Long after death, Diana still brings out the idiot in people. By Zoe Williams Diana's Legacy (ITV1)

Books

Valley of the shadows. First the victims of British imperialism, then of India's "secular" ruling elite, Kashmir's Muslims have long endured oppression. Today, as conflict in their land continues to claim thousands, the Kashmiris themselves remain largely invisible

By Pankaj Mishra

Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, rights and the history of Kashmir Mridu Rai Hurst & Company, 335pp, £16.50 (pbk) ISBN 1850657017 Languages of Belonging: Islam, regional identity and the making of Kashmir Chitralekha Zutshi Hurst & Company, 359pp, £16.50 (pbk)