Sore Winners (And the Rest of Us)
. . . in George Bush’s America. JOHN POWERS, in an excerpt from his brand-new book, a pop mythology of the Bush years, takes on The Apprentice, spoiled athletes, greedy CEOs and the politicians who brought us the war in Iraq. Plus, the Napoleon of Terror — Osama as Sore Winner.

Time of Misery
AIDS in America — yes, America. Snoozing after the wake-up call. BY DAVID EHRENSTEIN

Image Control
Who’s Unpatriotic? Poster art by MICAH IAN WRIGHT. Plus, The List and Filtered.

Love and Loathing in Boston: What’s going down at the Democratic National Convention is nothing short of a passionate preamble to overthrowing government one more time. Or is it? MARC COOPER follows the dollars from the Fleet Center to fancy spreads of Wellfleet oysters and mango lobster cakes and overfed delegates basking in the attention of the nation’s most influential corporations. JOSHUAH BEARMAN drives around with Dennis Kucinich and watches Howard Dean make a case for the youth vote. HAROLD MEYERSON goes to the floor to see what party unity really sounds like.

Firing the Messenger: Dan Carvin lost his job as an investigator for L.A. City Controller Laura Chick. Why exactly didn’t she want him nosing around rampant over-billing by private law firms doing business with L.A.? BY JEFFREY ANDERSON

A CONSIDERABLE TOWN
Dump Bush ... er, never mind: Microsoft calls JAN STRNAD a hatemonger. But the only person he hates is George W. Bush.
Free speech, milady: The good people of the Kingdom of Porn just want to have a ball. BY PETER GILSTRAP
Frag or be fragged: Armed with rattan swords and genuine armor, 11 men and one woman battle for art at the Machine Project gallery. BY JOSHUAH BEARMAN

24/SEVEN
Girl, there’s a better life for me and you: A love story between two people who gotta get out of this place. BY SEVEN McDONALD

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD
Kerry shoots for the hip: The candidate knows what’s cool, but are the kids buying it? BY NIKKI FINKE

COLUMN DAVE
Beyond Impossible Price. BY DAVE SHULMAN

LETTERS
We write, you write...

ROCKIE HOROSCOPE

FILM
Paranoia strikes deep: The Manchurian Candidate creeps back into our lives. BY JOHN POWERS

On the couch, off the meds: ELLA TAYLOR analyzes Patrice Leconte’s Intimate Strangers, Zach Braff’s Garden State.

BOOKS
Reality show: Lawrence Weschler on the very beautiful truth. BY DAVID L. ULIN

The Resistance: Barry Lopez, poet and polemicist. BY BEN COSGROVE

ART
Spare parts: Bolt Gallery turns scrap metal into beautiful monsters. BY JOY NICHOLSON

THEATER
Ghosts in the machine: Exhuming American history in productions of Bitter Bierce and Raree. BY STEVEN MIKULAN

MUSIC

Triple Echo: John Frusciante’s automatic recordings. BY JOHN PAYNE

Freedom Fighter: After Vegas, Linda Ronstadt finds refuge in L.A. BY JUDITH LEWIS

Ghostly International Records beckons techno rejectors. BY PIOTR ORLOV

El Toro: Lupillo Rivera’s corridos are no bull. BY BEN QUIÑONES

Live in L.A.: Diana Krall, Exquisite Corpse, Fussible and Panoptica, Sufjan Stevens.

A Lot of Night Music: Beethoven and John Adams in concert; Wagner on record. BY ALAN RICH

STYLE
The gospel of compost: Tim Dundon, keeper of Zeke’s Heap, sees beauty in decay. BY MICHELLE HUNEVEN

COMICS
"BEK," BY BRUCE ERIC KAPLAN

RESTAURANTS

Counter Intelligence: Kingston calling: Natraliart Jamaican Restaurant, the real thing. BY JONATHAN GOLD

Ask Mr. Gold: You say baklava, I say baklawa. BY JONATHAN GOLD

Where to Eat Now: Middle Eastern

WHERE TO EAT NOW
Database of restaurant listings compiled by JONATHAN GOLD and MICHELLE HUNEVEN.

CALENDAR
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