Special Reports

On January 8, primary election day in Claremont, New Hampshire, hundreds of campaign signs flapped in the wind, toppling over in snow banks as the sun grew warmer. Competing canvassers zigzagged through neighborhoods while volunteers made countless phone calls from campaign offices. Early polls before primary day pointed to a landslide victory for Barack Obama, but Hillary Clinton ended up winning. What led to the surprise results among Democratic candidates in the New Hampshire primary? A few experiences and sentiments in the streets of Claremont point to some answers.

Back in late 2001, Swedish police had arrested Mohamed al-Zery and Ahmed Agiza as suspected terrorists and were in a hurry to deport them rather than have them claim refugee status. Lacking their own logistics of rapid deportation, the Swedes welcomed the offer from a US-based plane operator to make available a Gulfstream jet marked N379P. The plane's hooded US crew picked up its unwilling passengers and flew them to Egypt, where both were detained, interrogated and tortured.

Statistics show that across the globe over one billion people stare into computer screens at internet websites each day. This means that it's now more rebellious than ever to read a book. Here are seven reasons to leave the computer screen and read about pirate governments, a rainbow gathering in Croatia, coup d'etats in hot climates, media coverage of cults in Waco and counter-revolution in Nicaragua.