COVER STORY

WHY IS THIS MAN LAUGHING?
Bill Gates has big plans for you.

COVER STORY

WHY IS THIS MAN LAUGHING?
Bill Gates has big plans for you.

THE MICROSOFT NETWORK
by Ken Silverstein
The company walks softly but carries a big Beltway stick.

OVERSEAS INVASION
by Rachel Burstein
Microsoft bullies foreign companies into using its software.

HIS WAY
by G. Pascal Zachary
Bill’s dream: to charge a toll every time you feel like hearing a little Sinatra.

LOCK YOUR WINDOWS
by Richard Blow
How Microsoft gets to know you—intimately.

SLEIGHT OF HAND
by Ana Marie Cox
Microsoft’s ad agency decided to replace Bill Gates with another icon.

FEATURES

75 STARS
by Michael Lind
Divide and rule: a modest proposal to end the tyranny of the minority.

WELCOME TO THE NEW AND IMPROVED NIGERIA
by John Cook with photographs by Ray Onwuemegbulem
A dictator’s multimillion-dollar PR campaign invites you to see Nigeria.

LEFT OUT IN THE COLD
by Robert Dreyfuss
When ex-CIA officer Monte Overacre returned to his old life, it killed him.

THE SLEEPING GIANT AWAKES
by Dale Maharidge
Latino voting power is changing the face of American politics.

LOOK WHO’S BUYING NUKES NOW
by Leslie Weiss with photographs by Timothy Rice
An S&L-style nuclear bailout may be coming with your next utility bill.

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR’S NOTE Billing us softly.

BACKTALK Hot under the collar; heaven and hellraisers.

OUTFRONT
More bombs in Atlanta
Holy heaving bodices
Fishy smells
Congressional convicts
Custom Tailoring
Sipple Suit Dismissed
February Hellraiser
Nicole Hollander

HOME/PLANET Seeking the cleaner cleaner.
by Leora Broydo

WELLBEING  Breast implants still stink.
by Michael Castleman 

OUTSPOKEN Bill Maher talks pop politics.
Interview by Ana Marie Cox

MEDIAJONES The high-tech world in books, TV, and music.
PLUS: Esther Dyson’s media picks.

PAULA POUNDSTONE On bubble gum, bears, and boric acid.