Time
40
COVER: Noriega brazenly steals an election, mugging its winners and provoking a quick U.S. reaction
In a brutish exercise of revenge, the Panamanian leader tries to install his handpicked President while his goons beat the real victors. Calling Noriega "a gangster," George Bush sends in more troops and debates his next step. -- With the canal's importance to the U.S. diminishing, Washington finds itself in a battle as much to save its prestige as to restore stability to Panama.
22
NATION: Exclusive pictures follow Bush through a day sending troops to Panama and hearing news from Moscow
Gorbachev does it again, catching the U.S. off guard with an arms-control proposal that could deepen the U.S.-West German split. -- Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley loses some of his Teflon. -- Rookie Governor Gaston Caperton gives West Virginia something new and strange -- hope. -- The annual Statistical Abstract paints a picture of American life by the numbers.
81
BUSINESS: The slowing U.S. economy could fall victim to inflation on the one hand or recession on the other
Multiplying signs that the record 6 1/2-year expansion is coming to an end present the Federal Reserve with the ticklish task of engineering a soft landing. The White House and Congress could help by cutting the budget deficit. -- To protect the environment and their profits, firms are recycling plastics. -- Mystery surrounds the death of an executive of Florida's troubled Gulf Power.
91
ENVIRONMENT: A search for White House leadership
On such pressing issues as global warming and ozone depletion, the President has been taking his cues from the Europeans. The next major test will be his stance on the Clean Air Act.
94
RELIGION: The centuries-old center of American faith is collapsing as mainline Protestantism faces unprecedented woes
The Old Guard churches that defined the nation's spiritual and moral ethos from Plymouth Rock through the 1950s are coping with a decline in numbers and social clout. Strategic failures abound in recruitment, missions and education, while demographic trends point to an even bleaker future.
98
TECHNOLOGY: "Hello! This is voice mail speaking"
To find out why more and more phones are being answered by computers these days and why the machines are driving many people nuts, turn to page 98 -- now.
103
LIVING: A campy craze of fashion-model posing
Forget break dancing. So long to hiphop. At the hottest clubs in Manhattan, on MTV and at Paris fashion shows, the ultra-hip are into vogueing, a scene that began in Harlem.
108
TRAVEL: Retirees with RVs find a place in the sun
There's no mayor, no water system, not even a stoplight. But each winter, tiny Quartzsite, Ariz., grows to absorb 200,000 people, only to shrink again come spring. What attracts the snowbirds?
120
INTERVIEW: A clear, passionate and poetic voice
Toni Morrison speaks about relations between the races, violence in the schools and teenage mothers.
126
ESSAY: Can reform work in China and the Soviet Union?
Not while the peasant mentality, reinforced in those countries since Communism took hold, continues to inhibit liberalization.
11 Critics' Choice
12 Letters
92 Education
104 Law
107 Video
107 Milestones
110 Cinema
110 Theater
112 Books
115 Music
119 People
125 Art
Cover: Photograph by Ron Haviv -- AFP