Vol. 156 No. 2

NATION

Missile Impossible?
This week's $100 million test of the space shield is all but fixed. Does the outcome matter?

May The Shield Be With You
The Reagan-era Star Wars program lives on and may yet destabilize the new world order

The Rebel's Revenge (Campaign 2000)
With a victory for campaign-finance reform, McCain is still a force to reckon with in November

Electing the Supreme Court
Think this is about choosing a President? Think again

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Unraveling Alzheimer's (Medicine)
Scientists are close to figuring out how the disorder destroys brains. But will their knowledge save lives?

Suffer the Children (Medicine / AIDS Update)

SOCIETY

Life Along The Mississippi (The Pulse Of America / Life Along the River)
Let us take you on a trip down America's great river, where we explore the troubles and triumphs of people trying to catch up with the new economy and all that goes with it, from charter schools to do

The Battle of Downtown (The Pulse Of America / History)
If your town hasn't been done in by sprawl, two in Iowa show how to keep a sense of place

The Science Of Dissent (The Pulse Of America / History)
A teacher is stirring up trouble about Darwin--in a very Minnesota way

The Invasion Of the Latter-day Saints (The Pulse Of America / History)
The Mormons are rebuilding a holy temple to redeem their past. But will the town it's in be erased?

The Big Easy On the Brink (The Pulse Of America / The River)
If it doesn't act fast, the city could become the next Atlantis

It Took Three Dead Babies (The Pulse Of America / Reform)
Tennessee learned the hard way that you can't take people off welfare without having good day care

The Lessons of Cain (The Pulse Of America / Reform)
Warden Burl Cain has his own system for managing inmates who will never go home

These Hills Are Alive (The Pulse Of America / The Arts)
A hot little band brings the hill-country blues to a new audience of Gen Y kids--proving once more that the blues springs eternal

A Twist on Tradition (The Pulse Of America / The Arts)
With a nod to Faulkner, an author creates his own mythic town

A Bend In the River (The Pulse Of America)

Who Owns The River? (The Pulse Of America / The River)
The corps wants to speed up traffic. One man says, "Not so fast"

Ending White Flight (The Pulse Of America / Education)
How did this district get its parents back? It gave them more power. But it also engaged black families and wooed the white ones back

One Classy Failure (The Pulse Of America / Education)
The Governor and the town's big employer had a plan to fix the schools. But the schools made sure to stop it

Waiting For A Rebirth (The Pulse Of America / History)

Rolling Down the River (The Pulse Of America)

Meeting Your (Film)Maker (The Pulse Of America / History)
The Cassity boys want their cemeteries to tell your life story

Meet The New Huck (The Pulse Of America / The River)
His passion for the river means cleaning it up, one object at a time

Where The Market Fails (The Pulse Of America / Reform)

A River Runs Through It... (The Pulse Of America)

Is A Fortress The Solution? (The Pulse Of America / Education)

The Chief and His Ward (The Pulse Of America / Reform)
Too often, when the mentally ill have no place to go, they go to jail

NOTEBOOK

Notebook

Conventional Politics
In Philadelphia, Parental Discretion Is Advised

Where The Mugs Are

Milestones (Milestones)

Ask Dr. Notebook

Eulogy

The New High Style

Campaign Pledge Drive: Week Five

News Quiz

Unconventional Politics
And Now...Reform Party Headache No. 383

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Praise the Lord and Pass the Football
What the Supreme Court doesn't know about playing to win in Texas

Can One Little Boy Make A Difference?
With Elian's return, Havana may be learning to see a kinder, gentler Yanqui

News Quiz Crossword (News Quiz Crossword)

The Buzz of Summer
What ever happened to the nice, quiet vacation?

BUSINESS

Peeping Larry
Oracle's unapologetic CEO admits his spies poked through Dumpsters looking for dirt on Microsoft

Be Your Own Barcode
Priceline has built a brand by obliterating fixed prices, but some customers have gripes

Lenzner, Through a Darker Lens (The Corporate Spy)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Living Off-Color (The Arts / Cinema)
Taking a stab at horror, KEENEN IVORY WAYANS makes Scary really funny

A Flashback to Frostbite Falls (The Arts / Cinema)
Rocky and Bullwinkle are retired. Boris and Natasha are three-dimensional. What is the world coming to?

Coming of Age in Chaos (The Arts / Books)
In a haunting debut novel, Moses Isegawa looks at his native Uganda through the eyes of a young boy

Kissing a Grimy Princess (The Arts / Art)
By turning a power station into a gallery of modern art, London's Tate brilliantly clarifies its collections

The Five Senses (The Arts / Short Takes)
Directed by Jeremy Podeswa

Einstein Rides Shotgun (The Arts / Books)
Michael Paterniti's road trip with the physicist's brain has plenty of detours, but not much drive

And a Child Shall Lead Him (The Arts / Cinema)
This time only his soul is dead, but Bruce Willis gets saved by a Kid again

Jason Alexander (The Arts / Q&A)

Voodoo Science (The Arts / Short Takes)
By Robert Park

Chasin' The Gypsy, James Carter (The Arts / Short Takes)

The Designated Mourner (The Arts / Short Takes)
By Wallace Shawn

Nuremberg, TNT, Sunday-Monday, 8 p.m. E.T. (The Arts / Short Takes)

YOUR TIME

Changing Names (Personal Time / Your Family)
What if your child rejects the name you gave her? Tip: if you ignore her, it won't go away

Stop That 401(k)! (Personal Time / Your Money)
Why a taxable stock-index fund might be your best savings vehicle as retirement approaches

Toys for Techies (Personal Time / Your Technology)
Motorola's latest cell phone and two-way e-mail device are eye catchers, but who needs 'em?

Heart Throbs (Personal Time / Your Health)
A third of all patients won't feel any chest pain during a heart attack. Could you be one of them?

In Brief (Personal Time / Your Family)

Your Health (Personal Time / Your Health)

In Brief (Personal Time / Your Money)

PC Expo Report (Personal Time / Your Technology)

PEOPLE

People

LETTERS

Read the story