Vol. 170 No. 12

COVER

Moment of Truth (Cover Story / The Well)
Bush's top two men in Iraq are finally about to deliver a verdict on progress there. Here are the questions to ask about it

Reality Check in The Desert (The Well / World)


NATION

The Greatest Education Lab (New Orleans)
How Katrina opened the way for an influx of school reformers

The Psychology of Hypocrisy (The Contrarian)
Why we're wrong to assume that Larry Craig and other fallen moralizers are hypocrites

Green Acres (Life: Environment - Behavior - Technology - Business - Life After Work - Power Of One / Environment)
Shared cars, organic food and compost toilets are all part of life in the new communities known as ecovillages

ESSAY

The General vs. the Ambassador (The Well / Commentary)
Are the U.S. military and diplomatic leaders in Iraq on the same page? We won't know until Petraeus and Crocker testify before Congress

God as Their Running Mate (Commentary)
Candidates often call him a personal adviser. Voters need to know exactly what that means

The Maltese Millionaire Speaks!
Bequeathed $12 million by Leona Helmsley, Trouble is now the richest dog on the planet. He tells Joel Stein how he plans to spend the dough

WORLD

Burma on The Brink (The Well / World)
Protesters get support from Laura Bush and Jim Carrey, but can the world help?

A Global Coalition of Good (Life: Environment - Behavior - Technology - Business - Life After Work - Power Of One / The Power Of One)
Whether doing surgeries in Africa or bringing dance to tough local neighborhoods, many are helping

Life in the land of a thousand welcomes ( Postcard: Ireland)
A country transformed by immigration reaches a new milestone, as a Nigerian émigré is elected mayor of the small town of Portlaoise

HEALTH & MEDICINE

When Lead Lurks in Your Nursery (The Well / Business)
The risk from toxic toys is real, and so is the danger from other household sources of the heavy metal

Words Don't Mean What They Mean (Health & Science / Book Excerpt)
In his new book, The Stuff of Thought, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker explains why speaking plainly may not be all it's cracked up to be

NOTEBOOK

Milestones (Briefing)

Games Dictators Play (Briefing / World Spotlight)

The Congressional Report Card (Briefing / Making The Grade)

Verbatim

Beyond Sorrow. (Briefing / The Moment)
Six years after 9/11, living unbowed may be the best tribute of all

Dems' Florida Fight (Briefing / Washington Memo)



Numbers

Dashboard (Dashboard)

BUSINESS

This Christmas, A Lump of Lead? (The Well / Business)
It's high season for toymakers, and the scramble is on to make sure the 'Made in China' label doesn't send parents running

Herd on the Street (Life: Environment - Behavior - Technology - Business - Life After Work - Power Of One / The Curious Capitalist)
Why professional investors have turned out to be as prone to manias and panics as the rest of us

Home Free (Life: Environment - Behavior - Technology - Business - Life After Work - Power Of One / Life After Work)
There are plenty of reasons to buy your retirement house now--even if you don't plan to live in it for years

Edsel Agonistes (Viewpoint)
In 1957 a car named after a deceased Ford exec captured the imagination of Americans everywhere--until they saw it. Rehabilitating Edsel Ford's good name

TECHNOLOGY

Football's $1,000 Helmet (Life: Environment - Behavior - Technology - Business - Life After Work - Power Of One / Technology)
A new, high-tech helmet tracks the severity of on-field hits in real time. But its potential benefit all depends on who's wearing it

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT


TV critic James Poniewozik picks the medium's greatest. See who makes the cut, with video clips of each

17 Shows That Changed TV (Television)
There's a lot of airtime out there. Not all shows are great. But here are some that broke the form

Art vs. Life (Arts: Television - Movies - Downtime / Movies)
Owen Wilson's new film is tough and not just because of the bandages

(Downtime)
do this week

PEOPLE

10 Questions for Buzz Aldrin
The second person to ever step foot on the moon, he's the star of a Sundance Award--winning film about the Apollo crews. Buzz Aldrin will now take your questions

SPECIAL SECTION

Aerospace Inspiration (Innovators)
Space planes, space suits, hovercraft and cosmic cameras don't have to come from nasa anymore

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Petro Showdown (Global Business: Energy - Sports - Management - Life At The Top - Small Business / Energy)
Iraq's ethnic groups don't agree on much. A proposal for how to overhaul the oil industry is no exception

Selling Soweto's Wine (Global Business: Energy - Sports - Management - Life At The Top - Small Business / Small Business)
that South Africa has black vintners, a couple turns distributor

Japan Inc. Is Drinking Again (Global Business: Energy - Sports - Management - Life At The Top - Small Business / Management)
Reinvigorated companies are reviving some cherished boom-era traditions

The Grander Hotel (Global Business: Energy - Sports - Management - Life At The Top - Small Business / Life At The Top)
Why settle for mere luxury? New ultra-high-end getaways are built to lure the über rich

Baseball in Belgium? (Global Business: Energy - Sports - Management - Life At The Top - Small Business / Sports)
Latvia? The NASN network says U.S. sports can sell in soccer-mad Europe

LETTERS

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