Newsweek articles from February 2006

Newsweek archives from February 2006

State of Illusion; Many Americans have this sense of profound malaise. Of course, that's the ailment that dare not speak its name (and not just because it's French).(Column)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Anna Quindlen Pity the poor presidential speechwriter. Each year, as a cold gray sky lowers over theWhite House, the State of the Union address also looms. Once, a captive television audience could be taken for granted, but now,...

The New Magic Man; John Lasseter, Pixar's wacky genius, is hoping to bring the magic back to the Mouse's animation studio.
February 6, 2006... Byline: David J. Jefferson When Walt Disney died in 1966, the big rumor was that he'd been cryogenically frozen, waiting to be revived for that great big beautiful tomorrow promised in the theme song of his "Carousel of Progress"...

Trial by Fire: The Real Enron Lesson.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Allan Sloan This is the week the big Enron trial starts, the courtroom culmination of the 2001 corporate collapse that kicked off the now receding scandal wave. But relax--this column isn't going to be about legal strategies...

State of the Union Edition.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Ted Kennedy and John Kerry's quixotic Alito filibuster campaign is typical Democrat slapdash failure. Next time, try planning. Bush = On offensive re spying, but Katrina won't go away and economy slows right before State of the Union...

Mail Call: America's Outspoken Olympian.(Letter to the Editor)
February 6, 2006... Most readers responding to our Jan. 23 cover story on Olympic skier Bode Miller did not mince words. One, echoing many, called him a "foulmouthed ski bum." Others wondered why we devoted so much attention to him. "Just what we need: another...

Extreme Victory; Hamas emerges victorious in a Palestinian election that stuns the world. But what did the militants win? A mess--and they can't fix it alone.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Kevin Peraino (With Dan Ephron and Joanna Chen in Jerusalem and Michael Hirsh and Richard Wolffe in Washington) The polls had barely closed before friends of the henna-bearded Muhammad Abu Tir, 55, began talking him up to be the...

'Let's Not Be Very Shortsighted'; Musharraf on how to win the war on terror.(Interview)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Lally Weymouth President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, a crucial U.S. ally, has a message for President George W. Bush: military action alone is not enough to win the war against Islamic extremism, he told NEWSWEEK's Lally...

Caught by Surprise. Again. Arafat created one of the most ill-disciplined, corrupt and ineffective organizations ever to be taken seriously on the world stage.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Fareed Zakaria (Write the author at comments@fareedzakaria.com.) In the late 1970s, American officials were aware that the Shah of Iran was losing domestic support. They analyzed alternate scenarios and studied various opposition...

Online Excerpt: Monique Nelson.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Susanna Schrobsdorff NEWSWEEK: Why do social-networking sites such as My Space.com pose a risk for teens? Monique Nelson , Executive Vice President, Web Wise Kids: Kids just don't get it that there are real people beyond the...

The Editor's Desk.(Editorial)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Whitaker Until she worked on this week's cover story, Karen Springen always thought she was 100 percent Norwegian on her father's side and a mix of English and German on her mother's. But when her AncestryByDNA test came back,...

Prize Fighters; They made the most moving, provocative films of the year. In our annual roundtable, five directors (one of whom sidelines as an actor) talk about passion, fear, politics, Oscar ads and crying at the movies.(Panel Discussion)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Sean Smith and David Ansen We were a little worried at first that Bennett Miller might not recover. As directors Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Ang Lee and Paul Haggis stood in the hallway outside a photo studio in Los Angeles,...

Meds Alone Couldn't Bring Robert Back; Experts like to debate the effectiveness of new drugs, but they overlook a key element of recovery.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jay Neugeboren (Neugeboren lives in New York City.) When my brother Robert arrived at Bronx Psychiatric Center in 1998, Dr. Alvin Pam, chief of psychology, told me it was the consensus of the staff that Robert would never be able to...

Palace Revolt; They were loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees. They fought a quiet battle to rein in the president's power in the war on terror. And they paid a price for it. A NEWSWEEK investigation.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Daniel Klaidman, Stuart Taylor Jr. and Evan Thomas James Comey, a lanky, 6-foot-8 former prosecutor who looks a little like Jimmy Stewart, resigned as deputy attorney general in the summer of 2005. The press and public hardly...

The Political Power of Truth; In recent years, failure and incompetence have been trounced by fear at the ballot box. But reality may be making a comeback.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jonathan Alter Strangely enough, we may look back on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006, as the day America found its moral compass, long buried at the bottom of the national dirty-linen bag. To win the midterm elections in November, the...

The Wrath of Oprah; How James went to pieces, Oprah got her groove back, and other tales of 'truthiness' in the publishing trade/.
February 6, 2006... ***** CORRECTION: In "The Wrath of Oprah," columnist Richard Cohen was quoted describing Oprah Winfrey as "genuinely depressed." Cohen was misquoted and meant to convey that James Frey, not Winfrey, was depressed. NEWSWEEK regrets the...

Newsmakers.(Mary Tyler Moore)(Interview)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Ramin Setoodeh, Devin Gordon Mary Tyler Moore returns to TV as a bitchy talk-show host on "That '70s Show." She spoke to NEWSWEEK's Ramin Setoodeh. Where are you? Mary Tyler Moore: I'm in upstate New York. It was once just...

Perspectives.(Condoleezza Rice, James Frey, Richard Hanlin)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Quotation sources: Reuters, "Oprah," San Diego Union-Tribune, CNN, The Washington Post, New York Times, Daily Mirror, The Washington Post, Associated Press "You can't have one foot in terror and the other in politics." ...

Exclusive: Direct Talks: U.S. Officials and Iraqi Insurgents.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Scott Johnson, Rod Nordlandand and Ranya Kadri American officials in Iraq are in face-to-face talks with high-level Iraqi Sunni insurgents, NEWSWEEK has learned. Americans are sitting down with "senior members of the leadership" of...

Detroit: Hoping for a Small Victory.(downsized auto industry now focussing on small cars)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Keith Naughton Motown's mantra has always been "bigger is better." But now that General Motors and Ford are cutting a combined 60,000 workers and closing more than two dozen factories, Detroit is slowly and painfully learning to...

More Monkeyshines? Or the Real Deal?(Britains' Arctic Monkeys band)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jac Chebatoris Catchy hooks, snappy melodies and such are all well and good, but what really boosts a band's debut is buzz--and the buzz on Britain's Arctic Monkeys was already a roar before their first single hit the charts. At...

Fast Chat: Hearing Voices.(selecting a voice for messages on Washington D.C.'s Metro cars)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Robert Stein About 1,250 people from around the country auditioned to have their voices recorded and repeated when the doors of Washington, D.C.'s Metro cars open and close. Ron Holzer, Door Closing Voice 2006 contest organizer,...

Business: Knowing How to Get 'Lost'.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Ordonez You're a corporate exec in need of a different job. Don't reread "What Color Is Your Parachute?" Watch "Lost," says career-management consultant Neal Lenarsky. He says he can learn about people--and what kind of...

Football, Eh?: Border Bowl XL.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Nick Summers Aside from the obvious changes that come with moving the Super Bowl to a cold-weather city--indoor stadium, more frostbitten tailgaters--there's this: holding the big game in Detroit makes No. XL the first...

Religion: Love the Film, Hate the Sin? Christians Debate.(Chad Allen in End of the Spear)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Elise Soukup Chad Allen: former drug-using teen heartthrob, lapsed Roman Catholic, gay activist and... Christian missionary. The choice of the openly gay Allen as the lead actor in "End of the Spear," a new Christian-made movie...

Greenspan's Real Legacy; The standard story of his Fed tenure is deficient because it ignores the major transforming event, which is disinflation.(Alan Greenspan)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Robert J. Samuelson No man's reputation is safe on his retirement, and so it is with Alan Greenspan's. History's verdict will await subsequent events that reveal the long-term consequences of his 18 years as chairman of the Federal...

In Our Blood; DNA Testing: It is connecting lost cousins and giving families surprising glimpses into their pasts. Now scientists are using it to answer the oldest question of all: where did we come from?(Cover Story)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Claudia Kalb (With Karen Springen, Mary Carmichael and Karen MacGregor in Durban, South Africa) Brian Hamman had always wondered: what was up with his great-grandfather Lester? Hamman, an avid genealogist, could trace his...

X and Y and You; Laboratories that can help trace your lineage.(Brief Article)(Cover Story)
February 6, 2006... Does the blood of Viking conquerors run in your veins? How about Apache warriors, Yoruba kings or priests at the Temple of Solomon? The best available evidence may lie in your DNA, and laboratories are happy to help you find it, for a...

Cut, Thrust and Christ; Why evangelicals are mastering the art of college debate.(religious aspects)
February 6, 2006... ***** CORRECTION: Correction: In the Feb. 6 article "Cut, Thrust and Christ," we misquoted Jerry Falwell as using the words "assault ministry." In fact, Falwell was referring to "a salt ministry," a reference to Matthew 5:13 where Jesus...

Technology: Free Calls Get Pretty.(Skype)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Stone The 75 million users of Internet telephone service Skype can finally unplug their headsets. Skype is the Luxembourg-based Voice over Internet Protocol (or VoIP) company, acquired last summer by auction giant eBay, that...

The Checklist; Our top picks for the week ahead.
February 6, 2006... WATCH 'Explorer: World's Most Dangerous Gang.' A look at MS-13, an ultraviolent criminal enterprise that is rapidly spreading in the U.S. (Feb. 12, 8 p.m., ET, National Geographic Channel). SURF firstgov.gov. Wondering about your...

Road Test: Toyota Avalon; National Treasure.(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Tara Weingarten These days, even domestic cars are built overseas with foreign parts, so who can say what's American anymore? Try Toyota. (But don't get all patriotic on me.) Its new redone Avalon is probably America's perfect...

Software: Mac Sort Of Life.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Steven Levy Another year, another update of Apple's already best-of-breed consumer media suite of programs? That's right, and if you've got $79, room on your hard drive and a relatively new Mac with power to run these, you'll find...

Tax Time: Gimme Shelter.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... At the end of last year, Congress and the IRS changed a number of tax laws and rules to help people affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. While most changes apply only to the victims of the hurricanes, some of the new regs and rules...

Health: Weightwatcher.(orlistat)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Karen Springen Should you take the weight-loss drug orlistat? It's already available by prescription, and last week a government advisory panel recommended that the FDA approve the drug for over-the-counter use. That could happen...

Travel: Boogie With The Beads.(Mardi Gras)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Paul Tolme Because of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is holding a much smaller Mardi Gras this year (mardigrasneworleans.com ). But you can still celebrate Fat Tuesday, Feb. 28, in another city. Mobile, Ala., which hosted the first...

Gadgets: Conan, Speak Up.(gadgets to use with home entertainment systems)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Peter Suciu Even after you drop a lot of money on a home theater, it still might not sound and look right. Here are three gadgets to help you calibrate your entertainment system. Radio Shack's Sound Level Meter ($39.99;...

Relationships: You Had Me at... 'Wow!'.(service offers way to meet new friends)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Hilary Shenfeld All alone? if you need more homies, the solution may be as easy as Speed Friending. The service launched last March in New York and is expanding to other cities like Boston and San Francisco (speedfriending.com )....

VIDEO STORE FOOTBALL.(movies about football)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Raina Kelley Celebrate the glory of the Super Bowl with a pigskin film fest. Here are our gridiron picks. 'All the Right Moves' Tom Cruise plays his way out of a dying Pa. steel town. 'Any Given Sunday' A warts- and-all...

Ask Tip Sheet.(down feathers)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Ramin Setoodeh Are down feathers taken from live or dead birds? --Isabel Colby, Kirkland, Wash. Usually, dead. The birds are plucked at meat-processing plants, says Wilford Lieber, president of the International Down &...

Modernism's Heavy Metal; David Smith brought grace to the toughness of steel.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Peter Plagens Whatever happened to modern sculpture? It started in the early 1900s with the amazing semi-abstract heads by Picasso and Brancusi. Then at midcentury came those haunting, existentially elongated human figures by...

Murdoch's New Groove; A conversation with the News Corp. chairman, who's emerged as a leader in digital media after some smart bets.(Rupert Murdoch)(Interview)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Johnnie L. Roberts Keith Rupert Murdoch may be 74 years old, but the way he sees it, he's got a young man's fingertips for what's cool. Last year the News Corp. chairman acquired MySpace.com, the wildly popular social-networking...

Can Amazon Catch Apple? The former leader in online retailing was beaten badly by iTunes. But it has a few tricks of its own.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Brad Stone It's ok to feel sorry for internet CEOs these days. In the past month, investors with lofty expectations have punished the stocks of such companies as Yahoo, eBay and Google. But no one seems to be having a harder time...

Letters to the Magazine; Issue dated Feb. 13, 2006.(Letter to the Editor)
February 13, 2006... Understanding Our Boys Readers discuss why young men aren't making the grade Our Jan. 30 issue on boys' learning problems drew more than 200 letters from parents, educators, young people and others struggling to figure out why boys are...

U.K. Pets Get 'Freedoms'; Humans need freedom from government supervision of all dealings between people, or between people and tropical fish.(United Kingdom)(Column)
February 13, 2006... Byline: George F. Will One thinks twice, even thrice, before using in a magazine as decorous as NEWSWEEK the four-letter F word that causes so much discord. But words should not be minced. So, what is being done for British pets is just...

Devoted and Defiant; Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he doesn't want nuclear weapons. The world is suspicious. How dangerous is he?(Cover Story)(Biography)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Babak Dehghanpisheh and Christopher Dickey (With Mark Hosenball and Michael Hirsh in Washington, Rod Nordland in Vienna, Alan Isenberg in New York, Stefan Theil in Berlin and Stryker Mcguire in London) Born to a blacksmith,...

Islam and Power; Is President Bush's plan to spread democracy turning into a fiasco? It doesn't have to. But it does need to change.(U.S. President George W. Bush)(Cover Story)(Column)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Fareed Zakaria George W. Bush is not a man for second thoughts, but even he might have had some recently. Ever since 9/11, Bush has made the promotion of democracy in the Middle East the center-piece of his foreign policy, and...

Will Israel Strike Iran? The X Factor: Israel's military planners say they know how to forestall Tehran's nuclear schemes. The options--and their cost.(Cover Story)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Kevin Peraino and John Barry As scary as the idea may sound, the Israelis may not be bluffing. Their defense experts display no doubt whatsoever that Israel's Air Force can cripple Iran's nuclear program if necessary. The trick,...

The Editor's Desk; Issue dated Feb. 13, 2006.(Iran's nuclear policy)(Editorial)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Mark Whitaker Twenty years ago, when they were slaughtering each other in one of the bloodiest wars of recent times, you'd hear mordant jokes about not being able to tell the difference between Iran and Iraq. Today, it's hardly a...

This Week Online; Issue Dated Feb. 13, 2006.(columnist and comedian Dave Barry)(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 13, 2006... Byline: For Susanna Schrobsdorff's full interview, go to NEWSWEEK.com on MSNBC NEWSWEEK: What makes you qualified to write a book about personal finance? Dave Barry, columnist, comedian: I looked around and realized that I was the only...

Behind Oscar's Door; The Academy first saw the nominations during an all-night, high-security strategy session. We watched.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Sean Smith While Reese Witherspoon and Heath Ledger slept, about 30 people already knew the actors' fates. Each year, on the Monday night before the Oscar nominations are announced, a small band of staff at the Academy of Motion...

Snap Judgment: Movies.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: David Ansen Firewall Directed by Richard Loncraine A team of oddly good-looking high-tech thugs led by Brit Paul Bettany breaks into the lakeside home of Harrison Ford--a computer-security specialist for a Seattle...

Still Haunted by What Could Have Happened; Our kids are too savvy for the stranger-with-candy routine. But I know danger isn't always so obvious.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Kathy Sena (SENA lives in Manhattan Beach, Calif.) I was hanging out at the bookstore at the mall, snooping through the teen magazines, when he sidled up next to me. "You're very pretty. You could be a model, you know," he said,...

Picking His Pockets; The White House is eager to sell the State of the Union agenda. But there's one hitch: the president's sales force is getting distracted by Campaign 2008.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Richard Wolffe (With Holly Bailey) The day after his state of the union address, President George W. Bush was where he loves to be: campaigning onstage in Red State America. Not just any stage, but the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville,...

Reform, Washington Style; How an eight-term congressman with extensive ties to K Street became the new face of the House Republican Party.(Representative John Boehner)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Holly Bailey and Eleanor Clift Like any good politician, John Boehner knew how to read his audience. Early last week the Republican Study Committee, an influential group of congressional conservatives, got together for a private...

Battling The Aryan Brothers; Prosecutors bid to break up a vicious prison gang.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Sarah Childress Barry Byron Mills is a bank robber who will spend the rest of his life in prison. An alleged leader of the notorious Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, Mills stabbed a fellow inmate to death with a handmade knife 27...

Newsmakers; Issue dated Feb. 13, 2006.(filmmaker Tim Burton)(Interview)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Nicki Gostin, Jac Chebatoris, Devin Gordon TIM BURTON Tim Burton's wonderful stop- motion film "Corpse Bride" received an Oscar nomination last week for best animated feature. He chatted with Nicki Gostin. Would I sound...

Perspectives.(quotations drawn from current events)
February 13, 2006... Byline: QUOTATION SOURCES FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS (3), CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM, ASSOCIATED PRESS, LIVEDAILY.COM, ASSOCIATED PRESS (2) "America is addicted to oil." President George W. Bush, in his State...

Exclusive: Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil?
February 13, 2006... Byline: Mark Hosenball In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside...

London Intel: Into the 'Crevice'.(terrorist bombings, London, England, 2004)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Mark Hosenball British authorities had at least two of the terrorists who bombed London last July 7 under surveillance in 2004. In an official document examined by NEWSWEEK, a British judge reports that U.K. investigators had...

Louisiana: Calling All (Absentee) Voters.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Elise Soukup New Orleans voters may be gone, but they haven't been forgotten. Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater will ask the state for $1.5 million this week, so he can send some 1 million mailers to displaced voters, explaining...

The CIA Leak: Plame Was Still Covert.(Central Intelligence Agency)(intelligence officer Valerie Plame)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michael Isikoff Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly...

Music: His Beat Goes On.(country singer Merle Haggard)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: David Gates There comes a time when you just can't do it anymore," Merle Haggard said recently. Not quite yet. Last year, Haggard, 68, opened shows for Bob Dylan and released both a Christmas album and "Chicago Wind"; in 2006 he'll...

DVDS: Let's Keep This Short.(new DVD magazine called "Wholphin")(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Devin Gordon The author Dave Eggers and his pal Brent Hoff, an editor for Eggers's humor journal McSweeney's, are big fans of short films. Alas, says Hoff, "they're too short to show on TV, and they don't play in theaters because...

Williamsburg: Living History Gets A Little Livelier.(Williamsburg, Virginia)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Robert Stein Colonial Williamsburg is in the business of being timeless. So how can the place feel dated? It's not interactive enough for kids, organizers say, which is why attendance is down. The fix: "Revolutionary City," which...

Coretta Scott King, 1927-2006: 'The First Lady of the Movement'.(Obituary)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Ellis Cose You know every Napoleon has his Waterloo. I'm like Napoleon. I'm at my Waterloo, and I'm on my knees." For an opening line, it was worse than lame. Fortunately for Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott did not slam down...

Transition.(Betty Friedan, Wendy Wassterstein)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Malcolm Jones (Cathleen Mcguigan) BETTY FRIEDAN, 85 She was a housewife and freelance writer in 1963 when she published "The Feminine Mystique," the manifesto of modern feminism. What sounds obvious today was revolutionary...

God's Green Soldiers; A new call to combat global warming triggers soul-searching and controversy among evangelicals.
February 13, 2006... ***** CORRECTION: In the Feb. 13 article "God's Green Soldiers," we incorrectly identified James Dobson as a reverend. He in fact has a Ph.D. in child psychology and goes by Dr. Dobson. NEWSWEEK regrets the error. ***** Byline:...

Google and the China Syndrome; The businesses know that building censorship into their search engines violates their principles.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Steven Levy Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat and Holocaust survivor, had a message to Yahoo, Microsoft and Google at a public briefing last week: "These massively successful high-tech companies... should be ashamed." He was...

BlogWatch; A mainstream-media look at what's going on in the ever-widening world of weblogs. For full links go to newsweek.com.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's penchant for fedoras and the deluge of GOP scandals is prime fodder for republicansorthemafia.com. With spring training just around the corner, those curious about baseball's seamier side may want to check...

Money Guide: How to Pick a Planner.(financial planners)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jane Bryant Quinn (Reported by: Temma Ehrenfeld, Ramin Setoodeh and Raina Kelley) Financial planning is hot. The more people worry about their money, the more they look for experts to help them straighten things out. Supply is...

Investments: Couples and Cash.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Linda Stern Couples fight more about money than almost anything else. Skip the therapy and follow this advice from the pros. Pick a number. Husbands and wives should be able to spend some money without reporting it to each other,...

Mortgages: Don't Pay Too Fast.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Linda Stern Prepaying your mortgage was a great financial strategy in the 1990s, when interest rates topped 10 percent. But with many borrowers sitting on 5 percent and 6 percent loans, there are now better places to stash your...

Tax Time: A Deduction Is Born.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Maximizing your deductions goes a long way toward reducing your tax bill from Uncle Sam. Some tips from the Ernst & Young Tax Guide 2006 : Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are a great way to defer taxes and save for retirement. The...

ASK THE PRO.(author Tamara Draut on financial behavior of young adults)(Interview)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Linda Stern Tamara Draut, author of "Strapped: Why America's 20-and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead," spoke to TIP SHEET's Linda Stern about how the young can save. What's the problem with kids today? Struggling to make ends...

Credit Cards: The Best Bonuses.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Linda Stern Need a few more credit cards? Here are two worth adding to your wallet. The Chase Home Improvement Rewards card (chase.com) earns 3 percent back on purchases at hardware and paint stores, and 1 percent on everything...

Debt: Buyer's Remorse.(credit counseling services)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Linda Stern If you're buried in bills, here's more bad news: help isn't on the way. Lenders are less likely to offer concessions to cash-strapped borrowers, reports the National Consumer Law Center. And that traditional last...

Net Interest.(Web sites to help with financial planning)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Want to be smarter about money? Here are some sites to see: nasd.org: Find out what you're really paying for mutual funds with a spiffed-up calculator. pathtoinvesting.org/siaic.htm: Want to play the market without losing a cent?...

The Truthiness Teller; Stephen Colbert loves this country like he loves himself. Comedy Central's hot news anchor is a goofy caricature of our blustery culture. But he's starting to make sense.(Interview)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Marc Peyser (With Holly Bailey, Jonathan Darman and Jac Chebatoris) We live in a dangerous world. Fortunately, we've got Stephen Colbert fighting on our side. Colbert defends America when lesser men cut and run. Got a problem with...

Turning Fake News Into Real Careers; For decades, if you wanted to make it in the comedy game, you started at 'SNL.' but now 'The Daily Show' is building a better pipeline.(Saturday Night Live)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Devin Gordon Here's a trivia question: who was the host of "The Daily Show" when Stephen Colbert got his start as a correspondent? Need a hint? It wasn't Jon Stewart. "The show's gotten much more thoughtful and timely since Jon...

None of the Above. None. A few ground rules for standardized testing for members of the House and Senate: test-prep fees can never be paid by lobbyists.(Column)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Anna Quindlen When I read that a presidential commission was considering standardized testing in colleges to gauge the level of learning, I was a little dispirited. I'd gotten a kick out of the fact that my homegrown college...

Aliens Are Among Us; Deborah Eisenberg's stories are about disconnection, from personal to cosmic. But they sure hang together.(Twilight of the Superheroes)(Book Review)
February 20, 2006... Byline: David Gates Her professors were astonished," Deborah Eisenberg writes of a character in "Twilight of the Superheroes," her irresistible new story collection, "by her leaps of thought, by the finesse and elegance of her insights......

Bush's Budget and Words Don't Add Up.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Allan Sloan In the world of Washington, there are applause lines--and then there are budget lines. Applause lines get all the attention, but budget lines are where you find the bucks. Take Bush's American Competitiveness...

Goodbye, Qwerty.(new computer keyboard in the works from Russian design firm, the Art Lebedev Studio)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: -- Linda Stern Computers get cooler, but your keyboard's as dull as ever. Just imagine if every key were a customizable monitor: each could display stock prices or sports updates, switch from one alphabet to another or represent...

ATMs for Rx Refills.(vending machines that dispense prescription drugs)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Machines dis-pensing prescription drugs are popping up around the country. The automated kiosks are designed to shorten lines at pharmacist counters. San Diego-based Asteres has been testing its ScriptCenter refill machines in Longs Drug...