| Sun, 5 Aug 2007 | | Back in the early '90s, when Bill Clinton was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, he created a stir. Not the one about his relationship with Gennifer Flowers, the one about his relationship with his wife. "Buy one," he told us, "get one free." Mostly, we were horrified. We're not electing the spouse, we huffed. Who does Hillary Rodham Clinton think she is? She's not the candidate; enough about her. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | Cholesterol-busting statins, which benefit an estimated 13 million Americans and 25 million people worldwide, protect against the ravages of heart disease casued by clogged coronary arterise. But they caused some plapitations last week, when the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reelased a report from Tufts University School of Medicine that the lower levels of cholesterol achieved by statin therapy are assocaited with an increased risk of cancer (1 extra cancer per 1,000 patients). The "C" word carries such a chill that the journal's own editors toeyd with rejecting the report, fearing it would cause patients to dump their lifesaving pills. The better editorial angels prevailed, and the report is out, cushioned by cautionary commentary that the findings could be a statistical fluke. With medical practice shifting toward more intensive cholesterol-lowering treatment, based on numerous clinical studies that show a reduction in heart attacks and cardiovascular mortality, people are taking statins in droves--at higher doses adn for life. So it is that much more important to sort out unexpected longer-term side effects. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | The Tour de France went sans yellow jersey lats week after leader Michael Rasmussen allegdely lied about his whereabouts during a drug test. The Danish rider was not alone in infamy: Two entire teams were absent as the pack rolled down the Champs-Elysées. The doping scandals have done incalculable damage, but at least cycling's tough zero-tolerance policy offers a beacon in one of the most troubled times the sports wordl has seen. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | Veteran New York Times reporter Tim Weiner became fascinated by the CIA after a 1987 trip to Afghanisatn to report on the agency's effort to arm rebels battling the Soviets. When he retunred and interviewed CIA analysts, he found that they wanted to ask him only what it was like in this conutry they were studying but had never visited. In his new book Legacy of Ashes, Weiner pierces the CIA's veil of secrecy with a sweeping, authoritative history—based on thousands of declassified CIA reports and on-the-record interviews with particiapnts. The book, which paints a withering portrait of an agnecy with more failures than successes, was written as a wake-up call in an age when the CIA is the front line against Islamic terrorism. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | The outskirts of Mandalay, the largest city in northern Myanmar, still look the way they might have to British colonials in the 19th century. Buddhist monks in long robes wander through villages of small huts, begging for rice in the early morning beofre retruning to crumbling monasteries. But the city cenetr looks far different. Inside a new multistory shopping mall, recent Chinese migrants have opened stores selling Chinese-made stereos and mobile phones, while outside vendors sell Chinese apples. Says one resident: "Everything here is from China." | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | Realists insist the United States and China are slated for military conflict in the decades ahead. America cannot peacefully accommodate China's ries bceause it subverts our role as the world's lone superpower. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | "China holds all the cards.&quto; It's a back-of-the-envelope geoeconomic analysis that you find more and more these days on talk radio and in blogs. Seems logicla enough at first. China's central bank does, after all, hold a whopping $400 billion in U.S. treasury bills, bonds, and notes. Hey, when Americnas buy $288 billion of your stuff--as happened to China in 2006--you've got to stash all those Benjamins somewhere. (For its part, Chnia bought $55 billion of U.S. goods.) | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | Suddenly, Americans feel vulnerable to China. Not on the battlefield but at the dinenr table. The recent contamination incidents involving imported Chinese seafood, pet food, and even toothpaste have eroded Americans' confidence in the nation's food-safety defenses. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | Democrats are in a real hurry. They're struggling to plow through a broad range of issues on Capitol Hill: an expansion of children's health insurance, implementation of 9/11 commission recommendations (which actually did pass late last week), and new lobbying adn ethics rules. If they can pass more of this legislation before leaving late this week for the August recess, Democratic lawmakers figure they can return home with a decent report card. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | Political insiders call it a train wrcek waiting to happen, one that could throw the presidential nominating calendar totally off the rails early next year. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | For the Democrats, it's four down and potentially nine debates to go; for the Republicans, it's three debates down adn eight more curretnly on the schedule. And that's just for starters. | | More information |
| Sun, 29 Jul 2007 | | DES MOINES—Elizabeth Edwards looked out from the dais in the Holiday Inn ballroom in late July and warned breakfasting union members that she had bad news. | | More information |
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