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NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/September 15, 2008 Issue (on newsstands Monday, September 8, 2008)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157696

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080907/NYSU002 )

"Beware the Barracuda" (p. 36). Chief Political Correspondent Howard Fineman writes that although Palin is a tough opponent, the Democrats will need to tread carefully when coming after her. Democrats are determined to attack her credibility, and "the first -- and for Democrats, the most obvious -- way to do so is on abortion. Palin doesn't believe in abortion even in cases of rape or incest," he writes. Still, the real task of hunting Palin belongs to Biden, who "is as deeply informed on the issues as any member of the Senate, but he has a tendency to want to prove it at length." A friend of Biden's told Newsweek, "He has to be careful not to come off as heavy-handed."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157697

"What Happened to Family Values?" (p. 41). Special Correspondent Jacob Weisberg writes that "pragmatic Republicans have been trying to figure out how the party can become a 'big tent,' making room for a pro-choice as well as a pro-life faction. Until recently, the modernizers included John McCain," he writes. "But renewed evangelical dominance of the Republican Party in the George W. Bush years has pushed McCain in just the opposite direction ... It explains how McCain ended up with a wildly underqualified running mate in Sarah Palin, instead of his preferred pro-choice veep picks, Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157554

HEALTH: "We Fought Cancer ... And Cancer Won" (p. 42). Senior Editor Sharon Begley writes that it's time to rethink the approach to the war on cancer. "Both presidential candidates have vowed to support cancer research, which makes this a propitious time to consider the missed opportunities of the first 37 years of the war on cancer. Surely the greatest is prevention. [President Richard] Nixon never used the word; he exhorted scientists only to find a cure. Partly as a result, the huge majority of funding for cancer has gone into the search for ways to eradicate malignant cells rather than to keep normal cells from becoming malignant in the first place," Begley writes. Still, there is hope in the battle against cancer. "Breakthroughs continue to pour out of labs" and "cutting-edge techniques are allowing scientists to identify promising experimental drugs more quickly than ever before," she writes.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157548

JONATHAN ALTER: "What the Next President Can Do" (p. 68). Senior Editor Jonathan Alter, a four-year cancer survivor, writes that "politicians have been slow on the cancer front partly because it's a downer, and partly because most don't seem to understand just how perilous the research situation has become." "It's not just that fewer than two in 10 applications for NIH grants are funded -- down sharply under President Bush. It's that the wrong researchers often get the money," he writes. "Older researchers with old-boy-network contacts receive a disproportionate amount of the research funding ... Younger, less-connected but more creative researchers, the ones most likely to find cures, are leaving medical research in droves because they can't get funded."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157575

INTERNATIONAL: "For the Taliban, A Crime That Pays" (p. 70). South Asia Bureau Chief Ron Moreau reports that the Taliban have spawned yet another problem forAfghanistan: an epidemic of ransom kidnappings. Such crimes used to be rare, and the perpetrators were usually common thugs who stuck close to Kabul. That's changed in the last couple of years, as the Taliban learned to abduct foreigners and Afghan business people instead of killing them. Since then, kidnapping has become one of the guerrillas' main revenue sources, second only to facilitating and protecting the country's $4 billion-a-year narcotics trade. The reported ransoms in some of the highest-profile kidnappings of the past two years, come to more than $10 million a year -- and that's a deceptively conservative estimate.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157549

ROBERT J. SAMUELSON: "Getting Real About Health Care" (p. 73). Contributing Editor Robert J. Samuelson writes that whoever wins the White House "should put health care at the top of his agenda. But the central problem is not improving coverage. It's controlling costs." The new president needs to take on the "massive health-care challenge already sitting in the government's lap: Medicare ... Medicare is so large and influential that by altering how it operates, government can reshape the entire health-care system. This would require changes in rules and reimbursements to encourage more electronic record-keeping, better case management, fewer dubious tests and procedures, and a fairer sharing of costs between the young and the old," he writes.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157573

PROJECT GREEN: "The Bad News About Green Architecture" (p. 77). Senior Editor Cathleen McGuigan writes that what bugs her the most about the fad for green architecture "is the notion that virtue makes up for ugly." "When I come upon a beautiful sustainable building that doesn't scream green, it cheers me up. The California Academy of Sciences, opening later this month inSan Francisco, is a perfect example ... Its design is sensitive to its place and history: the new building doesn't gobble up more space on its spectacular site in Golden Gate Park, and its architect, Renzo Piano, was careful to go no higher -- 36 feet -- than the original structure."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157576

"A No-Paper Newspaper" (p. 84). National Correspondent Daniel McGinn reports that after years of hype, e-newspapers are getting closer to reality thanks to companies such as E Ink, that are working on perfecting electronic reading devices such as Amazon's Kindle. For consumers, e-newspapers would offer portability and an uncluttered reading environment. Among publishers, there's real hope readers will pay subscription fees for those benefits, and that advertisers will pay considerably more for ads on e-readers than they do on the Web.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157580

TELEVISION: "They Would Kill For an Emmy" (p. 86). During this year's Emmy roundtable, Rachel Griffiths ("Brothers and Sisters"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Rainn Wilson ("The Office"), Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds") and John Slattery ("Mad Men") spoke candidly with Senior Editor Marc Peyser and Assistant Editor Joshua Alston about their shows, characters, drinking, drugs and nudity -- and preparing for the awards they could win later this month.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157583

TIP SHEET: "Pump Yourself Up in The Privacy of Home" (p. 97). Chicago Correspondent Karen Springen reports on the things to consider before choosing to work out at home or join a gym -- or both. Some of the factors to consider include cost, your goals as well as your personality. "The biggest obstacle that we all face is motivation," says Walter Thompson, a Georgia State University regent's professor and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/default.aspx

SOURCE Newsweek