Table of Contents

COVER: In this, the season to be sorry, the losing game is a national obsession 54

Struggling dieters used to be told they were lazy gluttons with no willpower, but researchers have found that being overweight is as much a result of physiology and heredity as of environment and behavior. To win at staying thin, dieters are learning how to vanquish their own bodies. Overeaters have delightfully ingenious ways of fooling themselves. See HEALTH & FITNESS.

NATION: Reagan blasts Libya's Gaddafi as a "barbarian" and tightens sanctions 16

The President hurls verbal instead of military firepower at the alleged source of terrorist raids on airports. After the biggest U.S. military buildup in history, a new budget-balancing law may force a record Pentagon cutback. A South Carolina killer is executed for a murder he committed as a teenager, and 31 prisoners are held on death row for juvenile crimes.

BUSINESS: Wall Street takes a record tumble, but it is no Black Wednesday 36

Though the 39.10-point one-day drop in the Dow beat the mark set in 1929, the decline is not comparable to the Great Crash. Experts maintain that it is a temporary pause in the bull market. A court decision leads Kodak to stop production of instant cameras and film, leaving the field to Polaroid. The Federal Reserve cracks down on the use of junk bonds in takeovers.

26 World Accusations fly in the Philippines. Canada's Mulroney looks for new directions. Cobwebs and dust accumulate in Burma.

50 Medicine A consequence of the cocaine craze: women who give birth to infant addicts. Interferon helps prevent the common cold.

51 Science The universe, it seems, is filled with bubbles. Is there a fifth force of nature? Voyager finds a Uranian moon.

66 Law A number of federal, state and local judges are in legal trouble. The question arises: Are ethics down or is oversight up?

68 Books Stephen Spender's Journals mix big names and trivial pursuits. Ansel Adams' autobiography charts the progress of art and artist.

71 Religion An admirable biography of Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, the apostle of Christian Realism. Mormon problems in Israel.

78 Music A spirited production of Puccini's La Rondine in Chicago shows that this sophisticated work ought to join the main operatic repertory.

80 Essay Politicians think it is crucial to promise to "take us into the future." What can this mean? The uses and abuses of an empty phrase.

6 Letters 10 American Scene 64 People 73 Sexes 76 Press 76 Milestones

Cover: Illustration by James Marsh