Vol. 138 No. 24

NATION

A Network That Guarantees Scoops (Grapevine)

American Notes Population
Hold the Wedding Bells

American Notes Refugees
Reprieve for The Haitians

American Notes Scandals
Unhappy Birthday to You

American Notes the Homeless
Gimme Shelter

Behind The Blue Dot

Eastern Europe's New Bad Guys (Grapevine)

Forward Spin (Grapevine)

Here Comes Operation Desert Stork (Grapevine)

Jurisprudence Trial by Television
As millions tune in to the William Kennedy Smith drama, some wonder whether justice is being served by the gavel-to-gavel TV coverage

Press What's in a Middle Name?
Plenty. And some 300 curious journalists are watching the William Kennedy Smith trial on TV, like everyone else.

The New Chief Loyal but Not So Arrogant
Sam Skinner's resume as a crisis manager should serve him well wrestling the White House into shape

The Political Interest
Hello George, New Hampshire's Calling

The White House: Clearing the Decks
With an eye on next year's race, Bush jettisons his chief of staff. But it will take more than personnel changes to set a new course for the economy.

They're Not Going to Take It, Probably (Grapevine)

Vox Pop (Grapevine)

WORLD

America Abroad How Bush Has Wimped Out

Proliferation Soviet Nukes On the Loose
As the Kremlin's power shrivels, the West worries about who has control of the disintegrating superpower's vast atomic arsenal

Who Else Will Have the Bomb?
It may soon be brandished by a whole new class of Third World regimes, thanks to China and other suppliers. The prospects for stopping them are not high.

World Notes Albania
A Setback for The Old Guard

World Notes Japan
No Apology Necessary

World Notes Mexico
Why Did They Open Fire?

World Notes Poland
Reluctant Choice

WAR & TERRORISM

Cover Story (Hostages)
Delivered From Evil

Diplomacy Mr. Behind-the-Scenes (Hostages)
How a courageous United Nations negotiator put himself at risk to broker the hostage deal

The Aftermath Freedom Is the Best Revenge (Hostages)
What has been learned from a decade of terrorism and hostage taking? Waiting is the best policy, and events, more than people, make the difference.

The Ordeal Lives in Limbo (Hostages)
With the last of the American hostages now home, Anderson and other former captives share memories of physical pain, mental anguish and extraordinary human endurance

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Can Aspirin Prevent Cancer? (Medicine)
A new study suggests there may be yet another benefit from the world's most popular medication

SOCIETY

Drink Until You Finally Drop
Chronic alcohol abuse is becoming the entertainment of choice, and the No. 1 health problem, for an alarming number of kids

Hey, Let's Do A Few Lines! (Living)
Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll are taking a backseat to poetry among the hip set

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Time Magazine Contents Page (Contents)
Vol. 138 No. 24 DECEMBER 16, 1991

BUSINESS

Business Notes Airlines
Grounded for Good

Business Notes Economics
Grossed Out

Business Notes Innovations
Out, Out, Damned Spot!

Business Notes Retailing
Lease a Tree, Get One Free

Organized Crime
All That Glitters . . . Stephen Saccoccia thought he could go on laundering hundreds of millions in drug money forever. He was wrong.

Scandal Maxwell's Plummet
Burdened by huge, previously unreported debts, the media mogul's empire breaks apart amid tales of skulduggery, real and imagined

Was It Suicide?

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

At The Top of Their Game (Television)

Bomb Over Broadway (Theater)

Critics' Voices (Critics' Voices)

O Come All Ye Faithful Readers (Books)
From fossils to cuff links, Kuwait to Hollywood, Mickey Mouse to Michelangelo, here is something for everyone

Off on A Cashmere Cloud (Music)
Before he was a pop star Nat King Cole was a jazz artist, and a big new boxed set shows how good he really was

Spoiled Brainchild (Cinema)

PEOPLE

A Peter Pan for Yuppies (Profile)
In his new movie, Hook, as in his life, ROBIN WILLIAMS shows what happens when the boy who won't grow up turns 40 and is ready for risks

TO OUR READERS

From the Managing Editor (From The Managing Editor)

ESSAY

Welfare: A White Secret