Time Magazine Contents Page DECEMBER 13, 1993 VOL. 142 NO. 25

TO OUR READERS 4

LETTERS 11

CHRONICLES 23

MILESTONES 31

THE ECONOMY: Slowly, then Surely 32

It's true -- the long, l-o-n-g slump is ending

Japan: Why the engine of the Pacific is sputtering badly 34

HEALTH CARE: The Man with a Plan 39

Senator Jim Cooper has one, and the White House isn't happy

THE POLITICAL INTEREST: Rumblings on the Left 40

Why Jesse Jackson believes Clinton has turned his back

INTERVIEW: Clinton's Conclusions 42

The President discloses what he's learned in his first year

THE PRESIDENCY: L.B.J.'s Private Leverage 43

Taped phone calls reveal Johnson's naked arm-twisting

SOCIETY: Out, Out, Damned Apple! 44

A Texas county says no to the computer giant's gay benefits

DRUGS: Dead End for Escobar 46

^ Colombia's cocaine lord is gone -- but the trade flourishes

MIDDLE EAST: Ready to Rule? 48

Arafat and the P.L.O. struggle to become a government

NORTH KOREA: War Games 53

Pyongyang's suspected nuclear program rattles U.S. sabers

NORTHERN IRELAND: Secret No More 55

Private talks between the I.R.A. and Britain go public

SPACE: Hubble, Hubble, Toil and Trouble 56

NASA gambles its future on fixing the errant telescope

Corruption: A sting uncovers fraud at the space agency

MEDICINE: Racing Through the Family Tree 58

In record time, researchers isolate a gene for colon cancer

PRESS: Uncandid Canada 59

Tales of a murder trial cross the border but aren't allowed back

COVER: Back on the Fast Track 62

After years of taking it on the chin from critics, consumers and a host of foreign competitors, America's Big Three automakers seem finally poised for a real comeback

THE ARTS & MEDIA

Holocaust: Spielberg turns to the century's greatest crime 74

Liam Neeson stars as a wayward savior

Interview: Inside Snoop's Dogg eat Dogg world 78

Cinema: Geronimo is another revisionist western 79

Six Degrees of comedy lasts just two acts 80

Theater: Sam Waterston plays Lincoln in a dated epic 81

Sada Thompson returns to Broadway in a passe drama 82

Television: The return of the 50-ft. woman 85

Bette Midler makes Gypsy's Momma Rose her own 86

Music: Jackson Browne is back, alive and very well 91

Spectator: Do we need to ask permission to ridicule? 93

Books: The best and the brightest of holiday offerings 94

ROYALTY: Windsor of Discontent 99

Is Diana's latest move an act of despair or a new stunt?

ESSAY 100

COVER: Photo illustration for TIME by Gregory Heisler

TIME (ISSN 0040-781X) is published weekly for $61.88 per year, by Time Inc. Principal Office: Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y., 10020-1393. Reginald K. Brack Jr., Chairman, CEO; Joseph A. Ripp, Treasurer; Harry M. Johnston, Secretary. Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices. (c) 1993 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. TIME and the Red Border Design are protected through trademark registration in the United States and in the foreign countries where TIME magazine circulates. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TIME, P.O. Box 30601, Tampa, Fla. 33630-0601. For subscription queries, call Customer Service at 1-800-843-TIME (8463).