Briefing
A San Francisco pot shop: Options galore (AP)
Marijuana as medicine
A growing number of states are legalizing marijuana to treat pain or illness, but standards are lax. Is this just another way to get high?
The rise and fall of General Motors
GM, once the symbol of American industrial might, is now seeking bankruptcy protection. What went wrong?
The keepers of the Constitution
Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination has sparked renewed debate over the proper role of the federal judiciary.
The rise of the cyberspy
Scientists recently exposed a Chinese computer-spying operation. How vulnerable is the U.S. to foreign hackers?
The charter school alternative
Charter schools, with 1.4 million students, are gaining momentum. Are small, independent public schools the future?
Somalia: A state of failure
The brazen hijacking of ships by Somali pirates provides fresh evidence of the country's downward spiral.
How Star Trek conquered the universe
The 11th Star Trek movie is out. What accounts for the longevity of the kitschy 43-year-old franchise?
Where money goes to hide
Desperate for revenue, the U.S. and Europe have launched a crackdown on tax havens. How worried should tax dodgers be?
The Twitter revolution
Is Twitter a breakthrough in personal communications or a colossal waste of time?
Ayn Rand: Capitalism’s enduring crusader
Novelist Ayn Rand worshipped the free market. Why is she enjoying a revival when capitalism is supposedly in crisis?
The rise of the pilotless planes
Are remote-controlled drones -- used in Iraq and increasingly in Pakistan and Afghanistan -- the future of warfare?
Mexico’s brutal drug war
Ravaged by an escalating armed conflict between its army and five powerful drug gangs, will Mexico become a ‘failed state’?
The vanishing shopping mall
Enclosed shopping centers, clobbered by the recession, are closing by the hundreds. Is our love affair with the mall over?
Keeping a wary eye on volcanoes
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal chided the federal government for wasting money monitoring volcanoes. Are eruptions possible to predict?
The ‘toxic debt’ tsunami
This week's briefing: Trillions of dollars in bad debt brought the financial system to its knees. How can the mess be cleaned up?
Keynes’ comeback
This week's briefing: Can Keynesian economics pull the world out of its slump?
Denying the Holocaust
This week's briefing: Pope Benedict XVI sparked a firestorm by lifting the excommunication of a bishop who claims the Holocaust never occurred. How could anyone believe such a thing?
Nano: The world’s cheapest car
This week's briefing: What bringing motoring to the masses with India's $2,500 Nano would mean for the environment
IEDs: The poor man’s artillery
This week's briefing: ‘Improvised explosive devices’ migrated from Iraq to Afghanistan. What makes them so lethal?
Lincoln and the slaves
This week's briefing: Historians call Abraham Lincoln the Great Emancipator; what were his actual views of black Americans?
