MEDIA LEAD SHEET/JUNE 9, 2008 ISSUE (on newsstands Monday June 2, 2008). To book correspondents, contact Brenda Velez at 212-445-4078—Brenda.Velez@Newsweek.com, Grace Huh at 212-445-5831—Grace.Huh@Newsweek.com—or Jan Angilella at 212-445-5638—Jan.Angilella@Newsweek.com. Articles are posted on www.Newsweek.com.
COVER: “The Politics of Endangered Species” (p. 40). Senior Editor Jerry Adler reports on how environmental groups are using the Endangered Species list as a tool in the war over global warming, despite resistance from the Bush administration. The effort to get the polar bear listed as either “endangered” or “threatened” thrust the Endangered Species Act into the mainstream of 21st-century environmental politics. Activists argue that if polar bears make the Endangered Species list and if global warming is threatening the polar bears’ habitat—the melting Arctic ice—then the government could be forced to crack down on greenhouse-gas emissions. It, however, took several years and a court order, for environmental lawyer Kassie Siegel, who petitioned to list polar bears as endangered, to win them a “threatened” designation. Although this was a significant concession from an administration that has been reluctant to acknowledge the dangers of climate change, by only listing the bear as “threatened,” Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne gave the department leeway to decide which level of protection to apply. Specifically, he promised not to allow the ESA to be “abused” by environmentalists to affect global-warming policy. “This listing,” he warned, “will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139537
“Praise the Humble Dung Beetle” (p. 52). Senior Editor Sharon Begley writes that the disappearance of creatures such as the 238 species of spiders, clams, moths, snails, isopods and other invertebrates on the list of endangered species would undoubtedly leave less of a void in our collective heart than the polar bear’s but would rip a bigger hole in the web of life. “The value of creepy-crawlies is not reflected in which creatures are protected by the Endangered Species Act,” Begley writes. “Like the rest of us, scientists gravitate toward the huggable,” and this is a dangerous bias. “Plants and invertebrates are the silent majority which feed the entire planet, stabilize the soil and make all life possible,” says Kiernan Suckling, cofounder of the Center for Biological Diversity.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139455
THE MILITARY: “Up in the Sky, An Unblinking Eye” (p. 24). Chief Foreign Correspondent Rod Nordland and National Security Correspondent John Barry report on how drone technology has indelibly changed warfare. Army units searching and fighting house-to-house are using hundreds of drones—pilotless crafts—some of them as small as a model airplane (the Raven), to track enemy movements. Patrols regularly use them to scout out the route ahead. Commanders position them over well-traveled roads to keep an eye out for insurgents planting IEDs—a task once performed by soldiers sitting in their Humvees for hours on end. Army drones alone flew over 46,450 hours in March.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139432
RELIGION: “The New Face of Islam” (p. 30). Middle East Regional Editor Christopher Dickey and Moscow Bureau Chief Owen Matthews report that the work Osama Bin Laden put into spinning the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, known as the Hadith, to justify his global campaign of terror is being undone. Islamic religious scholars are reexamining the core doctrines of the faith. Important Muslim thinkers, including some on whom bin Laden depended for support, have rejected his vision of jihad. Once sympathetic publics in the Middle East and South Asia are growing disillusioned. And within Al Qaeda itself, Bin Laden and his key ideologues are under attack. It’s too soon to say a new, modern order is taking shape in the world of Islam, but it is nonetheless clear that many influential Muslims are working toward that end.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139433
“The East Looks West” (p. 33). Mathews reports that Russia is losing its hold on the youth of former Soviet states. All across the former Soviet Union, thousands of students are choosing to learn English rather than Russian, and embracing Western education standards. The implications of this shift extend far beyond the classroom. The language and culture in which people educate their young say a lot about the world they expect their kids to grow up in. For many members of the elite in Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltic states, the cultural center of gravity is no longer Moscow.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139397
POLITICS: “Just How Low Will They Go?” (p. 34). National Correspondent Suzanne Smalley and National Affairs Reporter Sarah Kliff report on this year’s “It” demographic: “low-information voters.” These voters are overwhelmingly white and working class people who don’t pay much mind to the hourly back-and-forth of the campaign, and don’t obsessively check for the latest poll results. This group of voters is also “swayable”—undecided and looking for a candidate to believe in. “People who most like [prime-time] entertainment programming don’t strongly identify with being a conservative or liberal,” says Marty Kaplan, director of the Lear Center on entertainment at USC. They base their votes in part on the issues, but just as much on how much they like the candidate.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139440
“His Mobile Ministry” (p. 36). Senior Editor Lisa Miller reports on what a group of up to 100 religious leaders do every Friday morning at 9:30 Eastern Time. They gather “telephonically” for 15 minutes to pray for Sen. Barack Obama. Americans are accustomed to images of pastors praying with politicians, but never before has prayer—nearly 75 percent of Americans say they pray once weekly or more, according to the Pew Research Center—been such an orchestrated part of a presidential campaign. In addition to the Friday-morning prayers, there are separate weekly prayer-and-strategy calls for the campaign’s Catholic, Jewish, evangelical and African-American faith-group leaders.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139438
ROBERT J. SAMUELSON: “Let’s Just Call It ‘Cap and Tax’” (p. 39). Contributing Editor Robert J. Samuelson writes that the “cap-and-trade” method is a “bad” way of controlling greenhouse-gas emissions. “The chief political virtue of cap-and-trade—a hugely complex scheme to reduce greenhouse gases—is its very complexity,” Samuelson writes. “Cap-and-trade would act as a tax, but it’s not described as a tax. It would directly regulate economic activity, but it is promoted as a, ‘free market’ mechanism. Finally, cap-and-trade would quickly become a bonanza for lobbyists, who would scramble to exploit the system for different industries, venture capitalists, localities and others. All the influence peddling would undermine the system’s abstract advantages.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139454
HEALTH: “The Genetic Detectives” (p. 54). General Editor Mary Carmichael reports on the National Institutes of Health’s new Undiagnosed Diseases Program, an interdisciplinary center for studying, diagnosing and ultimately treating patients with unidentified illnesses. This program is meant to help some of the 25 million people who are currently afflicted with rare diseases, some of which are so new that they don’t have names yet.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/139431
TIP SHEET: “Gourmets Go Underground” (p. 64). Special Correspondent Gina Pace reports on the underground supper clubs that started making an appearance on the foodie scene a few years ago and have become the rebel food community’s taste du jour. Diners looking for more information can go to sites such as lightbulboven.com, studiofeast.com, theghet.com, homeslicewest.com, or do a Google search for their area.
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/default.aspx
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