NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/May 12, 2008 Issue (on newsstands Monday, May 5, 2008)

NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/May 12, 2008 Issue (on newsstands Monday, May 5, 2008)

COVER: "The Post-American World" (p. 24). Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria, in an excerpt from his forthcoming book, "The Post-American World," writes that in America "we are still debating the nature and extent of anti-Americanism. One side says that the problem is real and worrying and that we must woo the world back. The other says this is the inevitable price of power and that many of these countries are envious -- and vaguely French -- so we can safely ignore their griping. But while we argue over why they hate us, 'they' have moved on, and are now far more interested in other, more dynamic parts of the globe. The world has shifted from anti-Americanism to post- Americanism." In the excerpt, Zakaria explores not the decline of America but "the rise of the rest -- the rest of the world."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135380

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080504/NYSU001 )

POLITICS: "Obama's New Gospel" (p. 32). Washington Correspondent Eve Conant and Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe report on the efforts of Barack Obama's campaign to get the word out to religious voters that the candidate is serious about their concerns and that his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. is over. Voters in Indiana want to know if Obama believes Wright's more controversial statements and what is the status of their relationship.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135384

POLITICS: "A Turbulent Pastor" (p. 34). White House Correspondent Holly Bailey reports on Pastor John Hagee, the San Antonio televangelist who has offended Roman Catholics and other groups, and his endorsement of John McCain. McCain and his aides draw a sharp distinction between his relationship to Hagee and Obama's ties to the Rev. Wright. McCain's aides attribute the Hagee controversy to poor vetting. But even some Republicans (not affiliated with the campaign) privately wonder how the pastor's extreme views slipped through without notice.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135385

TRAGEDY: "She Thought She Could Do Better" (p. 40). Washington Correspondent Eve Conant reports on the apparent suicide of "the D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey. During the course of numerous conversations with Newsweek over the last year, Palfrey portrayed herself as a self-made woman looking for the American Dream and as a feminist who wanted to "empower" woman. She made available to Newsweek a half-finished 95-page memoir she described as "my little literary undertaking." Her story -- about her "little cottage industry" -- provides a revealing insight into the motives and lifestyles of high-end prostitutes.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135387

JUSTICE: "Look Past Polygamy" (p. 42). Los Angeles Bureau Chief Andrew Murr reports that for decades, the lessons of the disastrous 1953 raid on the polygamous community of Short Creek, Arizona, home to the roughly 500 men, women and children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had exerted great influence on law enforcement's attitudes toward FLDS. And now all are watching to see what will happen in Eldorado, Texas, following last month's raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135386

TECHNOLOGY: "The Art of Mayhem and Murder" (p. 43). General Editor N'Gai Croal reviews Grand Theft Auto IV, after playing it 10 hours or so. He writes that it's a "much slower burn" than its predecessors, which introduced you much sooner to the mayhem "that has twisted its critics' knickers." Croal writes that for the first several hours it's all about the relationships your alter ego Niko Bellic has, before you even see a gun.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135372

PROJECT GREEN: "A Chain That Pigs Would Die For" (p. 45). General Editor Anna Kuchment reports on Chipotle Mexican Grill CEO Steve Ells's success with his mission to serve humanely raised, sustainably grown food at his restaurants, including meat and dairy products that are free of antibiotics and hormones. Since launching what it calls Food With Integrity, Chipotle has been serving sour cream and cheese free of the hormone rBGH, organic beans, and naturally raised pork, chicken and meat. Last month it announced it would buy locally grown produce whenever possible.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135376

"Natural Response" (p. 48). Midwest Bureau Chief Keith Naughton reports that with food prices rising, sales of organic food are starting to wane. The healthy-food craze mushroomed this decade, growing 150 percent since 2001 to reach $19 billion in sales last year. But now with gas near $4 a gallon, the $7 gallon of organic milk doesn't look as good. After years of 20 percent annual sales growth, consumers are curtailing their consumption of organics, according to market researcher the Hartman Group.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135377

"Empty-Net Syndrome" (p. 49). Special Correspondent Paul Tolme reports that for the first time, federal and state fisheries officials have closed the salmon harvest season in California and in most of Oregon. The reason: Only 90,000 fish returned last fall to the Sacramento River chinook run, down 90 percent from just a few years ago. Experts blame water diversions for agriculture and communities, pollution, dams that have cut off salmon from their upstream spawning grounds and unfavorable ocean conditions that diminished food sources in the Pacific.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135378

TELEVISION: "Legend or Loser: Does 'Seinfeld' Still Hold Up After 10 Years?" (p. 58). Nope. Arts and Entertainment Editor Marc Peyser writes that when "Seinfeld" went off the air 10 years ago, it was widely considered to be a classic, and many fans call it the best sitcom ever. "Was it either? Or neither," he writes. "As someone who doesn't dip into its bottomless rerun pool very much, I was surprised when I sat down with the show again by how poorly 'Seinfeld' holds up. What once seemed smart ... feels like shtik. The pacing-no show had ever packed in so many scenes, some of them lasting a few seconds-now seems formulaic and forced."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135368

"Yep." (p. 59). Senior Editor David Noonan counters Peyser, and writes that the show is still funny, mostly because of the supporting cast of characters that play off the four leads, such as Newman, George's parents and Jerry's parents. "Although it's about four friends in New York in the '90s, 'Seinfeld's' best jokes have almost nothing to do with all that, another reason it endures. The contamination of Jerry's car by a parking valet's lethal BO, Kramer's finding the old Merv Griffin set and turning his apartment into a talk show, the invention of the Mansiere."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135368/page/2

TIP SHEET: "Cutting Back Your Hours" (p. 60). Chicago Correspondent Karen Springen reports that today more than 25 million Americans work part time and employers are making it easier to work fewer hours: 36 percent now give employees the chance to work part time, according to a survey. Springen offers some guidance on how to work part time successfully: know how to land the job, set ground rules up front and be flexible.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/default.aspx

PRNewswire -- May 4
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