COVER

Health: Diabetes: What You Can Do (Cover Story / Health)

Left untreated, Type 2 diabetes can damage the heart, kidneys and eyes. You can minimize your risk by taking a few simple steps to keep your blood sugar within bounds:

Health: The Body's Sugar Factory (Cover Story / Health)

The body regulates the amount of glucose in the blood like a finely tuned machine. Here's how the process works--and what can go wrong

NATION

Can We Afford All This?

The $400 billion MEDICARE benefit is the latest in a string of pricey outlays--and Congress's spending spree is not over. Does it matter, and does anybody care?

Inside The Wire

Security breaches. Suicidal detainees. A legal challenge heading to the Supreme Court. Welcome to Guantanamo

WORLD

Losing Hearts And Minds

Unmoved by Bush's visit, Iraqis blame the U.S. for civilian deaths, missing detainees and razed homes

The Politics Of War

Whisked in secret to Iraq, Bush serves holiday dinner to the troops--boosting G.I. morale and showing he can still pull off a killer photo-op

BRIEFING

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Why Bush Stays Away (Essay)

During wartime, a President cannot take on the role of Mourner in Chief

BUSINESS

Entrepreneurs: Dashing Diversification (Time Bonus Section January 2004: Inside Business / Entrepreneurs)

Roc-A-Fella's Damon Dash conquered rap. Now, without partner Jay-Z, he wants to prove he's no one-note CEO

Say Hello to the Next Phone War (Time Bonus Section January 2004: Inside Business / Technology)

Voice-over-IP, a technology that lets phones act like PCs and vice versa, is about to take off

Knitpicking the Chinese (Time Bonus Section January 2004: Inside Business)

U.S. efforts to bash Beijing reveal a remarkable ignorance about economics

Television: ESPN's Hot Play Caller (Time Bonus Section January 2004: Inside Business / Television)

Mark Shapiro has a new a.m. show on his plate and the NFL on his back

Investing: Realty Rumble (Time Bonus Section January 2004: Inside Business / Investing)

Web brokers say the real estate industry is trying to lock them out, but customers keep knocking

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Jack of Hearts (Movies)

IN HIS NEW FILM, THE KING OF CADS FALLS FOR AN OLDISH WOMAN. IT'S A FANTASY

Found in Translation (Movies)

Tom Cruise leaves the American frontier for the exquisite ways of old Japan in The Last Samurai

Heaven on Earth (Television)

In the dazzling HBO mini-series Angels in America, the politics and crises of the '80s feel close to home

Cruel Yule (Movies)

St. Nick is nefarious in a very unjolly Bad Santa

YOUR TIME

SPECIAL SECTION

It Flies! (History)

100 years ago this month, the Wright brothers got the aerial age off the ground. Here's how:

PEOPLE

LETTERS