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The article discusses the perceived schism forming between traditional conservative republicans and libertarians as illustrated by the 2006 mid-term elections in which democrats won U.S. congressional seats in areas typically under republican control. The author questions whether this signals a new alliance between libertarians and liberals.

Profiles American soldiers wounded in the Iraq War and their efforts to create a new life for themselves back in the United States. Challenges faced by the solders; Confusion as to what to do next; Loss of jobs and marriages; Impact of the pain and discomfort they feel; Discussion of the some of the wounds suffered and the impact on family and friends; Diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder; Focus on head injuries that are a frequent by-product of the Iraq War; Reflections of some of the solders on their wartime service; Reference to National Guard and Reserve units who never expected to see combat overseas but who make up 40 percent of the troops in Iraq. INSET: LIVES ALTERED BY INJURY.

Focuses on the safety of beef consumption in the United States. Discovery of mad cow disease in an animal from a Washington State farm; Upgrade of safety regulations by the United States Department of Agriculture with the aim to stop mad cow disease; Concern about the enforcement of the rules; Lack of knowledge about prions, which are thought to cause the disease; Unanswered questions.

Profiles Tami Speers who had a massive heart attack at age 40. Background on the stress in her life as a manager for a manufacturing company in Hot Springs, Ark.; Adjustments she has made in her lifestyle; Treatment by cardiologist Michael Frais and a cardiac rehabilitation program; Symptoms that she experienced during the myocardial infarction; Comments about her health and how it affects her family; Recommendations of the American Heart Association.

Discusses the rising number of Americans without health insurance. Young and affluent people who are going without health insurance; Demographics survey results; The emotional and physical tolls of not having health insurance.

Focuses on the lower life expectancy of men compared with women in the United States. Details of an experiment monitoring heart rates while men watched the Super Bowl; Idea that simply being male carries significant health costs; Health risks compared with women, including a higher risk of heart disease; Role of biology, psychology, and culture in men's health; Difficulty of getting men to improve their health.

Discusses the bioterrorism attacks on the United States, in light of deaths and sickness from anthrax. Idea that public health officials are learning quickly about the medical science behind bioterrorism; Topic of the composition of the anthrax spores which were sent to Senator Tom Daschle; Question of whether there are more letters containing anthrax in circulation and how virulent they are, and how people should be examined and treated.

Discusses research on sleep and sleep deprivation in the United States. Finding that long-term sleep debt could be a factor in the national epidemics of diabetes and obesity; Topic of compensating for sleep debt with naps; Description of the stages of sleep and hormones secreted during sleep; Need for sleep to maintain emotional, cognitive, and immunological health. INSETS: Today's kids: overscheduled and overtired, by Katy Kelly;It's tricky getting a baby to sleep like one, by Janet Rae....

Recounts the accomplishments of the Framingham Heart Study conducted in Framingham, Massachusetts. Comments from former director William Kannel; What has been learned from the study; Study's effects on behavior and pharmacology; Background to the study; Methods and participants; Survey of accomplishments by year, beginning in 1959; Benefits for research in other areas; Use of study by patients and physicians; More. INSET: Giving the heart a helping hand, by Mary Brophy Marcus.

Examines the tensions between patients, physicians, and insurers, especially related to cancer treatments. Example of the Greer family, Huntington Beach, California; Uncertainty about insurance coverages; Insurance frequently prohibiting experimental treatments; Insurance companies trying to contain costs; Second-guessing doctors; Special problems in cancer care; Insurance cost-containment strategies; Doctor control of care. INSETS: Tested tactics that work;Courts rule on costly devices, by Joseph P. Shapiro.

Examines treatment given to premature baby Jataija Wall at MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. Baby's weight at birth 12.5 ounces; Care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); Frequency of premature births and common treatments; Wall's odds of survival at various points in her development; Use of artificial surfactant; Lung and brain development; Strategy for Wall once in NICU; Monitoring for future problems.

Discusses the emergence, benefits and drawbacks to managed health care in the United States, as of March 9, 1998. Number of people worrying about their health care; Achievements of managed care system; Why the managed care system developed; Savings due to managed care; Support for managed care by corporations; Cost for individuals; Challenges faced by health care industry; Role of young, healthy customers.

Focuses on health maintenance organizations (HMO) and managed care programs in the United States in 1997. Restrictions on health care from an HMO; Percentage of people in HMOs; How the current system has cut costs and the quality of care; Concern from consumers about the care they are receiving; Rankings from `US News & World Report' on the best HMOs in the country.

Offers a look at some breathtaking breakthroughs in medicine. Mending of sub-standard hearts for use in transplants; Correction of life-threatening defects in fetuses; Intracytoplasmic sperm injection; Positron emission tomography; Confocal microscope; Ventricular remodeling; Hydroxyurea, new medication; Listing of America's top 16 hospitals as determined by `U.S. News.'

Presents a ranking of United States hospitals, as determined by `U.S. News.' How rankings were compiled; How to read the rankings; Listings by specialties; AIDS; Cancer; Cardiology; Endocrinology; Gastroenterology; Geriatrics; Gynecology; Neurology; Orthopedics; Otolaryngology; Rheumatology; Urology; Ophthalmology; Psychiatry; Pediatrics; Rehabilitation.

Reports on the dangers on tanning. Expectation that United States doctors will diagnose nearly 1 million cases of skin cancer in 1996; Large number of people who don't bother with sunscreen; Importance of looking at unusual moles; Accumulating damage of sunburns and suntans; Various types of sunscreens; Importance of eye protection; Advice on avoiding skin damage. INSETS: Watch for these danger signs;A sun worshiper's guide.

Analyzes the key problems facing several white-collar professionals in 1996 in the United States. The lowering corporate demand for, and shrinking salaries of, lawyers; Problems facing doctors including the downsizing of specialty physicians; The lack of opportunities and tenuous job security of people with Masters of Business Administration degrees; The trimming of corporate finance offices, among other things, affecting accountants.

Examines how a large number of people with HIV are fending off the AIDS virus. Newfound compassion for AIDS victims; Improved quality of life for those whose infection has moved into the AIDS realm; Profiles of Earvin (Magic) Johnson and several other Americans; Drugs including AZT; Statistics on AIDS; HIV- and AIDS-related resources on the Internet. INSETS: Sweeter this time around (Magic Johnson), by Mike Tharp;Where did the virus go?, by Traci Watson.

Focuses on a large-scale study of terminal patients by the `Journal of the American Medical Association.' Conclusion that the culture of major hospitals is at war with the desires of dying patients; Profiles of patients whose wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment were ignored; Comments by doctors and nurses involved in the study. INSET: Having your wishes honored.

Focuses on the growing popularity of primary care, the low-paid, poor cousin of specialty care. How more insurance plans require a generalist's office be the first step in medical care, and many patients are going no further; How many specialists are swallowing their pride and returning for training in general medicine; Questions regarding the standards primary-care providers must meet. INSETS: Choosing the best provider, by S.B.;A scrap over how to care for women, by Rita Rubin.

Offers several hypothetical questions and answers related to hospital choice, access and costs. What to do when an HMO suggests an unranked hospital for surgery; Law requiring emergency rooms to treat patients needing immediate care, regardless of ability to pay; Mastectomies and lumpectomies; Second opinion for knee surgery; More. INSET: If your doctor can do the job, why go to the..., by Doug....

Reports that too often, medical histories of children adopted from abroad are vague or just plain wrong. Study by Dana Johnson on serious conditions found in many adopted children; Problems with medical histories; Fear of AIDS infection in orphans; Helpful networking; Suggestions from Deborah Lawless, who adopted children from Romania. INSET: An adoptive checklist..

Discusses how families in four top-flight managed care plans view President Bill Clinton's health care reform package. Recounts experiences and care received through a variety of health care systems. U.S. Healthcare; Group Health Inc., a Minneapolis health maintenance organization (HMO); Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound; North Mississippi Health Services. INSET: Picking a health care plan, by R.J.N..

Continues a series of articles focusing on holiday travel. Focus on Cicero, Illinois; The author's memories of being told a black family had moved into her grandmother's neighborhood; Crime in Cicero; What Cicero is known for; Impact of the mob's presence on the town; How Cicero is losing its youth to urban migration.

Examines issues regarding the use of Ritalin in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Number of children with ADHD; Research about ADHD in children by the National Institute of Mental Health; Effectiveness of Ritalin; Questions about the long-term effects of Ritalin; Details about the research method; Debates about the nature of ADHD; ADHD based on an inherited tendency; Nondrug therapy for ADHD; Overtreatment. INSET: To drug or not to drug.

Examines deaths associated with taking Viagra. Number of those who have died after taking the pills; Side effects of the drug; Lawsuits against Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer; Concerns that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug too quickly; New era of drug regulation; Viagra's original therapeutic purpose; Its clinical trials; Profitability of the drug for Pfizer; Ease with which Viagra can be obtained. INSETS: Buying Viagra on the Internet, by Gary Cohen;A new definition of safe sex? by Susan Brink.

The article focuses on the Exemplary Defense Project to to encourage and assist other public defense providers in replicating the work of the recognized projects and pursuing their own innovation. Topics discussed include issues in public defense include excessive caseload, underfunding and attorney turnover, support from institutions such as American Bar Endowment, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (ABA SCLAID).

Discusses the significance of tandem mass spectrometry, which is capable of screening newborn infants for medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and other rare disorders that are treatable if discovered early. How U.S. states vary on how many disorders they screen for in newborns; Efforts of Michael Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to enact legislation that would force all U.S. states to screen for 29 rare disorders.

Examines the growing burden of uninsured patients on the nationwide system of regional trauma care in the U.S. How the commitment to serve every victim has put trauma centers in jeopardy; Outlook for closure of trauma centers; Average cost of treating uninsured trauma patients; The high-level care that trauma centers offer; Impact on patients when specialized trauma care is unavailable.

Discusses the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly in the United States and how they are traveling to Canada and Mexico to purchase more affordable products. Involvement of the Internet in providing cheaper drugs for senior citizens; Comments on the prescription drug bill Maine Rx which authorizes a discounted price on drugs for Maine residents who lack insurance coverage; Teaming of the elderly and uninsured with Medicaid; Reference to the book 'The Big Fix: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips off American Consumers,' by Katharine Greider; How the Maine drug plan affects the pharmaceutical industry; Mail-order prescriptions available from the Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program.

Discusses the retired doctors who are volunteering to help treat those without health insurance in the United States. Efforts of the Volunteers in Medicine, groups of retired physicians who work at clinics; Help from doctor William Little; Concerns about malpractice coverage; Economic forecasts about insurance coverage; Problems due to premium increases.

Discusses changes under way in physical education in the U.S. Efforts to get away from the jock culture--the fastest, strongest, most athletic--and instead encourage start kids on a road to lifelong fitness; The link between childhood obesity and physical education; Observations of physical education teacher Phil Lawler; Problem that more schools are cutting back on or eliminating physical education instruction.

Focuses on medical courses in the United States that examine the idea that medicine has a spiritual dimension. Description of the meditative and spiritual exercises that seek to improve medicine for doctors and patients; Insensitive aspects of traditional medical training; Alternative therapies used in nursing programs; How medical students view the cadavers in spiritual training programs; Critics of these efforts.

Discusses the increase of asthma among children in the United States as of fall 1999. How even mild cases of asthma can turn deadly; Symptoms, diagnosis, and causes of the chronic lung disease; Use of inhalers; Exercise as part of the treatment; Need for children to be responsible for monitoring their illness. INSET: Yearning to breathe free, by S.B..

Focuses on universities and colleges in the United States that provide education for medical doctors. Schools training students to deal with patients from diverse cultures; Mention of Wright State University; Community-based training available.