Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the February 2002 issue

Assets

Question Time

Two Oregon cities refuse federal requests that they question 5,000 foreigners about terrorism. Officials in Portland and Corvallis say they cannot simply question people without cause. They argue further that police would be distracted from real live crimes during the dragnet.

Global Bargaining

International trade talks in Doha, Qatar, revive hope for freer trade. The U.S. admits that its anti-dumping laws need fixing and agrees to discuss ending all farm subsidies everywhere, something developing countries desperately want.

Broadcast News

Veteran CBS newsman Bernard Goldberg writes that network news not only has a liberal slant, but revels in it. His book Bias also details the contempt elite broadcasters have for their audience, a.k.a. "white trash."

Replay Official

SonicBlue stares down threatened lawsuits from TV networks and releases ReplayTV, a digital video recorder mated to a broadband pipe. The device allows users to share recorded programs with up to 15 others. SonicBlue says it's fair use, defying content lawyers who argue that fair use is null in the digital age.

Air Marshals

Burned by worldwide ridicule, Montgomery County, Maryland, backs away from a plan to regulate smoking in private homes. The county had planned fines of up to $750 for people whose neighbors could smell cigarette smoke through the walls.

Ms. Fez

Lawmakers in Turkey update the nation's 76-year-old civil code to give women greater rights. Under the old code, husbands could legally forbid their wives from working outside the home.

Liabilities

Killer App