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December 17, 2012 | | QUESTIONS Investigators are doggedly trying to answer a fundamental but elusive question: what made the nephew of a hero cop take the lives of 20 innocent children? Michael Daly reports. Plus, Christine Pelisek on Newtown’s identity crisis, and read about the all victims. ZERO DARK THIRTY Zero Dark Thirty, the new movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, has reignited a very heated debate over the use of torture against al Qaeda. But perhaps there’s a better question on the minds of security strategists these days: when will the war on terror end? The Obama administration has recently given a few subtle clues that it’s open to scaling back its war footing. The highly controversial drone program is undergoing changes that would put the CIA on a tighter leash. And senior officials have started publicly asking what the end of the conflict would look like. President Obama will never declare the war over, but it looks like he’s thinking about “winding down the state of emergency,” as one adviser put it to Newsweek. Daniel Klaidman reports. CONSUMER SPENDING It may sound selfish, but it’s perhaps one of the clearest signs the economy is growing again. NPD Group, a retail-research firm that tracks consumer spending, reports that roughly one third of consumers are buying gifts for themselves this holiday season, up from a pre-recession 12 percent. What’s with the surge? After years of being frugal to bring down credit-card and other household debt, shoppers may be allowing themselves a little fun. So go ahead and splurge—it’s good for all of us, writes Daniel Gross in Newsweek. WEED WHACKED Jobs for recent college grads are scarce, wages are stagnating, and it’s not clear our youngest workers will have a social safety net to catch them in their golden years. In this week’s Newsweek, David Frum makes the case against legal weed. Pot users, he argues, citing studies, do worse at work, take more days off, and are involved in more accidents. And none of that could be good for career advancement and upward economic mobility. UNREST IN EGYPT Massive protests have erupted in Egypt as opposition groups take to the streets to voice their displeasure with the country’s proposed new constitution. Backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, President Mohamed Morsi says the new constitution is vital to restoring order and calming the jittery nerves of foreign investors. But secular liberals, Coptic Christians, and other activists fear it could lead to Sharia law. Voting on the document is expected to conclude on Dec. 22. | | 
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