Less noted, perhaps, is the retrenchment of Roman Catholicism in France from the aggressive political role it played as recently as the Dreyfus affair toward the inward-turning N.

NEWYORKER: I, Nephi

This will become a rout as new Web middlemen, or "demand aggregators, " let solo Web surfers gang up into virtual buying co-ops. n Turning services into software.

FORBES: Digital rules

Alyssa VandeLeest volunteered as a marketing consultant last year with Turning Point, a Brooklyn, N.

WSJ: Helping Your Cause��and Your Career

Some years back, the U.N. welcomed the new millennium with a proposal that wealthy nations start turning over 0.7% of their gross national product for aid to the developing world.

FORBES: Keep An Eye On The U.N.