New Republic , Dec. 15 (posted Thursday, Nov. 27) The cover story blasts the flat tax, which Republicans are adopting as their top legislative priority. The GOP lies when it says the flat tax would cut tax bills for middle-class Americans. In fact, the flat tax would "massively" redistribute income to the rich. (The national sales tax, another GOP favorite, is an equally regressive scheme, and totally unenforceable.) The editorial endorses progressive tax reform: Cut rates but scrap loopholes such as the mortgage-interest deduction for homeowners. An article by a constitutional lawyer wonders whether Ted Kaczynski's diary should be admissible in court and decides that it should be. A key reason: The Fifth Amendment does not protect self-incriminating diaries because diary writing is voluntary, not compelled by the court. New York Times Magazine , Nov. 30 (posted Thursday, Nov. 27) "The Last Best Friends Money Can Buy" follows two home-health-care workers as they tend to a dying 99-year-old. Conclusion: It's sad that Americans pay strangers to care for elderly relatives, but at least the strangers are willing and qualified. The two caregivers--Jamaicans--are disappointed by American callousness. An article notes the rise of "whiteness studies" in academia. Grad students say they are analyzing whiteness in order to undermine racial supremacy. The author worries that they may only succeed in cementing racial categories. A piece describes the quixotic quest of novelist Larry McMurtry: He is trying to turn his tiny, struggling Texas hometown of Archer City into America's used-book capital. He's already filled several commercial buildings with books. The venture is helping McMurtry recover from a long bout of depression. Time and Newsweek , Dec. 1 (posted Tuesday, Nov. 25) Twin septuplet covers. Both mags have pieces on the science and ethics of fertility drugs--Time's is more comprehensive. Time has sidebars on the McCaughey septuplets' forgotten older sister (22-month-old Mikayla), the horrors of multiple births gone wrong, and adoption as an alternative to fertility drugs. Time also runs a cautionary letter from three of the surviving Dionne quintuplets, who were born in 1934. Their upbringing was a nightmare. The McCaugheys are already collecting from well-wishers: a 15-seat minivan, a new house, diapers for life, and much more from corporate America. Newsweek offers a time line of the doctors' plans for a successful delivery. It also has sidebars on the Dionnes and other famous multibirths. Time identifies a new racial conflict: bilingual education. Blacks resent Hispanics' perceived hoarding of scarce public-school funds. In Newsweek , George Stephanopoulos argues that killing Saddam would be a more effective method of deposing the dictator than a bombing campaign. Also in Newsweek , trend-spotting: Soup is "the new coffee." Gourmet soup cafes and "Soup Nazi" wannabes are sprouting up all over trendy cities. U.S. News & World Report , Dec. 1 (posted Tuesday, Nov. 25) A week after its "Buyer's Guide to the Hottest Tech Toys," U.S. News puts the "Annual Guide to Techno Life" on the cover. Highlights of the package: An article says that wearable medical computers will diagnose illness by "smelling" the body for disease. A fold-out map details the wonders of Bill Gates' wired house: The library has two secretly pivoting bookshelves. (One hides a bar, what does the other hide?) His walkways, we note approvingly, are covered with slate (or, as it's known here, Slate ). And new software will displace entire professional classes, like auditors, by automating complicated, arcane tasks. A piece pegged to the global-warming summit contends that the United States can save $300 billion a year and reduce greenhouse gases by using energy more efficiently. The New Yorker , Dec. 1 (posted Tuesday, Nov. 25) A long article chronicles the skinhead war in Antelope Valley, a Los Angeles suburb. White, neo-Nazi, speed-addicted teens brawl with the multiracial "Sharps" (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice). Who's to blame? Parents, often speed freaks themselves, who are totally uninvolved in their kids' lives. Ex-JFK buddy Gore Vidal praises Seymour Hersh's Kennedy bio and tells more stories about JFK's sex adventures and mendaciousness. He mocks the notion that Kennedy was a good president, likening him to James Garfield. A piece belittles Nobel Prize winner Stanley Prusiner's prion theory, calling it "pathological science" that is contrary to evidence and experience. It is very likely that a slow virus, rather than simply a protein, causes brain illnesses like mad-cow disease. (For another skeptical view, see Slate 's "Hey, Wait a Minute.") A flattering profile of Janet Reno describes her as the least political person in Washington. She probably won't appoint an independent counsel to investigate Clinton and Gore. Funniest nugget: One of those close to Clinton refers to her in private as "the Martian." Weekly Standard , Dec. 1 (posted Tuesday, Nov. 25) A five-story cover package calls for Saddam Hussein's overthrow. To buttress internal opposition, the allies should restore Radio Free Iraq, end the Kurdish civil war in the north, and indict him as a war criminal. If we attack militarily, we must use ground troops: As the Gulf War proved, air power alone won't cripple Iraq's forces and won't topple Saddam. An essay lavishly praises antitrust law, which maintains open competitive markets with a minimum of government interference. Vanity Fair , December 1997 (posted Tuesday, Nov. 18) A posthumous profile of Dodi Fayed says he was childish, profligate, unreliable, paranoid, and drug-using. His father totally controlled him, his much-touted involvement in film production has been wildly exaggerated, and his affair with Diana would have fallen apart, as his many other glam romances did. A story marvels at New Yorkers' conspicuous consumption, which far outdoes the '80s. Grotesque examples: $20,000 watches, $14,000 bags, $5,800 bottles of wine, and $3,000 sweaters are popular items, and some thirtysomethings are purchasing $10-million apartments-- with cash . Vanity Fair exhaustively chronicles the events at Brooklyn's 70 th precinct, where the "Plunger Cops" assaulted Abner Louima. Thomas Bruder, one of the four officers accused, tells his story, blaming the others. Louima's lawyers are depicted as shameless money- and publicity-seekers. A piece about Internet gossip Matt Drudge depicts him as a charming, naive young man who made a terrible mistake in reporting that White House aide Sidney Blumenthal beat his wife. Blumenthal's lawsuit may well ruin Drudge and threaten Internet free speech. --Seth Stevenson