Economist , March 14 (posted Saturday, March 14) The cover editorial slams Britain's sluggishness in combating mad cow disease. The government should have advised the public earlier about risks (as it did with AIDS) and should have spent more on research (a cure is still nowhere in sight). ... A story accuses the World Health Organization of placing politics before the truth. WHO 1) downplayed findings that secondhand smoke is less harmful than was previously thought and 2) may suppress work linking nuclear testing to thyroid cancer because it conflicts with a study done by the U.S. government. ... An article wonders who owns the moon. A 1967 treaty says it "belongs to all mankind," but mineral exploration companies think they've found loopholes allowing them to mine for profit. ... A story says Tony Blair's love affair with British pop stars has gone awry. Bands such as Oasis, once Blair supporters, have found that New Labor is less progressive than it seemed (particularly on funding for the arts) and have cut ties to Blair. True to its free market principles, the Economist decides "there is a flaw in the argument that a generous welfare state generates good pop music: Germany." New Republic , March 30 (posted Friday, March 13) The cover story deflates the Alan Greenspan myth. Pols, financiers, and the public credit the fed head with the economy's success and trust his judgment on everything. (Best anecdote: One Wall Street firm has built a shrine to Greenspan in an empty office.) In fact, Greenspan has done next to nothing for the economy (changing interest rates once since 1995), and his judgment is simply predictable conservatism. ... The editorial calls for the elimination of the independent-counsel law. The law encourages wasteful spending and intrusive investigations: "Since 1990, eight independent counsels have spent a total of more than $80 million." ... A story describes the ambulance-chasing spurred by the Lewinsky case. D.C. lawyers scramble for big-name clients, but many settle for lesser game: One lawyer was retained by Vernon Jordan's limo driver. New York Times Magazine , March 15 (posted Thursday, March 12) The cover story claims that "the chances of a nuclear exchange have arguably never been higher." The United States and Russia continue to aim thousands of warheads at each other, and the United States, despite signing the START I commitment to arms reduction, continues to develop new and more deadly nukes. In 1995, a U.S. research rocket launched from Norway brought Russia "a couple of minutes" away from a decision to launch a retaliatory strike. ... A profile gently mocks British historian Paul Johnson, author of a new history of the United States. Pols such as Newt Gingrich love Johnson's reactionary revisionism (he adores Nixon, despises Kennedy), but Johnson's books are riddled with errors (he says Edison invented the telephone), and the English think him a social-climbing loony. In Johnson's defense: He's a "controversialist" who likes starting political battles. (Full disclosure: Slate 's Jacob Weisberg wrote the piece.) Time and Newsweek , March 16 (posted Tuesday, March 10) Time 's excuse to put John Travolta on the cover: the release of the movie Primary Colors . Travolta stars as the Bill Clinton character, and Time says it's a believable portrait of the president, one that includes all his lecherousness and charm. After a Lewinsky-caused hiatus from health covers, Newsweek returns to its favorite subject. Its lead story touts New Age heart guru Dr. Dean Ornish, who says low-fat diets, meditation, and love are better than surgery for curing heart ailments. A Time exclusive: Someone, probably a U.S. official, stole supersecret documents from the State Department. The FBI's not sure what the documents were, but they may have been classified intelligence briefings. ... Time excerpts Bill Gates' Slate diary about his Senate grilling. For the complete diary, click here. Newsweek says Internet phone service has arrived, but it's disappointing. Some systems offer slightly cheaper rates, but the sound quality is lousy. ... Newsweek claims Sports Illustrated (owned by rival Time Warner) will be in trouble when ESPN--The Magazine hits newsstands this week. ESPN's mag is backed by Disney's deep pockets and will be skewed to a younger audience than SI . U.S. News & World Report , March 16 (posted Tuesday, March 10) Apropos of nothing, U.S. News runs a cover package on "The Strategists of War." Profiled: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Schwarzkopf, among others. Curious inclusion: Curtis LeMay, the crazed war hawk who wanted to bomb and invade Cuba during the missile crisis: "Let's take [the Russian Bear's] leg off right up to his testicles," argued LeMay. ... A story says the millenium bug is a boon to older software coders. Programmers familiar with ancient mainframes know how to solve Y2K problems, and can charge $100 an hour to do so. The New Yorker , March 16 (posted Tuesday, March 10) An article condemns the "pathologizing of radical dissent" in the Unabomber case. Ted Kaczynski's lawyers, family, psychiatrists, and trial judge refused to take his anarchist, anti-technology ideas seriously. Instead, they simply declared him crazy (despite little evidence of mental illness) and wouldn't let him present the anti-technology defense he wanted. The piece likens Kaczynski to abolitionist John Brown, who was tried and hanged after he resisted efforts to classify him as insane. ... Scott McNealy, the combative CEO of Sun Microsystems, is profiled. His vicious battle with Microsoft has been good for Sun's business, but he may be slightly more obsessed with destroying Gates than he should be. ... A story recounts the odd political career of Sonia Gandhi, leader of India's Congress Party and widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She doesn't answer questions in public, lacks a political philosophy, barely speaks Hindi (she's Italian), and is legendarily vindictive, yet she's India's most popular politician. Weekly Standard , March 16 (posted Tuesday, March 10) An article embraces much maligned, gas guzzling sport utility vehicles. Problem: SUVs are dangerous to the drivers of cars they hit. Solution: We should all drive SUVs. After all, gas is cheap these days. ... An editorial chides Republicans for their relative silence on the Lewinsky scandal. Republicans should clamor for the truth--they are the American public's best hope that it will be revealed. ... Historian-turned-pol Newt Gingrich reviews Paul Johnson's new history of America. Restrained as usual, the House speaker calls the book "perhaps the most important history of the American people in our generation." The book's thesis: "America is a civilization; we are one people; there is a religious base to our freedom; and entrepreneurship, invention, and work create far greater wealth than any bureaucracy in history." --Seth Stevenson