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
