Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Economist , June 19
The
cover story demystifies genetically modified food.
Europeans are skeptical because they believe genetic manipulation is unnatural,
dangerous, and bad for the environment. But nearly all produce is a product of
man-bred hybrids, genetically modified food isn't toxic, and genetic
manipulation reduces the need for chemicals. Americans are not bothered by the
food fuss because they're ignorant about what they eat, optimistic about
technology, and trusting of their regulatory agencies. ... An
article asks why stores, such as Wal-Mart, are
expanding abroad when most international retailers still get their highest
returns at home. Expectations of economies of scale encourage globalization.
But few suppliers can source globally, and retailing requires tinkering for
local tastes. ... An editorial decries the troubling turnout in European
Parliament elections. Even though the EU is adopting a new currency and
thinking of marshalling an army, only 49 percent bothered to vote. Low turnout
suggests that Europeans identify more with their nations than with their new
union.
National
Review , June 28
The
cover story derides Hillary as beloved "First Doormat":
H.R.C. won't succeed as a solo politician because she has a tin ear for
politics and a likability deficit when not acting as Clinton's stooge.
... A piece offers a unique suggestion for avoiding school
shootings--remove the disincentives against dropping out. Forcing miscreants to
attend high school is pure folly, based on three untruths: 1) any kid can be
taught; 2) dropping out will turn a kid toward crime; and 3) without a
high-school education you can't get a decent job. Allowing rebels to quit
school would contribute to schoolhouse peace and classroom learning.
... Gore's environmentalism collides with his livability
agenda, according to an article. Activists, partially funded by Al's EPA, wage
war on roads being built or expanded by localities. Highway projects are held
up and commuters get caught in the constricted traffic.
Atlantic
Monthly , July 1999
The
cover story claims that the ingratiating ways of dogs manifest an instinct for
survival, not a love of owner. Proto-dogs started hanging out with humans
because people produced an exploitable ecological niche filled with warmth and
garbage. Dog genome projects reveal that inbreeding for pedigree locks in bad
recessive traits. Maintaining genetic diversity is the best way to breed man's
best friend. ... A piece agitates for a progressive
pro-school-voucher coalition. Voucher programs currently cover only 0.1 percent
of students, so school choice is an untried solution to education's ills. A
500,000-student trial of publicly funded school vouchers, accompanied by an
increase in traditional school spending, could break the stalemate in the
education debate. ... An article laments the practice of
liberating Sudanese slaves by buying their freedom. Slave redeemers provide a
strong financial incentive for the continuation of the slave business, which
would otherwise be unprofitable, and have spurred an increase in the number of
Sudanese being enslaved.
New
Republic
, July 5
The
cover story claims new technologies will revolutionize
political campaigns. The Internet, consumer databases, and sophisticated
software help candidates to identify the fattest fund-raising targets and to
customize their campaigns to individual voters through e-mail. Personalizing
politics might boost voter participation, but it could diminish candidate
accountability and threaten voter privacy. ... Despite the peace plan's
promise to demilitarize the rebels, the KLA is turning itself into a standing
army, according to a Kosovo dispatch . The rebels are manning checkpoints,
policing cities to show their force, and voicing their reluctance to disarm.
... An article explores the handiwork of Philip Christenson, a
foreign affairs consultant (and former Sen. Jesse Helms staffer), who digs up
embarrassing information on administration nominees and campaigns against them
with critical op-eds and by otherwise purveying damaging tidbits. His most
successful effort to date involves Richard Holbrooke, who has endured
confirmation limbo for a full year.
New York Times
Magazine
, June 20
The
cover story on racial profiling by police presents the conventional wisdom:
Profiling is a blunt instrument; too many innocents are harassed solely on the
basis of race; and profiling poisons the citizenry's relations with police.
Profiling is also self-fulfilling: Pull over more blacks and you'll find more
guilty blacks. ... A Palestinian state is a certainty, according to an
article, but sovereignty will be a sham. West Bank settlements have been
inextricably integrated into Israel. Palestinians depend on Israel for
employment, and Israel will insist on controlling Palestine's international
borders. ... A profile of Steve Jurvetson, the 33-year-old venture
capitalist who seeds Internet startups, predicts he will prosper even though
Internet IPOs no longer promise exponential returns. Jurvetson's winning
formula is to back original ideas, not "Me Too" products such as
drugstore.com.
Time
and
Newsweek
,
June 21
George W. Bush takes both
covers. The cover head shots reflect the stories inside. Time 's is
soft-focused and warmly lighted; Newsweek 's is much harsher.
Newsweek concentrates on the obstacles to Bush's much-touted candidacy. According to the
mag, one reason voters don't know much about the Texas governor is his
Clintonian penchant for sophistry. When asked what he stands for, Bush replies,
"Honesty, integrity, serving for the right reasons." When asked what those
right reasons are, he elaborates, "America and what America stands for." But
Newsweek
analysis suggests that Bush's Clintonian nature might help
him meet the "greatest expectation" for his candidacy: that he can bend the GOP
back toward the political center. ...
Time 's enthusiastic package echoes the familiar line about why Bush is
the Republican favorite: The breadth of his support among blacks and Hispanics
and his landslide re-election victory wowed the GOP. The party's "sheer hunger
for victory" overwhelms ideological concerns about a Bush candidacy.
Time reports
that high schools in 40 states now offer marriage-education electives. The
courses, which often involve role play, teach "active listening" and "conflict
resolution." Florida mandates marriage ed and other states may soon follow
suit.
U.S. News
& World Report
, June 21
The
magazine alerts readers to another disease they didn't know they had:
Social anxiety, formerly known as shyness, affects one in eight Americans.
Clinics invite victims for treatment, but many are too bashful to attend. The
treatment for those who do show up: learning to withstand embarrassment.
Therapists make patients spill drinks and walk through public places trailing
toilet paper from their shoes ... A piece says that the Louisiana Republican Party will allow
online voting in the January 2000 presidential caucus. Several other states
will let absentee voters cast online ballots next year.
The New
Yorker , June 21 and 28
A
fin de siècle fiction issue prints stories by the country's "twenty best
young fiction writers" as well as glossy portraits of them. The introductory
essay reminds readers that a similar list compiled a century ago would not have
included Edith Wharton, Theodore Dreiser, Jack London, or Willa Cather because
all wrote their best work after age 40. The stories include: George Saunders'
mock reply to a customer-service complaint, Sherman Alexie's tale of a
hitchhiker, Jeffrey Eugenides' narrative of a sex anthropologist, and William
Vollman's imagined account of Lenin's wife.
Weekly
Standard , June 21
A
piece warns about the popular culture's fixation with hairless men. To be buff
but shorn of chest hair is to manifest male vanity and the desire for prolonged
adolescence--two symptoms of male homosexuality, according to the
Standard . The proliferation of pretty boys without chest pelts signals
the degree to which gay values have distorted mainstream notions of manliness.
(No mention is made of Austin Powers' shag-rug chest.) ... An article
celebrates rhetoric about God as a political tool. Professing faith allows
Republican candidates to woo the religious right without being locked to its
agenda on abortion. Gore discusses God to distance himself from the Clinton
scandals. ... A Yale professor writes that there aren't many qualified
female scientists because women don't like science, just as they don't like
playing sports. Women are innately less aggressive, and affirmative action
supporters should abandon their "harangue against female tastes."
