Economist , Sept. 27
(posted
Saturday, Sept. 27)
Giuliani
backlash. An article credits former police chief William Bratton and Wall
Street for New York City's comeback. Notable stat: The city's welfare rolls are
longer now than in David Dinkins' first year as mayor. The cover editorial criticizes Japan's proposed "Asian bail-out
facility." Intended to counter economic shakiness in the Far East, it would
damage the world's monetary markets by weakening the International Monetary
Fund. Also, a story examines the extreme incidence of lesbianism in
Diaprepes
abbreviatus beetles. A theory: One member of the
lesbian pair poses as a male, thereby discouraging smaller males who are
unwilling to fight for a mate.
New
Republic , Oct. 13
(posted
Saturday, Sept. 27)
An
excerpt from Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom's America in Black and White
cites polls to reject the conventional wisdom that Americans remain bitterly
divided over race: "In fact, we are one nation, with blacks and whites much
less unequal and, by many measures, much less hostile than in the past." "TRB"
calls the ban on land mines the "politics of sentiment" and advocates clearing
old mines from now-peaceful countries instead of prohibiting them from war
zones like the DMZ in Korea. An article lambastes recent Democratic Party
overtures to Bill Weld. Democrats ignore Weld's fiscally Republican views, but
embrace precisely the socially progressive streak in Weld (gay rights,
affirmative action) that middle America hates in Democrats.
New
York Times Magazine , Sept. 28
(posted
Thursday, Sept. 25)
A special
issue offers a dozen articles about technology and modern culture. Among the
highlights: An article deplores the way computers disconnect users from the
physical world. (We spend too much time hunched over keyboards thinking, not
enough experiencing the real world.) Another story rejects the popular notion
that technology discourages socializing. (In fact, Internet chat rooms and
newsgroups are excellent places for social interaction.) Yet another argues
that recent software upgrades are actually downgrades. (They add useless
features that confuse users and waste time.) And an essay praises hyperfiction
for blurring the role of writer and reader. (To minimize confusion in Slate's
hypertext environment: writer = me, reader = you.)
Time and Newsweek , Sept. 29
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 23)
Newsweek 's cover story praises Ted Turner's $1 billion gift to the
United Nations. Today's big donors are more hands-on than their predecessors,
an accompanying article says. Time 's cover story explains how popular serotonin-boosting drugs
(such as diet pills Redux and fen-phen) work, and how they can be health risks
(high serotonin levels damage heart valves). (See Slate's take
on fen-phen.) A Time sidebar blames the "uncritical media" for promoting
the drugs "in the war against fat." (Hmm. One year ago this week, Time
ran a cover story praising Redux.) Newsweek says Di's death improves
Prince Charles' image, transforming him from unfaithful husband to grieving
father. Time hails the colorized New York Times as America's best
newspaper and also raves about Bob Dylan's new album, terming it "alchemic
magic." Newsweek says Chinese President Jiang Zemin bolstered his
political power by ousting two Politburo rivals at the Communist Party
Congress, but his dictatorial style won't mesh with his push for a modern
economy.
U.S.
News & World Report , Sept. 29
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 23)
U.S.
News tells the now-familiar story of New York City's resurrection, proposing the Big Apple as
a model for other downtrodden cities. Reducing crime was the crucial first
step: It sparked a return of industry, tourism, and permanent residents. (The
stock market boom and the Yankees championship helped too.) An article says that the Air Force is losing confidence: After the
Gulf War the Air Force felt it was the most important of the four services, but
cuts in funding and troop strength, as well as a move toward unmanned aircraft,
have shaken it. Also, a story predicts that President Clinton will allow U.S. firms to
sell atomic power plants to China. American companies face a shrinking domestic
market, and claim (dubiously) that China won't make military use of the
technology.
The
New Yorker , Sept. 29
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 23)
A story
says clues to the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic may lie in the cells of seven
corpses preserved by permafrost on a Norwegian island. Scientists want to
determine the cause of the flu's potency (it killed more Americans than World
Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam combined) and prevent future epidemics. An
article argues that the Princess Di hoopla finally brought American emotional
sensibilities (i.e., hysteria) to Britain. Also, a piece marvels at the Getty
Center, the soon-to-open L.A. art museum: Thanks to its deep pockets, the Getty
has built a first-rate collection without having to market itself as other
museums do.
Weekly Standard , Sept. 29
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 23)
The cover
story revisits a favorite Standard topic: China's abysmal human-rights
record. "The Laogai Archipelago" describes China's massive, awful penal system,
which imprisons between 6 million and 8 million people and favors such
barbarous practices as slave labor, torture, and organ-harvesting from executed
convicts. Anti-Laogai crusader Harry Wu is much praised. The editorial
ridicules Al Gore's campaign against U.S. hunger, using government statistics
to point out that there is virtually no one in America who doesn't get enough
to eat.
The
Nation , Oct. 6
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 23)
A
10-story cover package on the "Politics of Travel" complains that mass
tourism Disneyfies authentic culture and promotes economic colonialism.
Tourism, it reports, is the second-largest industry in the world, after oil.
The funniest piece: A Nation writer takes the National Review 's
Alaska cruise, hobnobbing with William Buckley, Milton Friedman, and hundreds
of wealthy right-wingers. He is baffled to find that conservatives are
incredibly nice. Other highlight: A visit to the "most poisonous place on
earth," a Nevada nuclear-test site. A bus takes tourists to the bomb craters
and blasted "test" towns.
--Compiled by Seth Stevenson and the editors of Slate .
