Economist , Oct. 25
(posted
Saturday, Oct. 25)
A cover
editorial praises Bill Clinton for softening his policy toward China. He once
threatened to withhold MFN; now he engages China through trade. Engagement,
coupled with an active military presence in the Far East, will keep China from
endangering the world. A story recommends that baseball teams share television
revenue. Currently, teams in small television markets can't afford to pay great
players and thus can't compete. An essay lauds the creative charity of George
Soros, who eschews boring gifts to wealthy colleges and museums. Instead Soros
funds drug decriminalization, immigration reform, and Eastern European
democracy--projects that may change society. Utterly Predictable Department: A
review showers yet more praise on the universally acclaimed Guggenheim Museum
in Bilbao, Spain.
New
Republic , Nov. 10
(posted
Friday, Oct. 24)
An
article says UNICEF doesn't deserve your Halloween money. Donations feed its
wasteful bureaucracy, not starving children. A story mocks America's burgeoning
dread of germs. New, incredibly popular "antibacterial" products rely on fear
to boost sales, yet are largely ineffective in fighting bacteria. The piece
also notes that bacteria aren't so dangerous that we need to be constantly
paranoid about them. "TRB" urges liberals to embrace school vouchers. The poor
should be able to flee bad schools just like the rich, and the competition will
strengthen public education.
New
York Times Magazine , Oct. 26
(posted
Thursday, Oct. 23)
A cover
story ponders the medical and ethical issues raised by post-menopausal
pregnancies. Thanks to donated eggs and sperm, women in their 60s now can give
birth. Older mothers face high health risks and, as they become elderly, might
not be up to the job of parenting. It's just plain unnatural, some doctors say.
A feature story says Detroit Piston Grant Hill is ready to dominate basketball.
The fourth-year forward hopes to shed his deferential reputation: "I think I
can be the best player in the NBA, and I want to show it."
Time and
Newsweek , Oct. 27
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 21)
School's in at both
magazines. Time 's cover package considers "what makes a good school."
Recommendations: good after-school programs, lots of computers, smaller
classes, and higher standards for teachers. Time also tracks the
growing popularity of school vouchers among blacks in
inner cities. Republicans hope to attract black voters with the issue.
Newsweek 's cover story explores how schools handle learning
disabilities. Early diagnosis, new teaching techniques (emphasis on the arts,
thematic programs), and new research into the brains of LD kids are starting to
rectify a neglected problem. Shocking stat: "[A]s many as 20 percent of
schoolchildren may have a neurological deficit, ranging from mild to severe,
that makes it hard for them to read and write."
Time interviews Chinese President Jiang Zemin. When Time
asks if Jiang should make a "gesture on human rights" to ease relations with
America, Jiang replies: "I would like to know what you refer to specifically as
a gesture. We have made it clear that we respect human rights." A Time
investigation finds that nursing homes neglect patients:
Seniors have died of thirst and starvation; some facilities are crawling with
maggots.
In
Newsweek , Dan Quayle derides Al Gore's recent praise for Ellen :
"By paying homage both to Hollywood and to the gay lobby, Al Gore has beaten
his rivals to the cash machine." Quayle does give Gore points for recognizing
Hollywood's power to shape culture. Also in Newsweek , drug-of-last-week
ketamine, or "Special K" (see last week's Time), gives way to drug-of-this-week gamma
hydroxybutyrate, known as "GHB" or "Grievous Bodily Harm." The
inhibition-lowering chemical is catching on at parties, and has been linked to
at least 20 deaths.
U.S.
News & World Report , Oct. 27
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 21)
"The 1998
Career Guide" says hot
career paths include: animator, crisis specialist, corrections officer,
grief therapist, and cosmetic dentist. A companion piece notes that a growing number of companies pay full
salaries for four-day workweeks. Four-day employees are actually more
productive in the office. A story argues that the new Labor government is dumbing down
British culture. An "art for everyone" policy pitches opera to soccer fans and
adds prurient plot lines to once-staid radio shows. Also, an article predicts that smart cards, a microchip-laden credit/debit
card, already popular in Europe, will soon catch on in America: "In theory, a
single smart card could replace a fistful of credit and debit cards, serve as a
driver's license, store a person's medical history, feed a parking meter, and
function as a tamperproof personal ID encoded with an individual's
fingerprint."
Weekly Standard , Oct. 27
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 21)
The cover
essay lambastes the talk show Politically Incorrect for its inane
discourse: "The pace is plodding, as host and guests struggle to figure out
what it is they're talking about." A story concludes that Vincent Foster
committed suicide, and that the conspiracy theories hold no water. The real
cover-up was the post-suicide removal of documents from Foster's office. Also,
an editorial condemns Republicans for avoiding the accelerating fight against
racial preferences: "It won't do for Republicans to delay the prize of
colorblindness, even for a moment, by silently ignoring the battle while it's
waged."
Harper's , November 1997
(posted
Thursday, Oct. 16)
Harper's runs nine newly discovered short stories by Anton Chekhov.
Written during a feverish tuberculosis fit when Chekhov was in his early 20s,
titles include: "On the Train," "Sarah Bernhardt Comes to Town," "From the
Diary of an Assistant Bookkeeper," and "Elements Most Often Found in Novels,
Short Stories, Etc." A story reports from a funeral directors' convention--they
see big business in millions of aging baby boomers. (Hot cremation stat: "[T]he
average person takes an hour and a half to burn.") A book review calls
Underworld Don DeLillo's best work. Among his contemporaries, DeLillo
"is the shrewdest observer of his neighbors and the purest and most native
prose stylist." (Click here for Walter Kirn's review of the book in Slate.)
--Compiled by Seth Stevenson and the editors of Slate .
