Economist , March 7
(posted
Saturday, March 7)
Echoing
U.S. News , the cover editorial applauds HMOs for reducing medical
inflation. Suggestion for improvement: unregulated competition, which would
force HMOs to compete over quality as well as price. ... A story deplores the U.S. government's plans to control
encryption software on the Internet. Federal agencies want the right to read
encrypted messages, much as they currently have the right to tap phones. A free
market for encryption is a better idea: It would produce more reliable
encryption software and protect electronic commerce from criminals.
New
York Times Magazine , March 8
(posted
Thursday, March 5)
Yet
another special issue. The subject is--we're not kidding--business
travel as a way of life. Sixteen features look at the nomadic ennui of the
frequent business traveler. An article claims airports are our new cities: The
Dallas/Fort Worth airport is bigger than Manhattan. Executives can fly in, eat
meals, get a massage, hold meetings, and stay overnight--all without leaving
the terminal. A story says execs are high-end restaurants' best customers. They
eat faster than most and drink overpriced liquor--on the expense account,
natch. A piece marvels at the popularity of plane-disaster novels
( Airframe , Mayday ) in airport bookstores, theorizing that
fictional air terror must "inoculate a troubled mind with a homeopathic dose of
angst." Also, a writer tries to break his personal record of West
86 th Street, Manhattan, to Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C., in
one hour and 47 minutes. Keys to success: Sit in a front seat on the shuttle
and dictate an optimum route to cabbies.
Time , March 9
(posted
Tuesday, March 3)
A
blockbuster 75 th -anniversary issue. Among the nearly 200 pages of
hagiography: 1) letters to Time from Harpo Marx, Salvador Dalí, William
Randolph Hearst, and Frank Sinatra ("as usual your information stinks," Frank
wrote in 1961); 2) an array of great cover images; 3) Time 's most and
least prescient comments (in 1983, a prediction that the paparazzi would
kill a member of the royal family, and in 1933, a prediction that Hitler was
destined for obscurity); and 4) a list of Time neologisms ("socialite,"
"televangelist," and "World War II"). Time 's two best-selling issues
were both on Princess Di's death. The worst-selling issue? A 1994 cover on the
black cultural renaissance.
Newsweek , March 9
(posted
Tuesday, March 3)
On the
cover: A smiling Bill Gates proclaims, "Why We Will Win." Inside: A story
tracks Microsoft's growing D.C. PR campaign: Gates is visiting Washington this
week for schmoozing and a Senate hearing. (For Gates' D.C. diary in
Slate
, click here.) In an interview, Gates reiterates the Microsoft line, "We
need to keep innovating to stay alive." ...
Newsweek offers a
detailed account of the Kathleen Willey episode, supposedly consistent with
Willey's deposition in the Paula Jones case. After Willey said, "I'm really
kind of desperate. The bottom line is, I need a job," Clinton allegedly fondled
her breasts and placed her hand against his erect penis. Willey pulled away
when there was a knock at the door of the president's private study. ...
Just when you thought you were safe, Newsweek finds yet another health
scare: your malicious thyroid. Thyroid problems can be hard to detect and can
cause severe, unexplained depression.
U.S.
News & World Report , March 9
(posted
Tuesday, March 3)
A
Jekyll-and-Hyde cover package rehashes the usual praise and criticism for HMOs.
An article cheers HMOs for cutting costs to both big employers and
HMO patients. A former medical director slams HMOs for making heartless, profit-motivated decisions.
... A story worries that foreign exchange students might gain
weapons-building knowledge at U.S. colleges. Students from Iraq and North Korea
(some learning nuclear physics) currently go unwatched once they enter the
United States. ... Also, tax
advice: Claim lots of dependents and don't get married (tax laws favor
singles).
The
New Yorker , March 9
(posted
Tuesday, March 3)
An
absolutely terrifying article describes the old Soviet bioweapons program and
speculates that rogue nations are now employing its scientists. Chilling
descriptions of bioweapons abound: "Veepox," a cross between smallpox and a
brain virus, and "Ebolapox," a cross between smallpox and Ebola--as fatal as
Ebola and as contagious as smallpox. The bioweapons could be deployed quickly,
surreptitiously, and cheaply; and America is totally unprepared to deal with
them. (The article is by Hot Zone author Richard Preston, the master of
biological horror stories.) ... An essay pegged to the Lewinsky scandal
mourns the end of loyalty. Presidential aides used to fall on their swords for
their boss; now they stab him in the back. Why? We are a "Free Agent Nation":
Shifting, fluid acquaintanceships have replaced firm, lifelong loyalties.
Perfect example: Bill Clinton has thousands of friends, but no really close
ones. (
Slate
's "Chatterbox" has strong views on this article.
Click here.)
... A profile of Judge Susan Wright says she will make sure the Paula
Jones trial is narrowly focused and extremely short (perhaps only a week).
Those hoping for months of tawdry sex revelations will be disappointed.
Weekly Standard , March 9
(posted
Tuesday, March 3)
The cover
story says the Lewinsky case has exposed feminists' partisan agenda. The piece
chews over the much chewed-over comparison between Clarence Thomas and Bill
Clinton. (Feminists denounced Thomas but defend Clinton.) (For
Slate
's ruminations on this topic, see this "Gist.") ... Also,
Hillary Clinton is no longer a feminist icon: She's now "the very model of the
Victorian little woman, denying it happened, blaming the floozies, absolving
her husband of blame." ... An article claims that Dick Armey will not be
the next speaker of the House, despite heir apparent Bill Paxon clearing the
path by resigning. Armey doesn't schmooze well enough with colleagues and has a
fatal flaw: He's bad on TV talk shows. ... A story says GOP leaders are
itching to start impeachment hearings once Kenneth Starr finishes his
investigation. They just need a few Democratic votes so they can claim
bipartisan support.
--Seth
Stevenson
