Economist , March 14
(posted
Saturday, March 14)
The cover
editorial slams Britain's sluggishness in combating mad cow disease. The
government should have advised the public earlier about risks (as it did with
AIDS) and should have spent more on research (a cure is still nowhere in
sight). ... A story accuses the World Health Organization of placing
politics before the truth. WHO 1) downplayed findings that secondhand smoke is
less harmful than was previously thought and 2) may suppress work linking
nuclear testing to thyroid cancer because it conflicts with a study done by the
U.S. government. ... An article wonders who owns the moon. A 1967 treaty
says it "belongs to all mankind," but mineral exploration companies think
they've found loopholes allowing them to mine for profit. ... A story
says Tony Blair's love affair with British pop stars has gone awry. Bands such
as Oasis, once Blair supporters, have found that New Labor is less progressive
than it seemed (particularly on funding for the arts) and have cut ties to
Blair. True to its free market principles, the Economist decides "there
is a flaw in the argument that a generous welfare state generates good pop
music: Germany."
New
Republic , March 30
(posted
Friday, March 13)
The cover
story deflates the Alan Greenspan myth. Pols, financiers, and the public credit
the fed head with the economy's success and trust his judgment on everything.
(Best anecdote: One Wall Street firm has built a shrine to Greenspan in an
empty office.) In fact, Greenspan has done next to nothing for the economy
(changing interest rates once since 1995), and his judgment is simply
predictable conservatism. ... The editorial calls for the elimination of
the independent-counsel law. The law encourages wasteful spending and intrusive
investigations: "Since 1990, eight independent counsels have spent a total of
more than $80 million." ... A story describes the ambulance-chasing
spurred by the Lewinsky case. D.C. lawyers scramble for big-name clients, but
many settle for lesser game: One lawyer was retained by Vernon Jordan's limo
driver.
New
York Times Magazine , March 15
(posted
Thursday, March 12)
The cover
story claims that "the chances of a nuclear exchange have arguably never been
higher." The United States and Russia continue to aim thousands of warheads at
each other, and the United States, despite signing the START I commitment to
arms reduction, continues to develop new and more deadly nukes. In 1995, a U.S.
research rocket launched from Norway brought Russia "a couple of minutes" away
from a decision to launch a retaliatory strike. ... A profile gently
mocks British historian Paul Johnson, author of a new history of the United
States. Pols such as Newt Gingrich love Johnson's reactionary revisionism (he
adores Nixon, despises Kennedy), but Johnson's books are riddled with errors
(he says Edison invented the telephone), and the English think him a
social-climbing loony. In Johnson's defense: He's a "controversialist" who
likes starting political battles. (Full disclosure:
Slate
's Jacob
Weisberg wrote the piece.)
Time and Newsweek , March 16
(posted
Tuesday, March 10)
Time 's excuse to put John Travolta on the cover: the release of the
movie Primary Colors . Travolta stars as the Bill Clinton character, and
Time says it's a believable portrait of the president, one that includes
all his lecherousness and charm.
After a Lewinsky-caused
hiatus from health covers, Newsweek returns to its favorite subject. Its
lead story touts New Age heart guru Dr. Dean Ornish, who says low-fat diets,
meditation, and love are better than surgery for curing heart ailments.
A Time exclusive: Someone, probably a U.S. official, stole
supersecret documents from the State Department. The FBI's not sure what the
documents were, but they may have been classified intelligence briefings.
...
Time excerpts Bill Gates'
Slate
diary about his
Senate grilling. For the complete diary, click here.
Newsweek says Internet phone service has arrived, but it's
disappointing. Some systems offer slightly cheaper rates, but the sound quality
is lousy. ...
Newsweek claims Sports Illustrated (owned by
rival Time Warner) will be in trouble when ESPN--The Magazine hits
newsstands this week. ESPN's mag is backed by Disney's deep pockets and will be
skewed to a younger audience than SI .
U.S.
News & World Report , March 16
(posted
Tuesday, March 10)
Apropos
of nothing, U.S. News runs a cover
package on "The Strategists of War." Profiled: Eisenhower, MacArthur,
Schwarzkopf, among others. Curious inclusion: Curtis LeMay, the crazed war hawk
who wanted to bomb and invade Cuba during the missile crisis: "Let's take [the
Russian Bear's] leg off right up to his testicles," argued LeMay. ... A
story says the millenium bug is a boon to older software coders.
Programmers familiar with ancient mainframes know how to solve Y2K problems,
and can charge $100 an hour to do so.
The
New Yorker , March 16
(posted
Tuesday, March 10)
An
article condemns the "pathologizing of radical dissent" in the Unabomber case.
Ted Kaczynski's lawyers, family, psychiatrists, and trial judge refused to take
his anarchist, anti-technology ideas seriously. Instead, they simply declared
him crazy (despite little evidence of mental illness) and wouldn't let him
present the anti-technology defense he wanted. The piece likens Kaczynski to
abolitionist John Brown, who was tried and hanged after he resisted efforts to
classify him as insane. ... Scott McNealy, the combative CEO of Sun
Microsystems, is profiled. His vicious battle with Microsoft has been good for
Sun's business, but he may be slightly more obsessed with destroying Gates than
he should be. ... A story recounts the odd political career of Sonia
Gandhi, leader of India's Congress Party and widow of assassinated Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She doesn't answer questions in public, lacks a
political philosophy, barely speaks Hindi (she's Italian), and is legendarily
vindictive, yet she's India's most popular politician.
Weekly Standard , March 16
(posted
Tuesday, March 10)
An
article embraces much maligned, gas guzzling sport utility vehicles. Problem:
SUVs are dangerous to the drivers of cars they hit. Solution: We should all
drive SUVs. After all, gas is cheap these days. ... An editorial chides
Republicans for their relative silence on the Lewinsky scandal. Republicans
should clamor for the truth--they are the American public's best hope that it
will be revealed. ... Historian-turned-pol Newt Gingrich reviews Paul
Johnson's new history of America. Restrained as usual, the House speaker calls
the book "perhaps the most important history of the American people in our
generation." The book's thesis: "America is a civilization; we are one people;
there is a religious base to our freedom; and entrepreneurship, invention, and
work create far greater wealth than any bureaucracy in history."
--Seth
Stevenson
