Economist , April 4
(posted
Saturday, April 4)
The
cover editorial warns big telecom companies that their
days are numbered. Supposed advantages at home (a trusted brand, political
influence) will be useless in the booming international market. Risk-averse,
slow-moving dinosaurs (e.g., British Telecom) will be crushed by quicker,
hungrier companies with newer technology (e.g., WorldCom, Qwest). ... An
editorial urges the United States to take a more
commanding role in the Middle East peace process. Israel has tried American
patience with its reluctance to accede to the West Bank redeployment agreement.
The United States must now use its clout to arbitrate a solution once and for
all. ... A story says the moonshine industry is still huge in the
southern United States, but it has left behind its rustic past. Modern
moonshiners cost Virginia $20 million a year in lost taxes, often carry heavy
arms, and are moving into the drug trade.
New
Republic , April 20
(posted
Friday, April 3)
The cover
story defends pork-barrel spending. Pork represents a tiny portion of the
federal budget, and it greases the wheels of politics. Conceding tiny bits of
pork (job programs for border states) to pass huge legislation (NAFTA) is a
wise trade-off. ... An article slams Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's new
Social Security proposal. Widely hailed as "courageous," the plan is just a
politically motivated concession to privatization hawks. (For more on the plan,
see Jodie T. Allen's "Can
Newt Gingrich Save Social Security?" in
Slate
.) ...
"TRB" claims that Clinton's scandal woes stem from his triangulating politics.
When a president co-opts the opposition's ideas, staunching policy debate, the
opposition resorts to personal attacks (e.g., Andrew Johnson, Richard
Nixon).
New
York Times Magazine , April 5
(posted
Thursday, April 2)
Another
special issue (they win--we've run out of jokes about this). Eleven articles
chronicle--exhaustively--"the joy and guilt of modern motherhood." High
banality quotient: A piece follows a stay-at-home mom who left a law practice
to rear three kids. She wouldn't change a thing about her rewarding life.
Another follows a mother who works full time and lets dad and nanny care for
the kids. She wouldn't change a thing about her rewarding life, either. Also,
photo essays cover the boom in multiple births (triplets, quads, etc.--many
cute babies) and the new maternity fashions.
Entertainment Weekly , April 3
(posted
Thursday, April 2)
The
celebrity-obsessed magazine surpasses itself in the post-Oscar issue.
Glam-filled recapping of the ceremony and the parties, plus grades for
celebrities' outfits, all with a delightfully high level of bitchiness.
EW 's fashion panel loves Helen Hunt's Oscar dress but thinks she's too
waify: Joan Rivers squawks, "She weighs less than Kate Winslet's arm."
Throughout, much dish (e.g., jilted Minnie Driver glared at ex-beau Matt Damon
when he won his screenwriting Oscar and steered clear of the it-boy at the
parties).
Time and Newsweek , April 6
(posted
Tuesday, March 31)
The newsweeklies disagree on
the causes on the Jonesboro killings. Time 's cover story blames the murders on everything from Mortal Kombat
to South Park to absentee parenting. Newsweek 's cover focuses
more on America's gun culture but prefers to pronounce this a "senseless
tragedy." Both magazines print schematics of the crime scene-- Time 's is
more realistic and chilling.
On the 30 th
anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Newsweek excerpts
a new book that claims to prove James Earl Ray was indeed King's killer and
that he acted alone. The piece systematically rejects all the popular
conspiracy theories (FBI, white supremacists, "Raul," etc.). ...
Newsweek discovers the latest trend among Silicon Valley millionerds:
etiquette training. For $150 a lesson, geeks learn how to use the right fork
and make small talk. ("But enough about me. How much are you worth?")
Time investigates American exports of electric shock devices.
Manufacturers of stun weapons, sold domestically to police departments, have
shipped shock batons and Tasers to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and
South Africa, where they are allegedly used to torture prisoners. ... A
Time article says Viagra, the soon to be released male
anti-impotence pill, may also be used for women. The pill would increase blood
flow to women's genitals, improving sensation and lubrication. The Food and
Drug Administration has not yet approved its use for women.
U.S.
News & World Report , April 6
(posted
Tuesday, March 31)
Apropos
of nothing (again), U.S. News goes with a military cover: "Submarine!" (Three weeks ago, it published an equally untimely
cover on 20 th century military strategists.) Inside: a description
of life aboard a nuclear sub and an examination of subs' changing roles (less
defense, more espionage). The pullout cross section of a sub is fascinating.
... A story reports on the focus-grouping of classical music. Classical
stations now use market research to determine playlists. (Sorry, solo
violinists--listeners find you "intrusive.")
The
New Yorker , April 6
(posted
Tuesday, March 31)
A piece
likens the recent surge in multiple personality disorder to 19 th
century hysteria. Real MPD is incredibly rare, but therapists in the 1980s and
early '90s "diagnosed" it in thousands of women: They hypnotized patients by
the thousand, persuaded them that they had been sexually abused by family
members, and then induced them to discover other personalities. Lawsuits by
damaged patients and HMO limits on therapist payments have ended the MPD craze.
... Hickman Ewing, Ken Starr's chief deputy, is profiled: A born-again
Christian and a moralist, Ewing is engaged in a vendetta against the Clintons.
Of one Hillary Clinton deposition, he says, "She was a liar--on all topics."
Ewing, not Starr, seems to be the zealot in the independent counsel's office.
... Film critic David Denby writes a long harangue against the modern
movie industry. Chief complaints: Studios prefer cheap irony to real emotion,
and young moviegoers don't care about seeing good movies--they prefer
mass-market schlock to complex films such as L.A. Confidential .
Weekly Standard , April 6
(posted
Tuesday, March 31)
In the
cover story, Unabomber victim David Gelernter argues that Ted Kaczynski should
have been executed. Instead, Kaczynski will be able to use his prison cell as a
bully pulpit, writing more screeds and receiving press attention. Kaczynski
"traded up; he used to live in an unimproved shack in the wilderness."
... An essay calls for Congress to address Social Security immediately.
The new plan from Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., is a good starting
point because it incorporates some Republican ideas on privatization.
... An article claims Boris Yeltsin was right to sack his Cabinet, since
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was anti-market and anti-reform. With a
relatively calm and stable Russia, Yeltsin picked the right time to shake
things up.
--Seth
Stevenson
