Economist , Aug. 15
(posted
Saturday, Aug. 15, 1998)
The
cover editorial on terrorism says Middle East radicals
hate the United States because of America's peacekeeping efforts in the region.
Compared to other Western nations, the United States is extremely hard on Iran
and Iraq, which draws the ire of terrorists. A related piece forecasts scary "new terrorism," including
biological or poison gas attacks within the United States and "cyber-attacks"
that could crash the world's financial and communications systems ... A
piece laments the "woes" of Madeleine Albright, whose opinions on Iraq, Israel,
and even her pet eastern Europe are ignored by Congress, the White House, and
other policymakers. She seems to have "less leverage at the White House than
Israel's lobbyists."
New
Republic , Aug. 31
(posted
Friday, Aug. 14, 1998)
The cover
package is split between Washington bimbroglio and Africa bombings: On both
scores Clinton is stressed. On the home front, a piece suggests new evasion
tactics for Clinton, including the "Roger Defense"--it's my brother's DNA. On
the bombing front, an article says that since it's tough to guard against
terrorist attacks, Washington should muscle up for a crackdown afterward.
Another piece retraces CNN's perilous journey in 1997 to track down Saudi
multimillionaire Osama Bin Laden, a suspect in the Africa bombings.
(
Slate
's "Explainer"
also scopes out Bin Laden.) ... Like the New York Times Magazine ,
TNR also recaps the '60s trajectory from "heady liberal optimism" to
black power and anti-war frenzy. End result? America graduated from a "culture
of toil, sacrifice, saving, and abstinence" to a "culture of consumption,
lifestyle, and quality of life."
New
York Times Magazine , Aug. 16
(posted
Friday, Aug. 14, 1998)
The cover
package gushes over the WNBA, "A Sport You Can Love." One piece follows a New
York Liberty road trip, admiring the team's genuine camaraderie, warmth, and
sheer joy, and calling each game "a celebration of girl power." Another admires
women's basketball for discouraging "ladylike behavior" and promoting "raucous
... uninhibited female intensity." ... An essay warns that the rise in
intermarriage is excluding blacks. Instead of melting into one brown nation,
America may remain two nations: one beige (white-Hispanic-Asian) and one black.
... An article wonders why Americans are still fighting the battles of
1968 while Europeans, for whom those battles were much more intense (Paris
students, Prague spring), have moved on. Conclusion: Europeans separate
democracy and culture and so did not let the political fights of '68 spill into
a cultural war. Americans, who don't separate the two, have transmitted the
tensions of '68 to issues of education, religion, race, and sexuality.
Time and Newsweek , Aug. 17
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998)
Newsweek 's cover
story focuses on the gay "conversion" controversy. Exodus International, among
the sponsors of the recent round of gay conversion ads, claims it converts 30
percent of its gay participants to heterosexuality. But, as Newsweek
notes, Exodus' own ex-gay founders fell in love, left their wives for each
other, and quit. A related piece, based on polls, says that Americans back gay
rights in theory but dislike public displays of gay affection. The editor of
the gay magazine Out urges gays to mingle more with straights and not
wall themselves in the "gay ghetto."
Time 's cover story drools over John Glenn, calling his upcoming
Discovery mission "a timely reminder that we can still have heroes." Why is
NASA letting the old bird lift off? Space travel mimics the effects of aging
(bone weakening, sleep disruption, etc.), and NASA wants to know if a
77-year-old astronaut will suffer the same disabilities.
Both
magazines squeeze in last-minute pieces on the African bombings but save plenty
of space for Monica. Newsweek 's angle: How does the Clinton legal team
prep a probable liar against a known liar? Answer: Smear Monica.
Newsweek 's scoop: Kenneth Starr's report to Congress will be pared down
to cover only Flytrap. Kiss goodbye to Starr's years of work on Whitewater,
Travelgate, etc. ... Time's blander package has only one revelation: Tripp kept 80-100
pages of contemporaneous notes about what Monica said, a "skeleton key" for
Starr to "reconstruct" the affair.
U.S.
News & World Report, Aug. 17
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998)
A huge
package celebrates great inventors of the 20 th century, from
household names such as the Wright brothers and Edward Teller to obscurities
such as Philo Farnsworth, who invented the television at age 22 only to
have RCA copy him, bully him, and reap the economic rewards. One inventor is
dissed: Alexander Fleming, a scientist of "mundane skills,"
accidentally discovered penicillin, but it was Ernst Chain and Howard Florey
who actually made penicillin a lifesaving drug. Fleming happily took the
credit. U.S. News predicts that living machines will be the great invention of the
21 st century. ... The cover
package on the embassy bombings suggests that anti-American Saudi
millionaire Osama Bin Ladin could have funded the bombers. It also notes the
rise of "cushion-shot terrorism": Terrorists increasingly attack peripheral
targets, because major targets are too well protected.
The
New Yorker , Aug. 17
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998)
A piece
argues that scientists have grossly overstated the importance of parents in
molding their children. In fact, children are shaped mostly by other children,
who serve as role models and guides for living. Children tend to resemble
parents only because they share genes, not because they are influenced by them.
Evidence: Adopted children have as much in common with random adults as with
their adoptive parents. ... An article warns that today's stock market
conditions dangerously resemble those of 1929. Inflation is low, growth is
slowing, the world economy is uncertain, and investors are ignoring repeated
warnings by the Fed chairman. Alan Greenspan must stop merely warning and start
acting, raising interest rates enough to stop the market euphoria. A recession
is inevitable, and we need Fed intervention to ensure it's a mild one.
The
Nation , Aug. 24 and 31
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998)
The
cover story weighs the
prospect of a Jesse Jackson presidential candidacy. The Reverend is second to
Vice President Gore in opinion polls, drawing 12 percent of Democratic support,
and he may be the only candidate who could bring attention to progressive/labor
issues. Snags: 1) Jackson is increasingly friendly with Wall Streeters, an
alliance that troubles many lefties; 2) he will certainly lose; and 3) he may
lack the selflessness required to build an organization that would endure after
his loss. Why would he run? Because he is desperate to remain important.
--Kate
Galbraith
