New York Times Magazine, Dec. 8

(posted Friday, Dec. 6)

A two-story package, headlined on the cover as "What Have the Ellwoods Done to America?" profiles health-policy expert Paul Ellwood and his son, welfare-policy expert David Ellwood. "Mugged by Reality" describes how Ellwood fils, who popularized the idea of welfare time limits, saw his idea "hijacked and brutalized" by conservatives. The second story recounts the disillusionment of Ellwood pere: Once America's leading champion of managed care, he's increasingly horrified by HMOs' indifference to quality. Also, a writer wanders with the "travelers"--New York's white homeless street punks--and finds them more pathetic than rebellious. And, an essayist argues that the Internet is "a monument to idleness and wasted time," then explains why that's good.

Time, Dec. 9

(posted Tuesday, Dec. 3)

Here's a surprise: The cover story about kids and drugs is almost pro-dope. Targeting baby-boomer parents who smoked pot when they were young, the article concedes that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and other drugs. Time then cops out by concluding that kids should not use a "dulling" drug: "The young don't need to have their pain dulled. They need to learn from it." An accompanying article describes a rich Chicago high school where pot is epidemic and parents are confused; one girl moved into her own apartment "after her parents forbade her to smoke marijuana at home." Also, a long article examines how funeral-home chains are buying up family mortuaries and gouging customers. And a peculiar, rambling excerpt from the pope's forthcoming autobiography.

Newsweek, Dec. 9

(posted Tuesday, Dec. 3)

The cover story lionizes golfer Tiger Woods. Less a profile than a how-to guide for raising a responsible child prodigy, the article gives much credit to Woods' parents, who made him finish his homework before he could play golf. A sidebar considers child-prodigy flameouts, such as could-have-been NFL superstar Todd Marinovich and drug casualty Jennifer Capriati. A story blames Disney's China mess on Michael Ovitz. A related piece reports on the greedy Western firms that--unlike Disney--have caved in to China's authoritarian demands. And Newsweek pokes fun at "post-sensitive males" (see: Swingers). They're more desperate than macho.

U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 9