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