Economist, Jan. 16

(posted Saturday, Jan. 16, 1999)

The cover editorial speculates on Brazil's post-devaluation future. Will Brazil recover, or will it "descend into Asian-style chaos" and spark a global financial meltdown? The optimistic view: The real was overvalued anyway, so devaluation could lower the 29 percent interest rate. Pessimists counter: The incompetence of Brazil's government, investors' lack of confidence, and the "souring" of international sentiments toward emerging markets could bring Brazil crashing down, dragging the International Monetary Fund's name through the mud along with it. ... The "Lexington" column celebrates the retirement of Michael Jordan, if only because it provides relief from the recent battle between the game's "short billionaires and tall millionaires."

New Republic, Feb. 1

(posted Friday, Jan. 15, 1999)

The cover story traces the free fall of Kofi Annan. The U.N. secretary-general, says the article, is a career bureaucrat who "succeeds at little things and fails at big things." Among his most notable botches: His involvement as a U.N. official in Bosnia and Rwanda (before his tenure as secretary-general). Iraq is Annan's latest debacle--he has cuddled with Saddam Hussein and squared off against the United States. ... An article advocates "perpetual scorn" as the best punishment for Clinton, and another scandal article bangs an old but never dead theme: Washington's unquenchable appetite for sex talk ... An article disputes Elizabeth Dole's Presidential Paragon status. Liddy may be a good, strong woman, but she's had her share of professional blunders--and she's hardly the doting wife conservatives want.

New York Times Magazine, Jan. 17

(posted Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999)

The cover story on Bill Clinton's legacy argues that his greatest achievement is making the presidency smaller while restoring trust in government. His welfare reform and balanced budget not only shrank government but also encouraged Americans to believe that it could work. He also replaced the heroic presidency with the competent one, asking to be judged by what he accomplished, not by how he behaved. Even so, the Lewinsky scandal guarantees that he will be a historical joke. (Slate's Jacob Weisberg wrote the piece.) ... "Whatever happened to the Class of 1994?" catches up with the 73 Republicans elected to the House in the "Republican Revolution." Only 50 remain in the House, and most of those still there are chastened. They have assimilated to the institution and moderated their conservatism. ... Chilean novelist Isabel Allende writes that even if Augusto Pinochet is never tried in Spain, justice has finally been done to the former dictator: The European detention has caused "Pinochet's moral ruin. Henceforth, a man who had the gall to pose as his nation's savior will take his place alongside Caligula and Idi Amin." Allende is the cousin of Salvador Allende, the Marxist president deposed by Pinochet in 1973.

Time and Newsweek, Jan. 18

(posted Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999)

Time's Y2K cover story focuses on alarmists, especially millennialist Christians stockpiling for the looming Year 2000 disaster. The story visits the "Martha Stewart" of Y2K survivalism, who advises suburbanites how to ride out the chaos in comfort. The dehydrated food industry is booming, Time notes. (The magazine's own take is more reassuring: There will be minor glitches but not wholesale societal collapse.) ...Newsweek puts Don Imus on the cover for a package about the "Stars of the New News." The lead essay bemoans the replacement of objective, authoritative, Walter Cronkite-style news by opinionated, entertaining talk. Imus is hailed as the champion "ringmaster" of the new news: The accompanying profile--like every profile of Imus--applauds his sense of the absurd and his ability to bully the famous into speaking truthfully but worries about his crudeness and his temper. Among the other 20 " Titans of 'tude" are Maureen Dowd, Matt Drudge, Tavis Smiley, Brian Lamb, and Slate's own Scott Shuger.

Time describes "honor killings" in Jordan, which comprise a quarter of the Arab nation's homicides. Brothers and fathers murder women who have been raped or have had sexual affairs because their honor has been sullied. The men are punished lightly, if at all.

Newsweek reveals some of the drawbacks of the economic boom. In Fargo, N.D., unemployment is so low (less than 1 percent) that fast-food restaurants pay signing bonuses to anyone who works 90 days. And in New York City, it's impossible to get a table at fancy restaurants.

U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 18

(posted Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999)

Branching out from its "Best Colleges" franchise, the magazine describes what makes an outstanding high school and identifies 96 top schools in six cities. Parents should look for schools with demanding standards, a rigorous core curriculum, qualified teachers, high attendance rates, small classes, and lots of parental involvement. U.S. News examines mostly public and Catholic schools, because independent private schools refused to participate. ... A short piece says kids in Washington, D.C., are being killed for their Eddie Bauer down parkas.

The New Yorker, Jan. 18

(posted Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999)

A story demolishes the idea that Jonathan Pollard didn't harm U.S. intelligence operations while spying for Israel. In fact, Pollard sold critical details about U.S. signal intelligence and battle plans that the Israelis probably traded to the Soviets. He also gave away National Security Agency planning documents that allowed the Israelis to conduct military operations without U.S. detection. And contrary to his defenders' claim, Pollard spied principally for money, not to help Israel. Releasing him from prison, even to further Middle East peace, would be a huge mistake. ... An article describes the effort by an Icelandic scientist to document his nation's gene pool. With its isolated and homogeneous population, Iceland is a perfect laboratory for investigating genetic disease. The scientist believes that his database, which will be marketed to drug companies, will be an essential tool for locating and curing genetic disease. A few Icelanders are worried about losing their privacy, but most want to advance medicine. ... A "Talk of the Town" item argues that Clinton should be punished by prohibiting him from giving the State of the Union address. He would enjoy it too much and would take "too much credit for things he had too little to do with."

The Nation, Jan. 25

(posted Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999)

A piece reviews the North American Free Trade Agreement on its fifth anniversary. NAFTA has cost the United States hundreds of thousands of jobs, worsened Mexican environmental problems, and overloaded U.S. highways with unsafe Mexican trucks. ... The cover story warns that the success of Catholic-controlled health care organizations threatens reproductive choice. Catholic organizations control 15 percent of nonfederal hospital beds and are the largest nonprofit health care providers. Some Medicaid patients are being forced into Catholic HMOs that don't perform abortions or provide contraception.