New Republic, Feb. 22
(posted Friday, Feb. 5, 1999)
The editorial assesses the recently released White House budget: It unwisely sacrifices long-worked-for tax reforms in favor of the president's immediate social spending priorities. ... A piece argues that despite David Duke's pariah status on the national level, he has won favor among Louisiana Republicans with a slick combination of race-baiting and shady quid pro quos. ... An Iranian academic narrates how, despite his reputation as a moderate, President Mohammed Khatami's government has actually imposed even harsher restrictions on women. But by basing its authority on public acceptance of extreme gender restrictions, his regime "has become far more dependent on women for its survival than women are on the regime." Most surreal act of censorship: Western musicals such as Mary Poppins are screened, but every time a female character sings or dances, she is replaced by an Iranian narrator who provides spoken commentary instead.
New York Times Magazine, Feb. 7
(posted Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999)
The cover story chronicles the bittersweet process of reuniting parents and children separated during El Salvador's civil war. The children were seized and often raised by the military that terrorized their parents. Now villagers are trying to find and form relationships with children adopted by their former enemies. These reunions can give rare substance and progress to the notoriously difficult process of postwar national reconciliation. ... A piece tells the sad story of 24 merchant sailors left legally, financially, and physically adrift on a rotting freight vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship was abandoned by its bankrupt Pakistani owners and its crew left without food, water, fuel, or wages. The merchant marine has become "the sweatshop of the high seas." ... The magazine continues its new practice of printing footnotes to its fashion spreads. To fully understand this week's photos of heavily made-up models in glittery frocks, readers should consult an annotated guide to the models' dye jobs, the "artichoke" haircut, and the new way to wear leg warmers (on your arms).
Harper's, February 1999
(posted Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999)
An amazing story describes the life of fighter pilots on an aircraft carrier in sweat-inducing detail. The author finds plenty of technical derring-do, but little Top Gun-style machismo. The ship is a clammy and morbid universe of its own, holding great masses of bombs and personnel, all tightly organized. The pilots are dutiful but terrified. They quietly suppress the reality of killing other humans and the possibility of being killed themselves. Instead, they put their faith in athleticism and luck.
Time and Newsweek, Feb. 8
(posted Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999)
Newsweek's cover story predicts Flytrap's long-term impact on American politics and society. The magazine's less than revelatory insights: The president won't accomplish much this term, the Constitution will survive, and "consensual sex will continue to be tolerated." A conservative critic tells Republicans to read--no, steal--the Clinton manual on how to update and revive your losing party. They should "pull a Sister Souljah," loudly distancing themselves from a cultural figure on the far right, and start oozing compassion (one way to do this: "heartwarming stories about children with fatal diseases").
Time's cover story celebrates "Hip-Hop Nation" and chronicles the genre's 20 year rise. Hip-hop is the jazz of the 1990s: Its mix of rage, authenticity, capitalism, and humor have caused nothing less than "a realignment of America's cultural aesthetics." As for the violence and misogyny of some rap lyrics: They may be offensive, but they're still "deeply American." ...Time chronicles the emerging partnership between Vice President Al Gore and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt. The former adversaries have formed "a pact of mutually assured ambition," with Gore gunning for the presidency and Gephardt angling to retake the House and become its speaker.
U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 8
(posted Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999)
A piece recounts Russia's horrific descent. Quality and length of life, food production, investment, and infrastructure are all bottoming out, and inflation, pollution, and crime are soaring. The two greatest blunders of Russia's privatization plan: allowing banks to speculate with government rubles, and the sale of government utilities at bargain prices in rigged auctions. The state can no longer even afford to pay Lenin's embalmers. ... The cover story remarks on the diminishing representation of men in higher education. Since 1979, women have outnumbered men on college campuses, but now the gap is widening: Fifty-seven percent of B.A.s are awarded to women. This distorts social life on campus ("the women develop eating disorders, and the men develop huge egos," complains one undergrad). Colleges are turning to quiet, informal affirmative action on behalf of male applicants.
The New Yorker, Feb. 8
(posted Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999)
A reporter chronicles the rapacious and mistaken prosecution of a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old for murder in Chicago. In their zeal to convict, prosecutors all over the country are steamrollering special protections for juvenile suspects. The legal consequences are dubious, and the social ones heartbreaking. ... In a profile, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan casts a contemptuous eye on President Clinton: The New York Democrat has stood by the president out of party loyalty and disdain for the impeachment process, but Moynihan calls Clinton's character bankrupt and his policy choices morally and intellectually cheap. ... A doctor debunks the notion that toxic substances cause "cancer clusters." (Such clusters are the subject of the book and film A Civil Action.) The apparent concentration of certain cancers in certain places is just coincidence and "an irresistible error of human perception." ... Look closely at the cover. It's the Monica Lisa, cherubic, mysterious, and famously silent.
Weekly Standard, Feb. 8
(posted Tuesday, Feb 2, 1999)
The cover story concedes defeat on impeachment and beatifies the House Republicans for their willingness to pursue an unpopular but noble path. The one workable exit strategy is to "call the final vote and be prepared to lose." ... The editorial proclaims Henry Hyde the once and future leader of the Republican Party. An offhand comment made by Hyde during the Senate trial--that he would sacrifice his seat in defense of the unborn, the nation's security, and the Constitution--sums up the best Republican agenda for 2000. ... A piece celebrates director Elia Kazan's lifetime achievement Oscar and argues for his vindication in the popular memory. Kazan should be lauded for ratting on his contemporaries in the McCarthy hearings and has been vilified by "revived leftist fundamentalism." (Click here for Jacob Weisberg's take on Kazan in Slate.)
Economist, Jan. 30
(posted Saturday, Jan. 30, 1999)
The cover editorial predicts the imminent collapse of--guess what?--massively overvalued Internet stocks. That crash, if it doesn't drag the whole stock market down, could be useful for the economy because it will "restore sanity" to the venture capital industry. Some of the big Internet pioneers such as Yahoo! and America Online may survive, but the Dollar.coms and Buy.coms of the world are surely doomed. ... An article identifies four reasons that company managers are rich yet miserable: 1) They're working longer hours. 2) Flatter management structures diminish the sweet sense of victory that used to come from reaching the top. 3) Job paranoia: Execs get fired more often these days. 4) Outside contractors are increasingly siphoning power from managers' "fiefdoms." ... An article finds "feminism" in an unexpected place: primitive, forest-dwelling tribes. The women are deliberately promiscuous in order to win more male protectors for their child. Men, not knowing if they're the biological father or not, assume that they are.