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Enough SpiceIs soccer star Beckham about to ditch his wife?

By Josh Levin
Updated Friday, April 9, 2004, at 4:25 PM ET
Economist

Economist, April 10
"Plainly, it is bad," begins the magazine's assessment of the situation in Iraq. But this week's Shiite uprising doesn't mean that the Iraq war has become "George Bush's Vietnam" or that the country is facing civil war. The insurgency has focused almost exclusively at American troops, as Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis have surprisingly not fought among themselves. The key question is, will American troops be able to stick around until the first plausible exit time, when Iraq holds free elections. … With rumors of David Beckham's alleged marital infidelities spreading in the British tabloids, this may be the time for the soccer star/fashion plate to ditch his wife, unpopular former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, nee Addams. "Logic dictates taking the weaker brand off the market, allowing Mr Beckham to work on his appeal without wifely drag," the magazine ponders. But marital strife could increase the couple's name recognition in the American market.

People

People, April 12
The magazine celebrates its anniversary with a look back at three decades of celebrity weddings, fashion no-nos, and children with compromised immune systems. Some fun stats: Madonna has appeared in the most stories: 1,486; Princess Di has been on the cover 85 times, 67 more than second-place Julia Roberts; the worst-selling cover ever was a look at Vietnam 25 years after the war. In one feature, celebs offer first-person accounts of their most memorable moments of the last 30 years, e.g., getting divorced from Sonny Bono (Cher), finding Scientology (Tom Cruise), and Sept. 11 (Britney Spears). The most interesting and best-executed pieces are the short takes on the people behind People people. The profile subjects include the stylist who invented Farrah hair, the woman who cast Friends, and, of course, the first man on the scene of Princess Di's fatal auto accident.

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, April 11
The cover story searches for the best practices of peacekeeping and nation-building. The consensus—it's best to go into a war-torn country with a big, culturally sensitive force—is tough to achieve with Rummy-sized, trimmed-down armies. Kosovo may be the best example of "state-of-the-art peacekeeping": a force of 40,000 soldiers aiming to streamline institutions and reintegrate native soldiers and police back into local law enforcement. Even so, ethnic strife continues five years later and the U.N.'s presence has "curdled into resentment." … Another piece advocates the use of DDT to eradicate malaria, because, when used in limited quantities and indoors, DDT won't wreck the environment, and "if it had any serious effect on human health, we would know it by now." While South Africa has halted the mosquito-borne disease by spraying houses with the cheap, long-lasting insecticide, other African nations can't get international aid to pay for the stuff.

The New Yorker and Weekly Standard

The New Yorker and Weekly Standard, April 12
Views from Afghanistan: Seymour Hersh reports that the country is foundering due to "postwar neglect." With warlords controlling the provinces, movement is greatly restricted, women continue to be marginalized, and heroin production is booming, with reports that Marines, too, are sampling the wares. The piece also criticizes the use of conventional warfare, rather than special forces, in the search for Osama Bin Laden and his ilk when, by late 2001, it was clear that aerial assaults would kill far more civilians than terrorists. … But don't blame the lack of resources devoted to the Bin Laden hunt on the Iraq war, argues the Standard cover story. The limited deployments in Afghanistan in 2001 had nothing to do with the impending invasion of Iraq: "Rightly or wrongly, Rumsfeld likes 'new-age' warfare, regardless of the locale." The piece also argues that the persistent American presence in Iraq, and even anti-Americanism in general, haven't been as important in fomenting terrorism as the secularism of European society and anger with wayward Muslims.

Also in the Weekly Standard, P.J. O'Rourke tells a story about John Kerry, and it isn't flattering. When Kerry went to the Philippines in 1986 as an election observer, he was brought in to mediate when 30 young data entry operators complained that the vote had been rigged. O'Rourke says that Kerry didn't shelter the whistle-blowers or contest the election then ends the article by noting that he's "still a real jerk." (No word on what, if anything, happened to the whistle-blowers.) … A fascinating New Yorker piece sheds light on the illicit trade in biblical artifacts. Two of the most important antiquities of recent years—an ossuary with the inscription "James son of Joseph brother of Jesus" and a tablet with the name of a king from the First Temple era that some think "vindicates Jewish claims to the Temple Mount"—come from Israeli collector Oded Golan's personal collection. There's an increasing body of evidence, though, that the priceless relics are forgeries.

Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report

Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report, April 12
Black hawks and Blackwater: All the newsmagazines compare the slaying of four civilian contractors in Fallujah, Iraq, to the murder of 18 U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia, immortalized in Black Hawk Down. According to Newsweek, proprietors in Baghdad are making the same analogy: A cheap video on sale at "any market" matches grainy scenes from the movie with a song that includes the lyrics "We salute the brave people of Fallujah, who dared to stand up to the Americans." … Time reports allegations that Blackwater USA, the private military company that employed the four "contract warriors," may be skimping on training. One source says contractors in Afghanistan weren't taught evasive driving techniques, though their job included "vehicular and dignitary-escort duty." … U.S. News says the pictures of the huge mob in Fallujah call into question whether the insurgency is really being supported by a small group of Iraqis.

Tax and spend: Newsweek's cover story reports that the rich benefit from the Bush tax cuts' emphasis on the sanctity of investment income rather than salary. The elimination of the estate tax and the proliferation of tax-free investing mean it's now much easier to preserve wealth across generations. Democrats are equally to blame for criticizing tax cuts for the rich while not fighting against the "alternative minimum tax," which will cost taxpayers 25 percent of the relief promised by the Bush cuts. … U.S. News says China's insatiable demand for raw materials may drive up prices worldwide. The increased demand for metals, grains, and fuels may hurt employees more than consumers, though, if U.S. companies decide to pay for the increased cost with layoffs and pay cuts.

Back to the campaign: U.S. News says more than $1 billion will be spent on local and national campaign ads in 2004. A healthy percentage of that will come from President Bush, who currently spends $8 million per week on TV spots. The Bush campaign can continue at that pace through Labor Day without exhausting its $180 million war chest. … Time argues that even though both Bush and John Kerry have changed positions on innumerable issues, Kerry is more open to attacks that he's a flip-flopper. While Kerry hems and haws about his swaps, Bush makes a "fetish of constancy" and tends to switch from an unpopular to a popular position, as with the decision to let National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testify before the 9/11 commission.

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Josh Levin is a Slate associate editor. You can e-mail him at .
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