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Kiss and Make Up, AlreadyEurope and the U.S. should use this anniversary weekend to reconcile.

By Josh Levin
Updated Friday, June 4, 2004, at 5:31 PM ET

Economist, June 5
On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the magazine urges Europe and America to get back together. While there aren't any permanent philosophical differences keeping the allies apart, the war in Iraq and the threat of terrorism don't offer the same "transatlantic glue" the Soviet Union once did. A poll cited in another piece gives a hint at the size of the divide in the once formidable alliance: 60 percent of Germans and 58 percent of French people believe that America is fighting terror "to control Middle East oil." ... Another article says the world powers may soon be looking to buy oil in ... Cuba. A Norwegian oil rig financed by a Spanish company just sunk wells offshore, and many experts think it's likely that ample deposits will be found. If so, U.S. oil companies could push the government to abandon the trade embargo.

New York

New York, June 7
In the cover story, Alexandra Polier, a Mira Sorvino lookalike, seeks out the origins of her rumored affair with John Kerry. Polier's investigation, which consists of unsatisfying confrontations with journalists who sullied her name, is a thin excuse to print fun details. She met Kerry at Davos (telling him, "I think you're going to be the next president of the United States"), dated his finance director (a "cuter version of his boss"), and was ultimately betrayed by a friend (who confesses, "I may have said you had dinner with him.") … A profile of the New York Times' Judith Miller is notable for the many sources who dish about the Chalabi-loving WMD reporter. Hot gossip: Miller was temporarily banned from the paper's car service for excessive rudeness and stole a staffer's desk while he was on jury duty. The best tidbit, though, is that the public-affairs officer who schlepped Miller around Iraq says, on the record, that he hoped "she'd step on a mine." (Read Slate's Jack Shafer's latest piece on Miller's questionable reporting.)

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated, June 7
In a rare reverse cover jinx, the magazine fronts Derek Jeter's slump—"the biggest mystery in sports"—just as the Yankees shortstop has emerged from his season-long snooze. As a box on the cover notes, after hitting .189 through May 25, Jeter hit .458 over the next five games. Then, in the first game after the magazine went to press, Jeter collected four more hits. … A long profile laments that the stylish, talented, and wild skateboarder Christian Hosoi could have been rich and famous like Tony Hawk if it weren't for Hosoi's taste for crystal meth. The article makes a glaring omission in neglecting to mention the even more fascinating and volatile career of Hosoi's contemporary Mark "Gator" Rogowski, whose ascent to the top of the skating world—and subsequent conviction on rape and murder charges—were documented in the 2002 film Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator.

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, June 6
The "Money" issue includes pieces by Paul Krugman on how Alan Greenspan has allowed partisanship to taint his legacy and by Michael Lewis on why investors—and not CEOs—are the real evil in corporate America, and a short memoir by Augusten Burroughs on how he went bankrupt but still got to keep all the fancy clothes he bought. … In another story, a former economist who quit the rat race to sell bagels to office workers makes some surprising findings about white-collar crime. The bagel salesman, who drops the food off and comes back to collect the money later, considers a company "honest" if 90 percent of employees pay. Some data points: People steal more around Christmas and when it rains, telecom companies and businesses that require security clearances are generally dishonest, small companies and companies with high morale are honest, and executives steal more than lower-level employees.

The New Yorker

The New Yorker, June 7
An excellent story on Ahmad Chalabi includes the story of a former CIA officer who got a tour of an Iraqi National Congress "forgery shop" in 1994. While there's no evidence that Chalabi or the INC forged any of the intelligence on WMD, the CIA agent says that in the 1990s he saw a forged letter that detailed a phony American-led plan to kill Saddam Hussein—a possible attempt by the INC to fool Iran into joining efforts to off Saddam. Also, former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter laments that he told Chalabi what kind of evidence inspectors were looking for, which then allowed him to proffer information he knew they wanted to hear. For example, after Ritter mentioned a theory that Saddam had mobile weapons labs, the INC allegedly sponsored a source who claimed to have seen labs on wheels. Ritter also says Chalabi promised to give him oil money when he became the president of Iraq.

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, June 7
A piece on the connections between Saddam and al-Qaida leads with the fact that a man with the same name as a member of Saddam's secret police was at an al-Qaida meeting in 2000. This alleged missing link, an al-Qaida operative trained by Iraqi intelligence, sounds more like a pipe dream. Check out this reasoning: When he was interrogated by the CIA after 9/11, he clammed up—his "evasive answers reflected counterinterrogation techniques so sophisticated that he had probably learned them from a government intelligence service." … Another story lists the ample problems with the Los Angeles municipal government. The structure is unwieldy: Each of the 15 members on the city council represents more than 230,000 constituents. The budget is bloated: 85 percent of the city's expenditures go to pay the salaries of government employees. And firms that donated to the mayor's fight against San Fernando Valley secession allegedly got sweetheart contracts with the government.

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

Time, U.S. News & World Report, and Newsweek, June 7
Striking it rich: Time reports that much-maligned Halliburton has oil production back to prewar levels. That hasn't stopped criticism of the megacontractor. Subcontractors allege that they have to pay off middlemen to get work, and Iraqi firms claim that companies from Saudi Arabia and Jordan are getting the juiciest contracts. … Halliburton's $17 billion share of the Iraq reconstruction money is keeping the company afloat while it's paying off asbestos claims. Time uncovers an e-mail that may reveal—but probably doesn't—that Dick Cheney's ties with Halliburton helped the megacontractor stay solvent. The message, sent by an Army Corps of Engineers official, says that action on a multibillion dollar oil deal "has been coordinated w VP's [Vice President's] office." … Speaking of not-so-smoking guns, Time also reveals that Bush keeps the pistol found in Saddam's spider hole in a study just off the Oval Office.

Strongmen, domestic and foreign: U.S. News reports from Libya, where the Bush administration will likely end economic sanctions within the year. The piece argues that the former "mad dog of the Middle East" Muammar Qaddafi has turned into a puppy, revealing the extent of the country's nuclear program in a pragmatic attempt to keep political power in the family. "The Libyan elite seems to envision a Chinese-style evolution: Open up the economy, but hold on tight to political power." … Newsweek says GOP savior Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't as cozy with the Bushies as you'd expect. Schwarzenegger hasn't spoken with the president since March and doesn't get along with Karl Rove because the political strategist doesn't care about Arnold's pet project, after-school programs. … U.S. News previews a three-month test program for up to 10,000 travelers, each of whom will submit to a background check and iris scan so they can speed through airport security lines.

Food, kids, and phones: Time's fat cover package on obesity notes that men used to stay trim on a diet heavy on fats and sugars because "[c]hasing wild animals with spears and clubs was a marathon undertaking." Another piece pins American fatness on cheap, plentiful corn, which makes for cheap, fattening animal feed and cheap, addictive high-fructose corn syrup. … The U.S. News cover story raises the usual worries about kids and sports: They're starting out too young, specializing too early, and getting more stress-related injuries. The conclusion is that coaches should treat their young athletes better. The piece notes that it worked for Phil Jackson, who got better results when he stopped yelling—and started smiling—at power forward Horace Grant. … Newsweek's cover package on emerging technology blends futurism—a phone with 40 satellite-TV stations!—with safety concerns—bad people can use your phone to track your every move!

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