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Guantanamo StayThe New Republic on the surprisingly good conditions at Guantanamo Bay.

By Christopher Beam and Paul Gottschling
Updated Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, at 5:39 PM ET
The New Republic

New Republic, March 5
Jeffrey Rosen visits Guantanamo Bay, where he witnesses nothing but courtesy and professionalism: "Each cell had a Koran, a green exercise mat, and a black arrow pointing toward Mecca." He had heard rumors that he would see a white-washed version of things: "They'll show you the accused in a La-Z-Boy sharing fries with the investigator," one colonel predicted. On reflection, "it's hard to say whether it was a Potemkin tour," Rosen writes. But the visit convinced him that Guantanamo's most pressing problems involve how prisoners get there in the first place and, potentially, negotiate their own release. … A piece by Slate contributor David Greenberg argues that Scooter Libby should go free. Greenberg acknowledges that "on a cosmic level," the White House deserves punishment for revealing a CIA officer's identity. But liberals are "supposed to be champions of the First Amendment and foes of overzealous prosecutors. … [W]e should have protested this overwrought case from the start."—C.B.

Time

Time, March 5
A cover piece probes the year-old resurgence of Sunni-Shiite enmity in Iraq. Traditionally, "Shi'ites see themselves as the oppressed, and they see Sunnis as the oppressors," but adherents of the different sects managed to forge friendly bonds during Saddam Hussein's rule. Now, the hatred "permeates not only the rancorous political discourse of Baghdad's Green Zone but also ordinary conversations in homes and marketplaces." The author identifies some flashpoints: The January 2005 elections forced Sunnis and Shiites to take sides for control of the government, and Saddam's execution on a Sunni holy day angered "[e]ven Sunnis who had little sympathy for Saddam." … A piece highlights the efforts of wealthy entrepreneurs leading a "renaissance period of space exploration." Virgin head Richard Branson, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, and Budget Suites of America's Robert Bigelow are nudging spaceflight to the private sector, undermining outer space's status as "untouchable, a museum open only to select government employees." Ventures include Branson's plan to offer two-hour space excursions for $200,000. The first hundred tickets for it have already been sold.—P.G.

Economist

Economist, Feb. 24
An editorial argues that the Bush presidency is still salvageable. Although many Democrats would rather see nothing accomplished in the next two years, the editors urge cooperation between the White House and Congress. A compromise on funding No Child Left Behind, for example, would be a major step forward. Plus, growing support for climate change has made new legislation inevitable. Rather than veto it, Bush should "help draft a milder version now, improve his party's reputation on green issues and just possibly lure India and China into a global arrangement. How that would change the Toxic Texan's legacy." … A piece encourages India and Pakistan to speed up their peace process in light of the recent train bombing. Both governments reacted maturely to the tragedy, but they should go further by sharing intelligence. "[I]t is difficult to change the habits of a lifetime and each country's spies have spent theirs guarding and conspiring against the other's. Now, however, is the time to try."—C.B.

New York, Feb. 26

New York, Feb. 26
A piece in the special fashion issue explores the growing issue of shrinking fashion models. The author argues that smaller clothes sizes are connected to the diminished status of the models themselves. Replacing the magazine-cover-commanding supermodels of yore are Eastern European immigrants, many of them teens, who dominate the runways. Today, "fashion people do not talk about models with awe. Instead, they speak of them ... as if they were lovable circus folk." But the abject vulnerability that some of these rail-thin models exude has made them the focal point of fashion industry criticism. … A piece glimpses Jeffrey Sebelia's fashion-design career as it stands after he won the third edition of Project Runway. His prize money covered his label's startup debt with little left over, "business calls only trickled in," and he's is poised to make costumes for an upcoming live-action movie based on the Bratz toys. Still, crowds mob him. Though "[t]he winner of American Idol has already done what is required for mass success," fashion "is far more specific, personal, and expensive than a song."—P.G.

New York Times Magazine, Feb. 25

New York Times Magazine, Feb. 25
A cover piece examines Jeff Wall's efforts to further connect photography and art. Wall draws inspiration from nonphotographers like Velázquez, Pollock, and Titian, and his works appear like paintings in galleries, reaching sizes of 7 by 12 feet on transparencies lit by fluorescent "light boxes." Wall also poses his subjects into elaborate compositions, creating "patent contrivances, calling attention to their artificiality." … A piece follows Nuclear Threat Initiative head Sam Nunn as he confronts "a deepening worldwide nuclear crisis." Nunn's vision of total nuclear disarmament across the globe strikes many as a peculiar turnaround. As longtime chair of the Senate armed services committee, Nunn had steered presidents from Carter to Bush Sr. to up defense spending, maintain a "nuclear deterrent," and adopt a "first-use policy." But after noting the threat of undeterrable terrorist groups detonating stolen nuclear bombs, Nunn's stances shifted. After retiring from the Senate in 1995, he used his position atop the NTI to seek such measures as an international nuclear-fuel bank.—P.G.

Radar, March/April 2007

Radar, March/April 2007
A piece considers the moral and political implications of gay babies. Fetal screening technology may soon let parents detect homosexuality, and scientists predict that within a decade parents will have the option of applying a hormone patch to set a gay fetus straight. But until such a "remedy" exists, pro-life conservatives and gay rights opponents "will have to ask themselves whether the public shame of having a gay child outweighs the private sin of terminating a pregnancy." … A piece probes Jim Carrey's reputation as an on-set nightmare. One director, who collaborated with him on 2005's Fun With Dick and Jane, started calling it "Fun With Jane." … A piece examines how Wesley Snipes fell in with a group of anti-tax activists. Snipes turned himself in to the IRS in December and now faces up to 16 years in prison for tax evasion. "His attitude was: I'm a star and I can't be touched," a friend remembers.—C.B.

Newsweek, Feb. 26

Newsweek, Feb. 26
The cover piece examines the "hidden epidemic of despair" that affects 6 million men a year. Psychologists have long considered depression a greater problem among women than men. But men may simply express it differently: "Men's irritability is usually seen as a character flaw, not as a sign of depression," says an expert. Now some doctors recommend treating the blues with hormonal medication or fast-acting antidepressants instead of SSRIs like Prozac. … A piece pegs presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a "turnaround" artist—someone good at reversing bad situations. But his reversals on social issues like gay rights and abortion have many conservatives questioning his authenticity. Despite inviting comparison to Sen. Ted Kennedy with his liberal views on gay rights in the past, Romney is now emphasizing his opposition to gay marriage. The hard part will be explaining his thinking without being accused of "flip-flopping": "He's not unwilling to have his mind changed," says one Romney friend. "He's very comfortable with blurry, gray areas."—C.B.

Weekly Standard, Feb. 26

Weekly Standard, Feb. 26
The cover piece profiles Civilization, a highbrow video game that has sold 8 million units since 1991, and its unassuming mastermind, Sid Meier. The "God game" in which "all-powerful players focus primarily on building rather than destroying," attracts gamers from dorms to cubicles with its roots in world history, as players command vast societies against one another over hundreds of turns spanning virtual millenniums. The game boasts an educational quality; for one college junior, studying history "was always about going deeper into this game." … A piece examines the candidates for France's upcoming presidential elections, the winner of which will determine the course of the French government by "[seeing] to it that most of his party's parliamentary candidates are loyalists." To the author's delight, the major candidates, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and lefty Ségolène Royal, both campaign for a "tougher" government. Sarkozy "sees France as a Judeo-Christian country," and Royal "started going after the sacred cows of the left" like 35-hour workweeks and Iran's access to nuclear facilities.—P.G.

The Nation, March 5

The Nation, March 5
In the cover essay, Patricia J. Williams rails against the notion that presidential contender and Sen. Barack Obama somehow "transcends" race: " 'Transcendence' implies rising above something, cutting through, being liberated from. What would it reveal about the hidden valuations of race if one were to invert the equation by positing that Barack Obama 'transcended' whiteness because his father was black?" For many people, his appeal seems to be what he is not: "He's not a whiner; he's not angry. … He is not the whole list of negatives that people like Chris Matthews or Joe Biden or a whole generation of fucked-up middle-class college students identify as 'blackness.' " … A piece explores the mounting discontent among conservatives in John McCain's Arizona home district. Says one state committeeman: "The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the 'straight talk express.' Well, down here we call it the 'forked tongue express.' "—C.B.

Economist, Feb. 17

Economist, Feb. 17
An editorial anticipates a coming age of electronic money. "[C]ash is plainly still king," but phone companies in some countries have already started integrating payment programs into their devices. The price: Anonymity. The editors argue it's in the government's interest to preserve anonymity in electronic transactions: "The more the state intrudes into electronic cash, the more it encourages inefficient notes and coin. … As Adam Smith would no doubt have observed, just because the state can pry into electronic cash does not mean it should." … An article criticizes North Korea's latest nuclear deal, arguing that Kim Jong-il has proved himself untrustworthy. First, he misled South Korea; then, in 1994 he struck a similar deal that the United States suspects he later violated. The piece contends that even as other countries lift trade sanctions, "there should be no let-up on curtailing its criminal activities," such as weapon selling and currency counterfeiting.—C.B.

Time, Feb. 26

Time, Feb. 26
The cover piece describes the emergence of crisis pregnancy centers. Though they are decades old, they have acquired new prominence in the wider pro-life movement. These centers have irked pro-choice groups like NARAL, who claim CPC patients are "harassed, bullied, and given blatantly false information." But the centers say that they   enlist clinicians who are "going in there with a heart and compassion who'll talk reasonably and present the options" to dissuade women from pursuing abortion, … An article examines former pet detective Jim Carrey, whose manic-to-maudlin cinematic trajectory will reach darker depths in the upcoming horror film The Number 23. The genre shift has accompanied a change in outlook: "He's not afraid of getting made fun of, he's not afraid of change, and he's not afraid of his audience flying away." This new attitude opens up "the slight possibility that he won't become a punch line."—P.G.

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Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter. Paul Gottschling is a Slate intern.
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