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Diamonds Are a Grifter's Best Friend

By Jeremy DerfnerUpdated Friday, July 28, 2000, at 8:00 PM ET

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GQ, August 2000

An article exposes Palm Beach diamond grifter Jack Hasson, who conned clients including Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman, making more than $100 million selling cubic zirconia and quartz. He convinced one investor to spend $80 million to corner the market on blue diamonds by setting up a fake meeting with a representative of the sultan of Brunei and his concubine, actually a jewelry repairman and a prostitute dressed in Halloween costumes. Hasson faces life in prison. … A GQ author learns to play poker, "simply and obviously the sexiest and most dangerous male pastime a woman could ever penetrate." She takes lessons from a great in Atlantic City, loses everything in Mississippi, breaks even with Wayne Newton in Las Vegas, and finally figures it all out in a Los Angeles casino. … An article traces the decline of 1970s baseball phenom John Montefusco. Twenty years ago he pitched a no-hitter, 10 years ago he was released because of a degenerative hip condition, and last year he was released from jail after being found innocent of 19 counts of domestic abuse.

New Republic, August 7

The cover story slams the Republican Party for its obsession with Ronald Reagan. The party faithful believe victory is only one Reagan clone away, but in fact their reliance on the tax-cutting, military-spending formula is what makes them so irrelevant today. If Bush, who adores Reagan, strays from Reagan orthodoxy he'll alienate the party regulars; if he embraces it he'll lose the election. … A piece predicts that Al Gore will win in November. Current poll data notwithstanding, Gore benefits from peace and prosperity, the key issues of education, health care, and Social Security, and the ever-important abortion wedge issue. The wild cards: Gore's fund-raising scandals and the Nader candidacy. … An article says John Kerry would be an awful veep pick for Gore. Another blueblood (multimillionaire Yalie), he is famous for his shameless opportunism. He shifted from the far left to the DLC center in the early 1990s, and that means Republicans can attack him for his early politics, and Naderites can attack him for his Clintonite politics.

New York Times Magazine, July 30

The cover story can't decide if Rick Lazio is a moderate or not. More ambitious than talented, he avoids rocking the boat with a middle-of-the-road politics. But he's also a Republican loyalist, and his fealty to far-right leaders such as Dick Armey and Tom DeLay has forced him into some surprisingly conservative votes. … A piece by a former Ronald Reagan adviser says that George Bush was an accidental vice president. Hours away from naming Gerald Ford as vice president (and effective co-president), Reagan abandoned Ford because he wanted too much power. Reagan picked Bush on a last-second whim. … An article explores the booming industry in research mice. Scientists like to study mice because they are cheap, not covered by the Animal Welfare Act, and relatively similar to humans, so every year they engineer tens of millions of mice with genetic defects (obesity, blindness, Down syndrome). Animal-rights activists accuse scientists of breeding animals whose sole purpose is to die horribly.

Time, July 31

The cover story defends genetically engineered food. True, it could harm animals, make pests resistant to herbicides, and pollinate non-engineered plants by mistake. But foods such as the beta-carotene fortified "golden rice," recently developed by a Swiss scientist, could cure the vitamin-A deficiency that kills a million kids and blinds 350,000 annually in rice-eating countries. … A piece says that summer vacation is disappearing as school years get longer. Some districts have cut summer break to four weeks because students lose academic ground after three-month vacations. But keeping schools open is expensive, hard on teachers, and upsetting to groups such as the American Camping Association. … An article reports on the "beauty boom" in India, the home of five Miss Universes and Miss Worlds in the last six years. The cosmetics industry sponsors a huge network of pageants, and beauty-related social ills such as anorexia are increasing.

Newsweek, July 31

The cover story explores the mystery of autism. Over the past 10 years, the number of kids receiving state services for autism has gone up more than 500 percent. The disorder is more common than Down's syndrome or childhood cancer, but researchers still don't know whether it is genetic or caused by childhood vaccines or toxic exposure. … An article reports that a grand jury is investigating charges that tobacco companies encourage the huge international black market in cigarettes. Billions of cigarettes are smuggled into high-tax countries such as Canada, Colombia, England, and Italy. The tobacco industry claims that exorbitant taxes create black-market conditions beyond its control. … A piece previews the Power Mac G4 Cube, Apple's snazzy new computer. Apple replaced the annoying mouse ball with an optical tracking device, there are no buttons sticking out of the computer, and the cooling system is nifty convection, not a noisy fan. Downside: It costs more than twice as much as the popular iMac.

The New Yorker, July 31

A long profile of Al Gore says he's as bad at politicking as advertised. Neither of his two public personae—high-energy Gore and statesmanlike Gore—seems natural or warm. The private Al Gore is explicitly anti-political, thinking in terms of systems instead of individuals, and in the upper intellectual reaches he is brilliant, mastering impersonal issues such as arms control and global warming. Whether he wins or loses, Gore will cleanse his campaign-bruised soul by returning to the abstract style at which he excels.

Weekly Standard, July 31

The cover story argues that California has declined in political importance. Once a representative yet visionary state that birthed trends such as tax cutting and term limits, it is now too Democratic, too immigrant, and too run-down to inspire national political movements. George W. Bush would be wise not to expend too much effort in California and focus on Pennsylvania instead. … A piece disputes Ralph Nader's claim that his message should appeal to true conservatives (though not Republicans). His anti-corporatism does jibe with conservative philosophy, but his proposed remedies are technical and regulatory, not moral and religious. … An article urges conservatives to pass campaign-finance reform. Soft money actually helps Democrats more than Republicans, but public anger over money in politics is aimed mostly at Republicans.