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other magazines: Summaries of what's in Time, Newsweek, etc.

The Jewish Al Sharpton?

By Jeremy Derfner
Updated Friday, Oct. 6, 2000, at 8:30 PM ET

Economist, Oct. 7 and New Republic, Oct. 16

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict on both covers, radically different views of it inside. The Economist editorial calls what happened last week "war" and urges Israel to "abate its greed for other people's land" and achieve peace by offering East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. … The New Republic editorial calls what happened a "battle" and claims it was "well-organized" by Palestinians who will never make peace with Israel. It further blames the Palestinians for refusing the sweet deal offered them at Camp David and declares the peace process effectively over.

A New Republic article describes impeachment manager Rep. Jim Rogan's re-election troubles. The California Republican is caught between his large number of Armenian constituents and the GOP leadership. To win the Armenians, he promised to push Congress to officially recognize the Armenian genocide, but his party gets campaign cash from defense contractors and oil companies that do business with Turkey, so the leadership has given up on helping Rogan. … A profile of Dov Hikind calls him the closest thing to a Jewish Al Sharpton. A disciple of Meir Kahane, the ultra-right Hikind is viewed as the key to the Orthodox vote in New York, and so politicians reluctantly vie for his endorsement. Hillary Clinton, saddled with a credibility problem among Jews, has pushed for his support extra hard, but, as is his custom, Hikind will wait until the last moment to announce his endorsement.

An Economist article reports that prospects in Indonesia are suddenly brighter. After faltering badly during his first year in office, President Abdurrahman Wahid last week refused to grant clemency to Tommy Suharto, son of the deposed dictator, and announced the arrest of an instigator of last year's violence in East Timor.

New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8

The cover story about Bette Midler's new TV show, Bette, explains why Midler finally agreed to do television. Her overwhelming persona has limited her to movie cameos, but in Bette, in which she essentially plays herself, she can showcase her singing and her physical comedy, recreating the mood of her early stage shows. … A profile of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga laments that she has given up trying to make peace. The murders of her father and husband once strengthened her resolve to ease tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils, but she has hardened since a Tamil suicide bomber tried to kill her last year. … An article describes Vladimir Putin's war on the Russian oligarchs. He has tamed most by threatening to investigate their shady dealings during the Yeltsin years, and he seems willing to shut down the free press in order to suppress two media moguls who still buck his authority.

Time, Oct. 9

The cover story agrees with everyone else that RU-486 will shift the abortion debate in pro-choicers' favor. Because patients take the pill in the early stages of pregnancy, pro-choice advocates can move the political discussion away from hard-to-sell, late-term, partial-birth abortions. But many small-town doctors, wary of being stigmatized or threatened, might be as unwilling to prescribe the pill as they have been to conduct surgical abortions. … A piece profiles Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who hosted last week's OPEC meeting. A populist who likes to strike anti-Western chords, he advocates manipulating the price of oil to wring concessions from booming economies. … An article examines NASA's most recent public-relations disaster. It concentrated its resources in the laughingstock International Space Station and hired a Silicon Valley marketing company to improve its image. But the company went too far, pitching a Survivor-in-space TV show to the networks without NASA's permission.

Newsweek, Oct. 9

The cover story reports that many leading rappers worry that hip-hop music has gone too far. Once a protest music for impoverished African-Americans, it has degenerated into profane misogyny, violence, and over-the-top materialism. … An article claims that the Jerusalem riots may set the stage for Benjamin Netanyahu's comeback. He was cleared of fraud and bribery allegations last week, current opposition leader Ariel Sharon is taking heat for starting the riots, and Netanyahu leads Ehud Barak in polls. … A piece explores the science of laughing. It may have evolved from heavy breathing that accompanied fun physical activities such as playful wrestling. Laughter is more often a mundane social signal than a response to a joke or tickling. Most laughter accompanies witless phrases such as "It was nice to meet you."

U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 9

The cover report analyzes the dramatic turnaround of five troubled high schools (Bel Air High School, Sir Frances Drake High School, Loganville High School, Sussex Technical High School, and Wyandotte High School). How'd they do it? Small class size, strong advising, parental involvement, and curriculum reform. … A piece explains why Gore's brand of populism works, even though populism was supposed to have died when Richard Nixon beat George McGovern in 1972. Gore has altered the William Jennings Bryan/Huey Long model (which inveighed against all rich people) and developed a narrowed-down populism that criticizes special interests that get rich through exploitation (HMOs, for instance). … An article describes Wall Street's credibility problem in the wake of the dot-com bust. Securities analysts peddle the stocks they research, so they have an economic incentive to boost the stock market. "Buy" ratings still outnumber "sells" 100 to 1.

The New Yorker, Oct. 9

A piece blasts Napoleon Chagnon, the anthropologist who first studied the Yanomami Indians of Brazil and Venezuela. Chagnon's acclaimed books and related documentary films described a culture organized by violence and war. But recent research shows that he caused wars by supplying the Yanomami with weapons and sowing dissention among the tribespeople. He also fabricated one of his films and may have contributed to a deadly epidemic with a careless measles inoculation program. … An article examines Advantage Schools, a for-profit company that operates charter schools. Advantage schools use a single rigid curriculum and eschew traditional elementary-school activities such as field trips and papier-mâché projects. Although critics lament the lack of creativity in the curriculum, many parents are thankful that Advantage schools raise test scores and are safe. The company loses money now, but it aims to keep 7 percent of the money received from the state.

Weekly Standard, Oct. 9

The cover story doubts that Rick Lazio can win the New York Senate race. He has run a confused campaign and ceded the center to Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Clinton has brought in heavyweights like Robert Rubin, Warren Buffet, and John Sweeney to campaign. Plus, she gets to ride Gore's coattails in an overwhelmingly pro-Gore state. For Lazio to win, a quarter of the New Yorkers who vote for Gore will have to split their ticket. … A piece accuses Gore of inconsistency on education policy. He adamantly opposes vouchers for high schools, where teachers unions are strong, but his college-savings and tuition-deduction plans would spend public resources on private and religious schools.

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Jeremy Derfner is a former Slate editorial assistant.

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Reader Comment from The Fray:

Of course exorcism [report in Time] is coming back. Ignorance, superstition and credulity are making a comeback worldwide. The anti-rationalist beliefs of intellectuals in the humanities are finally beginning to have an effect on society.

Why intellectuals (outside the technical fields) decided to make war on the Enlightenment is an interesting question. My guess is that critical thinking was an obstacle to their preferred political programs. But in truth, the campaign seems to spring more from visceral feelings than from a coordinated program. Maybe they're just jealous that science made great strides in the 20th century, while philosophy, literature, and politics were either irrelevancies or the handmaidens of mass murder.

--A.G.Android

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