The New Yorker on the Taliban's foray into opium production.
The New Yorker, July 9
An action-packed article on opium eradication in Afghanistan explores the lucrative—and recently forged—partnership between the Taliban and Afghan drug lords. Though the Taliban outlawed opium production during its reign, promoting it today gives it the opportunity to earn money, gain the allegiance of impoverished opium farmers, and give the finger to U.S.-led opium-eradication efforts. Contractors paid to enforce the counternarcotics efforts are frustrated. "Good thing I'm not an idealist," one says. "I'm just here for the money." … A feature on meteorites examines our endless attraction to the otherworldly. The piece centers on a purported meteorite that crashed through a home in New Jersey. After inciting a local media frenzy, the meteorite was ultimately found to be (spoiler alert!) faux. A Rutgers scientist's quote is the highlight of the piece: "It sure looked like a meteorite, and it sure fooled me, that sneaky little devil. Well, if you keep on studying these objects, over time you'll see far fewer meteorites than meteor wrongs..
Weekly Standard , July 9
A by-the-numbers article assesses Nicolas Sarkozy's first few weeks in the French presidency. A "doer" who "means business," he stripped the proposed EU constitution "of everything grandly 'constitutional' " in favor of a "leaner treaty" that focuses on practicalities, like eliminating the unanimity requirement for decisions on security. Sarkozy's predecessors dictatorially ran France's foreign affairs solo, but the magnanimous Sarkozy consulted with representatives from the Socialist Party before heading to the EU summit. Anyone familiar with European politics will find the article too basic, but neophytes may appreciate the writer's quick summation of French goings-on. … Another article explains why Rudy Giuliani gets standing ovations at Christian universities. The former New York mayor supports gay rights, stem-cell research, and a woman's right to choose, but religious and social conservatives "greet [him] warmly." Why? He's tough on terrorism, and conservatives think he'll be viable in the general election. After watching the Bush-led right wing take a beating, it seems that pragmatic Republicans are doing some compromising.
Economist , June 30
The cover story considers the "wounded" American psyche. Stretched-thin troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the menace of China on the horizon, and Americans' own failing confidence in their government all generate "a sense of waning power." But since America's "last great strength" is the country's ability to correct itself, the piece prophesies that the superpower will recover from this malaise. ... A report on the opium trade focuses on Afghanistan's Helmand province, which produces 92 percent of the world's supply. The $3.1 billion trade accounts for one-third of the nation's economy. In poverty-stricken Afghanistan, the lucrative opium market "rots any institution it touches." Reports of police bribes and drug connections among government officials are prevalent, despite British and U.S.-led anti-drug efforts … An article predicts a "bumper-crop" of weddings for July 7, 2007 (7/07/07). Las Vegas chapels are offering marriage services as early as 12:30 a.m. to accommodate the number of couples wanting to exchange vows on the lucky date.
Time , July 9
In the cover story, Rupert Murdoch talks about his plans for the Wall Street Journal—where it will fit in his media empire. The Journal bid is key for Murdoch's corporation, especially with the upcoming launch of the Fox Business Channel, and he has an array of grand, vague ideas for its future. But the "restless septuagenarian" admits that he hasn't plotted its course beyond "investing in a beefed-up Washington bureau and more foreign bureaus, the better to challenge the [New York] Times and the Washington Post." … An article reveals that the volume of Chinese imports is "straining the capacity of U.S regulators to watch," a situation highlighted by the recent recall of poisoned Chinese-manufactured toothpaste. Chinese safety standards are far below those of the United States, but with the FDA's limited ability to inspect imports—the piece calls it a "tombstone agency" where "nothing happens unless someone dies"—the only way to ensure safety may be at the source—which might not happen any time soon.
New York Times Magazine, July 1
An article looks at NASA's attempts to use public competitions with large cash prizes (up to $2 million) to lure amateurs into developing better space technologies—from a more efficient astronaut's glove to a new lunar lander. NASA is trying tap into America's "great faith in the idea of the outside inventor" to revive its bureaucracy and bring space travel to the private sector. But competing mostly means costly failures and eking out modest improvements by a grueling "mechanical bartering," the process of making fractional adjustments to the narrow and frustrating parameters of space gear. … An article looks at the growing interest in a Mayan doomsday prophecy forecasted for October 2012. Among believers, there is some question as to whether the date spells annihilation or re-birth, but for skeptics the real question seems to be, "how an obscure culturally circumscribed issue like the end date of one Mayan [calendar] could manage to gain such traction in the wider world."
Texas Monthly, July
The cover story profiles "killer nurse" Vickie Dawn Jackson, known in Nocona, Texas, as "the angel of death." The deaths of 10 Nocona General Hospital patients racked the one-Dairy Queen town close to the Oklahoma border. Nurse Vickie murdered her patients with mivacurium chloride injections not because she was "a mercy killer" or suffering from the need to harm and then save her patients to gain approval from co-workers, according to law enforcement officials. One investigator says, "She [just] wanted people dead. Lots of people." ... An article follows the legal battle of Eva Rowe, who filed a $1.2 billion lawsuit in 2005 against British Petroleum. Rowe claims the energy company's lax regulations at a Texas City plant caused an explosion that killed her parents. Documents from BP reveal a cost-benefit analysis of explosion prevention with this argument against increased regulation: "The big bad wolf blows with a frequency of once per piggy lifetime."
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