Home//The Week Magazine/June 12, 2015/In This Issue
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Paul’s anti-surveillance crusadeWhat happenedCongress approved legislation that halts the government’s bulk collection of telephone records this week, after a divisive intraparty Republican rebellion led by civil libertarian Sen. Rand Paul. The bipartisan bill, the Freedom Act, replaces a controversial provision in the 2001 Patriot Act that allowed the National Security Agency and other intelligence bodies to collect the phone data of all Americans. The responsibility for storing this metadata—which includes call numbers, times, and durations—will now lie with telecom companies. Intelligence agencies will have to petition the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to gain access to the phone data of specific terrorist suspects. Because of Senate opposition to the bill, the Patriot Act provision expired on Sunday without a replacement. Signing the Freedom Act on Tuesday, President Obama denounced the “needless delay and…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Hastert’s hush money scandalIn an indictment that shocked his former GOP colleagues, onetime House Speaker Dennis Hastert was charged last week with lying to the FBI about hush money he paid to an ex-student he’d allegedly molested decades ago, when he was a schoolteacher and wrestling coach. Federal prosecutors said the Illinois Republican withdrew $1.7 million in cash over a period of four years—initially in large amounts, then in smaller chunks after bank officials grew suspicious. In all, Hastert had planned to pay $3.5 million to conceal what the indictment called “prior misconduct,” later reported to be the alleged sexual abuse of an underage male. If convicted, Hastert could face up to 10 years in prison.Hastert’s indictment “seems richly deserved,” said Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker. The former House speaker knew what…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The U.S. at a glance ...Orange County, Calif.DA scandal: A criminal-court judge took the unprecedented step of removing the entire Orange County District Attorney’s Office, including all 250 prosecutors, from a major death penalty case last week, amid allegations of widespread misconduct among prosecutors. Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals accused the DA’s office of repeatedly failing to turn over important evidence to the defense, in its eagerness to secure a death sentence for mass shooter Scott Dekraai, who has pleaded guilty to gunning down his ex-wife and seven others at a Seal Beach beauty salon in 2011. Goethals also accused prosecutors of purposely placing defendants in prison cells next to jailhouse informants in a bid to elicit illegal confessions. Dekraai’s case has now been turned over to State Attorney General Kamala Harris, who has opened…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015GossipThe former Bruce Jenner unveiled her new female identity in spectacular style this week, posing on the cover of Vanity Fair in a provocative photo shoot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. Under the headline “Call me Caitlyn,” the former decathlete is seen wearing a white silk corset and underwear, her hair long and flowing. The cover shoot was the first time Jenner, 65, has appeared as Caitlyn since announcing she was transgender in an interview with Diane Sawyer, and followed facial-feminization surgery and breast augmentation. “If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret,” said Jenner in an accompanying interview, “I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life.’” As the shoot went viral, members of Jenner’s family expressed their support. “Now that’s…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Best columns: The U.S.Crimes surging because of police fearHeather Mac DonaldThe Wall Street JournalThe “Ferguson effect” has sparked a surge of violent crime across the country, said Heather Mac Donald. After a steady two-decade decline, cities from New York to Los Angeles have experienced an alarming spike in shootings and homicides. In Baltimore, there were 32 shootings over the Memorial Day weekend, and May was the city’s most violent month in 15 years. What incited this coast-to-coast chaos? Blame the protests and demagoguery that erupted after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Freddie Gray in Baltimore. All cops have been unfairly tarred as racists; in black communities, arrests now meet with “jeering crowds pressing in on officers and spreading lies about the encounter.” Cops now fear that any arrest or…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Best columns: EuropeBOSNIA-HERZEGOVINARewarded for doing nothingThomas FusterNeue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland)Bosnia is benefiting from the soft bigotry of low expectations, said Thomas Fuster. An association agreement between Bosnia and the European Union, the first step toward membership in the bloc, went into effect last week. But Bosnia didn’t earn this reward. For years it has promised to reform its corruption-addled political system, which divides up seats and power according to ethnicity in defiance of EU rules against discrimination. This year it put the promise in writing, and that was suddenly enough for Brussels. The EU capitulated because it doesn’t want to leave “its own backyard open to influence by foreign powers.”After all, Russia has been sniffing around the ethnic Serbian part of Bosnia, while Turkey and some Middle Eastern powers have been courting…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015How they see us: Will the U.S. stop China’s expansion?Washington is taking a “dangerous gamble” in the South China Sea, said the Global Times(China) in an editorial. The U.S. has sent spy planes to harass Chinese crews doing “legal construction activities” on Chinese islands, and now it is issuing threats. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said last week the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the imagined “militarization” of these islands and called for a halt to China’s expansion and development of our own territory. Such provocation is “unwise and reckless.” We intend to build on our territory and, as a recent military white paper spelled out, to actively defend it. Given the “aggressive U.S. interference,” it’s no wonder there has been “much speculation about the possibility of a U.S.-China military clash in the region.” That would be unfortunate.China’s claim “is…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Social issues: America shifts left“A large cohort of Americans did something brave this month,” said Catherine Rampell in The Washington Post. They came out of the closet as social liberals. For the first time since Gallup started tracking public opinion on social issues in 1999, the number of Americans identifying as social liberals has equaled the number of social conservatives: 31 percent. That represents a major change from 16 years ago, when social conservatives outnumbered social liberals by a ratio of about 2 to 1. “Americans are shifting left on almost every social issue you can think of,” said Matthew Yglesias in Vox.com.A record 60 percent support same-sex marriage, while 68 percent accept premarital sex and 71 percent accept divorce. Clearly, “Americans are feeling a lot more permissive about things in 2015 than they…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Bytes: What’s new in techThe future of the web“Video is eating the web,” said Brian Fung in The Washington Post. In five years, 85 percent of U.S. internet consumption will be dedicated to video, according to a study by Cisco; globally, that figure will be 80 percent. Part of the growth will be because more people are getting online around the world; much of the rest will come from advances in mobile technology that allow users to watch video anywhere and everywhere. When you grasp the idea that the internet is transforming into “more or less a big video pipe,” it puts everything that tech and media companies are doing into perspective, whether it’s Verizon expanding its cellular networks to better deliver video, or content providers like HBO and CBS moving programming online.Subsidized surfing…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Review of reviews: BooksBook of the weekRise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Futureby Martin Ford (Basic, $29)Do not mistake the warnings of software entrepreneur Martin Ford for “the rantings of a latter-day Luddite,” said Edward Luce in the Financial Times. Ford’s new book warns that so many jobs will be eliminated by automation in the coming decades that more than half of American adults won’t be able to find employment, and his argument proves “disturbingly persuasive.” Advances in information technology are already pushing people out of work: On Wall Street, where machines now execute 70 percent of trades, profits are soaring while the labor force dwindles— cut by a third since 2000. And financial services work was the low-hanging fruit. Software built today can drive a car, grade…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Also of interest...in celebrity memoirsThe Book of Joanby Melissa Rivers (Crown, $26)Melissa Rivers might appear crass, publishing this tribute less than a year after her mother’s death, said Brooke Lefferts in the Associated Press. But Joan Rivers was all about “making a buck while keeping people laughing,” and this warm, witty tribute does both. The portrait of Joan that emerges reveals a performer who was equally dedicated to career and parenting, but Melissa “doesn’t hold back on celebrity dish”—even awarding her mom the last word in a long feud with Jay Leno.My Fight/Your Fightby Ronda Rousey (Regan Arts, $28)Spending time inside the mind of Ronda Rousey is “as thrilling and disgusting as you might expect,” said Charlie Gilmour in Vice.com. The undefeated mixed-martial-arts champion breaks other women’s arms for a living, and her best-selling…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015An Act of GodStudio 54, New York City, (212) 239-6200The spirit of the Lord has descended on Broadway, said Charles Isherwood in The New York Times. “Yes, God himself is in residence at Studio 54, of all sinhaunted places, holding forth on matters of faith and folly to peals of raucous laughter.” The Almighty explains that he has temporarily borrowed the boyish body of TV star Jim Parsons (“The irony of him starring in a show called The Big Bang Theory,” God tells the audience. “I couldn’t resist!”) to reveal a new and improved set of commandments. Mankind has evidently displeased him so far, and “like a celestial talk show host,” God sits and riffs on our copious faults and misunderstandings of his will. This “tell it like it is” deity—created by Daily…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The Week’ s guide to what’s worth watchingYellowstone SupervolcanoBeautiful. Majestic. Possibly the source of mankind’s destruction. Beneath the wonders of Yellowstone National Park lies a volcanic hot spot full of enough molten rock to fill the Grand Canyon 14 times. If it blows, it will do so with the force of 1,000 nuclear bombs and darken the earth’s skies for years. Hard science and doomsday hypothesizing combine in this eye-opening consideration of an astounding natural threat.Monday, June 8, at 8 p.m., Smithsonian ChannelThe SeventiesOnly one decade in history witnessed both the end of the Beatles and the birth of punk rock, the resignation of Richard Nixon and the galling spectacle of the Iran hostage crisis. In a followup to last year’s The Sixties, CNN is offering an eight-part look at those 10 eventful years. Up first: Norman…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Recipe of the weekThe IBM supercomputer known as Watson “has taken up a new hobby,” said Caitlin Dewey in The Washington Post. In the cookbook Cognitive Cooking With Chef Watson, chefs and the computer collaborated to create successful recipes that break from tradition. Michael Laiskonis tapped Watson’s associative skills to develop this one.Austrian chocolate burritos8 oz dried unsweetened apricots • 1 lb lean ground beef • zest of 1 orange • pinch of ground cinnamon • 1½ oz dark (70%) chocolate, finely chopped • fine sea salt • ½ vanilla bean, split and scraped • 1½ cups shelled edamame • six 10-inch flour tortillas • a few tbsp vegetable shortening, melted • 1 cup Edam cheese, grated • ½ cup crumbled queso fresco• In a saucepan, cover apricots with 1 inch water. Bring…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Hotel of the weekLe GuanahaniSt. BarthThe Caribbean’s most glamorous island is dotted with exquisite villas and hotels, said Ann Abel in Forbes .com, but Le Guanahani is the closest St. Barth’s has to a big luxury resort. “Anyone who says bright color isn’t a balm for the soul hasn’t been here.” Outside my “sunshiny” turquoise bungalow was a garden of impossibly rich hues, where the fragrance of flowers mixed with the scent of sea air. But Le Guanahani isn’t just about bucolic pleasures. It also caters to activity-seeking guests and has two restaurants, two pools, tennis courts, and the island’s only full-service spa. leguanahani.com; doubles from $648Yadid Levy/Anzenberger/Redux, courtesy of Le Guanahani…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Tip of the week...How to choose a quality sofa Raise a leg. Lift a front leg 6 inches off the floor. If the back leg doesn’t lift with it, the frame is weak. Don’t accept pine framing. Insist on hardwood, with joints screwed or doweled, not just glued or stapled. Test the springs. Run a hand over the upholstery to make sure springs are firm and close together. High-end sofas have round springs tied together eight ways, but some experts claim S-shaped springs are just as good. Avoid sofas with no springs, or springs that squeak when you sit on an edge. Question the filling. The top-of-the-line choice is a mix of goose down and feathers and close behind is high-resilient (HR) foam. Other foams won’t last. Choose a tough textile. Cotton and…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015This week: Living in Arizona1Paradise Valley Built in 2010, this five-bedroom home sits high on 3.4 acres of hillside. Electronic recessed glass walls bring the outdoors in; the heated saltwater pool’s bar, spa, and lounging area bring the indoors out. Features include media and game rooms, two full kitchens, and a master suite with two bathrooms, two walk-in closets, a workout room, a wet bar, and a fireplace. $7,495,000. David Larchez, Silverhawk Realty/Top Agent Network, (480) 822-88982Phoenix Set on a private street in the north central part of the city, this Federal-style five-bedroom home was built in 1938. The renovated house features a gourmet kitchen, two fireplaces, a wine cellar, a sunroom, and a new addition with a master suite. The landscaped property includes a tennis court, gazebo, and sundeck. $1,875,000. Cheryl Barnoli, Russ…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Tech: Social sites look for new ways to profitMany more ads are coming to your Instagram feed, said Jessica Guynn in USA Today. Facebook, which bought the photo-sharing app in 2012 for $1 billion, has since kept Instagram mostly ad free, offering promoted posts to just a handful of select brands. But in a sign that Facebook is now “serious about making money” on the service, the social network announced this week it will soon open up Instagram to any advertiser hoping to reach the platform’s 300 million users. Marketers will be able to target users based on “age, gender, and other demographic factors,” just as they can on Facebook.Pinterest announced a profit push of its own this week, said Mike Isaac in The New York Times. The socialscrapbooking site unveiled “Buyable Pins,” which will allow retailers big…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Personal finance: Money tips for new graduatesCollege commencement speakers have spent the last few weeks insisting that new grads should follow their passions above all else, said Suzanne McGee in The Guardian(U.K.). But I’m here to tell you, grads, that “money does matter.” The good news is “you’ll never be in a better position to begin thinking about money the right way.” Now is the time to develop habits that will set you up to do well financially. “For most of us,” that doesn’t mean making millions, but rather being able to see money “as a tool.” Just having a plan will set you apart from most Millennials. According to one study, three-quarters of Millennials have specific financial goals, but only 20 percent have a plan for achieving them.After rent, student loans “will likely be your…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Issue of the week: The hesitant U.S. economyThe economic recovery looks as fragile as ever, said Josh Mitchell in The Wall Street Journal. Gross domestic product shrank 0.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, “far worse” than the government’s initial estimate of 0.2 percent growth. Though last year the economy seemed to be on the brink of “a long-delayed breakout,” it has now contracted for the third time since the recession ended in mid-2009. You can pin much of the blame on a harsh winter, a strong U.S. dollar, and labor disputes at West Coast ports, all of which hurt demand for American goods at home and abroad. The result is a still-weak recovery particularly susceptible to shocks, with no sign of when this “historically choppy stretch” will end.No need for panic, said Martin Crutsinger…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The vice president’s son who dedicated his life to serviceJoseph ‘Beau’ Biden1969–2015When Joseph “Beau” Biden last year declared his intention to run for Delaware’s governorship in 2016, pundits quickly declared him the race’s frontrunner. The Democratic politician— Vice President Joe Biden’s eldest son—had his father’s broad smile and had become one of Delaware’s most popular figures during his two terms as state attorney general. But that promising future was cut short by brain cancer, which he battled for two years. Announcing his son’s death last week, the vice president said Beau had fought the disease with “the same integrity, courage, and strength he demonstrated every day of his life.”Born in Wilmington, Del., Beau “appeared to be a natural to follow in his father’s path toward national political success,” said The New York Times. The two men shared a love…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015It wasn’t all badWhen floodwaters from severe storms began to reach the cages at the Town Lake Animal Center in Austin last month, the no-kill shelter posted a frantic plea on Facebook. Within hours, dozens of local animal lovers arrived to foster the displaced pets. By day’s end, some 50 dogs and 30 cats had been taken home, and some of the foster families ended up filing applications for adoption. “We had over 211 foster applications,” said Amanda Potter-Layco*ck, who works at the shelter. “It was incredible how many people lined up.” Nearly 100 years after the end of World War I, two valiant American soldiers who were passed over for recognition in their lifetime have been honored for their heroism. Pvt. Henry Johnson, who was African-American, and Sgt. William Shemin, who was…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015THE WEEKIt seemed like a groundbreaking piece of research. A study published in the journal Science last December found that a 20-minute chat with an openly gay person was often enough to turn a same-sex marriage opponent into a supporter (see Talking Points). Gay rights campaigners hailed the paper as proof that empathy could conquer prejudice. The only problem? The study was bunk. One of the authors had faked the results, and last week the paper was retracted. That such a flawed piece of research made it to publication wasn’t surprising to many scientists. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet medical journal, says that up to 50 percent of all scientific papers “may simply be untrue.” Instances of wholesale fraud, as in the gay marriage study, are still relatively rare. But…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The world at a glance ...ParisBreaking up with love locks: Love-struck tourist couples are no longer allowed to express their affection by inscribing their initials on a padlock and attaching it to the Pont des Arts. Parisian authorities closed the pedestrian bridge over the Seine River this week and removed tens of thousands of the locks, whose multi-ton weight was causing railings to snap, endangering passing tour boats. The lovelock fad was sparked by I Want You, a 2006 novel by Italian author Federico Moccia, in which two Roman lovers put a lock on a bridge and throw the key into the Tiber River. In less than a decade it became a huge phenomenon in Paris, where several bridges are now completely encrusted. Railings on the Pont des Arts will be replaced by clear plastic…7 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015America’s biker gangsAre the gangs truly dangerous?Most motorcycle clubs are perfectly harmless groups of leather-clad easy riders with a passion for the open road. But the biker world also has a violent subculture— a highly organized criminal network of Harley-riding outlaws who fight turf wars over drugs, weapons, and women. Among them are the Bandidos and the Cossacks, who had a wild brawl and shoot-out in Waco, Texas, several weeks ago. The FBI estimates there are now around 44,000 Americans in more than 3,000 outlaw motorcycle gangs. These gangs aren’t “just tattooed long-haired guys who like to ride motorcycles,” says Steve Cook of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association. “They are long-haired tattooed guys who ride motorcycles and sell a hell of a lot of methamphetamine and murder people and steal…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Viewpoint“It used to be that we needed fancy clothes and attention to hair and makeup for weddings, graduations, birthdays, bar mitzvahs. It used to be that, generally speaking, we all knew the occasions that required us to look good. Then along came cellphones with built-in cameras. And blogs and Facebook and Twitter. Suddenly, you weren’t just that one tiny picture, you were every picture anyone might happen to want to snap, and to post and pin and share, images that would be tweeted and retweeted. Every day is Class Picture Day. Every picture, or video, ends up on the internet. Everyone, from your eighth-grade classmates to the wife of the guy you worked with 10 years ago, can see. We’re all on the air, all the time.”…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Europe: Can FIFA be reformed?It was a “game-changing” moment for international soccer, said The Guardian(U.K.) in an editorial. Swiss police arrested seven top officials with the sport’s governing body, FIFA, at a five-star Zurich hotel last week, at the same time as authorities raided the organization’s headquarters in the city and the FBI searched a FIFA affiliate’s Miami offices. The tightly choreographed operation—sparked by a U.S. Justice Department investigation into an alleged $150 million racketeering and fraud scheme at FIFA—was reminiscent of “the climactic baptism scene in The Godfather,” in which the Corleone family’s enemies are picked off one by one. And this week, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, though he hasn’t been indicted, announced his resignation. It’s about time. His 17-year tenure has been marked by scandal after scandal, including recent allegations that Russia…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015NotedU.S. police have shot and killed at least 385 people so far this year—more than two a day—according to a Washington Post compilation of data. Blacks and Hispanics made up two-thirds of unarmed people fatally shot by police, and about one-quarter of victims were identified as mentally ill. Three officers involved in fatal shootings have been charged with a crime— fewer than 1 percent. The Washington Post When Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, her department authorized $165 billion in arms sales to 20 countries that donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation— double the U.S. arms sales to those countries during President George W. Bush’s second term. International Business Times So much rain fell on flood-ravaged Texas this May that it could cover the entire state with 8…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Wife bonuses: The world of elite housewivesWhen feminists demanded that men “value the work women do as wives and mothers,” said Mary Elizabeth Williams in Salon.com, “I’m not sure this is what we meant.” On Manhattan’s elite Upper East Side, glamorous stay-at-home moms—or “Glam SAHMs”—are now apparently being paid an annual “wife bonus” by their rich Wall Street husbands based on their performance as mothers and homemakers. This revelation comes to us from anthropologist Wednesday Martin, author of a new book titled Primates of Park Avenue—her insider study of Glam SAHM life. In this feminist dystopia, said Amanda Marcotte in Slate.com, the five- or six-figure wife bonus is paid out based on how well she manages the home budget, the kids’ quests to get into the best schools, and of course her own performance in the…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Apps: The sharing economy’s toll on workers“If you want to start a fight in otherwise polite company,” said Christopher Mims in The Wall Street Journal, “just declare that the ‘sharing economy’ is the new feudalism.” It’s become increasingly popular to criticize startups like ride-sharing app Uber, small-jobs marketplace TaskRabbit, and home-cleaning platform Homejoy as preying on workers, offering low-wage jobs that lack security and benefits even as the startups’ values soar into the billions. “It’s a hypocrisy” Silicon Valley is struggling to address, said Izabella Kaminska in the Financial Times. These apps claim to be transforming the labor market to the advantage of workers, who increasingly want flexibility and independence. But in practice, they are creating a kind of “digital serfdom.”It’s true that most jobs in the sharing economy don’t offer a steady income, health insurance,…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Novel of the weekOur Souls at Night(Knopf, $24)The “slim but never slight” novel that Kent Haruf left behind when he died last November arrives “like a blessing we had no right to expect,” said Ron Charles in The Washington Post. The tale is set in Holt, Colo., the fictional small town that the prize-winning author featured in many of his plainspoken stories. Two elderly residents, Addie and Louis, have chosen to start sleeping together—not to have sex, but simply to talk in the darkness—and though nosy neighbors may disapprove, “it’s impossible to resist the thrill these two sweet people feel as they get to know each other night after night.” Writing about happiness is hard, maybe the hardest subject a novelist can tackle, said Ursula K. Le Guin in The Guardian(U.K.). But Haruf,…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Review of reviews: FilmSpyDirected by Paul Feig (R)A CIA nobody turns Jane Bond.Finally, Melissa McCarthy has been granted the big-screen showcase she deserves, said Justin Chang in Variety. As a CIA desk jockey freed to play action hero at last, the actress has seized upon the “smartest, funniest” role yet written for her and delivered “a neverending succession of priceless moments.” McCarthy’s Susan Cooper has been a skilled analyst for years, feeding intel via earpiece to a suave field operative (Jude Law). But when Law’s character is offed by an arms dealer who claims access to agency secrets, Cooper demands a chance to leap in. Rose Byrne gets the villain’s role, and she proves “no less brilliant here” than she was in Bridesmaids, the comedy that made McCarthy a star, said Scott Mendelson…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Movies on TVMonday, June 8Man HuntA big-game hunter gets Adolf Hitler in his rifle sights, making himself the target of a long chase. From director Fritz Lang. (1941) 8 p.m., TCMTuesday, June 9Going in StyleFogies George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg trade pigeon feeding in the park for a late life of crime when they decide to hold up a bank. (1979) 8 p.m., TCMWednesday, June 10NightcrawlIn his best performance since Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a TV newsman who trolls L.A. seeking grisly crime scenes. (2014) Netflix on demandThursday, June 11Shaun of the DeadAn aimless London retail clerk is wrestling with girlfriend troubles when a zombie epidemic hits London. With Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. (2004) 7:45 p.m., IFCFriday, June 12ClueBased on the classic board game, this murder mystery has…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Protein drinks: The end of food?Maybe the folks in Silicon Valley aren’t that smart after all, said Sam Sifton in The New York Times. Bent on saving time, the tech industry’s workplace warriors are increasingly replacing real meals with tasteless protein shakes made from nutrient-packed powders. Ready to join the craze? Here’s what you’re in for:Soylent “Imagine a meal made of the milk left at the bottom of a bowl of cutrate cereals, the liquid thickened with sweepings from the floor of a health food store.” At least the name is cute. ($18 for a one-day supply)Space Nutrients Station Food In a contest mostly decided on mouth feel, this beverage distinguished itself by being “chunky with flax seeds.” ($70 per week)Schmilk A single glass of Schmilk left a blanket of oat flour on my tongue…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Getting the flavor of...Health and horses in Saratoga Springs“Popular in the last gilded age,” Saratoga Springs “greets this new age with aplomb,” said Andrew Nelson in National Geographic Traveler. Visitors to the upstate New York town can pick from a wealth of cultural delights. The Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Ballet make their summer homes here, and the National Museum of Dance hosts regular contemporary dance performances. Though more than 1,000 Saratoga buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the city’s oldest treasure lies underfoot. A Paleozoic-era fault line releases carbonated, mineral-rich water through 17 different springs. Those waters made the town a popular destination with the 19th-century elite. So did the Saratoga Race Course, home of the Travers Stakes since 1863. The legendary late-August horserace might not attract…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The 2016 Mazda CX-3: What the critics sayCar and DriverPlenty of new subcompact crossovers have been unveiled in the past 12 months, but Mazda’s “just may be the most compelling of the bunch.” The new CX-3 combines “edgy” exterior styling with a rewarding driving experience and class-leading fuel economy. And though cargo capacity is limited, the “wonderfully upscale” cabin in this “fun and feisty” entry-level runabout might be its greatest asset.Autoblog.com“From all angles, this is an attractive crossover”—a “bold, dynamic” newcomer in a segment “filled with cutesy, oddball, and bland designs.” The engine, a 2.0-liter in-line four-cylinder, “can feel really gutless under 3,000 rpm,” but a quick-witted six-speed transmission makes the CX-3 “nimble on its toes,” and the responsive steering is “simply a joy to use in the bends.”AutomobileWhile the CX-3 “skyrockets to the top of its…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015JPMorgan hangs up on voicemailJPMorgan Chase doesn’t want employees to leave a message after the tone, said Emily Glazer in The Wall Street Journal. The bank is phasing out landline voicemail in its consumer and community banking unit for employees who don’t deal directly with clients. Instead, callers will hear a “generic message” that directs them to call back later. Currently, voicemail costs the bank about $10 per person per month, so savings could add up to more than $3 million a year. Ditching corporate voicemail is a growing trend; in December, Coca-Cola eliminated voicemail at its Atlanta headquarters, saying the move would simplify and speed up work. “We realized that hardly anyone uses voicemail anymore,” said Gordon Smith, JPMorgan’s consumer banking chief. “We’re all carrying something in our pockets that’s going to get…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Charity of the weekThe Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (itdp.org) works with cities around the world to reduce traffic and improve the quality of urban life by supporting efficient public transportation systems and cycling and walking initiatives. The organization helps cities adapt streets to be more bicycleand pedestrian-friendly by designing cycling and walking lanes, as well as bike-sharing programs. The Eurobici bike-sharing system in Buenos Aires, for example, has recently grown to 200 automated stations and 3,000 bikes citywide. The organization also consults cities around the world on ways to reduce traffic congestion and manage urban growth through Bus Rapid Transit Systems— dedicated bus lines that match the speed, capacity, and convenience of rail-based systems at a fraction of the cost.Each charity we feature has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The photographer who documented outcastsMary Ellen Mark1940–2015Mary Ellen Mark often joked that she didn’t have the physique to be a war photographer. “You have to be a fast runner,” she explained, “and that’s not part of my nature.” Yet throughout her five-decade career, the celebrated photojournalist again and again put herself in potentially dangerous situations. She lived with mental patients in a maximum-security psychiatry ward for six weeks, and befriended street prostitutes in Mumbai and gun-toting runaways in Seattle. “I feel an affinity for people who haven’t had the best breaks in society,” she explained. “I’m always on their side. I find them more human, maybe.”Born in Philadelphia, Mark “first became interested in photography while on a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania,” said NYMag .com. In the early 1960s, she began photographing ordinary…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The seeds of salvationONE DAY LAST December, in the town nearest to the North Pole, Robert Bjerke looked at the computer monitor on his desk to discover that the future of human civilization was in jeopardy.The morning was relatively mild for winter in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago: 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Bjerke’s office building sits on a hill overlooking the inky blue Arctic waters of a fjord. It is a stunning view, but that day, the monitor commanded his attention. In the most important property under his care—the Svalbard Global Seed Vault—the temperature reading was off. The vault was too warm.Since 2008, the Svalbard seed vault and its guardians have been entrusted by the world’s governments with the safekeeping of the most prized varieties of crops on which human civilization was raised. That morning, it…9 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015TSA rocked by security failuresThe Obama administration hurriedly removed the acting head of the Transportation Security Administration this week after a humiliating internal investigation revealed that undercover investigators had smuggled mock explosives and weapons through U.S. airport screeners in 95 percent of their trials. According to the leaked report, teams from the Department of Homeland Security were able to get contraband through checkpoints in 67 of 70 tests. On one occasion, an undercover investigator was stopped by TSA agents after setting off an alarm at a magnetometer; when agents patted him down, though, they failed to find a fake bomb taped to his back.Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he took the findings “very seriously” and promised to retrain staff and conduct more random tests. But he reassured travelers that they were guarded by…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Democrats: Will Hillary’s challengers help or hurt her?“Bernie-mentum is real,” said Josh Voorhees in Slate.com. No one thinks Sen. Bernie Sanders is actually going to beat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, but since the Vermont independent launched his presidential bid last week, he’s drawn impressive crowds across the primary state of Iowa, and now has the support of 15 percent of likely Democratic voters. That’s a pretty big number for a crotchety, 73-year-old self-declared “democratic socialist,” and it dwarfs the 1 percent of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, 52, who also began his campaign for the White House last week. Evidently, Sanders is giving the “anybody-but-Clinton liberals” a chance “to rally around someone.” Sanders’ candidacy will actually help Clinton, said Doyle McManus in LATimes.com. He makes her “seem relatively young” at 67, and his “bracing populist…5 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015PeopleRichards’ pioneering transitionRenée Richards knows what Caitlyn Jenner is going through, said Michael Hainey in GQ. In 1977, after a yearlong legal battle with the U.S. Tennis Association, the then 43-year-old became the first transgender athlete to play in the U.S. Open. A leading eye surgeon and former Navy officer, Richards—previously named Richard Raskind—had undergone a sex change operation two years earlier over the objections of several doctors. “They couldn’t fathom how someone who’d been so supremely successful in everything could have this compulsion to be what I should have been: a woman,” she says. When Richards returned to tennis, many fans thought she had an unfair advantage over women players. She was heckled on court, and even received death threats. Yet she never intended to be a pioneer. “I…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The induction processJoining a violent biker gang isn’t easy. Former government informant Charles Falco, who infiltrated several gangs and is now living in the witness protection program, says that inductees have to prove their mettle through several steps. The newbies, known as “hang-arounds,” start by carrying out menial tasks like serving drinks at club parties and guarding bikes. They then graduate to “prospect” status, where they’re given a leather vest, but without the club patches. After a year or so, the candidate’s application is finally put to a vote. For the most dangerous gangs, the final stage can also involve proving your loyalty through a criminal act, such as severely beating or killing a rival gang member. The filtering process is arduous and highly organized. “People think ‘dumb biker gangs,’” says Falco,…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015It must be true... I read it in the tabloidsA Seattle thief missed the jackpot when he broke into a couple’s car and snatched a pair of sunglasses, leaving behind a winning $1 million lottery ticket that was sitting underneath the glasses. The couple said the Powerball ticket had been in their car for three months, and they hadn’t bothered to check its value after they missed out on February’s $350 million jackpot. But after the break-in, the couple decided to look up their numbers, and found they’d won a $1 million prize. “What a close call,” they told Lottery officials. A Danish politician is trying to stand out from his rivals in national elections by appearing in X-rated campaign posters wearing nothing more than a cowboy hat, a holster, and a determined gaze. John Erik Wagner, 51, who…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Best columns: InternationalLEBANONBecoming a puppet of IranEyad Abu ShakraAsharq Al-Awsat (U.K.)Lebanon is effectively an occupied country, said Eyad Abu Shakra. We’ve had no president for a full year now because our paralyzed legislature can’t agree on a candidate for head of state—a post traditionally held by a Christian. Such a lapse could never happen “in a country that claimed to be sovereign and independent.” But then, in an occupied country, there’s no need for a president or even a parliament, because “the forces of occupation are effectively running the show.” In Lebanon, Hezbollah calls the shots. The Iranianbacked party, which has its own armed forces, welfare programs, and TV station, behaves as if there were no Lebanese state institutions. It announced its own mobilization last week to drive the Islamic State of…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015FIFA: Why is the U.S. prosecuting?“FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, has always hoped to get America more involved in their sport,” said The New York Timesin an editorial. “Well, they’ve succeeded.” Last week, the U.S. Justice Department charged 14 senior FIFA officials with “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption. The organization’s seemingly invincible president, Sepp Blatter, was initially re-elected by FIFA members in defiance of the indictments, but amid a growing furor, the 79-year-old Swiss administrator resigned this week. He wasn’t among those indicted for the alleged graft, which involves $150 million in bribes relating to World Cup hosting rights and media deals over the past 24 years. But when it emerged that the money trail led all the way up to his second-in-command, secretary- general Jérôme Valcke, Blatter belatedly called it a day. Thanks to…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Science: When studies are fraudsWhy would a scientist fake his results? That question is now roiling the world of science, after the highly respected journal Science has distanced itself from a major, headline-generating study on gay marriage, said Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky in The New York Times. In the peer-reviewed study the journal published in December, two social scientists found that opponents of same-sex marriage often changed their minds “after talking for just 20 minutes to a gay person.” The astonishing finding generated worldwide publicity. “It seemed too good to be true—and it was.” One of the authors, Michael J. LaCour, a graduate student, had faked his results and misled his more experienced co-author, who retracted the paper when the scam was revealed. Sadly, such fraud is not unusual. “Every day, on average,…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Brightest galaxy discoveredScientists have discovered the most luminous known galaxy in the universe, with “a monster quasar” at its center. This unimaginably brilliant galaxy—shining brighter than 300 trillion suns—is apparently powered by a supermassive black hole that voraciously sucks in gas and superheats it to millions of degrees, creating a beacon of infrared light. NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft detected the distant galaxy some 12.5 billion light-years from Earth. Black holes are commonly found at the core of galaxies; massive ones radiating a lot of energy are called quasars. The newly found quasar is a true behemoth— billions of times the mass of the sun. It’s also very old, dating back to the early days of the universe. Scientists theorize the black hole started out unusually large and went on…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Innovation of the weekNavigating the world while blind just got a little easier, said Liz Stinson in Wired. Students at Birmingham City University have developed a camera-equipped “smart cane,” dubbed the XploR, that includes GPS and facial recognition software to help the blind recognize people as they approach. The cane’s software pulls in photos from Gmail and other sites to identify people “from up to 32 feet away”; the person’s name and location are then fed to the user’s Bluetooth-enabled earpiece. The cane’s camera, just below the handle, scans “as much of the user’s environment as possible” with its 270-degree lens, and helps the user avoid obstacles and navigate busy streets. The XploR is currently in the prototype phase, but the researchers are looking for investors with the aim of turning it into…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015New on DVD and Blu-rayRed Army(Sony, $31)This “enthralling” documentary humanizes the Soviet hockey players who were cast as villains when America’s “Miracle on Ice” squad took gold at the 1980 Olympics, said Entertainment Weekly. Their stories are all compelling, but Red Army “really comes to life” every time Viacheslav Fetisov appears.Wet Hot American Summer(Universal, $20)This 2001 sex-comedy spoof, now available in Blu-ray, featured “a veritable Who’s Who of comedy,” said The Philadelphia Inquirer. Janeane Garofalo, then perhaps the cast’s headliner, plays a summer-camp director trying to reign in Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, and other rising stars.The Blue Room(MPI Home Video, $25)This erotic 2014 thriller from France is “a hall of mirrors,” said The Washington Post. A philanderer whom we first see in the throes of passion is being interrogated about a crime, and though…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Critics’ choice: Highlights of the Daniel Boulud diasporaSpoon and StableMinneapolis Everything about the Twin Cities’ newest four-star restaurant tells you that its young proprietor must have been mentored well, said Rick Nelson in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Indeed, chef Gavin Kaysen worked for nearly a decade in New York City under the great French chef Daniel Boulud, and that “priceless on-the-job Ph.D. program” has equipped the 35-year-old with a professional command rarely encountered in this town. In a converted 1906 stable that’s now Minneapolis’ best-looking restaurant, service is impeccable, and almost every dish that emerges from Kaysen’s kitchen is “sublimely delicious.” Kaysen’s entire ethos might be captured in one of his simple winter dishes: tortellini with a Vidalia onion filling served in a lamb ragu. The salt-baked onions are blackened to deepen their effect, and with mint…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015This week’s dream: Summer on Sweden’s Bohuslan coast“In Sweden, summer blazes through like a comet, hot and bright and ungodly fast,” said Peter Jon Lindberg in Travel + Leisure. Swedes make the most of this fleeting season, which lasts from late June to mid August. They flock to the coast to soak up “as much sunshine and seawater as precious time allows.” I joined their annual migration last summer, venturing with a friend to the Bohuslan coast, whose seaside resorts are a few hours’ drive from either Oslo or Gothenburg. Unlike the “leeward east coast—gentle, verdant, refined—the western county of Bohuslan is raw and wind-lashed, with more granite than green.”Of the many coastal towns I visited, Fjallbacka was the prettiest. With its cobblestoned paths and its cottages with red-tiled roofs and gingerbread trim, “it recalled a miniature…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Last-minute travel dealsEast Side eleganceStay at Manhattan’s opulent Waldorf Astoria this month and save up to $145. The celebrated hotel is within walking distance of Times Square and Grand Central Terminal. Through June 30, doubles start at $259 a night.waldorfnewyork.comA cruise for twoBook one of 17 voyages with Azamara Club Cruises before June 30 and get half off your companion’s fare. The ninenight southern France and Spain cruise departing Nov. 1, for instance, starts at $4,499 for two, a saving of $1,500. azamaraclubcruises.comFlowery MontanaSee Montana’s glorious wildflowers in full bloom. Through June 20, stay four nights and get a fifth free at Lone Mountain Ranch, a group of creekside cabins just 18 miles from Yellowstone Park. Cabins start at $440 a night. lonemountainranch.com…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The best of…kayaksPyranha Fusion C4SThis versatile 10-foot kayak “thrives anywhere you want to play,” from a lake to the ocean to Class IV rapids. “If you can get only one boat, get this.” With its rockered profile and well-defined chines, it’s “ridiculously fun to paddle.” $1,099, pyranha.comSource: OutsideCurrent Designs IgniteIf all you really want from kayaking is “to rip out miles on weekend mornings,” make this 16-foot surf ski your vessel. It’s quicker than a typical kayak, but because it’s also unusually stable, it’s “hands down the best everyman’s fitness boat.” $2,599, cdkayak.comSource: OutsideIntex Challenger K1Just getting your feet wet as a kayaker? This low-cost inflatable isn’t fit for serious rapids, but with a sturdy I-beam floor and plastic skegs underneath to aid with tracking, it’s a major step up from a…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The bottom lineBillionaire Elon Musk’s companies Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX have together received $4.9 billion in U.S. government subsidies, including grants, tax breaks, and environmental credits. Separately, SpaceX has been awarded more than $5.5 billion in government contracts from NASA and the U.S. Air Force. Los Angeles Times On average, people worldwide spend more than eight hours per day consuming media, according to a study by marketing firm Zenith Optimedia. Television is on top, at three hours per day, followed by the internet at roughly two hours per day. Latin Americans lead the world, with nearly 13 hours spent each day with some sort of media. Qz.com Five years ago, the four largest coal companies in the U.S. were worth a combined $21.7 billion. Today, they’re worth $1.2 billion. The industry…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015What the experts sayThe health benefits of savingWe all know savings are important for your financial health, said Dan Kadlec in Time .com. But a “sleeper benefit” might be better physical health, too. A survey conducted by global financial services firm Aegon found that 75 percent of habitual savers “rate their health as excellent or good.” Only 62 percent among those who do not save regularly said the same. It might have something to do with “the lower stress that comes from being financially secure.” Of those reporting “excellent health,” 77 percent said they expect to “live comfortably in retirement,” compared with just 49 percent of respondents who reported poor health.Home insurance should-havesWill your homeowner’s or rental insurance policy adequately cover your costs should disaster strike? asked Cherice Chen in USA Today. It’s…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015Best columns: BusinessIn China, irrational exuberanceJames SurowieckiThe New Yorker“There’s something weird” happening in China, said James Surowiecki. Stock prices “just keep going up.” On the “torrid” Shenzhen Stock Exchange, only four out of 1,700 companies have seen share prices fall this year, and more than 100 stocks have risen over 500 percent. Shanghai’s market has risen 140 percent in the past 12 months; in Hong Kong, the stock price of an umbrella manufacturer has gone up nearly 1,700 percent just since February. Meanwhile, China’s GDP growth is at “the slowest rate in decades.” Exports and industrial earnings are down. And after a nationwide “borrowing spree,” Chinese companies are spending more on interest payments than they’re earning in profits. “Why the disconnect?” Because the Chinese market is driven by speculation, not by economic…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The tennis champion who beat the oddsDoris Hart1925–2015On a single day in June 1951, Doris Hart won three Wimbledon titles. Rain delays had compressed the schedule, and so after trouncing Shirley Fry in the singles final, the American player teamed with her opponent to gain the women’s doubles title, then joined Australian Frank Sedgman to capture the mixed-doubles crown. “It’s the greatest feat, I think, in women’s tennis,” said Gardnar Mulloy, a top U.S. player of the era. Hart, however, downplayed her remarkable trifecta. “I guess I was in a daze out there,” she said. “I came to, and it was all over.”The St. Louis–born Hart forged her career against staggering odds. As a girl she suffered a bone infection in her right knee so severe that doctors initially recommended amputation. Her parents rejected that option,…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 12, 2015The Puzzle PageCrossword No. 313: Letters From EuropeACROSS1 Sundance entrant5 Structure on the plains9 Highlander’s pants14 Song for one15 Victor’s statement16 It has a northern panhandle17 Old-school computer feature19 Unemotional20 Lauded Lauder21 Gives for a bit23 Ambulance driver, e.g.24 There are three in each Jeopardy! episode27 Fit30 Mimic31 Perilous, in winter32 “That could be trouble”36 Convert your 1-foot putt40 Taft’s policy in Latin America44 Show no respect45 Her first name is spelled “Eithne” in Irish46 Agent47 ___ crossroads49 More than buzzed52 Pre-contract investigation58 “Allergic to Water” singer DiFranco59 Mazatlan man60Dallas name64 True66 Recently “retired” advertising executive68 Organic compound69 “Should that be the case...”70 5-star review71 Computer’s suggestion with an error message72 About73 June 6—and the theme of this puzzleDOWN1 Become less powerful2 Flower with six lobes3 Rattle off4 Get by somehow5 Gentleman6…3 min
