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The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Editor’s letterThroughout his life, Donald Trump has been disrespected. The son of a real estate developer who built cheap rental housing in Brooklyn and Queens, Trump was sneered at when he crossed the East River to make his name in Manhattan by building glitzy hotels and condominiums. Even after he had success, sophisticates dismissed him as a “short-fingered vulgarian” and headlinehungry tabloid whor*, and the derisive laughter rang in his ears when Trump Airlines and his garish Atlantic City casinos went bust. Nobody took him seriously when he repeatedly mused out loud over the past 30 years that the country was poorly led by weak men, and that his toughness and negotiating skills were just what America needed in a president. (See The Last Word.)In a compelling profile in BuzzFeed.com this…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Baton Rouge police killings stoke racial tensionsWhat happenedPolice officers nationwide were on edge this week after a black gunman killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge, in the second deadly attack on police in two weeks. Gavin Eugene Long, a 29-year-old former Marine, ambushed officers responding to reports of a man carrying a rifle at a shopping complex about a mile from police headquarters—the scene of numerous protests since the July 5 fatal shooting of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police. A chaotic 10-minute shoot-out ensued, until a SWAT team marksman killed Long with a 100-yard rifle shot. Authorities said Long, who had served in Iraq and told friends he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, was the lone gunman. He left behind a series of online posts and videos in which…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The world at a glance ...LondonBoris grilled: Boris Johnson, the eccentric former London mayor who led the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, made his debut as Britain’s new foreign minister this week—and it did not go well. In Johnson’s long career as a newspaper columnist, he insulted and mocked numerous world leaders. At his first press conference, alongside visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, his former colleagues in the media demanded to know if he would apologize for writing that Barack Obama’s “part-Kenyan” ancestry made him hostile to British policy, or for a lewd poem that implied Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sex with goats. Johnson said many of his writings were taken out of context, adding, “It would really take me too long to engage in a full global…7 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Muslims in AmericaHow many Americans are Muslims?The Pew Research Center estimates that 3.3 million Muslims live in the U.S., which makes Islam the nation’s third-largest faith, behind Christianity and Judaism. It’s a diverse population primarily divided among African-Americans, South Asians, and Arabs, and a well-educated one: about 40 percent of U.S. Muslims hold college degrees, as opposed to 29 percent of Americans overall. Though Muslims represent 1 percent of the population, they account for 10 percent of the nation’s physicians, and have included such distinguished figures as boxer Muhammad Ali, urban architect Fazlur Khan, and cardiothoracic surgeon and TV personality Mehmet Oz. But since the Sept. 11 attacks, American Muslims have been widely viewed with suspicion, which has intensified with the rise of ISIS and terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Orlando, and…4 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016It must be true... I read it in the tabloidsA Tennessee woman nearly burned down her apartment when she tried to barbecue brisket in her bathtub. Firefighters said that the woman put a small, wood-burning grill inside the tub and laid a slab of beef on a wire rack across the bath’s rim. But the heat soon melted a hole in the fiberglass tub and sparked a fire. Firefighters didn’t need their hoses to extinguish the blaze—they just turned on the shower. “The tub and the brisket,” a fireman said, “were a total loss.” Cattle farmers in India are working overtime to satisfy the country’s growing thirst for cow urine. Hindus consider the cow sacred, and an increasing number believe that drinking female cattle pee can heal dozens of maladies. Distilled cow urine now sells for as much as…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Best columns: InternationalRUSSIAWhy we turn to horoscopes and amuletsVladimir Ruvinsky KommersantDepressed and disoriented, Russians have abandoned reason for magical thinking, said Vladimir Ruvinsky. Over the past decade, as the economy stagnated and political protest was suppressed, ever more of us professed belief in “UFOs, sorcery, and clairvoyance.” More than one-third of Russians now think aliens have visited Earth. Even traditional religious belief is on the rise—sort of. Nearly 80 percent of Russians identify as Orthodox Christian, “but only 40 percent say they believe in God, and only 4 to 7 percent regularly attend church services.” Rather than true Christian belief, says pollster Lev Gudkov, Orthodoxy is a “paternoster against misfortunes, a certain insurance for the afterlife.” That same longing has fueled growth in the use of charms and talismans. Two-thirds of Russian…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Pence: Will he give Trump a boost?Donald Trump’s selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a running mate last week was “a bit puzzling,” said NationalReview.comin an editorial. Yes, Pence is an unabashed social conservative who endorsed Ted Cruz in the presidential primary, so choosing him is “a welcome gesture” meant to reassure Republicans wary of Trump’s fealty to traditional values. But in many other respects he isn’t an obvious fit. While vice-presidential candidates traditionally “defend the presidential nominee to the hilt,” Pence has shown few signs of ferocity. When Indiana passed a religious freedom law last year to exempt Christians from participating in gay marriage, Pence caved in to boycott threats— fueling “a political fiasco” that led to a partial repeal of the law. Nor does he have any ability to coax Trump to stay…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Clinton: A wounded candidate“Hillary Clinton, and her campaign team, should be freaking out,” said Kelly Riddell in The Washington Times. Throughout June and July, the mainstream media told us “the presumptive Democratic nominee had this election wrapped up”— that her Republican presidential rival, Donald Trump, had no campaign strategy, no money, and no chance of winning in November. But a flurry of new polls suggests a dramatic turnaround since FBI Director James Comey blasted Clinton for using a private email server. Trump is now beating Clinton in the battleground states of Florida and Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac polls, while a New York Times/CBS News poll has the pair tied 40-40 nationally. The RealClearPolitics.com polling average has her lead shrinking to 2.7 points. Worse, Hillary has lost ground despite Trump’s struggles to stay on…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Live streaming: Facebook Live’s distressing breakthroughIf you used Facebook this month, “you may well have watched someone die—possibly at the exact moment it happened,” said Issie Lapowsky in Wired.com. First, the world watched as Diamond Reynolds used Fa cebook Live to broadcast her boyfriend Philando Castile’s final moments after police shot him during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minn. The very next night, real-time footage of the shooting rampage that killed five police officers in Dallas flooded onto Facebook newsfeeds before it was picked up by cable news networks. Of course, images of death and violence in the media are nothing new. Television “had only recently achieved relative ubiquity” when it brought the horror of the Vietnam War into Americans’ living rooms. But back then, traditional news media decided what was worth sharing. “Now…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Book of the weekThe Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Betweenby Hisham Matar (Random House, $26)Despite the personal nature of the story it tells, Hisham Matar’s new memoir is “an extraordinary gift to us all,” said Toby Lichtig in The Wall Street Journal. The book recounts the novelist’s 2012 visit to Libya, the country where he was raised until age 8. He returned to search for his father, a businessman and leading dissident who was kidnapped in 1990 and imprisoned by Muammar al-Qaddafi’s brutal regime six years before the family lost contact with him. While being held at Tripoli’s notorious Abu Salim Prison, Jaballa Matar wrote three letters that were smuggled out, the last shortly before 1,270 prisoners were massacred in 1996. Was Jaballa Matar one of them? Or did a fellow…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Author of the weekJonah LehrerJonah Lehrer aches for redemption, said Alexandra Alter in The New York Times. The one-time wunderkind, author of three popular-science best-sellers, has lately been a pariah in the journalism world. When it emerged four years ago that his work was riddled with plagiarized passages and fabricated quotations, he was chased from his writing posts at Wired and The New Yorker and had two of his books, 2009’s How We Decide and 2012’s Imagine, pulled from bookstores. But Lehrer, then 31, learned he couldn’t walk away from writing—couldn’t stop if he tried. “At the time, it felt like a very sad discovery,” he says. In A Book About Love, his comeback, he uses the opening pages to apologize for his mistakes and detail the measures he took to do this…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The Week’ s guide to what’s worth watching2016 Democratic National ConventionThat’s right—more prime-time politics. The Democrats’ confab in Philadelphia seems likely to be more conventional than the GOP’s—if that can be said about any major event of the 2016 campaign. By the third night, Hillary Clinton will officially become the first woman (and first ex–first lady) nominated for president by a major party. Now that Bernie Sanders is on board, her main challenge will be making the four-day ceremony feel like a celebration. Prime-time coverage begins Monday, July 25, at 8 p.m., on most news networksMADtvIt’s time to get MAD all over again. The sketch comedy show that ran on Fox from 1995 to 2009 and gave Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele their starts is getting a reboot on a new network. The relaunch features a cast…3 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016This week’s dream: Italy’s favorite Spanish islandThe Mediterranean island of Formentera is “made for people who make vacationing well their life’s mission,” said Danielle Pergament in The New York Times. A haven for bohemian Europeans in the 1960s, this “beautiful, unassuming spit of sand” became the favorite Spanish island of Italian beachgoers once Italy’s star soccer players discovered it 20 years ago. Located just south of Ibiza, Formentera “fills to bursting” in the summer. But the people who holiday here have no interest in re-creating the neighboring island’s raucous nightlife. Accessible only by boat, Formentera remains “just hard enough to get to” that most Americans don’t even know its name, and those who do probably enjoy an Italian-style island vacation—long days at the beach broken up by meals of fresh seafood and great pasta and olive…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Last-minute travel dealsA Wyndham Resorts discountThrough Sept. 30, save up to 40 percent on a family suite at a Wyndham Resort hotel by taking advantage of the chain’s SummerFest Fun offer. Twonight stays at the Desert Rose Las Vegas, for example, start at $84 a night. Book by Aug. 14. extraholidays.comFairmont hotel offerMany Fairmont hotels are discounting all stays through Sept. 30, with up to 30 percent off on three-night stays. The offer applies to more than 60 hotels worldwide, including Vancouver’s Fairmont Waterfront. Book by Aug. 15. fairmont.comSt. Bart’s packageLe Guanahani resort on St. Bart’s, following a $40 million renovation, is offering a three-night package for $2,200 a couple. The offer includes breakfasts, daily lunch or dinner, and $112 in resort credit. Through Aug. 26. leguanahani.com…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The bottom lineJust 2 out of 5 Americans say they spent less than what they earned in 2015, according to a survey of more than 27,000 people by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. WSJ.com It doesn’t always pay to stay put. Median wages grew 4.3 percent for “job switchers” in May from a year earlier—the biggest gain since November 2007—but only 3 percent for “job stayers,” according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The Orange County Register National spending on health care is expected to increase faster than overall economic growth over the next decade, at an average rate of 5.8 percent per year, according to a new estimate published in the journal Health Affairs. By 2025, health-care spending is expected to make up one-fifth of the economy.…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Mortgages: Brexit’s refinancing bonanzaThanks to Brexit, it might be time to refinance your home mortgage, said Yuki Noguchi in NPR.org. Britain’s vote to exit the European Union sent shock waves through global markets, but one “economic silver lining” for American consumers is rock-bottom mortgage rates. Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages sank to an average 3.41 percent after the vote—the lowest level in more than three years—and have since ticked up only slightly. Fifteen-year fixed rates fell to just 2.74 percent. The unanticipated dip has “spurred a boom in mortgage applications” from homeowners looking to refinance, and economists believe the favorable conditions could last through the rest of the year.Whether you’re a potential first-time buyer, a homeowner considering refinancing, or someone looking to trade up your house or downsize, “rates this low could…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Issue of the week: Herbalife’s ‘pyramid scheme’ problem“Judgment Day has come for Herbalife,” said Michelle Celarier in NYMag.com. The Los Angeles–based seller of diet shakes, nutritional supplements, and other weight loss products last week agreed to pay $200 million in order to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission, which stopped just short of labeling the business a flat-out pyramid scheme. The FTC, which has been investigating the multilevel marketing firm for the past two years, concluded that Herbalife “deceives” its more than 680,000 independent contractors in the U.S. by promising them they can quit their jobs and get rich quick by buying Herbalife products and reselling them to friends and acquaintances for a profit. “The truth is,” said the FTC, “that the overwhelming majority of distributors...earn little or no money.” More than half the distributors known…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Crossword No. 369: Philly Film FestivalACROSS1 Like nice carpets6 Highly proper10 Vowelless derision14 Super Bowl–winning coach of Da Bears15 Pro ___16 Storied history17 Whips18 Just that single time19 Neighborhood20 Hillary’s keen politica radar, on display at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia? (Bruce Willis, 1999)23 Non-expert24 Their flavors include Bananas Foster and Fat Free Mountain Blackberry25 President ___ (Sen. Orrin Hatch, currently)29 Prefix with dynamic31 FDR program34 “Whoops...”35 What Hillary’s companions Tally and Maisie deserve to win at the convention? (Catherine O’Hara, 2000)38 Petrol amount40 “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” band41 Compound with element No. 842 Where Hillary will stand at the convention? (Cameron Diaz, 2005)45 Clear drink46 “Understand?”47 Go wild48 Words of pity50 Show off your pecs52 Sun Yat-___53 Hillary becoming a senator from Vermont and Bernie becoming the nominee? (Eddie Murphy, 1983)59…3 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The GOP’s coronation of TrumpWhat happenedDonald Trump completed his unlikely takeover of the Republican Party this week, formally securing the nomination for president at a tumultuous convention in Cleveland. It was a convention unlike any in recent history, marred by intraparty division that saw just 33 of the party’s 54 U.S. senators attend; a backlit, rock star– like entrance by Trump in a cloud of fog with “We Are the Champions” blaring on the sound system; and repeated calls to put Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in jail. On the first afternoon, proceedings were disrupted by a long shouting match between delegates, after the chairman refused to hold a roll-call vote on a proposal to let delegates vote their consciences. Trump’s wife, Melania, then delivered a speech containing passages that were clearly plagiarized from Michelle…5 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Ginsburg: A Supreme Court justice’s ‘ill-advised’ attack on Trump“No wonder they call her Notorious RBG,” said Seth Lipsky in NYPost.com. At 83, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the oldest justice on the Supreme Court, but age hasn’t kept the liberal icon from launching a vigorous and “unhinged assault” on Donald Trump that makes a mockery of judicial neutrality. In three separate interviews, Ginsburg said that she didn’t even “want to think about” the possibility of the Republican nominee winning in November, calling Trump “a faker” with “no consistency” who “says whatever comes into his head at the moment.” She added that her late husband would have suggested they “move to New Zealand” in the event of a Trump victory. Ginsburg has now expressed “regret” for these comments, said The Wall Street Journalin an editorial, calling them “ill-advised,” but “some…5 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016PeopleDamon’s marriage to a ‘civilian’Matt Damon will always be thankful he married a non-celebrity, said Michael Christensen in GQ (Australia). The actor met his wife, Luciana Bozán Barroso, when she was working as a bartender at a local drinking spot in Miami in 2003. The pair married in 2005 and have been happy ever since. “I’m really lucky that I fell in love with a woman who’s not in the business,” says Damon, 45. “Because there isn’t the appetite for my private life that there is for some of my friends.” Damon is close pals with Ben Affleck, whose marriage with actress Jennifer Garner publicly broke down last year amid tabloid rumors of an affair with the nanny. “It’s a different story when two actors get together. It’s not that…3 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016A Muslim majority in MichiganThe Detroit suburb of Hamtramck, Mich., used to be 90 percent Polish-American and overwhelmingly Catholic. But most of the Poles moved out after the struggles of the U.S. auto industry, and immigration from Yemen, Bangladesh, and Bosnia has transformed the blue-collar town of 22,000 residents into the nation’s first majority Muslim community. It’s also the first to elect a majority Muslim council. The transition was sometimes tense—beginning in 2004, the town gave a local mosque permission to broadcast the 6 a.m. call to prayer from loudspeakers. Some residents—and anti-Muslim voices on the internet—accused the council of planning to usher in sharia law. But city councilor Saad Almasmari says he represents all Hamtramck residents in accordance with local laws and the Constitution: “It was a political election, not a religious one.”…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Best columns: EuropeNORTHERN IRELANDBonfires are now just about thuggeryNewton Emerson The Irish Times (Ireland)The bonfires that burn across Northern Ireland every July 11 have degenerated into simple vandalism, said Newton Emerson. The fires are set by loyalist communities to commemorate the beacons lit in 1690 when the Protestant forces of Prince William of Orange landed on the island to fight— and eventually defeat—the Catholic King James II. For hundreds of years, Northern Irish Protestants lit fires to remind Catholics of this historic victory and to demonstrate their loyalty to the U.K. But over the past decade the celebration has become an excuse for angry young people to indulge in arson. Last year, instead of heaping wood and tires in an empty lot or field, youths in East Belfast piled pallets between houses,…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016How they see us: Blaming U.S. for Turkey coup attemptWhere was our U.S. ally when Turkish democracy was attacked? asked Daily Sabah(Turkey) in an editorial. What started as an attempted military coup last week “turned into a terrorist attack of historic proportions,” as jets pounded the parliament, helicopters opened fire on civilians, and armed troops stormed TV stations. Did the U.S. denounce this assault and declare its support for Turkey’s elected government? No. Secretary of State John Kerry murmured that it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the violence. Now that the coup has been defeated, Washington must “prove its loyalty to the Turkish people.” Many were already suspicious “about the alleged cooperation between the U.S. government and the secretive movement led by Fethullah Gulen,” a Pennsylvaniabased Islamic cleric who was once an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The Iran deal: One year laterIt has been exactly a year since the signing of the Iran nuclear deal, yet even its “most ardent apologists” aren’t celebrating the anniversary, said Jonathan Tobin in CommentaryMagazine.com. Why not? Although Tehran has fulfilled its obligation to dismantle most of its nuclear infrastructure, it hasn’t shown any sign of softening its rogue state behavior. In the last 12 months, the Islamic regime has launched several ballistic missile tests—violating the spirit if not the letter of a U.N. resolution—and continued to sponsor terrorism and prop up Syria’s murderous dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Tehran has also been caught by Germany’s intelligence agencies trying to illegally obtain nuclear technology. President Obama let Iran regain $100 billion in frozen assets in the hope it might push the country in a more moderate direction. He…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Health & ScienceMonkeys who use toolsWild capuchin monkeys in Brazil have used stone tools to prepare their food for at least 700 years, new research reveals. Archaeologists discovered dozens of stone hammers and anvils in Brazil’s Serra da Capivara National Park—the oldest known tools not belonging to either humans or chimpanzees. Operating carefully so as not to strike their own fingers, the monkeys use smaller stones as hammers to crack open cashew nuts on a heavier, flat stone; when they’re done eating the protein-rich nutmeats, they store their tools in nearby caches for future use, like a set of utensils at a restaurant. Scientists observed older monkeys teaching their youngsters how to use the stones. Carbon dating at the site indicates this cashew processing dates back at least 100 generations and probably…3 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Novel of the weekPondby Claire-Louise Bennett (Riverhead, $26)“To describe Claire-Louise Bennett as a bold writer is an understatement,” said Catherine Taylor in the Financial Times. Her “startling” debut is presented as a story collection, but its parts are all soliloquies—“ some as short as haiku”— that play out in the head of a young woman who has recently holed herself up in a cottage in western Ireland. It’s a disarming, even “slightly disturbing” portrait, rendered in “elegantly inventive” stream-of-consciousness prose. But though Pond’s portrayal of an anxious mind is deeply intelligent, “it is never gripping,” said Christine Smallwood in Harper’. “I could have put it down at any point.” Patient readers will be rewarded, however, said Wendy Smith in The Boston Globe. The narrator, a failed doctoral candidate who’s recuperating from an impossible…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Review of reviews: FilmStar Trek BeyondDirected by Justin Lin (PG-13)Kirk and friends land on an alien planet.The latest sequel to Star Trek’s successful 2009 reboot “feels like an expensive two-hour episode of the original TV series,” said Brian Truitt in USA Today. “That’s not a bad thing.” Sticking to well-worn plot paths, Beyond finds Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise stranded on an uncharted planet after their ship is ambushed by a villain named Krall, played by a menacing but underused Idris Elba. The actors who populate the crew, including Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, are now at ease in their roles, so there’s “a lot of surprising humor,” and the movie faithfully recaptures the emotional underpinnings of the team’s interactions. This installment proves “more fun than…4 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Critics’ choice: World-class sushi in three citiesJu-ni San FranciscoEvery night at Ju-ni is “a fascinating lesson in the precision needed to raise a piece of fish, a pad of rice, and a few seasonings to ethereal heights,” said Michael Bauer in the San Francisco Chronicle. Chef-owner Geoffrey Lee, a 32-year-old San Francisco native, has emerged as “a sushi star for a new generation,” and by keeping two (equally chatty) chefs working alongside him at all times, he’s ensured that each can focus on feeding only four diners at a time. Six months after Ju-ni’s opening, Lee’s $90, 12-course omakase tasting menu already includes a bite that patrons won’t let him retire: salmon roe cured in sake, soy, and ho ney, served over seaweed-wrapped rice and topped with grated frozen monkfish liver. “The crunch of the seaweed,…3 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Hotel of the weekThe WatergateWashington, D.C.“Is a 44-year-old crime enough to attract customers?” asked Roxanne Roberts in The Washington Post. The new owners of the Watergate Hotel, Rakel and Jacques Cohen, have bet a six-year, $125 million renovation that the appeal of the 1967 modernist landmark goes beyond its link to the burglary that brought down Richard Nixon. In the new interior, “everywhere you look there are curves,” and “the vibe is retro-chic.” A new rooftop bar with sweeping views of the Potomac might become the big draw. Or maybe the guests’ key cards, which read “No need to break in.”thewatergatehotel.com; doubles from $324.…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016ConsumerThe Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe: What the critics sayAutomobileConsider the latest SUV from Mercedes-Benz “a flawless execution of aflawed vehicle concept.” The GLC Coupe, which aspires to find a happy medium between two disparate types of cars, isn’t as spacious as an SUV with a standard roofiine or as agile as the sports coupes that its styling mimics. But it’s “built on great bones” that ensure a quiet, comfortable ride, and that roofiine has “a lot of sex appeal.” This four-door “turns heads when it goes down the street.”Road and TrackThe GLC interior is “easily the best in its class,” with solid switchgear, “buttery smooth” leather, and elegant lines BMW’s X4 can’t match. What’s more, heated seats, a rearview camera, keyless ignition, and active park assist come standard. Get it out…4 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Charity of the weekFounded in 1984, the Adaptive Sports Foundation (adaptivesportsfoundation.org) promotes outdoor physical activity among people with physical and cognitive disabilities, by providing seasonal adaptive sports programming at the organization’s Windham Mountain center in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Individual and group recreation programs are offered in winter and summer, and range from skiing and snowboarding to windsurfing, fly fishing, and waterskiing. The organization’s staff and hundreds of volunteers offer participants a fun and safe environment in which to enjoy the great outdoors. Former military members who have been wounded can participate in the “Warriors in Motion” project, which enables veterans to enjoy outdoor activities and sports while relaxing both body and mind.Each charity we feature has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator, which rates not-for-profit organizations on the strength of…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016ObituariesThe ultramarathoner who couldn’t stop runningAl Howie 1945–2016When Al Howie was 30, he decided to kick his threepack-a-day smoking habit by taking up running. On his first outing, in 1974, wearing everyday clothes and shoes, the Scottish-Canadian ran an impressive 10 miles. Howie discovered that the more he ran, the better he got, and he soon became one of the world’s leading ultradistance runners. He broke the record for the longest continual run—360 miles in 104.5 hours—in 1987, and two years later became the first person to complete New York’s Sri Chinmoy ultramarathon, a 1,304-mile endurance race with an 18-day time limit. He ran the length of Britain and the breadth of Canada. “I’m in my element when I’m doing it,” Howie said of running. “All that matters is that…4 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Turkey cracks down after failed coup attemptWhat happenedTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a sweeping purge of the military, judiciary, and other state bodies this week in response to a botched coup attempt—suspending or arresting some 60,000 soldiers, police officers, prosecutors, teachers, and university deans. The coup began when a faction of the Turkish military rolled onto the streets of Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, and used helicopters and F-16 jets to attack government buildings. Security forces and civilians loyal to Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) fought back, quickly putting down the rebellion. At least 232 people died in the violence, including 145 civilians. Erdogan, who was vacationing on Turkey’s coast at the time, said he fled his hotel moments before it was bombed. “Had I stayed 10, 15 additional minutes,” he said, “I would…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The U.S. at a glance ...San DiegoHomeless attacks: A two-week hunt for the perpetrator of five horrific attacks on homeless men in San Diego—three of them fatal— ended this week when police apprehended a man fleeing the scene of the latest attack, having been led to the area by the screams of the victim. Jon David Guerrero, 39, has been charged with three counts of murder and two counts of premeditated attempted murder, and could face the death penalty. He is accused of beating and stabbing the homeless victims as they slept on roadsides and other open spaces, before setting several of them on fire. The latest victim, a 55-year-old man, was found yelling for help under a bridge; he suffered “significant trauma” to his upper body but was expected to survive. Guerrero, who has…4 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016GossipTaylor Swift’s feud with Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, escalated into all-out war this week after Kardashian posted videos suggesting Swift approved of West’s controversial single “Famous.” The song includes the lyrics “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous”—a reference to the notorious 2009 incident when the rapper interrupted the pop star’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. “Famous” provoked widespread sympathy for Swift—who at the time claimed she didn’t approve the song or its “misogynistic message.” But on Snapchat this week, Kardashian aired a video of a secretly recorded phone call in which Swift apparently heard some of the lyrics and gave West her blessing. “It’s like a compliment,” she is heard saying. “I don’t think anybody…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Best columns: The U.S.The Saudis’ involvement in 9/11Simon Henderson ForeignPolicy.comNow we know why the Bush administration wouldn’t let the public see the infamous 28 pages detailing Saudi Arabia’s connection to 9/11, said Simon Henderson. Those pages from a 2002 congressional investigation into 9/11 were finally released last week, and they “are devastating.” Investigators found strong evidence that some of the hijackers “were in contact with, and received support and assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government,” including two Saudi intelligence officers. One of those men, Osama Basnan, received a “significant amount of cash” from a member of the Saudi royal family. When captured, al Qaida leader Abu Zubaydah had in his phone book the unlisted number of a company that managed the Colorado home of Prince Bandar bin Sultan,…4 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016France: Assigning blame after deadly truck attackA joyous summer evening celebration turned into a nightmare of screaming panic last week, said Angeline Montoya and Lucie Soullier in Le Monde(France). The Bastille Day fireworks on Nice’s waterfront had just ended and some 30,000 spectators, “locals and tourists, French and foreign,” were walking back to town along the Promenade des Anglais when the killing began. Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, rammed his rented, 21-ton truck into the crowd, zigzagging to hit as many people as possible. Witnesses saw people flying into the air and being crushed beneath the wheels. Terrified spectators ran in all directions, “taking refuge in the sea, or trying desperately to push their children to safety.” Bouhlel drove more than a mile through the crowd before he was shot dead by police in a firefight; behind…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016NotedDonald Trump has not read any biographies of presidents and says he does not have time to read books. “I never have,” he says. “Now I’m more busy, I guess, than ever before.” What he mostly reads are articles about himself, which his staff prints out and delivers to his desk. The Washington Post Despite several highprofile police and mass shootings, Americans are living in one of the safest periods in recent history. Since 1991, the murder rate has plummeted to a record low of 4.5 murders per 100,000 people, down from a high of 10.2 in 1980. There is about half as much violent crime in the U.S. today as there was 25 years ago. Vox.com In the 17 states with a medicalmarijuana law in place by 2013, prescriptions…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Pokémon Go : Why it’s a worldwide craze“To the outside world, they might just look like any other early 21st-century human beings,” said Tom Leonard in DailyMail.com, “stumbling around, head down, lost to the real world in the screen of their mobile phone.” But the parade of zombies currently inhabiting our streets and public spaces aren’t your usual social media addicts—they are devotees of Pokémon Go, a new Nintendo augmented reality (AR) megahit that has become an international sensation and the biggest mobile game in U.S. history. “For the uninitiated,” said Hayley Tsukayama in The Washington Post, “Pokémon Go invites players to hunt for digital Pokémon on their smartphones,” using the device’s GPS and camera to make “cute cartoon critters” pop into existence alongside real-world physical objects. But the hunt to “catch ’em all” is causing major…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016TechnologyInnovation of the week“Skin cancer is serious business, and yet we take an incredibly haphazard approach to sun protection,” said Lance Ulanoff in Mashable.com. Enter Sunscreenr, a pocket-size device that promises to make sure beachgoers never miss a spot with their sunblock again. Sunscreenr contains a tiny UV camera that shows how thoroughly sunscreen has been applied. Skin with sunblock on it will appear dark through the viewfinder, because the sunblock is absorbing UV rays, while skin that’s still exposed will look pale. If you’re alone, you can record up to 30 seconds of video of yourself to see if you’ve missed any spots, with the video deleted as soon as you record another segment. Sunscreenr is currently raising funds on Indiegogo, where it can be pre-ordered for $109, though…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The surprising benefits of thumb suckingKids are often urged to stop biting their nails or sucking their thumbs because their fingers are teeming with germs. But new research suggests these “bad” habits could actually reduce children’s risk of developing allergies, reports The Washington Post. The findings support the “hygiene hypothesis” of allergies, which contends that exposure to microbes early in life educates and strengthens the immune system; when kids aren’t exposed to enough germs, that “priming” process doesn’t occur and their immune systems overreact to new substances. Researchers in New Zealand put this theory to the test by monitoring the oral habits of more than 1,000 children from birth to adulthood and conducting skin-prick tests to identify those who suffered from allergies. They found that 49 percent of those who weren’t thumb-suckers or nail-biters as…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everythingby Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Simon & Schuster, $26)Seinfeld was never really “about nothing,” said Whitney Friedlander in LA Weekly. Though the 1990s TV juggernaut billed itself as such, it actually tackled plenty: dating, masturbation, eccentric parents, parallel parking, workplace paranoia— yadda yadda yadda. Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s “meticulously researched” new book reminds us that the catchphrases alone don’t explain the immense popularity of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s sitcom about four selfcentered New Yorkers. The slice of urban life it offered resonated with millions, and yet the show never violated its co-creators’ anti-pathos dictum: “No learning and no hugging.”Armstrong proves “the perfect guide” to understanding how the series became such a force, said Nandini Balial in AVClub.com. She begins with the series’ stormy genesis— its ill-fated predecessor, Seinfeld’s Stand-Up Diary; the…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Also of interest...in visions of the near futureThe End of Sexby Henry T. Greely (Harvard, $35)When I opened this book, “I expected to be unsurprised,” said Linda Geddes in New Scientist. Bioethicist Henry Greely isn’t the first author to argue that couples who plan for pregnancy will soon eschew natural reproduction. But instead of peddling fantasies about test-tube superhumans, he predicts the shift to in-vitro fertilization will be driven by the promise of better health odds. Behind the grabby title—in full, The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction—hides a timely, thoughtful book.The Inevitableby Kevin Kelly (Viking, $28)Kevin Kelly’s ideas about what life will be like in 30 years prove “well worth pondering,” said Ronald Bailey in Reason. For the Wired co-founder, technology is a force that follows its own path, and we can expect…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Movies on TVMonday, July 25Monty Python’s The Meaning of LifeThe iconic British comedy troupe contemplates the human journey from birth through death in a hilarious series of sketches. (1983) 6:10 p.m., EncoreTuesday, July 26BeetlejuiceMichael Keaton plays a mischievous spirit summoned by a recently deceased couple who want help ridding their old home of the family that’s moved in. With a teenage Winona Ryder. (1988) 5:10 p.m., CinemaxWednesday, July 27A Mighty HeartAngelina Jolie stars in a moving adaptation of a memoir by the wife of Daniel Pearl, a journalist kidnapped and murdered in 2002 Pakistan. (2007) 6 p.m., the Movie ChannelThursday, July 28The Last DetailJack Nicholson and Randy Quaid were Oscar finalists for their work in this comedy-drama about Navy lackeys who take a prisonbound fellow sailor on a wild detour. (1973) 10…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Getting the flavor of...‘The gem of the Oregon coast’There are so many reasons to love Yachats, Ore., said Jamie Hale in the Portland Oregonian. Earlier this year, our paper named this town of 700 the best getaway on the Oregon coast, and a week there goes fast. Start your days early to avoid lines for pastries at the Bread and Roses Café, and be ready to hike, because “the real treat is the abundance of natural beauty that surrounds the town.” The 804 Trail, a former wagon road, runs north from town along the rocky coast, passing three state parks. Or head south on the shorter Amanda Trail to reach Cape Perpetua, the highest point on the Oregon coast and a highlight of a black basalt coastline that includes odd formations like Thor’s…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Best properties on the marketThis week: Homes in the Chicago suburbs…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Making moneyWhat the experts sayGold: Still a gambleInvestors are once again looking to gold as “insurance against chaos,” said Jason Zweig in The Wall Street Journal. The price of gold is up about 20 percent since last July. But investing in it “is still a leap in the dark.” I’ll admit that the yellow metal has certainly “preserved its purchasing power” over the centuries. The same amount of gold used to pay a Roman centurion’s annual salary in the 1st century A.D. would cover a U.S. Army captain’s annual salary today. Problem is, “most investors don’t lock their money up for a couple thousand years at a time.” In the short term, gold’s value “fluctuates so wildly” that it can’t even be guaranteed to keep up with the cost of living.…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016Best columns: BusinessChina’s big bet on AmericaDerek Scissors The Wall Street Journal“China Inc. is voting for America, even if presidential candidates haven’t noticed,” said Derek Scissors. When the subject of China is brought up on the campaign trail, it’s usually to criticize the country for “stealing” U.S. jobs or manipulating its currency. “What you don’t hear about,” however, is “the flood of investment” by private Chinese companies into the U.S. this year. Chinese firms invested nearly $29 billion in the U.S. through June, according to a study by the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, already breaking the full-year record of $18 billion set in 2014. Prompted by “uncertainty in the value of the yuan,” Chinese companies are racing to get their money overseas. Overwhelmingly, the U.S. is their preferred destination; we’ve…2 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The punk pioneer who shocked and inspiredAlan Vega 1938–2016Alan Vega never shied from confrontation. As half of the electronic duo Suicide—one of the first groups to brand their music “punk”—Vega would chant, howl, and croon lyrics about death and destruction while bandmate Martin Rev played distorted, droning riffs on keyboards. On stage, the leather-clad Vega swung a bike chain and goaded audiences. Unsurprisingly, the New York City band provoked extreme reactions. In 1978, when Suicide opened for the Clash in Scotland, someone threw an ax at Vega’s head. The same year, a show in Brussels turned into a fullscale riot; Suicide promptly released a recording of the concert. “We were the ultimate punks,” Vega said, “because even the punks hated us.”Born Boruch Alan Bermowitz, “Vega grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and had the accent to match,”…1 min
The Week Magazine|July 29, 2016The strongman Trump wantedIN OCTOBER 1980, in his first major interview on network TV, Donald Trump sat on a couch in his Fifth Avenue apartment discussing the tough decisions he had made as a builder. (Rona Barrett Looks at Today’s Super Rich would air the following year.) Then the 34-year-old abruptly turned the casual interview into something more controversial: a lecture on the lack of leadership in the U.S.Gas prices were soaring, and inflation was rampant. More than four dozen Americans who had been kidnapped from the U.S. Embassy in Iran were being held hostage while, according to Trump, “we just sit back and take everybody’s abuse.... I just don’t feel the country is going forward in the proper direction.”Barrett was taken aback by Trump’s shift to politics. “Would you like to be…9 min
