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The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Editor’s letterThe slaughter in Orlando was caused by (a) our failure to keep weapons of war out of the hands of terrorists, (b) President Obama’s refusal to say “Islamic terrorism” and take ISIS seriously, or (c) hatred and intolerance toward the LGBT community. Take your pick, or provide a simplistic explanation of your own. One of the most disturbing aspects of the mass shootings that now strike us with nauseating regularity—whether perpetrated by ISIS-inspired lone wolves or disaffected losers seeking vengeance and glory—is what they reveal about our deeply polarized country. Each fresh horror is reduced to a Rorschach test, as the various ideological tribes see only confirmation of what they already believe, and filter out contradictory evidence and ideas. The need to be right trumps all.Even before the bodies were…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016It wasn’t t all badSean Squires hates the idea of any animal going hungry. So when the Newfoundland man heard that his local pet store was going out of business, he decided to buy its entire discounted inventory of dog and cat food—some 570 bags and cans—and donate it all to animal shelters. He paid nearly $3,000 for $13,000 worth of food. “I thought it was the normal thing to do,” he said. At home, Squires cares for nine stray cats. “I’m not even a cat person, [but] you can’t not help them.”An animal rescue worker in Vancleave, Miss., has become an internet star after photos of him receiving a huge hug from an owl went viral online. Doug Pojeky, 40, formed a close bond with GiGi the great horned owl after she was…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Boring but importantLegal defeat for Puerto RicoThe Supreme Court ruled this week that Puerto Rico cannot adopt its own debt-restructuring measures to solve its massive fiscal crisis— leaving any rescue plan in the hands of Congress. Puerto Rico owes $72 billion to bond funds and other creditors, but in 1984 it was barred from using Chapter 9 of federal bankruptcy law, for reasons that remain unclear. To bypass the exclusion, Puerto Rico passed the Recovery Act in 2014, allowing municipalities to restructure their debt. But in a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court said the move ran afoul of the law, because only Congress may amend the bankruptcy code. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that Puerto Rico, which has one non-voting member of Congress, has been “left powerless.”…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016PeopleEllen’s brave standIt may seem hard to believe now, but Ellen DeGeneres agonized about coming out as gay, said Ruby Warrington in the Daily Telegraph (Australia). The comedian made the announcement before 42 million viewers on The Oprah Winfrey Show back in 1997 at the age of 37, after deciding she was fed up with living a lie about her sexuality. Saying the words out loud was “such a scary thing,” DeGeneres says. “I cried every time, even in rehearsal.” Today, that moment is considered a turning point in the campaign for gay rights. But at the time, her sitcom, Ellen, was unceremoniously dumped by ABC. “They didn’t even call to tell me—my assistant read about it in the trades.” Thankfully, things have changed for the better. DeGeneres has had…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016How ‘Bandar Bush’ helped the home teamAt the heart of the close relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia on 9/11 was one man: Prince Bandar. A grandson of the Gulf state’s founding king, Bandar was the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. from 1983 to 2005, and went on to run his country’s intelligence agency. He was so close to the Bushes he was often called “Bandar Bush,” and he was instrumental in persuading his government to assist the U.S. in the first Gulf War. In 2003, he was briefed by Bush Jr. on the plan to invade Iraq— two days before Vice President Dick Cheney or Secretary of State Colin Powell. In Washington, Bandar was a master of diplomacy. His opulent parties were legendary—his other nickname was “the Arab Gatsby”—and he cultivated relationships with the…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Best columns: EuropeBELGIUMNot remotely safe from terrorismThierry OllevierLe SoirBelgium isn’t taking the terrorist threat seriously, said Thierry Ollevier. As a visiting professor from Quebec, I travel frequently by train between Paris and Brussels. I expected after the November terrorist attacks in Paris, and even more so after the March attacks on Brussels’ airport and subway system, that Belgium would have raced to put in place new checks and surveillance systems at major transit hubs—at the very least, more guards and police. But no. A few days after jihadists killed 130 people in Paris, I boarded a high-speed Brussels-to-Paris train. In the Brussels station, there was “not a single security guard on the platform,” and “nobody was there to check tickets.” Anyone could board. Luggage and boxes were “piled up on the platform,…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016How they see us: A nation in denial after Orlando massacreAmerica is reaping the consequences of the violence it has encouraged around the world, said Ali Tatmaj in Siyasat-e Ruz(Iran). The country that has exported terrorism to so many Muslim nations, and supported terrorist groups in so many forms, has just experienced another deadly attack on its own soil, the worst since 9/11. The American man who opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people, had once been on an FBI terrorist watch list. Yet the shooter, Omar Mateen, was still able to purchase weapons legally, because the U.S. is dominated by a “culture of guns” that is entirely “aimed at meeting the interests of the weapons manufacturers.” Americans buy and own more guns than anyone else on earth, and unsurprisingly the U.S. has a higher rate…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Sexual assault: What the Stanford case shows“The realities about sexual violence are so staggering that they’re often reduced to numbers,” said Adrienne LaFrance in TheAtlantic.com. Every two minutes, for example, another American becomes the victim of sexual assault. Sometimes, though, a case is so damning it puts “sexual violence at the center of a national conversation”—such as when Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was sentenced last week to just six months in county jail for assaulting a then-22-year-old woman. In court, Turner’s victim had spoken in heartbreaking detail about being found “half-naked and unconscious behind a dumpster” with Turner on top of her, and physical evidence and eyewitnesses helped secure a rare conviction in an assault case. Yet even then, the judge handed down a lenient sentence to the privileged white athlete—an outrage only compounded when Turner’s…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Wit & Wisdom“This will be our reply to violence; to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”Composer Leonard Bernstein, quoted in the Santa Monica, Calif., Mirror“Remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free someone else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower someone else.”Toni Morrison, quoted in Fusion.net“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.”Voltaire, quoted in The Wall Street Journal“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”Pablo Picasso, quoted in the New York Post“All pro athletes are bilingual. They know English and profanity.”Hockey great Gordie Howe, quoted in SportsIllustrated.com“The man with the best job in…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Bytes: What’s new in techScheduling your UberUber “has made a U-turn on scheduled rides,” said Nathan Olivarez-Giles in The Wall Street Journal. The ride-hailing giant will soon allow UberX riders to schedule pickups as many as 30 days in advance. Uber’s move is a little surprising: As recently as September, CEO Travis Kalanick rejected the idea of scheduled trips outright. But user demand, coupled with rival Lyft offering the perk, led the company to change its mind. “Surge pricing will definitely apply.” Riders will get a notification if surge pricing is in effect when a car is on its way, with the option to cancel up to five minutes before the driver arrives.Dr. Bing will see you nowYour search history could be used to catch early warning signs of cancer, said John Markoff in…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The Book ListBest books...chosen by John IrvingJohn Irving is the author of The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The World According to Garp, and 11 other novels. His most recent, last year’ Avenue of Mysteries, is now available in paperback.The Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford, $40). I consider the plays of Shakespeare just as formative of my desire to write fiction as any novels I’ve read. He was a novelist before there were novels, a screenwriter-director before there were films. He is funny; he is tragic; he believes in developing characters; he is masterful at plot. He does everything, and he makes it all—even his glorious language—look easy.Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Dover, $5.50). That Pip imagines the cruel Miss Havisham is his benefactor, when all the while it is the…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The Tony Awards: A night of triumphs, colored by tragedyThis past Sunday, “a lot of us needed the Tonys,” said Noel Murray in AVClub.com. The awards broadcast, which unfolded several hours after many Americans learned that a gunman had shot 49 people dead at a gay nightclub in Orlando, delivered more than just the expected coronation of Hamilton. “Theater has been a haven and a rallying point for LGBT culture,” building on its “long history” of “letting outsiders in, to tell their stories.” That meant that a few sincere words about Orlando—from host James Corden, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and actor Frank Langella—resonated through the rest of the show. The lively performances, many from hit productions that celebrate the marginalized, turned the broadcast into “a pledge of allegiance to theater itself.”The show arguably suffered a lack of suspense, said…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Show of the weekThirteenFans of dark thrillers: Thirteen is this summer’s lucky number. The five-part series focuses on 26-year-old Ivy Moxam, who vanished at 13 and claims to have just escaped her abductor. Her mother insists, upon her return, that other family members pretend that life hasn’t changed. Meanwhile, Ivy isn’t keen to help a pair of detectives catch the kidnapper. Star Jodie Comer proves a revelation as Ivy—all vulnerability and twitchy distrust. Where this young woman has been—and where she ends up—will leave viewers in a similar state. Thursday, June 23, at 10 p.m., BBC America…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Wine: The new godelloSince we last checked in on the revival of godello, “progress has been astounding,” said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. Many winemakers now working with the ancient Spanish white-wine grape weren’t even around circa 2001. Today, excellent and affordable godellos abound—though you’ll have to avoid some “overripe, flabby” disappointments to find winners like these:2013 Ronsel do Sil Ribeira Sacra Godello Vel’uveyra ($20). A bargain, and hard to find, this well-balanced wine is “taut, lively, and pure.”2014 Bodegas Avancia Valdeorras Godello Cuvée de O ($18). A more “luscious” godello, our No. 2 choice tastes of citrus, apple, and honeysuckle.2014 Bodegas Godelia Bierzo ($22). Like chenin blanc, this “tangy, earthy, and textured” godello offers “well-balanced aromas and flavors of flowers and herbs.”…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Cheating on your office step challengeWorkplace “step challenges” are increasingly popular for encouraging employee wellness, said Rachel Bachman in The Wall Street Journal. But some workers “are using power tools, pets, and household appliances” to fool their Fitbits and coast to victory “without lifting a foot.” Sonic Boom Wellness, a California firm that helps companies run step challenges, discovered one competitor who’d been logging serious miles “had clipped his tracker to a hamster wheel.” Another man who’d been clocking steps in the dead of night had taped his to a ceiling fan. The “tracker-onyour-dog technique is common enough” that Chicago-based Stridekick, which operates wellness programs at 200 companies, ran tests and found that pooches add up to 30,000 steps a day to tallies. To discourage cheating, the firm now suggests that clients award prizes based…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Charity of the weekThe hardy and productive American chestnut tree, an essential source of food for wildlife ranging from birds to bears, flourished on more than 200 million acres from Maine to Florida until a blight in the early 20th century decimated its population. The American Chestnut Foundation (acf.org), founded in 1983 by concerned plant scientists, works to restore the species across the country and create public awareness about the indispensable role of chestnuts. The organization’s Meadowview, Va., research farm, where nearly 50,000 trees are planted, conducts backcross breeding experiments to produce new, blight-resistant hybrids, and more than 5,000 volunteer members across 16 state chapters work to promote the chestnut through education programs in schools and nature centers and by planting thousands of chestnuts around the country.Each charity we feature has earned a…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The hockey player who could do it allGordie Howe 1928–2016Gordie Howe more than earned his nickname: “Mr. Hockey.” A roughand-tumble right-winger with the Detroit Red Wings from 1946 to 1971, the Canadian set NHL records for goals, assists, and points; still holds the NHL records for the most games (1,767) and seasons (26) played; and in his last professional year, at age 52, scored 15 goals with 26 assists. He was a six-time recipient of the NHL’s Most Valuable Player award, and his skill with his stick and skates was matched by his prowess with his fists and elbows. Even today, a player who gets a goal, an assist, and a fighting penalty in a single game is said to have pulled off “a Gordie Howe hat trick.”Howe was born “in tiny Floral, Saskatchewan, and raised nearby…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The man behind the massacreKEVIN WEST SAID he was in the parking lot at the Pulse nightclub at 1 a.m. Sunday when he recognized Omar Mateen walking in.The men had met more than a year before, when Mateen reached out to West on Jack’d, a dating app for men. They then lost touch until three months ago, when Mateen made contact again, mentioned that he would be in Orlando soon, and suggested meeting for a drink. West had also seen Mateen at Pulse multiple times.“I remember details,” said West, a 37-year-old Navy veteran. “I never forget a face.”Later that night, Mateen would kill 49 people inside the gay nightclub in Orlando in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.Mateen’s apparent presence on gay dating apps and his previous visits to Pulse, according to West…9 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016ISIS-inspired terrorism in OrlandoWhat happenedAn American-born gunman claiming allegiance to ISIS carried out the worst mass shooting in U.S. history last weekend, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando. In an attack that reignited debates on Islamic extremism, gun control, and hom*ophobia, Omar Mateen arrived at the packed Pulse nightclub shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, wielding a semiautomatic Sig Sauer MCX assault rifle and a 9mm Glock handgun. After exchanging shots outside with an offduty police officer, Mateen moved inside and began indiscriminately mowing people down. As revelers frantically tried to escape, hid, and played dead, he hunted them like cornered prey, emptying several 30-round magazines of bullets while laughing and shouting, “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great”). When armed officers arrived, Mateen took several people…5 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Orlando: Trump blames Muslims and Obama“It had not seemed possible,” said The Washington Postin an editorial, “but Donald Trump descended this week to a new low.” As America awoke Sunday morning to the horror of the Orlando nightclub massacre, the presumptive Republican nominee was already using Twitter to thank supporters for “the congrats on being right about radical Islamic terrorism”— adding later, in triumph, “I called it.” Trump’s “hideous and bigoted comments” the next day were even worse, said Isaac Chotiner in Slate.com. In a policy speech in response to Orlando, Trump doubled down on his call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., and threatened American Muslims with “big consequences” if “they” don’t work with “us” to identify jihadists in their midst. In TV interviews, Trump also called on President Obama to “resign…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The U.S. at a glance ...San FranciscoConcealed carries: A divided federal appeals court in California last week ruled that there is no constitutional right to carry a concealed handgun in public, a decision that may prompt the Supreme Court to take up the issue. In a 7-4 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that members of the public need to show “good cause” before they are granted a license for carrying concealed firearms— overturning a 2014 ruling that allowed some California counties to relax their rules on concealed carries. It was the latest victory for gun control activists in California, which has “been pursuing a gun control agenda more vigorously than any other state in the nation,” said UCLA law professor Adam Winkler. The ruling came ahead of a…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016GossipActress Lupita Nyong’ has won raves for her performance in the Broadway play Eclipsed, but is alienating producers and theatergoers by missing shows, the New York Post reports. Insiders say the 12 Years a Slave star takes Wednesdays off—a detail never announced to the public—and has been a no-show on several other occasions. “Fans are pissed when they come to the show and she’s not there,” says a source, adding that Nyong’o has cited a sore toe and exhaustion for being absent. “She’s bringing her movie-star privilege to Broadway,” says another source. An insider close to Nyong’o, who received a Tony nomination for her work in the play, insists she’s honoring her contract, which gives her one day off a week. “This is her passion project that she is dedicated…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Best columns: The U.S.The inevitable global pandemicAli KhanNew York Post“A year ago, the world was in a panic over Ebola,” said public health expert Dr. Ali Khan. “Now it’s Zika at the gate.” What’s next? Though Americans fixate on exotic diseases to the point of hysteria, the next pandemic will probably be caused by some new strain of the flu. People think of influenza as “something that makes the kids miss a day or two of school,” but the virus can be deadly. A novel strain of influenza called the Spanish flu killed 50 million people around the globe in 1918—more than all combat deaths in World War I and World War II combined. Today, in a world of jet travel, a lethal new flu strain would spread very rapidly and could produce…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016United Kingdom: Is a Brexit approaching?Please don’t leave us, Britain, said Peter Müller in Der Spiegel(Germany). Polls now show that the U.K. is edging toward a Brexit, with up to 55 percent of Britons saying they will vote to quit the European Union in a June 23 referendum on the country’s membership in the bloc. If the British choose to exit, it would weaken the U.K. and the EU immeasurably. The union would lose its second-largest economy, one of its leading military powers, and its richest financial center, while Britain would abandon all the benefits of being part of the world’s largest trading bloc. We Germans would miss our British brethren, because you are “politically, culturally, and economically similar to us Germans,” much “closer to us than the Portuguese or the Croatians.” We share your…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016NotedAt the time of the Orlando massacre, the U.S. had already experienced 133 mass shootings in 2016, according to the FBI definition of a mass shooting as a single event in which four or more people are shot. It was the 15th mass shooting in Florida this year, and the fourth in Orlando.Vox.com Stanford University reported a sexual assault to police once every two weeks, on average, in 2015, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Education.Yahoo.com Light pollution caused by city lights is now so prevalent that a whole third of humanity cannot see the bright smear of the Milky Way in the night sky, including 80 percent of Americans and 60 percent of Europeans.CNN.com Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton got more votes in the 2008 primary,…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Transplants: Creating human-pig ‘chimeras’“Human organs grown inside pigs are the stuff of science fiction,” said Samantha Allen in TheDailyBeast.com. But scientists are already at work on a project to do just that, with the goal of solving a critical shortage of donated organs and saving countless lives. Researchers at the University of California have injected human stem cells into pig embryos, “hoping to produce pigs that have human pancreases.” It’s an intricate process, with scientists first deleting the piece of pig DNA responsible for the animal’s pancreas, and substituting the stem cells to create a human one. Creating such “chimeras,” as mixed-species creatures are called, presents “a uniquely 21st-century ethical quandary.” What if science starts growing pigs with human hearts, and if the stem cell injections make pigs’ brains more human, too? When…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Apps: Apple updates the App StoreThe way you pay for iPhone and iPad apps is about to change forever, said Alex Heath in TechInsider.io. “Big changes are coming to Apple’s App Store,” and the biggest among them is app subscriptions. Soon, instead of charging a few dollars up front, developers will be able to charge users on a rolling basis to keep using the product. In other words, “paying for an app you love will be more like how you pay for Netflix, instead of a one-time purchase.” Apple hopes to win over developers who’ve become disgruntled with how hard it is to make money in the App Store, said Vindu Goel in The New York Times. When the store opened in 2008, there were fewer than a thousand apps available for download and iPhone…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Author of the weekAnnie ProulxNorth America’s trees have just acquired a prominent new spokeswoman, said Jennifer Maloney in The Wall Street Journal. Annie Proulx, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Shipping News, recently published her most ambitious novel yet, and all 700 pages of Barkskins were inspired by her grief for the forests that have been destroyed by human intervention. Proulx, 80, said the idea of writing such a novel came to her many years ago in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where she encountered a billboard that declared the location—a sorry scrubbrush field—the former home of the world’s finest white pine forest. But she put the thought aside until a decade ago when, while she was living in Wyoming, a pine-beetle infestation tore through the state. Says Proulx, “I overcame my fear of the…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Movies on TVMonday, June 20Broadcast NewsHolly Hunter, Albert Brooks, and William Hurt were all Oscar-nominated for their performances in James L. Brooks’ drama about newsroom ethics. (1987) 4:45 p.m., CinemaxTuesday, June 21LifeboatTensions mount among the survivors of a German U-boat attack in a classic Alfred Hitchco*ck thriller. (1944) 11:15 p.m., TCMWednesday, June 22A Few Good MenAaron Sorkin scored his first Hollywood hit with this adaptation of his Broadway play about the court-martial of two Marines. With Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and a very ripe Jack Nicholson. (1992) 7 p.m., OvationThursday, June 23West Side StoryIt’s Romeo and Juliet in switchblade-era New York, with a clutch of great songs and a sparkling Natalie Wood. (1961) 8 p.m., TCMFriday, June 24Witness for the ProsecutionA murder trial gets twisty after the suspect’s wife elects to testify…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Critics’ choice: New faces at three destination restaurantsCoi San FranciscoRecently, chef Daniel Patterson “did something rarely seen in a four-star restaurant,” said Michael Bauer in the San Francisco Chronicle. He stepped aside to start a new project and handed complete creative control over to another chef. At the new Coi, the “cocoon-like” dining room looks the same and service has slipped a touch, but Patterson’s replacement, Matthew Kirkley, is displaying a talent “every bit as distinctive” as Patterson’s. Kirkley, late of Chicago’s L20, has retired Coi’s vegetable-and-foragecentric fare in favor of a seafood-focused menu, and his $225 tasting menu “brilliantly” showcases his vision. In one dish, three spears of asparagus are delicately adorned with black beads of caviar and set in a bright, velvety pool of yuzu anglaise— an “ethereal” presentation that delivers “an oversize burst of…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016This week’s dream: Revisiting Sicily’s eternal beautyOn the subject of travel, my father warned me against revisiting beloved destinations, said Francine Prose in The New York Times. “You can’t go back,” he’d say. “They’ll have changed, and you’ll be disappointed.” Does that mean the cities and countries where we were happiest must forever be crossed off the list of dream vacations? “Can’t some places remain unspoiled, or possibly even improve?” This spring, I decided to answer some of those questions by journeying to Sicily, “one of my favorite places on earth.” I’d first traveled there on a family vacation in 1992; I was now returning with my husband, our youngest son and his wife, and our two granddaughters, ages 9 and 5.We began our trip with three nights in Cefalù on the island’s northern shore. Hugging…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The bottom lineAmericans’ total wealth has reached a record high—$88.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2016, according to the Federal Reserve. Rising home values provided a $498 billion increase, offsetting the $160 billion drop in stock holdings.Time.com Yields on Germany’s benchmark 10-year bond sank below zero for the first time ever this week amid uncertainty over Britain’s upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union. Ten-year bonds in Switzerland and Japan have also slipped into negative territory, meaning investors are essentially paying to hold government debt.The New York Times In 2013, 99 percent of federal government workers received a rating at or above “fully successful,” according to internal performance reviews. A study by the Government Accountability Office of 1.2 million civil servants’ ratings found that fewer than 1 percent were…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Debt: John Oliver takes on predatory debt collectorsWho but John Oliver could turn a lecture about predatory debt collection into riveting television? asked Katie Rogers in The New York Times. The British comedian, whose HBO show Last Week Tonight has become an unlikely hit for doing smart, funny explainers of complicated issues, last week erased nearly $15 million in medical debt belonging to about 9,000 people. Oliver’s delivery was typically over-the-top—he theatrically pressed a giant red button to expunge the debt, prompting a shower of dollar bills—but his purpose was more prosaic: “To illustrate how easy it is for companies to buy debt and try to collect from consumers, whether those consumers are still legally liable for the debt or not.” Oliver paid just $50 to form his own shady collections agency, dubbed Central Asset Recovery Professionals—or…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Issue of the week: Microsoft snaps up LinkedIn for $26BThe world’s biggest software company is joining forces with the web’s “default résumé portal,” said Rachel Lerman and Matt Day in The Seattle Times. Microsoft announced this week that it’s buying LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, the largest acquisition in the company’s history. The marriage makes a lot of sense; it propels Microsoft toward its goal of being the “builder of software that makes other businesses tick,” and gives LinkedIn “a reach it couldn’t achieve on its own.” Some 1.2 billion people use Microsoft’s Office software for everything from email to editing, but not much connects those users to one another. “LinkedIn’s tools could fill that gap,” and its trove of data on 433 million users could help Microsoft better understand “how people work and how its software can help them…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The televangelist who built a broadcast empireJan Crouch 1938–2016Televangelist Jan Crouch found God through her dead pet chicken. When Crouch was 12 years old, the bird was struck by a car and apparently killed. She begged God to resurrect it, and like Lazarus, she said, her feathered friend came back to life. Crouch was sold on the power of prayer. She would grow up to marry evangelist Paul Crouch and co-found Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), which harnessed satellite television to become the world’s largest religious network, beaming 24/7 Christian programming to 100 million homes in 22 countries. With her cotton-candy wigs, raccoon eyeliner, and flamboyant dresses, “Momma Jan” stood out even in the colorful world of televangelism. Her ministry was dogged by scandal, but for the impassioned Crouch it was all about saving souls—hoping to “catch…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The Puzzle PageCrossword No. 365: Pop QuizACROSS1 Birds no more6 Of Francis11 Machine part14 Fourth of a dozen15 Took second, maybe16 Cry’s counterpart17 Her father, Scott, a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch, was born in 1952 in Bryn Mawr, Pa.19 ___ fee20 Copying the style of21 A lot fit in a lot22 It’s often paired with ham24 Belted out26 Coffee ingredient, sometimes27 Her father, Robert, a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, was born in 1939 in Jefferson, Texas33 Sitcom that aired 2001–200734 Drum or motorcycle brand35 Jobs platform37 Word on Hawaiian license plates39 Charging caller40 Prepare to advance on a fly ball42 Kyushu cash43 Implores that one may46 To a great degree47 His father, Elias, was born in 1904 in Slopnice, Austria-Hungary50 Charged particle51 Head couple52 Sam Liccardo of San…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Clinton woos Sanders to unite against TrumpWhat happenedPresumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and rival Sen. Bernie Sanders edged toward an uneasy alliance this week, as their bruising primary battle came to an end and the party sought to unify for the general election against Donald Trump. In what both campaigns called a “positive” discussion, Clinton and Sanders met in Washington, D.C., where the former secretary of state had just cruised to a 79 percent to 21 percent victory in the season’s final primary. A Sanders official said the pair talked about “the dangerous threat” that Trump poses to the nation. But the Vermont senator, who won 22 nominating contests, stopped short of endorsing Clinton, whom he has skewered for her ties to Wall Street. He did soften his rhetoric—saying he’d use his clout to shape…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Only in AmericaA Baptist preacher in Sacramento told his congregants that the only tragedy of the Orlando nightclub shooting is that “more of the them didn’t die.” Pastor Roger Jimenez vilified “sodomites” in his sermon and said their deaths “help society.” Jimenez said Christianity condemns hom*osexuality and that “the Bible teaches that these people deserve to die.” Tired of being rejected on traditional dating sites, a group of Trump supporters have launched their own online matchmaking service. “I think there’s a special stigma when people say they are supporting Trump, because of the brash things he’s said,”TrumpSingles.com founder David Goss explained. He said the site’s 500 members are “so happy they can finally go on dates without worrying about political differences.”…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The world at a glance ...DublinRethinking abortion: Ireland is considering repealing its constitutional ban on abortion after the United Nations declared that the prohibition violates women’s human rights. A panel of U.N. human rights experts last week found that Irish authorities had subjected Amanda Mellet to severe emotional and mental pain in 2011, when the Dublin woman was denied an abortion after a doctor discovered that her fetus had fatal congenital abnormalities. Mellet traveled to the U.K. to receive an abortion soon after. Because Ireland is a signatory of the U.N.’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the panel can review complaints against the country’s government, but it can’t compel Irish authorities to change any laws. Prime Minister Enda Kenny has convened a citizens’ assembly to discuss reforming Ireland’s abortion ban.Magnanville, FranceISIS killer: A…7 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Saudi Arabia and 9/11Why is it controversial?Those pages concern whether or not Saudi Arabian officials were involved in funding or supporting the hijackers. In 2002, the bipartisan Joint Congressional Inquiry conducted an extensive investigation into the intelligence failures in the lead-up to 9/11. President George W. Bush sealed the section covering Saudi Arabia’s possible involvement, presumably to avoid damaging relations with one of America’s closest Middle Eastern allies. Since then, the 28 pages have been locked in a basem*nt room at the U.S. Capitol; lawmakers can read them, but are forbidden from revealing their exact contents. Spearheading the campaign to have them declassified is former Sen. Bob Graham, who co-chaired the inquiry. “The 28 pages primarily relate to who financed 9/11,” he said last year, “and they point a very strong finger at…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016It must be true... I read it in the tabloidsAn Oregon rancher who saw a man grabbing a woman’s bicycle in a Walmart parking lot jumped on his horse, chased the alleged thief, and lassoed him. Robert Borba, 28, was loading his purchases into his truck when he heard a woman screaming that someone was stealing her bike. The cattle rancher quickly got his horse out of its trailer and galloped after the thief, lassoing the man around the legs and tying him up until police arrived. “I use a rope every day, that’s how I make my living,” Borba said. “It catches a bandit pretty good.” A British seagull turned bright orange when he fell into a vat of curry. The bird had been trying to scavenge some meat from a dumpster at the back of a food-processing…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Best columns: InternationalRUSSIADoes Putin favor Trump or Clinton?Vladimir MikheevRbth.ruThe Kremlin isn’t taking sides in the U.S. presidential race, said Vladimir Mikheev. Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton has warned that if Donald Trump wins the presidency, “they’ll be celebrating in the Kremlin.” But political analysts in Russia say it’s not that clear-cut. It’s true that during Soviet times as well as more recently, our leaders have found Republican administrations easier to negotiate with—more “deals and accords” have been struck under Republican presidents than under Democratic ones. But the Kremlin is wary of Trump, says analyst Vadim Kozyulin, because he is “a person of emotions, lacking sophisticated knowledge and experience in foreign policy.” On the other hand, there’s reason for caution about Clinton, because she is more interventionist, “always on the lookout for an…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Warren: Clinton’s vice presidential pick?“Is America ready for two serious-minded, pants-wearing women in their 60s” to head the Democratic ticket? asked Joan Vennochi in The Boston Globe. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has thrilled Democrats with her blistering attacks on Donald Trump, sparking speculation that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton might select the firebrand progressive as her vice presidential running mate. There are many reasons why the normally cautious Clinton might “risk an allfemale ticket,” said Paul Waldman in TheWeek.com. As one of the party’s most admired anti– Wall Street populists, Warren would win over many Bernie Sanders supporters to Clinton’s cause. And Warren has already proved she knows how to get into Trump’s head, provoking him to erupt in fury when she called him a “nasty, thinskinned fraud” and a “small, insecure moneygrubber.” The…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016#NeverTrump: Is a coup still possible?“Here we go again,” said Jason Linkins in Huffington Post.com. Now that Donald Trump’s general-election campaign has gotten off to a disastrous start, some appalled Republicans are reviving an old dream: “the contested convention.” Shortly before the party meets in Cleveland next month, the GOP’s rules committee will decide how the nominating process will be run. Under the existing rules, most delegates are “bound” to specific candidates. But if the committee decides to free delegates to vote for anyone they choose—and if that rules change is approved by a majority of delegates at the convention—Trump might get dumped. Murmurings of a potential “coup d’état” are growing, said Dan McLaughlin in National Review.com. With Trump’s ugly rhetoric increasingly imperiling Republicans’ down-ballot chances in November, the party has a responsibility to explore…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Innovation of the week“For every problem, someone is trying to sell a solution,” said Marc Bain in Qz.com. Enter FoldiMate, a robot “whose primary purpose is to fold your freshly laundered shirts and pants twice as fast as you could do it yourself.” Garments are clipped to the front of the machine, which then feeds them into a chamber where they are neatly folded by mechanical arms. FoldiMate can also “de-wrinkle” clothes with steam and “perfume” them as it works. “It’s a pricey answer to a routine chore.” The California-based company plans to sell its laundry-folding device for between $700 and $850, with shipments not expected until 2018. FoldiMate also can’t handle underwear, or oversize items like bedsheets. All the same, laundry loathers apparently can’t wait to buy it. Around 50,000 people have…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Review of reviews: BooksBook of the weekYou May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choiceby Tom Vanderbilt (Knopf, $27)Matters of personal taste are arguably more important today than ever, said Jessica Johnson in The New Republic. Rocky road or butter pecan? Pop or heavy metal? Game of Thrones or Empire? First capitalism and now social media and the online marketplace “have all helped to make taste a veritable cipher for identity.” It’s thus initially a disappointment that Tom Vanderbilt’s wide-ranging new study of personal preference finds no evidence to support the popular assumption that our tastes are as unique and defining as our fingerprints. “The picture I have presented of taste is hardly reassuring,” he writes. But just because we are easily swayed by social pressure or unconscious biases doesn’t mean…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The Week’ s guide to what’s worth watchingOdd Mom OutGive Jill Kargman credit. In Odd Mom Out’s first season, the memoirist turned rookie actress made it effortless fun for viewers to identify with a merely rich mom dealing with her staggeringly wealthy cohorts on New York’s Upper East Side. In Season 2, fictional Jill’s rivalry with Brooke, her momzilla nemesis, will be ramped up to hilarious levels, and Kargman’s old friends Drew Barrymore and Blythe Danner will take guest-starring roles. Monday, June 20, at 10 p.m., BravoThe GreeksThey were antiquity’s great strivers, laying the cornerstone for Western just about everything— art, philosophy, democracy, and more. PBS and National Geographic joined forces to produce this fresh, three-part account of the story of the ancient Greeks. The first episode reaches back thousands of years before Greece’s Golden Age to…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Recipe of the weekYour morning egg is about to get an extreme makeover, said Leah Eskin in the Chicago Tribune. The recipe below turns that mundane orb into a morsel that’s “fried-egg crunchy outside and poached-egg tender inside.” For tools, you’ll need a frying thermometer and a metal strainer with a handle.Crunchy fried egg with fennel salad1 tbsp olive oil • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice • ¼ tsp Dijon mustard • 1 bulb fennel, trimmed, thinly shaved • 1 small shallot, slivered lengthwise • 1 fresh egg • 3 cups peanut oil• Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss fennel with dressing and heap on a plate. Pile shallot slivers into sieve. Crack egg into a small cup with a handle.…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Hotel of the weekThe RitzParisErnest Hemingway once wrote that when he dreamed of heaven, “the action always takes place in the Paris Ritz,” said Katherine LaGrave in Condé Nast Traveler. Converted from a palace to a hotel in 1898, the storied property has now reopened after a four-year renovation. The former 159 rooms have been transformed into 142 rooms and suites—15 of which are named after famous guests like Maria Callas and F. Scott Fitzgerald. New additions include the world’s first Chanel Spa, a 21,500-square-foot garden, and the Salon Proust, where guests can sip afternoon tea. ritzparis.com; doubles from $1,130…1 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016ConsumerThe 2017 Volvo S90: What the critics sayJalopnik.comAudi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz “may just have something new to worry about.” The Volvo S90 arrives this summer as an instantly credible alternative to Germany’s midsize luxury sedans. With its “sleek and elegant” lines, unmatched ride quality, and airy, refined cabin, “this Scandinavian surprise looks and feels like a proper luxury car”—and its safety advances put Volvo on a road to achieving zero passenger deaths by 2020. The “arguably prettier” V90, a wagon edition, is coming soon, too.New York Daily News“This car’s forte is grandly touring in comfort.” Its engine, a turbocharged fourcylinder that makes 316 hp in the supercharged T6 edition, won’t quicken the pulse and neither the steering nor the suspension could be considered “competitively sporty.” Still, “modern luxury and convenience…4 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Technology: Court backs net neutrality rulesA federal court this week delivered a massive victory for net neutrality advocates, said Cecilia Kang in The New York Times. In a 2-1 vote, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the government’s position that “high-speed internet service can be defined as a utility.” The ruling preserves the strict net neutrality rules created in 2015 by the Federal Communications Commission, requiring broadband providers to treat all internet traffic equally. Cable and telecom companies sued to overturn the regulations, which they said overstepped the FCC’s authority. The court, however, backed the FCC’s view “that broadband is as essential as the phone and power and should be available to all Americans.”“The fight for net neutrality is far from over,” said Klint Finley in Wired.com. Internet service providers have vowed to challenge…3 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016What the experts sayThe mythical ‘summer rally’Don’t fall for the “urban myth” that the stock market always surges during the summer, said Mark Hulbert in The Wall Street Journal. Many advisers begin talking about a “summer rally” in early June as a reason to buy stocks. But if the market does rise between now and Labor Day, “its strength will have nothing to do with those three months being June, July, and August.” Historically, stocks have actually performed worse during the summer, with the Dow Jones industrial average producing an average monthly return of just 0.1 percent in the summer months compared with 0.7 percent for all other months. The summerrally myth may have started during the Great Depression, when the Dow gained 76.5 percent between June and August of 1932. Bottom line:…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016Best columns: BusinessNest’s failure to launchTimothy B. LeeVox.comA smart-thermostat company widely hailed as “one of Silicon Valley’s brightest stars” is today mired in “chaos,” said Timothy B. Lee. Just two years after Nest was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion, founder and CEO Tony Fadell, formerly a key figure on Apple’s storied iPod team, is stepping down amid reports of stalled product development and slow growth. Fadell’s “abrasive and erratic management style” is said to have crippled morale. “But Nest’s problems go beyond the failings of any single CEO.” The bigger issue is that “consumers just don’t seem that interested in buying a bunch of expensive ‘smart home’ gadgets.” Nest has been focused on making its namesake thermostats and a suite of household devices connect seamlessly with other smart appliances, betting that…2 min
The Week Magazine|June 24, 2016The hairdresser who sculpted the lofty beehiveMargaret Vinci Heldt 1918–2016In 1960, Margaret Vinci Heldt was invited to submit a fresh hairdo for the new decade to Modern Beauty Shop magazine. The Chicago hairdresser immediately set to work on her mannequin, designing a look that would fit inside her beloved black fez. Heldt finished her tall, conical creation— in which the hair was backcombed, piled on top of the head, and coated with hairspray—with a small hairpin in the shape of a bee. “Margaret, it looks just like a beehive!” a magazine writer exclaimed. “Do you mind if we call it the beehive?” The style was an instant hit, adopted by scores of celebrities—including Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and Audrey Hepburn.Born in Chicago to Sicilian immigrants, Heldt “knew by age 7 that she wanted to be a…1 min
