Citizen Cartwright

Note to readers

I need to take the day off from my usual news summary on Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead, here's an item I've prepared in advance, along with a quick rundown of the news.

The Atlantic declares 'the end of men'

Did you catch this provocative cover story (not to mention the cover itself) in The Atlantic's July/August edition?

"The End of Men: How Women are Taking Control — of Everything" is number one of what The Atlantic calls the 14-3/4 biggest ideas of the year — the "intellectual trends that, for better or worse, are most shaping America right now."

It's written by Hanna Rosin, a founder of DoubleX — a Web magazine "founded by women but not just for women"  that was launched last year by Slate — as well as a contributing editor at The Atlantic.

If you haven't had a chance to tackle Rosin's thousands of words, here's my speed-summary:

"The postindustrial economy is indifferent to men’s size and strength," Rosin says. "The attributes that are most valuable today — social intelligence, open communication, the ability to sit still and focus — are, at a minimum, not predominantly male. In fact, the opposite may be true."

She says:
— the way the global economy is evolving is eroding the historical preference for male children worldwide (this surprised me, but Rosin cites lots of examples)
— this year, for the first time in American history, it's women who hold down a majority of jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women do 51.4 percent of managerial and professional jobs, up from 26.1 percent in 1980.
— of the 15 kinds of American jobs forecast to grow the most in the coming decade, all but two are staffed mainly by women
— four in 10 mothers, many of them single moms, are the primary  breadwinners in their families
— three women will earn a B.A. this year for every two men. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has voted to investigate what some academics have described as the “open secret” that private colleges “are discriminating in admissions in order to maintain what they regard as an appropriate gender balance.”

Rosin quotes pundit David Gergen, who wrote that “women are knocking on the door of leadership at the very moment when their talents are especially well matched with the requirements of the day” in the introduction to the book "Enlightened Power: How Women Are Transforming the Practice of Leadership."

"It is fabulous to see girls and young women poised for success in the coming years," Rosin says. "But allowing generations of boys to grow up feeling rootless and obsolete is not a recipe for a peaceful future. Men have few natural support groups and little access to social welfare; the men’s-rights groups that do exist in the U.S. are taking on an angry, antiwoman edge. Marriages fall apart or never happen at all, and children are raised with no fathers."

Rosin's article earned her a spot on the Colbert Report, where — in the few words she got in amid Stephen Colbert's jokes — she said her article could be seen as "a cry for helping men" and that "we probably need some affirmative action for men."

In the news

Biden in Iraq talking security, government formation

Federal investigators find filth at egg farms at center of recall

Advances offer path to shrink computer chips again

House travel stipends being investigated

Misuse of pesticides an issue as bedbugs resurge nationwide

Obama's busy week on Iraq, Mideast peace

On Tuesday evening, the president formally ends the country's combat role in Iraq with an Oval Office address, after visiting troops in Fort Bliss, Texas.

On Wednesday, Obama hosts a dinner for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the eve of their direct peace negotiations.

Louisianans like Bush's leadership on Katrina better than Obama's on the spill

Fifty-four percent of them say Bush did a superior job helping the state through a crisis, compared to 33 percent who name Obama, according to a poll by Public Policy Polling that was released Friday.

Obama visited New Orleans on Sunday, the fifth anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina breached the city's levees, saying, "My administration is going to stand with you, and fight alongside you, until the job is done, until New Orleans is all the way back.”

National Rifle Association won't endorse Reid

It was just a year ago that the group's leaders urged Nevada gun owners to contact the Senate majority leader and "thank him for supporting our gun rights."

But the NRA said on Friday it wouldn't endorse Reid in his re-election bid because of the Democratic senator's votes to confirm Supreme Court nominees Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who the group believes will be hostile to gun owners in Second Amendment cases.

The NRA isn't endorsing Reid's GOP opponent, Sharron Angle, either.

West Virginia governor advances in race to fill Byrd's seat

Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin will face Republican mining and steel executive John Raese, after both men won easy victories in a special primary Saturday.

Vitter easily wins Louisiana primary

The first-term Republican senator surmounted a 2007 prostitution scandal Saturday and will face Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon in what's already being described as one of the most negative campaigns of the cycle.

Also in the news

U.N. global warming panel to face Himalaya error verdict

Analysis: The uncomfortable math of monetary policy

Report on Fannie, Freddie offers new theory for collapse

Oil inquiry panel finds no single smoking gun

New rules slash credit, gift card fees

All eyes on Bernanke

The Federal Reserve chairman speaks Friday shortly after the release of second quarter gross domestic product data, which many people think will be revised down from 2.4 percent and some predict will be below 1 percent.

The Fed has already used its most powerful tools to boost the economy, and Fed officials disagree about what to do.

So Bernanke's task is to give people the confidence to spend their money to prevent the dreaded second recessionary dip.