TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93TT1962> <title> June 28, 1993: News Digest </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993 Jun. 28, 1993 Fatherhood </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> THE WEEK, Page 17 NEWS DIGEST </hdr> <body> NATION President Bill Clinton's fortunes improved last week. A number of his legislative initiatives made some progress through Congress, and he finally named his candidate for the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Byron White. A quick Senate confirmation was expected for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a judge on the federal appeals court in Washington and a pioneering feminist lawyer. Ginsburg was praised by both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, though some women's groups were nervously reviewing her position that the Roe v. Wade abortion-rights ruling was the right decision but based on the wrong grounds. Only two days before the President named Ginsburg, his aides told the press that he was almost certain to nominate Appeals Court Judge Stephen Breyer. Clinton's personal chemistry with the candidates--he was cool to Breyer after they met but responded well to Ginsburg--seemed to weigh heavily in his decision. Although Breyer told the Administration about the problem weeks before, his fate was sealed by news reports that he had neglected to pay Social Security taxes for a domestic servant. The President's budget plan cleared another hurdle when Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee struck a deal on new tax increases and spending cuts. They eliminated Clinton's $72 billion tax on all forms of energy, substituting a 4.3 cents-per-gal. motor-fuels tax that will raise just $24 billion over the next five years and tacked on a 2.8% increase in the capital-gains tax for the affluent. With the First Lady's very discreet acquiescence, the Senators also cut an extra $19 billion from Medicare beyond the $49 billion already sought by Clinton. Now the bill moves to likely passage in the full Senate. After Democrats and moderate Republicans joined forces to end a Republican filibuster, the Senate voted 60 to 38 to pass White House legislation to reform campaign spending in House and Senate races. Though Democrats agreed to strip the bill of most provisions for public financing of congressional races, the Senate version would limit contributions by corporate and other political action committees, bar lobbyists from making contributions to lawmakers whom they lobby and establish voluntary ceilings on campaign spending. The House considers a similar bill next month. Democrats and Republicans on committees in both houses gave strong support to a less generous version of Clinton's national service plan, under which students could do volunteer work in law enforcement, social services and environmental protection in return for help in repaying their college loans. Hoping to take advantage of his forward momentum last week, the President held two news conferences. At the first, he pointed to his success in getting a budget agreement through both houses of Congress, denied that he had changed course in Bosnia and, somewhat implausibly, took credit for the creation of 755,000 new jobs since he took office. "This is the most decisive presidency you've had in a very long time on all the big issues that matter," he said. The question-and-answer sessions represented a wary revival of Clinton's on-again, off-again truce with the media, which had reached a new low early in the week after Clinton introduced his Supreme Court nominee. When ABC correspondent Brit Hume asked about "a certain zigzag quality" in White House decision making, the President said peevishly, "How you could ask a question like that after the statement she just made is beyond me," then cut off further questions. Clinton mended fences by joking with Hume and other reporters at his later news conferences. After a man in Tacoma, Washington, said he found a syringe in a can of Diet Pepsi, more than 50 similar tampering incidents were reported around the country. Noting that the reports involved cans filled at different times in different plants, company officials said it was "almost incomprehensible" that so many could have been tampered with. By week's end 13 people had been arrested on charges of making false claims, at least three others had admitted that their stories were invented--and authorities remained unconvinced that any of the reports were authentic. The Supreme Court tied another knot in its tangled doctrine on church-state relations with a 5-to-4 ruling that permits public school districts to provide sign-language interpreters for deaf students in religious schools. WORLD It started with an assault on Pakistani U.N. peacekeepers in Mogadishu and escalated into a bombing campaign against the attack's instigator, Somali warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid. Finally, U.N. troops stormed Aidid's stronghold, forcing him to flee, and to remain separated from most of his supporters. Five U.N. troops and over 100 Somali militia were killed; 46 peacekeepers and more than 100 Somalis were wounded. Serb, Croat and Muslim Bosnian leaders agreed to a cease-fire, despite the failures of the three that have preceded it during the past 15 months. At peace talks in Geneva, the Presidents of adjoining Serbia and Croatia suggested splitting Bosnia into three regions, each ethnically homogeneous. The idea was rejected by Bosnian President and Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic. Lord Owen, the British mediator and co-author of an earlier, much more complicated gerrymandering peace plan, said the new idea might not be the fairest or the best but that "the Muslim government would be well advised to look very closely at these proposals and to negotiate." Russia and Ukraine have been arguing for more than a year over what to do about the powerful 350-ship Black Sea fleet of the former Soviet navy. Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine President Leonid Kravchuk reached a solution: they will split the fleet down the middle. The fleet's port in Sevastopol, Ukraine, will be shared as well. Russia also agreed officially to guarantee Ukraine's security, a condition Kravchuk has insisted on before giving up his 1,900-warhead nuclear arsenal. Civil war was averted in Cambodia when seven provinces that had tried to secede reversed course. The rebels' leader, Prince Norodom Chakrapong, a Deputy Premier in the pro-Vietnamese government and the son of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the head of state, had declared the provinces independent to protest the governing party's loss in last month's elections to a party headed by Chakrapong's brother. But Chakrapong decided to go along with a plan for both parties to share power in an interim government. Japanese legislators have approved a motion of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa; they say he has failed to attack political corruption as he promised to do. It is only the second such resolution since the 1950s. Miyazawa has dissolved the parliament, and must call new elections within 40 days. Canada's ruling Progressive Conservative Party has chosen Kim Campbell as its leader to replace Brian Mulroney, who is stepping down. Campbell will be the first woman Prime Minister in Canadian history. Turkey also got its first woman Prime Minister last week when economist Tansu Ciller was named to that office. The U.N. is getting tough with Haiti. The Security Council gave the Caribbean nation's military junta just one week to allow democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return from exile to the office from which it ousted him in 1991. If the army fails to reinstate Aristide, Haiti will face severe international sanctions, including a freeze on its overseas assets and an embargo of oil and weapons shipments. A proposal for a naval blockade, however, failed. Nigeria's transformation to a democracy after 10 years of military rule seemed too good to be true, and in the end it was. A government-appointed commission has set aside the results of national elections in the face of legal challenges over alleged voting irregularities. The challenges come mostly from close allies of General Ibrahim Babangida, the military despot who was supposed to yield power later in the summer. Its never robust economy in free fall since the breakup of its sponsor, the U.S.S.R., Cuba says it will cut its military forces to save money. BUSINESS When Apple Computer co-founder Steven Jobs burned out 10 years ago, the Silicon Valley company brought in marketing maven John Sculley. Now it is Sculley who has apparently flamed out. He has stepped down as CEO, but will stay on as chairman to focus on new business opportunities. His decision came a week after Apple warned Wall Street that a price war had seriously peeled its profits. Sculley had grown aloof, spending considerable time in Washington. According to Financial World magazine's annual list of the best-paid figures on Wall Street, investor and fund manager George Soros earned $650 million last year. That beat out Michael Milken's record of $550 million, set in 1987. SCIENCE President Clinton has decided to go ahead with NASA's space station, but in a "reduced-cost, scaled-down" version. The low-budget station would hold four astronauts and go into operation shortly after the turn of the century, at a total cost of $18 billion--$8 billion less than the previous design. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago--it threw megatons of dust into the air, blocking out the sun and putting the planet in a temporary deep freeze--may have had company. French scientists have found rocky debris in the Pacific that's about the same age but probably came from a different object than the one that landed off Mexico's Yucatan coast. The implication is that an asteroid shower, rather than just a single asteroid, struck the earth. -- By Richard Lacayo, Michael D. Lemonick, Christopher John Farley, Michael Quinn, Erik Meers, Alexandra Lange WINNERS AND LOSERS WINNERS MICHAEL CRICHTON Film rights to Jurassic author's next go for $3.5 million DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN Senator passes big test guiding budget through Finance KIM CAMPBELL Survives challenge and becomes Canada's first female PM LOSERS KIICHI MIYAZAWA Japanese head loses no-confidence vote; government falls GEN. HAROLD CAMPBELL Mocking Clinton means a $7,000 fine, early retirement PEPSI HOAXERS Exposed, arrested--and what sorts of lives do they lead? Hands Have No Tears to Flow, but Presidents Do President Clinton began to cry last week after introducing his Supreme Court nominee, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and hearing her speak abouut her mother. It wasn't the first time. "Mrs. Davis burst into tears as she told the governor about not having enough money for food after paying for her prescription drugs. Mr. Clinton dropped to his knees, teary-eyed himself, and hugged and consoled her."--DALLAS MORNING NEWS Nov. 5, 1992 " `The people of America will learn...that they can trust Mack McLarty to bring the real concerns of real people to the table,' said Mr. Clinton, his eyes watery with tears as he introduced his friend to the nation."--NEW YORK TIMES, December 13, 1992 "((When Clinton announced Madeline Albright's nomination to be ambassador to the U.N., her comments about her father, a Czech diplomat who sought asylum in the U.S.)) "brought tears to Mr. Clinton's eyes."--DALLAS MORNING NEWS, December 23, 1992 "As the congregation ((at Little Rock's Immanuel Baptist Church)) sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Clinton repeatedly wiped tears from his eyes."--LOS ANGELES TIMES Jan. 11, 1993 "Last week, the president-elect described the last days in his home state as an emotional roller coaster ride. At times, he said, he was overcome with tears for no apparent reason..."--HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Jan. 17, 1993 "Tears filled Mr. Clinton's eyes as he listened to hymns at an interfaith service inside Washington's Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church."--INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, Jan. 21, 1993 "[A woman told him] that she had voted for him even though her pilot husband had been killed in Vietnam War. Clinton, with tears in his eyes, she remembers, gave her a hug..." LOS ANGELES TIMES, Jan. 29, 1993 "((The father of a boy killed by robbers)) asked Clinton what could be done to curb violence...Clinton's eyes welled almost to tears." CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, Feb. 12, 1993 "When a young boy from Louisiana told Clinton that his 10-year-old brother died because of a brain tumor that may have been caused by pollution...Clinton's eyes seemed to redden with tears."--HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Feb. 21, 1993 "Clinton spoke haltingly, seemingly moved to tears, when he talked of secretly jogging...to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial..."--WASHINGTON TIMES, May 30, 1993 "Shaken, somber, near tears - those were the words used to describe Clinton as he met the press after the session with [Lani] Guinier."--PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, June 5, 1993 INFORMED SOURCES The F.O.B. Ambassador Track U.S. Presidents always know the perfect thing to give a pal--an ambassadorship. Secretary of State Warren Christopher recently sent Bill Clinton a list of four career diplomats whom he was recommending to become ambassadors. The President scribbled a no next to each name on the list and wrote at the top, "Where are all our friends?" One candidate has since been promised an embassy, one is leaving government, two are still waiting. Pointing Fingers with Bloody Hands WASHINGTON--After 600 refugees were massacred in Liberia on June 6, it seemed as if everybody in this country riven by civil war wanted to blame somebody else for the slaughter. Eyewitnesses said the forces of rebel leader Charles Taylor were responsible; Taylor blamed the pro-government Armed Forces of Liberia. Now investigators believe that both versions have a piece of the even ghastlier truth. Taylor's rebels entered the camp, stole rice from the refugees and then went on a killing orgy. A.F.L. soldiers, who were supposed to be guarding the camp, did not intervene or bother to phone nearby West African peacekeeping troops, and later they looted the corpses. Who's Running China? HONG KONG--Deng Xiaoping, China's senior leader, may be too senile to govern. According to a Western diplomatic source, the 88-year-old head of state has lost all real decision-making ability, and now Deng's family members--some of whom had taken advantage of the authority vacuum--stand to lose power. Members of the top leadership are distancing themselves from Deng's children, and a corrupt Deng retainer was recently stripped of his immunity from prosecution by the man who may someday officially become Deng's successor, Jiang Zemin. DISPATCHES The Quayle Museum Is No Joke By GARY TRUDEAU, in Huntington, Indiana On the front steps of the Dan Quayle museum in Huntington, Indiana, John Herrenden, a straw-haired 10-year-old in a Notre Dame baseball cap, is practicing the free-market entrepreneurialism once preached by the 44th Vice President of the United States: he's selling cups of Kool-Aid at 10 cents a pop. The flavor? "I think it's red," he says. "R-e-d," he adds, slowly and seriously. But the boy, who attends the elementary school where young Danny Quayle learned to spell, was not the first person outside the museum when it opened last week in Huntington, a tidy, cheerful town of 18,000 located on a bend of the Wabash River. That honor went to the NBC satellite truck that came here before 6 a.m. for an interview with Marj Hiner, the local lady who was the leading force behind the museum. "The interview was supposed to be on the Today show at 6:35," says Marj, a spunky woman who says she has known the Quayles for "only" 23 years, "but the generator blew, and they had to frantically call New York. Luckily, my husband Homer was waiting on me, and he hot-wired the truck and we went on at 7:08." And the interview? "Well, Katie [Couric] didn't ask any of the questions they told me she would ask." The national press turned out in full, sardonic force for the opening of the Quayle museum, a sweet, rinky-dink exhibit on the ground floor of an 80-year-old neoclassical building on Warren Street, catty-corner to Dan's old school. The networks, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker--the very doyens of the cultural elite that Quayle infamously criticized--had come to give Danny one last kick. A local woman, who had brought her four-year-old to see the exhibit, fled when she was surrounded by reporters pushily quizzing a real, live person on why she had come to the museum. But in fact the place is not so much a museum as a kind of genial time capsule about a small-town boy who made good. A snapshot of two-year-old Danny clutching a toy football, a small boy's grimace of determination on his face. A letter he wrote to his uncle when he was 12 explaining why he lost a nine-hole Jaycee golf tournament ("A 14-year-old kid who shot a 49 he [sic] beat me on the 17th"). A photo of an awestruck Dan as a college student shaking hands with Ronald Reagan (not unlike the now famous picture of earnest young Bill Clinton shaking hands with J.F.K.). None of the images explain why a not-very-exceptional fellow ascended to the second highest office in the nation. Thomas Mehl, the museum's curator--who is actually a graduate student at Eastern Illinois University ("I'll be getting six credits for this," he says)--notes shyly that the museum is history. "Sure, this isn't the Revolution or the Civil War. But it's still history. He has a story to tell. Hell, I have a story to tell. You have a story to tell." It's a modest ode to a common man--a man lifted by circumstance from an ordinary stage to an extraordinary one. No museum can explain luck. HEALTH REPORT THE GOOD NEWS American adults have an average of 4% less blood cholesterol than they did 12 years ago, and only 20% of adults have very high cholesterol, down from 26%. Death rates from heart disease are down too. Cocaine seems to prevent brain cells from absorbing the neurotransmitter dopamine; researchers have reduced the narcotic's high in addicted rats--and thus the craving for it--by giving them a drug that overrides the cocaine and helps cells absorb dopamine. The FDA will aid credulous consumers by requiring companies that market vitamins and diet supplements to back up their therapeutic claims with hard evidence. Only calcium supplements taken to prevent osteoporosis now meet the proposed standards. THE BAD NEWS AIDS has become the leading cause of death, beating out cancer, accidents and heart disease, among men between ages 25 and 44 in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. It also leads in 64 cities, including such unlikely places as Salt Lake City, Utah. About 12 million American children suffer from chronic hunger. The problem is worst in some Southern states, where more than a fourth of all children regularly go hungry; the rate is more than 18% in New York, South Dakota and California. Megadoses of vitamin E, commonly thought to slow the progress of retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary form of blindness, actually make the disease worse, according to a controlled study of 600 sufferers. Only vitamin A seems to help. SOURCES: Journal of the American Medical Association; Science; Archives of Ophthalmology; American Diabetes Association </body> </article> </text>