TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93TT0241> <title> July 26, 1993: The Week:July 11-17, 1993 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993 July 26, 1993 The Flood Of '93 </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> THE WEEK, Page 15 NEWS DIGEST JULY 11-17 </hdr> <body> NATION More Flood Destruction It was another week of hauling sandbags, scrounging for bottled water and fleeing for higher ground in nine Midwestern states as the Mississippi River and its tributaries continued to flood. In Iowa, days of rain sent the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers flowing over their banks, inundating farmland and knocking out Des Moines's main water-purification plant, leaving 250,000 people without running water. President Bill Clinton ended a Hawaiian vacation early to tour affected areas. "I've never seen anything on this scale before," he said. Clinton promised to ask Congress to approve $2.5 billion or more in disaster relief. Don't Ask, Don't Tell On the July 15 deadline that President Clinton established for the Pentagon to draw up a policy on gays in the military, Defense Secretary Les Aspin gave his support to a proposal that the Joint Chiefs of Staff have approved but gay-rights groups bitterly oppose because it would still allow discharges for homosexual conduct on or off base. Though the proposed plan would discourage military investigations to identify homosexuals, it would generally allow soldiers and sailors to identify themselves as gay only to chaplains, lawyers and doctors. The military code would be revised, slightly, to make gay conduct rather than homosexual status incompatible with military service. Going, Going... Saying he did not intend to offer his resignation, FBI Director William Sessions nevertheless cut short a Chicago trip to meet with his boss, Attorney General Janet Reno. Neither would comment after the half-hour conference on Saturday; as Sessions left, he tripped over a curb and broke two bones in his elbow. A day earlier, President Clinton met with Sessions' possible successor: Judge Louis Freeh of New York. Racist Would-Be Assassins Los Angeles police and FBI agents arrested eight white supremacists who they say planned to assassinate Rodney King and other well-known black figures. According to police, the men also plotted to bomb one of the city's prominent black churches and spray its congregation with machine-gun fire. Several of those arrested belong to groups preaching racial war, including the Fourth Reich Skinheads and the White Aryan Resistance. Indictment in Terror Plots In New York City a federal grand jury indicted Ibrahim A. Elgabrowny for his alleged role in a plot to blow up tunnels and the United Nations. The indictment of Elgabrowny, already in prison in connection with the bombing of the World Trade Center, provides the first public evidence that the participants in both schemes were linked. More Single Mothers A Census Bureau report showed that between 1982 and 1992 the percentage of never married adult women who have children rose from 15% to 24%. The rate was highest among black women (56%), but it more than doubled among whites (6.7% to 14.6%) and college-educated women (3% to 6.4%). Surgeon General on Hold Under pressure from Republicans, the White House postponed confirmation hearings for Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Clinton's choice as Surgeon General, to allow time to examine questions about her finances. The main problem is a lawsuit against the National Bank of Arkansas in which the plaintiffs contend that former board members, including Elders, condoned shoddy and even illegal lending practices. Everglades Revival Plan Resolving a standoff between environmentalists and agribusiness, the Interior Department announced a tentative agreement with Florida and that state's vegetable farmers and sugar industry on a $465 million plan to restore the Everglades. Phosphorus pollution from fertilizer and the diversion of water by overdevelopment have contributed to the transformation of what was a 4 million-acre freshwater marsh into a murky 2 million-acre swamp. WORLD Japanese Earthquake Japan's most devastating earthquake in 45 years, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, destroyed villages and set fires across a small island near Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. At least 166 people were killed--most by the 10-ft.-to-30-ft. tidal waves, or tsunamis, that swept victims into the ocean and tossed boats onto the shore. No Letup in Somalia Is the U.N. keeping the peace or making war? Renewed attacks early last week by American helicopter gunships against warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid killed 54 Somali civilians, according to International Red Cross estimates. Outraged mobs retaliated by killing four foreign journalists. Italian General Bruno Loi, commander of a 2,400-man contingent, sharply criticized the U.N.'s "shoot first" policies, causing a crisis between his government, which backed him, and the U.N. North Korean Nukes Frustrated by North Korea's renewed threat to drop out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, President Clinton issued an attention-getting warning: If North Korea uses an atomic weapon, he said, "we would quickly and overwhelmingly retaliate...It would mean the end of their country as they know it." Pyongyang denied working on bombs, but responded in firm (though stilted) language of its own: "If anyone dares to provoke us, we will immediately show him in practice what our bold decision is." Mission to Hanoi After three days of talks in Hanoi, the U.S. suggested the deployment of three State Department officers to help investigate the fates of MIAs after the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese government, hoping to reverse an American economic embargo, agreed in principle. The U.S. delegation would be the country's first extended diplomatic presence in Hanoi since the war's end. Brought to Justice The man said to be responsible for one of the bloodiest airplane hijackings of the 1980s was shocked last week to find himself in a Washington court. Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq had been in a Ghanaian prison when authorities put him on a plane for Lagos, setting an elaborate police operation in motion. In a deal with the U.S., Nigeria refused to let him enter the country. U.S. agents who had slipped aboard the Nigeria-bound jetliner then had him arrested. Rezaq is said to be the sole survivor among the Palestinian hijackers who seized Egypt Air Flight 648 in 1985. After a forced landing in Malta, two women passengers were shot in cold blood; Egyptian commandos stormed the plane, and an additional 58 were killed. BUSINESS Shopping Spree In a deal likely to create a giant broadcast marketplace, QVC Network, headed by former film mogul Barry Diller, offered to take control of its only serious competitor, the Home Shopping Network, for an estimated $1.2 billion in stock. P&G Cleans House With many consumers abandoning brand-name products for lower-cost private labels, Procter & Gamble, the maker of Tide, Crest and Pampers, announced that over the next four years it would close 30 plants, eliminate 13,000 jobs, and cut some prices as much as 15%. Inflation Goes Flat For the first time in two years, consumer prices remained steady for an entire month, according to the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index for June. That news came the day after producer prices for the same month were reported to have declined 0.3%, the largest drop in two years. With the annual inflation rate at 2.2% for the past three months, worries that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates have essentially vanished. The bad news is that the absence of price pressure seems to be the result of anemic economic growth. Just $1,255,238.10 a Hole At an auction conducted in Dallas by the RTC, the federal agency selling off assets of failed S&Ls, six golf resorts in three states, with a total of 315 holes, were sold for $395.4 million, well above what they were expected to bring. SCIENCE Gay Genes The notion that sexual orientation is inborn, and not simply a life-style choice, was supported with the announcement that male homosexuality may be linked to a gene or genes on the human X chromosome. Female homosexuality is now under investigation as well. Ancient Cloth Archaeologists digging in southeastern Turkey have unearthed what appears to be the oldest piece of cloth ever found. The partly fossilized swatch measures 1 1/2 in. by 3 in., and was wrapped around the handle of a tool made from an antler. It's presumed to be linen, and it has been dated to about 7000 B.C., making it at least 500 years older than any other cloth previously discovered. MEDIA & THE ARTS ABC Cuts a Cable Deal Breaking ranks with the other networks, ABC will allow Continental Cablevision, the nation's third largest cable operator, to carry ABC-owned broadcast stations without paying it a fee; in return, the cable company has agreed to carry and pay for a new cable channel, ESPN2, a spin-off of ESPN, which ABC's parent company owns. It's a Small World After All The Walt Disney Co. has agreed that in videos of its cartoon hit Aladdin it will change song lyrics describing the hero's native land as a place "where they cut off your ear/ If they don't like your face/ It's barbaric, but hey, it's home." Because Disney is not eliminating the "barbaric" line, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which brought the complaint, is still complaining. Blue-Chip Blues Stake With $10 million of its $6 billion endowment, Harvard University will become the largest investor in a $32 million plan for nationwide expansion by House of Blues, a music club in Harvard Square partly owned by actor Dan Aykroyd. Dispatches Policy Wonks in Paradise by MICHAEL DUFFY, in Honolulu, Hawaii She sat facing the sea just off the beach under a massive yau tree; she likes the shade, she said. Black Esprit sandals sat atop one another at her feet; she had pulled a flowered sun hat snugly on her head and thrown a new green canvas bag over an arm of her chair. She wore no jewelry. Nearby lay a copy of The Night Manager, John le Carre's new novel, closed on one dust-jacket flap at around page 300. Vacationing in Hawaii, just after her triumphant visit to Japan, just before a grueling few weeks in Washington, Hillary Rodham Clinton might have been just another tourist. Shirtless beachgoers carrying buckets and pails and snorkeling gear walked past the woman behind the Serengeti dark glasses without noticing (although the unsmiling muscle-bound guys lurking nearby, with wires in their ears and hiding automatics in their knockoff Jams, should have aroused some suspicions). While her husband golfed to his heart's content (36 holes on one day) and her daughter frolicked with two friends in the Pacific surf, Mrs. Clinton--who does not golf, who does not do handstands in waist-high water--remained aloof from island fun. Aides had billeted at the hotel half a dozen of the 100 reporters and photographers trailing the Clintons, so the notion of walking the beach or sunbathing or doing laps in the pool seemed to have made her somewhat skittish. Mrs. Clinton's husband was not at all reserved about being photographed in his trunks, but she was more modest. On this morning she sat nursing an iced tea and talking with several aides for a couple of hours, her fair skin well covered in a sea-green cotton skirt and top, and she then called over six lunching reporters. Under the bright Hawaiian sun, waves lapping a few yards away, she began discussing the single-payer health care system, or the Canadian Plan, as it is sometimes known--the more fully centralized apfavored by many liberals. Mrs. Clinton criticized it, and promoted the hybrid scheme that she said would finally be announced in the fall. "There's a lot to be said for crafting an American solution to an American problem," she said. "But I want people to know what the trade-offs are." Working on a holiday may not seem odd for a woman who has spent many New Year's weekends talking policy and trading fax numbers with new friends at the Renaissance Weekend retreats for the well-connected on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. And as it happened, the President cut short his vacation and hurried to Iowa to inspect flood damage. For her part, Mrs. Clinton was not in Hawaii two days before she was visiting businesses participating in the Hawaiian health care system and viewing hurricane damage in Kauai. Health Report THE GOOD NEWS The FDA has approved a new drug for treating the terrible suffering caused when breast or prostate cancer spreads to the bone. Called Metastron, the drug kills the pain of the cancer (though not the cancer) with radioactive strontium-89 delivered by injection. Metastron works better than narcotics for many patients, and a single shot lasts up to six months. Researchers in Germany and the U.S. think they're homing in on a cause of dyslexia, the brain abnormality that makes language processing--especially reading the printed word--difficult for about 3% of the population. At least some cases of dyslexia are genetic, and now two labs have evidence that they are close to finding a specific gene that may be responsible. THE BAD NEWS The average time that patients live after congestive heart failure has barely increased in 40 years, despite ostensible improvements in treatment, says a report. It was, and remains, two to three years. After a decade of decline, drug use among young people is on the way back up, according to a survey. The percentage using marijuana in 1992 was 27.7%, compared with 26.5% in 1991, and LSD users went from 5.1% to 5.7%. The 1981 figures were 51.2% and 6%, respectively. Hyperactive kids have troubles enough: they do badly in school and in social situations. Now a study says that as adults they're five times as likely as average to develop drug-abuse problems and twice as likely to have mental disorders. SOURCES: National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Drug Abuse; Circulation; Archives of General Psychiatry; Lancet RogerGram Our Periodic Update On The First Half Brother Personal Appearances -- During August, according to his manager, Butch Stone, Roger Clinton will conduct personal-growth seminars. "They're public speaking engagements tied to the theme `a change is going to come,'" says Stone. -- On July 10 Clinton and his band, the Politics (pictured left), appeared for one night only at the Concord Resort Hotel in upstate New York. -- On July 9 Clinton sang the national anthem in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, before a motorcycle jump-off featuring Evel Knievel. Movies -- Clinton plays a mobster in National Lampoon's Last Resort, out next spring. -- In Pumpkinhead II, due this fall, he plays a mayor protecting his city from a giant humanoid squash. Television -- On Aug. 15 Clinton is scheduled to appear on Politically Incorrect, a new cable-TV show billed as a comedic McLaughlin Group. -- On July 13 he appeared on The Loft, an Argentine talk show, to discuss life as the President's brother. Vatican Studios? "No, we're selling it to the Pope." -- FRENCH BANKER ASKED ABOUT THE RUMORED SALE OF MGM/UA TO CARGILL, THE U.S. GRAIN COMPANY. WINNERS & LOSERS WINNERS TED KENNEDY Jay Leno calls off jokes about the Senator FEMA HEAD JAMES LEE WITT His oft-criticized agency lauded on flood response RUPERT MURDOCH Unions accept New York Post owner's draconian cuts LOSERS BRYANT GUMBEL Today finally beats GMA--when Gumbel goes on vacation RONALD RAY HOWARD Jury rejects murderer's "rap-made-me-do-it" defense RANDALL TERRY His campaign of abortion-clinic harassment fails Japanese Impolitics "In America, one in several hundreds of people has AIDS. I wouldn't feel good about shaking hands with an AIDS patient." -- JAPAN'S FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER MICHIO WATANABE DURING THE JAPANESE ELECTION CAMPAIGN, COMPARING THE EXCELLENCE OF THE COUNTRY'S HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM UNDER THE EMBATTLED LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY WITH HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA Informed Sources The POW/MIA Debate Gets Nastier WASHINGTON--Senator Robert Smith of New Hampshire, who believes that U.S. soldiers may still be alive in Vietnam, has asked Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate what he calls "potential federal criminal violations" by 10 former and current high officials at the State Department, the Department of Defense and the Defense Intelligence Agency. In a letter obtained by TIME, Smith, former vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW-MIA Affairs, charges that the 10 officials withheld information from him and lied to his committee. Forcing Arafat Out of the P.L.O. JERUSALEM--Yasser Arafat is in a fight to retain his position as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a post he has held for 24 years. A dissident group within the central committee of Fatah, Arafat's faction in the P.L.O., has been threatening to demand his removal. Under pressure, Arafat agreed to convene a rare session of the larger, 100-member revolutionary council in Tunis this week to discuss the controversy. Some in the P.L.O. want to oust Arafat because of their dismay over his handling of peace talks with Israel. Says a Fatah official: "For the Chairman this is a `to be or not to be' situation." The Journalist as P.R. Agent LOS ANGELES--Celebrity profiles regularly read like glorified press releases, but Vanity Fair may have taken the concept a bit too far. The magazine's August issue contains a brief but gushing piece on director John Woo written by David Chute. Chute just happens to have been the unit publicist for Woo's forthcoming action film, Hard Target. In his story Chute quotes people who compare Woo to Sergio Leone, Michelangelo and Martin Scorsese. Although Woo is considered by many critics to be a talented filmmaker, the author's link to the movie isn't brought up in the piece. Chute claims that he mentioned his professional connection to Woo in the story he turned in, but that an editor deleted it. Wine and Cheese Liberal--At Taxpayers' Expense! President Clinton's choice to head the National Endowment for the Humanities, Sheldon Hackney, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, received unanimous support from a Senate committee last week, and his nomination now goes to the full Senate. In hearings, Hackney was mostly questioned about his politically correct policies. Only one Senator asked him about his administration's admitted misspending of nearly $1 million in federal grants earmarked for academic research. Some of the uses for the money: -- $122,500 for "federal relations"--in other words, money used to lobby the Federal Government for even more money -- $58,994 for housekeepers and cleaning supplies for the president's house -- $11,275 for public relations -- $5,312 for maintenance and preservation of outdoor sculptures -- $1,168.20 for the Pan African Nutrition Conference, including $180 for wine -- $797.12 for wine and cheese -- $114 for 200 copies of the president's article "The University and Its Community: Past and Present" </body> </article> </text>