TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT1113> <title> Aug. 08, 1994: Chronicles The Week: July 24 - 30 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Aug. 08, 1994 Everybody's Hip (And That's Not Cool) </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 13 The Week: July 24 - 30 </hdr> <body> NATION Health-Care Maneuvers Attempting to hammer out a passable bill, both houses of Congress grappled with drafts of health-care reform proposals. At week's end House Democratic leaders announced a bill that would provide universal coverage and require employers to pay most of their workers' insurance costs, with subsidies provided for small businesses. In the Senate, where opposition to employer payments is tougher, majority leader George Mitchell indicated he might propose that employers and workers split the cost of insurance fifty-fifty--but only as a last resort if voluntary measures fail to achieve universal coverage. Minority leader Bob Dole grumbled ominously that Republicans would not be rushed into approving a plan they didn't like. Whitewater Hearings Open Amid a flurry of partisan bickering, the House Banking Committee began its hearings into the Whitewater affair. A series of Administration figures offered the unsurprising testimony that they had not interfered with a government investigation of the failed S&L at the heart of the Whitewater matter. Republicans, hoping to sustain an air of scandal, charged that Administration actions nevertheless served as an example of "Me generation public ethics." Foster Hearings On the other side of Capitol Hill, FBI and U.S. park-police investigators affirmed before the Senate Banking Committee that the death of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster was a suicide unrelated to Whitewater. A Crime-Bill Agreement Following weeks of impasse, House and Senate conferees finally settled their differences and agreed on a $30 billion crime bill. The compromise measure maintains a controversial ban on 19 assault weapons but drops an equally controversial provision that would have allowed death-row inmates to challenge their sentence on the basis of race discrimination. The Senate Okays Breyer No suspense: by an overwhelming vote of 87 to 9, the Senate confirmed President Clinton's selection of Boston federal appeals-court judge Stephen Breyer for the U.S. Supreme Court. The Simpson Case Presiding over the O.J. Simpson murder case for his first week, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito ordered the trial to begin on Sept. 19. The defense said police had interviewed a witness who might exonerate Simpson. Earlier in the week, Judge Ito allowed the prosecution to begin DNA tests of blood found at the crime scene and at O.J.'s home but ruled that small samplings be set aside for possible independent tests by the defense. Another Abortion Doctor Killed A gunman shot and killed Dr. John Britton and his volunteer bodyguard, James Barrett, outside a Pensacola, Florida, abortion clinic. A suspect--antiabortion activist Paul Hill--was promptly arrested at the scene. The murderous attack was the second on a Pensacola abortion provider in 17 months. The Ames Solution CIA mole Aldrich Ames said he betrayed U.S. agents behind the Iron Curtain for money and also because he wanted to shorten the cold war by "leveling the playing field," according to a report in the New York Times. Paying Up for the Exxon Valdez The Exxon Corp. and some 3,500 native Alaskans reached a $20 million settlement for losses the villagers suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound. Exxon, which still faces claims from other plaintiffs, remains open to punitive damages. More Woes for the N.A.A.C.P. The financially strapped and politically riven N.A.A.C.P. was thrown into further turmoil after press reports that its executive director, Benjamin Chavis, had committed the organization--without the knowledge of its board--to a $332,400 out-of-court settlement with a former employee who had accused him of sexual harassment. Computer Porn In a case raising questions about how to enforce federal obscenity laws on the information superhighway, a California couple were convicted in Tennessee of transmitting obscene images over their members-only computer bulletin board. Maintaining that prosecutors had shopped around for a conservative trial site, Robert and Carleen Thomas' lawyer said they would appeal. WORLD Israel, Jordan Declare Peace Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan signed an agreement at the White House ending the 46-year state of belligerency between their two countries. The Washington Declaration calls for direct telephone lines, an electrical-power-grid link and the opening of two new border crossings as the first steps toward friendlier relations. As a sop to King Hussein, the agreement also gives Jordan "high priority" as custodian over the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, but P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat insists that does not undermine Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem as its capital. Final negotiations on the capital's status will take place in two years. U.S. Troops to Rwanda President Clinton dispatched 200 U.S. Army and Air Force troops to secure the airport in Rwanda's capital of Kigali and turn it into a relief supply hub. Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch said the troops would be used solely in a humanitarian role, and "there is no intention whatsoever of making this a peacekeeping mission." Meanwhile, the death toll in the refugee camps in Zaire climbed to 20,000, though no one could be sure of the precise figure. "Counting bodies isn't a top priority," said an overwhelmed official. Serbs Harden Sarajevo Siege Bosnian Serbs closed the single road from Sarajevo to the outside world, shooting up a U.N. convoy and killing one British soldier. Prices in the besieged capital soared as much as 50% as anxious consumers stockpiled basics. The blockade and several other Serb provocations--the firing of heavy weapons around the Muslim enclave of Gorazde, the kidnapping of two U.N. officials and a Muslim woman--underscored Serb intransigence in peace negotiations. London Jewish Sites Bombed Two separate car-bomb blasts, outside the Israeli embassy and the offices of a Jewish fund-raising organization in London, wounded 19 people. A Lebanese group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said he believed Iran had played a part. Meanwhile, the death toll from the July 18 blast that destroyed a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires climbed to 86. Russian Troops Out of Estonia Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Estonian President Lennart Meri signed an agreement ending Russia's 50-year military presence in the Baltic republic. Russia will withdraw its 2,000 remaining troops by month's end in the compromise accord, which allows some 10,000 retired Soviet military officers living in Estonia to apply for residency there. Defector: N. Korea Has Nukes A high-level defector claimed that North Korea has built five nuclear bombs and may build five more, although it lacks the missile technology to deliver the weapons to targets. Kang Myong Do, who defected to South Korea in May and claims to be the son-in-law of North Korean Prime Minister Kang Sung San, said he learned about the secret nukes from a top North Korean official. BUSINESS Big Three Show Big Profits Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. automaker record of $1.7 billion in second-quarter profits announced this week didn't last long, as General Motors revealed that it more than doubled its 1993 second-quarter net with $1.9 billion in profits. With Chrysler's announcement earlier this month of $1 billion in profits, each of the Big Three manufacturers has now set company records--a feat attributed to strong domestic sales of cars and light trucks and a rebounding foreign market. And Russians Post Big Losses Russian investors learned some lessons of capitalism the hard way: rumors that MMM, the nation's largest stock fund, was close to collapse sent many of its claimed 10 million investors into a panic. Thousands of stockholders lined up in front of MMM buildings in Moscow and St. Petersburg clamoring to sell back their shares, once valued at $62 each. On Saturday the company closed its doors. The Russian government has announced stronger market regulation. High-Priced Air Six paging and messaging companies raised their bids through 47 rounds of an auction and ended up paying the Federal Communications Commission $617 million for 10 radio-frequency licenses. It was the FCC's first such auction of the airwaves, but it promises more. THE ARTS & MEDIA A Good Week for Art Theft After tying up a gallery security guard, thieves in Frankfurt, Germany, managed to make off with three works by Romantic painters J.M.W. Turner and Caspar David Friedrich valued at $42 million. Meanwhile, across the ocean at a warehouse on Boston's waterfront, a 1786 portrait of Thomas Jefferson worth at least $1 million was lifted from a metal and concrete safe. SPORTS 27 Up, 27 Down Texas Ranger left-hander Kenny Rogers retired 27 straight batters to pitch the 12th perfect game in baseball history. With the help of a spectacular diving catch by outfielder Rusty Greer in the ninth inning, Rogers' 98 pitches and eight strikeouts were enough to put his name in the history books alongside such baseball greats as Cy Young, Sandy Koufax and Catfish Hunter. A Strike Date Is Set On the same day as Rogers' perfect game, the baseball players' union set a strike date for Aug. 12. If players and owners are unable to agree on issues such as salary caps and arbitration, baseball will see its eighth work stoppage in 22 seasons--and fans will lose the much discussed possibility of a new home-run record set by league leaders Ken Griffey Jr. and Matt Williams. By Melissa August, Robertson Barrett, Wendy King, Michael D. Lemonick, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Sidney Urquhart and Sarah Van Boven HEALTH REPORT The Good News -- The amount of lead in Americans' blood has dropped dramatically in the past decade and a half, says the federal Centers for Disease Control. A shocking 78% of the population had elevated lead levels in the late 1970s; by the end of the '80s, the number was just 4.3%. The primary reason: government regulations that banned leaded gasoline and lead-based solder. -- Students who think nothing of pulling all-nighters, take note: experiments with both rats and humans have convinced researchers that people who get plenty of sleep are better at learning things. The brain evidently uses its rest periods to consolidate new memories. The Bad News -- People who sustain spinal-cord injuries are often rushed into surgery; the idea is to relieve swelling and thus reduce the chance of permanent paralysis. But this may amount to taking an unnecessary risk. A study has found that one year after the trauma, people who went under the knife immediately were no better off, on average, than those who didn't. -- In-vitro fertilization can help couples who are otherwise infertile--but it's expensive and often doesn't work the first time. A new report pegs the average cost per test-tube baby at between $67,000 and $114,000--and up to $800,000 if the couple are older than 40 or so. Sources--GOOD: Journal of the American Medical Association; Science. BAD: New England Journal of Medicine; Neuroscience. Adroit Royal of the Week Making a virtue out of necessity, Jordan's King Hussein took a dramatic step toward peace with Israel, his enemy of 46 years INSIDE WASHINGTON The Secretary's High-Maintenance Ex Housing Secretary HENRY CISNEROS is being sued by former mistress, Linda Medlar, who says he broke an "oral contract" to pay her $4,000 a month for damages following the exposure of their affair in 1990. Cisneros, who reconciled with his wife, denies a contract but admits giving Medlar "intermittent" $4,000 payments as well as $36,000 as a final settlement. The Secretary told TIME he leased a car for Medlar, gave her a $16,000 down payment on a house and paid her daughter's tennis-camp tuition. Medlar says she received no settlement, no car, no tuition. WINNERS & LOSERS Winners SY SPERLING--Rug kingpin saved: FDA panel nixes over-the-counter hair-drug sale JANE ALEXANDER--Her first NEA budget passes Congress JOHN F. KENNEDY--Missile-crisis tapes reveal a President cool under fire Losers BENJAMIN NETANYAHU--Peace is bustin' out all over. What can Israeli opposition run on? TREASURY DEPARTMENT--Whitewater turns Clinton's best pros into edgy finger pointers THE ROLLING STONES--Voodoo Lounge debuts at No. 2--below, yes, The Lion King Free Huey...and Lisa Caputo! "Apparently, something I've said has displeased a lot of people at the White House...I will no longer use the phrase `White House 10' because I can understand how it would seem offensive to some people." --CNN Anchor Bernard Shaw, during the network's coverage of the House Whitewater hearings Congressional Alchemy A 1979 amendment to federal election laws allowed members of Congress who were elected before 1980 and left office before 1994 to convert unused campaign donations to personal use. All told, retiring lawmakers have received a $10.5 million windfall. A partial accounting: <table> <tblhdr><cell>Ex-Congressman<cell>What His Campaign Donations Bought <row><cell type=a>Representative Silvio Conte (R-Mass.)<cell type=a>A $40,000 tombstone (Conte died in office in 1991) <row><cell>Representative John J. Rhodes (D-Ariz.; left office 1983)<cell>Club memberships; a portrait of himself in oils <row><cell>Senator Dan Quayle (R-Ind.; left office 1989)<cell>A $50,000 donation to the Dan Quayle Commemorative Foundation <row><cell>Representative David Stockman (R-Mich.; left office 1981)<cell>Catering; limousines; clown rental <row><cell>Representative Joseph M. Gaydos (D-Pa.; left office 1993)<cell>$949 worth of hams for "political distribution" <row><cell>Representative L.H. Fountain (D-N.C.; left office 1983)<cell>A new Cadillac <row><cell>Representative William Lehman (D-Fla.; left office 1993)<cell>Personal trainer and pool-service fees <row><cell>Representative Mike Espy (D-Miss.; left office 1993)<cell>$1,325 worth of formal wear for the Clinton Inauguration <row><cell>Senator Al Gore (D-Tenn.; left office 1993)<cell>$8,926 for catering and receptions; $3,540 for computer services </table> Raw Data An advertisement from a recent issue of Daily Variety "CASTING AGENTS! I'm a dead-ringer for Marsha Clark. Contact me for your next O.J. Simpson Project: (909) 682-3722, Kathern R. Meador" NETWATCH News, Culture, Controversy on the Internet Holy Cyberspace Sacred texts are racing through cyberspace at speeds that trouble the more gently paced Roman Catholic Church bureaucracy. When CRNET, a Virginia-based Catholic dial-up network, put the new Catholic catechism online this month, fearful editors had to yank it after a few hours. The reason: the U.S. Catholic Conference declared that the Vatican--which, after all, holds the copyright on the catechism--has to decide just when its texts should be electronically distributed. The issue will have to be deliberated by numerous committees and ultimately signed off on by the Vatican. "I don't think just anybody can put the catechism online," says the USCC's Father John Pollard, who stresses that the church will venture into the electronic age as it pleases. Others are more eager to mix traditional religion with digital transmission: the Jewish orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch sect eagerly provides translations of theological works (gopher site: lubavitch.chabad. org/1) over the Net. Cyberspace's devoted may also download the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Koran and bits from the Dead Sea Scrolls. A Catholic University site offers a database with lyrics to the millennium's most popular--and currently chart-topping--Gregorian chants (gopher://vmsgopher.cua.edu). E-mail Netwatch at Timestaff1@aol.com MONITOR Where Have You Gone, Omar Sharif? By Michael Quinn High drama. Searing conflict. That's what you might expect when you attend a viewing of Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest hit, True Lies--but not in the movie itself. Rather, check out the picket lines surrounding theaters in many cities, deployed by Arab Americans objecting to yet another screen depiction of the Arab as blood-crazed terrorist. Alas, movies have a long tradition of stereotyping Middle Easterners: The Arab as Exotic Lover. Immortalized as The Sheik (1921), Rudolph Valentino once owned the franchise on faux Semitic Romeos. The nobly savage Italian actor and a host of imitators swept a generation of European love interests into their arms--the ladies' honor often preserved by eleventh-hour plot devices (in the case of The Sheik, Valentino's character was revealed to be an Englishman in Middle Eastern drag). More recently, crudely comic variations on this theme have had Western women fending off oversexed petrosheiks in films like Protocol (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985). The Arab as Faceless Horde. Beau Geste, remade countless times, is the paradigm of a cowboys-and-Indians version of the Middle East, with the French Foreign Legion and other colonials standing in for the cavalry and Arabs on horseback providing the Indians. The Arab as Unruly Child. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) remains the best-known example of the Arab as a political naif in need of tutelage from a wiser Westerner, often adorned in Arab garb--a better Arab than the Arabs themselves (see Indiana Jones I and III). Remove that "guidance," and get the chaos of Lawrence's end: Arab leaders at one another's throats in a scene reminiscent of the depiction of black politicians in the racist Birth of a Nation. The Arab as Plutocrat. The gas lines of the '70s fueled the image of overpowerful sheiks, shifty in kaffiyehs and sunglasses, plotting the petrodollar domination of the world in grim melodramas like Marlon Brando's The Formula (1980), Richard Gere's Power and Jane Fonda's Rollover (1981). There is an ironic precedent for such pop paranoia: the anti-Semitic myth of the all-powerful Jew. The Arab as Terrorist. Middle Eastern terrorists shot their way through popular movies like Black Sunday (1977) and Delta Force (1986). Now that Soviet villains have fallen to history's cutting-room floor, Arab terrorists may have the field pretty much to themselves. </body> </article> </text>