<p> American Army Rangers in Mogadishu raided a suspected meeting
place of fugitive warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid, but the attack
went awry and turned into a 15-hour fire fight, leaving at least
15 American soldiers dead, one taken prisoner and two unnacounted
for. With Congress in an uproar, President Clinton addressed
the nation and said he would immediately send more troops to
Somalia, bringing their number to 10,000. Clinton pledged, however,
that all forces would return home by March 31.
</p>
<p> Shalala Follows a Tough Act
</p>
<p> Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala went to Capitol
Hill and found that legislators had removed the kid gloves they
used when questioning Hillary Clinton. Testifying before two
congressional committees on the President's health-care-reform
plan, Shalala was chided for giving vague answers and for not
being able to explain how the program would be financed. "I
am no Mrs. Clinton," Shalala said.
</p>
<p> Reno and Waco
</p>
<p> A Justice Department report has concluded that Janet Reno exhausted
all "reasonable alternatives" before approving an assault on
David Koresh's Waco compound last spring, and cleared the Attorney
General of having made any mistakes. It does conclude, though,
that there was bitter wrangling within the fbi about what tactics
to use during the 51-day crisis, and that Reno's claim of child
abuse during the standoff was unsupported by fact.
</p>
<p> Ask, Tell
</p>
<p> The military's new "Don't ask, don't tell" policy is moot for
the moment: the Pentagon, bowing to a court order, will let
gay service members openly profess their orientation. The court
order is now under appeal.
</p>
<p> Tailhook Admiral Stays
</p>
<p> Defense Secretary Les Aspin refused to remove Admiral Frank
Kelso II from his post as Chief of Naval Operations, overruling
Navy Secretary John Dalton. In a report on the scandalous 1991
Navy Tailhook convention, Dalton had placed ultimate responsibility
on Kelso for the pilots' sexual assaults.
</p>
<p> Bombing Trial Begins
</p>
<p> The trial opened in New York City for four Muslims accused of
blasting an underground garage in the World Trade Center last
February. Six people died in the explosion.
</p>
<p> Bounty on a Bomber's Head
</p>
<p> Federal investigators are offering a $1 million reward for any
information that will help break the case of the bomber who
has sent 14 explosive packages to executives and academics since
1978, killing one person and injuring 23. After six years of
inactivity, the "Unabom" bomber struck twice again last summer,
wounding two university professors. The authorities have made
one new clue public: a note, possibly written by the bomber,
that says, "Call Nathan R--wed 7 p.m."
</p>
<p> "Granny Killer" Stalks Florida
</p>
<p> The elderly of Florida's Hernano County are relaxing after learning
that a serial killer who sexually assaulted and slew four widows,
ages 70 to 87, and then burned their bodies to conceal the crimes
has been caught.
</p>
<p> Los Angeles Cops Under Siege
</p>
<p> Police chief Willie Williams appealed to the Los Angeles public
for an end to violence last week after the third armed attack
on officers in two weeks. No one was injured in the latest ambush
shooting, but, Williams declared, "people think it's open season
on the police."
</p>
<p> No Safety from Guns
</p>
<p> Opponents of gun control insist that law-abiding citizens need
handguns to protect themselves. According to a report in the
New England Journal of Medicine, however, Americans who keep
guns in their homes are nearly three times as likely to be murdered
at home--usually by friends or relatives--as those who do
not. The report did not measure how many times firearms were
used to scare off intruders, although it said 5% of the murder
victims had been killed trying unsuccessfully to use their guns
in self-defense.
</p>
<p> WORLD
</p>
<p> Moscow Uprising Crushed
</p>
<p> With tanks firing round after round into the 19-story skyscraper,
Russian forces loyal to President Boris Yeltsin stormed the
Parliament Building in Moscow and removed rebel legislators
and their armed supporters. More than 170 people were killed
and almost 900 were wounded in the assault and a separate battle,
in which rebels tried--but failed--to take Moscow's TV broadcast
center. Suppression of the putsch enjoyed widespread public
support. Yeltsin announced that elections for a new parliament
will be held Dec. 12, called for regional councils to dissolve
themselves and briefly imposed some press censorship.
</p>
<p> Georgia Fights Rebels
</p>
<p> Eduard Shevardnadze's government continued fighting against
both separatists in the northwestern Abkhazia region and supporters
of ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Said one defense official:
"It is obvious now there is no room for dialogue. This is going
to be a fight to the end."
</p>
<p> Bosnia Sets Conditions
</p>
<p> Alija Izetbegovic, President of the Muslim-dominated Bosnian
government, asked for a guarantee that the U. S. would participate
in the enforcement of a peace agreement with the Croats and
Serbs. He also proposed an expansion of the territories to be
administered by the U.N. after any settlement.
</p>
<p> Pope vs. Relativism
</p>
<p> John Paul II's newest encyclical, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor
of Truth), declares that moral standards cannot vary, since
they come from God. The Pope considers the 179-page document,
which took six years to write, the most detailed examination
of the church's moral doctrine ever issued by the Vatican.
</p>
<p> No Repeat Handshake
</p>
<p> Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Palestine Liberation
Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat met in Cairo to discuss
the transition to Palestinian self-rule, beginning in the Gaza
Strip and Jericho. Though the two men declined to repeat their
historic handshake for photographers, they reportedly shook
hands later in private.
</p>
<p> Bhutto Wins in Pakistan
</p>
<p> Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's charismatic Prime Minister from 1988
to 1990 and the first woman to head a modern Muslim country,
narrowly led her party to victory in the national elections.
The Harvard graduate now faces a very difficult task of coalition
building.
</p>
<p> China Resumes Nuclear Tests
</p>
<p> Defying a concerted U.S. campaign to prevent it, China exploded
a small nuclear device at an underground test site in northwestern
Xinjiang province. A dismayed President Clinton ordered preparations
for a possible resumption of U.S. nuclear testing next year.
</p>
<p> BUSINESS
</p>
<p> More Jockeying for Paramount
</p>
<p> Viacom recruited a new partner in order to strengthen its bid
for Paramount Communications. Viacom will receive a $1.2 billion
cash infusion from NYNEX, the telephone company for New York
and New England. Meanwhile, Viacom's rival, QVC Network, was
reportedly negotiating with another Baby Bell, BellSouth, in
its effort to raise cash for the deal.
</p>
<p> Capitalized Medicine
</p>
<p> Columbia Healthcare announced last week that it would acquire
Hospital Corp. of America for $5.7 billion in stock. The transaction
merges the country's two largest for-profit hospital companies
into one new behemoth with estimated annual revenues of more
than $10 billion.
</p>
<p> United Beats American
</p>
<p> According to new passenger statistics released last week, United
has surpassed American to become the most traveled airline.
</p>
<p> New Chairman for Ford
</p>
<p> Alexander Trotman, a Briton who had been head of worldwide auto
operations, was named the new chairman and ceo of the Ford Motor
Co., replacing Harold Poling, who is retiring.
</p>
<p> SCIENCE
</p>
<p> Lost in Space-Again
</p>
<p> It was another bad week for the U.S. space program and for space
contractor Martin Marietta, in particular. A $220 million Landsat
earth-monitoring satellite launched on Tuesday was lost by Wednesday--the fourth such disappearance in two months for the Maryland-based
company, which five days earlier had announced 11,000 layoffs.
</p>
<p> Attack of the Rust Fungus
</p>
<p> Imported plants and animals are a menace whose "environmental
and economic impacts are snowballing," according to a congressional
report. At least 4,500 immigrant species, from Asian tiger mosquitoes
to soybean rust fungus, have established themselves on U.S.
soil since colonial times and now threaten to take over--pushing
out native species and causing hundreds of billions of dollars
in damage.
</p>
<p> MEDIA & THE ARTS
</p>
<p> Author Morrison Honored
</p>
<p> The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Toni Morrison
last week, author of such novels as the Pulitzer-prizewinning
Beloved. Morrison, 62, who published her first novel in 1970,
became the eighth woman and first black woman to win the prize.
</p>
<p> A Picture Is Worth...
</p>
<p> A 1920 photograph by Alfred Stieglitz, showing the hands of
his wife, artist Georgia O'Keee, was sold for $398,500 at Christie's
to an anonymous bidder. That's a record for a photo sold at
auction; the previous high was $193,895 for a work by Man Ray.
</p>
<p> Jordan Calls It Quits
</p>
<p> Declaring "I don't have anything else to prove," Chicago Bulls
star Michael Jordan announced his retirement from the National
Basketball Association last week. The three-time N.B.A. champion
said he had been considering the move even before the murder
of his father this summer, but that event made his decision
"simpler."
</p>
<p> Once More, Even Nuttier
</p>
<p> Comedian-auteur Jerry Lewis has announced that that he plans
to make Nutty Professor II, a sequel to his 1963 hit.
</p>
<p>-- By Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Erik Meers, Michael Quinn, Jeffery
Rubin, Alain Sanders, Sophfronia Scott Gregory, David Thigpen,
Sidney Urquhart
</p>
<p>BIG LEAGUE CONSUMER REPORTS
</p>
<p>The 1993 season is over, so it's time to find out which baseball
payrolls were good values. BEST BUYS combine highest standings
with lowest salaries.
</p>
<p> NATIONAL LEAGUE
</p>
<p> Highest Cost per Victory:
</p>
<p> $650,002; New York Mets (last place)
</p>
<p> Lowest Cost per Victory:
</p>
<p> $131,776; Colorado Rockies (11th place)
</p>
<p> BEST BUY:
</p>
<p> $158,312; Montreal Expos (4th place)
</p>
<p> AMERICAN LEAGUE
</p>
<p> Highest Cost per Victory:
</p>
<p> $523,026; Oakland Athletics (last place)
</p>
<p> Lowest Cost per Victory:
</p>
<p> $206,811; Cleveland Indians (10th place)
</p>
<p> BEST BUY:
</p>
<p> $367,746; Chicago White Sox (2nd place)
</p>
<p>DISPATCHES
TAILHOOK, THE SEQUEL
</p>
<p>By JORDAN BONFANTE, in San Diego
</p>
<p> Nothing like two years of unremitting public contempt to throw
a wet blanket on a party. The 36th convention of the Tailhook
Association, the Navy and Marine Corps carrier pilots society,
took place in San Diego last weekend, and it was a somewhat
more low-key gathering than the bacchanalian riot that occurred
the last time the organization met, two years ago in Las Vegas.
Back then, the attendees sexually assaulted dozens of women,
and their behavior resulted in 40 disciplinary actions, 11 court-martial
investigations, the resignation of a Navy Secretary, the near
firing of the Navy's top admiral, and a universal condemnation
of the pilots, the most swaggering lads in the land. This time
around, the occasion had all the libidinous excess of a talk
on estate planning at a nursing home.
</p>
<p> At the Friday-night mixer, held in the bare, harshly lighted
Town and Country Room of the convention's suburban hotel, a
desultory troupe of 750 mostly middle-aged guests drank beer
and mineral water--a far cry from previous years, when you
could count on 5,000 former and current flyers to show up. Active-duty
personnel stayed away because an ominous Pacific Fleet edict
had warned that no officer could attend in uniform or join in
public discussions, and the 20-odd young pilots who did appear
were far outnumbered by the media and seemed as fearful as they
were disconsolate. What was there to do? "Listen to a bunch
of old geezers talk about the times when planes were wood and
men were steel," according to a pilot in his 20s.
</p>
<p> On account of Tailhook's reputation, a militant feminist "security
patrol" with Guardian Angel-like berets and walkie-talkies circled
the perimeter to protect other women on the hotel grounds, but
the leader admitted that "it seems to be a pretty tame crowd.
They're all old. I guess what we're doing is mostly symbolic."
Participants in the Mrs. America pageant, who happened to be
convening in another hall 200 yds. away, also displayed uneasiness.
Mrs. Florida, Jacqueline Mallery Solomon, said she had "expressed
my concern" to the hotel and asked for "proper security."
</p>
<p> In fact, women could not have been safer in a seminary. "I was
just saying to my friend, `You know, the men here are acting
as though they're afraid to even talk to a woman!' " observed
Charlene Fulton, a nurse from Escondido, California. "They'll
make eye contact and then quickly look away." Fulton came on
the arm of retired Lieut. Commander Warren Schmidt, 72, an Okinawa
veteran who, when asked if he had been in Vegas in '91, smiled
and replied, "No, dammit, I missed out!"
</p>
<p> He may get another chance. "Sure, this is nothing compared to
1991, nothing," insisted bearded retired Navy Captain H.P. ("Jeep")
Streeper, also 72, a skipper of the U.S.S. Hancock in Vietnam
and a pilot with 800 carrier landings. "But that's what we want,
a tone-down. It'll be a couple of years before we get back to
battery."
</p>
<p>HEALTH REPORT
</p>
<p>THE GOOD NEWS
</p>
<p>-- Machinery designed to detect flaws in nuclear warheads will
soon be turned to more benign use: finding early signs of breast
cancer. Digital X-ray systems developed at Lawrence Livermore
weapons lab should spot tiny tumors that the old film-based
X-ray machines miss.
</p>
<p>-- The number of measles cases in the U.S. plummeted from 27,786
in 1990 to just 2,237 last year. Apparently the epidemic that
raged through the preschool population after President Reagan
cut funds for immunization has finally run its course.
</p>
<p>-- Researchers have devised a fast, cheap and accurate test
for the genetic defect that causes fragile X syndrome, the most
common inherited form of mental retardation.
</p>
<p> THE BAD NEWS
</p>
<p>-- U.S. hospitals reported a record number of drug-related emergency-room
visits last year, suggesting that heavy drug use is on the rise.
The increase in visits: 18% for cocaine, 34% for heroin and
48% for marijuana.
</p>
<p>-- Men, at least, have one more reason to eat less fat--to
decrease the chances of prostate cancer. American men who eat
red meat as a main dish five or more times a week are 2.6 times
more likely to suffer advanced prostate cancer than men who
eat it once a week or less.
</p>
<p>-- An experimental aids drug called L-697,661 that showed promise
in test-tube studies has failed in six-week clinical trials.
The aids virus simply developed resistant strains and kept on
multiplying.
</p>
<p> Sources--GOOD: U.S. Dept. of Energy; Amer. Health Foundation;
J.A.M.A. BAD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; Journal
of the Nat'l. Cancer Inst..; New England Journal of Med.
WITH VERY CLOSE PERSONAL FRIENDS LIKE THESE...
</p>
<p>"He is not a pig. Piling up money has never been his motive
at all."
</p>
<p>-- DESIGNER DIANE VON FURSTENBERG ON MOGUL BARRY DILLER'S $9.3
BILLION BID TO TAKE OVER PARAMOUNT
</p>
<p>WINNERS & LOSERS
</p>
<p>WINNERS
</p>
<p> TONI MORRISON
</p>
<p> First African American awarded Nobel Prize for Literature
</p>
<p> MOHAMMED FARRAH AIDID
</p>
<p> Makes mockery of U.S. as cries and plans for "exit strategy"
abound
</p>
<p> PEREGRINE FALCON
</p>
<p> DDT a threat no more, bird will leave endangered-species list
</p>
<p>LOSERS
</p>
<p> LES ASPIN
</p>
<p> Defense Secretary is focus of scorn over Somalia debacle
</p>
<p> ALEXANDER RUTSKOI
</p>
<p> True, Yeltsin foe incited violence, but millions hardly answered
call
</p>
<p> CHICAGO BULLS
</p>
<p> Yanks without Ruth? Colts without Unitas? Oh, well, he'll be
back.
</p>
<p>"HE HAS MY TOTAL, ABSOLUTE SUPPORT--UNTIL NEXT WEEK"
</p>
<p>Ron Brown, former Democratic Party chairman and now the Secretary
of Commerce, has been accused of accepting a $700,000 bribe
from a Vietnamese businessman. But President Clinton is behind
him. "He told me that he hasn't done anything wrong," Clinton
said of Brown. "I think he's done a great job, and I have no
reason not to believe him." As the examples below indicate,
a person lasts, on average, about seven weeks after such an
expression of presidential support.
</p>
<p> SCANDAL
</p>
<p> Accepting gifts
</p>
<p> PRESIDENTIAL SHOW OF SUPPORT
</p>
<p> "I personally like [Assistant to the President Sherman] Adams...I respect him because of his personal and official integrity."--President Eisenhower, June 18, 1958
</p>
<p> TIME UNTIL RESIGNATION
</p>
<p> 14 weeks
</p>
<p> SCANDAL
</p>
<p> Kickbacks
</p>
<p> PRESIDENTIAL SHOW OF SUPPORT
</p>
<p> "My confidence in [Vice President Spiro Agnew's] integrity
has not been shaken--in fact, it has been strengthened by
his courageous conduct and his ability."--President Nixon,
Aug. 22, 1973
</p>
<p> TIME UNTIL RESIGNATION
</p>
<p> 7 weeks
</p>
<p> SCANDAL
</p>
<p> Personal debts
</p>
<p> PRESIDENTIAL SHOW OF SUPPORT
</p>
<p> "I don't know of anything illegal or even unethical that [Budget
Director] Bert Lance has ever done."--President Carter, Aug.
23, 1977
</p>
<p> TIME UNTIL RESIGNATION
</p>
<p> 4 weeks
</p>
<p> SCANDAL
</p>
<p> Wedtech
</p>
<p> PRESIDENTIAL SHOW OF SUPPORT
</p>
<p> "I have no evidence of any wrongdoing on his [Attorney General
Edwin Meese's] part in the allegations that are being kicked
around."--President Reagan, May 17, 1988
</p>
<p> TIME UNTIL RESIGNATION
</p>
<p> 7 weeks
</p>
<p> SCANDAL
</p>
<p> Misuse of government planes
</p>
<p> PRESIDENTIAL SHOW OF SUPPORT
</p>
<p> "Do we call him [chief of staff John Sununu] `Nunu'? Yes,
I do...My wife has great affection for John, great confidence
in him."--President Bush, Nov. 20, 1991
</p>
<p> TIME UNTIL RESIGNATION
</p>
<p> 2 weeks
</p>
<p>INFORMED SOURCES
</p>
<p>Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?
</p>
<p> Washington--After investing $42 million to integrate a long-range
air-tracking radar system into its C-130 aircraft to help detect
drug smugglers, the U.S. COAST GUARD concluded that the plane's
$2.5 million annual maintenance and operational costs weren't
worth it. So it decided to offer the plane to the drug-interdiction
program at the Pentagon, the main agency charged with air and
maritime drug detection. But because the Pentagon decided that
"we already have better equipment," the plane was transferred
to the Air Force to carry cargo.
</p>
<p> Photo Opportunity Knocks
</p>
<p> Washington--When the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gathered
for Ruth Bader Ginsburg's investiture, they assumed, not unreasonably,
that PRESIDENT CLINTON would be late and they would have time
for a photographer to take the traditional informal picture
of the reconstituted group. But Clinton showed up early, making
it impossible, as a matter of courtesy, to shoot a photo without
him. Separation-of-power purists will have to wait for the formal
court portrait, to be taken later.
</p>
<p> Make Us Cry Until We Laugh
</p>
<p> Los Angeles--CHEVY CHASE's new late-night talk show on Fox
has received excoriating reviews and horrendous ratings, but
apparently that isn't punishment enough for Fox executives.
When David Letterman's show was on NBC, Chase's brilliantly
successful rival famously ridiculed the executives there; now
executives at Fox have actually been calling for Chase to make
fun of them on the air.
</p>
<p>Exception That Makes Rules
</p>
<p>What's good for the country is often not good enough, or perhaps
too good, for Capitol Hill. Congress exempts itself from a wide
array of major federal laws, sometimes citing the doctrine of
separation of powers or simply the need for loyal, compatible
workers. The Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress
has compiled a list of the exceptions. Highlights:
</p>
<p> ACT Exemption for the Senate House
</p>
<p> Age Discrimination in Employment LIMITED FULL
</p>
<p> Americans with Disabilities LIMITED LIMITED
</p>
<p> Civil Rights/Title VII LIMITED LIMITED
</p>
<p> Employee Retirement Income Security FULL FULL
</p>
<p> Equal Pay FULL LIMITED
</p>
<p> Fair Labor Standards FULL LIMITED
</p>
<p> Family and Medical Leave LIMITED LIMITED
</p>
<p> Federal Labor-Management Relations FULL FULL
</p>
<p> Freedom of Information FULL FULL
</p>
<p> National Labor Relations FULL FULL
</p>
<p> Occupational Safety and Health FULL FULL
</p>
<p> Privacy FULL FULL
</p>
<p> Rehabilitation LIMITED FULL
</p>
<p> Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification FULL FULL
