NASA
landed a robot on Mars and began exploring the surface. Scientists are
steering the 2-foot long, 23-pound robot by remote control (from 119 million
miles away) and downloading the video and geological data it collects. The
mission's purpose is to study rocks, but observers are more fascinated by the
unmistakable evidence of ancient flood water--which might now be frozen at the
poles or beneath the planet's surface--and by vivid photos. The mission's
official Web site has reportedly surpassed 100 million hits, making it one of
the most popular sites in the history of the Internet. (7/7)
Upheavals abroad: Mexico's ruling party lost control of the national
assembly for the first time in nearly 70 years. Opponents celebrated it as the
advent of true democracy. The story was almost overshadowed by the news that
Mexico's biggest drug lord died as a result of plastic surgery that was
supposed to hide him from the cops. Cambodia 's second prime minister
staged a successful coup against the country's first prime minister, wrecking
Cambodia's experiment in democracy and its almost-completed peace pact with the
Khmer Rouge. The victors celebrated by looting. Rioters in Northern
Ireland destroyed shops, threw grenades at police, and hijacked and burned
more than 230 cars as Protestants marched through Catholic neighborhoods.
(7/7)
The
British finally relinquished Hong Kong to China. Thousands of U.S.
journalists found excuses to spend the week there, playing up the possibilities
of political confrontation and violence (China oafishly sent thousands of
troops to show everyone who's the boss) before conceding that nothing was going
to happen. Poorest excuse for a reporter's travel expenses: "Hong Kong Ponders
Meaning of Record Rainfall" ( Los Angeles Times ). Pundits agreed that
capitalism will continue to flourish there even if democracy doesn't: The
New York Times ' Tom Friedman noted that replicas of the "Goddess of
Democracy" (erected in 1989 by protesters in Tiananmen Square), which were
being peddled by Hong Kong demonstrators, were "Made in China."
(7/7)
Senate
hearings on the campaign-finance scandal are set to open. Best leaks
over the weekend: 1) Documents indicate that John Huang's real-estate holding
company funneled Indonesian money into U.S. campaigns ( Washington Post );
2) Clinton personally lobbied the Democratic National Committee's finance
chairman to hire Huang in 1995 ( New York Times ). Pundits wistfully
alluded to the 25 th anniversary of Watergate and regretted that the
current scandal doesn't measure up. (7/7)
Mike
Tyson was disqualified during his latest championship boxing match for biting
off part of Evander Holyfield's ear . The bite inspired a blizzard of bad
puns and rekindled the ancient debate over whether boxing is inherently or only
sporadically barbaric. Fans rated it the most disgusting offense in the history
of sports, surpassing the outrages perpetrated by Roberto Alomar (spitting in
an umpire's face), Dennis Rodman (kicking a cameraman in the groin), and
others. (7/7)
Jimmy Stewart,
Robert Mitchum , and Charles Kuralt died.
Hollywood pundits contrasted Stewart (the idealistic gentleman) with Mitchum
(the hard-living rogue) and juxtaposed both of them--"the last of the giants of
Hollywood's golden era," said the Los Angeles Times-- with today's
mediocre movie stars. Cultural commentators paired Stewart with Kuralt as
champions of virtue and the common man. Television journalists ceaselessly
glorified Kuralt's television journalism. (7/7)
Martina Hingis and Pete Sampras won the women's and men's tennis
championships at Wimbledon . Sports writers lionized Hingis as a
Wunderkind (she's 16, the youngest Wimbledon champ in a century) and
Sampras as arguably the greatest player ever (he's on track to shatter the
record for men's grand slam titles). Women's runner-up Jana Novotna choked away
a third-set lead in the finals for the second time but managed (unlike last
time) not to cry on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent. (7/7)
Miscellany:
Hawaiian legislators decided to give domestic-partnership benefits to
gay couples instead of letting them marry. Lockheed Martin announced its
purchase of Northrop Grumman, completing the defense industry's consolidation
into two camps ( Lockheed vs. Boeing ). The British company that recently
won fame for cloning a sheep is reportedly on the verge of deriving human blood
plasma from sheep and cows. A new scientific report claims that puberty begins
as early as the age of 6. A woman in North Carolina was charged with murdering
her son by whacking him with a computer keyboard. (7/7)
