Up in Secondhand Smoke
Today's coverage yields the typical Sunday diversity. The Washington Post lead spells bad news for secondhand smoke
opponents: on Friday, a federal judge invalidated a 1993 EPA report which had
declared secondhand smoke a dangerous carcinogen. The New York Times
lead says that the military may soften its adultery policy by limiting the
circumstances under which adultery can be prosecuted. The Los Angeles Times lead
looks at national security lapses connected with the export of satellites to
China.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Osteen, who issued the secondhand smoke
ruling covered in the WP , says that the EPA "did not demonstrate a
statistically significant association between [secondhand smoke] and lung
cancer." Few studies have convincingly linked secondhand smoke to cancer, and
the new ruling is sure to reignite the controversy. The government will
probably appeal the case, according to EPA administrator Carol Browner.
On the subject of the military's adultery policy, the NYT says that a
Pentagon committee has proposed changes to the military's Manual for Courts
Martial that "would result in fewer prosecutions and impose a less-serious
discharge upon convictions." The movement has generated significant debate
within the military, which has been periodically beset by sex-related
controversies. Ironically, the changes in adultery policy must be approved by
lily-white President Clinton.
The LAT lead raises concerns about the Pentagon's monitoring of
satellite exports to China. The fear is that technological expertise from the
U.S. companies--which supply the satellites--could aid China's ballistic
missile program. The U.S. government relaxed export controls in 1988. Since
then, critics charge, the U.S. may have come to "rely too heavily on voluntary
compliance by U.S. companies." Among the national security oversights cited by
the LAT : Pentagon monitors were not required to be present at seven of
12 most recent satellite launches in China; and monitors at five launches did
not attend prelaunch meetings between U.S. and Chinese teams.
All papers run inside stories on what the WP calls "South Africa's
worst-kept secret"--the wedding of South African President Nelson Mandela with
Graca Machel, a widely respected black liberation leader who lives in
Mozambique (and intends to commute from there). The ceremony took place on
Mandela's 80th birthday; the blushing bride, Mandela's third wife, is 28 years
his junior. The NYT uses the AP version of the story, which gushes, "Far
from a political marriage, it is obviously one of true love. The years seem to
melt from Mandela's creased face and his eyes light up . . ." Love is indeed
wonderful.
A WP front-pager marvels at the deluge of applications to the U.S.
Patent and Trademark office for logos sporting the word "millenium." Anything
goes-- Playboy is prancing around as the "official worldwide brand of the
millenium," and Mars Inc. is drooling over the chance to be the millenium's
official candy-maker. Equally coveted is the sexy Y2K logo (named for the
millennial computer bug). Year 2000 boozers may have to choose between Coors
("the official beer of Y2K") and "Bud Y2K." In anticipation of the successful
delivery of TP on January 1, 2000, we lay claim to "The official Y2K
buster."
