Fund-Raising McCain
The Indian Airlines hijackers dropped two
demands. The five hijackers, who seized a jet Friday, are still
demanding that India release 35 Kashmiri militants, but they are no longer
asking for the return of a colleague's dead body or for $200 million in ransom.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban faction said the plane would be forced to leave
the country if a settlement is not reached soon. India and Pakistan condemned
the hijacking (as did the
Washington Post
), and each accused the other of
plotting it. Analysts differed as to whether the concessions would make a
settlement more likely or increase the hijackers' determination to achieve
their remaining demand. But most agreed that the incident is "a huge
blow" to prospects for peace talks between India and Pakistan.
(
Slate
's "" rounds up overseas reactions to the
hijacking, and "" outlines the history of the Kashmir conflict.)
McCain's and Bradley's fourth-quarter fund raising equaled Bush's and
outpaced Gore's. Bradley raised $8 million to Gore's $4 million between
October and December, bringing him within $2 million of Gore's year-end total.
McCain raised $6 million, and Bush pulled in $7 million in the same period. The
Washington Post
said McCain and Bradley had
"translated their momentum in New Hampshire into a national money boost."
McCain asserted that he'd become a contender. But the Bush camp said McCain
wouldn't survive nationally, pointing to their candidate's lead in total fund
raising ($66 million to $16 million). Bradley boosters said Gore was
in trouble : "If Gore were as popular as he should be,
people wouldn't be writing checks to Bill Bradley." Gore countered that in any
other year his fund-raising performance would have set records.
Seattle canceled its millennium celebration. It was expected
to draw 50,000 people to the Space Needle. Seattle's mayor said that while
there was no specific threat it was "impossible for federal officials to rule
out the area as a terrorist target." International law enforcement has also
begun a "roundup of the usual suspects ," detaining anyone with suspected ties
to terrorist groups until the end of Ramadan. The spins, in order of increasing
gloominess: 1) Authorities are taking necessary precautions ; 2) they're making everyone more
nervous; 3) they're discriminating against people of Arab descent; and 4) their
overreaction is helping the terrorists achieve their goals. Skeptics suggested
that the overkill of millennium hoopla was actually the greatest
threat to our collective sanity.
The
Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time. Its 84
percent, 12-month gain is the largest ever by a major U.S. stock market index.
Analysts said the Nasdaq's technology focus helped it outpace the Dow Jones industrials,
which were up 25 percent this year, and the S&P 500, up 19 percent. Reasons
to be pleased: 1) this comes on the heels of an economic expansion, not a
recession, as previous large gains have; and 2) it underscores the
revolutionary potential of new technologies. Reasons to be discouraged: 1) most
of the gains were generated by companies with little or no profit ; 2) the market is beginning to scrutinize
new stocks more closely; and 3) analysts predict a sell-off in early 2000 as
investors unload stocks they held for tax purposes.
Wen Ho Lee was denied bail. A federal judge said his release
could compromise global security because seven of the tapes onto which he had
copied American nuclear secrets remain unaccounted for . In the bail hearing, U.S. attorneys alleged
that Lee 1) stole nuclear secrets "sufficient to build a functional
thermonuclear weapon"; 2) stored this information on a computer network easily
accessible to outsiders; and 3) told a colleague that he "may have
accidentally" disclosed secrets to a foreign country. Lee's lawyers
countered that 1) there is no evidence that outsiders ever accessed the
information; and 2) Lee took no steps to cover his tracks. Government
attorneys' spin: The evidence shows that Lee was not arbitrarily singled out
for prosecution. Lee's attorneys' spin: But the insinuations of spying are
based on "circumstantial
evidence, innuendo, or inference." Government attorneys' counterspin: Even
so, the case against Lee for security violations is airtight.
Rap
mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs was arrested. He was charged with illegal
possession of a handgun after an associate allegedly shot and injured three
people in a New York club. Combs, who has signed and produced some of the
biggest "gangsta rap" acts of the '90s, denied the allegations. Observers
variously said the incident underscored 1) the imminent
decline of the "Puff Daddy" empire; 2) Combs' futile attempts to gain "street
credibility"; and 3) the impossibility of blending the gangsta and corporate
cultures.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak rescued his coalition government. He
negotiated a budget deal with Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party that controls a
quarter of the coalition's parliamentary seats, thereby averting Shas'
threatened withdrawal from the government. International papers termed it a
"potentially destabilizing political crisis" that could have
imperiled peace talks with Syria. Barak's spin: We reached a fair compromise.
Critics' spin: You were extorted by Shas. The American spin: That's a small
price to pay for peace.
Burger King is recalling 25 million Pokémon toy cases. The
toys, distributed in "Kids Club" meals, are thought to be safe. But their round
cases have been linked to the suffocation of at least one infant. It is the
largest toy
recall ever. Burger King's spin: We're putting safety first. The
Consumer Product Safety Commission's spin: Only because we forced you to.
Parents' spin: We always knew Pokémon was insidious.
(
Slate
's David Plotz of Pokémon.)
President Clinton proposed to expand low-income rental subsidies. The
$690 million increase would add 120,000 families to the 1.7 million currently
receiving the housing vouchers. Clinton said that expanding the program, which
covers up to 70 percent of a family's rent, would particularly help 1) the
homeless; 2) those moving from welfare to work; and 3) urban families that
presently live far from jobs in higher-rent areas. Republicans criticized the
proposal as costly and only
marginally effective . However, the Washington Post doubted whether Republican opposition could
defeat a program that has been a political winner for Clinton in the past.
The Vermont Supreme Court granted gays greater partnership
rights. The unanimous ruling held that "the state is constitutionally
required to extend to same-sex couples the common benefits and protections that
flow from marriage under Vermont law." The court left it to the legislature to
determine whether gay couples will get these rights through marriage or
domestic partnership. Opponents of gay rights called the decision a "deeply disturbing" blow to the institution of marriage, but they
promised to limit its effects to Vermont. Gay rights activists deemed it a
triumph of "our common humanity" that paves the way for similar rights
nationally. (
Slate
's "" outlines the legal status of
gay marriages.)
