Sir Isaiah Berlin died. Obituaries declared him one of the great thinkers of the century and focused on three of his dichotomies. 1) "Foxes" stick to discrete facts and small ideas, whereas "hedgehogs" try to assimilate everything into one big theory. Berlin was a fox. 2) Classical liberals believe in "negative" liberty, defined by the state's noninterference in the individual's life, whereas Marxists and fascists believe in "positive" liberty, defined by state action to steer individuals toward their ostensibly true nature. Berlin believed in negative liberty. 3) Berlin was a Jew and never quite felt like an Englishman. This contributed to his emphasis on pluralism. Berlin's positions on these dichotomies help explain why he spent his life criticizing utopianism, totalitarianism, "total equality," historical determinism, and fascism. The happy ending: He outlived them all. (11/7)

The nomination of Bill Lann Lee is the new battleground in the war over affirmative action. Lee is President Clinton's nominee to be assistant attorney general for civil rights. First, Republicans decided to kill Lee's nomination as a statement against racial preferences and judicial activism. Then Democrats, the NAACP, Asian-American groups, and feminists threatened to use Lee's martyrdom to tar Republicans as racists in next year's elections. Liberal pundits scolded Congress for encroaching on presidential authority and accused Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, of leading the opposition to Lee in order to ingratiate himself with right-wingers. Democrats are delaying the committee's vote on Lee to make Republicans sweat and possibly give in. Reporters are looking forward to a protracted bloodbath. Meanwhile, another Clinton candidate, federal judge James Ware, declined his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Ware admitted he was not the James Ware whose younger brother was murdered during the Alabama civil-rights struggle in 1963, a self-described "defining experience" he has related to many audiences during his rise to prominence. Ware said he was confused by the fact that his own sister was shot to death around the same time. (11/7)

The mangled bodies of two--possibly three--physicians were found in concrete-filled barrels near a Mexican highway. Four months ago, the physicians performed plastic surgery on notorious drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who died several hours later. Intragang warfare ensued. Mexico's federal drug agency director announced he is closing the agency's investigation of Carrillo's death, having concluded that the doctors killed him on purpose. The Mexican public was said to be unsurprised by either the discovery of the bodies or the government's reaction. (11/7)

Marv Albert began his denial publicity tour. Sitting next to his fiancee in an interview with Barbara Walters, Albert contradicted his accuser's story, saying: 1) She asked for the biting. 2) He never tried to force oral sex on her. 3) She brought charges against him to punish him for getting engaged to another woman. 4) He had three-way sex with her and another woman, but never sought a three-way with another man. 5) The other woman, who claimed that he had bitten her while wearing women's panties, is lying, because contrary to her claim that she escaped by ripping off Albert's toupee, he was actually wearing a hair weave. Albert also conceded that he had been involved with a transvestite during his prior "experimental phase." Next on the tour: Larry King, David Letterman, and the Today show. (11/7)

The National Institutes of Health certified acupuncture as an effective treatment for many ailments. The report deems it particularly effective against tennis elbow, plausibly effective against lower back pain, and possibly effective against headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome. However, the report says the energy-flow theory behind acupuncture is hooey. The more likely explanation: Acupuncture provokes the body to release natural painkillers and affects the immune system. Skeptics say there is little evidence that acupuncture is safe or effective, but the report points out that in many cases there is even less evidence for conventional treatments. (11/7)

Frontiers in free agency: 1) Stephen King has tentatively agreed to publish his new novel with Simon & Schuster after dumping Viking for rejecting his $17-million asking price. The deal gives King nearly half the profits. 2) Warner Bros. is preparing to auction its hit television series E.R. for a reported $10 million per episode. This would nearly double the $5.5 million that NBC pays for each episode of Seinfeld. The total $500-million cost of the two-year deal equals NBC's entire annual profit. Subplot: Can Ted Turner prevent Rupert Murdoch from buying the show for Fox? (11/7)

Republicans swept the 1997 elections. In Virginia, they won the races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. The spin: Voters rallied to Gov.-elect Jim Gilmore's pledge to gut the state's property tax on cars. The GOP may target similar "nuisance taxes" in other states in next year's elections. In New Jersey, Gov. Christie Whitman eked out re-election. The spin: Voters vented their anger over car-insurance premiums and local property taxes but ultimately decided to give Whitman another chance to fix them. (Have autos become the driving issue in U.S. politics? See Jacob Weisberg's "Car Talk.") In New York City, voters rewarded Mayor Rudy Giuliani for bringing happy days. The New York Times called it a mandate for "social order and fiscal discipline, combined with the broadest possible tolerance" for gays and immigrants. Pundits concluded that Giuliani's national star is rising, while Whitman's is falling. Republicans also kept their U.S. House seat on Staten Island. The punch line: Democrats spent so much money reimbursing questionable donors from the '96 cycle that they got creamed by Republican soft money in '97. (11/5)

Lawyers for British teen-age au pair Louise Woodward asked the judge to either overturn her conviction for second-degree murder or reduce her 15-years-to-life sentence. They argued that she is innocent of hurting--or at least, of deliberately killing--the baby whose death has been attributed to her. The judge has four options: affirm the verdict and sentence, downgrade the conviction from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter, order a new trial, or set Woodward free. Brits and many Americans are aghast at the verdict. The popular view: This sweet-faced girl shouldn't pay the price for her lawyers' reckless gamble, in which they forced the jury to choose between acquittal and a murder conviction. The contrarian view: She went along with the reckless gamble, lost it fair and square, and shouldn't be let off the hook just because she's sweet-faced. A ruling is expected Monday. Outrage over the Woodward case overshadowed the opening of Terry Nichols' trial for the Oklahoma City bombing. (See Slate's assessment of Woodward lawyer Barry Scheck.) (11/5)

The United States began buying weapons abroad to keep them away from rogue nations. Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen announced the purchase of 21 Soviet fighter jets--most of which could launch nuclear missiles--from formerly Soviet Moldova. The purchase foiled Iran's interest in buying the planes. Moldova also gets military and civilian aid as part of the deal. Analysts called it a wise use of arms-control money. Critics argued that the planes are virtually useless to the United States, that rogue nations will keep shopping for weapons, and that the United States will keep having to outbid them. Best rationalization: Buying up unnecessary old weapons overseas is at least more useful than the usual U.S. military practice of buying unnecessary new ones from U.S. manufacturers. (11/5)

Ballot-measure roundup: 1) Oregon voters soundly rejected a ballot measure to repeal their 1994 ballot measure legalizing doctor-assisted suicide. The spin: They were rebuking the Legislature for putting the question back on the ballot after they had passed it in 1994. 2) Washington voters defeated a measure to license and regulate handguns. The outside spin: The National Rifle Association outspent Bill Gates (who supported the measure). The inside spin: The measure lost because police called it unenforceable. 3) Houston voters defeated a proposal to end the city's minority set-aside program, à la California Proposition 209. The spin: It lost because the white business establishment didn't want to rock the diversity boat. 4) Pittsburgh and Minneapolis voted to restrict funding of new sports stadiums. The spin: The days of the open checkbook for pro sports may be over. (11/5)

The showdown with Iraq escalated. Iraq has 1) ordered American members of U.N. weapons-inspection teams to leave the country and prevented them from visiting a possible weapons site; 2) blocked other American inspectors from entering Iraqi territory; and 3) threatened to shoot down American surveillance planes that enter Iraqi airspace as part of the inspections. Iraq is offering to allow inspections as long as no Americans participate. Analysts agree that Saddam Hussein is trying to isolate the United States from the United Nations and to turn coming talks with the United Nations about the showdown into negotiations to lift U.N. sanctions on Iraq. So far, the United Nations isn't taking the bait. Congress wants to bomb Saddam's brains out, but France, Russia, and China want to give peace a chance. (11/3)

Sen. Fred Thompson suspended Senate hearings on the campaign-finance scandal. The official explanation: He is nearing the end of the probe's allotted time and must use the remainder to synthesize its findings. The partisan Republican spin: He failed to scalp Clinton and the Democrats. The high-minded spin: He exposed flaws in the system and galvanized a "coalition of conscience" to fix them. The backspin: Stonewalling pays--both for the administration and for tax-exempt conservative groups such as the Christian Coalition and Americans for Tax Reform. Republican bonus: House hearings next year will dig into the campaign activities of unions and tax-exempt pro-union interest groups. (Slate's "Pundit Central" gives you the Sunday-talk-show spin.) (11/3)

Kenyan runner John Kagwe won the New York City marathon. He missed the course record by 11 seconds because his shoelaces came undone and he had to stop twice to retie them. The women's bracket featured controversy over chivalry and hanky-panky. The leading American (who came in sixth) accused the top finishers of getting improper, preplanned help from men at water stations. The marathon's director pondered the question of etiquette: "I'm not sure if a man can give a bottle to a woman. If a male is known to a female, one could say it may be a violation. If he's unknown, it's probably something else."(11/3)