The week's big news, and how's it's being spun.
Jan. 2 1998 3:30 AM

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President Clinton's legal defense fund is shutting down. The fund director's cover story: The anti-Clinton "political climate" (translation: the Charlie Trie scandal) and unfair fund-raising constraints imposed by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics rendered the fund impotent, leaving the poor Clintons with nearly $3 million in legal bills. The real story: Clinton's friends are setting up a new legal defense fund to circumvent the restrictions. The cynic's moral: Clinton crippled the original defense fund by accepting a donation cap of $1,000 per person per year. The new fund will repeal that. (12/31)

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Tyson Foods struck a plea deal with independent counsel Donald Smaltz in the investigation of former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. Tyson, whose senior executive is a close friend of the Clintons, will admit to having given illegal gifts to Espy, pay $6 million in penalties and investigative costs, and cooperate with the probe. Spin roundup: 1) It's grim news for Espy. 2) The probe is now turning a profit for the government, undermining Democrats' charges that Smaltz wasted tax money on it. 3) Smaltz is cutting the gifter too good a deal (allowing Tyson to pay a relatively small fine and to keep doing business with the government) in order to nail the giftee (Espy). (12/31)

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It's a Wonderful Life I: Millionaire Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., won the $250,000 D.C. lottery jackpot. While many District residents live in poverty, Sensenbrenner is worth nearly $8 million, lives in Virginia, and is dubbed "the biggest tightwad in Congress with taxpayer dollars" by his chief of staff. The jaundiced moral, according to the Associated Press: "Them that has, gets." Sensenbrenner's defense: "I faced the same long odds that anybody does who buys lottery tickets."(12/31)

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China issued new restrictions on political speech over the Internet. The rules forbid defamation of the government, transmission of state secrets, and promotion of Tibetan and Taiwanese independence. Skeptics point out that enforcing the restrictions on Web sites is Sisyphean, and enforcing them on e-mail is virtually impossible. The only way to squelch subversive messages is to block the Internet entirely, which would cripple economic growth. The optimist's moral: This is how capitalism will destroy Chinese totalitarianism. (12/31)

William Saletan William Saletan

Will Saletan writes about politics, science, technology, and other stuff for Slate. He’s the author of Bearing Right.

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It's a Wonderful Life II: 1) Unemployed French workers occupied government offices and blocked trains, demanding the resumption of $500 year-end bonuses from the government. 2) The protesters also are demanding higher welfare payments, calling the latest 2-percent increase "an insult." 3) The country's socialist regime promises to cut the work week from 40 to 35 hours without allowing employers to reduce salaries, and to create 350,000 government jobs for young people. (12/31)

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Seinfeld will end this spring. Jerry Seinfeld reportedly turned down a $110-million offer ($5 million per episode) to continue the show for one more year, preferring to leave the audience wanting more. Critics appointed the show to the pantheon of Zeitgeist landmarks, alongside I Love Lucy, All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Dallas. The elementary spin: Seinfeld was about the things that really concern Americans today, e.g., parking spaces and low-fat lattes. The intermediate spin: Yes, but this shows how shallow and self-absorbed we are. The advanced spin: The show mocked our shallowness and self-absorption. The business spin: NBC will return to the ratings cellar. The New York Times' spin: "Americans have a fondness for eccentric New Yorkers." Fans speculated on spinoffs featuring Seinfeld's co-stars. Best suggestion (from the Washington Post's Tony Kornheiser): "SinnFeinfeld."(12/29)

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Egypt's supreme court upheld a ban on female genital mutilation. The country's health minister banned the practice (removal of the clitoris and sometimes the labia, often by family members using razors or knives) in 1996. Traditionalists went to court, but the court rejected their argument that Islamic law authorizes mutilation "as an individual right" beyond the reach of government. Advocates of women's rights think the ruling will help defeat the practice elsewhere, because Muslim countries regard Egypt as an authority on Islam. (12/29)

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Hong Kong began slaughtering more than a million chickens to stop the spread of the mysterious "bird flu." The flu has sickened at least 12 people and killed four. According to scientists, humans have no natural immunity to it, but they also don't transmit it easily. Experts from all over the world have flocked to Hong Kong to make sure the virus doesn't spread elsewhere. (12/29)

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The Minnesota Vikings staged one of the greatest playoff comebacks in football history. After trailing the New York Giants 19-3 at the half, the Vikings got the ball, trailing 22-13, with two minutes left in the game. Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham, who had worked as a stonecutter last year after falling out of football, answered the Giants fans' jeers with a 30-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings then recovered an onside kick by Eddie Murray, the league's oldest player, who had been dumped by several teams. Cunningham drove the team 56 yards, and Murray kicked a field goal with 10 seconds left to win the game by a point. Cunningham gave credit for the victory to God. (12/29)