The Food and Drug Administration approved thalidomide as a treatment for leprosy complications. Everyone assumes doctors will prescribe it more often for AIDS complications. The real news isn't the approval, which was decided upon months ago, but the elaborate new regime of warnings and restrictions, which are designed to prevent a recurrence of the birth defects thalidomide caused in the 1960s. Analysts credit the new rules to collaboration between the drug's manufacturer (Celgene) and thalidomide victims. Optimists call it a model of cooperation and prudent regulation. The media are taking the opportunity to write once again about stumps and flippers. (7/17/98)

Lockheed Martin dropped its takeover of Northrop Grumman rather than continue to fight a federal antitrust suit. The Justice and Defense departments had argued the merger would imperil national defense by reducing competition. The charitable economic spin: DOD has reversed its policy of encouraging defense industry mergers. The cynical economic spin: Thanks to DOD's encouragement, every company small enough to merge legally has done so, leaving a few behemoths. The charitable political spin, from the Washington Post: It's "a huge victory for the government's re-energized antitrust efforts." The cynical political spin, from Lockheed's CEO: Lockheed backed down from the fight not because it respects the government's authority but because the government is "our biggest customer."(7/17/98)

Madison Square Garden hired Marv Albert as a radio and TV sportscaster. Last year, he pleaded guilty to assault for biting an ex-lover, whom he also allegedly forced to commit sodomy. Albert had worked for MSG for two decades before going to NBC. The spins, in order of ascending cynicism: 1) MSG is being loyal to Albert because Albert was loyal to MSG. 2) Albert has paid his debt and acknowledged that "what I did was wrong." 3) As the Washington Post puts it, "The road to redemption is getting shorter and shorter." 4) Redemption? MSG president Dave Checketts suggested Albert's notoriety would boost the ratings. (7/17/98)

A jury ruled that the Rev. Al Sharpton and two other "advisers" defamed former Prosecutor Steven Pagones by accusing him of raping Tawana Brawley in 1987. This confirms a 1988 grand jury report that exonerated Pagones and suggested the Brawley "rape" was a hoax. Brawley and the advisers are black; Pagones is white. The advisers called the defamation case an attempt to silence those who challenge the white establishment and "to punish three men who have clearly given their lives and their careers to help people who could not help themselves." Editorialists called the verdict an affirmation that the truth matters more than 1) ideological fantasy and 2) self-promotion camouflaged by ideological fantasy. The softhearted spin: Sharpton will suffer the worst damage because, ironically, he is the only one of the advisers to have sought to moderate his public image. The hardhearted spin: Sharpton continues to rationalize rather than recant or repent. (7/15/98)

The International Monetary Fund and other lenders agreed to add $17 billion to the Russian bailout. In exchange, Russia agreed to clean up its budget practices and reform its financial system to attract private investment. News of the deal boosted Russian markets. The spins, in order of ascending cynicism: 1) Russia has failed to deliver the reforms it promised in exchange for previous loans. 2) If we don't lend the extra money, there will be financial meltdown, chaos, and maybe a coup. 3) That nightmare scenario is just what Yeltsin wants us to envision. 4) Russia's Parliament is too irresponsible to approve the necessary reforms. 5) The U.S. Congress is too irresponsible to extend further credit to the IMF to support the bailout. (7/15/98)

Linda Tripp resumed her testimony before the Lewinsky grand jury, two days after Tripp's lawyers appeared on several weekend TV shows to portray their client as a good citizen who was forced to tell prosecutors about President Clinton's philandering and Lewinsky's efforts to cover it up. (For a dissection of the Tripp camp's spin, click.) (7/14/98)

France won the World Cup. French playmaker Zinedine Zidane was the hero, heading two goals in the 3-0 upset of defending champion Brazil. French fans, having been accused of insufficient zeal, upheld the traditional World Cup post-championship traditions of screaming, yelling, mobbing streets, and causing traffic accidents. The superficial spin: The Europeans beat the South Americans. The sophisticated spin: Black, mixed-race, and second-generation French players (led by Zidane, the Muslim son of Algerian immigrants) beat the team that had been embraced, overhyped, and overcommercialized by the global sports media and business elite. The cynical spin: Adidas (sponsor of the French team) beat Nike (sponsor of the Brazilian team) and will use the victory to sell expensive shoes to poor kids all over the world. (7/13/98)

Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto resigned after his Liberal Democratic Party suffered losses in parliamentary elections. Free-market advocates called the vote a repudiation of the LDP's market-meddling pork and cronyism. Others interpreted it as punishment for the LDP's equivocation about what to do to rescue Japan's economy. Pessimists predicted that by weakening the LDP and opening the prime minister's seat to contenders even less dynamic than Hashimoto, voters have worsened Japan's paralysis. Optimists predicted the LDP's whipping may jar it into taking firmer measures (tax cuts and other stimuli) to fix the economy. (7/13/98)

Western doctors confirmed Nigerian opposition leader Moshood Abiola died of heart disease. Abiola, whose imminent victory in the 1993 presidential election was annulled by the military, died in detention July 7, just as he was about to be released. Many Nigerians suspect he was poisoned. The superficial spin: Abiola died of natural causes, not foul play. The cynical spin: Natural? He died because he had been unjustly imprisoned for five years, which is a subtler kind of foul play. Analysts agree Abiola is the only man who could have claimed a popular mandate to supplant Nigeria's military rulers. Pessimists say this means the country's democracy movement is defeated. Optimists say it means the country can put aside the 1993 controversy and move on to a new election. (7/13/98)