China broadcast President Clinton's criticism of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. In a joint press conference with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Clinton said, "I believe, and the American people believe, that the use of force and the tragic loss of life was wrong." He also advocated free speech, religious tolerance, and dialogue with the Dalai Lama about Tibet. Clinton continued his appeal for freedom in a speech at Beijing University. Pundits agreed that Clinton's remarks and China's decision to air them were bold and made up for 1) Clinton's previous timidity and 2) China's petty, repressive gestures earlier in the trip. Optimists lauded Clinton's message that economic freedom goes hand in hand with political freedom. Cynics argued that Chinese students have given up the idealism of 1989 for the materialism of the Clinton era. (Slate surfs through China. Click here.) (6/29/98)

A friend of the family of Monica Lewinsky says she has told the grand jury that Lewinsky told her that President Clinton limited their sexual relationship to foreplay. The friend's lawyer says that according to her testimony, Clinton ruled out completion of sex so that he could technically deny they had had sex. Newsweek broke the story. Cynics replied that 1) other people have already said Lewinsky told them the same thing; 2) it confirms only that there was sex, not that there was obstruction of justice; and 3) the public has already decided it doesn't care about the sex. (6/29/98)

The Supreme Court issued two rulings on sexual harassment. 1) An employer can be sued for the sexual misconduct of its supervisor-level employees, even if the employer didn't know about the misconduct. 2) Even if an employee does not suffer adverse job consequences for rejecting a supervisor's advances, the employer can be held liable unless a) the employer shows it "exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior" and b) the employee "unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities." The New York Times praised the decisions for their balance. The Los Angeles Times lauded their coherence. The Washington Post warned that they set unreasonable standards for employers and might prompt them to suppress employees' civil liberties. While hyping the idea that the rulings might revive the Paula Jones case, the media reluctantly reported otherwise. (6/29/98)

More from the Supreme Court: 1) The court ruled that the attorney-client privilege continues after the client is dead. The media spun this as a setback to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr (who was seeking notes from Vince Foster's lawyer), giving short shrift to the decision's broader ramifications for old folks. (Slate's "Explainer" pondered the question.) 2) The court ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act bans discrimination against people who carry the AIDS virus. The media spun this as a triumph of compassion, giving short shrift to the broader implications of the court's expansion of "disabilities" to include reproductive troubles. 3) The court upheld a law imposing decency standards for federal arts grants. The media focused on allegations that the court was firing a shot across the bow of artists--overshadowing the subtler theory that the court was actually firing a shot across the bow of Congress. (6/26/98)

Scientists found a planet near a star only 15 light-years away. It is the closest planet we have found beyond our solar system. The superficial spin: It might be warm enough to support life. The sophisticated spin: It probably can't support life, but its discovery indicates there may be billions of other planets near us. Meanwhile, other scientists say they have found bacteria living in Antarctic ice, raising the possibility that life exists on planets previously dismissed as intolerably cold. (6/26/98)

Miscellany: The Supreme Court struck down the line item veto.... White House aide Sidney Blumenthal told the press his grand jury testimony about President Clinton's private remarks concerning Monica Lewinsky "supports completely what the president has told the American people, and is contrary to any charge that the president has done anything wrong."... The United States finished the World Cup 0-3. The sun rose. (6/26/98)

AT&T is buying TCI for $32 billion. It is the third biggest telecommunications merger in history. AT&T will also assume TCI's $16 billion debt. This gives AT&T a network through which it can sell local phone and high-speed Internet service to millions of homes. The early line is that regulators will approve the merger because, unlike other recent telecom deals, it will finally deliver some of the competition that was promised after the industry was deregulated. (For a less sanguine view of the potential benefits of telecommunications competition, see Jodie T. Allen's "Living in a Second-Best World.") (6/24/98)

A federal appeals court overturned a court injunction against Microsoft. The injunction would have prevented Microsoft from requiring computer makers to package Internet Explorer with Windows 95. The court ruled that under its previous consent decree with the Justice Department, Microsoft could add features to Windows that provide "advantages unavailable if the functionalities are bought separately and combined by the purchaser." Analysts agreed this sharply reduces DOJ's chances of winning its suit against Windows 98. The spins from Microsoft's critics: 1) Now Microsoft will resume twisting the arms of computer makers. 2) Since the ruling only pertains to the consent decree, it doesn't hamper the broader case that Microsoft has violated basic antitrust law. 3) Who cares? Windows 98 looks like a bust. (6/24/98)

CBS is dumping Susan Molinari as co-anchor of CBS Saturday Morning after just 10 months. Friends say she found the job insufficiently substantive. CBS executives say they wanted her out because she was stiff and amateurish and wasn't helping the ratings. (6/24/98)