The United States called off its attack on Iraq at the last minute. President Clinton said he made the decision because just before the attack was to begin, Saddam Hussein agreed to let U.N. weapons inspectors resume their work in Iraq--which was the reason for the confrontation in the first place. The spins in the U.S. media: 1) We made Saddam back down. 2) He made us back down. 3) He'll jerk us around again. 4) If he jerks us around again, we'll bomb his brains out. 5) That's what we said last time. (For more on the "geopolitics of machismo," see "Blinkmanship" in Slate.) (11/16/98)

President Clinton settled the Paula Jones case. She will get $850,000 but no apology. Clinton's lawyer says that the suit was baseless and that Clinton settled it just to get on with the nation's business. The spins: 1) Clinton loses $850,000, and Jones gains it. 2) His insurance companies and his legal defense fund cover the $850,000, and her lawyers get the money. 3) He gets away without having to admit guilt. 4) Everyone will interpret the settlement as an admission of guilt. 5) The admission is irrelevant, because his confession in the Lewinsky affair convinced everyone of his guilt in the Jones case. 6) In the big picture, Clinton won, because by ending the case that led to the Starr investigation, he undercuts the impeachment inquiry. 7) In the big picture, Clinton lost, because the Jones case led to the impeachment inquiry and ruined his presidency. 8) He had to settle the case in order to avoid another embarrassing deposition. 9) He had to settle the case in order to avoid being caught lying again in another embarrassing deposition. (11/16/98)

Eight more states settled with the tobacco industry. The industry will 1) pay billions of dollars, depending on how many other states decide to join in the settlement; 2) set up a foundation to fund anti-smoking education; 3) end tobacco ads on billboards; and 4) stop marketing paraphernalia attractive to kids. The spins: 1) The settlement doesn't get as much from the industry as Clinton tried to get last year, particularly regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration. 2) Clinton will push for more regulation, because our kids are at stake. 3) Clinton will push for more regulation, because his popularity is at stake. (11/16/98)

A biotechnology company says it created a human embryo by combining an adult human cell with fluids from a cow egg. The spins: 1) The experiment is horrifying because it mixed a human embryo with genes from another species. 2) It's horrifying because it cloned a human embryo, in violation of the ban on federal funding of human embryo research. 3) There's no need to be horrified, since the company assures us that its purpose is simply to help people by growing tissues that can be transplanted into patients who need them. 4) In fact, the company says it publicized the experiment in order to solicit ethical advice about proceeding further. 5) The ethical uproar is a distraction from the real story: The experiment is defunct and its success was never confirmed, and the company's decision to publicize it just now is a business ploy. (11/13/98)

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, has been accused by a challenger of contributing to the high divorce rate in Congress. Rep. Steve Largent, R-Okla., who is running for Armey's job, linked the heavy House work schedule set by Armey to the divorces of at least 12 members of Congress in the last four years. An aide to Largent says Armey's schedule was not "family-friendly." The spins: 1) If you thought Armey was nuts, get a load of the guy who's running against him. 2) Actually, congressional analysts agree with Largent that working in Washington while leaving families at home has contributed to family breakdown. 3) Armey's camp says he has set a predictable work schedule because he "understands the importance to members and staff of being able to watch a child's soccer game or school play." 4) If you thought Armey's schedule was a home wrecker, wait till you see the schedule incoming Speaker Bob Livingston, R-La., has in mind. (11/13/98)

Israel's Cabinet approved the Wye peace agreement, but by only a plurality. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ministers voted 8-4 for the deal, with 5 abstentions. The deal requires Israel to withdraw its troops from 13 percent of the West Bank and to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a crackdown on terrorism by the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu's failure to win majority support for the deal is viewed as a political setback. This disappointment came despite several conditions he put on the deal: 1) The Cabinet will vote on every stage of the troop withdrawal, keeping an eye on whether the Palestinians are fighting terrorism sufficiently; 2) before the withdrawal is complete, the Palestine National Council must rescind the PLO's charter language that calls for Israel's destruction; and 3) Israel has the right to annex parts of the West Bank if the PA unilaterally proclaims a state next May. Palestinian officials dismiss the conditions as a meaningless sop to the Israeli right. (11/11/98)

Hurricane Mitch is turning out to have been one of the worst natural disasters of the century. It killed at least 10,000 people, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua, and destroyed or rendered uninhabitable the homes of one of every four Hondurans and one of every five Nicaraguans. It also inflicted catastrophic damage on crops in the two countries. To recover, they need billions of dollars in aid. The World Bank says it will send $200 million, and the United States says it will send $80 million. (11/11/98)

O.J. Simpson may lose custody of his two children. An appeals court threw out the decision under which a judge had initially given Simpson custody. The appeals court said the lower court judge wrongly excluded evidence from 1) Simpson's civil trial, in which he was found liable for his ex-wife's murder, and 2) his ex-wife's diaries, which described violent tendencies on Simpson's part. The appeals court ordered a new custody trial. But Simpson says he will fight the decision, noting that his kids are "incredibly well-adjusted and happy."(11/11/98)

The Supreme Court declined to reconsider a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision upholding taxpayer-financed vouchers for parochial schools. Opponents had asked the court to overturn the Wisconsin decision on the grounds that the use of vouchers in religious schools violates the separation of church and state. The shallow spin: Conservatives won, because the court sent other states and cities a green light to implement vouchers. The more sophisticated spin: Liberals will win, because even if the courts allow vouchers, teachers' unions and local school boards have the clout to quash them in state legislatures. The most sophisticated spin: The court honored true conservatism by staying out of the fight and letting the states sort it out. (11/10/98)

John Glenn returned safely to Earth after a nine day space shuttle mission that included various experiments and 134 Earth orbits. Media coverage of his landing surpassed the usual coverage of space shuttle landings but fell short of the coverage of Glenn's liftoff. He will endure more blood and urine tests on the ground as follow-up to the geriatric research that was conducted on him in space. The official spin from Glenn and NASA: Glenn returned to space not to win more attention, applause, and money for NASA, but rather to inspire seniors and other Americans. The unofficial spin: Now cough up the dough. (11/10/98)