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House Republicans are plotting a coup against Speaker Newt Gingrich. After the GOP's poor showing in the elections, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La., and GOP conference Chairman John Boehner, R-Ohio, told Gingrich he should step down. Livingston is phoning colleagues to see whether he can muster enough votes to beat Gingrich when House Republicans choose their nominee for speaker Nov. 18. The spins, in order of ascending cynicism: 1) Gingrich is in deep trouble. 2) His troops will stand by him because he's been a good friend. 3) His troops will stand by him because he's raised $76 million for them. 4) He'll postpone the GOP meeting until the anger at him subsides. 5) He'll appease the GOP's bloodlust by sacrificing the chairman of the party's congressional campaign committee. 6) Livingston will be thwarted by the same vicious Republican factionalism that has tortured Gingrich. 7) Gingrich will win the GOP nomination but will fail to beat the Democratic nominee on the House floor because seven Republicans have pledged to vote against him. (For more on the postelection anti-conservative backlash, see "Frame Game": "The C Word.") (11/6/98)

Scientists have isolated human embryonic stem cells. These are the original cells that mysteriously differentiate to become the parts of a human being. If researchers learn how to cultivate stem cells, we may be able to fix genetic defects or grow new organs and transplant them into sick people. The ethical questions, in order of ascending sophistication: 1) Does this research violate the embryo's right to life? 2) Will it lead to human cloning? 3) Does it tamper unethically with the basic biology of human beings? 4) If we learn how to create immortal tissues from these cells can we become immortal? (11/6/98)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., asked President Clinton to answer 81 questions about his behavior in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The questions ask Clinton to confirm or deny charges in Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report. Example: "Do you admit or deny that on or about Dec. 28, 1998, you requested, instructed, suggested to or otherwise discussed with Betty Currie that she take possession of gifts previously given to Monica Lewinsky by you?" Hyde's spins: 1) He's trying to get the inquiry over with by asking Clinton to confirm the essential facts. 2) He's being gentle with Clinton by asking the questions in writing rather than sandbagging him in a public hearing. The anti-Hyde spins: 1) The questions are pointed and threatening. 2) The election was a mandate to drop the inquiry. Clinton's spin: "We've got to get back to doing the people's business."(11/6/98)

Former pro wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura is trying to figure out his new job as governor of Minnesota. Ventura, who campaigned for the governorship on a shoestring, shocked the nation by edging out the Republican and Democratic nominees (the Democrat was Hubert Humphrey's son) in a tight three-way race. He is the first Reform Party candidate to win a statewide office. Pundits puzzled over the source of his mandate (the prevalent theory--a revolt against politicians--doesn't fit the election results everywhere else), largely overlooking the fact that he has no mandate, having won only 37 percent of the vote. Old spin: Ventura should be governor because he owes no politician any favors. New spin: Ventura will fail as governor because no politician owes him any favors. Hulk Hogan's spin: "Jesse's victory proves that people want a real man in power to lead." Ventura's best quotes at his day-after press conference: 1) "I'm Jesse 'The Mind' now." 2) "We're kind of the blind leading the blind."(11/6/98)

Democrats shocked Republicans in the 1998 elections. In the House, Democrats gained five seats, upsetting Speaker Gingrich's predictions that Republicans would gain at least half a dozen seats and perhaps 40 or more. In the Senate, Democrats maintained their 45 seat minority, thwarting Republican hopes of a filibuster-proof majority and defying pundits' predictions that Republicans would gain one to five seats. Republican governors fared better, allowing the media to play up the foregone victories of George W. Bush, R-Texas, and Jeb Bush, R-Fla., as the GOP's feel-good story. The Democratic spin: Voters are telling Congress to end the Lewinsky investigation and get back to the people's business (read--the Democratic agenda). The Republican spin: We're still in the majority, and it's the media, not us, who have been obsessing about the investigation. The media's spin: If we can't have Clinton's head on a platter, let's have Newt's. House coup, anyone? (For more on the elections, see "Campaign '98": "Party of Virtue, Party of Vice.") (11/4/98)

Iraq said it would end cooperation with U.N. arms inspectors. President Clinton said the action, announced after the Security Council again refused to lift economic sanctions against Iraq, only "served to deepen the international community's resolve." The Security Council demanded that Iraq lift the ban but neither its resolve nor the U.S. government's seemed to extend to swift military action. (11/2/98)

DNA tests verified that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child by his slave Sally Hemings. The finding confirms 200 years of black folk history and vindicates some (but not all) of Hemings' descendants, who have argued for generations that Jefferson was an ancestor. The ambivalent historical spin: This further complicates our understanding of the third president, who preached against miscegenation while practicing it. The hopeful historical spin: This may make whites more willing to acknowledge their common heritage with blacks. The gleeful pro-Clinton spin: Jefferson's affair proves that a president's private foibles shouldn't overshadow his public accomplishments. The grouchy anti-Clinton spin: Jefferson was a widower at the time of his relations with Hemings, never lied about his affair under oath, and Clinton's accomplishments hardly rival the Declaration of Independence. (11/2/98)

Hamas leaders said they would retaliate against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his crackdown on the militant Islamic movement. Arafat's campaign to quell Hamas, begun when the Wye Plantation accords were signed in Washington last month, accelerated in response to a terrorist attack on an Israeli school bus. Palestinian police have arrested more than 100 activists, put Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin under house arrest, and cut his phone lines. Analysts familiar with Hamas said variously that: 1) the warning was not authentic, as it conflicts with the Hamas policy of Palestinian solidarity; 2) the warning was authentic, but Hamas will ultimately back down; and 3) the warning signals the start of an all-out intra-Palestinian war that will serve Israel's interest by derailing Arafat's drive for an independent state. (11/2/98)

Hurricane Mitch killed several thousand people in Honduras, Nicaragua, and other parts of Central America. As many as 1,500 people were buried as mudslides engulfed villages on the slopes of a volcano in Nicaragua. Thousands more were drowned or entombed as Mitch's torrential rains set off floods and landslides. Authorities called it the region's worst natural disaster since Nicaragua's huge earthquake in 1972. (11/2/98)

New York real estate magnate Abe Hirschfeld gave Paula Jones a $1 million check. The offer, which Hirschfeld earlier made, withdrew, and now renewed, is contingent on Jones reaching a settlement with President Clinton. Hirschfeld says his generosity is prompted by his concern that President Clinton be able to deal with the nation's and world's problems with a "clear head." Clinton's lawyers worry that the offer may be prompted more by Hirschfeld's concerns about having to deal with federal tax evasion charges that have been brought against him. (For more on Hirschfeld's distinguishing characteristics, consult Slate's "Explainer.") (11/2/98)