Notebook
BY AMANDA BOWER, BEAU BRIESE, RHETT BUTLER, ANNE HARTSHORN, CHRISTINA LEWIS, ELLIN MARTENS, RYAN SCHICK, HEATHER WON TESORIERO, KADESHA THOMAS, JOSH TYRANGIEL
Campaign-Finance Reform: Still Alive?
An unlikely alliance of two presidential aspirants is plotting to get campaign-finance reform back on the agenda, after a procedural wrangle last week prevented a House vote on a bill barring unregulated soft-money contributions. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who controls what bills come to the floor, says he has "no plan to bring up this bill now." But House minority leader Dick Gephardt and Senator John McCain will ask the 19 G.O.P. Congressmen who defected in last week's fight to pressure Hastert to change his mind. If that fails, they'll try to get signatures from a majority of House members to force a vote. It will be tough to round up 218 members, but Gephardt's done it before--to force campaign-finance votes in both 1998 and '99.
Reported by Douglas Waller/Washington
Not Everyone in China Is Cheering
Chinese citizens celebrated wildly on Tiananmen Square--even the normally dour police force whooped it up--when Beijing won the 2008 Olympic Games. But it didn't take long for dissidents, whom China doesn't tolerate well, to raise objections. "They will tear down our homes, waste our water and charge us high taxes, just so they can host a stupid event to look good for the rest of the world," wrote a disgruntled resident in an online chat room. Liang Congjie, top environmental adviser to the Beijing Olympic bidders, shares those concerns. "My greatest worry is that the committee will focus on making Beijing into a showcase city with water-wasting stretches of grass," he says. Other fears are that work on improving wastewater treatment and mass transit will slow as the city shifts its construction funds to building competition venues. Beijing has seven years to prove otherwise.
SUPERSIZE IT For President Bush's announcement of a prescription-drug discount initiative, a life-size card seemed like the perfect prop--until White House aides flashed back to 1993 and the launch of Bill Clinton's health-care proposal. They opted for a blown-up card on an easel instead
Reported by Hannah Beech/Beijing
Numbers
How big a story is the Chandra Levy case? Depends on where you go for your news:
37 Minutes devoted to the case last week on the NBC Nightly News
9 Minutes devoted to the case on ABC's World News Tonight
0 Minutes devoted to it on the CBS Evening News
7 Number of front-page stories on the case since May in the New York Post
2 Number of front-page stories on it in the New York Times
Sources: Tyndall Report (TV); New York Post; New York Times
The Sporting Life
President Bush is the one who used to own a baseball team. But since he left office, it's ex-Prez Clinton who has been popping up at nearly all the big sporting events. A look at his new life as the Jockmaster General:
French Open, June 6: Wanders into the stadium when Andre Agassi is leading in his quarterfinal; the Las Vegan crumbles in the red dust. "I didn't know he was here," insists Agassi.
Belmont Stakes, June 9: Attends with Hillary; tells TV audience how he used to go to the track in Hot Springs, Ark., with Mama, and that the Belmont is "the fairest test in the Triple Crown."
NBA Play-offs, June 10: In Philadelphia, watches from corporate skybox, where a reporter notes that he picks up his binoculars only when the cheerleaders hit the floor.
Wimbledon, July 7: Scores seat in royal box alongside Margaret Thatcher. Gives the BBC a rain-delay interview in which he opines that Venus Williams "is like a gazelle."
All-Star Game, July 10: A rare no-show. What happened? Spokesman Julia Payne explains that Clinton was in Argentina but insists: "The President is a huge baseball fan."
Technology Rolls On
Boasting the same spirit of innovation that brought us doughnut holes, Kimberly-Clark has come out with a coreless toilet-paper roll. With double the sheets of normal rolls, it needs to be changed only half as often, thus making it more cost efficient. So far, the new roll is being sold strictly for commercial use in offices and restaurants. The downside: it requires, obviously, a new kind of dispenser.
Curiously Strong
MINT, ANYONE? The push for militantly fresh breath is picking up steam with a rash of gimmicks in both packaging and ingredients. Take a deep breath.
PENGUIN CAFFEINATED Three of these mints equal one cola beverage. No coffee or coffee breath.
XTZ-HERBAL ENERGY A smorgasbord of earthy-crunchy ingredients: ginkgo biloba, guarana, etc.
SEX-HERBAL APHRODISIAC Label says, "...before, during and after..." Condoms not included.
JILA Packaged in a cigarette-like carton, these rock-hard mints outlast their peers--or break teeth!
MELTDOWN Transparent strips dissolve on tongue. Look like microfilm; more quirky than satisfying.
SMINT Mint is standard, but dispenser is addictive fun.
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