January (Web-only) 2001

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Pope: Clinton Didn't Listen
According to the surgeon who operated on Pope John Paul II in 1994, the pontiff was irritated at Bill Clinton's behavior during a June 1994 meeting at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. "The only leader I did not manage to have a proper conversation with was Clinton," the pope reportedly told the surgeon. "I was speaking, and he was looking at one of the walls, admiring the frescoes and the paintings. He was not listening to me." The remarks are in the Italian weekly magazine Oggi. If true, it's fascinating: people usually feel very listened to by the president. (See more coverage from Reuters.) The surgeon says he was misquoted by the magazine in another section. His remarks that Pope John Paul II has Parkinson's disease were widely circulated in the media. "I was asked if the Holy Father had Parkinson's, to which I replied, 'I cannot exclude that he suffers from a Parkinson's-like illness, but it is not in my field,'" he tells the Associated Press. That's not even close to the Oggi quote: "The medicines which he takes to treat Parkinson's disease, which is the cause of his hand tremors, in fact, have an impact on his muscle system, reducing facial moments and forcing him to take small steps." Hmmm.

Orthodox Jewish students lose religious discrimination suit against Yale Back in 1997, a lawsuit brought against Yale University by four Orthodox Jewish students caused a big ruckus. The students claimed that the school's "neutral housing policy makes housing effectively unavailable to Orthodox Jews." Most of the school's residential buildings—including most bathrooms—are co-ed, and sexual imagery is everywhere, they said. The students moved into off-campus apartments, but because of Yale's rules requiring ...