Informed Sources

The CIA and Sex Discrimination

WASHINGTON -- The CIA will begin negotiations in September to forestall a sex- discrimination suit on behalf of its roughly 350 female case officers. Sources have told TIME that one of the few women who have served as a chief of station plans to sue the CIA and seven current or former officials for sex discrimination and failure to report a crime after she allegedly told the agency that a fellow officer with whom she was serving abroad had beaten his wife.

Don't Say "Failure." Say "Pathway."

WASHINGTON -- The Administration has a problem. PRESIDENT CLINTON said he would veto any health-care bill without universal coverage. Now that he may have to flip-flop on the issue, he doesn't want to look as if he's flip- flopping. White House advisers say a buzz word has been coined to make delay seem O.K. Says an insider: "If we can construct a 'pathway' to get there by 2002, he'll accept it."

Odd -- According to This Map, Constantinople Should Be Right Here!

WASHINGTON -- Having already been criticized for providing outdated information during the invasion of Grenada, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT MAPMAKERS raised eyebrows among Pentagon strategists with maps of Haiti in which the major airport's name was obsolete. A look at the fine print revealed this disclaimer: "Compiled in 1962 from best available sources."