The Disappeareds - Associated Press calls them "the ghosts of the U.S. economy" - the million "discouraged" workers who can't find jobs and have quit looking. They're not included in U.S. jobless figures.

Where's the bicycle tape? - In our local daily it was a bottom-of-the-page news brief. Last year, a ValuJet mechanic called a federal airline safety hot line and reported that the company was knowingly flying a plane with a leaky fuel tank. An unpublished Federal Aviation Administration document said the plane was used on seven flights before being grounded.

By capitalist standards, sure - The Los Angeles Times hailed it as "remarkable," "far-reaching," and "historic." It's a plan to reduce the smog that frequently cuts visibility by 50 percent at the Grand Canyon and other area national parks Agreed to by seven western states and four Indian tribes, the plan, aims to reduce the pollution by 10 percent over the next 30 years.

Can't be pig-headed - Parties to the Colorado pact agreed not to ask Southern California Edison to install pollution controls at its Nevada coal-fired power plant, which spews out 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide a year, the biggest single source of Grand Canyon pollution. Instead, they proposed two years of talk between the company and the feds.

Working really is a pain - A study found that two-thirds of full-time U.S. workers have conditions that cause pain. Last year, 8 percent of the work force - nearly 10 million people - were on short-term disability because of painful situations.

Nine percent suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or other repetitive strain disorders. Thirty six million workers suffer lower back pain, 24 million, muscle pain, and 20 million, neck pain.

They feel fine - That pain survey was done for the Ortho- McNeil Pharmaceutical company.

`But somebody's gotta do it' - "People faint, they get hysterical....We always go through the [layoff] list for people with health problems or mental health issues. We check to see if there are any gun collectors....You pay attention to all these things and make special plans for those people...It's a terrible thing to be good at." - China Gorman, vice president of an "outplacement" firm that coaches execs on the art of firing.

A caring company - Employed at a San Diego Taco Bell, Nicholas Zenns, 17, and several others, helped a woman in labor at the restaurant give birth. With the baby delivered, Zenns sat down and ate a burrito.

Taco Bell apparently took a dim view of the incident, including Zenns's failure to pay for the burrito. They say that with that, he quit. He indicates quitting wasn't his idea.

Seed money - Monsignor Patrick O'Shea was charged in San Francisco with embezzling more than $260,000 from church donor contributions and using much of it to maintain a home in Indian Wells, a posh desert community, and another home at a lakeside. He was director of the San Francisco Society of the Propagation of the Faith.  
 
 
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