BY HARRY RING

Protection Inc. - "It was very heavy-handed .... It's spitting in the face of Haiti and saying, `You're an occupied country and you don't count.' " - A European diplomat on Washington dispatching 40 heavily armed security cops to take over the protection of President Rene Preval.

Free World Murder Inc. -"Latin American officers in 1980s were trained to use beatings, intimidation, even murder to gain informants, Pentagon now admits." - Los Angeles Times, September 21.

Terrorists at work - On average, planes land at London's Heathrow airport about once every minute and a half. Currently, they're required to stay three miles apart. Now it's disclosed that the Civil Aviation Authority has been conducting secret tests on the feasibility of stepping up traffic by reducing the distance to 2.5 miles.

Yeltsin's Catch-22 - In the former Soviet Union, a network of Kremlin hospitals provided care for top bureaucrats only. The network has been maintained for their Russian heirs and Yeltsin's slated surgery will be performed there. The problem is that the skilled operation requires constant practice and the surgeons at the exclusive system don't get that much.

Clean up a dirty job? -Assertedly to reduce drug smuggling, British prison visitors are being subjected to extensive searches, sometimes including strip searches of men, women and children. Babies' diapers are checked and mothers are required to change them before entering the visitor area.

Love those bosses - A survey found that workers with cancer are laid off or fired five times more often than other workers.

And minimum appetite - In Canada, the Western Catholic Reporter is looking for a copy editor/reporter who is "committed to Jesus and his holy Catholic Church. You must be willing to work for inadequate pay in a job with great spiritual challenges and opportunities."

Can't pray for the money? -An Iowa minister organized farmers to pray for bountiful crops and reports impressive results. The next prayer target will be farmers' health and safety. With that, the University of Iowa's heath and safety center is looking for grants to hire two researchers to monitor the results.

Of beans and b.s. - "My overall message is Starbuck's coffee is a passion and an art form and coffee is an inspiration. We're looking at a focus on the art of whole bean coffee, the romance of espresso, artisans and inspiration." -

Julie Kouhia, Starbuck's retail marketing director.

The market system, no? -Israeli cops are seeking the deportation of 35 asserted members of the "Russian mafia" (émigre's from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union). The cops claim they have been illegally selling radioactive material, smuggling arms, organizing gambling rings and international prostitution.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home