BY HARRY RING
Sorry about that - Washington apologized to the Austrian
government for neglecting to tell them, over the years,
about the 79 arms caches secretly stashed there by the CIA
in the early 1950s. The weapons and explosives, they said,
were to support an underground "partisan" movement in the
event of a Soviet invasion.
Seems economy-minded - Adm. Richard Macke, recently forced into retirement, is under investigation for having his air crew fly him across the Pacific on trips to visit his girlfriends. He's the guy who caused a furor when he said the two GIs charged with raping a girl in Okinawa could have hired a prostitute for the price of the car they rented to kidnap the girl.
Unfair! Breach of trust! - Procter & Gamble canceled a slated hike in the price of disposable diapers. A spokesman charged that rival companies had failed to follow suit.
The jollies sheriff? - A bill in the New Hampshire legislature provides for public, bare-bottom spanking for youth, 12 and over, convicted of vandalism. The event would be announced in local papers and a sheriff would administer the penalty.
Nothing's perfect - More than 400,000 gallons of water have leaked into the newly opened tunnel under Boston Harbor. And respirator masks have been issued to toll collectors, who have been experiencing sore throats, headaches, and nausea from fumes of unknown origin. Officials said the water is not a safety risk and the fumes, while unpleasant, are not dangerous. Extra collectors have been put on for more frequent breaks and to replace those who become ill.
A thought - Will respirator masks be issued to the motorists who use the Boston Harbor tunnel? And maybe boots?
Light a candle? - After major breakdowns in the Chicago air traffic control system, the feds did a study that found that the Federal Aviation Authority was ill-prepared to cope with the antiquated computer system. It said most of the breakdowns posed little risk of accident, but admonished that controllers should get more training on what to do when the system suddenly crashes.
The human-face society - The Los Angeles Parking Bureau sent a letter to Dorothy Trowbridge declaring she had not paid a 1995 parking ticket and warning, "This is a very serious matter and requires your immediate attention." Provided with documentation that Trowbridge had died in 1992, the bureau sent a second letter snapping that if she did not request a hearing in 15 days she would forfeit her right to one.
Did better on the beat - In our neighborhood, when someone was doing well cash-wise, the saying was, "He's making money like a cop." Somehow, we were reminded of this by the report that Rep. Frederick Heineman (R-North Carolina) considers himself lower middle-class with an income of $183,500 a year (his Congressional wage plus pension money as a New York ex-cop and former Raleigh police chief).