BY HARRY RING
Two-party system - California's governor, Peter Wilson (Republican) says it's "a possibility" that he would support executing youth aged 14. Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (Democrat) responds that he might vote "with a tear in my eye," to execute "hardened criminals" at age 13 or 14.

Trump this - "Principal for a Day" at Public School 70 in the Bronx, real estate mogul Donald Trump staged a lottery for free Nikes. Andrés Rodríguez, an 11-year-old student, asked, "Why do you offer us sneakers if you could give us scholarships?" Trump: "Truth? I don't know the answer to that question."

Better than brains - Somebody asked Trump if he had considered sending his kids to a public school. Response: "I'm going to give the politically incorrect answer. I never even thought about it." To a reporter he added, "That's one of the advantages to wealth."

It does seem that way - "I think Bill Clinton understands the power of money in politics." -Democratic Party pollster Mark Mellman.

Free-market medicine - For seven years Boots Pharmaceuticals, maker of Synthroid, suppressed a UC San Francisco study which it had sponsored. University researchers found that inexpensive generic versions of the medication do just as well in treating insufficient output of thyroid hormones. The seven-year hush-up cost users an estimated $2 billion.

Jobs program - The prison population in England and Wales is expected to swell by 30,000, requiring a multimillion- pound program to build at least 30 new jails.

No cost-of-living index? -England's police are working on a national point system pay scale for informers. Work is also in progress on a secret national data base of registered snitches. This is intended to curb the sale of the same info to several agencies.

Prescription for profit - "It's a myth that for-profit hospitals are efficient. They save money by laying off nurses, then hire consultants and bureaucrats to figure out how to avoid unprofitable patients and maximize revenues....They're fat and mean" - A spokesperson for a group of Chicago-area doctors favoring national health care.

We're astonished - A couple of years ago, Starbucks, the caffeine folks, pledged to buy coffee from growers who share its "values," including an asserted commitment to treat its workers with dignity and respect. Like for instance, the Guatemalan plantation that pays $1.25 a day for an entire family's work.

The way to go - Airbus, the European plane-making combine, is pressing development of the A3XX, which will replace Boeing's 400-passenger 747 as the world's biggest passenger plane. The Times of London says duty-free shopping malls and self-service cafeterias will be included "in an attempt to make the 800-seat jets more attractive to passengers."  
 
 
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