BY HARRY RING
Neat - British authorities cut off the trial of a judge
charged with a 1 million mortgage fraud. A psychiatrist said
the judge might commit suicide if the trial continued. He's
been drawing full salary since he left the bench three years
ago and will now begin pocketing a juicy pension.
Art of positive thought - L.A. Times columnist Tom Plate deplores the pessimistic views of the Asian economic crisis voiced by Clinton's lieutenants. He did find one with a positive outlook - Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers who wittily observes, "There's not just more tunnel at the end of the tunnel."
P.S. - In Indonesia, "the number of people living below the poverty line has swollen from 27 million to as many as 100 million. Four and a half million children have dropped out of school, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs in factories around the country, and the economic crisis shows few signs of ending" - Jim De Harpporte, Southeast Asia director for Catholic Relief Services.
Catch of the Day - The Oklahoma environment board advised residents of Jackson County not to eat catfish from Bitter Creek more than twice a month. Pregnant women and children under six, they said, should not eat the pesticide-infested fish at all.
Looked like a poor neighborhood? - In Orange County, California, construction was halted on 14 coastal homes that were to sell for up to $1 million each.
The problem? Underground seepage of decomposed trash in a nearby landfill created a dangerous level of methane gas.
A proud country - "Phoenix, Arizona - John R. David Elementary School has failed another health inspection, officials aid. The problem involves rodents and cockroaches. The first health inspection was completed when a student complained to parents about rats in classrooms." - News item.
Seemed like a safe bet - In England Police Superintendent Ray Mallon was cleared of charges of padding his expense sheet, interfering with the inquiry, and leaking details to the media.
Mallon, a key creator of zero-tolerance policing, declared: "I knew all along that I would be exonerated."
Smaller light bulbs? - Livent, a theater outfit, said it will fire about 470 employees - 40 percent of its staff - as "part" of a plan to cut expenses by 42 percent.
Ignore them, they're paranoid - Concerned with public ire and the possibility of state regulation, California HMOs proposed an "independent" appeals panel of doctors whose second opinions would be binding.
A news report said "companies hope to alleviate consumer concerns that money, rather than medical necessities, might govern decisions made by a doctor in a managed-care plan."