BY HARRY RING
The ultimate liberal - At the Oscar ceremony, where a
lifetime award was bestowed on Elia Kazan, a majority of the
audience refused to stand and applaud the odious witch-
hunter. But director Steven Spielberg came up with what he
apparently considered a neat dodge of the issue - he remained
seated and applauded.
What an astonishing idea - "In a sharp departure from traditional attitudes, a scientific committee will recommend to the U.S. Forest Service that its `first priority' in managing America's 175 natural forests and grasslands should be preserving them for use by future generations." - News item.
Makes ya proud - There are now more than 1.8 million people behind bars in U.S. prisons and jails - more than double what it was 12 years ago. Proportionate to population, only Russia has more prisoners. A spokesperson for a prisoners' rights group said that could make the United States the world's leading jailer "in a year or two."
`That cheap?' we said - Scanning the headlines in USA Today, we were surprised to read: "Gephardt endorses Gore for 2000." But the article explained that the Congressional minority leader had endorsed the bid of the vice prez for the democratic presidential nomination 2000.
Can-do capitalism - "Hundreds of urgently needed specialist doctors who cost the National Health Service millions of pounds to train, face dismissal because there is no money to provide them with jobs." - London news item.
Ol' Big Eye - Nineteen locomotive engineers filed suit in Michigan against their employer for illegally hiding a camera in a locker room exit sign. Their employer, Grand Trunk Western Railroad. a unit of Canadian National Railways, has refused to explain why they did it.
Don't leave home without it? - In San Francisco, Mayor Willie Brown is considering a proposal to provide the homeless with a mini-credit card machine. Of each donation obtained this way, 80 percent will assertedly go to homeless community projects and the remainder to the lucky solicitors.
Help Wanted - If you agree that clippings from various parts of the U.S. - and the world - help make this column more readable, and, occasionally, humorous, do your part to make it more so. Send clippings to Great Society c/o Pathfinder Books, 2546 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. 90006. Fax to (213) 380-1268. Thanks.
Thought for the week - "We are not waging war. We have been called on to impose a peaceful solution on Kosovo, even if by military means." - German chancellor Gerard Schroder.