BY HARRY RING
Let 'em eat gold - The Wall Street Journal reports that in
Indonesia, when the December figures are in, the year's rate of
inflation will be "a staggering 80 percent." However, the paper
adds: "On a brighter note, the overall price data was helped by
a drop in the price of gold."
Jeez man, give us a break - For its Easter campaign, the Church of England is using a poster with a sketched likeness of the famed portrait of Che Guevara, with a crown of thorns rather than the beret. Meanwhile, Smirnoff is peddling a "hot and fiery" Che vodka. Maybe they sent a case to the Church's advertising department.
No Napoleon hat? - It was late for Xmas, but the guv of Minnesota expects his Jesse Ventura action doll will be on the market by spring. ("Most" of the profit will go to charity.) It depicts Ventura with a shaven head and bulging muscles straining the seams of his suit.
Think you took a hit? - Profits were flat at Disney last year, so top dog Michael Eisner had his $10 million bonus chopped 49 percent. Fortunately, he accumulated a decent amount of stock options and waddled home with a record $576 million.
Wonder what the U.S. figures are? - In England, Blacks are five times more likely than whites to be stopped and searched, and six times more likely to be jailed.
The Big Wormy Apple - A block-by-block survey by American Civil Liberties Union volunteers found some 3,470 police surveillance cameras planted around New York City. Declared Police Commissioner Howard Safir: "You have no right to privacy in a public place."
P.S. - Commissioner Safir also favors taking DNA samples from everyone arrested in the city.
Didn't feed the parking meter? - "A concrete company's safety meeting was interrupted when one of the company's unattended trucks rolled 50 yards across a street, over an embankment and into the Hudson River"- News dispatch.
Still time to make a resolution - It's a worthy cause and a lot easier than, f'rinstance, kicking the coffin-nail habit. Resolve to contribute clippings for this column. Send to Pathfinder Books, 2546 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90006.