BY HARRY RING 
The sane society--"WASHINGTON-- More than 100 nuclear weapon development sites in this country will never be free enough of radioactive debris to allow unrestricted public use, and the government has failed to develop adequate plans for their long-term management, according to a scientific study"--News item.

Read it and retch--In the same issue it reported on a Concorde superspeed jet crashing near Paris, with a toll of 114. The Los Angeles Times offered a piece drooling over the luxuries of the $5,000 one-way New York-to-London fare. It reads like a Concorde press handout. The article states: "Next time you drag your suitcase down the crowded aisle of a standard jetliner and marvel as a badly dressed fellow traveler tries to shove a stuffed horse into the overhead compartment, consider the Concorde: Airborne proof that the rich truly are different."

What in the world will the rich do?--Soon after we stopped fuming about the item above, it was reported that the British and French governments were about to shut down the Concordes as unsafe--at least temporarily.

What price celibacy?--We've been musing over the decision of the San Francisco Catholic archbishop to fire teenage rectory workers to avoid costly sex-abuse damage suits. Replacing the teenagers who do rectory clerical work, and maintain priests' quarters, will mean replacing youth with older workers who may expect a tad more than the minimum wage.

Oh--In the Cincinnati area, county sheriff's deputies are being disciplined for not meeting arrest and ticket quotas. The sheriff denied there's a quota system, only "performance standards."

Free competition--"When it comes to equality for women athletes and, perhaps more important, the promotion of women to positions of authority in sports, the International Olympic Committee talks a good game.

The IOC's charter calls for the 'strict application of the principle of equality between men and women.' But not one of 14 nominees recently for an upcoming membership election is female."--News item.

Bastion of liberty--California's Orange County now requires applicants for welfare and food stamps to furnish fingerprints and mug shots.

Capitalist friends and allies--The United Kingdom agreed to pay Japan more than $60 million for selling them unsafe, falsely labeled nuclear rods. It also faces the domestic problem of having agreed to bring the hot rods back from Japan, with critics voicing concern that the rods might be hijacked by pirates and terrorists. Are they talking about UK business folks?

But they've got a crowded agenda-- "Orange County--Poorly maintained and aging sewer systems have clogged, crumbled, or broken down at least 198 times so far this year, spilling off more than 300,000 gallons of raw sewage."--News item.

Who says there's no affordable housing?--From April through June, California real estate sharks sold 3,293 homes tagged at $1 million or more, a jump of 54.6 percent over the same period last year. The best seller, in Bel-Air, was snapped up for $12.65 million.  
 
 
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