They only produce it--The Times coffee reporter added: "All of this is bad news for the world’s coffee farmers, the vast majority of whom are poor and working small holdings They are the biggest losers in the collapse of world coffee prices."

Embarrassed under the influence?--Wade Stewart, a Denver area cop, resigned when he couldn’t hold together his story that he had been shot with his own gun by a "light skinned Black" prowler. The story triggered a 133-cop area manhunt. Finally Stewart said that he had made up the story because he was too embarrassed to say his gun went off when he fell into a canal while chasing some teenagers. But the teenager story didn’t hold water either.

Hearing but not listening--At the 150-year-old Missouri School for the Deaf, students and parents demonstrated in protest against the continuing refusal of officials to appoint a deaf superintendent. When a non-deaf appointee backed out, officials passed over a deaf finalist and reopened the search.

‘Justice’--Beset by exposures, Oklahoma County district attorney Robert Macy is quitting. During his 21 years in office, countless innocent people were imprisoned and a record 54 men and women were assigned to death row. Joyce Gilchrist, a police chemist, worked with Macy’s office on 1,700 cases. Her testimony on semen, hair, etc., is now under FBI review. One man, convicted of rape, did 15 years. Recently he was released as innocent. The semen Gilchrist testified was his, was not.

Dinosaurs’ club?--According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a campus leaflet at Stanford University was headed, "No dating at Stanford?" Issued by the Stanford Conservative Women’s Coalition, it announced a talk on "Submission and Empowerment: Taking Back the Kitchen." The leaflet advised that if the sexes "embraced their traditional gender roles," the problem of getting a date would be nonexistent.

Like getting back home?--In England, jobs are available for drivers to deliver lease cars. Wanted are "the smart, independent, resourceful type." The ad cautions, "The work will involve some hitch-hiking."

Sounds reasonable--Thirty Tennessee farmers and agriculture officials will visit Cuba in July, seeking trade. USA Today quoted dairy farmer Bob Strasser: "I don’t want to go down there and be a savior and teach them how to be self-sufficient. I want to sell them food."

Mark it down!--As reported elsewhere, the Los Angeles Pathfinder Bookstore has moved to a new location. Clippings for use in this column should now be sent c/o Pathfinder Books, 4229 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. 90011  
 
 
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