Sarah Palin

Last week, Governor Palin had occasion to spend an hour or so with a half a dozen medical specialists ranging from gynecologist to otorhinolaryngalogist. Her admirers feel she is now equipped to dispense sound medical advice.

T. Boone Pickens

Mr Pickens has recently recently purchased time on tv to promote a scheme for ensuring energy independence for the United States. Whatever else his scheme is designed to do, it is structured to make Mr. Pickens richer than he already is.

A Pox on them All

Egg producers whose eggs are infected with salmonella.

Members of Congress who denounce pork.

Defense attorneys who confuse vigorous advocacy with lying.

Supermarket managers who make all prices end in 9.

Taxi drivers who a) roar through rainwater puddles at curbside or b) become creative in finding their way from A to B.

CNN, PC Magazine, IDG Connect, and all the other Sites which load my emailinbox with spam and are totally impervious to my entreaties to cease and desist.

Wolpe

Some time ago Rhea and I attended a concert presented by the Juilliard String Quartet, a truly superb ensemble. The 2 numbers before the intermission were the Mozart D-minor quartet, K.173 and Stefan Wolpe's Quartet (1969) in that order. This particular Mozart is not one of my favorites and I promptly dozed off. I awoke in time for the Wolpe. By the time intermission arrived I had long since concluded that my dislike for the Mozart, notwithstanding, I had slept through the wrong quartet.

On the program it was noted that the Quartet was dedicated to his mother. The music was so raucous and dissonant that I concluded that he must have disliked her intensely.

Jet Propelled Aircraft

Near the end of World War II the German Luftwaffe introduced a jet-propelled aircraft, the ME-262. It quickly became a topic of intensive and wide discussion in allied military circles. Shortly thereafter in the Pentagon a memorandum was circulated to the effect that in correspondence, "jet-propelled aircraft would not repeat not be referred to as blow jobs".

Environmentalists

It sometimes seems that:

On Mondays environmentalists picket nuclear power plants in the hope that they will be shut down.

On Tuesdays environmentalists picket utilities in the hope they will stop using coal or oil.

On Wednesdays environmentalists picket oil companies in the hope that they will stop drilling oil wells.

On Thursdays environmentalists picket coal companies in the hope that they will stop mining coal.

On Fridays environmentalists picket lumber companies in the hope they will stop cutting trees down.

On weekends environmentalists sit around by candlelight shivering in the cold worrying if they have overlooked something.

Oh Brave New World!

Thursday, March 2, 1995 may well be the most important date of the last decade of the 20th Century. Often has it been said that our young people are the future the nation. With their idealism, industry, and intelligence they will forge the entry into a bright and shining 21st Century. Away with cynical politicians and slimy lobbyists, away with incompetent judges and sleazy lawyers, away with corrupt police; away with biased, agenda driven news media. Our young people are speaking out. They are providing leadership. It will be a dream fulfilled when they take charge. Even now they manifest the insight and sen­sitivity needed to accomplish the daunting task of shaping our future.

Recently, in Patterson, New Jersey, Lawrence Meyers, a 16 year old student at Eastside High was killed by a rookie housing police officer while attempting to arrest him during an undercover narcotics operation. Mr. Meyers was killed by a shot in the head and the matter is now under formal investi­gation. Twenty three grams of crack cocaine were recovered at the scene. Mr. Meyers had a police record for drug dealing. His death was followed by several days of sometimes violent and felonious behavior by fellow students. This included incidents of vandalism and looting. Public officials and community leaders including the always helpful Reverend Al Sharpton managed to bring a measure of calm to the situation.

To generate a more reasoned approach to the students' grievances an assembly of Eastside High was called. Among the suggestions made by students were those by:

Angel Gonzalez: "Thursday [March, 2] will be a drug free day in memory of Lawrence. The streets will be quiet in memory of Lawrence to show we care."

Skeeter Warren said that the ideal would be for all drug dealers and students to impose a ban on sales and use for the day.

Wesley Thomas, with broader vision, suggested a wider area for the moratorium on dealing and usage, "Maybe it can be a nationwide drug-free day."