'Time is money'--The supersonic Concorde jets, which hurtle passengers across the Atlantic, are resuming flights. They were grounded after a takeoff crash in Paris claimed the lives of 113 people. A tire blowout was caused by a piece of metal on the runway. British Airways, announcing planned resumption of Concorde flights, said it would not check the runway on each flight departure because the new tires are sturdy enough to withstand punctures.

Short and tall?--One of numerous California Highway Patrol indicators of possible drug trafficking: "Mismatched occupants." 1998 California Highway Patrol training manual.

Int'l pushers--"Sugar and honey can be found in some of the cigarettes that British American Tobacco sells in the South Pacific. Health officials contend that the ingredients are added to lure children who might otherwise shy away from the acrid taste of cigarettes. The company denies the accusation.... But internal documents from as long ago as the 1970s from its American subsidiary Brown & Williamson, point out that it is a well-known fact that teenagers like sweet products."--News item.

Plain-spoken--"Glenn Hubbard, the chairman of the White House council of economic advisers, said the slowdown among America's peers was worrying. But he also said that the reasons for weakness were idiosyncratic...and that there was no reason to expect that international problems would drag the United States or Europe into recession."--News item.

What would we do without the experts?--"Experts say...that anyone, whether they work on a loading dock or in a corner office, can find satisfaction in their job--or at least find another job that is satisfying. The key is not expecting the job to make you happy."--Workplace Section, Los Angeles Times.

P.S.--"A job needs to give a person a sense of purpose that he or she is not just a cog in the machinery. Jobs aren't created with the individual in mind."--Same as previous.

You thought it was common knowledge?--"The head of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar called for a comprehensive study to determine why so many Blacks and Hispanics wind up in the state's prisons."--Rocky Mountain News.

We dozed--We read the news that a federal court of appeals had ordered a new trial for Calvin Burdine who has been on Death Row in Texas since 1984. The order for a retrial came because Burdine's lawyer "dozed" during a good part of the trial. (One account we read bluntly declared the lawyer was drunk.) Anyway, what we missed was that earlier a sub-panel of the appeals court had ruled that a lawyer could provide effective counsel as long as he didn't conk out during "important" parts of the trial.  
 
 
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