And a cold deck--"France and Russia have oil companies and interests in Iraq. They should be told that if they are of assistance in moving Iraq toward a decent government we’ll do the best we can to ensure that the new government and American companies work closely with them."--James Woolsey ex-chief CIA.

Also wind-free?--Pentagon officials now admit that in the 1960s they secretly released, for test purposes, highly lethal nerve agents in five states. In agreement with their government, the tests were also conducted in the United Kingdom and Canada. Assured the Penta–gon’s top health brass , "They were not inhabited areas. They were open areas."

The ‘justice’ system--Apparently going at a rapid clip, a Denver patrol cop killed Bruce Rice, a homeless man, on a highway. Rice was catapulted 294 feet in the air and tumbled another 120 feet. The cop, Christian Devinny, was convicted of careless driving and fined $100, plus four points added to his driving record.

How sensitive--"You would think the human species would do everything it could to get rid of smallpox. But in the end we can’t let it go, because it’s a weapon of power. There you have the flaw in the human heart."--Richard Preston author of The Demon in the Freezer.

How immoral can they get--In a major new corporate scandal, a survey disclosed that workers are more likely to take sick time to attend to family needs rather than actual illness.--News item

Yo, Adolf--"Exams are not there to record how well the nation’s children are improving over the years. They are there to separate the bright from the dim."--The October 5 issue of the prestigious London magazine, The Economist.

Shut down and make a real bundle--"Honeywell International Inc., had a third-quarter profit of $412 million because of cost cuts, and said it plans to fire as many as 5,000 more workers as sales to factories and plane makers drop."--News item.

More than a fender bender--On the past two years, the Ford company market has fallen from $19 billion to $7.8 billion. Its debts load is $170 billion and company execs expect to borrow another $22 billion to $32 billion next year. "The company has barely been making enough money to cover its interest expenses over the last year," said a New York Times analyst. "There’s also the issue of unfunded pension liabilities. Ford is right on the edge of the precipice."--New York Times, October 10

P.S.--The preceding item came from a veteran contributor. But we were a bit skeptical. Was the Ford crisis that deep? The following week Ford reported that in the third quarter of last year, it took a loss of $326 million. The Los Angeles Times commented, "The major automakers [Ford and General Motor] have seen their share prices battered in recent weeks on concerns about industry growth, and the overall economic picture."--Los Angeles Times, October 17.  
 
 
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