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   Vol. 69/No. 27           July 18, 2005  
 
 
Great Society
 
Become a pinhead boss?—We stopped reading with the first sentence: "If Albert Einstein were alive today, I would have one piece of advice for him. Get a real job."—A USA Today guest column by the president of a digital media company.

Now here's a home—If you're looking for a more spacious home, and it hasn’t been snapped up, check out this Beverly Hills cottage. Walled and gated, 10 bathrooms and 14 bedrooms. And, this is neat, a library with a hidden bar. If it hasn’t already been snapped up, it's yours for $32 million.

You read about it in school?—“Chinese Massacre Cove” has been proposed as the name for a cove on the Snake River in Oregon. In 1887, an inexact number of Chinese miners were murdered by seven men in the area. The number of victims is known only as ranging up to 37. None of the killers were convicted. The present proposed name of the cove was anticipated for approval by the state Geographic Names Board. Stay tuned.

But not to worry—For two months in a row, the Ford Motor Company had to slash its anticipated profit forecast. Moody's Investment Service, which rates Ford, said it's likely it will further downgrade the company’s junk bond status. The same status is also accorded to General Motors.

U.S. rape of Panama—A suspension bridge across the U.S.-built Panama Canal is due to open this month. The bridge is expected to reduce clogged traffic. Meanwhile, Panama has been left with a bitter legacy. When building the canal in the early 1900s, the U.S. government leased the land and a five-mile zone on either side of the canal. The lease was in “perpetuity.”

Panamanian pressure led Washington to yield the canal in 1999. But the Pentagon refuses to clean up the “costly” military target ranges in the former Canal Zone and beyond. Leftovers include seven big unexploded chemical bombs.

Panama is told the remaining cleanup is exempted by fine print in the U.S.-drafted pact. Last November, secretary of war Donald Rumsfeld visited Panama. He curtly said the treaty has been lived up to, “and the matter has been closed.  
 
 
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