January 1996

1/1/96

Russian Dec. 17 parl elections: can’t tell until it meets, but it seems upwards of 1/3 are CP, w/Nats, Our Home is Russia & (lib) Yabloko dividing the rest, and the only parties represented as parties. ½ were district seats, ½ party lists w/a 5% threshold. There were 43 parties, so some generals have no footsoldiers. Literally, in the case of Gen. Lebed, the would-be Pinochet, elected to a seat and thinking about taking over the CP and running as its prez. Candidate in June. Yeltsin says a little thing like an election won’t make him change any of his policies. Solzhenitsyn boycotted. Zhirinosky’s Nats won just 1 indiv seat. The gov party only got its 10% of the vote because of the miliary vote – 73% voted for the gov after officers told them to do so – ¼ of Our Home is Russia’s total support. Lebed & Rutskoi said the elections were fraudulent (neither got 5%).
-In Chechnya, elections imposed unilaterally, Russia bypassing the peace process, so it was boycotted. So the peace is over, the voters, the few who showed up, allowed to vote a bunch of times

1992 1/3 of female board members in Fortune 1,000 comps from women’s colleges, which account for 4% total graduates, & 24% women in Congress


1/2/96

Were 56 executions 1995, highest since 1957. 16 states did it, Texas 19, Missouri 6. None in CA

May45, US captured a U-boat heading for Japan w/uranium oxide. It may have been used in the US a-bombs.

House, rather than resolve budget stalemate, would allow fed workers to return to work – for no pay. Stalled in Senate by attempt to limit debate on budget in same bill to 10 hrs. Unions would probably stop it in courts anyway.

Sw. ends establishment of Lutheran Church; 2000 state stops appointing bishops, king no longer required to be a minister. But will still get tax money & have monopoly of funeral homes & cemeteries

US has refused to inc E Slavonia (Croatian Serb territory) in peacekeeping, left it to UN, and wants it ltd w/no war powers exc self-defense, which worked so well in Bosnia. And not many of them.

Arafat’s spokesman called editor of Al Quds, telling him to put story about Arafat meeting the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem on front page. Didn’t, so was detained 6 days. And Palestinian press ignored the detention

Bosnian Serbs kidnapped 16 Bosnians trying to drive on a road reopened under the Dayton peace accords. NATO, allegedly there to enforce the accords, say it’s not their problem – it’s a police matter

Arafat decides the elections will have just a 2-week run-up, on Jan. 20, and there will be more seats than planned. Israel had to be convinced to allow internat monitors

Seychelles to allow anyone who invests $10m there protected from extradition & asset seizure

1995 Fr Army officially admitted Dreyfus was innocent of treason

Labour lost no by-elections 1946-51 while Tories now have lost the last 24 seats they defended


1/3/96

Emma Nicholson, MP, defeats from Tories to LibDems. Majority is now 3. Nicholson, like Howarth who defeated to Labour Oct95, a one-nation Tory. Major will shortly be dependent on Ulster Unionists

Chun Doo Hwan says his interrogation, so soon after his hunger strike, is a human rights violation

NY Mayor Guiliani ignored the Advisory Commission on Judiciary to demote 2 judges, citing quality. His other recent choices, all v. political, inc one w/7 2nd-chair prosecutions & one who flunked out of Brooklyn Law School twice but passed bar

25 felony charges against RR’s Interior Sec James Watt, for inf peddling at HUD, bargained down to a misdemeanor charge of influencing a fed grand jury (7 charges had been dismissed). He’ll probably be fined $5,000. He got $500,000 for clients who got housing awards 1984-6. He also lied to Congress.

30-Yr Br documents show Harold Wilson wanted to w/draw all currency (or certain denominations?) to thwart the Great Train robbery

CA Repub legislators blocking bond measure for Mar96 ballot unless there’s also a prison-bond measure

Br wants to deport a Saudi dissident to Dominica & admits, admits, it is solely to appease the Saudis. Military sales are at stake, after all


1/5/96

Palestine detains for 24 hrs a human rights activist who publicized last week’s detention of an editor – and denied holding him

US let loose a Haitian who murdered Aristide’s cousin. The man was caught in US, returned to Haiti, where was just let loose. US also at least monitored a junta pol police unit that liaised w/FRAPH


1/6/96

Serbs release 16 Bosnians kidnapped off the road, little thanks to NATO. Sec Defense Perry insisted it was not NATO’s job, though freedom of mvmt is in Dayton accords. Say responsibility belongs to the internat police force – which doesn’t exist yet. So NATO falls on 1st challenge. Indeed, NATO forces watched some of the kidnappings. Serbs said they were spies, or black marketeers or travelled w/out permission (which is not required).
-1992 Lt. Col. Vespelin Sljivancanin became a Serb hero, doing a George Wallace at a hospital in Vukovar, keeping Red Cross out saying “This is my country.” It was shown endlessly on Serb tv. At the time, 300 men were being taken out the back & killed. He has been indicted but is at large in Montenegro. Cooperation w/war crimes tribunal also in Dayton accords, but Serbia still refusing an office to open in Belgrade, much less turn over 3 Yug. Army officers

A memo shows Hillary Clinton behind the 1993 firing of White House travel office & replacement by an Ark. firm. Something about life being if they didn’t accede.

Congress put new conditions on a fed program of scholarships for students to study abroad in non-W Eur countries, that they commit to gov defense or intelligence work after graduation

VA executes guy w/IQ of 68. His confession was allowed though his request for a lawyer had been denied. US Court of Appeals said it didn’t affect outcome

Deal finally to pay Fed workers after 3 week shutdown. Pay, but no money to allow them to work. R’s were getting the lion’s share of the blame. Vets & Meals on Wheels & Centers for Disease Control couldn’t track a flu, & home mortgages, etc all screwed up. So workers to be paid to Jan 26 (+ back pay). Some programs (park service, passports, Meals on Wheels) etc through Sep. 30. The language has gotten v. nasty. And now they can take their vacations uncriticized & Dole can go to NH.
-For Justice Dept, bill covered immigration, prisons, prosecutions, FBI & DEA but not civil rights or anti-trust divisions. R’s talking about reshaping the gov in this way.
-EPA Head Start, SEC not restarted

Ch’s state-run orphanages starve thousands to death, over 1,000 Shanghai alone 1986-92, says Human Rights Watch. The Bureau of Civil Affairs runs both orphanages & crematoria, so...

States spend $25,000 per prison inmate, $200 per probationer


1/7/96

Honduran court stops trial of military officers for torture of 6 students 1982, saying they are immune under amnesty laws

In its contribution to the Palestinian elections, Israel assassinates a Hamas bombmaker called the Engineer, and seals off W Bank & Gaza

After a yr “in charge,” CA Assembly R’s finally elect their own speaker, following Willie Brown’s 2 choices


1/8/96

Talking about the Saudi dissident he’s trying to deport to Dominica, John Major calls him an illegal immigrant, says he’s abusing Br hospitality by trying to disrupt relations w/a “natural ally”

Amer. troops in Bosnia not allowed to drink, another way of making sure not a air on their heads is hurt.

Mitterrand dead.

White House suddenly discovers Rose Law Firm records inc Hillary’s billing forms, proving her involvement in working for Madison Guaranty, from which she had previously distanced herself. The discovery came after other copies turned up – and 2 days after the statute of limitations. And the people lying for her are beginning to face jail terms for perjury. The papers showed up in the White House basement


1/9/96

Walesa, who refused to attend inauguration of the new PM, said he was a suspected Soviet spy. The tax office has impounded his bank accounts – he owes taxes for $1m from Warner Bros for his life story. The new prez took tv reporters into the parts of the prez palace Walesa had upgraded

Guatemala does not elect the beard for Ríos Montt president, but he does get 48.8%

Ch. denies letting orphans die, though ex-director of largest orphanage in Shanghai admits 20+% death rate. It was opened to the press & shown shiny new (hint: new) computers & furnishings. The 2nd on has not opened, and no mortality figures released

Sup Court allows fed law banning indecent programming in tv & radio in prime time

Part of deal re-opening gov (or it would have, but DC is snowed in), Clinton to submit a plan to balance budget in 7 yrs. Of course, it was then dec DOA. Most of its cuts are 2000-2


1/10/96

James Ledbetter says top underplayed news story 1995 that Archer Daniels Midland again found price-fixing. ADM the largest recipient of corp welfare. ADM made illegal contribs to CREEP 1972, its CEO bought Carter’s peanut farm, now lets Dole use its corp jet @ his intro bills to aid ethanol

Yeltsin finally fires the foreign minister he’s been publicly belittling for mos & replaced him w/Yevgeny Primakov, director of foreign intelligence service, whose pub statements have all been tough on NATO & the near-abroad

Simon Wiesenthal Center asks Internet comps to censor anti-Semites

New legal thing: “futures settlements” in which lawsuits initiated by comps against themselves to limit exposure. They come to agreements w/plaintiffs’ lawyers, who get rich, cover people who will get sick & limit their damages & future lawsuits. An asbestos case in 1994 limits # of claims to be paid per yr & only allow a specified # of future people unsatisfied to go to court

S Korean Prez Kim Young Sam admits he too took donations, but says not after becoming prez

Fed appeals court rejects Clinton’s claim that he’s too busy to be sued for sexual harassment. But appeals will no doubt keep him out of court until he is no longer prez in a yr. Hell, even Madonna was made to go to court, & she’s much more important

Phil Gramm: “Have you missed the government?” Clinton vetoes R. welfare plan

Wilson proposes school vouchers for those in worst 5% of state schools

Ark. puts a boy of 17 on death row

New Japanese PM Ryutaro Hashimoto, nationalist who headed the Japan War-Bereaved Families Assoc until recently, which believes Japan fought WW2 in self-defense

A Ger minister wants surveillance of Scientologists, just like terrorists

Israel settles w/family of a Moroccan waiter they murdered in Norway 1973, mistaking him for someone connected to Olympics. Did not, however, admit having done it


1/11/96

Major called for party unity, so Thatcher kicked him in the balls, publicly attacking – in 1st speech on domestic policy – for straying from her principles. Calls one-nation Tories no-nation conservs

Progressive on dumbest Congresscritters inc Rep. Martin Hoke, Ohio, who once called for reform of FSLIC, abolished 3 yrs before, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who once put his hand in a steel-jaw leg trap during a hearing to show it wasn’t cruel, and talks about how offensive buttfucking is, in a discussion of NEA. Sonny Bono, nuf said. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (Arizona ‘94) who says logging good because forests a fire hazard. Rep. John Hostettler (Indiana ‘94) who thinks 2nd Amend allows priv ownership of nuclear weapons. Rep. Frank Cremeans (Ohio ‘94) said Greece & Rome fell from AIDS. Sen. Larry Pressler who once decided to stay in a closet he’d mistaken for an exit. Rep. Helen Chenoweth (Idaho ‘94) who believes in black helicopters & served endangered sock-eye salmon at fundraisers. Rep. Jon Christensen (Neb. ‘94) who lived off interest income of his wife, twice failed the bar but couldn’t get a job exc selling insurance & selling fertilizer from his garage (or, as his resume has it, Fertilizer Holding Comp. Exec); he once planted questions at a HS q&a, afraid of difficult q’s – his people held pens so he’d call on them – others found out and... He attacks welfare but has outstanding student loans of $30-100,000. Once had press conf on plans to reduce deficit, calling for $1½t cuts – a reporter told him that was the entire budget & he changed topics


1/12/96

NATO inc Bosnia will expand mission to protect genocide investigators & maybe seize some of the mass graves, inc a mine the Serbs used for 1000s of bodies
-Russian troops finally show up. Parl delayed approval until last week

Steve Forbes has spent his way into #2 after Dole – w/damned little real support on the ground
-Most candidates skipping Louisiana as well as Deleware, out of deference to NH & Iowa

S Korea indicts Chun Doo Hwan for bribery. 1980 a Korean Airlines plane crashed. The chairman brought $1.3m when he visited the prez, and $4m when KAL 007 shot down, to protect against the investigation


1/13/96

At debates, everyone piles on Forbes. Lamar Alexander says flat tax a nutty idea in Jerry Brown tradition. Gramm asks Dole if he has a secret budget deal w/Clinton. Alexander says the only thing Forbes ever ran is a magazine he inherited – & he raised the price

Several days ago Chechen rebels (again) seized hostages in Russia at a hospital, then took 130 on trip home. Were halted ½ mi from Chechnya. Russian troops blew up a bridge & a siege is ongoing for days. Russia gives a deadline to release the hostages

NYT headline: “Bush Says He Erred in Assuming Hussein Would Fall After War.” Duh.

Ivory Coast jails editor & 2 reporters 2 yrs, suspend their paper, for saying President’s attendance at Af. football match brought bad luck

Governors commuted 10 death sentences 1991, 1 1994, 0 1995


1/14/96

Socialist Jorge Sampaio elected prez Portugal

Russia extends the deadline for the Chechens. The spokesman for the not-the-KGB, asked if rebels could leave unharmed if released hostages, & give up guns as demanded, says “That’s their problem.”

Bosnian troops to be trained by US civilian contractors, ex-soldiers, maybe in Turkey. Saudi Arabia & such are expected to pay

Christian Right promoting a “parental rights amend”, into in 20 states (for state consts) so far. Usually says “The rights of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children should not be infringed.” At one stroke would require parental notification of abortion, stop schools giving kids psych tests, etc etc

Homosexuality still illegal in Tasmania


1/15/96

Rep. Helen Chenoweth (Idaho) failed to report a loan on disclosure forms – or secure it w/collateral. She likes to be called Congressman & says white males are an endangered species. Still supports Confederacy as states’ rights & will intro a bill to require fed agents w/firearms to get sheriff’s permission to enter a county. Still believes in secret gov black helicopters & sees environmental laws as step to 1-world gov, citing the UN designating Yellowstone a world heritage site. Idaho’s white separatists love her.

Bookstore chains sell display space, another way publishers pay them to undercut indies

For once, the US army in Bosnia is being nice to media & allowing total access, even to ordinary troops (unlike Gulf), which is gutsy considering the mission’s unpopularity, which is actually the reason for the change

Hubble Telescope shows 50b. galaxies in the universe

Russians attack the village in which the Chechens are holding hostages, w/grenades, machine guns, helicopter gunships, bombers, missiles. They claim it is not indiscriminate. Russians failed to take the town, but have mostly destroyed it.

Papandreov, on life support for 2 mos, finally steps down


1/16/96

Mitterrand’s doctor says he hid his prostate cancer, which had metastasized in 1981.

The UN computers w/data on human rights violations in Croatia are stolen. Some of the data not backed up


1/17/96

Dole aggressively challenging the signatures for ballot access in NY of Forbes & Buchanan, the only R’s willing even to try. He is accusing them of fraud and, gasp, failing to inc hard numbers

Sierra Leon’s 30-yr old military leader (a captain) ousted 6 weeks before elections were scheduled. Replaced by a 33-yr old

Ch. to “supervise” wire agencies (Reuters, Dow Jones), i.e., vet their info

No death commutations 1995, but one 1996. We execute the retarded, the innocent & juveniles – but no chicks. Only 1 since ‘77, 12 yrs ago. Naturally, it was a woman who wanted to be executed. Governor says she didn’t intend to kill her husband. She was 4 yrs out for smothering her 11-mo old daughter (got 10 yrs)

Hubble has found ½ the missing mass of the universe, in form of burned-out white dwarfs

Russia still for 3rd day pounding the town w/the Chechens. Meanwhile, Chechens grab 165 hostages on a ferry on Black Sea, & 30 in a Grozny power substation. Russia has admitted its pretext for the attack – execution of 2 hostages – was false. Yeltsin: “We must punish them.”

Russia’s last reformer, Anatoly Chubais, deputy PM, resigns, unwilling to take the pub chastisements Y. handing out lately. Russing for president after all, I guess. Y scolded PM Chernomyrdin on live tv for failing to increase salaries & pensions

Repub. cmte calls for a flat tax. Meanwhile Gramm bids Forbes’ 17% flat tax down to 10%.
-Meanwhile, R’s call off budget talks w/White House until it comes up w/another budget closer to them
-Where 58% of Clinton’s savings are in 2001-2, 48% of Congressional plan passed Nov95

Russians fail to take the town, so pull out & really really go after it, declaring the hostages dead. Launching block buster missiles on a town w/no blocks...
-Few are criticizing Y. in Russia or US

SF’s new DA is a former defense lawyer who doesn’t believe in death penalty, 3 Strikes, jailing drug users or prostitutes


1/18/96

Ch. arrests brother of the doctor who blew the whistle on Shanghai orphanage starvation. She is not in Ch.

A son kidnaps his father & is seeking custody to keep him from assisted suicide (69 yrs old)

Russians finish destroying/capturing the town. Hostages say no one was executed by Chechens


1/19/96

Turkey gets its Chechen hostage-takers to give up. Russia was pushing for a massacre. In fact Yeltsin criticizes them for being slow & says he’s not satisfied w/their approach, presumably because it didn’t lead to dozens of deaths like Russia’s.
-In Russia, Y. claims they saved most of the hostages & killed ½ the “mad dogs.” Also says 300 Chechens held off the Russian army by digging a network of labyrinths under the village

In Iowa, Dole is nagging Forbes to release his tax returns. Dole’s ads say Forbes doesn’t support 3 Strikes, leaving out the bit about his actually wanting 1 strike. Alexander differentiates himself – he was a governor, not a senator. Gramm equates Dole & Clinton. Buchanan, in a post-‘74 1st, uses Nixon in his ads. Forbes commercial says Dole voted to raise own pension.
-Ralph Nader to run as Green in CA

Sp. offers citizenship to those who fought in the Sp Civil War

Bosnian sides completed pullback on schedule, but not prisoner exchange

Strom Thurmond’s father was a DA in the most violent SC cty (higher murder rate 100 yrs ago than NYC now), murdered a man, was acquitted as an “affair of honor” – he was insulted by the man – and was made US Atty for SC


1/20/96

Fr court bans book by Mitterrand’s doctor after 400,000 already sold. It says he was sick in 1981 & too sick to do his job by ‘94

Israel making Jerusalem Palestinians, exc 5,000, vote in Palestinian elections outside the city (and stopped many of those at roadblocks) (and polling stations named only 2 days before). The 5,000 can vote in post offices, but Israelis insist slots be on side not on top, to maintain myth they are mailing ballots rather than casting them. Also banned campaign posters (which ignored). Israeli right-wingers put out leaflets falsely telling them if voted, would lose Jerusalem residence permits. Police videotaped voters & maintained v. high profile. Carter said they were trying to intimidate Palestinians & they backed off.


1/22/96

Dick Armey, threatening a default if he doesn’t get Commerce abolished & preventing Treasury Sec borrow from trust funds in future. They’re using this rather than threat of gov shutdown

Nat Review calls for legalizing drugs

Hillary subpoenaed by grand jury on Whitewater, specifically on obstruction of justice relating to her records

Sup Court refused to hear a case of a mother of a dead 11-yr old & the kids’ stepfather & a Christian Science nurse who read hymns & took notes until he was dead. They lost a $1.5m lawsuit to the father. He had diabetes. 1st successful case against Christian Scientists. Court refused to reinstate jury’s $9m against the church itself (which was based on state law – not the court’s business)
-New Minn. law requires a parent to call authorities when child ill if they won’t provide medical care. The law lets state override parent’s objection

Sup Court turned down Gov. Wilson’s challenge to Motor Voter

Court affirmed the ridiculous drug sentencing guidelines in an LSD case where weight of blotter paper added in. Since then, the rule has changed & a dose of LSD is given an assigned weight

Speaking of drugs, evidence that Serbs used a hallucinogen in Srebrenica

Clinton order bars fed contracts w/comps hiring illegal aliens

Burundi burns refugee camp for Rwandan Hutus, who are now barred from Tanzania

Arafat gets 88.1% of vote for prez & 75% of council seats, rest going to Islamists & ex-Fatah inds inc Hanna Ashrawi, one of 4 women of the 88 inc a widow of Abu Jihad, who Israel murdered. Participation 80% Gaza, 40% Jerusalem


1/23/96

The State of the Union is strong. Yeah, right. He wants a balanced budget & the v-chip & no marketing of ciggies to children. Dem. family values, I guess. Challenges families to stay together – challenges fathers to do so by appealing to wife’s desire to be 1st Lady & wear suits in terrible colors w/really big buttons. Even Chelsea is in a power suit. Nat. standards for school but flexibility. Huh? School uniforms. Does he have no national agenda? Gingrich won’t even stand for the anti-crime statements. Hillary has yet to smile. Calls for line-item veto. Still, he’s gotten Gingrich to sit down & shut up for a whole hour, so.... “The era of big gov is over.” He tried to look presidential, which meant pretending he wasn’t facing a vicious Congress. Calls for use of FBI against gangs, making criminals serve 85% of sentence, prosecute teenagers as adults. Is appointing a general as drug tsar. In one of those Reaganesque moves, he pointed out a gov worker in the Okl. City bombing thrown out of work by the gov shutdown

So far 13 senators & 25 Reps retiring, inc all moderates in both parties. Good luck next yr

Colombian Prez Samper’s campaign manager says Samper knew of drug money. Samper refuses to resign

Ch. threatens a military attack on Taiwan if its current prez Lee Teng-hu wins the 1st demo election for prez in March. Lee trying to get back in UN, buying Africa’s votes


1/24/96

Virginia executes a man who defended himself. 2 jurors said they wouldn’t have voted for death had they known he was ineligible for parole

R’s want to climb down from default to extent of only requiring modest budget & tax cuts

Compared to Clinton’s conciliatory State of Union speech, Dole’s response which he couldn’t get networks to give him 24 hrs on, was downright vicious, calling Clinton “the last public defender of a discredited status quo.”

Chechens release 46 hostages, which is interesting since Russia says it got them free

Sp. Interior Minister 1982-8 indicted for the anti-Basque death squads (where is Fr, where most of the murders took place?)

A soldier thrown out for refusing to accept UN command

100 Congresscritters inc Dole sponsoring leg to make it illegal to order soldiers to wear UN insignia

Internat commission N Ireland says Sinn Fein should be allowed into peace talks before IRA turns in arms. Major immediately calls for an elected negotiating body, which should kill the talks dead

Polish PM resigns under charges of spying for USSR. Thank you, Walesa

Fr admits radiation leaks at Muranoa, but says it’s not important


1/25/96

Nigerian dissident Ken Saro-Wiwa’s brother tried to get Shell to intervene to prevent his execution. He says they wanted him to call off protest & issue press release that there had been no environmental damage

Yeltsin thinks new top econ official, the director of the auto industry, and supporter of tariffs, not even an economist
-Yeltsin orders 50% increase in pay to pensioners & invalids

Forbes says it’s time for a president from the real world. His $15m payout so far is a loan, to be paid back from donations

Fr gov has tolerated polygamy by Afs, even 1980s letting wives in under family-reunification policy – a letter points out that Mitterrand’s wife & mistress attended his funeral

A Br arms dealer Paul Grecian being held by SA for extradition to US. He sold arms to Iraq on behalf of Br intelligence. He provided false end-user certificates for artillery fuses made in US. Got away w/it in Br courts. Br gov knew & a memo from FO suggested he be kept quiet by threat that Iraqis would kill him for leaking their supergun plans


1/26/96

Leg for budget for another 7 weeks, at lower levels, kills 10 programs, banning embryo research & foreign family aid to July. Kennedy’s efforts to preserve ed. spending killed
-Clinton will sign defense budget inc Dornan’s provision to fire the 1,049 known to have HIV (military testing means this is caught early), even though he vetoed an earlier version for this. There are 4,000 on similarly restricted duty for cancer, heart disease, etc, who are not being fired. The discharged will get medical benefits but not disability, or the med. benefits for dependents normally given to those thrown out for Med. reasons

After 3 yrs, Senate passes Start II. The Russian Duma has of course lost interest


1/27/96

Coup in Niger, parties banned

A 13-yr old Br girl, in Turkey, married an 18-yr old Turk, now in jail in Br

1994 certain Russian banks loaned gov $2b @ 1st crack at privatized industries. They ran & rigged the auctions, cheated the gov of $1b, excluded foreign investors

Throughout his career, Dole has raised $70m

Before running for prez, Forbes settled lawsuit w/a personal sec he fired 3 weeks before her 65th b-day

Compared to Hillary’s billing records mysteriously reappearing, note George Bush asked for document by Iran-Contra prosecutor in 1987, and 1992, his diary suddenly found, turned over to presidential counsel, and eventually released 6 yrs after the request. Bush & counsel refuse to testify about the delay

Delaware to allow the candidates who didn’t dare run there be on its ballot. Personally, I think those who don’t run for the primaries shouldn’t be on the Nov. ballot


1/28/96

The 1992-3 deal to buy Russia’s enriched uranium somehow led to Russia doing the diluting to make it ready for US plants – which means no one can confirm that the stuff is really taken out of weapons

Strikes 1995 at lowest rate since WW2, 32 strikes w/1,000 or more workers

Ethiopian Jews riot in Israel after disclosure that their donated blood was thrown out for fear of AIDS. Their high rate of AIDS seems to have been from the Israeli money supporting them in Addis before the airlift, which was spent on prostitutes

Fort Worth Star-Telegram transferred a gay editor of a weekly children’s section who also works for a gay paper, after 1 complaint

Ger now trying to censor Internet for Neo-Nazi materials


1/29/96

(Baptist) Baylor U. to lift ban on dancing, but no vulgar gyrations allowed

UC Prez apologies for trying to delay the end of affirmative action 1 yr


1/31/96

Nat Reconnaissance Office lost track of $2b last yr, perhaps hidden in slush funds

Fr ends its nuclear testing at 6 (98 since 1960)

A Mexican “policeman of the yr” detained w/436 pounds of marijuana

Dole loses Alaska straw poll coming 3rd behind Buchanan & Forbes & a poll puts him only slightly ahead of Forbes in NH. Dole blames the media, says maybe Forbes owns stocks in the networks & Time & Newsweek
-Forbes wants more judges like Scalia
-Buchanan wants Congress to restrict jurisdiction of courts

Judge voids Alabama law barring official support of money to gay college groups

Ill. puts a 12-yr old in the pen, the nation’s youngest inmate. When 10, he & a friend tossed a 5-y old off a building. His IQ is below 60

Yeltsin announces free funerals, student stipends, $3.4b to Chechnya. Yes, he is running for prez, probably killing IMF loans in the process. Parl to raise min wage 20%

Ch. suggests there is a timetable for taking back Taiwan. US sent carrier Nimitz through Taiwan Strait Dec. – allegedly for weather reasons