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 Congress Please Come Back. All is Forgiven
* Dueling AP Headlines from August 31: 4:01 pm “Nervous
Democrats Spurn Gore’s Push” about the slowdown in
public officials’ endorsements of Al Gore. 4:35 pm “Bush Raises Nearly $50 Million.” Darned
liberal media. We can’t catch a break with those people.
* Sainted son Reed pointed out that the combined amount of soft money – which can be given in
unlimited amounts – donated to both major parties totals about $51 million. If the AP headline is
right, as of the end of this quarter George W may have raised close to that amount – at no more
than the legal limit of $1,000 a pop.
* Speaking of The Lad, who is now two years out of the University of Texas, this is back to school
or off to college time for millions of families. When he was preparing to leave for college I couldn’t
listen to “Puff the Magic Dragon” without breaking down. “A dragon lives forever, but not so little
boys.”
* There was a wonderful essay on NPR by a woman who remembered her husband teasing her for
crying when her daughter left for kindergarten on her first day of school. “Tomorrow,” he said,
“she’ll still be in kindergarten.” “Tomorrow,” she said in her essay, “my daughter left for college.”
Too true.
* Remember that flap a few months ago when Americans found out that banks had been
instructed to keep track of our activities and report anything out of the ordinary to the government?
How about this as a new regulation: Any American bank which notices unusual activity on the
part of Russian mobsters, to the tune of $15 or so billion, must file a report.
* A Canadian musicologist has discovered what appears to be 35 bars of a long-lost work by
Mozart. I believe I’m feeling smarter just having read about it.
* While the all-news cable channels devote some part of their programming nearly every day to
the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, I am still waiting for the first mention of the anniversary
– four days later – of Mother Theresa’s death.
* Has it occurred to anyone else that Alan Greenspan’s somewhat (and unusually) strong
comments regarding a tax cut might have just the littlest something to do with his wanting an
early re-appointment as Fed Chairman?
* Jesse Ventura has shown himself to be just another jive politician. Last week he said he would
cancel all the state’s subscriptions to the St. Paul Pioneer Press as punishment for the Press’
editorials in opposition to Ventura’s participation in a wrestling show. Ventura’s press office has
now issued a statement saying the Governor was “kidding.” I Ain’t Got Time to Read.
* There has been a well-covered suit in Texas in which a plaintiff involved in the funeral home
industry wanted to depose Governor George W. In an article about a judge’s ruling that Bush
would not have to testify, the Wall Street Journal showed a rare sense of off-beat humor when it
included, at the top of the article, the superhead: “Stiffed.”
* Mullings’ e-mail list is increasing dramatically. Typing e-mail addresses is like transcribing 5,500
ee cummings poems.
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