Mullings by Rich Galen | Secret Decoder Ring for November 22, 1999

Shhh! Listen to the Quiet! Monday, November 22, 1999

Title: "Shhh! …" This is the first workday in Washington since the Congress adjourned. It will be very quiet. The only traffic in the metropolitan Washington, DC area are realtors driving in from the suburbs with stop watches so they can write in their ads, "Only 18 minutes to Capitol Hill!"

"Bush gave a remarkable …" Since the "I don't know nothin' 'bout no Chechnyan Presidents" interview he has been held to a standard regarding foreign policy which George C. Marshall might not have been able to meet. Bush's speech on Friday was a big test which, by almost all non-opposition accounts, he passed.

"… since Vice President Nixon …" I belive it was eggs (but it could have been tomatoes) and I believe it was Latin America. Nixon, in the midst of Anti-American anti-"gunboat diplomacy" sentiment, had his limo pelted with some sort of produce.

Clinton's arrival in Greece was greeted with riots away from which the Presidential party was kept.

"…Pompano Beach, Florida …" I am, indeed in Pompano Beach and I don't care what the weather is. I am going to get some color even if it's blue.

"…Michael Crichton's new novel …" Crichton has written 11 novels and four non-fiction books. His most famous novel is "Jurassic Park" and its sequel, "Lost World." His first novel (which was turned into a still-very exciting movie) The Andromeda Strain.

"… Richard Feynman …" Feynman (1918-1988) was a physicist who won a Nobel Prize for his work in understanding the nature of Quantum Electrodynamics and later he advanced the notion there were particles - quarks - which were constituent parts of what had been believed to be the smallest sub-atomic matter electrons and protons. Feynman was a genius with a sense of humor - if Carl Sagan had a ego somewhat smaller than the billions and billions of stars he studied, he might have been more like Feynman. It is telling that a book of stories and anecdotes about Feynman is entitled, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman." NOT, "Surely You're Joking, Dr. Feynman."

"… piquant …" Sharp; tart; pungent; severe; interesting. "Piquancies" was my first choice for this column. "Mullings" came later.

Home | Current Issue | Past Issues | Email Rich | Rich Who?