St. Louis / Los Angeles / Cleveland Rams Quiz: 1)What was the
Rams last season in Los Angeles? 2) Who has the most
receiving yards, career? 3) Most rushing yards, game? [Hint:
post 1965] 4) Most passing yards, game? [Hint: A rather
significant record] Answers below.
Gloria Steinem Defends Linda Tripp
I never thought I”d see the day when I was quoting Ms. Steinem
but she wrote an interesting op-ed piece in Sunday”s New York
Times defending the media treatment of Linda Tripp. Regarding
the reaction to Tripp”s new makeover Steinem commented, “Just
when you think it”s safe to dislike a truly dislikable woman, she
is treated so unfairly that you have to empathize. I”m speaking
of the merciless humiliation of Linda Tripp.”
“For nearly two years, the media have focused almost totally on
her looks, not her acts.” Steinem said Tripp should have
challenged the fault finders. “Such ridicule may be new in
scope, but not on purpose. It has long been the most popular way
of disheartening and dehumanizing women.Women are also
attacked as a way of demeaning the men they are attached to.
It”s the civilized form of raping the enemy”s women.”
“It”s not just the so-called unattractive woman who pays a price.
No matter how long and hard she may work, a pretty woman
often finds her success attributed to her looks, even to sleeping
her way to the top..What is new is the all-pervasiveness and
acceptability of cruel external judgments.”
Steinem concludes, “Actions are fair game, but conditions of
birth are not. Consider whether the ridicule of a woman would
be directed against a man – whether the characterization of
someone without power would be made of someone with it.”
“International Living” – Top Places to Live…and other stuff
I subscribe to the above newsletter and while I can”t afford 90%
of the places and voyages that are described in it, we all need a
little escapism from time to time, eh? So they just published
their annual survey on the quality of life in 193 states. The
rankings are based on criteria like “cost of living,” “culture,”
“economy,” “environment,” “freedom (political and civil
liberties),” “health,” and “safety & risk.” The top 5 overall
rankings shouldn”t come as any great surprise.
1. Canada
2. U.S.
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Luxembourg (U.K. is #6, Ireland #7)
Now, the bottom ten contains the Congo (both nations), Angola,
Afghanistan, Somalia, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Djibouti (“Shake
shake shake…Shake shake shake…shake Djibouti”…sorry, I”ll
make it up to you…please order a coffee mug on me), Chad and
Rwanda. I think you”d agree that these can be kept off the ol”
“must see” list.
Here are some other survey tidbits:
–World”s Best Environment: Georgia…what, are they nuts? #2
is St. Kitts and Nevis. Geezuz, Georgia may only face an
imminent invasion from the Russkies! Who cares if there are
few people per square kilometer? Obviously, there will be even
fewer if the Russians ever have their way.
–Most Cultured: Norway…ehh.
–Most Affordable: Zimbabwe…What do they have to buy? Dirt?
–Worst Economy: Survey says…North Korea. An enlightened
pick.
–Most Dangerous: Angola. Watch those 10-year old militiamen.
–Most Expensive: Congo-Kinshasa. Yup. #2 Switzerland. #3
Iceland. [I once spent a week in Iceland. It took me about 5
years to pay it off.]
–Greatest # of tourists: #1 France. #2 U.S. #3 Spain.
–The largest export for the U.S. is now entertainment.
–More than 80 countries still have a per-capita income lower
than it was a decade ago.
–Iran hosts more than 2 million refugees (mostly Afghans and
Iraqi Kurds) more than any other country in the world.
–India consumes more butter than anyplace else in the world (I
didn”t know that), Switzerland more chocolate, Cuba more sugar
(that”s all they have to eat), Finland more coffee, Luxembourg
more alcohol, France more wine, the Czech Republic more beer
(I have some Czech in me, actually it”s more Slovak), and
Ireland more tea!
How to Survive a Hijacking
Now a few months ago in an edition of Bar Chat I described how
to survive an attack from a mountain lion. A recent article lists a
few steps to take in the event of a hijacking. “Most of all, no
passenger should succumb to the John Wayne syndrome – the
urge to subdue or sabotage the terrorists.” [In 1986 on a flight
from Baghdad to Amman, a security man tried to disarm a
hijacker who was brandishing a hand grenade. In the struggle,
the grenade went off, killing 62 of the 107 people aboard.]
“Be patient.” [Count the number of peanuts in a bag. Or see if
you can read the beverage choices in Japanese. Or try to guess
the actual age of that Karras figure who sells some kind of sales
program in the airline magazines. It”s the same picture from at
least 20 years ago. Ergo, he could already be dead.]
Ken Burns Five Most Important Dates in American History
[Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal]
1. July 4, 1776, Signing of the Declaration of Independence.
2. Jan. 1, 1863, Enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation.
3. July 3, 1863, The failure of Gen. George Pickett”s charge in
the Battle of Gettysburg.
4. Nov. 12,1925, The first recording in Louis Armstrong”s “Hot
Fives” series. [Ahh, Ken? You”re getting a little too
precious for my taste with this pick]
5. June 6, 1944, D-Day. [Now we”re talkin”]
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/19/63: #1 “Go Away Little Girl”
(Steve Lawrence) #2 “Telstar” (The Tornadoes) #3 “Hotel
Happiness” (Brooke Benton).
Quiz Answers: 1) Last season in L.A., 1994. 2) Receiving yards,
career; Henry Ellard, 9761. 3) Rushing yards, game; Willie
Ellison, 247, 12/5/71. 4) Passing yards, game; Norm Van
Brocklin, 554, 9/28/51..the all-time NFL record.
Next Bar Chat, Friday…Snow Emergency Tips
