No. 166: "AC in D.C.?"
Rule 12 of the
Senate Impeachment Rules states, "At 12:30 o'clock after noon, or at such other
hour as the Senate may order ... the legislative and executive business of the
Senate shall be suspended, and the secretary shall give notice to the House ...
that the Senate is ready to proceed ... in the Senate Chamber, which chamber is
prepared with accommodations for the reception of the House of
Representatives."
Fred Graver and Betsy Steyer Graver ask: What sort of
accommodations?
by 5
p.m. ET Sunday to e-mail your answer to [email protected] .
Tues
day's question (No. 165)--"Old Whine, New
Bottle":
FBI Special Agent
Frank Scafidi says, "Everybody gets freaked. You shut down the operation. The
perp got his kick. This is just the 1998 version."
What new thing is the 1998 version of what old thing?
"New
version: The Nation magazine's Caribbean cruise. Old version: the Sacco
and Vanzetti trial."-- Jennifer Miller
"Zippergate/Easter at the Kennedy compound."-- Westley Annis
"A post
ironic sensibility/naiveté."-- M. Pesca
"Bob
Barr is the 1998 Orville Faubus. (It seems the operation can't be shut
down.)"-- Charles Star
"Scaring the guests with those fake hippos that popped out of the water in
Pirates of the Caribbean/killing them with heavy cleats."-- Larry
Schnur
Click
for more responses.
Randy's
Wrap-Up
Caricature is so
reassuring and so rare. It's not often you meet a cow that says "moo," a bird
that says "tweet," or an FBI special agent that says "The perp got his kick."
But when it happens, you know where you are--in front of the television, dozing
contentedly, while doctors say "stat" and cops say "dirt bag" and Tom Brokaw
says "drug lords" and "terrorists," and "I want that stat, you dirt bag!" to
some poor production assistant who's doing the best he can. No, wait, it was
the cow who said that; she's so much crankier in real life than in the cartoon
barnyard. Brokaw is, by all accounts, an amiable fellow, who can be found of an
evening swapping World War II stories with Maureen Dowd. What a great time!
Love that part about the sense of national purpose and the black market tires
and the millions of dead Russians. OK, not the tires. Who brought that up,
anyway? Probably that damn cartoon bird, if by "tweet, tweet," she meant
"German-American bund" or "internment camp." But maybe she didn't. Maybe she
just meant "Sleep tight, you morons!" Happy New Year, everyone.
Updated
Answer
As Deb Stavin knew (click ), phoning in a bogus
anthrax scare is the 1998 version of phoning in a bogus bomb scare.
"It just seems to be the
wacko's flavor of the month," Scafidi says, of what has become a particularly
vexing genre of prank phones call in Los Angeles, as well as in Colorado,
Kentucky, and Tennessee. And although hazardous materials teams know that most
calls are hoaxes, "You always have to treat a threat as real," says Mark
Whaling of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "Monday morning
quarterbacking will eat us alive if we make a mistake."
It Pays to Debase
Your Word Power Extra
I give the jargon-laden blather; you give the field
to which it refers.
1. "Our integration teams are well on their way to
defining and beginning the synergy projects."
2. "I have shifted things to be more family
targeted, because we're already bringing in the adults."
3. "It's easier to see the evidence of the money
they spent in froufrou on the plate--swirls, complexity, multiple
garnishes."
4. "During times of the
year of major significance to the market, you can make sure you are visibly
showcasing your commitment."
Answers
1. Cars. Jürgen Schremp and Robert Eaton,
co-chairmen of DaimlerChrylser, on how well their merger is going.
2. Cartoons. Terry Press, DreamWorks'
marketing chief, on the ads for the ponderous and lackluster Prince of
Egypt .
3. Food. David Rosengarten, host of the Food
Network's Taste , on the expectations of customers at expensive
restaurants.
4. Exploiting
religious and cultural holidays. Michelle Flowers, president of a public
relations firm specializing in the African-American market, on how your company
can make a buck from Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. (Are you visibly
showcasing your commitment or are you just glad to see me?)
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