No. 197: "A Man Has Needs"
Fill in the blank as Bill Press assesses the about-to-be-announced
presidential bid of his Crossfire playmate Pat Buchanan. "He is
convinced that if Elizabeth Dole stumbles, if G.W. stumbles, in a field of
pygmies, he's the giant. This is not just a need for ____________ on his
part."
by noon
ET Thursday to e-mail your answer to [email protected] .
Tuesday's Question
(No. 196)--"To Go":
China has already got rid of 66,000, and by
year's end will remove another 800,000.
What?
"Prisoners' kidneys."--Greg Diamond
"Foreskins. In the Chinese calendar, 1999 is the Year of the Rabbi. Or was that
a typo?"-- Evan Cornog
"Daughters."-- Paul Tullis ( Matt Sullivan , Nell Scovell ,
David Finkle , Winter Miller , Deb Stavin , Carrie
Rickey , Kate Wing , Brad Spencer , and Jim O'Grady had
similar answers.)
"Pesky
U.S. dollars that rightfully belong in Democratic campaign coffers. (Multiply
all figures by 100.)"-- Doug Welty
"God, I
hope it's Scientologists."-- Chris Thomas
Click
for more answers.
Randy's
Wrap-Up
If News Quiz were a radio
panel show--a sort of What's My Line / I've Got a Secret with Larry
Amaros as Bennet Cerf and Beth Sherman as Arlene Francis, or perhaps the other
way around, whatever they like--the great advantage (beyond the chance to hear
Ananda Gupta being audibly disdainful) would be posing several questions a day.
A dozen per program would form an interesting outline of the day, but choosing
just one is tough. Excellent topics are lost. For instance, in an effort to
counter its image as an occupying army brutalizing the people of New York City,
the police department plans to recruit more actual New Yorkers to its ranks.
The heart of the plan will be an ad campaign with a snappy slogan. Police
Commissioner Howard Safir says he wants "Be all you can be, or Uncle Sam wants
you, or something like that." Too militaristic? Just militaristic enough.
Participants are invited, in the privacy of their own thoughts, to devise an
NYPD recruiting slogan. It's my anniversary gift to you. Isn't it better than
something impersonal like a car?
What's Mine Is Your
Answer
China is clearing land mines along its border with
Vietnam.
In other mine news, the
British army has destroyed its entire stock of anti-personnel mines four years
before the deadline set by the Ottawa Convention. This treaty, banning land
mines, has been signed by 125 countries, neither China nor the United States
among them. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that mines
kill 800 people and maim another 1,200 every month.
For
more information, write to:
U.S. Campaign To Ban Landmines
Mary Wareham
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation
2001 S St, NW, Suite 740
Washington, DC 20009
E-mail: [email protected]
Jennifer Miller's
Anniversary Extra
Please indulge me as I revisit some of the moments
that have made News Quiz so very special to me over the past year. Sadly,
Slate
offers no soft-focus or RealAudio function, but feel free
to smear a little Vaseline on your monitor and hum an evocative tune to yourself as you reminisce with me.
Strolling on the beach with Alex Balk, Peter Lerangis, and Winter Miller,
picking up sea shells and admiring Alex's superior sand castle building
technique, before Kate Galbraith suddenly appeared and stamped the delicate
structure to bits.
Sitting quietly in a dark room with Deb Stavin, exchanging favorite
Schopenhauer quotes ("There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be
enjoyed, but to be overcome") until Kate Galbraith flicked on a harsh
fluorescent lamp and blasted the stereo.
Enduring a tense dinner out with Ananda Gupta, Kate Wing, and Beth
Sherman--a meal marked by painful silences and women running sobbing from the
table every few minutes, and thankfully interrupted by Kate Galbraith calling
the Health Department and having the joint shut down.
Enjoying this wonderful Web site featuring the extraordinary work of Michael
Wilde, though knowing at any moment Kate Galbraith could hack my gratuitous
plug to smithereens.
Music up, fade to
pink.
Common
Denominator
Female infanticide.
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