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- GRAPEVINE, Page 9
-
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- By JANICE CASTRO
-
- Reaping What We Sowed
-
- Afghanistan's Mujahedin rebels inflicted considerable
- damage on occupying Soviet troops and government forces thanks
- to mountains of sophisticated weaponry supplied from American
- and other Western sources. Now that a cease-fire is in place,
- terrorist groups and outlaw regimes are on a shopping spree in
- Afghanistan. Governments around the world are worried,
- particularly those from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to the Central
- Asian republics that might become targets of more powerful
- weapons. Iran has deployed two delegations to Kabul, offering
- to pay generously for American-made Stinger missiles -- the
- shoulder-mounted rockets can shoot down helicopters and
- low-flying aircraft. With thousands of Stingers now lying unused
- in Afghanistan, some are bound to end up in the wrong hands.
- Says an intelligence operative: "Stingers are by far the
- greatest and most immediate threat from terrorism."
-
- Nonrenewable Resources
-
- The shelling of the 7th century city of Dubrovnik by the
- Serbian navy during Yugoslavia's fighting last year has given
- rise to an unusual resolution to be voted upon at the global
- environmental conference in Rio next month. UNESCO has a list
- of 358 cultural and historical structures, ranging from the
- Acropolis, the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China to Vatican
- City, the Statue of Liberty and the Taj Mahal. UNESCO seeks to
- make war activities "which are intended, or may be expected, to
- cause long-term or severe damage to the properties" a war crime
- under the Geneva conventions. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
- and Argentine President Carlos Menem are among world leaders
- endorsing the initiative.
-
- Here Comes the Really Big One
-
- Maybe it's the thought of all those Soviet republics and
- East European populations breaking away from hated governments.
- Californians will vote in next month's primary on a proposal to
- create political fault lines that would divide America's most
- populous state into two or even three states. Talk of secession
- is on the rise again across the U.S. Like those who want to
- subdivide California, many citizens in other states think they'd
- be better off without their big cities, high taxes or state
- governments. In Kansas, 10 southwestern counties hope that parts
- of neighboring Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado will join them in
- founding a 51st state. Since Kansans in the rebellious counties
- voted 9 to 1 in favor of the idea earlier this month, local
- officials have been working on a new constitution and planning
- a convention in September. Similar talk still festers from
- Alaska to the Michigan peninsula. Why bother throwing the
- rascals out when you can simply leave them behind?
-
- This Is Bill's Kind of Town
-
- Now that BILL CLINTON feels confident that he will be the
- Democratic nominee, he wants to move his campaign headquarters
- out of Little Rock. First-choice Washington was shot down by
- aides concerned about the public's anti-Washington mood. Now
- they're looking over Chicago. One advantage: it has a large
- airport. Bad news: it's O'Hare.
-
- Forward Spin
-
- CLINTON TALK
-
- Bill Clinton often promises to stick it out "until the
- last dog dies." Last week he claimed that Bush "is a gone dog."
- Expect protests by canine-rights activists.
-
- TIME WARP
-
- With the 20th anniversary of Watergate only a month away,
- cbs hopes to interview Deep Throat. G. Gordon Liddy, now a
- radio talk-show host in Washington, is seeking to interview Carl
- Bernstein. What next? Richard Nixon on late-night TV hawking
- copies of his famous tapes?
-
- WORD WATCH
-
- Employers don't like to use that awkward term fired. While
- many companies "restructure," National Semiconductor "reshaped"
- its work force. Digital was gripped by "involuntary
- methodologies." Bank of America "released resources." Wal-Mart
- executed "a normal payroll adjustment." Hmmm.
-
- HIP KIDS
-
- Where have all the folk singers gone? Tom Paxton, Pete
- Seeger and Tom Chapin have been making records for little tykes.
- Next: Judy Collins' Amazing Grades.
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