home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text id=93TT1185>
- <title>
- Mar. 15, 1993: Rocketing Costs
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Mar. 15, 1993 In the Name of God
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- GRAPEVINE, Page 15
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY
- </p>
- <p>Rocketing Costs
- </p>
- <p> Would you pay millions of dollars for something you don't
- need, don't want and won't use? If you're an American taxpayer,
- you may have no choice. Israel has staged a successful rocket
- launch with its ARROW anti-tactical missile system, a feat that
- will help bolster arguments that U.S. funding of the Israeli
- project should continue. To strengthen Israel's security, the
- U.S. has spent $126 million on the Arrow and plans to pick up
- two-thirds of the projected $322 million in future development
- costs. The U.S. has no plans to purchase the system for itself,
- but when the rockets go into production, America may help buy
- some for Israel. Some Pentagon officials are seething because
- they see the Arrow as redundant: the U.S. has three similar
- anti-tactical missile systems, including an updated version of
- the Patriot, that could be given or sold to Israel.
- </p>
- <p>No. 357--Mr. Aspin Will See You Now
- </p>
- <p> If you want to meet Secretary Of Defense Les Aspin, take a
- number. According to a recent procedural memo (circulated before
- Aspin fell ill from a heart ailment), Pentagon officials have
- to cut through a lot of red tape to get a face-to-face with
- Aspin. The process: 1) fill out an "initial schedule bid." If
- Aspin approves, 2) complete an "amended schedule proposal
- format." And finally 3a) meet with Aspin--unless he doesn't
- like your final proposal, in which case 3b) you return to Step 1.
- </p>
- <p>Want to Play Game Boy or Land Safely?
- </p>
- <p> The airline industry is stepping in where government is
- slow to tread. The senior technical committee of the
- International Air Transport Association will meet next month to
- consider a ban on the use by aircraft passengers of certain
- types of electronic gadgetry (portable computers, cellular
- phones, electronic games), which may cause the disruption of
- airplane flight controls and navigation. The Federal Aviation
- Administration's failure to act decisively forced the industry
- to move.
- </p>
- <p>Clinton in Cyberspace
- </p>
- <p> And they called Reagan The Great Communicator. Bill
- Clinton's new budget proposal has been released as an
- IBM-compatible floppy disc and is selling surprisingly well.
- The disc, which also contains his speech to Congress and other
- supporting documents, sold 900 copies its first week, mostly by
- word of mouth. They're available by mail from the Commerce
- Department for $12 each. Even Chelsea Clinton got a copy: a
- nominee for a Commerce post gave her one to share with her
- schoolmates in a government class. Maybe they'll have some
- fresh ideas about cutting the deficit.
- </p>
- <p>Religious Right Fashion Trends
- </p>
- <p> If you see people sporting buttons that say "Poor,
- Uneducated and Easy to Command," they're not looking for jobs,
- they're making a statement. Leaders and some rank-and-file
- members of Pat Robertson's CHRISTIAN COALITION are wearing the
- buttons as a defiant badge of honor. The Washington Post used
- those unflattering terms in an article criticizing the
- preacher's fundamentalist followers.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-