home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text id=89TT2787>
- <title>
- Oct. 23, 1989: Grapevine
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- Oct. 23, 1989 Is Government Dead?
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 42
- Grapevine
- </hdr><body>
- <p> TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE. The President's choice for the
- Resolution Trust Corporation Oversight Board, which is charged with
- setting policy for the $166 billion S&L bailout, is James Simmons,
- retiring chairman of Valley National Bank, Arizona's largest.
- Valley National has a net worth of $541 million and more than $350
- million in defaulted real estate loans on its books, an amount that
- could rise to $800 million, according to some banking experts.
- Simmons was Bush's campaign co-chairman in Arizona.
- </p>
- <p> THE COCAINE AVALANCHE. The fuss over the discovery of 21.4 tons
- of cocaine in a California warehouse a fortnight ago has obscured
- other huge caches of Peruvian powder discovered by incredulous
- federal agents. In one eight-day period, more than 40 tons of
- cocaine was confiscated -- equal to half the nation's estimated
- annual consumption. Drug czar William J. Bennett is demanding an
- urgent review of that estimate.
- </p>
- <p> LOCAL HERO. George Bush has suggested that next year's
- seven-nation economic summit be held in his adopted state of Texas,
- setting off a scramble among cities vying to introduce Europeans
- to barbecue and blazing heat. If Houston, which Bush is said to
- favor, wins, it could be out of the running for the 1992 Republican
- Convention -- a price worth paying, since the economic summit
- should cost the city only $1 million, a lot less than a convention,
- and reap several times as much in revenue.
- </p>
- <p> QUOTE CHECK OF THE WEEK. Turns out that Ollie North's famous
- quip -- "The average height of (Soviet people) is shrinking due to
- poor nutrition. Pretty soon the average Russian male will be
- shorter than Michael Dukakis" -- was first uttered a year earlier
- at the University of Florida by Jack Wheeler, director of
- Washington's ultra-conservative Freedom Research Foundation. Ollie,
- says Wheeler, was sent a copy of his remarks.
- </p>
- <p> GIMME THAT OLD SOFT SHOE. Because 12% of recruits were dropping
- out of basic training, the Navy relaxed some rules. Being unable
- to swim no longer results in automatic discharge. Poor academic
- performance means remedial classes. Even boots aren't mandatory in
- boot camp. Tender-footed recruits can now wear sneakers during the
- first few weeks of training, and stress fractures are way down.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-