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- GRAPEVINE, Page 27
-
-
- By JANICE CASTRO
-
- Bonner's Air Force
-
- As soon as he's finished battling Customs, Treasury, the
- Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard and much of the
- White House staff, Drug Enforcement Administration chief ROBERT
- BONNER may want to begin circulating his resume. Bonner started
- the fight with "Operation Granite," a new drug-interdiction
- scheme he concocted for the Caribbean. Under a plan that one top
- Administration source calls "remarkably stupid," DEA would base
- 10 Black Hawk helicopters in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic
- for chasing down drug smugglers flying out of Colombia. One of
- Bonner's targets: drugs being air-dropped to boats. Customs and
- the Coast Guard objected, since they already operate large
- interdiction forces in the Caribbean. Besides, the air drops are
- declining, according to DEA information that agency chief Bonner
- apparently did not note. Attorney General William Barr, though,
- has been "slamming the table," say critics, in support of
- Bonner. Barr may be Bonner's last line of defense. DEA agents,
- who call their boss "Marco Polo" for his habit of official
- travel to exotic climes, have been scratching their heads over
- the plan. President Bush is expected to referee the squabble
- this week.
-
- Not so Fast, Comrade
-
- Congress cheered when Boris Yeltsin promised last week
- that "the idol of communism" has "collapsed, never to rise
- again." But he'd better watch his back at home. Yeltsin's Vice
- President, ALEXANDER RUTSKOI, a hero of the Afghan conflict,
- openly opposes many of Yeltsin's reforms, derisively referring
- to the Russian President's aides as "little boys in pink
- shorts." Even as Yeltsin was meeting President Bush last week,
- Andrei Sidelnikov, a top Rutskoi aide and fellow war hero, was
- treating Washington to a different view, one thought to be
- shared by Rutskoi. Said Sidelnikov: "I don't see why I should
- give up the ideals of the party just because 100 or so people
- betrayed communism. Before, we had beautiful movies, sport,
- culture. And now what happens? All of our best people are going
- to America. And what do we get? Prostitutes, criminals, the
- Mafia."
-
- Breaking the Silence
-
- Ever since her searing experience during the Thomas
- hearings, University of Oklahoma law professor ANITA HILL has
- kept her own counsel for the most part. Not anymore. Beginning
- in August, Hill will take a nine-month sabbatical to explore the
- notion of founding (and funding) an institute to study racism
- and sexism in the U.S. Meanwhile, on Oct. 16, Hill and
- Georgetown University law professor Emma Jordan will convene a
- one-day conference on "Race, Gender and Power in America." Hill
- will take the mike as keynote speaker.
-
- Stop Me If You've Heard This
-
- Fallen Angel, a play about a rock band that is opening in
- Chicago next month, features a memorable jailhouse scene in
- which the young leader of the band visits his father, a
- convicted financier. Perhaps the playwright, BILLY BOESKY,
- understood the material all too well. His father, Ivan Boesky,
- served two years (1988-90) for stock-trading crimes.
-
- Forward Spin
-
- CALIFORNIA SPLIT
-
- California is nearly broke, and may start paying workers
- with IOUS. No wonder half the Californians in a new Young &
- Rubicam survey say they'd be better off in another state. Look
- for a new surge to Oregon and the Rockies.
-
- HEALING TRAVEL
-
- Banged-up vacationers who have grown weary of white-water
- kayaking, dangling from cliffs and other trendy adventure trips
- are now turning to spiritual vacations featuring meditation and
- silence. Next: virtual-reality travel; you don't leave home at
- all.
-
- LET THEM EAT HAKE
-
- Lloyd Bentsen said not long ago that George Bush must be
- a real Texan because "he can rope, tie and brand a lobster with
- the best of them." Now a New Jersey farming community has
- discovered that its cows like to eat clams and other seafood.
- Get ready for Bush Burgers: surf and turf all in one.
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