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Information you might find useful on a variety of "timely" topics

September 1998 Vol. 219 No. 9
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R. W. Scott

Surprises

B.U.L.L. LeBleau, our oilfield correspondent from Cocodrie, Louisiana, called in response to the catastrophes mentioned on this page last month, particularly as related to the Y2K thing. Bull reports that, indeed, Y2K has surprisingly great unappreciated potential as an extremely positive force in the universe — if at 12:00:01 AM on January 1, 2000, all voice mail systems in the world self-destruct and plans for building same are irretrievably lost into the ether forevermore because nobody saw any need for a hard copy.

We should be so lucky.

According to The Economist, via the Washinton Times, Charles Faa Blythe was crowned king of the Gypsies, or Romani people, as some like to be called, in 1898. Deservedly or not, Gypsies have long had a reputation for cleverness, prevarication, being less than honest and leading a migratory lifestyle. As a result, they've been persecuted — and prosecuted — forever. Andrew Blythe, a relative of the king, came to the U.S. in the late 1800s to escape harassment in Scotland. Andrew's descendants included William Blythe, who died in an auto crash and who had a son who changed his name (when his mother remarried) to Billy Jeff Clinton.

As newscaster Paul Harvey might put it, "Now you know the rest of the story."

Oil prices were still terrible as this was written. But they've been worse, as indicated in the letter below (provided by a good friend and reader), an exact copy of one sent to all royalty owners and operators in Texas' East Texas field awhile back.

That sneaky last paragraph makes one wonder what the real price was, doesn't it?

The Washington Times recently reported that a United Airlines flight approaching Frankfurt (some years ago, obviously) overheard the following exchange between a just-landed British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206, and Frankfurt ground control. Frankfurt controllers, who apparently think they are still in the SS or the Luftwaffe, are infamous for their short tempers and rudeness:

Speedbird: "Good morning, Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear (of runway)."

Ground: "Guten morgen, taxi to your gate." (The BA 747 then stops on the main taxiway.)

Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?"

Speedbird: "Standby, Ground, I'm looking up the gate location now."

Ground (impatiently): "Speedbird 206 have you never been to Frankfurt before?"

Speedbird (coolly): "Yes, several times in 1944, but I didn't stop."

Waste, mismanagement and fraud in nearly every UN operation across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North and South America have been revealed by an internal audit according to a recent report in The Sunday Times. And the UN hierarchy continues to wonder why the U.S. and others are hesitant to send money to a bunch of profligate creeps responsible to nobody. Some brief examples:

The Secretary General of the UN conference on living conditions for the poor, Habitat II, held in Istanbul awhile back, spent $370,000 on travel preparing for the conference. He also spent only ten out of 268 days at his office in Nairobi, Kenya.
The deputy honcho of Habitat II spent $210,000 on his travel, including flights to his home in Brazil. He continued to charge travel to the UN after his $457,000 contract expired.
Both jokers above hired fundraisers for the meeting, one of whom was paid $78,835 to raise $100,000 — but didn't raise a red cent.
The U.S. chief of the UN's marketing and sales operation in New York awarded lucrative contracts to her boyfriend and couldn't account for $120,000 missing from the 1995 Women's Conference in Beijing — the one where the Chinese awarded Hillary the title of Best Propaganda Spreader in the world.

We have no information to what happened to these people, which were undoubtedly three of a massive school of fish who continue to squander money from the taxpayers of the world. We still think the UN should go to hell, with second choice to set up shop in Lagos, where all UN meetings henceforth on anything would be held — if only to see how many thieving bureaucrats would go there.

To celebrate its 50th birthday, the CIA recently gave out bright, white coffee mugs with its seal emblazoned thereon and a non-skid bottom — on which is stamped "Made in China."

Where else, these days?

FROM THE ARCHIVE