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The Business of Golf

From an article in The Wall Street Journal: "A growing number of major companies--including Marriott Corp., International Business Machines Corp., and Merrill Lynch & Co.--are sending young executives to `business golf' experts to learn the art of selling themselves on the fairway.... The courses, which cost up to $5,000 a session and usually combine lectures with time on the greens, feature discussions of such topics as `When do you talk business on the course?' and quizzes on golf rules."

Great Communicator

From an article on the Houston Chronicle's web page about Harold Gunn, Republican candidate for state representative, who wrote and acted in the soft-core adult film The Great Texas Showoff "`It was a blast, something I did twenty years ago,' Gunn said. `My God, I have been around forever. It's just no big deal. It shows I am a great communicator and that's all.'... The movie, most of which takes place inside a topless club, features nude women dancing, jogging through neighborhood streets, and lathering themselves with motor oil. Gunn said the movie is not pornography. `There is no sex and no dirty language,' Gunn said. `It's as tasteful as it can get with naked women in it. But they are all pretty.'"

Pistol-Packin' Party

From an Associated Press article in The Boston Globe datelined Westminster, Maryland, on a sixty-six-year-old woman who won a Beretta 9mm semiautomatic pistol in a Republican Party raffle: "Helen Roop, a registered Republican and retired Carroll County finance department worker, opted for the handgun and shooting classes over the alternative prize of $500. She must pass a background check before getting the pistol."

What's in a Name? Part I

From the web page of The Tampa Tribune on changing the name of a south Tampa subdivision, which has been called Swastika since 1911: "Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena, who initiated the move to change the name, suggested three possible names to replace Swastika: Bay View, Southside, and Millennium.... William Clarke has lived in Swastika for more than fifty years and opposes the change. Clarke said he prefers to remember the term `swastika' for what it meant before Hitler tainted it."

Disney's Changing Face

From an Associated Press article in The New York Times: "Mustaches are no longer banned for Walt Disney's theme park employees, but beards are still taboo."

What's in a Name? Part II

From an Associated Press story datelined Bangor, Maine, in The Boston Globe: "A Texas lawyer is stepping in to represent a small children's newspaper whose name has raised objections from The Wall Street Journal. Evan Butts will not charge a fee to represent the Small Street Journal, which contains puzzles, coloring pages, and educational activities, and is distributed for free from Newburgh, near Bangor."

Swing and Destroy

From an ad for the golf video game called Links Extreme made by the Microsoft Corporation: "Experienced golfers, gamers, and beginners will enjoy blowing off steam at Armadillo Al's Demolition Driving Range, where points are awarded for accurately hitting exploding golf balls into moving targets such as cows, flamingos, and uptight course marshals before time expires." The game's rating is "Teen (13+)--Mild Animated Violence."

Lolitas, Everywhere

From a story in The Washington Post on Maryland Judge Durke G. Thompson, who said an eleven-year-old girl was partly to blame when a twenty-three-year-old man sexually molested her: "He said the case was `not unique' because it dealt with the `age-old problem ... of how to deal with pubescent and even pre-pubescent women and older men.... I don't think [the victim] is free of fault,' the judge said. `I think the old adage that it takes two to tango is true here.'"

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