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Frontiers of Free Enterprise

From a Wall Street Journal article on Liz Claiborne, which is launching "Mambo, billing it as the first-ever `Latino' scent for young Americans. But the idea of such a fragrance raises a sticky question: Just what is a Latino smell? Is it the aroma of a plate of chili peppers? The scent of a Havana cigar? ... `We're an American company integrating the idea of a Latino in an American's head,' [Nell] Katz explained." Katz is president of Liz Claiborne Fragrances. "Latinos are the hippest and coolest people around," he said.

King Alan

From a Wall Street Journal article on Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board: "Despite their democratic traditions, Americans sometimes crave a royal family and a king. The Kennedy family fills the first role, but has trouble filling the second. So Alan Greenspan suffices."

Hitler's Fairway

From the World Business Briefing section of The New York Times: "Construction work to transform the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's Alpine command center, into a hotel and golf course is due to start today. The 140-bed luxury hotel at Berchtesgaden will cost $36 million to build and will be on the site of Hermann Goring's summer residence. The hotel operators will be contractually bound not to allow any Nazi-related activity on the site."

Cojones Envy

From a story in The Washington Post on a newly declassified study of deterrence by the U.S. Strategic Command: "The Strategic Command paper relates the story of how the Soviets responded in Lebanon when three of Moscow's officials and their driver were kidnapped and killed. `Two days later,' the paper reported, `the Soviets had delivered to the leader of the revolutionary activity a package containing a single testicle--that of his eldest son--with a message that said in no uncertain terms, "Never bother our people again."' Noting that it illustrated `the type of creative thinking that must go into deciding what to hold at risk in framing deterrent targeting,' the report also says that American society's unwillingness to ever condone such actions `makes it more difficult for us to deter such acts of terrorism.'"

Water Is Not It

From the business section of The New York Times on an article that appeared on a Coca-Cola Company web site: "The article, which Coca-Cola has since removed, explained how Coca-Cola had helped the Olive Garden chain reduce `tap water incidence.' Coca-Cola had worked with Olive Garden ... to develop a program called H2NO, which taught restaurant workers how to discourage customers from sticking with plain old unprofitable water. `Because of its own successful campaign against water,' the article said, `the Olive Garden has recently sent a powerful message to the entire restaurant industry--less water and more beverage choices mean happier customers.'"

Space: The Final Forum

From a Washington Post article on James Pinkerton, domestic policy adviser in the first Bush Administration and currently a fellow at the New America Foundation: "`Space allows you to do everything all over again,' Pinkerton said. `If you don't think your ideology got a fair shake on Earth, try it someplace else.'"

You Gotta Have Priorities

From an article in The Wall Street Journal: "Only 8 percent of 150 executives surveyed by consulting firm Accenture Ltd. consider layoffs the `worst thing' during an economic slowdown, with lack of new capital and inventory overload ranking highest."

Wet Trash

From an Associated Press story, datelined St. Louis. Charges were filed Tuesday against a St. Louis alderwoman who allegedly urinated in a wastebasket rather than yield the floor during a filibuster.... [Irene] Smith could face a fine up to $500 and up to ninety days in jail.

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