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Navigator Bombs on Apology

From the Philadelphia Inquirer on Ted "Dutch" Van Kirk, navigator of the plane that dropped the, first atomic bomb on Hiroshima: Noting that more people would have died in a longer war than the 140,000 people killed by the bomb, Van Kirk says: Everybody keeps trying to get me down on my knees to cry about it and say I am sorry and everything. None of us ever have. Nobody ever had any second thoughts about it.'"

Mechanical Meat

From a Reuters on-line report datelined London on a new robot that runs on meat: "Dubbed Chew Chew the `gastrobot,' a twelve-wheeled, train-like robot runs on a microbial fuel cell, which breaks down food with bacteria and converts it into electrical energy, according to a report in New Scientist magazine.... `The ideal fuel in terms of energy gain is meat. Vegetation is not nearly as nutritious,' [inventor Stuart] Wilkinson said."

High School Hold-Up

From the on-line edition of The Baltimore Sun on a staged hostage-taking inside a classroom at Perry Hall High School: "Sandy Caslin, who teaches a juvenile justice class, worked up the hostage lesson plan with School Resource Officer Gregory Klein and Officer Joseph Conger.... Conger entered Caslin's classroom, grabbed her by the neck, and pointed an unloaded service revolver at the ceiling.... Caslin's students, who did not know the attack was a fake, were surprised by the intruder. `The kids reacted the way anyone would,' said Charles A. Herndon, the school's spokesman. `There was certainly some anxiety, and they were very concerned.'"

Artificial Artifacts

From a Reuters on-line report datelined Tokyo on archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura, who `planted eight stoneware pieces at an excavation site and claimed the stoneware dated back to an early stage of the Stone Age.... Initially, it enhanced his reputation among his peers as having `a god's hands' for his ability to find artifacts."

Able Applicants Only

From the on-line edition of Ragged Edge magazine on a help-wanted sign spotted in San Jose, California: "The sign for the Le Boulanger restaurant chain reads, `Help us. We need able-bodied people willing to work!'"

Helping Out the Homeless, I

From an on-line Associated Press report datelined Riverside, California, on a proposed voluntary fingerprinting program for the homeless: "`This is strictly for the purpose of identifying an individual so we can track their services more effectively and better plan for their needs,' Kevin Gaines, spokesman for the Riverside County's Department of Public Social Services, said. But some of the homeless and their advocates say the move is too intrusive. `I'm not hiding anything, but I think it's just getting into my business a little bit,' Gary Cervantes said. `It feels a little bit like they are tagging an animal.'"

Helping Out the Homeless, II

From a Reuters on-line report datelined London on the British government's advertising campaign to try to stop people from giving money to the homeless: "The Observer newspaper said a $347,500 campaign would be unveiled four weeks before Christmas. `We want to encourage people to volunteer or give gifts in kind rather than stopping to give cash. There may be public goodwill toward these people, but it isn't necessarily helpful to give them money,' a government official was quoted as saying."

Slur of Endearment 

From the New York Daily News on-line edition: "Kingsley Braggs, seven, came home from St. Ignatius Loyola grammar school and asked his mother to cut his curly hair and shave his arms. When she asked why, the little boy showed her a worksheet on which his teacher, Sister Mary Seton, had scrawled `like a monkey!' under the word `handsome,' which he had written to describe himself.... The Reverend Walter Modrys, pastor of the school's parish, insisted the nun wrote the words as a `term of endearment.'"

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