Scanned using Book ScanCenter 5033

Red Sea Disaster In one of the world's worst shipping disas­ ters, some 500 people were feared dead when an Egyptian roll-on roll-off ferry sank after hit­ ting a reef in the Red Sea. ^ Japan Bashing On the eve of the fiftieth year since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, George Bush says Americans have no need to apologize for the atomic-bomb attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. At a time of increasingly strained relations between the two countries, his comments are construed by many as an unnecessarily callous reaction to one of wartime's most haunting acts. ^ Surprise, Surprise "As my Aunt Eula put it, "The water won't ever clear up 'til you get the hogs out of the creek." The hogs have been in the creek for more than a decade now,taking too much for themselves and fouling the economic and environmental waters for the great majority of Americans." —Jim Hightower UTNE READER, DECEMBER, 1991 From Russia with Love In a development so tumultuous, so sweeping, and so swift that it would have defied even Nostradamus, the Soviet Union dissolves quickly by the end of December. While the for­ mer Soviet Bloc nations tum­ bled in rapid succession during the past two years, few ana­ lysts predicted the absolute break-up of the world's other "superpower." Fed by a failed coup attempt in August, reform-minded politicians and citizens aggressively forged a no-looking-back approach and pressed Mikhail Gorbachev for more than just subtle demo­ cratic change. By early 1992, Gorbachev was little more than a "New York Times" columnist. Controversy heats up during the month about October Surprise, a tale alleging that in 1980 the Reagan election forces secured a pact with Iranian offi­ cials not to release the 52 hostages until after the prez election. Spurred by the release of Gary Sick's inves­ tigative account, the notion kicks around for a while until more pressing matters, such as check-bouncing, crop up in the Beltway. Re-Union Under the direction of the fed­ eral government, the historical­ ly mob-infiltrated Teamsters hold reasonably legit elections and elect reform candidate Ron Carey as president. ► We Got the Beat Surgeon General's Warning Wrapped in the most ominous packaging most can remember. Death cigarettes sweep the area as the naughty nicotine of choice for smokers. Developed as a humorous way to dissuade people from lighting up, they become a novelty item and the ultimate gag gift. Tom Boyc Gov. Barbara Roberts takes to the highways for a series of "Roadside Chats," ostensibly listening to Oregonians’ concerns, especially tax - alternatives. "Naked Lunch," David Cronenberg's screen adaptation of the popular William Burroughs' novel, opens nationally to a majori­ ty of favorable reviews. Almost overnight, Portland bookstores sell all remaining copies, indicating that the reading habits of many readers are dictated by Hollywood. Conspiracy Theory William Kennedy Smith, a minor clan member, stands trial for allegedly raping a Palm Beach woman at the Kennedy castle and is acquitted. Live coverage grips the nation as the defendant, Patricia Bowman, appears with a blip covering her face during testimony. Showing just how flippantly some handled the trial, CBS quickly mimicked the blip in an ad for its Monday lineup.