Beyond the Farm
For the week preceding this Saturday, February 25, 1995, here's a review of what happened Beyond the Farm:
Mexico raised its interest rates 10% Feb 20th in an attempt to stabilize its economy and the still-falling peso. On Feb 21st, the United States and Mexico announced that the latter would receive a $20 billion loan with petroleum revenue posted as collateral in case Mexico defaults on the loan. Meanwhile, the EZLN rebel leaders in hiding rejected an offer of peace talks Feb 20th.
The 1996 Presidential Campaign is getting underway. Nine potential Republican candidates attended a function Feb 19th in Manchester NH. On Feb 24th, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) became the first officially registered candidate. That night, Gramm set a record by raising $4 million at a single dinner; he still trails Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kansas) in early polling.
Britain and Ireland unveiled a framework document for the future of Northern Ireland Feb 22nd. Under the plan, Northern Ireland would gain its own parliament, and an all-Ireland parliament would be formed to handle non-sovereignty issues. The document has already been heavily criticized by those who want to keep Northern Ireland a part of Britain.
They're Talking About It...
A study presented at the National Association of the Advance of Science Feb 19th reported that there is no genetic basis for race. Distributions of traits seem to be present in all human populations.
In shorts...
Sterling Marlin won the Daytona 500 Feb 19th...a Dept. of Education study released Feb 20th revealed that employers pay more attention to attitude than grades in the hiring process...Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the Inkatha Freedom Party walked out of parliament in South Africa Feb 20th...the explosion of a tour bus in Washington DC scorched Blair House Feb 20th...Karen rebels fled from Burma into Thailand Feb 21st...Laura D'Andrea Tyson was named to chair the National Economic Council Feb 21st...Steve Fossett, 41, became the first person to fly alone in a balloon across the Pacific Ocean, setting a distance record as well before landing in Canada Feb 21st...street protests against the government were held in Bolivia Feb 21st...the PLO broke a tense situation with Israel Feb 21st by announcing it would return to peace talks...former Bush administration official James Watt was indicted Feb 21st on perjury charges...France announced Feb 22nd that it was kicking out four US diplomats and another US citizen for industrial espionage; both sides are now downplaying the incident...at least 95 people died in an attempted prison break in Algeria Feb 22nd...President Clinton visited Canada for the first time Feb 22nd...Peru launched an offensive against Ecuador Feb 22nd, doubling the casualties in the conflict to 25... the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 4000 for the first time Feb 23rd at 4003.33; it closed Feb 24th at 4011...the convictions of two Christians accused of anti-Islam blasphemy in Pakistan were overturned Feb 23rd...diver Greg Louganis announced he had AIDS Feb 23rd...prosecutor Christopher Darden had to apologize to judge Lance Ito Feb 23rd in the Simpson trial; the next day Ito decided the defendant's former housekeeper, Rosa Lopez, may testify out of order before returning to El Salvador...20 Shiite Muslims were killed in mosques near Karachi, Pakistan Feb 24th...25 Russian soldiers were killed by errant Russian shelling in Grosny, Chechnya Feb 25th...China and the US reached an 11th-hour agreement Feb 25th to avert trade sanctions due to be implemented the next day...author James Herriet died Feb 23rd at the age of 78.
Finally...
In the wake of President's Day Feb 20th, stories have been floating on the wires about the presidential knowledge of Los Angeles students. Fifteen students in detention at James Monroe High School could not give any facts about Monroe except that "he's dead," and a student at Grover Cleveland Middle School stated, "I always thought this school was named after that town in Canada." (For the record, Cleveland OH was NOT named after Grover Cleveland.)
And that's what happened Beyond the Farm.
Sources this week included All Things Considered (NPR), the Associated Press newswire, the BBC Newshour (BBC/PRI), the Christian Science Monitor, Face the Nation (CBS), Marketplace (PRI), the Osgood Files (CBS radio), the Reuters newswire, This Week with David Brinkley (ABC), and the World News Roundup (CBS radio). -- Lance Gleich, Stanford CA
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