Living on the US West Coast, I receive the NATION magazine long after everyone on the east coast. I received the Sept. 29 issue, which was probably mailed on the 17th or the 20th, on Sept. 26. This means that I get to enjoy life as if I were in a time machine. Seemingly weeks after the official media and much of the public have forgotten Princess Di's fifteen minutes of fatal fame, I get to read what seems to be a NATION special issue on the woman. At least the three columnists all obsessed on her death (and that of Mother T.) It's worth it to read Katha Pollitt (a great columnist) write: "What depresses me about the outpouring of emotion on the death of Diana is what it says about how little so many millions of people expect of life. It's pathetic, really, all those grown men and women telling reporters about how much it meant to them that Diana visited some relative's hospital room, or shook their hand at the opening of a supermarket, or just 'meant something' or 'made a difference' of some never-exactly- specified nature. It's as if people had abandoned any hope of achieving justice, equality, self-determination, true democracy, and want nothing more than a ruling class with a human face." It sure seems like they have. I can't be snobby toward them, since I'm not immune to the charm of the famous. I recently got an autograph from Michael Moore on my copy of his DOWNSIZE THIS! and still feel good about it. BTW, his book is a good example of how humor can be progressive, despite Ajit's principled rejection of humor. Speaking of humor, here are two jokes from my 7-year-old son, Guthrie: "What do you say to an annoying zombie?" "Get a life!" And: "What kind of handwriting does the mummy use?" "Cursive!" a chip off the old block! Too bad the fad of comedians hitting it rich is ending... Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/fall%201997/ECON/jdevine.html "God is Elvis." -- religion for the 1990s.
