United States Land

Last Tuesday, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly revealed that President Obama would follow in President George W. Bush's footsteps and not sign the international Mine Ban Treaty. Many of us had hoped he would embrace President Clinton's pledge that the U.S. would join. The 1997 treaty was a landmark accomplishment. For the first time in history, a group of governments and civil institutions joined together to ban a conventional weapon that had been used by virtually every fighting force in the world for decades.

The largest landowner in America put its property on the block in London last week to try to get foreigners to help pay the cost of rescuing the U.S. savings and loan industry. The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., which has inherited an estimated $10 billion in real estate from failed thrifts, offered the entire portfolio to European investors who might like to own a U.S. shopping center, motel or office building, the Washington Post reported.

The largest landowner in America put its property on the block in London last week to try to get foreigners to help pay the cost of rescuing the U.S. savings and loan industry. The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., which has inherited an estimated $10 billion in real estate from failed thrifts, offered the entire portfolio to European investors who might like to own a U.S. shopping center, motel or office building, the Washington Post reported.

Last Tuesday, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly revealed that President Obama would follow in President George W. Bush's footsteps and not sign the international Mine Ban Treaty. Many of us had hoped he would embrace President Clinton's pledge that the U.S. would join. The 1997 treaty was a landmark accomplishment. For the first time in history, a group of governments and civil institutions joined together to ban a conventional weapon that had been used by virtually every fighting force in the world for decades.

The names of many Los Angeles streets have changed repeatedly over the years, reflecting the city's transformation from a tiny Mexican colonial town to a booming metropolis. Some streets, predictably, honor war heroes and explorers. But others have been named for trees, actors, land developers and--in one case--the proximity of a bullfighting ring. These days, it is not easy to change the name of a street.

Cuba revoked permission for a plane carrying 13 Cuban refugees being deported from the United States to land in Havana, forcing the plane to return to Birmingham, Ala., the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service announced. The Cubans, among the 125,000 refugees who came to the United States as part of the 1980 Mariel boat lift, were being sent back to their homeland under a 1984 program under which Cuba agreed to accept repatriation. Cuba gave no reason for its action.

LEAVE it to the Onion to build a better atlas. The cover of "Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth" (Little, Brown: 246 pp., $27.99) boasts "Curvier Latitude Lines," "Better-Veiled Xenophobia," a "Bono-Awareness Rating" for each country and, enterprisingly, "30% More Asia."

The Pentagon has disclosed that it has selected 46 sites--13 in California--for further scrutiny as possible bases for the new Midgetman ballistic missile. The potential sites, culled from a list of more than 4,200 locations, are on existing military bases operated by the Defense Department or on government reservations operated by the Energy Department.

Last month I received bad news. I was informed that the U.S.Treasury Department would not allow me to attend the 7th Annual Conference of North American and Cuban Philosophers and Social Scientists, to be held in Havana, June 12-26. My application, complete with my rationale and curriculum vitae, was accepted by the conference. That same application was not accepted by the Treasury Department. When I told numerous friends that the "United States forbids my going to Cuba," they were astounded!

Customs agents sawed open two 12-foot steel cylinders at a Port of Houston warehouse Friday and found more than a ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million. The cocaine, crammed into two hollow steel rollers used to press pulp into paper, was seized from a Colombian-registered ship that arrived at a dock in Houston. Agents called it one of the biggest cocaine seizures in the nation this year. No arrests were made, and none are expected.

When high school students DeAnne (Wilson) Nicholas, Carolyn Woods and Dana Schroeder-Butler stepped off the airplane at Los Angeles International Airport in September 1972, they obviously were not returning from a high school field trip. After clearing customs, they were greeted and driven home by then-mayor Robert Root of Fullerton. When classes resumed at Sunny Hills High School, they were honored by the student body at an assembly.