The Gadfly Is All Fired Up

Green Luckies: The Pentagon, reports claim, may soon begin a push to make the U. S. military a smoke-free entity. That, of course, would be a clear departure from the days gone by when cigarettes were included in ration packets provided soldiers. Fifty-one years ago in Germany, I was issued U. S. Army field rations that included packs of "Green Luckies," or Lucky Strikes in green, World War II packaging. They were, natch, left-over from the conflict. Best thing about them was that they were free. Some in the Pentagon say it would take 20 years to make the military smoke-free. I doubt it; more like 50 years.

Smokin' Hot: Oklahoma City radio station KTOK pegged the No. 1 slot in the age 12+ metro radio ratings war in the current "trend" from Arbitron. A trend is an interim measurement of listenership that's issued prior to an actual Arbitron "book" for a specific time period.

Heat Exhaustion: So there I was, 4:15 p.m., standing on the asphalt parking lot of a local grocery store where a distracted pickup driver had just backed into the front of my oldest granddaughter's pristine 1995 Honda Accord. It must have been 140 degrees or so. The details are boring, but the bottom line is it took 12 hours in the ER and a hospital room to get my vitals back in sync.

Heated Up: Every time I hear about the federal ghoul tax...er, death tax...I heat up. Latest on this is the estimated $80 million the IRS will claim from the estate of Michael Jackson. The death tax was enacted first in 1797, allowed to expire, and then enacted again over the years up to 1898, as a temporary measure to raise war cash for the treasury. "Temporary."

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