
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 23, 1991                   TAG: 9103250218
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BRIEFLY PUT . . .

OK, SO the emir of Kuwait waited more than two weeks after his country was liberated before venturing home from exile. Who can blame him? His palace was looted and damaged by the Iraqi occupiers. Now, like house hunters everywhere, he's had to lower his sights and accept compromises.

For the time being, the emir has moved into another bungalow. It has 108 suites, each with seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The emir won't feel ashamed to have neighbors over. But this place, too, was left in bad shape by the departing Iraqis. So to the rescue comes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, employing 400 workers. They're restoring the gold-plated doorknobs and toilet handles, replacing the silk brocade on the walls, etc.

Kuwaitis, of course, will be delighted to learn that the emir's inlaid-leather tables and brocaded cushions were shipped into Kuwait City six days before the first emergency food supplies arrived. And, while waiting hours in line for rations of rice and sugar, they'll no doubt be proud to know their emir dines at a table covered with embossed Irish linen and set with sterling silver, all shipped in on a priority basis. What else is a potentate to do?

SINCE the state Health Department's headquarters was moved to a 90-year-old former train station in Richmond, employees have suffered woe upon woe. Scurrying mice, electrical-system breakdowns, cold drafts, unpleasant smells and high-pitched noises inside the building - not to mention the rumble of passing trains - have been among problems cited. Department officials say it's not unexpected that the old building, purchased by the state in 1988, would include a few kinks. They're correcting them as best they can. What else could they do - complain to the health department?

PEOPLE who think cable TV service in their communities is rotten and who fume about frequent fee increases were recently given this advice: Watch free television. Pop a tape of an old movie into the VCR. "And you can also read books, go to ball games [or] go to movie theaters. Spend the night reading to your children. Spend time with your wife." The advice came during a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications. Curiously, it was offered by none other than the board chairman of Turner Broadcasting System, cable magnate Ted Turner.

TO COMPENSATE for an oversight from the Stalin era, when clocks were left set an hour ahead, most of the U.S.S.R. will not observe the Soviet version of daylight-saving time this year. Given the country's economic troubles, most Soviets would be willing to forget "spring ahead" if they could be sure they won't "fall back."

SHED NO TEARS for Americans for Desert Calm, a group of Richmond businessmen who may be stuck with $10,000 in bills from efforts to raise a bounty for capturing Saddam Hussein. Theirs was a misguided decision. Shrewder people invested in yellow ribbon and U.S. flags.

by CNB