EI~e ui ranu & ga MICHAEL ROSENBERG Roses Are Read The 4il thsigwe fer... Patrick Buchanan is gaining popularity by the day. He is one of the three or four most likely candidates to be the next leader of the free world. After finishing second in the New Hampshire Republican primary in 1992, Patrick Buchanan declared that "uchanan's brigades" were taking er the Republican party. Adolf Hitler's brigades murdered 6 million Jews between 1939 and 1945. Hitler systematically forced people from their homes, put them to work, starved them and killed them. Adolf Hitler was "a man of great courage" and "extraordinary gifts," according to Patrick Buchanan. WDr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped orchestrate many peaceful civil rights demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s. Largely because of King's work, blacks now enjoy freedoms unavailable to them 40 years ago. "I have a dream that some day ... the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of *otherhood," King said. . . "Dr.. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most divisive men in contem- porary history," said Pat Buchanan in The Washington Post. When Jews showed up at a 1992 Buchanan campaign stop, he re- sponded to their charges of anti- Semitism. "This rally is of Ameri- ns, for Americans and for the good d USA, my friends." The bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City last spring killed more than 100 people. The suspects in the bombing, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, attended meetings of a militia group in Michigan, which spouted racist and anti-Semitic views. Militias like this Ae are believed to be operating in at Teast 40 states and have at least 15,000 members, according to the Anti-Defamation League. It is not uncommon for these militias to argue that the United States government is a puppet of Jews and blacks who are trying to steal money from other Americans. On more than one occasion, Patrick Ouchanan has said that Washington, D.C., is "Israeli-occupied territory." . . . German intelligence estimates that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 right-wing extremists in Germany, most of whom are Skinheads. Among the acts committed for anti-Semitic purposes in Germany in the past five years: arson, fire-bombings and child- illings. William F. Buckley is Patrick Buchanan's former mentor and the founder'of The National Review. Here is Buckley's response to accusations that Buchanan is anti- Semitic: "I find it impossible to defend Pat Buchanan against the charge." The ADL estimates that there are *500 Skinheads in the United States, among 70,000 around the world. The ADL considers the Skinheads in the United States to be "extensively linked" to Skinheads around the world through music, paraphernalia, and the trading of various propagan- dist literature. About 2,000 crimes of anti-Semitic as occur in the United States each ar. Over the past 10 years, at least 37 murders have been committed in this country by Skinheads, according to the ADL. The victims have varied from homosexuals to Jews to blacks. - « - In Ann Arbor, Mich., bathrooms on 4 . By Dean Bakopoulos Daily Books Editor If you're one of the lucky students who can afford a plane ticket this spring break, you are going to bypass all the horrors of the fabled road trip, the car trouble, the unexpected the ' blizzard, the inevitable strung-out hippie-beatnik hitchhiker you decide to pickup. You will be some 900 billion mega-giga- jigawatt miles in the air, hovering over the rest of us poor saps stuck on the ground below changing flat tires or sitting in a urine-scented bus station. You will be coddled and cradled by flight attendants and served teeny-weeny bags of honey- roasted peanuts and cute little cans of soda. You think you're taking the easy way out? Think again. Sure, someone else is going to do all the driving. And sure you can sleep or get drunk or watch Jim Carrey movies the whole way down to some balmy tropical destination. And granted, you get to take home all the motion sickness bags that you can stuff in your pants. But air travel ain't for the faint- hearted, folks, and if you plan on flying the not-so-friendly skies this spring break, you best listen up and follow these simple survival rules. Getting There First of all, you should fly British Airways. I swear to you, on my first British Airways flight, I was treated like Prince Charles himself. I won a bottle of wine, was fed lovely refreshments every hour and had a wonderful flight attendant named Sara who fluffed my pillow and rubbed my shoulders and sang me a lullaby every time turbulence woke me up. But that's the Brits; they do everything better than Americans, and if you're not headed to the U.K., you, old sport, are out of luck. So, since you probably can't get a British Airways flight to AND A UTOMOBILES By Jeffrey Dinsmore Daily Arts Writer By Greg Parker Daily Arts Writer l i i 1 1 South Padre Island, at least try to tind a reputable airline. It your Billy Strayhorn took the" A' Train," and John Coltrane took airplane ticket has "Joe and Maude's Airline and Lawn Service" the "Blue Train." We all sang along with "conjunction junction, written on it, you may want to call your travel agent. Right now. what's your function" Saturday mornings on Schoolhouse After verifying the reputation of your airline, you can start Rock, and the Beatles talked about the "One after the 909." Cat planning your trip, and that includes thoughtful and thorough Stevens took the "Peace Train" to oblivion. Some of you might packing. Be sure to bring all the essentials for your trip in a remember Ozzy Ozbourne's "Crazy Train," and we all know carry-on bag, since the rest of your luggage is likely to get lost that Axl Rose rode the "Night Train" to wherever. between the moon and New York City. "Essentials" include all Billy Crystal tried to "Throw Momma from the Train," and important documents, toiletries, a change of clothes, a swim- the "Terror Train" took cinema quality paradigms straight to suit, and your beer-drinking hat that holds two cans on each hell. A train was made into a time machine in one of the "Back side and has those wacky plastic straws coming down to your to the Future" movies. It's hard to name a James Bond film mouth. without a fight-on-a-train sequence,,and Wesley Snipes and Speaking of luggage, if you're heading to a foreign land. Woody Harrelson succeeded in mobilizing the entire Republi- don't be an idiot and try to "sneak" some illegal substance inato can caucus against the movie "Night Train." And how the country. Everyone knows that Spring Break is meant for could anyone forget "Starlight Express," the drinking, not getting high. Besides, the NyQuil in your carry- Broadway musical in which actors on roller on bag should provide enough chemical stimulation for the skates played trains. Like it or hate it, it was whole gang. You should also note that most Latin American a novel idea. countries have recently added Todd Rundgren CDs to their Streamlined trains epitomized list of items not allowed to be brought into the country. progress in the 1930s, and it This is because Todd Rundgren sucks. As a rule, was rails that first linked the y o u country at Promintary Point should in the 1840s. All attention a v o i d turned toward trains in the late bringing 1800s, with the Populists attacking the big anything that business train trusts. During the first and sec- sucks into an ond great migrations of the 20th airport. century, scores of African As for going an Americans to the airport, moved North it costs ofthe Mason- r o u g h l y Dixon Line in $900 to get perhaps the greatest exodus in American history. from Ann The train has left quite a legacy on America. While train Arbor to Detroit Metro Airport in a taxi. Try and get a ride travel willnever regain the popularity it once had, it's still viable on the Commuter vans or make one of your poor homebound and efficient transportation. Don't let the recent rash ofderailings friends drive you. And, as always, arrive early. For example, if deter you-riding the rails is a great way to travel. It allows one your flight leaves Sunday, leave now. Go. Hurry. Finish this to forgo the psychotic arena of the airport, and it is free of article on the plane. driving induced stress. Buses are slower and less efficient, but Flying the train still leaves the driving to "them." It's pretty cheap, too. It's on the plane where you'll need the most help. Once you Riding Amtrak to Chicago from Ann Arbor costs only $10 check your luggage and get on board and find your seat and one way on Mondays. Yes, that's right, $10. If you come back settle down and fasten your seat belt, you will have to go pee. on a Monday, it's the same price; otherwise, it's $35 to return. It's inevitable. Do that before the plane takes off. There's Either way, $45 to Chicago round trip is a great deal. No car to nothing worse than hitting an air pocket in midstream. park, no gas to buy and no accidents, breakdowns or tickets. As Of course, at this time of the year planes are packed, so for derailments, someone recently quipped that rail travel is still chances are you will be sitting among strangers. If you are the safest method of transportation. sitting with a bunch of college kids, that's not so bad, because I'm taking advantage of this deal - I couldn't pass it up. you can all sit around and talk about how drunk you will get and Plus, I hate to say this, but I've never ridden on a "real" train. how much you are going to score. But if you are sitting by Joe Sure, I've been on the People Mover in Detroit (Coleman's Businessman traveling south to embezzle funds from a Carib- Train), or on the Huckleberry Railroad and even the commuter bean bank account, the conversation is less stimulating. Bring trains in a book or a Walkman. If anyone creepy tries to start a conver- Philly. But sation with you, nod politely and pretend you are deeply I've never engrossed in your novel/music/Nintendo Game Boy/soft por- been on a nography. If they still insist on running their jaw, feign death. re -Ii v e Still, there's plenty to do on the plane if you forget to bring A m t r a k along some diversionary toy. You can watch the flight movie, train. Pend- something you would probably never consider renting at ing my safe ar-j Blockbuster, but on the plane you gobble it up like it's "Citizen rival in Chicago Kane." Or you can listen to the airline radio with free head- (read: I'm paranoid phones they pass out on board. This radio system has channels about train wrecks), I think like "The Lionel Richie Hour" and "The Richard Simmons Fat the train trip will be a good old- Guy Comedy Network." If this bores you, impress the flight fashioned hoot. attendants by showing your emergency skills and opening the I plan on letting the murmur of the diesel exit doors, inflating the life raft and ripping down the oxygen locomotive lull me to sleep; I plan on watching masks. the lazy towns endlessly roll by. Mostly, I plan-on And if all else fails, fly drunk, because you sure as hell can't relaxing. The beauty of a train ride is that in my case, it smoke on the plane. allows significant "relax time," which is what I want for my Landing and Arrival spring break. I don't want to drive, and I don't want to worry about baggage claim at the airport. I want to sit for four hours Cars. Is there a better way to travel'? The answer is: no. There is no substitute for a road trip, unless, ofcourse, you're going overseas. Then the preferred thing to do is wind-surf the ocean. Trust me, you'll feel healthy, and just imagine all the great stories you'll have. I took a road trip for spring break last year, and I'm doing it again next week. When you're riding in a car with three other guys, unshaven and hung over, the car reeking of cold canned foods and the delightful aroma of stale body odor, underwear slightly worn out from its five-day unwashed gig, man, then you know you're living the good life. You ean't even set foot out of the car for fear that the locals will run screaming for their daughters and their shotguns. Unless you're at a truck stop, where the filthy go to play. There you will be accepted into an exclusive club full of angry men with suspicious eyes. Remember to stop at Stuckey's while you're there and pick up a pecan log. It's all you'll have to eat for a while. My friends and I enjoyed many of these delicious pecan- covered logs last year on our way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Six of us made that long trek in two cars - Buffalo Wings, Too Tall, Rock Monkey, City-Boy, Mr. Clean, and your humble narrator. Bob Peters (all names have been slightly changed). Our first stop after everyone had been picked up from their respective cities, was Mammoth Caves, Kentucky. To our surprise, the Mammoth Caves campgrounds were closed, since it was about 1.0 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. So we ended up at one of the world-famous Jellystone Park camp- grounds and set up shop for the night. We finally got our fire started after two hours of intense work, at which point City- Boy lit himself on fire twice by attempting to make ham- burgers. I woke up with icicles hanging from my nostril hairs, and I was sleeping in one of the cars. We had to take an ice pick to the two fools in the tents. For the rest of the trip, we didn't need to buy pre-chilled beer, we'd just hand our cans to Buffalo Wings and Too Tall for a few minutes. After a tour of Mammoth Caves that afternoon, we were back on the road, this time headed toward Memphis, Tennes- see. To anyone under 21 who is planning on hanging around Memphis for spring break, I offer a word of advice -don't. Memphis plays it strictly by the rules, and the rules say that anyone under 21 does not require alcohol. It didn't really matter all that much, since we were carrying two large jugs of assorted liquor and several cases of ale with us in the cars, but we were still pretty upset. Much of the thrill of the college road trip comes from drinking alcohol in new and exotic locations. I guess no one told Memphis that. And another thing ... Graceland was closed! Here we are, six scuzzy guys, miles from the safe streets of Ann Arbor, and they close Elvis' damn house on us! On the way out of town, Mr. Clean made sure to wave a friendly naked butt cheek at the Memphis sign, to let them know how much we appreciated that. By this point in our journey, the cars were beginning to take on that comfortable odor that I discussed earlier. Or maybe we were beginning to take on that smell, and the cars were the ones retching and gagging. No matter, because our next stop was the warm Louisiana coast, where we drank with the locals, ate po-boys for every meal, swam in the ocean, and slept in the sand. The town we ended up in was called Grand Isle, right on the very tip of the country we call the United States. Apparently the Grand Isle townies weren't aware that they had been accepted into the Union and were required to obey Ameri- can laws, because no one seemed to care that we were tossing back Millers in the local tavern. "Sucks to Memphis!" screamed Rock Monkey, as he chugged his final Dixie beer, a not-to-be-missed highlight of the great state of Louisiana. From the bar, we drove back up to New Orleans, where we conned a Tulane Uni- versity fraternity house into believing that we were their long-lost brothers from U- M. Satisfied that we had a place to stay for the night, we jumped on a streetcar, headed toward world infamous Bourbon Street. One note for the wise - streetcars are not the same as cars. Do not mistake the two. Cars are good, streetcars are bad. It took us about an hour to travel the two miles from the frat house to Bourbon Street. By the time we reached the action, we were almost sober. Do not let this happen to you. I'm not aoino to eet into the details of Mardi Gras, as i t f i _ , / ! l I If you are a smoker, you are going to need to smoke as soon as you get off the plane. Airport officials know that, so most of thamhae liintid llenleino lmicrPC hrar etrv to on a trainand take in the scenery and possibly a good book. A friend and I rode our bikes to pick up the train tickets - of --mc n-- nh idm by the Cin ndvnoncer. For thneeof you