Twenty Years Ago This Week
Best Internet Service Provider
Although we Marinites pride ourselves on setting trends, not following them, when it comes to Internet service providers, we fall in line. Readers overwhelmingly give the first place nod to America Online, the best-known and biggest Internet service. Convenience, ease of use and all the little perks make it the provider of choice for many a Net nut. AOL offers so many services and sites of its own, you can spend hours of online time without ever venturing onto the web.
—Matthew Stafford, Deborah Crooks and Carol Inkellis, March 17–23, 1999
Forty Years Ago This Week
We asked a reporter, who had little special knowledge of atomic physics and chemistry, to investigate the general principles of producing a hydrogen weapon.
At no time did he look at any classified information, or secret documents. He did only what any good investigative reporter with a few background courses in chemistry and physics would have done: He educated himself on the pubic services available.
In the process, the reporter discovered the key to another “secret” that we at The Progressive had suspected for many years: that the real purpose of the secrecy laws is to shield the weapons program not from those who might seek to injure America, but from Americans who seek to protect America from itself. The secrecy laws, he found, are effectively used to prevent people outside the weapons program from investigating the complex and profound issues of public health, safety and environmental concern arising from the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
—Sam Day, managing editor of ‘The Progressive,’ in a response to an injunction preventing the magazine from publishing an article about the making of an atomic bomb, March 1
Fifty Years Ago This Week
Charles Schulz is known to his friends as Sparky. He lives in a secluded, lushly green, hidden part of Sebastopol. Surrounded by 28 acres of land, he draws “Peanuts” in a quiet, beautifully appointed studio.
First of all, there is the impression that you are talking to a friend: he is easygoing, calm, and confident. There is a quick smile and an honest degree of appreciation if you mention something you like in the comic strip. He has something of the small boy about him: maybe it is the trace of shyness which he isn’t afraid to show. As we left, I felt privileged to have spent the afternoon in such good company. Here’s how it went:
Q: I understand that you and your wife are building a very beautiful ice skating rink in Santa Rosa.
A: Yes. I think, without being egotistical, that we regard this as the world’s most beautiful ice arena, for the kind which is open to the public for general skating. Just the atmosphere of the rink will be different from any that has been constructed . . . the whole thing is going to be kind of extra special.
Where did the name ‘Peanuts’ come from?
It’s a stupid name which was thought up by someone from United Features Syndicate, 18 years ago. I’ve been fighting against it ever since. I think it’s a terrible name.
—Adrianne Marcus, March 20–26, 1969
