News In Brief

WHATTA ATTACHE!

you may have missed the item in a recent Sunday New York Times about Mont Blanc's latest in attach cases. Lined with Kevlar and carbon fiber, they "start" at $1,675. What's the big deal? Well, they're bulletproof. (No, not foolproof, bulletproof.) A company official says 15 heads of state have already snatched up at least one of the bags - perhaps thinking these bodyguards will never write "tell all" books.

A BIGGER AND BIGGER SQUIRT

In case you haven't been to the toy store lately, this season's most awesome squirt gun is reportedly 3 feet long and connects to a backpack that carries two gallons of water. It expels 20 ounces of fluid a second. It's capable of drenching targets 40 feet away. And it soaks some parents for $39.95.

Survey ranks most credible, most influential think tanks

The Heritage Foundation is the most-influential think tank in Washington, but the Brookings Institution is the most credible, according to a survey of 71 congressional staff members and 54 Washington-based journalists in late 1997. It was conducted by Andrew Rich, then a doctoral student at Yale University. (He is now finishing up a year-long fellowship at the Brookings Institution, but that had no influence on the study; he reportedly completed it before he applied for the fellowship.) The Heritage, Foundation, No. 1 in influence, ranked ninth in credibility among the 27 well-known institutions included in the survey. The top five in each category:

Most influential

1. Heritage Foundation

2. Brookings Institution

3. American Enterprise Institute

4. Cato Institute

5. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Most credible

1. Brookings Institution

2. RAND Corp.

3. American Enterprise Institute

4. Council on Foreign Relations

5. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

- The Washington Post

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society