The Boys on the Web

Sen. Bob Dole’s Republican presidential primary victories last week may have chased such contenders as Lamar Alexander and Richard Lugar out of the race. But at least one White House aspirant is sticking with it, and documenting his quest in a unique diary on the World Wide Web.

Libertarian candidate Harry Browne--previously best known as a doomsday financial author of such books as “How You Can Profit From the Monetary Crisis” and “How You Can Profit From the Coming Devaluation”--is providing a running account of his campaign on his Web page.

Among the things Browne relates is being on a radio talk show in which two callers asked him whether private citizens should be allowed to own nuclear weapons. (Browne doesn’t reveal his answer.)

At another point, Browne tells of being unable to drive to a radio station for an interview because of a heavy snowstorm. Browne says he asked the miffed host if he could do the interview by phone but was turned down.

Later, he said, he discovered the host instead substituted Harvard Law School professor and former O.J. Simpson defense team member Alan Dershowitz.

Browne also uses his diary to needle Dole, describing the Senate majority leader as “Robert Dole. (Oops. I mean Bob Dole.)” Browne tells of being in the audience during one Dole campaign stop.

“At one point during his speech, the news camera in the balcony pans over to the front row of rapt listeners,” Browne writes. “The man sitting next to me happens to be asleep.”

Charting the Market’s Future

Anyone who didn’t see last Friday’s stock plunge coming can take comfort. Astrologer Henry Weingarten’s “Investing by the Stars” is to be published next month.

Using astrology to try to predict the market isn’t new, but Weingarten offers a twist: Using as one guide the birthdays of markets themselves, such as the New York Stock Exchange’s May 16 anniversary.

No doubt that’s good news, because it means the NYSE is a Taurus, or bull, market.

They’ll Study Hard for This

Attorneys in the state, as part of their continuing education requirements, are being offered an hour of credit in the March issue of California Lawyer magazine to read a three-page article and answer a 20-question quiz.

The self-study article, written by lawyer Michael C. Denison of Kinsella, Boesch, Fujikawa & Towle in Los Angeles, shouldn’t have too much trouble getting the attention of readers--the subject is recovering attorneys fees.

Briefly . . .

A Napa Valley food company has a “vice president of recipes.” . . . Start spreading the catsup: The Fatburger fast-food chain boasts that sales at its Palm Springs outlet more than doubled after it was a sponsor of the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Tournament there. . . . Team Marketing Report sports business newsletter reports the San Diego Padres have a frequent-fans club that rewards people when they attend more games.