European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 1, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Kurt Cobain a waste of Andy Rooney of know you re getting along in years when your newspaper carries a Page 1 Story about the death of someone you never heard of. A Kurt Cobain a the Story read a who helped to create the grunge Rock sound that has dominated popular music was found dead at his Home. Police said or. Cobain Lead Singer guitarist and songwriter for the influential band nirvana killed himself with a Shotgun blast to the  a further compounding my feeling of ignorance was the fact that i had never heard of a grunge Rock or the band nirvana either. Tommy Dorsey in be heard of Glen Cray and his Casa Loma orchestra i remember. Guy Lombardo sure but Kurt Cobain and nirvana never. Its deaf that the world has passed me by. V a with its 1991 album never mind Quot the Story con Linued a nirvana put alternative Rock the noisy icon smashing spawn of Punk Rock into the commercial  its a terrible thing to realize your brain is so far gone that you  know the a noisy icon smash eng spawn of Punk Rock from the quiet refined conformist Rock music of bands like the rolling. Stones. A v. In my dictionary the word Putin Means a a Young hoodlum or a a Slang poof or bad in  i do not mean to demean Kurt Cobain or to make Light of any persons death but his suicide at age 27 angers me. Id like to have the years left that he had left. It is apparent from what in be read now that he  bpm onto Wal. Was talented and his death is a tragedy but if we All agree that life is Good and death is not then no sue Cess fut person in Good health who takes his own life is a sensible person. It makes me suspicious of his music. If Kurt Cobain applied the same thought process to his music that he applied to his drug infested life then its reasonable for a reasonable person to think that his music May not have made sense either. A. A. A one of Kurtis fans a Young woman named Renae Ely stood outside his Home in Seattle with tears streaming Down her face according to the Story. Quot its hard to be a Young person nowadays a she said a the helped open people s eyes to our  please Renae wipe away the tears. You re breaking my heart. Id love to relieve you of All the pain you re going through by switching my age for yours. The band nirvana is said to have a pulled away from the synthetic sound of much of Rock  the band d dressed in of d clothes apparently bought in Thrift shops. The suggestion was that the clothes were ultimately casual and natural. The picture in the paper is of Kurt Cobain in a pair of ragged jeans with a Hole in the knee. I doubt that Kurt Cobain Ever prayed or did the kind of work that would have worn a Hole in his pants. The pants look to me As. Though they were carefully made by an expensive tailor to look old. On a Back Page of the same newspaper where Kurt Cobain occupied space on Page 1 was a Short obituary of Samuel Thome who died at the age of 87. Professor Thorne was a retired Legal historian at the Harvard Law school. A emr. Thorne a the obituary said a was an authority on English Legat history dating to the 12th Century who wrote extensively on the subject. A during world War ii he was a Navy crypt analyst in the Pacific. In addition to his son Samuel he is survived by his wife of 50 years and another son,7 a  a. A. A a a a. A the length and positioning of the obituaries notwithstanding i think professor Thorne made better use of his life flan Kurt Cobain. Quot a  Olooney is a former stars and stripes  affairs too foreign Clarence Page  column usually does  itself much with foreign affairs which gives it much in common with most americans. That a what president Clinton a polls. Tell him. The result is a foreign policy that. Closely resembles former president Bush a Domestic policy detached inconsistent and frustrating for his advisers who care about such matters. So far his aloofness Hasni to Hurt Clinton much. But lately the world seems stubbornly determined to show him it is not going away. In Bosnia for example the administration assist in the United nations decided to bomb serbian artillery that was shelling Gorade Only Days after be Fehse Secretary William Perry said it would take More than that to bring in our bombs at the same time the administrations failure to notify russian president Boris Yeltsin alienated the Mart who might be our Best Friend in exerting leverage to urge the serbs Back to the peace table. Similarly mixed signals about Trade with Japan human rights and most favored ration status in China and the probable nuclear bomb development in North Korea Send trembles throughout asian capitals about United Stales leadership in that Region. Similar jitters Are Felt among those who look this Way for leadership in other catastrophes a in Rwanda where thousands have been hacked to death in genocidal War Haiti where a democratically elected president remains exiled Israel where the recent Hebron mosque massacre has led to a series of Ter Torisi attacks that stall the peace process and South Africa where chief minister mangos thu but Elezi is stirring unrest among his inkatha Freedom party flock so he will no longer be viewed As the Rodney Dangerfield of the transition to majority Rule. In the face of each of these crises Clinton avoids calling together his defense state and National Security advisers As a thoroughly engaged some said obsessed George Bush would have done. Instead conversations that seem almost casual by comparison seem to serve his purposes. Perry looked embarrassed to confess during a meet the press interview that the president had not talked to him lately about  a a a. Inevitably Washington politicians who Are sympathetic to a Strong american role Oversea Are asking How much Clint Png a detachment May have to do with these various Prises Welling up around the world. It is possible for example that recent military movements by Saddam Hussein a Republican guard near the Border of the Northern a no Fly Quot zone where America has been protecting kurd from his genocidal attacks May have led to the jittery atmosphere that resulted in the tragic shoot Down of american Black Hawk helicopters by american jets. Quot if so it is also possible that Saddam who constantly tested Bush s resolve May have been encouraged to move his own troops by the impression that Clinton is too detached to respond. Presidents elected on Domestic issues tend to be Bottom up foreign policy leaders who let the Public not their own Heads Lead them on foreign policy. Unfortunately in a dangerous unpredictable world various crises arise that Call on presidents to Lead the Public not the other Way around. We have yet to see Bill Clinton meet that test. He a hoping he wont have to. But it May be difficult for Clanton to help bring order to the world until he can bring some to his own foreign policy. A Chicago Tribune a. Page 22 sunday May 1,1994