Volume 13, Number 31, August 3, 2008

 (Check out my blog at: http://jpdave.blogspot.com/ and feel free to leave a comment (even a few comments will encourage me to blog more)! Go on; take a look! Go! Now – this’ll still be here.

Greetings, and thanks for joining me for another week. Starting us off are a few news stories you may have missed. First, things are tough everywhere! The Wall Street Journal carried the following Bit to show what I mean: Among President Sarkozy's recent moves to shrink the size of the French government was the layoff of half of the 165 physiotherapists at the taxpayer-funded National Baths of Aix-les-Bains. The laid-off masseurs caution that the country's health will be threatened if people are unable to get the mud wraps, thermal baths and deep-tissue massages covered by national health insurance (along with subsidized transportation and lodging for the visits – no wonder health insurance costs are so high). In fact, 27 of the physiotherapists without delay went on sick leave for depression (oh, no). Among Sarkozy's other targets of government bloat: figuring out why France employs 271 diplomats in India but more than 700 in Senegal. You know, I was just wondering the same thing….

Next, government at its best (as presented in the St. Petersburg Times or Hello, Right Hand…). A commercial, pre-packaged ham-and-cheese sandwich using one slice of bread (?) is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which conducts daily inspections under its jurisdiction, but a ham-and-cheese sandwich on two slices of bread falls to the Food and Drug Administration, which inspects plants about once every five years. That incongruity surfaced in the current presidential campaign and was verified by a Congressional Quarterly-St. Petersburg Times "Politifact" researcher. A USDA official admitted to the Times that there "is no rationale or logic" behind the distinction: "(I)t's an issue that makes it look like we don't know what we're doing." (Uh, yeah, but we already knew that.)

Finally, from Ananova, an enigmatic Bit. A pizza restaurant in China has confused customers by using banana and peach signs on the gents and ladies toilet doors. The fruity markings were spotted by officials in Zhengzhou city conducting research on the city's public signs who concluded that more than 60% are unclear. Researchers said that during the 10 minutes they spent outside the pizza restaurant toilets all 12 customers were confused and hesitated before going inside (“Uh, yeah, we’re standing outside the restrooms because we’re doing research.”). "We were not sure which one stands for men. Does the banana represent a slim woman?" said a male customer (?). Other strange toilets signs were discovered, including ones that used pictures of a waterfall on the gents’ toilet door and rain on the ladies’. Research director, Zhang Liang, has recommended that the local government issue regulations to standardize public signs. (Uh, I will refrain from my own pictorial suggestions here.)

(Green, green, it’s not green I say….) Our gasoline money at work! From www.autoblog.com, “A wealthy Arab man, thought to be a Sheikh, recently had his black and gold Lamborghini LP640 flown 3,250 miles to London via Qatar Airways and trucked to a certified UK Lamborghini dealership for a fluid change, which cost him a paltry £3,552 compared to the £20,000 round-trip flight. That's a grand total of £23,552 ($46,644 USD) for a friggin' oil change. Environmentalists are obviously not pleased with the owner's wanton display of conspicuous consumption. Airport workers at Heathrow also blasted the owner's excess after watching the car get the royal treatment on the runway. One commented, "This car doesn't have a carbon footprint - more of a crater," and another pointed out that it would've been much cheaper to just fly certified Lamborghini technicians to Qatar to do the service. This type of behavior begs the question of how far one's personal choice extends in the face of the greater good. We're told the Earth is dying beneath our feet and it's all our fault, so should a Sheikh be allowed to ship his car around the world for an oil change while the rest of us stick compact fluorescent light bulbs in our lamps and wait in line to buy a Prius? Perhaps the only act that could be more environmentally egregious than this is if he just threw out his exotic and bought a new one every 3,000 miles.” (Really, you know why he does it? Because he can!)

It Pays to Advertise! One Cincinnati landlord is so infuriated by street crime outside his building that he's posted a large sign announcing "Drugs & Sex For Sale 24/7." John Wallen says most tenants have fled his apartment building because of drug-dealing and prostitution on the street. The large sign that he put up urges passers-by to call the City Council to help get the area cleaned up. Councilwoman Roxanne Qualls says the building’s owner has every right to be mad. She says police should be more aggressive about cracking down on the drugs sellers and prostitutes on Wallen's block and she promises to take the matter up with the police chief. Wallen says police come quickly every time he calls but criminals always return once the police drive off. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

An Associated Press Bit keeps things in perspective! A person involved in the discussions for pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins says the rights to publish them have brought in  $14 million. The person asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the figure. People magazine scored the photos in a joint deal with the London-based Hello! magazine, and the two will split the bill. People will feature Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon in an issue to hit newsstands this week. The money will go to a foundation created by Pitt and Jolie that largely focuses on helping children around the world (the only upside). The $14 million more than doubles the $6 million People paid to feature Jennifer Lopez and her newborn twins on a March cover, according to Forbes.

A nightmare… at least in my book! Presented pretty much as presented: an Italian woman is suing a ferry company after waking up in a first-class cabin "covered in ticks from head to toe", newspapers recently reported. Cristina Sassudelli, 41, was making a night crossing at the weekend from the northern city of Genoa to the port of Olbia on the southern Italian island of Sardinia. "At six thirty in the morning I was wakened by the itching on one arm and I realized I was covered with ticks from head to toe," she said, according to accounts in several Italian dailies. "I have always had dogs and I saw immediately that these weren't any kind of insect. There were hundreds of them," she added. Staff on the ferry, run by a company called La Tirrenia, took her infested clothes and gave her new ones that were far too big, she said. Once they had arrived at Olbia a member of the crew accompanied her to a shop where she was able to buy new clothes. But the company did not reimburse her for her first-class ticket, she said. La Tirrenia told La Stampa newspaper: "This episode happened at a period of heavy traffic and hot, humid conditions. It is the first time, after many years of navigation that it has happened." It added that the contaminated zone had been sealed off and was being disinfected. Sassudelli said she was taking action against the company to make sure no one else had to go through the same "nightmare." In recent years, there have been several cases of infections from ticks or fleas on Italian transport, particularly on trains. (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)

Finally, from Texas’s www.local6.com, The Answer – finally (another newest latest, get-tough bandage that will help solve our school problems). It’s no secret that while some schools are okay, in the big picture, the system is failing (IMHO)! A school in Texas will now require students who don't follow the rules to wear prison-like jumpsuits in a controversial move this coming school year. Gonzales High School has new navy blue jumpsuits that students will wear if they break the dress code. Violators will be forced to wear the jumpsuit for the day, the report said. Some parents said the jumpsuits will make students feel like prisoners but the district said it's just a way to keep the children dressed appropriately for school. A school board official said it's "worth a try" because it's a way to keep the district's conservative values intact. Some students said the plan may backfire on the school. "I talked to some of my friends about it and they said they are not going to obey the dress code just so they can wear the jumpsuit," high school student Jordan Meredith. Before the jumpsuits students who didn't follow the code had to sit in the office and wait for their parents to bring them clothes or face in-school suspension.

Later.