Weekend Tids and Bits

START SPEADING THE NEWS . . .New York City may indeed have eight million or more stories to tell, but they better not be about smoking in public parks or on beaches if the city’s health commissioner, Thomas A. Farley gets his way. New York has already banned smoking in the workplaces and in bars and restaurants. Farley wants more. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who would like to keep his city job – not that he needs the dough – was taking a nuanced approach to the idea. One of the unspoken nuances probably was that if Farley does any more of this stuff during an election campaign, he’s getting politically smoked, workplace, bar, restaurant, park or beach be damned.

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FAILURE TO BALANCE was the problem with an Associated Press report earlier this month that said it cost Alaska taxpayers at least $40,000 to cover former Governor Sarah Palin’s resignation and the swearing in of her successor. Not a mention could be found in the September 4 story of what it might have cost Alaska taxpayers had Palin stayed.

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TECHNOLOGY FOR THE BIRDS might be a fair characterization of the internet in South Africa after an experiment pitted a pigeon carrying a data card against a Telkom internet line in transmitting the card’s data over a 50-mile distance. Reuters says the pigeon did it in two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds. In the same time interval, Telkom had transmitted only four percent of the data. South Africa hosts the soccer World Cup next year, but no word whether the plans include upgrading technology or building more pigeon nesting boxes.

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OPERATION BOOTLICK? The Washington Post reported that there were 2,200 fewer Washington lobbyists than a year ago. Cynics might say they were victims of the policies they helped create. Others, most probably at the behest of lobbyists, say they performed a vital public function. Reports of charities collecting used boots so that out-of-work lobbyists could keep their job skills fresh could not be confirmed.

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BACON, LETTUCE AND WHAT? The UK’s Daily Mail enriches us all with a report citing Finnish scientists who say a mixture of wood ash and human urine produces tomato crops four times larger. The technique works on other plants, too, says the report, which avoids getting into the marketing implications, which may be even more than four times larger.

Last Week’s Lessons Reviewed:

· The Obama administration’s top-secret Doofus Directorate floated into view when the Coast Guard discovered that scheduling an anti-terrorist exercise on the Potomac for any future September 11 might not be such a swell idea at http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/top-secret-no-more-doofus-directorate.html

· Mainstream Media, those tireless watchdogs of press releases, discovered that President Barack Obama is black and some racists dislike him just for that. Their reaction to the shocking news may be found at http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/mainstream-media-shocked-stunner-obama.html

· Dummies got an important new defense last week when one South Carolina person said it was acceptable to say dumb and disrespectful things if you were too damned dumb to know the difference. Clarifies “The South Shall Rise Again,” by admitting difficulties in figuring which way is up at http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/harpootlian-defense-dumb-ass-rights-for.html

· “I can see clearly now…” has its drawback when the sight of someone who first heard that song in 1972 is restored, but the rest of him isn’t. The mixed results are at http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/medicines-iffy-gifts-modern-medicines.html

· Good fences may make good neighbors, but good bribes might make better ones is the suggestion offered at http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/uncle-sams-fencing-skills-those-tempted.html

Have a great weekend!

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