Bits & Pieces

 

Bits and pieces from this reporter’s notebook.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Burlington County, New Jersey is trying a new tactic against speeding drivers. They think humor might get the speeders’ attention so they are replacing some of the familiar black-‘n-white speed limit signs with new ones which feature messages like "Free Speeding Tickets Ahead" and "Meet Our Judge — Exceed 25 mph." It’s not clear why the now-hyenal drivers will be induced to slow down.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Too late, of course, for Princess Di, who died in a speeding car crash in Paris six years ago. But her story will never die. Her butler is out with a book that says the over-schmaltzed princess gave him a letter ten months before her death, in which she said that someone "is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry." The name of the someone was not released.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Flying in the air is safer, and over India, may get prettier, if the country's Minister of State for Civil Aviation gets his way. The minister ordered the country’s biggest airlines to change how they hire their flight attendants. Said the official, "Based on the feedback we get from the market, I have suggested that presentability and physical appearance of a candidate be looked into first and academics later." Just so long as they don’t block the aisles in an emergency.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....A genetics researcher in California says our sexual identity is set by genetics, not choice. This will be particularly important to the parents of the one of 3,000 babies born every year with ambiguous genitalia. Based on 54 particular genes, the scientists say, they can now tell the parents whether they should paint the nursery blue or pink.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Good news for most of the 552 molestees who have settled sexual complaints with the Boston Archdiocese. Instead of a trial, they will go before a mediator and tell their stories. Then, in the updated if sordid version of "Queen for a Day," they will each be awarded between $80,000 and $300,000.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Finally, another final judgement. A California man was convicted of stabbing his pregnant, drug-addicted girlfriend, in what he claimed was an accident. His lawyer instructed the jury, "If you don't think he's lying, bad person, lousy drug addict, stinking thief jail bird, all that to the contrary, he's not guilty. It's as simple as that." A state court said it was adequate legal representation. A federal appeals court said it wasn’t. The Black-Robed Nine said it was.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.

 

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