"Bits & Pieces" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Bits & Pieces

Bits and pieces from this reporter’s notebook.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Scrooge is alive and well in Traverse City, Michigan, where the laborers at Tower Automotive received $15 gift cards redeemable at a local grocery-retail store, which was a nice thang of course. But then along came a note that the gift card was viewed as cash compensation and therefore taxable. The recipients would see a $5.51 debit coming out of their next pay check to cover the taxes and stuff. Some workers gave back the gifts. The company announced they would go back to a program of giving our certificates for free hams and turkeys, which are not, apparently taxable.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Speaking of hams, one of the greats was recognized by the crown for his extraordinary work. In a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Mick Jagger was knighted for "services to popular music." Attending with his 92-year-old father, the Rolling Stone was chided for selling out to the establishment. No sympathy for the devil.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Not facing quite the same issues, the Bossier Parish School Board in Louisiana says they will re-examine their drug policies. This after a high school sophomore was expelled for a year because Advil was found in her purse. Said a school board member, hoping to right the wrong of the state’s zero-tolerance law, "We want to do the right thing. We shall do the right thing."

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Doing the right thing drug-wise, the state of New Hampshire and the city of Boston announced that they will start buying their drugs from Canada. Just down the pike, Springfield, Massachusetts was the first U.S. city to buy drugs from Canada. Burlington, Vermont will join the other New Englanders in March. Said Boston’s Mayor, "It's illegal, but it's about time we forced the issue. Why is the consumer the only one to pay full price for prescription drugs?"

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Finally, only a coupla weeks after Governor Arnold repealed a law that would have provided driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, a study by UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center says that non-citizen adults, as they refer to them, should be allowed to vote in local elections. The study also found that non-citizens comprise a quarter of the population in 85 California cities. Observed a dissenting organization, "A person who isn't a citizen yet is essentially shacking up with America. It's important to the health of the body politic that that difference be preserved."

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