SNIPPETS

DECEMBER 21,  2009

From AP:  SANDUSKY, Ohio – So much for the value menu. A Taco Bell manager in Ohio says a man who appeared drunk walked into the restaurant earlier this week and handed him $72 for just one taco. The manager tells police near the northern Ohio town of Sandusky that the customer, who seemed to be in his early 20s, refused to take back the money and told workers "Merry Christmas."

The man then returned to the US Senate to vote for Obamacare.

DECEMBER 20,  2009

ROME, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Italy's highest court of appeal affirmed the illegality of insulting someone by sticking your tongue out at them.  The case brought before the Cassation Court involved a farmer whose tongue gesture was captured by a cellphone camera held by the neighbor with whom he was arguing. The farmer, Carlo O., had been convicted by a justice of the peace of insulting the neighbor, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Do you get a sense of misplaced priorities here?