SNIPPETS

FEBRUARY 6,  2010

LONDON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A British official is praising a pair of prototype shatterproof pint glasses being tested for their durability to reduce injuries from bar violence.  Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the glasses, created by company Design Bridge, are aimed at curbing the estimated 87,000 broken-glass attacks in Britain each year, The Independent reported Friday.

It's come to that in Britain.  But who are we to criticize?

FEBRUARY 5,  2010

From The New York Times:  JAKARTA, Indonesia —A recently-erected statue of President Obama as a 10-year-old boy will be removed from a public park here, city officials said Friday, bowing to vociferous criticism on Facebook one month before Mr. Obama visits Indonesia...the statue of Mr. Obama — who successfully exploited the potential of social networking sites during the 2008 presidential campaign — soon became the target of intense ire by critics who said Mr. Obama who had done nothing for Indonesia, and said the public park should be reserved to honor an Indonesian.

It's no different in Indonesia:  What have you done for me lately?

FEBRUARY 4,  2010

Actual headline in The Politico:   U.S. pondered military use in Georgia

I guess General Sherman wasn't available.  The headline, of course, refers to the nation of Georgia, near Russia.  But headline writers must be careful about first impressions.

FEBRUARY 3,  2010

PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona school principal who penned a sarcastic letter that chided parents for children who were either "too lazy or too stupid" to complete their assignments in class was suspended after the missive was mistakenly sent home.  "The math we do is really easy," said the letter from Litchfield Elementary School principal Ron Sterr. "If your child is either too lazy or too stupid to finish it in class, I'm sending it home so that you can work with them and judge for yourself whether it is laziness or idiocy that inhibits your child's progress." 

Okay, okay, he probably shouldn't have written it.  On the other hand, there should be at least some faint praise for his obvious integrity.

FEBRUARY 2,  2010

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish priest has installed an electronic reader in his church for schoolchildren to leave their fingerprints in order to monitor their attendance at mass, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily said on Friday.

I can't wait to see the ACLU get involved in this, in Polish.