SNIPPETS

JUNE 15,  2010

(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is offering parents a cure for children who don't want to go to sleep. Have them watch his televised speeches.  In a television appearance on Thursday to extol the virtues of a portable computer his socialist government plans to introduce at public schools, Chavez said youngsters had stopped him in the street to tell him they saw him on television.  "It seems that there are mothers here who, instead of putting their kids to sleep with cartoons, put them to sleep with Chavez," he said.

Still not as accomplished as Obama, who can put adults to sleep as well.

JUNE 14,  2010

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., June 13 (UPI) -- A Miami Beach, Fla., mansion, listed for $25 million when it was finished in 2009, has sold for $16 million, a real estate agent said.  The mansion was sold to a German businessman, The Miami Herald reported, but the agent, Nelson Gonzalez of Esslinger Wooten Maxwel, declined to identify him. The German will not move to Miami Beach to live in the mansion, Gonzalez told the newspaper. "It's a vacation home."

Will they keep him out of Miami society because he bought at a discount?

JUNE 13,  2010

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) - The bride wore white. The guests wore orange smocks. A southern California couple were married Saturday in front of more than 100 guests at a Home Depot store where they work. The wedding party for 56-year-old Carolyn Weatherly and Audwin Mosby, who's 55, marched down an aisle of light bulbs, grills and paint to the outdoor garden section, where a wedding arbor and stage had been built from the store's lumber and supplies.

I understand that the weddings at Staples are more elegant.

JUNE 12,  2010

MANILA, Philippines, June 11 (UPI) -- Philippine President-elect Benigno Aquino says U.S. President Barack Obama told him in a phone call he has finally won his oft-reported battle against smoking.

JUNE 11,  2010

Forget about it:  General Motors has apparently learned.  There was such a backlash against an internal memo, leaked to the press, calling for an end to the term "Chevy," for Chevrolet (see yesterday's SNIPPET), that the car maker has backtracked:  "In a press statement issued just before noon Detroit time, the company said Thursday's debate 'over a poorly worded memo on our use of the Chevrolet brand is a good reminder of how passionately people feel about Chevrolet. It is a passion we share and one we do not take for granted.'  Further, the statement said: 'We love Chevy. In no way are we discouraging customers or fans from using the name. We deeply appreciate the emotional connections that millions of people have for Chevrolet and its products.' "

Our great national nightmare is over.

JUNE 10,  2010

DETROIT, June 10 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. employees should no longer refer to Chevrolet automobiles as "Chevys," sales and marketing officials said in an internal memo.  Alan Batey, vice president for Chevrolet sales and service, and Jim Campbell, GM vice president for marketing, said in a memo issued Tuesday to employees at the corporation's Detroit headquarters "consistency" is important for the Chevrolet brand -- and it would be helpful in that regard to stop referring to Chevrolets at Chevys, The New York Times reported.   "We'd ask that whether you're talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising, or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward," the memo said.

Oh, right.  Everyone will now start saying "Chevrolet moving forward."  There's GM imagination for you.

JUNE 9,  2010

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- In the latest development in the race for the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Governor Charlie Crist is coming under fire for removing the pro-life section of his campaign website. This comes on the day the legislature sent him a bill that would allow women to see an ultrasound of their baby before an abortion.