SNIPPETS

AUGUST 21, 2010

SOUTHLAKE, Texas (AP) - A Texas teenager who broke curfew is headed for a reluctant adventure in baby-sitting.  Robert Rausch placed an advertisement offering his daughter's free baby-sitting services in the community newspaper in Southlake, a wealthy suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth.  The advertisement names Rausch's 16-year-old-daughter and says, "Want a FREE BABYSITTER for a night out?" It explains that she is in trouble for missing her curfew and offers 30 hours of free baby-sitting.

I'll bet this kid turns out very well.

AUGUST 20, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Officers in an English police department have accused their superiors of wasting time and treating them like children with new rules on appropriate underwear.   The guidelines issued by the West Midlands police say underwear for both male and female officers must be of an "appropriate color" and "inconspicuous..."

No wonder Sherlock Holmes wanted to remain independent.

AUGUST 19, 2010

Law enforcement news, from the Washington Examiner:  Two fire-breathing bartenders face up to 45 years in prison each for performing flaming bar tricks.  Jimmy's Old Town Tavern owner Jimmy Cirrito said his bartenders have been entertaining his customers -- by juggling bottles of alcohol and spitting out streams of flames using matchbooks and lighters -- for more than a decade and no one's complained. But shortly after midnight on July 24, two of his longtime employees were hauled out of the Herndon bar in handcuffs and charged with three felonies each plus other misdemeanors.

Baffling.  I thought fire breathing and juggling alcohol were the normal practices in Washington.

AUGUST 18, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A playwright seems to have inadvertently sabotaged a deal to have one of his works used on a Texas school exam by going public with a dispute about language.  Peter Sagal, who hosts the National Public Radio news quiz "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me,' said no one told him he had to keep quiet about plans for his play "Game Theory" to become test material, the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph reported. He was told after he blogged about the argument over the phrase "for God's sake" that the play is no longer "secure" test material.

Texas was gracious enough to include this man's play, and apparently he blew it, and is now complaining.  According to the story, he apparently thinks Texas is too conservative. 

AUGUST 17, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- California-based clothing retailer Gap said skinny jeans for youngsters account for 40 percent of jeans sales for infant and toddler girls.   Skinny jeans for tots are now available at Gap stores and other retailers including American Eagle and J. Crew's Crewcuts, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

What's next, Playboy for tots?