The common touch—Presidential wannabe John Kerry and his wife own not one, not two, but five mansions, worth $24 million in all. For vacations there’s the summer home in Nantucket and the ski lodge in Idaho.

So, scrap church/state rule—Thousands of rabbis in Israel went on strike to protest the government’s withholding of their salaries, a chief rabbi said. “The government hasn’t paid salaries to 3,000 rabbis and employees of municipal rabbinates and religious councils for more than half a year. Some cities haven’t been paid because of budget cuts. But some rabbis complain that the government is trying to reduce their authority.”—USA Today.

Be a good neighbor—United Kingdom airlines are scraping “frills” beyond the bones. For instance, Ryanair told the Times of London about a new policy on sick bags. A spokesperson explained: “These will be handed out on demand. So do try not to be ill during the (paid for) meal service when staff are busy.”

Free advice—The Food and Drug Administration has issued its periodic reminder that fish is good for you, but should be eaten sparingly. The Denver Rocky Mountain News cited the feds as advising that, “high levels of mercury in some fish can pose a hazard for children and women who are pregnant or nursing.” What are they doing about it? What a silly question.

Wham!—United Kingdom teachers warn that officials are planning classes with up to 80 pupils. The teachers will be flanked by “assistants.”

Part of the war effort—According to the Scripps Howard news service, some 500 GIs garrisoned in Kuwait complained that their cots were crashing underneath them. A check indicated that the cot frames, provided by a private contractor, were too weak.

Correction—In issue No. 11, we asked readers to send clippings for this column. But we published the wrong postal zone number. The correct snail mail address is Pathfinder Books, 4229 South Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA. 90011.  
 
 
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