SNIPPETS

MAY 21,  2009

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 20 (UPI) -- The ceremonial torch for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, resembles a hand-rolled marijuana joint, observers say.  Unofficially designated British Columbia's largest cash crop, marijuana is popular in Canada's westernmost province, and the Toronto Star's bureau there said there's a lot of nudging and winking about the torch's similarity to a "spliff."

If the president of the International Olympic Committee starts his welcoming speech in 2010 with, "Hey, cool, man," you'll know he's benefited from Canadian agriculture.

This is what it's come to, from AP:  Actor Michael Douglas, whose performance as the conniving Gordon Gekko in ''Wall Street'' won him an Oscar in 1987, spent part of Wednesday evening focused on a more critical cause -- ridding the world of nuclear weapons.  Douglas moderated a panel of Washington experts on the issue -- former Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and Robert Gallucci, a former U.S. diplomat who was chief negotiator during the nuclear crisis with North Korea in 1994.

Next, Madonna will moderate a panel on strategic choices regarding rogue regimes.

MAY 20,  2009

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Fire officials in Washington state said a sunny day and a dog's glass water bowl combined to cause a blaze that charred the back of a home. Bellevue Fire Department Lt. Eric Keenan said investigators determined the glass bowl of water focused sunlight enough to act like a magnifying glass and start the fire on the home's wood deck Sunday.

All right, class.  Write a letter explaining that to an insurance company.

(AP) A man who left jury duty after lunch because he was "extremely bored" will be back at the courthouse Tuesday to be arraigned on a charge of contempt of court. A police report said officers found the 25-year-old man near his home earlier this month and asked why he skipped out. He said he was bored, and "just couldn't take it" anymore.

Talk about self-indulgent.  Maybe they could have music at the next murder trial.  Or a magic act.

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