WAS THE CELL PHONE INCIDENT A LITMUS TEST ?

I could not believe it when Maria Scharzenegger announced she would donate her cell phone to a charity. This was after she was observed talking on a cell phone while driving several times. It has always been known that there are two types of laws, one for the rich and another for the rest of us.

I would have expected her cousin to say that she would donate her phone to charity. But not Maria. She is an accomplished journalist. What I would have liked to see was her going down to the Department of Motor Vehicles and paying a fine, which is what the rest of us would have had to do. Then I would have had my faith restored in her,since I have followed her family history over the years.

This is why the people's trust in famous people have waned in recent years. We do not rev er them as we once used to. I think her coming out and saying she was donating her cell phone to charity was a red herring.

PENTAGON HAS BEST RECRUITING YEAR SINCE 1973

The Pentagon's personnel chief said Tuesday the military has completed its best recruiting year since 1973, meeting all its goals and bringing in a better educated group of young people.

The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps met goals for active duty and reserve recruiting during the budget year ended Sept. 30 — the first time that has happened since the all-volunteer force was established, said Defense Department head of personnel Bill Carr.

Carr told a Pentagon press conference that it's partly because of department spending on finding recruits, even as fewer civilian jobs were available due to the nation's economic problems. He also cited increases in military pay.

FREDERIC MITTERRAND: THE SLAVE MARKET EXITES ME ENORMOUSLY

The revelations in his 2005 autobiography “The Bad Life” have come back to haunt Mr Mitterrand after he emerged as one of the most vociferous defenders of Roman Polanski, the film director currently detained in Switzerland in connection with an outstanding conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in the US in 1977.

In his book, Mr Mitterrand, the nephew of the late Socialist president François Mitterrand, wrote: “I got into the habit of paying for boys…All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excite me enormously.

“One could judge this abominable spectacle from a moral standpoint but it pleases me beyond the reasonable.”

Curiously, there was little outcry when the book was published in 2005. However, Mr Mitterrand’s tastes were brought to the fore on Monday by Marine Le Pen, daughter of the far-right National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, on a political chat show.

JAPAN WANTS TO KICK U S FORCES OUT

The new government is reviewing an agreement with Washington on US military facilities following through on a campaign pledge to islanders who have borne the brunt of the American presence for more than 60 years.

Around 50,000 American troops are based in Japan, around two-thirds of the total are in Okinawa. Resentment against their presence has grown in recent years due to a series of crimes committed by service personnel.

CHINA TO END HEPATITIS B TESTS

According to Xinhua, the state news agency in Beijing, Chinese health officials will abolish mandatory testing for hepatitis B during physical exams given to college students, factory workers, and government employees.

The new rules, mean that people found to be carrying the hepatitis B virus will not be automatically barred from jobs and classrooms. It is estimated that 120 million people in China are thought to be infected. It is not uncommon in China for hepatitis B carriers to be barred from medical school, teaching positions or jobs in the food production industry.

JON GOSSELIN'S MONEY TRAIN IS OVER

John Gosselin has demanded that TLC stop production of the show "John and Kate Plus 8"He no longer wants his family filmed since he heard he was being fired from the show. Beginning in November, the show would be called "Kate Plus 8".

He would have to get a job and the money would dry up and Kate would still be making money. Now he has put the divorce on hold.Does he think Kate will take him back so he can still get money ? His new life style will cease to be.

He would now have to pay many thousands of dollars a month for alimony and child support with no job.

WHY CHICAGO SHOULD NOT GET THE OLYMPICS

How can Chicago protect tourists from all over the world, when they can't even protect innocent children going to and from school? It seems like these kids are being treated like collateral damage. Chicago has spent 100 million dollars for the bid on the Olympics.

I think it is in poor taste for President Obama and the First Lady to be cheerleaders for Chicago, when the Mayor isn't calling for federal help. These thugs should be tried as adults and tried under the Ricoh Act.Maybe federal prison time will send a message.

I shudder in horror as the elected officials pose for photo ops and smile as if everything is well in the city of Chicago. There needs to be rewards for film that was taken by cellphones to identify the perpetrators in these crimes.Kids are afraid to go to school for being attacked by mobs of their classmates.

A police official said there has been no tips or call from the public as to who these criminals were. I thought Chicago had a camera on every street corner ?