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Letter to the editor

Global Bizarre

By Times Staff
Published February 15, 2008

Political beat

Bloomberg faces tough questioning

Here are excerpts from a question-and-answer session with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday.

Are you rich?

"Am I what?" Bloomberg evaded the question before offering that he earns $1 a year as mayor.

Do you live in the White House?

"I live on the east side of Manhattan, and I've lived there for 20 years."

Who are you going to vote for?

Evaded question.

Do you have a million dollars?

"I don't." (Which is kind of true. He's a billionaire.)

The questioning came not from the New York City press corps, but a group of third-graders at a public school in Harlem. Bloomberg was there for a news conference, and the students came by to sing Happy Birthday when they heard Thursday was his birthday. When the students were asked to guess his age, the opening guess was 107. He actually turned 66.

Government money

Britain can't keep Newcastles straight

The British government took measures to recognize all the local enterprise going on in the big northern city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, sending it a grant of $5.3-million. The only problem was that, due to an administrative mistake, the money went to Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is a small market town and not the same place at all. "We assumed it was in recognition of the work we've done to encourage business," council leader Simon Tagg told the Daily Telegraph. And the government is planning to fix the problem. One problem. "We have no intention of giving the money back," Tagg says. It's the second year in a row the government has made such a mistake.

Rodent roundup

In China, it's the year of the hamster

Prices are rising for hamsters in China as people look to honor the Year of the Rat, rising to a comparatively high price of more than $4 each. Everyone knows that hamsters and rats aren't the same thing, but hamsters are considered lucky in China, and no one really wants a pet rat. And technically, the laoshu, the Cantonese and Mandarin word for "rat," translates in such a way that could include hamsters and moles, according to Xinhua news agency.

Hamsters really don't like movies

Completely unrelated except that there is a hamster involved, Sarah Stokes, 5, of Pangbourne, England, decided that her pet hamster, Hamish, would like to go see a movie with her. So she smuggled him out of the cage for a trip to the theater with her grandmother. But Hamish got loose, and Sarah was too afraid to own up to the fact that she had brought him along. Her mom spent three days searching for the hamster at home before Sarah finally admitted what she did, and when mom called the theater, they had Hamish waiting. The movie that Sarah was sure her hamster would like to see: Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 14, 2008, 23:04:43]