Off the News

Some tickets online, others in line

There may be room for compromise in the matter of getting city parks camping permits.

The city plans to move the whole operation online and charge a fee for the service, although the rules governing it haven't been written. Why not handle it the way many places deal with show tickets? That is: Most of them are secured via Web, but some are reserved for those willing to line up for a limited time.

That way local residents may feel they retain some small advantage. Just a thought.

Obama mimic not funny enough

Members of the Republican Leadership Conference meeting in New Orleans over the weekend chuckled at the performance of a Barack Obama impersonator when he showed lewd photos of departed Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York to the conservative activists.

However, impersonator Reggie Brown, right, who drew raucous applause, then started mocking some of the GOP presidential candidates and joked about the president's birthplace, mentioning that Obama was born in Hawaii, "or as the tea partyers call it, Kenya." Organizers cut off his microphone, turned on music and escorted Brown off the stage.