The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has just gotten quite a bit of company: As many as 6,600 graves at the country’s hallowed Arlington National Cemetery for fallen U.S. service members may be mislabeled, one lawmaker said on Thursday.Political movements are becoming ever more like a match tossed into a room full of dynamite: No matter which stick you are aiming for, chances are a lot of others will fire off, too.A drama about a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer doesn’t exactly sound like the most entertaining new series on the fall prime-time slate. But there is more buzz surrounding Showtime’s “The Big C” than perhaps any other series premiering this season, and the incomparable Laura Linney is a major reason why the series is high on critics’ must-see lists.Although facts on the famed Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding, which is rumored to happen this weekend, are tighter than Hillary Clinton’s smile, some details have leaked out. Sources report that groom Marc Mezvinsky has “hurt” his father’s family by not inviting them to the wedding (Ed Mezvinsky pleaded guilty in 2002 to swindling investors out of $10 million.For Paul Rudd, the decision to star in Jay Roach’s new comedy, “Dinner for Schmucks,” was an easy one. “I thought the script was really funny,” he says. “That was it. It was kind of a no-brainer.” Of course Rudd, who’s built an impressive resume of smart comedies, was just as enamored of the man behind the camera. Subletting in NYC typically involves some kind of covert transaction. Try to find a budget traveler who hasn’t enjoyed the risk of Craigslist’s lease-free rentals. But thanks to a bill Gov. David Paterson signed into law last Friday, renting an apartment for less than 30 days isn’t kosher. Fortunately, there’s a saving grace for those in search of short-term living: Jersey City.New claims for unemployment benefits slipped last week, but stayed at a stubbornly high level that underscored the labor market recovery was having trouble gaining traction.Could nail mats like the Acushakti be the next Snuggies?Unless the locals covered you in meatballs and sang “Nessun Dorma” upon arrival, this vacation could hardly be more Italian. For this is a “Vespa vacation” — a two-wheeled tour of the nooks and crannies, the winding back roads and the off-the-beaten-track hidden gems of breathtaking Umbria, a beautiful region located in Central Italy.For many job-hopping careerists, smuggling a resignation letter in their bag like a guilty secret, there are few workplace rituals so hard as saying so long.
I caught a cold last week. No, it was not the swine flu. Though my head felt like it was going to explode, and I ran through enough tissues to deforest the Amazon, I was missing the two signature symptoms of the H1N1 virus — high fever and a racking cough — so I can rest assured I was laid low by some other, less headline-worthy bug.
Of course, this means I can still look forward to a bout with the swine flu — and maybe even the microbe trifecta if I contract the regular flu as well. The good news, such as it is, is that the new variant looks no more serious than the regular flu — it may make you wish you were dead, but that’s all.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that flu panic is getting people to realize something that should have been obvious: It’s way too easy for us to make each other ill. One estimate is that “presenteeism” — employees coming to work sick, then infecting the rest of the workplace — costs businesses three times as much as workers calling in sick. One Brooklyn restaurant owner told me flu fears got him to install timers to remind his employees to wash their hands regularly — which only made me think: Wait, restaurant kitchen workers weren’t washing their hands regularly before?
Everyone insists they want sick people to stay home, but they’re not putting their paychecks where their mouths are: A just-released Community Service Society survey found 1.6 million New Yorkers have no paid sick leave. City Councilwoman Gale Brewer has introduced a bill to require all businesses to provide at least five days of paid leave per year, modeled on a San Francisco law that’s been in place since 2007.
It wouldn’t be perfect: Even in San Francisco, the law is enforced only when workers file complaints. But if it makes for fewer celebrations of Bring Your Germs to Work Day, it’ll be paper well shuffled.
– Neil deMause writes alternate Mondays in this space. He can be contacted at demause.net and on Twitter @neildemause.
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In the July MMMpod, Young Veins talk about breaking away from Panic! at the Disco, Keith Lockhart talks about Buckwheat Zydeco throwing the Boston Pops for a loop, Zooey Deschanel talks about how Roy Orbison inspired a She & Him song, Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells talks about how awesome Funkadelic is, and we talk about how awesome Jimmy Cliff is, who in turn talks about Sam Cooke and divine intervention. An explosive show for July! Oh yeah, and we also test your knowledge of America songs in the MMMPod medley.
