I have a suggestion on how the city can raise some revenue and send a strong message at the same time.

First, how I came to this idea.

I was driving east on East Washington Street Tuesday, approaching John F. Kennedy Middle School. There were several cars in front of me, all of us traveling at or maybe slightly above the speed limit.

The lights on the edge of the school zone were flashing, indicating it was active and the reduced speed limit was in effect.

I began to slow, and noticed the cars in front of me didn’t. I didn’t see one brake light come on.

And by the time I had crept through the school zone, those cars were no longer in sight.

I suggest the city set up cars with RADAR guns in those areas and start ticketing the speeders.

It is my understanding that speeding through a school zone carries a heftier fine than does regular speeding. By the time the city did this for a few days the drivers would not only get the message, they’d be out of a lot of money, and the city would be that much richer.

Just imagine how much the city would make if they did this two times a day at every school.

I hope come Monday I see cops at every school zone, whether they have a RADAR gun or not. If the drivers think they have one they’ll slow down, and isn’t that what it’s all about?

It looks like funny money

Have you taken a close look at some of the news bills the government is issuing these days?

I got a $10 bill from the bank and started looking at it. I don’t like it at all.

First of all, it looks like it was dipped in bleach, all faded.

On the back is an egg-shaped white hole with nothing in it. Are we supposed to draw our own picture in there? Won’t we be arrested by the Secret Service if we do?

The red flame, which looks like it was taken directly from the Statue of Liberty and the red lettering “We The People,” give it a cheap, almost board-game quality look to it.

The $20 bill isn’t much different. It has that same faded look with a blue eagle and “Twenty USA, USA Twenty,” in blue, sort of rolling up and down the right side.

I know the government is trying to thwart counterfeiters, but I think they went too far with these designs. Bring back the old money. When I am carrying it I feel like I really have something legitimate, not a wallet full of Monopoly bills.

I’m not even going to get into the nickel, the one with Jefferson’s head shifted to one side. What’s up with that?

In case you wanted to know

Thinking that our readers might not have enough useless trivia in their lives, I offer this, found at http://www.strangefacts.com/index.html:

– During your lifetime, you’ll eat about 60,000 pounds of food, that’s the weight of about 6 elephants!

– Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food.

– Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

– The world’s oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9000 years old.

– In space, astronauts cannot cry properly, because there is no gravity, so the tears can’t flow down their faces.

– There are more plastic flamingos in the U.S, than real ones.

(I believe this one; I used to live in Florida.)

– About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30.

–

More people use blue toothbrushes, than red ones. (Come to think of it, mine is blue.)

– A sneeze travels out your mouth at over 100 mph.

– Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, every time you breathe.

doug.grant@suffolknewsherald.com