The Week

Spirit of Helsinki: “Bonn, Aug. 18 (AP)—East Germany has installed 16,000 automatic shrapnel-spraying devices along parts of its border with West Germany, the Bonn government said today. The Interior Ministry said the devices, which resemble shower nozzles, are attached to metal posts at various heights and are triggered by trip wires.”

The folks who brought us food stamps are diversifying. The most recent government goodie is travel stamps. The new program is being tested in West Virginia, where the food stamp program was first begun, and if it works there, authorities promise to dole out travel stamps in all fifty states. To be eligible, a West Virginian has to be elderly or handicapped and earn less than $237 a month; if he qualifies, he’s entitled to $8 worth of travel stamps for $1 to $5, depending on his income. In its first year, only 6,000 of an estimated 125,000 eligible West Virginians had enlisted in the program, so authorities began a campaign to drum up business by 1) attempting to convince West Virginians that the handout is not a handout, and 2) easing the eligibility requirements. After this last stratagem, happy officials noticed a 15 per cent boost in recipients. What’s next? Our money is on clothing stamps, but it will undoubtedly be another two or three years before federal pennypinchers get around to house stamps.

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Spirit of Helsinki: “Bonn, Aug. 18 (AP)—East Germany has installed 16,000 automatic shrapnel-spraying devices along parts of its border with West Germany, the Bonn government said today. The Interior Ministry said the devices, which resemble shower nozzles, are attached to metal posts at various heights and are triggered by trip wires.”

The folks who brought us food stamps are diversifying. The most recent government goodie is travel stamps. The new program is being tested in West Virginia, where the food stamp program was first begun, and if it works there, authorities promise to dole out travel stamps in all fifty states. To be eligible, a West Virginian has to be elderly or handicapped and earn less than $237 a month; if he qualifies, he’s entitled to $8 worth of travel stamps for $1 to $5, depending on his income. In its first year, only 6,000 of an estimated 125,000 eligible West Virginians had enlisted in the program, so authorities began a campaign to drum up business by 1) attempting to convince West Virginians that the handout is not a handout, and 2) easing the eligibility requirements. After this last stratagem, happy officials noticed a 15 per cent boost in recipients. What’s next? Our money is on clothing stamps, but it will undoubtedly be another two or three years before federal pennypinchers get around to house stamps.