According to USAToday, beginning soon, luxury line Silversea Cruises will not allow smoking in cabins and other areas of their ships. They will continue to permit smokers to light up cigars, pipes and cigarettes in their insulated Connoisser’s Corner and certain designated open deck areas.

Several other cruise lines have already placed restrictions on smoking. With the industry trend to encourage more young families to sail together, including infants, it can be expected that the smoking bans will spread.

The newest attraction for scuba-diving tourists in the Caymans is the former US Navy submarine rescue ship, the USS Kittawake.

After more than 40 years of service in war and peace, the old ship was deliberately sunk, finding a permanent resting place on the harbor floor as an artificial reef. In the crystal-clear water, divers can swim down the 15 feet to explore the ship’s exterior and interior.

There are five decks, bridge, crew’s quarters, mess hall and other  declassified structures still intact. The Kittawake is just a mile offshore from Grand Cayman's popular Seven Mile Beach and other tourist areas.

It seems Big Brother has come to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In addition to security cameras, sections of the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport now have mikes sensitive enough to pick up visitors’ private conversations, including those about business, monkey business or otherwise.

What’s next: Cameras in the rest rooms? Or maybe they’re already there.

The slots, roulette wheels and card tables wouldn’t actually be right there in the Nation’s Capital city. According to the promoters who want to bring gambling to the area, they’d be just across the Potomac River at the National Harbor in Maryland, near the Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

MGM Resorts International, with hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Asia and other parts of the world, is bidding to open a posh community that will include hotels, casinos, office buildings, shops, restaurants and other upscale businesses in that very upscale and busy area.

If approved by the appropriate authorities, promoters predict the new enterprise will affect the local economy in many positive ways, including creating thousands of new jobs. When completed, it will attract tourists, residents and, of course, politicians who already gamble with our tax dollars every day. Sorry, we just had to get in that last dig!