* No Joke: Gov. Michael Dukakis’ joke...

* No Joke: Gov. Michael Dukakis’ joke about a bomb on a USAir plane could have landed the 1988 Democratic presidential candidate in trouble. Dukakis was boarding a USAir flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Washington Sunday evening when he spotted political foe Ron Kaufman. Dukakis reportedly joked about checking Kaufman for a bomb. Such remarks, even in jest, violate federal law. But a USAir supervisor recognized the governor and did not detain him. Massachusetts Democrats had accused Kaufman of secretly aiding demonstrators at a Democratic party event.

* Little Joke: George Bush turned 66 Tuesday, and reporters trooped into the Cabinet Room in the White House for the occasion, some wearing children’s birthday hats. “It’s a vast improvement,” a smiling President told them. He took questions, but he said: “Only those wearing hats get their questions answered.”

* Dynasty Denied: The marriage of Andrew Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy was not the merger of two political dynasties, said Gov. Mario Cuomo. Comparing the Kennedys and Cuomos politically is like “comparing an elephant and a squirrel,” the governor said Monday in New York. His eldest son and the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy were married Saturday in Washington.

* The Writing on the Wall: The makers of Crayola crayons said Tuesday they are retiring eight colors--maize, raw umber, blue gray, lemon yellow, green blue, orange red, orange yellow and violet blue--and introducing eight others--teal blue, fuchsia, dandelion, jungle green, tangerine, royal purple, cerulean and wild strawberry. Brad Drexler of Binney & Smith of Easton, Pa., said the firm saw the mark of “competition in the crayon market.”