And I have been trying relatively hard to avoid the whole swamp of the NYT’s denial on freebies, but it’s hard when a mere vegetable can be exchanged for a blatant shout-out. Sure, a root is worth pennies, but where do you draw the line, at Jamaica? Someone else thought a recipe promo/payoff for a winery was no biggie, either. Shoulders are also shrugging over high-proof dots that can be connected by googling byline + press trip. I have no problem with freelancers availing themselves of opportunities in this ridiculous cashless society the Bushwhackers left us, but the hypocrisy and pomposity flaunted by the paper are absurd. Don’t can one contributor and let another flout the 5,600-page ethics statement. Bidets have been gold-plated on technicalities for the decades. So just come clean and quit pretending the rules have never been and are not being bent. What the FTC thinks is good enough for bloggers should be good enough for the paper covering the FTC. I’d insert a joke here, but I’m still doing the math on 31 destinations on less than $0 a day.