They stole my idea

A Texas group has figured out that there are more scholarships for minorities and women than for men and they want to start leveling the playing field.
The Former Majority Association for Equality (FMAS) will grant $500 to any male that is at least 25% Caucasian and proves the financial need.
Instead of welcoming than, all the school officials can say is that there is no way to stop them.
I had this on on my list of things to do if I hit the lottery.

San Francisco Stinks!

Add this to your list of unintended consequences:
San Fransisco (and the rest of the People's Republik of Kalifornia) has mandated low flow toilets that use less than 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
We need to save water because the NIMBYs and eco-freaks won't allow new reservoirs and no one has suggested any serious alternative to the current methods of water control and storage (like reservoirs that are next to the river instead of in the stream) .
Well, the problem with low-flow is that there is not enough turbulence and pressure to keep sludge from sticking to the sewer pipes.
Besides making for a big stench all over town, it creates a problem with treated water that led to the treatment facilities stocking up on chlorine in order to treat the system and the water further before discharge.
You don't have to be a genius to predict the response to that.

That's right, there is now a "Don't Bleach Our Bay!" alarm on an environmental blog.

You might be a Redneck...

A Bradenton Florida police report lists Joshua Lee Joehlin's religion as "Redneck"
Joehlin was arrested for "engaging in a lewd and lascivious act with a minor" and is in jail unless and until he pays the $10K bail.

So, now that "Redneck" is a "recognized" religion, can they demand equal protection under civil rights laws?

And the real criminal got away

A Delaware theater was showing a movie that had a great appeal to minorities and had large crowds attending.
It had recently suffered a robbery and had increased security.
It had a policy of checking tickets more closely during sell outs.
The theater manager personally made an announcement telling the patrons they needed keep quite and insure their cell phones were off, even though the pre-movie screen show also provided the warning.
Juana Fuentes-Bowles, then director of the state's Human Relations Division was in the theater that night.
she stood up, announced that she was offended and proceeded to take names and numbers of patrons in order to organize a complaint against the theater.
An initial investigation and hearing by the state Human Relations Commission fined the theater and charged them with violating the equal accommodations law.
The state supreme court reversed the decision and stated that the commission erred in its findings and failed to explain their reasoning for them in the first place.
Juana (who left her position with the state) could not be reached for comment.

It seems to me that yelling "Fire!" in a theater is not the only speech that should be restricted.

Cell phones increase brain activity

Another day, another study.
A newly released study of the effect of cell phones on the brain indicates that areas near a cell phone that is on is increased.
This has lead to some speculating that proximity may lead to greater risk of cancer or other health issues.
Since members of my family have suffered from Alzheimer-like brain issues, I have another take on this study's results.:

I am going to stimulate the heck out my brain by getting one of these and strapping on a dozen cell phones.

Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.

Unions are great for union workers.
They boost pay and benefits to levels that drive companies to offshore jobs and lay people off, or even fold completely.
They protect bad employees from being fired, so the good ones have to work in a hostile environment.
They also make it necessary to place large numbers of people in limbo.
Just ask the Providence, Rhode Island teachers.
Every one of the 1,926 teachers have been given notice that they may be let go.
The district had to send out the notifications in order to meet requirements that call for advanced notification of any job actions.
Now these teachers can fret and worry until the last day of school, when final decisions will list those actually being cut.

Wisconsin explained

Some people may be confused as to why public employee unions have illegally occupied the statehouse, filed false sick leave requests, and freaked out about actually having to pay for a small portion of their retirement.
Well, a report showing that 2/3rds of Wisconsin 8th graders are not proficient at reading provides at least a partial explanation.
I was mad at the teachers for abandoning the students by staging sick-outs so they could protest, but I know see that they were allowing the kids to self educate.
They will likely fare better playing video games or burgling the neighbor's house than they would sitting in classes run by a failed, union run system.
The most telling statistic is that the state basically doubled the per student spending from 1998 to 2008 yet no improvement in test scores was seen.

At least he smells good

Joseph Mingolello was just trying to be a better person through hygiene.
Unfortunately, the 58 deodorant sticks he secreted under his clothing were not paid for when he departed the Ocean State Job Lot store.
Police identified him via surveillance tapes and arrested him for the $188 theft.

Wisconsin leads the way

Considering its past and the left leaning politics of the region, it is surprising that Wisconsin is leading the way in fighting back against union abuse of taxpayers.
But the last elections turned over the state house and governorship to Republicans and they are working to pull the teeth of the Socialist beast that has been ravaging every state in the union in its rapacious pursuit of more power and money.
You go Wisconsin!
Win one for the rest of us.

On a side note; if the picture in the article is correct, I would say there might be more than 'hundreds' at the rally.
Maybe that's just a miscalculation on my part after having my crowd calculator messed up by 'million man math'.

Sheriff Joe for Senator?

In a recent poll (never trust them) Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio leads other possible candidates for the US Senate.
It is unclear whether Joe is willing to make a run or if he wants to run for Sheriff one more time.
Considering the negative value of the runner up's name, I think maybe Joe should run.
The second place finisher in the poll is Jeff Flake.
Not a name that inspires confidence.

The secret of my CIA success

How to get ahead by doing all the wrong things may be the title of some memoirs when current CIA employees retire.
According to an MSNBC story, the CIA has not only failed to punish employees for making huge mistakes, they have promoted some of them to plumb positions within the bureaucracy.
The CIA needs to have someone from the outside who understands our real world needs where security is concerned come in and clean house.
There has been something wrong inside the CIA for decades and it hasn't gone away just because Obama is in office.

No more pens in school?

It finally happened.
A school kid pulled a pen apart and made a "weapon" out of it using plastic balls from an airsoft gun.
Usually, straws and other tubes are used for spit wads but this kid obviously didn't want to be accused of trying to spread diseases.
Using the letter of the law as a weapon, the school administration claimed his pen body and pellets fell under the description of "projectile weapon" and had him charged with 3 misdemeanor assaults for shooting pellets at fellow students (who were apparently "annoyed").

Now they have to wrestle with the problem of any kid being able to convert a pen into a "weapon" at any time during the school day.
Maybe we should just ban pens; even in the administration areas.

Message received if not understood

Israeli political commentators are shocked at what they call Obama's "betrayal" of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.
Benjamin Netanyahu has urged his government to refrain from commenting on the situation, lest they add fuel to the fire now burning a path through the middle east, but many outside the government are making their shock and anger known.
The Israelis understand just how damning Obama's comments have been and how everything coming from his administration supports the rioters, not Mubarak.

Nice of them to finally "get it" that Obama is absolutely no friend of Israel.
Actually the Israeli government already knew this; they just didn't understand the depth of his animus towards them.