Bluestem And The Fargo School District Should Just Go On Judge Judy Already

So Dave Olig, the president of the Bluestem Center for the Arts in Moorhead, has written a letter pushing the idea that the Fargo School District should "forgive" nearly $5,000,000 in debt. Hey, there's no harm in asking. It's the argument he uses to defend his position that took some brass ones. His argument is one I see people use on Judge Judy all the time. Basically, Olig asserts the "they should have known not to give us money in the first place" defense. Here's what he wrote:

"The Fargo Public School District provided millions of dollars in loans to a volunteer-only organization, with no assets, at a zero percent interest rate and no repayment schedule," Olig wrote. "While we accept our accountability, we believe that the Fargo Public Schools should also acknowledge its role in putting taxpayer dollars at risk."

Let's parse that passage, shall we? "We came to you with hat in hand, desperate for money. The Fargo School District used taxpayer money to make us a super sweet loan deal. Now I don't want to have to pay it back, because, like, I don't have any money. I know I said that I was getting a big tax refund check in April, but I used it to buy a handbag. And besides, this is really your fault because you knew I was broke when you loaned me the money."

All he forgot to add was that the District gave the money as a gift, Bluestem didn't really ask for it anyway, and besides, Bluestem did all sorts of work around the district and watched the kids and helped out with utilities when they could so really, they're even.

Nothing To See Here

From the delightfully named Yid With Lid blog:

Fox News uncovered a scandal involving Harry Reid's Press Secretary to the Hispanic Community.
Diana Tejada, (the Reid aide) admitted she took payment for “some of her expenses” in exchange for fraudulently marrying Bassam Mahmoud Tarhini in 2003 so he could obtain permanent U.S. residency, according to court documents.

Apparently the fake groom was under investigation for terrorist ties,

Following Tarhini’s arrest in 2009, he was interviewed by FBI agents who sources say asked about his ties to extremists groups. Some sources said they determined he did not have ties to any terror group, but other sources close to the case said that could not be ruled out.
“Not all of my cases involve the FBI,” said Tarhini’s immigration attorney, Timothy Lee Cook. “Certainly, there was something out there that caught their attention.”

Meanwhile Good Morning America offered a hard-hitting exposé on BMWs that sometimes slow down unexpectedly.

Lede Of The Week

This opening paragraph is so awesome I had to share it with the world (at least the .0000001% of it that reads this site):

A Navy captain was demoted because she berated and assaulted her crew, not because she led her guided missile cruiser on a drag-race with another U.S. warship in the Pacific, an investigation shows.

I am not condoning any of the former boat commander's actions. Using your position for political gain in the military is not unheard of, but it's still wrong. Assaulting your crew is obviously unsupportable. Using millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded warship to reenact a scence from American Graffiti is certainly grounds for losing your command and getting demoted.

It just reads so cool...

Pennsylvania School Thinks Lack Of Student Privacy Extends To The Home

A Pennsylvania school thought it would be a boon to learning if they gave every student a free laptop. Naturally, there were some strings attached; the machines had to be used for school-related work, for example. But then the administration went all 1984 on the students and started using the installed spy software to see what was happening when the machines were off-campus. Oh, and looking at email and other personal items were also apparently part of the deal.

I understand the thinking behind throwing laptops at students. Hey, maybe having another six pounds to carry around in a backpack will stop the damn running in the halls. Your school looks all hip and computer savvy, and maybe Steve Jobs will tweet about you in between releasing pre-existing gadgets in fancy new casings with bloated price tags. Maybe all those kids who don't study were suffering from some rare form of dyslexia that only affects their abilty to read from books, while .pdf files remain remarkably clear.

And it certainly makes sense that if a school is going to hurl free laptops at people, they're going to want to ensure they're used for school-related functions. But even a teenager, the lowest form of life in America (at least as far as rights go -- have you ever tried to read an unborn child's email? The state would hammer you for that, my friend) has some expectation of privacy when it comes to personal correspondance.

This particular school district is denying any wrongdoing. Thinking it could give a laptop to a person and then pretending it retained all rights to it was where it went wrong.

"Arrogant Americans" Need Not Apply

A job posting at an Illinois-based techonology staffing firm posted a job decription that would rule out most of the population, at least based on the nationality requirement.

Looking for someone with nuclear experience or experience with terms/expressions commonly used in the nuclaer industry... Exelon is looking to provide these proposals to Chinese businesses, so someone who is respectful and understands Chinese culture is preferred. An arrogant American will not work well in this role.

Does Homer Simpson count? He's more "idiot" than "arrogant", though all work and no play apparenly makes him something something.

What Does A Suicide Note From A Newspaper Look Like?

This:

Today we started removing items from our free Web site - comics, letters to the editor, puzzles, TV grid and letters to the editor.

The idea is to wean people off the free Web site and either get them to buy the print version or the e-edition, which is just a PDF of the paper.

Anyone have any experience doing this? What do you think of taking editorials off the free site?

We haven't figured out a way to charge for the whole Web site, so I think we're going with this piece-meal approach until we do.

Thoughts?

Mark C. Mahoney
Editorial Page Editor
The Post-Star
Lawrence & Cooper Sts.
Glens Falls, NY 12801
518.742.3220
Blog: Your Right to Know: www.poststar.com/blogs/?cat=50

(h/t: knoxnews.com)

Proof That Every Single Person On Australia's Classification Board Is A Man

Quick quiz: Which of the following is a requirement to appear in adult films or publications in Australia?

A. You must be certified disease-free by a board-certified doctor.
B. You must be eighteen years of age or older.
C. You must be registered with the Australian Adult Actors Guild.
D. You must have big boobies.

I assume A. and B. are true, but who knows? Well the internet does, I'm sure. Why don't you go ask if you want to know so badly. Sheesh. Same with C. The only one I'm absolutely sure is true is D.

The [Australian Classification] Board has also started to ban depictions of small-breasted women in adult publications and films. This is in response to a campaign led by Kids Free 2 B Kids and promoted by Barnaby Joyce and Guy

It turns out that ladies with small boobs are pedophile magnets in Australia. Apparently, they (the pedophiles) don't care so much how old the funtime gal is or what she looks like as long as she doens't need a bra.

While I get that this Board really wants to put the kibosh on kiddie porn, it seems like the laws in Australia would already cover this. This particular ban doesn't confine itself to eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds who can pass for much younger. The ban is also affecting established stars in their late twenties who haven't made enough going down under (look it up) to have bean bags stuffed into their chests (or just like themselves for who they are. Those crazy Australians porn stars with their well-adjusted self images. Crazy!)

So in short...

Another Airport Security Triumph

After the underwear bomber and the boyfriend-ran-the-wrong-way-through-the-scanner-so-let's-shut-down-the-whole-airport fiascoes, you'd think federal agents would be on their best behavior.

Wrong.

Kimmy Janke had gone through security. In fact, she was in a secure part of the terminal when she stopped to go to the bathroom before making her connecting flight.

That's when she found a loaded handgun.
...

A Cleveland police report confirms a fully-loaded .40-caliber pistol was left on top of a toilet paper dispenser.
...

We've since learned the gun was traced to a federal customs agent.

Customs officials have denied all requests to explain why a highly-trained agent left her gun in the bathroom, claiming there is an internal investigation.

Furthermore, we're told the agent has been allowed to retire -- no record of discipline, or many answers.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that in the interest of public safety, airport bathrooms would be off limits to non-federal employees. Also, a 20% across the board raise for Customs agents.


(WBAY link via Instapundit)

Extreme Makeover: Economic Edition

Good times in Venezuela: Hugo Chavez, President and noted Harry Belafonte idol, has taken a play from the Marxist handbook and in one fell swoop demonstrated why government interference in markets usually ends in misery.

His latest plan to bring prosperity to his people is to devalue his currency by 50%. Yay! Everything costs half as much as it used to! Of course, the cost to manufacture these things hasn't changed since most products in Venezuela rely on imports to build. If you were a business owner faced with this development, would you:

(a) Double your prices to restore your profit margin
(b) Go out of business

If you chose (a), congratulations! Your business just got taken over by the government. If you chose (b), congratulations! You're on welfare. In Venezuela.

Spot The Missing Sentence

Here are some recent news articles. Each one has a sentence missing. See if you can figure out what they are (answers at the end):

1. Prof Busted In Columbia Gal 'Punch'
2. St. Louis Protects SEIU
3. 'Pro-Gun' States Lead The Nation In Per Captia Firearm Death Rates
4. After The Wall Tumbled
5. Obama Pays Tribute To Fall Of Berlin Wall

Answers:

1. "This is being prosecuted as a hate crime."
2. "Charges against the attackers are pending."
3. "States with more guns have more incidents related to guns -- who woulda thunk it?"
4. "Most of those predicting dire futures for central Europe weren't happy when communism failed."
5. "The U.S. President wasn't present at the ceremonies as he was engaged in visiting Ft. Hood working on the N1H1 vaccine shortage winning governorships in New Jersey something else.