Six reservists have been court-martialed for scrounging up parts of abandoned trucks so they could complete their mission in Iraq. Full story.
Blockbuster Getting Rid Of Late Fees
You’ll get a one week grace period on Blockbuster rentals. That’s the good news. The bad news is that if you go past one week past the due date, you’re now buying the movie, and will be charged a small “restocking fee” if you do finally bring it back (no word on what that fee will actually be). Good commentary at Ars and SEB.
Considering the amount of money Blockbuster makes from late fees ($300-million or so) every year, this is quite the gamble, but if they’re assuming that Blockbuster renters are lazy folks, then this could be quite lucrative for them.
Woman strangles Rottweiler after attack
That’s one way to fight back. Thanks Cheryl for the link.
“Slither slither slither slither went the tongue”
American author and journalist Tom Wolfe won one of the world’s most dreaded literary accolades on Monday — the British prize for bad sex in fiction. He was nominated in part not only for the headline of this post, but for this lovely passage:
But the hand that was what she tried to concentrate on, the hand, since it has the entire terrain of her torso to explore and not just the otorhinolaryngological caverns — oh God, it was not just at the border where the flesh of the breast joins the pectoral sheath of the chest — no, the hand was cupping her entire right — Now!
Full Story. Thanks Cheryl for the link.
Geek Joke
Why do maths geeks always get Christmas and Halloween mixed up?
Because Oct 31 is Dec 25.
(Please tell me I’m not the only one that actually gets that joke. Thanks b3ta for it.)
More Depressing Holiday News
I already mention how the holidays are just getting uglier, but it’s only getting worse: Christmas is the deadliest day of the year.
Disney to Make Toy Story 3 Without Pixar
Expect to see cameos from other annoying Disney characters. This movie will suck compared to the two originals. Full story (yes, I know, old link, but it’s been sitting here waiting to be posted for a while).
The Death Of Christmas is Coming
Why, you say? Because Jerry Fallwell says so.
I’m starting to agree with him, though, despite Fallwell being a raging lunatic. Why? Christmas tree accidents are all too common, 30 Santas got in an ugly fight, another Santa beat up a 74-year-old woman with a 2-by-4, Planned Parenthood sells holiday cards, fruitcake is still a popular gift, and Christmas parties are bad for your health.
Happy Holidays, everyone. I’ll be locking myself in my house now to avoid holiday trouble and to especially avoid Jerry Fallwell. Thanks everybody for the links.
Sunriver Elementary School Uses Students as Janitors
First off, a quick rant: I read about this story in the local daily paper this morning, and intended on blogging about it earlier, but their Web site doesn’t have the story. Anywhere. It wasn’t until I got a Google News Alert that the story had been picked up on the Associated Press wire that I could even point people to this story. OK, I’m a dork as the story is online locally , though it didn’t show up in my Google Alert, and Google News should’ve caught it, nor did I find it on their site easily the first time. My apologies, just the same.
Anyway, in yet another example of why our school system is a laughing stock, because of budget cuts in the district, there’s a shortage of janitors at some schools. At Sunriver’s Three Rivers elementary, kids are being asked to clean up:
The students are learning these skills because the fast-growing Bend-La Pine School District reduced its custodial staff in a budget-saving move. At the same time, the district added two new schools and several additions.
With fewer adult hands to clean the buildings, several elementary schools have asked kids to help with the chores.
The benefit, school officials said, is a chance to learn about responsibility while taking ownership in their school.
I wonder how OSHA would feel about this? I know the housekeeping department in our company has to abide by a pile of OSHA regulations, and if those kids are doing anything remotely janitorial (especially at their age — we won’t even get into child-labor stuff here), there’s a chance the school be shut down. Now that this story has hit the wire, it’s only going to be messier for the local school district.
Personally, any time that takes my kid away from learning what a teacher is there to teach them is wasted. If they’re not getting taught this kind of responsibility at home, then the kids have no hope anyway.