SNIPPETS

APRIL 3,  2010

From Fox:   President Obama can do one small thing Monday to help boost his image among a politically divided public:  Throw a strike.  The commander-in-chief will resume a century-old tradition Monday when he tosses out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day in Washington.

You can be sure it will be a low curve.

APRIL 2,  2010

SACRAMENTO, April 1 (UPI) -- People in the Sacramento area might be pardoned for asking if the folks who publish their schools' error-filled math books are smarter than a fifth-grader.  The Sacramento Bee reported Thursday the new Macmillan/McGraw-Hill math books distributed to second-graders at 79 city-area elementary schools in the Sacramento City and Folsom Cordova districts include the equation: five times three equals five.

Oh, come on.  That equation is correct.  It's used every day by the budget committees of the California legislature.  Let's stop nit-picking, shall we?

APRIL 1,  2010

From the Boston Herald:  A heroic off-duty special police officer who saved a psychiatrist from her rampaging, knife-wielding patient said he is “relieved” he will not face charges in the man’s death, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.  Paul M. Langone “acted in self-defense and the defense of Dr. Astrid Desrosiers” when he shot and killed Jay Carciero, 37, of Reading at a Massachusetts General Hospital bipolar clinic Oct. 27 as Carciero slashed and stabbed Desrosiers, Conley said.

Occasionally there's common sense.  Not too often, but occasionally.

MARCH 31,  2010

SALE, England, March 30 (UPI) -- A 66-year-old British woman was fined and ordered to wear an ankle monitor as punishment for selling a goldfish to a 14-year-old.  Joan Higgins, 66, owner of Majors Pet Shop in Sale, England, was fined $1,506, ordered to wear an ankle monitor and given a seven-week curfew as punishment for selling a goldfish to a 14-year-old boy sent into the store by police on a test buy, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.  A 2006 law prohibits the sale of live fish to children under the age of 16.

Does the term "priorities" come to mind?  I wonder what else was happening in merry old England while this major case was being pursued.

MARCH 30,  2010

From Fox Business:  What's the value of a pint of beer? Let the market decide, says a new restaurant in Manhattan where prices for food and beverages will fluctuate like stock prices in increments according to demand.  The Exchange Bar & Grill, set amid the bustling shops and pubs of the Grammercy Park neighborhood, is replete with a ticker tape flashing menu prices in red lettering as demand forces them to fluctuate.

Great idea.  Now watch, Obama will march in and impose price controls.

MARCH 29,  2010

THERMAL, Calif. (AP) - A Southern California school teacher has been arrested for allegedly teaching while drunk.  Toro Canyon Middle School teacher Tonya Neff was taken to the Indio jail Tuesday afternoon and booked for investigation of felony child endangerment.

Maybe this explains some of the stuff being taught.