I'm sorry - wha?

Found this today while doing some research online.

I'm sorry - what? Oh, wait! It was published in 2008 - you know, right before it was found out that Toyota was lying to federal investigators and its customers about potentially fatal flaws in the design of it's most popular vehicles. Well... that's alright then.

Don't let the door hit you in the...

I got the strangest and most amazing phone call Saturday afternoon. When we started baseball practice this spring JAM and I were so excited. New coach, yours truly helping out again, JAM didn't lose much over the winter, just good times ahead. Then, he showed up. Again. Remember the coach from hell? Yup, back with his poor kid who obviously doesn't want to be anywhere near a baseball field. His "hot Latino blood" - direct quote from his wife as she apologized for him last year - overflowing at his kid and others. I feel so sorry for that poor boy. He either has no aptitude for the game or he just doesn't want to play with his father around so he does absolutely nothing on the field. Just a bad situation.

Until blissful Saturday afternoon. A little while after JAM and I got back from practice (from which Idiot Coach and his boy were absent) Good Coach calls me up and asks if "anything happened" between Idiot Coach and myself. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't inviting Idiot Coach over for tea and crumpets but I made a concerted effort to be as polite and accepting of him as possible this year. I've said hello while he's ignored me (we didn't leave last year on the best of terms after I had to tell him to stop yelling at kids all the time and to do something to help the kids other than stand there with the score book in his hands during games). I've made pains to help his kid try to get better without screaming at him. I just tried to act like he was any other person, not someone with whom I haven't had the best relationship with. Clean slates you know? Even if it is obvious you are trying to project your unfulfilled baseball dreams onto a kid who doesn't care a lick about it.

So back to the phone call. After Good Coach asks me if anything happened I'm wracking my brain. Did something happen and I not notice? Did I say anything that I shouldn't have? Did my general lack of understanding social norms come into play here? Nope, I couldn't come up with anything. Then, I remembered something - something so insignificant that I forgot about it immediately after it happened. IC (Idiot Coach - my fingers are getting tired) butted in while I was attempting to help out a kid totally new to baseball try to become a pitcher.

Side note - yes, we have a team made up of 15 kids either totally new to this level of baseball or totally new to baseball in general. JAM is going to be a 9 y.o shortstop and GC's kid will be an 8 y.o. third baseman. Yup, it's going to be a banner year.

So IC butts in while I'm trying to help this kid and he starts explaining how the kid needs to stay balanced while he pitches "otherwise you're going to fall on your ass." I'm sorry, WHAT? You say this to a 9 y.o. shrinking violet of a kid? I interrupted and told him to watch the language, and I thought we moved on from there because he immediately corrected himself and we went on with helping the kid.

That's it. That's the only thing I can think of. Honest. So imagine my surprise when GC tells me that IC's wife called the commissioner and asked that her son be traded to another team because IC and I can't get along. At first I laughed because dude, you've got to make your wife make the call? Then, I was mad because I've really made an effort here. Then, it dawned on me. It must be my birthday! We're going to lose both IC and his kid (who can't throw or catch) who we were going to have to play somewhere in the field. It was impossible to keep the smile off my face. It grew even bigger when GC confided that he wasn't the least bit upset at the development.

Goodbye IC, I hope all the best for you and your poor little boy. I just look forward to seeing you on the other sideline this year.

Two strikes against me

Being white, and very white at that, and being from upstate New York, did nothing to encourage a love for, or even an understanding of, jazz. I am sad to say that I just don't get it. Don't get me wrong, I've listed to some jazz (or what other people called jazz anyway - who am I to put a label on something I don't understand?) that I've totally gotten into. Usually the jazz I like involves horns and a sweet voice to go along with it so this video just makes me wonder. Apparently these guys are masters. The comments to this video talk about a "conversation" between the three musicians and how they never miss an opportunity to hit the right entrance or come back to a line. I'm sorry.... what?

I need to get out more I think. Maybe find a club in DC that wouldn't mind a tall goofy white guy (with obvious confusion on his face) and his lady sitting in the back trying to fit in.

Check them out - you might enjoy them at least...

Fox Fail

I hate Fox, so any chance I can to stick it to them I'll take gladly. The fact that I kind of enjoy their NFL and MLB coverage only slightly lessens my urge to point out that the general level of ineptitude in their organization is tipping the scales - witness...

Did you see it? I know, there's a lot of crap on that screen, so let me give you a hint.... the numbers don't add up. Alright, here's a more helpful hint....

Yessiree folks, only at Fox will you find that 9 really does equal 8. In the immortal words of Barbie - "Math is hard!" (well, she didn't really say that but you'll have to read more in order to learn more about that.)

I know, it's petty and you can't believe I wasted my time pointing all this out. Well, in my defense... you read it didn't you?

Is it over yet?

It never amazes me - Americans can take a perfectly average person and elevate him or her to God-like status when so many truly amazing people are out there doing wondrous things every day. Why aren't these people on every news channel, being interviewed by Oprah, getting book deals?

I've just got one thing to say...

Huh? of the day Take II

This? This is not for the faint of heart. This is not for people of weak constitutions or folks who are a bit squeamish about, shall we say, more adult topics. And, it is just down right unexpected.

Wifey and I are sitting on the couch watching the Yankees-Twins playoff game when A-Rod came up to bat. She asked me - "did he just get someone pregnant?" I'm not too interested in keeping track of page 6 type gossip so I had no idea what she was talking about. Well, what do you do when you need an answer? Google of course! She starts to type in her search query - "first time A Rod in October" because she knew someone on TV had made the joke about this being the first time A-Rod produced anything in October. Even though I'm a Yanks fan I thought that was pretty funny. In fact, in his first at bat tonight, with Jeter on second, he flied out to end the first inning. GET A HIT MORON! His glove is amazing but dude needs to find the gap! No pun intended.

Sorry, digressing. So Wifey is typing in her search string and Google, being its ever-helpful self, starts giving her suggestions based on what she's typing. This is where the squeamish part comes into play...

As she types in "first time a ", and you need to make sure that last space is in there, the first very helpful hint Google fed back was... let's just say a little more off-color than she was prepared for.

Witness...

Um, yeah. We're not sure what to think about that either. And no, I didn't click on that link.

-------------------------

Oh, and as an update - as I finish this post (it has taken a while - I'm watching the game at the same time) A-Rod just struck out with Teixeira on first right after Jeter homered. COMMON!!!!! He's now 0-29 with runners on base in the post season.

Huh? of the day x2

Couple things made me go huh? today. I had to share.

First, I was looking for one of those things you can hook up to your camera to take the picture without you having to press the shutter button. Called a shutter release something or other apparently - the guy at Ritz Camera didn't know either. (but I'm sure a certain someone out there knows what it is and will email me soon!)

As I was perusing their web site I came across this item in their clearance area. I'm not sure about you but I'm thinking this isn't as good of a deal as they try to make it out to be. Can you see what I mean?

If not, click on this picture and I'll give you a hint...

Not much of a sale if you ask me.

And second, you might not want to watch this if you have just eaten dinner or anything. This kid is absolutely nuts. I wonder why he didn't have any friends sitting around him during the taping.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Eating the Distance - The Brad Sciullo Story Pt. 2
www.colbertnation.com
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I knew it was going to happen...

I warned everyone - all three of you! But, they did it anyway.

It's a sad day and most of you don't even know it.


They killed it.

This sucks.

A double dose of huh?

I love the TV "variety" shows that have been on the last few years. So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent, I even watched Idol for a while a few years ago. You know you love 'em too so stop snickering.

But this? They laughed and voted this "through to the next round???"

I just don't get it.

Second, I think everyone knows I am a Yankees fan. And I take a LOT of crap about it from my friends. I don't think it's fair to hate the Yankees though. We Yankee fans went through many years of garbage teams (think the 80's and early 90's) to get back on top. Then we spent a ton to stay there, just like the Red Sox are doing, and all other teams are trying to do, now. Haters....

But sometimes I just don't understand the marketing aspect of the business. I know it costs a ridiculous amount of money to buy a decent left-handed pitcher but I thought they made all of that back by way of the $8 beers and $1,200 tickets. Then I see this...

https://www.bigtimebats.com/catalog/?product=3730

Yes folks, it is a brick. A $200 brick in fact. Said brick happened to live in a little place called Momument Park for 85 years, but it is still just a brick. What kind of hopped-up moron would pay $200 for a brick?

I want a brick.

And they question us?

After watching this you may want to join me in my amazement that Americans are the ones being blamed for having crap on TV...

Quite the distorted view

Wifey sent me a funny video today that got me thinking about something. I try to keep things lighthearted around here but I just had to try to get my thoughts out there and see if I wasn't crazy.

According to Sean Hannity, President Obama was improper for, as he stated it, taking some credit for eliminating the pirates who held Captain Phillips, the merchant ship captain who was held last week by 4 pirates (and as an aside - I really still can't believe there are pirates left in this world).

Here's Hannity's analysis of Obama's actions during the 'crisis'-

With that said (and I had to turn it off after about 1:33 - let me know if I missed something interesting that came later), let's see... who do you think was more improper in taking some credit....

Obama?

Or Bush?

Yes Mr. Hannity. Once again, you are right on target with your criticism.

.

This week's sign #2

I'm sitting on the floor of the living room, folding laundry, and flipping channels between The Girls Next Door and Star Trek the Next Generation. Yes, I'm that cool. Don't be jealous. So, anyway, there's a commercial break in The Girls Next Door and on comes a commercial for a live performance of Dora the Explorer on roller skates or some fool thing. Seriously? A commercial for Dora the Explorer at 10:45pm in the middle of The Girls Next Door???? What demographic are they reaching out for???

Hell in a hand basket folks....

He's my new best friend.

My man Orange. Definitely my new BFF. We were on the phone tonight talking and I was about to hang up and he told me to hold on a minute. He then told me about something that was on the TV, on the E! channel. Yes, on E!. Ohforgodssakes!!!!!!!! It might just possibly be the best show ever! My favorite part? When some freaking production assistant was sent out into the hallway with a wrench and started banging on pipes or something and they all got so scared they all crawled into bed together. Yum... three former USC cheerleaders in the same bed together. But for some reason I'm guessing this wasn't the first time that's happened. I just always imagined the offensive line would have something to do with that...

What's it called you ask?

Hot Girls in Scary Places. Yup, you heard me. And get this... I actually go online to the E! web site to search for it but it is so absurd even their web site doesn't have anything to say about it! Seriously, it is on right now and their site has no record of it.

Witness...

The web site not having anything to say about their own show? Now that is saying something... the E! site knows that the E! channel has finally hit a new low.

But, I couldn't leave you without offering up these pics I found...

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I can't believe I'm doing this...

I apologize. I'm ashamed. She's making me do this. I love her, more than life itself, so I can't say no. The silver lining? She's been hardcore blogging for almost two years and this is the first time I've been sucked into something like this. :)

So here's how it works. According to her, first there is a question. Then, I give the answer I think she'd give. Then, hilarity will ensue (to be determined) as I answer the question for myself. Eventually we'll compare asnwers and the laughter will reach even greater levels. I promise, it will be at least as much fun as it sounds.

Well, can't put it off any more.....

1. She's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

My answer for her- (what she's watching) I'm not sure how specific I need to be on this. I know it will be something funny. Every once in a while she'll get totally stuck on a show (i.e. Charmed, Sex in the City, The Beverly Hillbillies) but now isn't one of those times so this is tougher. Alright, if I have to pick something it'll have to be Grey's Anatomy. I know, not real funny but for some reason she digs McNuty or McDrooly or whatever.
My answer for me- (what am I watching) Seriously? How easy is this? Um... sports. More specific? Basketball. And in any other year I'd say the Terps but they're killing me so I'll just leave it at college basketball.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?

My answer for her- Ranch. I'm sure this will get harder but this one was easy.
My answer for me- One of two things... ranch or honey mustard. I'll go with honey mustard 'cause I think that's what she'll say. Do we get points for correct answers? Is this like the old Wheel of Fortune and we'll get to buy the bedroom set and the dog statue with the leftover money? I miss that old Wheel!

3. What's one food she doesn't like?

My answer for her- Crunchy stuff in her food. Onions, garlic, stuff like that. Oh, and green stuff.
My answer for me- Squishy stuff. Beans, peas, mushrooms, etc.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does she order?

My answer for her- Without kids? Amaretto sour, no doubt. With kids? Raspberry iced tea.
My answer for me- Without kids? Beer. With kids? Beer. More specific? Killians or Bass if they have it.

5. Where did she go to high school?

My answer for her- Seriously? I thought these were going to be harder than this. Plainfield HS in beautiful Plainfield CT. Valedictorian if I do say so myself. Or for her. This whole answering for her business is confusing me. I thought it was nice that they waited for her to leave and then they built the beautiful new school. F'ers.
My answer for me- Cornwall Central High in Cornwall NY. Yuppers, 750 kids in 8th-12th grade. Not exactly a bustling metropolis but in retrospect a very nice place to grow up.

6. What size shoe does she wear?

My answer for her- Before kids? 8.5. After kids? 13.5. No... just kidding. 9.5.
My answer for me- 13. Yeah, I wish that old saying were truer.

7. If she was to collect anything, what would it be?

My answer for her- Socks. Oh, wait. That's me for her. I had a habit of buying her cool socks for when she was teaching. She was the coolest teacher on that playground! But for real? I'd have to say books. Ever since she started writing for 5M4B this place has started to look even more like a library than before. And that is saying something.
My answer for me- I used to display my collection of nutcrackers, until we ran out of room and they got packed away in the attic. Same for my beer glasses. So, if I had to say something I'd actually like to collect, it would probably be (and I'll eat my hat if she gets this right) a return to my baseball card collection. I used to love to do that, and it would be great to actually have the time and money to share that with JAM and eventually Red and PUDGE.

8. What is her favorite type of sandwich?

My answer for her- Turkey and cheddar on wheat with mayo and a little bit of black pepper. Yeah, guess who gets to go on all the Subway runs?
My answer for me- My favorite growing up was the meatball parm from Prima Pizza in Cornwall. Oh man I used to love those. Homemade meatballs and sauce by this old guy who worked there for like 100 years (I am sick I can't remember his name!!!). As for a regular sandwich nowadays... I'd go with an italian sub. No one down here makes them well enough though. Man I miss those little Italian sub shops in NY.

9. What would she eat every day if she could?

My answer for her- um... that's a tough one... oh yeah... CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! Any size, shape, form, weight, temperature, it doesn't matter. Chop it up and pour it in her mouth and keep going until she passes out.
My answer for me- Does beer count? No, probably not. I'm going to be impressed, but not surprised, if she gets this one... the ice cream cakes from Carvel. You know, the ones with the little chocolate crunchies? OMG, they are like, so amazing!

10. What is her favorite cereal?

My answer for her- It's a toss up between Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch and Cookie Crisp. I'd have to go with the Cap'n on this one if I had to choose.
My answer for me- Regular 'ol Cap'n Crunch. Man I love that stuff.

11. What would she never wear?

My answer for her- Those annoying Jersey-girls sunglasses that everyone's been wearing for a few years now. Man she hates those. Is there really any reason you want to wear half a winshield on your face?
My answer for me- Anything with my collar popped. Or anything those orange guys wore. If there were ever an ad for castration....

12. What is her favorite sports team?

My answer for her- Nothing. She hates sports. She used to try to put up with it for me but then we hit the two week mark and she stopped pretending. So, my answer? The Brisbane Broncos from the Australian National Rugby League. It's a real team, I looked 'em up.
My answer for me- The Yankees. I'm thinking she'll say the Terps but if I had tickets to the Yanks and the Terps on the same day I'd definitely choose the Yanks.

13. Who did she vote for?

My answer for her- As Red would say... Rock A'bama.
My answer for me- Ditto.

14. Who is her best friend?

My answer for her- I'd say her hetero life partner, L.
My answer for me- D from DBCJ fame.

15. What is something you do that she wishes you wouldn't do?

My answer for her- Leave my nail clippings laying around after I "trim." I sometimes forget to clean up after myself.
My answer for me- Dude, can you please clean your hair from out of the bathroom sink? PLEASE? It's just nasty.

16. What is her heritage?

My answer for her- She claims to be "French" but I don't think there is a tree big enough to actually trace that far back. Oh, and a healthy dose of hairy Spanish women are thrown in there too. But seriously, she's Connecticutian. Her whole big scary nutso family.
My answer for me- The only identifiable chunk is Irish. I'm sure there is a lot of other western European thrown in there but I'd have to have parents who cared to make that a part of our culture to know.

17. You bake her a cake for her birthday; what kind of cake?

My answer for her- Start by seeing question #9. Then, take said chocolate cake and batter it and deep fry it. Then, cover it in chocolate icing and deep fry it again. Then, cover THAT in chocolate ice cream and you're starting to get close.
My answer for me- See question #9. I really do love those little crunchy things.

18. Did she play sports in high school?

My answer for her- bwaaaaa-hahahahaahaaahhhahahahaaaaa!!!!! I think I remember her trying to tell me that Academic Decathelon was a sport at her school. Oh wow, geeks are so cute.
My answer for me- Yeah, I tried just about everything, was only moderately decent at basketball. I was always the big goofy white guy who fell down a lot though. It's good that some things don't ever change.

19. What could she spend hours doing?

My answer for her- reading, no question.
My answer for me- playing ball, working outside, hiking with the kids, woodworking if I ever get a shop to do it in. Oh, we need one answer right? Okay, playing ball it is.

20. What is one unique talent she has?

My answer for her- my beautiful lady has what I affectionately call monkey feet. She can pick up anything, and I mean anything, with her toes. Have you ever seen the videos of the poor women who've lost their arms, or are born without, and they can drive, write, cook, change diapers, etc. with just their feet? Wifey is jealous of them. I'm pretty sure it's a sickness. Oh, and she can tie a cherry stem with her teeth and tongue. NICE!
My answer for me- I dunno... I'm really good at Tetris? This guy isn't very unique so I'm not sure what to say on this one. How about I used to be able to parallel park a bus? Oh forget it. It's 11:30 and I'm getting up early to play ball tomorrow.

Anyhow, so there you go. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves and if I can leave you with one last favor... please don't make YOUR significant other(s) - you know, just in case Hef reads my blog - do this on your anniversary. :)

HAPPY 15 YEARS BABY!!!!! And no one ever gave us a chance. HA! Look how gud we turnded owt?

Trying to understand

Yup, there is no denying it. I dropped out of business school because of two things... econ and accounting. The numbers game just isn't my thing. We all have our thing. Some people put ball in hoop real good. Some fly planes, some find their calling in teaching and learning. For me it was just not in the cards that I'd ever really get complex economics. That is why I'm having such difficulty in understanding something right now. Here's three plans. I've made them as close to simplistic, but representative, as I possibly could...

You are an out of work construction foreman whose wife works for MegaCorp.

Plan A - The government will lower everyone's taxes which will result in a net gain of $3,000 for everyone but spread out into the typical 26 regular paychecks. (deliberately not discussing tax brackets here, just go with me)

Plan B - The government will send everyone a check for $3,000.

Plan C - The government will rebuild six bridges in your local area. The company you've been laid off from has been chosen as one of the companies to complete this work and you can expect the project to take 18-24 months. You company is one of 5 chosen to do this work and employees 600 people - from office staff to truck drivers to engineers. Those people all live in the local community and utilize local businesses and resources in their every day lives.

How did I do? Are these representative of the current plans being bandied about by our elected leaders? Which seems like a better idea, one in which more people will be put back to work, stop being a drain on the local support infrastructure, and return working communities to a positive frame of mind?

Live Blogging

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm spending some time in Las Vegas attending the TechKnowledge2009 conference. Because I know the leaders of this conference are going to be doing some searching on key words, looking for comments relating to the conference, I need to write something here...

This is a tech conference. See? It even says so in the name. So, here's my question... why isn't this place covered in wireless access so all of us can be live blogging, connecting, communicating, actually interacting in the social media that all of our speakers have been talking about? At this point I'm lucky enough to be sitting in a conference room, listening to Tony Karrer speak about Learning 2.0, and this room just happens to be close enough to ASTD's wireless node that I can grab a bit of access. The rest of the rooms were so far away that I couldn't take advantage of the technology we were all speaking and learning about!

It just didn't make sense, and these folks need to know that if they are putting on a technology conference dedicated to the use of new tools that advance social learning then they need to give us the access to make that really happen.

More on the conference later but I needed to get that smallish rant off my chest.

I just wonder...

...what I will do when my little ones get that old. I'm speaking about a news story I heard today on the way to work. Apparently a new movie was released last night called 'Twilight.' I am so out of the loop that I had no clue what the heck this was all about but the point of this post is not the movie itself, which from what I've heard today I'm not sure is even appropriate for its audience. Something about vampires and love and hot boys and all marketed to the 8th grade set. Interesting. Though again, not the point of this post. The point? Midnight release. On a Thursday. Not a holiday weekend kind of Thursday mind you, just a normal run of the mill type Thursday. As in school night kind of Thursday. With bazillions of pre-teen and teenaged kids all over the place going to see a movie AT MIDNIGHT!!!!

Am I the only one who thinks that this is a bit out of line with what 12 and 13-year-olds should be doing at midnight on a school night? Waiting until 7pm the next day and seeing the movie like we would have to have done was apparently just too much for some kids to accept? Is it just bizarre to think that parents can draw a line at leaving the house after 8pm on a school night?

No, clearly I am not the only one. As I was listening to WTOP this morning on my drive I heard a snippet of the President of the National PTA talking about how out of whack this is, how parents should know when to put their foot down and make the right choices for their children. I've searched all over pta.org, WTOP, CNN, Washpost.com, NPR, etc. trying to find the clip or at least a news story of this woman and what she had to say but apparently the Obama's choosing Sidwell Friends School for their kids is a far more important news item than millions of parents allowing their kids to do something outrageous like this.

So, as I began this post... I wonder what I will do when JAM is 14 or 15 and comes to me with the latest "I have to this or I'll be labeled a social outcast" or Red decides that she needs to go to that party even though it might not be the safest choice. I hope we'll do what we need to do now, and in the next few years, to lay the ground work so that we won't have these kinds of issues but even with all the planning and good intentions, something like this will inevitably surface. I know it will, and I hope I'll be able to look the kid in the eye and say no. Even if it means I'll lose my Dad of the Year title. Well, let's be serious. Like I was ever going to be in the running for that in the first place.

Boys are wierd

I realize this may not be a shocking statement but I'm confused about something. I am a breakfast eater. I can't not do it. I get grumpy and end up eating something crappy later in the morning if I don't eat something for breakfast. But, I tend to leave my house before the rest of the brood is up and running around so I don't usually eat breakfast at home. I have some time at my desk in the morning, while catching up on email or getting ready for the day when I will eat a bagel or a bowl of cereal. Yes, I have a lot of food in the office. I hate spending 8 or 10 bucks for a crappy lunch every day so I'm known around the office as the place to go when hungry. I have a fully stocked mini-fridge, and enough canned goods to survive a small storm.

So, after eating said breakfast I wish to brush my teeth, which seems like a normal enough thing to want to do right? However, I've been experiencing the strangest thing. I work in the training department of my organization which means that we have lots of visitors in our building all the time, all of whom are strangers to me. That goes to say that I also share the restroom with many strangers. Now, the point of the "Boys are funny" title is this... when men use the same restroom in many situations there is a code. Depending on the level of comfort amongst the patronage, there will be varying degrees of silence or conversation. This sometimes even extends to those enjoying what we will call a longer and more involved process taking place behind closed doors. I mean it, guys outside will carry on a conversation with someone on the inside while that inside person is taking care of some seriously personal business. That is just strange, but still not the point of this post.

Here is the point - given this very interesting culture that develops in a men's restroom (between men currently holding on to their most prized possessions) why is it that little 'ol me gets the strangest looks while I am just brushing my teeth? Seriously, you should see the looks I get from guys who were just scratching and/or taping (way too many times too, anything more than 3 taps is just playing BTW) their junk or pushing with all their might while carrying on conversations with one another.

It's just strange.

And dudes.... wash your hands... with soap. Waving your hands in the general direction of the sink just doesn't cut it.

"Kids just being kids" certainly has changed

I came across this article today about a group of third graders who hatched a plan to knock their teacher out, tie her up, handcuff her, then stab her while other students kept watch.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g84E-NqKavdkNfL6nv-ixkYQFiSgD8VPBR8G2

Hell in a hand basket folks. That is where we are going...

My favorite line of the story came at the end where the Principal stated: "We have good kids." I'm sorry, WHAT? Don't jump on me about a few bad apples and all that. Sure, I am certain that most of the students in her school are great kids. But to try to downplay the situation with this statement is just rediculous to me.