If you harbor any residual respect for Mel Gibson . . .

. . . don't look at this photo from Cannes Celebrity Pictures, Celeb Photos - E! Online

Teachers too old or over-priced?

More than 300 Metro teachers displaced as positions eliminated | Nashville City Paper: "Lockhart, the veteran Whitsitt Elementary teacher, is among a handful of teachers who have alleged the district chose to displace her because of her age. Older teachers tend to earn larger salaries than newer employees. The teachers’ union is helping file complaints through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“There seems to be a pattern of discrimination against older teachers and minorities in some instances,” Huth said. “It is clear to us that there is some discrimination involved.”

Way to go teachers' union!! Bog down the EEOC with bogus complaints!

Newt's job interview

For the record, I like Newt's innovativeness and ability to articulate Conservative ideas. But I have a hard time respecting his character. So, I have been meaning to post about his now-famous comment regarding his past infidelity during a CBN interview:

There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.

It reminded me of this classic scene from The Office when Michael Scott was sitting for a job interview from David Wallace:

David: . . . So, let me ask you a question right off the bat. What do you think are your greatest strengths as a manager?
Michael: Why don't I tell you what my greatest weaknesses are? I work too hard. I care too much. And sometimes I can be too invested in my job.
David: Okay. And your strengths?
Michael: Well, my weaknesses are actually... strengths.
David: Oh. Yes. Very good.
Michael: Thank you.
David: Very good.

The Olympics is about homosexual marriage?

USOC official Peter Vidmar resigns after anti-gay marriage actions - USATODAY.com:

When the Tribune story broke, reaction was nearly immediate — and almost entirely negative — within the USOC. Aimee Mullins, the former president of the Women's Sports Foundation and chef de mission for the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Games team, said she was 'concerned and deeply saddened' about Vidmar's past actions.

'The Olympic movement is about promoting equity for all,' she said.

Who says?

Amusing typo in shark story

Having just recently watched Jaws "On Demand," this story about a large great white shark spotted off of the New England coastline caught my eye. Then there was this funny typo in reference to the man in the boat snapping photos of the shark:

The crew left Menemsha Harbor at 6 a.m. in a 23-foot boat Sea Ox and headed out to sea about a mile off Gay Head. The shark, Lynch and Farrissey said, passed by dwarfing the center console skiff.

That’s when the 28-year-old Lynch started snapping photos with his cell phone after the Coast Guard asked him to record the amazing encounter. Lunch forwarded those images to state shark experts and the Herald.

(emphasis added)

how come no sickness language re. rape?

This whole "slutwalk" phenomenon ("Cop's rape comment sparks wave of 'SlutWalks' - US news - Life - msnbc.com") is ironic . . . the barbarians have had enough and aren't taking it anymore!!!

I know, I know; some people are saying this is sort of a variation of the "Take Back the Night" rallies which I agree with in principle. And you will hardly find a more devout "law and order" person than myself. I'm not sure that the death penalty is inappropriate for a man who forces sexual intercourse on a woman. But it is interesting to me that this subject presents a clash between hand-wringing Liberal views on "crime" and radical Feminism. If these persons ("sexual offenders") are just "sick" or victims of society or some-such, is it right (much less wise) to tempt them or induce them to act out?

I'd say this phenomenon is more a reflection of the power of social media and the fact that young people have too much time on their hands than it is some statement about what a majority civilized Westerners think.

Re. the PWND t-shirt . . .

I thought this exchange, in the comments section from the PWND Osama t-shirt page, was funny (though "urban" is probably more accurate than "ebonics"):

#
RufusVonDufus
RufusVonDufus about 21 hours ago

Help! What does the PWND mean? I don’t get it.
#
yeahbaby
yeahbaby about 21 hours ago

PWND A variation of the word “owned”. The only reason that this word came about was because of a typo, and given that P and O are right next to each other. It has nothing to do with combining words or anything of the sort. It is rumored to have come about from an early Warcraft3 map, in which the creator meant to have a trigger say “Player X got ownd”, trying to use the “1337speak” variation of “owned”, but hit P instead of O, thus giving birth to “pwnd”.
#
Pouncekitty
Pouncekitty about 21 hours ago

Variation of a word? You mean a typo. Some idiot made a mistake, but instead of correcting it, invents MORE EBONICS! Jeez! Thank-you Teachers Unions and Liberals for making education so pointless. erwos fdsuu weroiss feertt! You don’t understand that?

Sore Loser Update -- WI Supreme Court election

Wisconsin Supreme Court Recount – Day 8 « Hot Air:

As for the type of nitpicking the Kloppenburg campaign has been doing, they successfully challenged 18 of the 24 absentee ballots in the Sauk County town of Sumpter, most of them from a convent, because they broke heavily for Pross…er, lacked witness signatures on the application. 14 of the 18 that were in the drawdown (random removal) were for Prosser, while the pre-recount canvass for the town had Kloppenburg carrying the town 96-83.

For the record, I think it is probably right--absent extraordinary circumstances (which it appears the State of WI is experiencing/facilitating), to exclude the votes of even these Prosser (my guy) supporting convent-dwellers, but certainly Democrats don't want to deny these persons the right to vote?!

Pelley bumping Couric

I thought the following was an interesting statement about Scott Pelley, who is reportedly replacing Katie Couric as the CBS Evening News anchor (here):

“A lot of journalists are haphazard in their approach to stories,” she says, but “Scott has an incredibly specific set of criteria for what he wants in a story. It should be important or meaningful, expose injustice, involve human struggle, be about people, and bring honor to CBS.

Something doesn't feel right about these journalistic criteria.

Palin, in spite of the spite . . .

I liked this report about Sarah Palin's gracious comments to Lefty Rachel Maddow at the WHCD on Saturday ("The Palin Challenge" -- BLTWY:

At the height of MSNBC's after-party at the Italian Embassy just after midnight- Palin's hostess Greta Van Susteran ran off to find the guest bartender, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, and procure the needed caffeiniated beverage.

Surely Maddow was happy to oblige, after the former vice presidential nominee said how much she 'admires' the journalist.

'Your work ethic shines,' she said to the MSNBC anchor.

An interesting admiration, to be sure.

I'm not sure why that is "interesting," but it sure was considerate for Palin to say such a thing.

The suck up media types

I love this psycho-journalistic tick that you see by MSM journalists when "reporting" on the whole Obama-birth-certificate issue; in this case, a story about Obama's jokes at Trump's expense over the weekend:

Last week Obama released his longform birth certificate to finally put the rumors — which had already been disproven — to rest.