MOVING ALONG

I had an abrupt email exchange with Mark A.R. Kleinman this week. He informs me I am behind the times. The googlebombing of miserable failure has apparently succeeded so well, the good citizens of the Blogdom have moved on to a new phrase. Fortunately it's just as easy to work in when you're talking about the Bush administration.

Speaking of which, Move-On.org sponsored a contest to produce 30 second spots for the upcoming political season. It appears that over a 1000 people were inspired by the astounding incompetence of our current misleaders and submitted entries. The numbers so surpassed the expected estimates, Move-On now needs some help with the judging phase.

You need to be registered to view the videos but I believe it's free. I didn't look at them myself yet but they sound promising in the promo and plan to check them later when I have some time.

Speaking of astounding incompetence, here's a story from last week that didn't get much play. At least four students at Madison High School in Idaho were injured in a mock-hostage drill being undertaken by local law enforcement when the officers shot them with paintball guns. The students were later treated at the hospital.

Student Randi Weatherston describes the assault. "It hurt really bad like five feet away they were shooting paint balls and i got a bunch of bruises."

Chief Archibald of the Rexburg PD ruefully explains what went wrong. "It was pretty chaotic and a lot of stuff happened that shouldn't have. We made some mistakes we made mistakes that we would do different next time."

They might want to consider using mock students at a mock school next time.

And while we're on the subject of students, there's this fiscally irresponsible decision by the Lee County Board of Education in North Carolina to approve funding of approximately $10,300 for the purchase and training of a drug dog to patrol area schools. This is just the start-up costs which include the purchase of a used Blazer-type vehicle for $3,500 to transport the animal. The article does not mention the projected annual cost of upkeep.

A criminal waste of taxpayer's money at a time when school districts are struggling just to provide basic supplies and must charge for extra-curricular activities. Do they really think that this will stop kids from using drugs? It may well stop them from bringing them to school but I doubt that being subjected to unwarranted Gestapo style searches will foster any respect for the law in these young people.