A Christmas display that’s a little too life-like has led to some panicked calls to 911.
— Read on www-m.cnn.com/2018/12/03/us/clark-griswold-christmas-display-911-calls-trnd/index.html
A High School Newspaper Was Suspended For Publishing An Investigation Into Football Players’ Transfers
So a school student newspaper publishes a story that is embarrassing to the principal and school district leadership. The school then pulls the story and threatens to fire the advisor despite a state law that protects student publications.
Got to love today’s education system.
— Read on www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/amberjamieson/harber-high-arkansas-student-newspaper-suspended-football
Disappointed by governments blindly canceling commercial fireworks in Colorado
I am extremely disappointed that local governments are blindly canceling commercial firework programs in Colorado this year because of the dry conditions. While being prudent is always good, it could have been handled in a more systematic manner.
For example, Sheriff Ted Mink of Jefferson County canceled all the commercial fireworks displays in his county. I think this was short-sighted and a political move to appease some of the mountain communities. It was an easy way out.
Sheriff Mink probably should have reviewed each of the commercial programs individually. This is more a risk-based approach and would have fit the largest county in the state of Colorado. One that encompasses the western metro Denver area up into the mountains.
One commercial firework display that was a casualty that probably shouldn’t have been is the city of Westminster. It is located within the northern suburbs of Denver and completely surrounded by a community. It is set off at a park. The fire danger is low and the potential of spread is low. In fact, if you move that display less than one-quarter of a mile it wouldn’t be in Jefferson County.
Now I agree that displays in the foothills and mountains should have been canceled this year, it is just too dry. But displays that are in the metro area being canceled for the reason that they just fall within Jefferson County is just plain short-sighted.
I found that it interesting that people wanted the Colorado Rockies to cancel their fireworks display this year. This display is in the middle of downtown. It had no chance of starting a wildfire. None at all. But thankfully the Denver Fire Chief and Colorado Rockies used good reason.
Thankfully and finally people are not using personal fireworks and these have been banned. These should be permanently banned in Colorado. These devices cause more injuries and damage than any commercial fireworks could do in a lifetime. I urge the Colorado legislature to permanently ban them.
We need to be prudent and safer this summer. It’s extremely dry and there have been many fires around the state because of this drought. But we need to use common sense and a risk-based approach in the future. To have a blanket restriction on commercial shows is not a good way to manage a county or state.
Why Boise State Supporters Don’t Get It and Why I Can’t Stand Them
Boise State University President Bob Kustra just doesn’t get it. It also filters all-the-way through to its supporters. They have a good football team, but when it comes to everything else they just don’t measure up. They are nasty, mean, uninformed and ignorant.
I’m a University of Idaho alum and I bleed silver and gold. It is a great university and I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else. It is also the Land Grant University in the state of Idaho which means that it provides services through its agriculture extension offices throughout the entire state while also focusing its teaching in agriculture, science and engineering.
Because of this, the University of Idaho has an extensive endowment and last year brought in more that $89 million in research funding (that is 74-percent of all research funding of Idaho’s public universities).
The University of Idaho also contributes nearly $1 billion to the Idaho economy on an annual basis. So for $1 of state money given to the University of Idaho, they return $9 to the state economy.
http://www.ktvb.com/v/?i=107005578
Continue reading “Why Boise State Supporters Don’t Get It and Why I Can’t Stand Them”
Technically it’s not really the end of the decade…
To help settle a debate, technically it is not really the end of the decade.
Since the common calendar began with year 1, the decade we are currently in goes through 2010, not 2009.
There was a lot of discussion about this when the calendar switched from 1999 to 2000. We were still in that decade (and century) until the calendar transferred over from 2000 to 2001.
A decade is also defined as any ten consecutive years, so if you want to go out and celebrate every New Year’s as the end of the decade you can. It’s always good to go out and celebrate on New Years.
At Least 4 Dead as Iranians Fight Police in Streets
At Least 4 Dead as Iranians Fight Police in Streets – NYTimes.com
The protests are growing and the opposition is getting bolder as the government is hanging on. The revolution in Iran continues.
The only reason they are hanging on is that the Iranian government thugs are shooting at unarmed protestors.
This will continue to spread and grow and will eventually lead to the downfall of the government that came to power under their own revolution.
It will be interesting to see what they do to try and hold onto power. We in the west just need to be patient and continue to share what is going on there.
They can’t block the entire Internet.
Snowball fight takes dangerous turn when police officer draws gun
Snowball fight takes dangerous turn when police officer draws gun – washingtonpost.com.
This is just a pretty stupid move by the Washington, D.C., detective. You don’t pull your gun if you get snowballs thrown at you during a neighborhood snowball fight.
Watch the video:
A police officer should only pull their gun on someone when they fell their life is threatened. I don’t think getting snowballs thrown at you equals a life threatening moment.
It is just a bunch of neighbors out there enjoying the snow.
Web site posts what it says are half million text messages from 9/11 – CNN.com
Web site posts what it says are half million text messages from 9/11 – CNN.com
This is quite moving and a personal look at the tragedy of September 11th.
Malawi makes strides and now is exporting food
After suffering through a deadly drought, the government of Malawi took the bold step, and ignored the United States and European Union, and developed a seed giveaway program.
Well guess what happened, they have had two bumper crops and are now exporting food to their neighboring countries. Quite a success story.
I found this story on NBC Nightly News and it caught my attention.
New York Times Explores the Secrecy of Apple and the Health of Steve Jobs
Talking Business – Apple’s Culture of Secrecy – NYTimes.com
This is a deceiving headline from the New York Times. The story is more on the health of Steve Jobs and when should a company disclose information about the health of their CEO.
It is quite a dilema. When should a company disclose that there CEO is sick?
A public company has the duty to disclose things that could provide information to its shareholers so they can make the right decision about their investment.
The article quotes a spokesman for the Securities and Exchange Commission who said that the law defined materiality as information that “the reasonable investor needs to know in order to make an informed decision about his investment.”
The issue of Jobs health came up in Apple’s Third Quarter Conference Call and an analyst asked the question. But Apple just kinda blew it off saying it was a private matter.
Other companies have dealt with the issue, each in different ways. Intel’s CEO was stricken with cancer. He informed the board and management, but not the shareholders. A McDonald’s CEO found out he had cancer and it was announced pretty quick.
Luckily for Intel’s CEO he survived, but the McDonald’s CEO resigned shortly thereafter and passed quickly after that.
To me, if Steve Jobs was sick and it would effect how he would do his job, then it would need to be disclosed. But Apple blowing it off and saying nothing but that it is a private matter does no exude confidence in the shareholders of Apple.
The secrecy veil that Apple has cast over its company creates more problems than they should be having, but it adds to the mystique and allure of Apple. It is the culture of Apple that everyone loves.
I just wish they and other companies would be more open about the health of their CEO’s so investors and shareholders would have more information to make the right investment decisions.
Someone just told me that you need to research and like the direction of the product, management, and marketing of a company. If you don’t, then don’t invest in it.
Right now, there are questions about management, especially Steve Jobs. Without Jobs, is there an Apple? I would be interested in your thoughts.
Mile High Soapbox 
