This may be the reason.

A recent study by Northwestern University showed that minority youth spend an average of 13 hours per day watching television, texting, listening to music, and playing video games. That's 4.5 hours more than white youth.

Maybe that explains why 27.78% of the black population and 11.47% of the hispanic population is on welfare while only 5.27% of the white population is.

My question is this: if they're so poor they can't feed or shelter themselves, where do they get the money for iPods, DVR's, cable, video game equipment, cellphones, etc.? Disgusting, isn't it?

"Minority media use higher than whites'." The Dallas Morning News; June 9, 2011; p. 5A.

Don't be a litterbug!

If you're going to cheat on food stamps, don't be a litterbug. Louis Cuff of Menominee, Michigan, learned this lesson the hard way.

In February, Louis tootled down to Angelli's Country Market to make a few purchases with his Bridge Card -- the Michigan equivalent of the Lone Star Card. Being one of the poor, hungry citizens we're helping in their fight for survival, Louis bought 6 cold water lobsters, 2 porterhouse steaks, and a 24-pack of Mountain Dew at a cost to the taxpayers of something just over $141 -- all perfectly legal purchases. Then Louis littered the parking lot of the store with his receipt.

A customer who observed this transaction picked up the receipt and made some inquiries. The legal purchases were traced to Louis, but Louis, himself, evidently isn't particularly fond of porterhouse steak and cold water lobster and Mountain Dew. Turns out that he bought the items to sell them. And that's NOT legal. He has been charged with welfare fraud and could face up to 5 years in prison. Not to worry, though. With the goofy court decisions we've had over the last few decades regarding "humane" treatment of prisoners, he'll still probably be able to get his lobster and steak.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/ss/Lobster-Steak-Food-Stamp-Receipt.htm?nl=1

We're in the 3 D's!

There was an article in the newspaper early this month about a police department foul-up in Austin. A 19-year-old was driving with her 10-year-old nephew as a passenger. The 10-year-old was hanging out the window. A police officer stopped them. Here's where the foul-up occurred. He cited the little boy for not being belted in properly. He should have ticketed the driver.

At any rate, the little boy says he was scared. I really think his family's just trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. However, there's something exceedingly sad about this tale. The little boy told the reporter, "He made me sign my signature, but I don't have a signature because I'm 10 years old." A 10 year old doesn't know how to sign his name? Folks, we're in the 3 D's -- deep doo-doo! The important part of this story is not about a bureaucratic mistake -- it's a scathing indictment of our educational system.

"10-year-old ticketed in seat belt slip-up." The Dallas Morning News; June 4, 2011; p. 5A.

Dallas Morning News funny: Headline on page 4P of the June 26, 2011, issue: "Death nell for cartels?" Snidely Whiplash tying Nell Fenwick to the railroad track floated through my mind. What a goof for a nationally known newspaper!

Oh, well, that makes it OK!

John Edwards is on trial for misusing campaign funds to buy the silence of his "baby mama." He says he's not guilty. He never intended to lie to and cheat the voters. The only one he was trying to deceive was his wife. Well, goodness gracious! Give that man a gold star!

"John Edwards continues to sink lower." The Dallas Morning News; June 7, 2011; p. 13A.

Let's "die with dignity."

Remember when we were called fear-mongers because we said Obamacare would lead to rationed healthcare, and the elderly and those with chronic illnesses would get the short end of the stick? I think we're beginning to see them working on society's mindset to make that scenario seem not only acceptable, but preferable.

Steve Blow recently had a column about suicide and what he termed the "quality of death issue." The Senior Source is a nonprofit agency "serving" older adults. It's spokesman says that we've got to "reform end-of-life medical care so that a humane, dignified death becomes a worthy goal, not just prolonged life at any cost." "I don't see death as being so terrible," Linda Ross said. Wonder how she'll see death when it's staring her in the face.

And right now, they'll say all this is purely voluntary. But we'll see how long that lasts.

"Tackling the quality of death issue." The Dallas Morning News; May 15, 2011; p. 1B.

Hooray for the Texas Legislature

The Texas Legislature has told the state health department they need to look elsewhere for nearly $20 million to provide free drugs for HIV/AIDS patients.

My question is, "Why are we providing free drugs for HIV/AIDS patients when people who are desperately ill with other diseases don't get free drugs?"

Dallas AIDS patient Ben Martinez called the decision shortsighted. No, Ben, what's shortsighted is indulging in risky, perverted behavior when you don't have medical insurance to take care of the consequences of your actions.


"AIDS drugs at risk in budget talks." The Dallas Morning News; May 18, 2011; p. 1A.

Are they twice as likely to resist?

We've wasted money on a four-year federal investigation of the Austin Police Department. The complaint by the NAACP and the Texas Civil Rights Project was that the department was violating residents' civil rights. From 1998 to 2003, police were twice as likely to use force against blacks as against whites. Gee, do you think that could be because blacks were twice as likely to resist arrest? That would be my guess, because the department was completely cleared of any violations, and you can bet that if there had been any, we'd be hearing all the specifics.

However, even though the department wasn't violating anybody's civil rights, they had to implement programs so they'd keep on not violating anybody's civil rights. These include a program to identify officers with a tendency to use force (even though they've had no instances of that) and having review boards to identify "tactical or training issues that could be corrected to minimize uses of force against citizens" (even though they've had no instances of undue force). No word on how much all this "diversity training" is costing the city. They should send the bill to the NAACP.

"Austin police cleared in civil rights inquiry." The Dallas Morning News; May 31, 2011; p. 3A.

Scare tactics or the truth?

Remember when Pelosi and Reid were trying to pass Obamacare and they ridiculed Republicans and Tea Party folks who warned about rationed care and bureacrats making your health care decisions? "They're just trying to scare old people," they derisively opined.

Kathleen Sibelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary who has pretty much said she can do whatever she wants to implement Obamacare, has decided that Medicare will track spending on individual beneficiaries and reward hospitals that "hold down costs" and penalize those whose "patients prove most expensive." The administration will establish "medicare spending per beneficiary" as a measure of hospital performance.

Sounds to me like the end result of this little experiment will be rationed care. The hospitals will just turn away those with dire illnesses so they won't mess up their statistics. We need a renewed push to repeal this travesty!

On a further note, couples who opt to "retire early" and pull in as much as $64,000 a year in retirement benefits will qualify for Medicaid when Obamacare fully kicks in. That means we'll be paying for medical care for people who can afford to "retire early." The reasoning is that it's not fair that they should have to allow for health insurance in the gap between retirement and Medicare age. Folks, we're in deep doo-doo if we allow this program to stand!

"Hospital spending to be tracked." The Dallas Morning News; May 31, 2011; p. 1A.

She's a child!

In Cleveland, Texas, 18 men and boys face charges of sexual assault for assaulting an 11-year-old girl in an abandoned trailer on several different occasions. It's possible there may be as many as 28 arrested before the investigation is completed. The reason they got caught: the idiots filmed the attacks on a cellphone and passed it around.

Nearby residents said they had seen the girl dressed provocatively and in makeup, hanging out near the area both before and after the attacks. "Maturity or not, I'm pretty sure she knew what she was doing," said Robin Smith. I don't care if the child paraded around naked yelling, "Come and get it, boys!" She's 11 years old! She was attacked by adult men. They knew she was a child. There is no excuse.

"18 men, boys face charges in sexual assaults of 11-year-old girl." The Dallas Morning News; March 10, 2011; p. 3A.

We just want tolerance.

The Dallas Morning News is on the receiving end of a discrimination complaint filed under the city's fair housing ordinance. You might think their offense was running a classified ad for a housing complex limited to whites only. Not so.

The offended couple is a gay couple who "married" in Washington, D.C. They want to put a marriage announcement in the paper. But The News' policy is that they don't run marriage announcements for marriages not recognized in this neck of the woods. They'll run a "commitment" announcement for the perverts, but as far as Texans are concerned, they can't be married. The pervert couple says that the discrimination policy regarding public accommodations includes paid announcements in the newspaper.

I don't like the policy of running commitment announcements, but I do commend the newspaper for not giving in to the ridiculous sham of running marriage announcements for two men or two women.

"Gay pair's complaint targets News' policy." The Dallas Morning News; March 9, 2011; p. 2B.

Lord, save us from pure hearts!

Emily McDonald was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree injury to a child. They caught her on a hospital surveillance camera smearing feces on her 3-year-old daughter's IV catheter. She said she did it five times over the course of the child's hospital stay to elevate her fever so they would continue giving her antibiotics. And, surprise, when they got the mother away from the child, the child improved and is now fine.

Emily's attorney said, "Obviously it was a criminal act, and it was wrongheaded, but it was done with a pure heart." I guess we're lucky there are so few "pure-hearted" people in the world if that's how they act!

"Mother gets 20 years in jail." The Dallas Morning News; April 5, 2011; p. 2A.

Who really has the gender identity issues?

Have you heard about the Canadian couple who aren't telling anyone what the gender of their baby is? Kathy Witterick and David Stocker say they don't want the child, Storm, to be influenced by connotations of pink vs. blue or male vs. female until it can "make up his or her own mind."

A picture accompanying the article shows Storm's brother Jazz talking to him/her. I thought it was Storm's sister -- Jazz has long braided pigtails and had on a decidedly feminine sweater. Storm's goofball parents say they are not sharing Storm's gender as a "tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? . . .)." I agree that Storm is growing up in a messed up world, but he or she is going to be a whole lot more messed up than a kid who has parents without gender identity issues.

"Parents open about all but baby's gender." The Dallas Morning News; May 28, 2011; p. 11A.

Poor Jose!

Poor Jose Guerra! Jose is a senior at the University of Texas at Brownsville and president of the student government association. He's also an illegal alien.

Poor Jose! He had to try sneaking into the U.S. twice before he made it successfully across the border at age 15.

Poor Jose! He can't become a U.S. citizen because he lied when he tried to cross the border the first time.

Poor Jose! He says, "I don't see why they would educate people here in the United States and spend like thousands and thousands of dollars and then just send them back." Like, I don't think poor Jose got enough education if he's like a college senior and still peppers his speech with like. But I have to agree with poor Jose on one point. Why are we spending thousands and thousands of dollars educating illegals?

Juliet Garcia is the University President. She said, "The plight of these bright, young students that are prepared to become productive contributors to our society has become a human tragedy." Give me a break! Human tragedy? I don't think so. The Holocaust was a human tragedy. The Bataan Death March was a human tragedy. 9/11 was a human tragedy. I could name a lot of others, but you get my drift. Hmmmm . . . Garcia. Maybe we better check poor Juliet's papers.

"Student president facing deportation." The Dallas Morning News; May 26, 2011; p. 2A.

Good Guys 2, Bad Guys 0

A vigilant neighbor (that's the nice way of saying nosey neighbor) in Ellis County noticed two men knocking on the door of his neighbor's house. When no one came to the door, they drove to the back of the house. The neighbor called the father of the man who owned the house, and he went to check on things.

When he entered his son's home, he saw the two men loading up his son's gun collection. The bad guys should have figured that anyone with a gun collection just might have a concealed carry permit. And Dad did. And Dad opened fire. At last report, one bad guy dead, one in surgery at a Dallas hospital.

And on another note, don't you just love the headline on this article: "2 suspected burglars shot inside home"? Do they think maybe they were just being good Samaritans and taking those guns out to clean them for the owner?

"2 suspected burglars shot inside home." The Dallas Morning News; May 25, 2011; p. 2B.

Poor Hov Ly Kol!

Poor Hov Ly Kol. He was deported from the U.S. last summer. Bleeding heart columnist James Ragland says he was deported under the "so-called criminal aliens law." My first point is that they call it the criminal aliens law because that's what it is -- is says that if you are an alien here, and you commit a crime, you can't become a citizen or stay here.

Poor Hov Ly Kol. His fiance, Elizabeth Beach, is upset because she won't be able to raise her children in the U.S. And her mother is upset. "I will have to raise my children overseas and she feels like she'll never get to see them." My second point is that that's Elizabeth's choice. She chose to become involved with a man who was a criminal.

Poor Hov Ly Kol. He was only a little teenager, Ragland says, when he "was involved in two robberies in 1995, including a fatal one." What really happened is that he was a gang member and they killed a man in the commission of a robbery.

Poor Hov Ly Kol. He was released from prison in 2007, and according to the law, he should have been deported immediately. But for some reason, they couldn't get the necessary travel documents from Cambodia. In the meantime, poor Hov Ly Kol has played basketball with kids and taken them on field trips and cleaned the streets in his South Philly neighborhood. ICE finally got those travel documents last summer, and poor Hov Ly Kol was picked up and deported.

Poor Hov Ly Kol. His fiance says she thinks there should be "individual review of cases before you rip all of these families apart." I'm concerned about a family that was ripped apart, but it's not poor Hov Ly Kol's family. It's the family of the man he killed. That's where our sympathy should lie -- not with a "criminal alien."

As for individual review -- if we're not going to deport a gang member who killed a man during the commission of an armed robbery, just who should we deport?

"Deportation keeps couple a world away." The Dallas Morning News; May 25, 2011; p. 1B.

But the rules don't apply to me!

De'Chara Moore, Kristen Thomas, and Kandace Owen are recent graduates of Mesquite High School. One of the Seniors' rites of passage each May is a Senior breakfast. These three girls and several others were denied admittance to the breakfast because they were dressed inappropriately.

Accompanying the newspaper article reporting this story was a photograph of the three girls. I immediately thought to myself, "They went too far. Aside from Kandace's dress being about 6 inches too short, the girls look very nice to me." True, they were told they couldn't wear sundresses which the girls had on, but each had on a sweater or shrug to cover her bare shoulders.

But then I read the article. The students were told that sundresses, even with jackets or cover-ups, would not be allowed. These girls chose to push the limit. Kristen said she called her mother when she was turned away, and she "almost started crying." Kandace said, "And we missed everything." Well, that's the breaks, girls, when you willfully flaunt the rules.

The other sad indictment here comes from the father of another girl who was turned away for the same reason as the aforementioned trio. "A friend of hers wore the exact outfit to church on Sunday and nobody even looked at it," he said. Yeah, I've noticed lately on Sunday morning you can't tell whether you're in church or at a singles bar.

"Breakfast is missed by seniors whose atire didn't make grade." The Dallas Morning News; May 7, 2011; p. 1B.

I know - let's create another board!

I found a recent article in The Paris News quite amusing. It reported on a City Council discussion regarding the problem of a consistent lack of a quorum on city boards and commissions. It went on for several paragraphs to talk about the difficulty of finding people willing to serve on the boards and commissions and absenteeism among those who do agree to serve. Then it listed all the boards and commissions that currently have vacancies.

In other City Council business at that same meeting, they agreed to establish a new city Parks and Recreation Board. Is it just me, or did someone not connect some dots? Maybe they could create a board to address the lack of people serving on boards.

"Empty seats on boards, commissions slow city business." The Paris News; May 10, 2011; p. 1A.

Essie Award Time

It's time to award an Essie, the award given solely on the basis of incredible stupidity.

Estefany Danelia Martinez and Anna Margarita Rivera were tellers at a bank in Houston. They conspired with the boyfriend of one and the brother of the other to rob the bank of more than $62,000. Then they posted on their Facebook pages. "IM RICH." 'WIPE MY TEETH WITH HUNDEREDS (sic)." It didn't take long for the police to come knocking.

So out of the hundereds of people I could have chosen, this Essie is for you, Estefany and Anna.

"Facebook braggings leads to 4 arrests in bank robbery." The Dallas Morning News; May 12, 2011; p. 4A.

We must not be too poor.

There has been much in the news lately about how much we're having to cut back on education. Then we find out that the San Antonio School District is spending $2 million, courtesy of the Department of Agriculture, to track what kids eat at lunch. The students will be photographed as they fill their lunch trays, then the trays will be photographed when they are turned in. This is to find out what the kids are eating, and to try to insure that they are making good choices. I don't know about kids today, but when I was a kid, we did a lot of "I'll trade you my tuna sandwich for your baked beans." I suspect kids are still the same. That alone will skew the results.

I don't know who came up with this system, but just suppose that instead of wasting $2 million on such a silly thing, they served only healthy foods in the lunchroom so that whatever the kids picked would be a healthy choice? When I was in elementary school, the lunchroom ladies put you a glop of this and a glop of that on the tray. . .we didn't have choices. And if I was hungry enough, I ate it. We don't need to spend $2 million to find out what kids will choose . . . oreos or broccoli? Broccoli, of course. Ice cream or baked chicken? Baked chicken, of course. Pizza or a lean meat patty? The lean meat patty, of course. Duh!

Researchers say they hope that "parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools." We can take care of that, too. We need to restrict food stamp purchases. Until we do that, the 47 million people who are sucking the taxpayer dry will continue to be fat, happy, couch potatoes.

"As kids eat, cameras do the math." The Dallas Morning News; May 12, 2011; p. 1A.

Gerald needs remedial economics.

Gerald Bunger of Sunnyvale must have flunked Economics 101. In response to a letter writer's contention that additional taxes on "the wealthy" would choke small businesses, Gerald says that "it should be noted that it is not a tax on the operations of a small business or its employees. It is actually an income tax on the owner of the small business . . . an increase in their tax rates is not as burdensome as it might appear. "

Well, Gerald, in the first place, at least some of the "rich" ARE their businesses. They are sole proprietors, and their profits are taxed on their personal income tax returns. There is no separate business tax. In the second place, Gerald, when those "rich" people who are incorporated start getting more of their money taken away, they're going to stop investing as much in their businesses -- it will take more of their profits for them to maintain their lifestyles. When they stop investing as much in their businesses, they'll likely let an employee or two go and pick up the slack themselves. They might raise prices, thereby having their customers fund the tax increase. When their employees are laid off, they'll head down to the unemployment office which is already overburdened, and the unemployment taxes on the business will go up. Those who are laid off and those who are paying higher prices won't have as much money to spread around in the economy, and the grocery stores may find themselves laying off a stocker or a sacker or a butcher.

I don't know what you do for a living, Gerald, but I'll just bet you work for one of those nasty rich people. And if it happens to be your position he eliminates to make up for his increase in taxes, he can soften the blow by telling you that being laid off "is not as burdensome as might appear."

"Clarification on 'business' tax." The Dallas Morning News; May 7, 2011; p. 22A.

Honor or dishonor?

Matthew D. Jarrell was the pastor of the Open Door Baptist Church in Mesquite. He had a sexual assault charge pending against him from 2007. Last month, he told his wife and congregation he was attending a church convention in Pennsylvania. But he was arrested in West Virginia for sexually assaulting a woman he picked up in a bar. The following Sunday, he committed suicide in his cell.

One of the church members was quoted in the newspaper: "We want to honor Brother Jarrell and his family." Excuse me? I completely understand, "We want to stand by Brother Jarrell's family and help them through this." I completely understand, "Who knows what kind of demons this man was battling." I completely understand, "Maybe there's more to the story than we've heard." But I have a very difficult time understanding honoring the man. Obviously, he wasn't where he said he would be. Obviously, whether he actually assaulted the woman or not, he picked her up in a bar -- hardly seemly behavior for a pastor.

The congregation was strangely silent on the women who brought the accusations against Jarrell. Do they not think that perhaps those women need some prayer, comfort, and understanding?

Until Christians stand up and call sin what it is, we will continue to be called hypocrites. No, I don't honor "Brother" Jarrell, because he is guilty of bringing dishonor to the cause of Christianity.

"Suicide stuns small congregation." The Dallas Morning News; May 23, 2011; p. 3A.

And what do you want to be, little boy?

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about priorities in the schools. It seems from the newspapers that students are doing everything except learning reading, writing, and arithmetic. There are fundraisers, field days, field trips, special assemblies, jump-a-thons, rock-a-thons, gardening, and the list goes on and on.

Everett Elementary in the North Lamar District recently hosted "Careers on Wheels," a career day event. Now, I can understand career days for high school and maybe even middle school. But second- and third-graders? Counselor Christie Welch said the purpose of the event was to, " . . .provide insight into career paths." For 7- and 8-year-olds?

The article in the newspaper began with the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" How about "literate"?

"Everett hosts 'Careers on Wheels' event." The Paris News; May 22, 2011; p. 8A.

See your travel agent today!

We've already been through a fourth of the month of June, so you'll have to get down to that travel agent today to take advantage of the big discounts being touted by the Santa Fe, New Mexico, tourism folks.

You can take part in the Pride at the Railyard Park arts and crafts festival June 25. Or go to the Pride Pool Party at the Hilton Santa Fe on June 26. Other hotels are offering all sorts of pride specials in June.

Oh, in case you're interested, the pride they're talking about is gay pride. The City of Santa Fe is celebrating Gay Pride Month. I don't know about you, but I think we'll vacation somewhere else -- preferably as far away from New Mexico as we can get.

"Santa Fe marking Gay Pride Month." The Dallas Morning News; June 5, 2011; p. 5K.

Funny from The Paris News: A front-page photo caption reads "Prairiland High School graduate Megan McIntire walks down the isle to her seat Friday . . . " Guess they had to get to that graduation ceremony by canoe.

Did you know . . .

. . . that in 2009 households making over $250,000 earned 24.1 percent of total income, but paid 43.6 percent of total personal federal income taxes? Kind of shoots holes in the "rich don't pay their fair share" theory, doesn't it?

"Don't just blame the rich." The Dallas Morning News; May 15, 2011; p. 6P.

Did you know . . .

. . .that half the births in Texas are paid for by Medicaid? Why do people who can't afford kids keep having them? Perhaps it's because they know somebody else will pay for them and support them for the rest of their lives. This is D-Day, and I don't think the 9000 men who were killed and wounded in that invasion did it so lazy, good-for-nothings could have sex anytime they felt like it and have somebody else take care of the consequences.

My suggestion? Medicaid should be limited to paying for one baby only. After that, they're on their own.

"Abortion sonogram law likely to face lawsuit." The Dallas Morning News; May 21, 2011; p. 1A.

What will they come up with next?

San Francisco will take a vote next November. You will never guess what it's for. The voters will be asked to vote on whether or not to ban circumcising baby boys.

First of all, circumcision is a religious rite for millions of Jews and others. There will be no religious exemption should this ban pass. Most other parents do it for health reasons . . . there is evidence that circumcision prevents all sorts of infections and may be a deterrent to penile cancer.

And I'll just bet that the same people who are all bent out of shape about giving a little boy a snip he will never remember are the same ones who are out fighting for the right to abort that little boy. What happened to their mantra: "This should be a decision between patient and doctor with no government interference"?

"Circumcision ban to be on ballot." The Dallas Morning News; May 19, 2011; p. 6A.

I can fix that plate for $1 million!

Remember the old game show "Name that Tune"? The contestants would bid on how many notes they thought they needed to identify a tune. "I can name that tune in 3 notes," one would say. Then his opponent would counter with, "I can name that tune in 2 notes."

I thought of that when I read about Michelle Obama's new take on the food pyramid. In her quest to get people to eat healthy (which does not include eliminating junk food from food stamp purchases), she thinks the pyramid we've used for several years now is outmoded. So she came up with a food plate showing the proportions of vegetables and fruits, grains, and proteins we should have. It cost $2 million to come up with it. And it took two years.

Hey, Michelle! I could have fixed that plate in 20 minutes for $1 million. I'd be a million richer, and the government would have saved a million (according to Democratic ideology). Win/Win!

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/06/02/bid-a-costly-goodbye-to-these-food-pyramids/

My name is Essie and I'll be your server today.

Wouldn't you think that a hungry child would show up for free breakfast? Evidently, that's not the case.

Students in seven Dallas schools now get free breakfast served to them in the classroom because they don't show up at the lunchroom to get it. Eighty-six percent of Dallas ISD students qualify for free or reduced-price school breakfast and lunch. Only 40% of them were taking advantage of the free breakfast. Now, if I were to think logically, I would think to myself, "Gosh, maybe these kids aren't that hungry and don't need free breakfast. Since they don't want it, we can cut the expense here by about half." But we live in an age where thinking logically is a rarity. The way the DISD thinking goes is, "Even though these kids obviously don't need it, we have to keep this program alive, because if we don't, we won't get the money to do free breakfast, so what we'll do is serve the kids in the classroom." That means they've added expenses to hire additional people and buy equipment to cart the meals to the individual classrooms in insulated containers.

So instead of saving money on a program that's demonstrably not needed, they've spent even more to try to show that it is needed. Anyway, they should get Michelle Obama on their case and hire a new dietician. The meal they were served on the day the reporter was there was 2 whole-grain pancakes with syrup, sausage, chocolate milk, and orange juice. And that supposedly meets federal nutritional standards. Wish my doctor would let me have chocolate milk, pancakes with syrup, and sausage for breakfast.

"Here, it's OK to eat at your desk." The Dallas Morning News; May 18, 2011; p. 6B.

The rules apply to everybody but me.

At Shelton High School in Shelton, Connecticut, there is a rule that anyone receiving a suspension after April 1 will not be allowed to attend the prom. The rule is well-publicized -- posted in the halls, announced on the PA system, phone-treed to parents, and mailed out to parents.

Senior James Tate thought that rule didn't apply to him; and as it turns out, he was right. He trespassed on school property and climbed up to the top of the school entrance to attach a banner inviting a girl to go to the prom with him. He knew it was against the rules for him to do so, because he says he thought he'd just be told to clean it up. But he was suspended, and forfeited his right to go to the prom.

National news media picked it up, and it seems everyone sided with the kid. In fact, the pressure was so great, that the school gave in and he's attending the prom. Unfortunately he learned through this experience that if you're loud enough, you don't have to be right.

On another note, I have become aware just how out of hand these prom things have become. When I was in high school, it was a tux, a pretty formal, some flowers, a beauty shop appointment, and maybe a fancy dinner out. Now it's all those things (the formal has morphed into "how tiny and revealing can this dress be without me being arrested") plus limos, rented hotel rooms for parties afterward, and outlandish marriage proposal type invitations. The kids even call it "popping the question." What are the parents of these kids thinking????

"Suspended student to go to prom after all." The Dallas Morning News; May 15, 2011; p. 2A.

What happened, Jerry?

I thought the Super Bowl was supposed to be a big boon to our economy. I thought we'd be counting the proceeds for months. As it turns out, for the most part, metroplex counties didn't experience any big increase in sales tax receipts for February 2011 over February 2010. In fact, after showing a 25 percent increase in January over the previous January, Dallas County sales tax revenue decreased by that same percentage in February. (The month's I used are the month's actually reflected -- the proceeds aren't tabulated until the following month, so if you look it up, these are February and March figures). Tarrant County cities received modest increases of around 4%.

Now, according to Jeff Mosier of The Dallas Morning News, "Three months have passed since the first Super Bowl in North Texas, but that game is still top of mind for city and state finance officials who are counting the millions in costs." Dallas, Ft. Worth, Irving, and Arlington are due as much as $31.2 million from the state's major events trust fund. I suggest we send Jerry the bill.

"Cities file expenses for state to repay." The Dallas Morning News; May 14, 2011; p. 1B.