I'm shocked -- shocked! -- that an educrat caught with his hands in the till got off with only 30 days of actual jail time.
He's Henry P. Williams, former superintendent of the Riverview Gardens, Missouri school district. Over a period of five years, he apparently misappropriated a little more than $100,000. A month in stir does seem rather a bit light for stealing that much money.
Then again, look where he stole it from: A school district with (as of FY 2006) a $64 million annual budget, every last dime of it stolen -- some of it from nearby property owners, some of it from income tax slaves all over the US, some of it from the very children it's supposedly "for" (via deficit spending and trying to stick those children with that debt). Call it $300 million in larceny over Williams's five-year tenure.
Steal $300 million for the purpose of abducting children and indoctrinating them with government propaganda, and you're regarded as a "public servant." You'll probably get a plaque or something, not to mention a significant "legit" cut of the loot. Rake off 1/3000th of the take for personal use and all of a sudden people notice you're a crook.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Gaza, in brief
Want more of something? Subsidize it!
For decades, the US government has subsidized the defense of Israel to the tune of billions of dollars per year.
Is it any wonder, then, that the Israeli government -- and the Arab governments which also receive billions in "peace with Israel tribute" from Uncle Sugar -- always make sure to keep a dire, even existential, threat on low to medium heat to justify the continuation of those subsidies in perpetuity?
Or that they turn up the gas a little bit at key points ... points like, say, the weeks before the inauguration of a new US president?
The point has long since ceased to be whether or not Israel survives or the "Palestinians" get a state, if indeed that ever was the point. The point now is to make damn sure those checks keep getting signed.
Israel isn't going to crush Hamas, because their meal ticket would expire if they did. Hamas isn't going to settle, for the same reason. The show must go on.
High-quality theatre? Perhaps. But it's hell on the extras.
For decades, the US government has subsidized the defense of Israel to the tune of billions of dollars per year.
Is it any wonder, then, that the Israeli government -- and the Arab governments which also receive billions in "peace with Israel tribute" from Uncle Sugar -- always make sure to keep a dire, even existential, threat on low to medium heat to justify the continuation of those subsidies in perpetuity?
Or that they turn up the gas a little bit at key points ... points like, say, the weeks before the inauguration of a new US president?
The point has long since ceased to be whether or not Israel survives or the "Palestinians" get a state, if indeed that ever was the point. The point now is to make damn sure those checks keep getting signed.
Israel isn't going to crush Hamas, because their meal ticket would expire if they did. Hamas isn't going to settle, for the same reason. The show must go on.
High-quality theatre? Perhaps. But it's hell on the extras.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year
Well, it's 2009 ... a new year, and time for new things.
First new thing: A weekly podcast, KN@PPSTER: Fridays Live at Five.
This isn't going to be one of those short one-man pre-recorded jobs like some of the Gcast stuff I've done before. Think live call-in-enabled "talk radio" with guests. No video yet, but that may be coming as well. Now that I've finally upgraded to 21st century Internet (yes, I was on dialup from 1994 all the way up to the last week of 2008), I can do things I wasn't able to do before.
Premiere episode on January 9th at 5pm (Central US time zone). Topic: US foreign policy and the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama.Guest TBA (I'm still awaiting confirmation). Guest: Eric Garris of Antiwar.Com.
There's a show "player" in the sidebar. I'm not quite happy with it, but NowLive's "widget" installation utility doesn't seem to want to work and play well with the latest version of Flash, so I had to take a circuitous route to get the damn thing at all. I'll try to get a nicer version up ASAP.
First new thing: A weekly podcast, KN@PPSTER: Fridays Live at Five.
This isn't going to be one of those short one-man pre-recorded jobs like some of the Gcast stuff I've done before. Think live call-in-enabled "talk radio" with guests. No video yet, but that may be coming as well. Now that I've finally upgraded to 21st century Internet (yes, I was on dialup from 1994 all the way up to the last week of 2008), I can do things I wasn't able to do before.
Premiere episode on January 9th at 5pm (Central US time zone). Topic: US foreign policy and the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama.
There's a show "player" in the sidebar. I'm not quite happy with it, but NowLive's "widget" installation utility doesn't seem to want to work and play well with the latest version of Flash, so I had to take a circuitous route to get the damn thing at all. I'll try to get a nicer version up ASAP.
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