SNIPPETS

MARCH 17,  2010

NEW YORK, March 16 (UPI) -- An 83-year-old New York man accused of beating a 99-year-old man during a dispute about parking rejected a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail.  Gersh Gofman turned down a deal offered by prosecutors Monday that would have resulted in a probation sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree attempted assault, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Look at the condition these guys are in.  Who said the American health-care system is second-rate?

MARCH 16,  2010

GLASGOW, Scotland, March 15 (UPI) -- A Scottish charity says it is holding classes on proper sleep habits for teenagers in a bid to boost the students' energy during the school day.

The kids could just listen to a Barack Obama speech.  That would do the trick.

MARCH 15,  2010

From the New York Post:  WASHINGTON --- Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department is spending $5.4 million to buy fine crystal stemware for American embassies -- but it won't give the US economy much of a boost.  The contract was given to a tiny Washington, DC, interior designer, which in turn subcontracted the crystal work to a Swedish firm -- snubbing such US companies as the famous manufacturer in Clinton's own back yard, Steuben Crystal of upstate Corning.  The firm didn't even get a chance to bid on the contract, which will outfit embassies and ambassadors' residences with fancy crystal for ritzy functions.

Hillary doesn't give a damn about New York.  She only used this state when she needed it to become a senator.  We had some hopes that, despite her seedy past, she would grow as secretary of state.  Instead, she's become Obama's poodle.

MARCH 14,  2010

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) - Authorities said a 30-year-old-man showed up so drunk for his sentencing for drunken driving that he missed his hearing and now faces even more time behind bars. Authorities said Jason Botos was driven to the Papillion courthouse on Thursday by his father, who needed help from deputies to get his son out of the vehicle.

I wonder if daddy noticed that sonny was drinking.

MARCH 13,  2010

LONDON, March 12 (UPI) -- An in-house critic says that if near-illiterate teenagers can use Facebook and Twitter, staffers for the British broadcaster BBC do not need a course.  The BBC, funded by license fees paid by TV owners, has been offering a one-day class, "Making the Web Work for You," to its employees, the Daily Mail reported. At least 476 people are reported to have attended the course since November.  "We're meant to be belt-tightening. It is an astonishing waste of money," a staffer told the newspaper. "Teenagers who can barely read or write have managed to teach themselves."

Yeah, and maybe the Beeb should start worrying about all those teenagers who can barely read and write...and why they're in that condition.