This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: WTF?

  • Publick Ejukashun Inn Shikahgo

    Here’s what appears to be a photo of a prom invitation for a Chicago-area high school, Paul Robeson High School:

     

     

    Sad. Just freaking sad.

    But what’s sadder even than that is the fact that the average salary for teachers in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system is approx $76,000 per year. Seriously.

    The average household income in the city of Chicago? It’s barely $46,400. And in the area where Paul Robeson High is located, it’s lower (it’s in a poor area with high unemployment).

    Oh, and did I mention that the teachers in the CPS got raises totaling 17% over the last 3 years, courtesy of their 2012 contract negotiations?

    Further:  4 of 10 entering CPS freshmen never graduate from high school. Yeah, not all of that is on the schools.  But a 40% dropout rate, system-wide?  Really?

    I guess those teachers are really earning their pay in CPS.

    “I work for the union
    ‘Cause she’s so good to me . . .”

     

    (Edited to add:  bonus points for anyone who IDs the musical reference in the quote at the end of the article. [smile])

  • Unintentional Truth In Advertising, Political-Style

    Here’s a quote for ya. Let’s see if you can guess the source:

    “And of course, the reason is we’ve proved that Communism works. If you give everybody a good government job, there’s no crime.”

    Now, who said that? Lenin? Khrushchev? Stalin? Brezhnev? Mao? Castro?  The leader of the Shining Path, or some other Communist guerrilla group?  Maybe Marx, speaking of his future Communist utopia?

    Nope. None of the above.

    If you guessed a current Member of Congress from South Florida – give yourself a big honking Attaboy (or Attagirl).

    No, I’m not joking. It was Representative Joe Garcia of Florida. He currently represents western Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys.

    I’ll leave figuring out Rep. Garcia’s political party affiliation as the proverbial “exercise for the reader.”

    Predictably, Garcia has since backed away from his statement.  He’s now claiming that he never intended to endorse Communism and was being “tongue in cheek” when he made the remark.

    Of course, this was the same Congressman who was also caught on-camera  engaging in what can at best be described as rather disgusting personal behavior – on live TV (House Jusdiciary Committe markup, broadcast live on C-Span).  And who’s also featured video of himself hanging out with a politician awaiting arrested last summer on public corruption charges in a recent political ad (which has since been pulled from Youtube).  And who thinks we have a “border problem” in Puerto Rico.

    So personally I just don’t buy his claim of, “I was just kidding.”

    “Tongue in cheek”, hell – try “foot-in-mouth Freudian slip”.  Or maybe, “I was just doing what comes naturally – being the village idiot.”

    Hopefully the good voters of South Florida will replace this    moron        idiot    fool with someone of at least normal intelligence in November.

  • I’ll Just Leave This Here . . . .

    Man Busted For Trying To Have Sex With ATM
    Cops: Drunk suspect, 49, also sought to tryst with picnic table

     

    Yeah, alcohol was indeed a contributing factor.  “Contributing”, as in “the guy was plowed“.

    Must have been a  one helluva wild night over at the Grand Ole Opry.  (smile)

    Unlike the time the guy in Seattle tried to make it with a SUV there doesn’t seem to be video of this little incident. But based on the description and the guy’s mug shot, that’s probably a good thing.

  • Well, This Just Freaking Takes the Cake

    Most TAH readers know that the President’s air transportation is provided by DoD.  No issue with that.

    Most TAH readers know that the USMC provides his official rotary-wing transportation – “Marine 1”, it’s called, when occupied by the POTUS.  No real problem with that, either.

    However, the Marine VIP helicopter fleet dedicated to the task is aging.  So a contract has apparently been let to replace it.

    However, I do have a huge problem with that.  You see, the overall cost of the replacement program is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to be around $17 billion over multiple years – for 23 helicopters.  The cost for each helicopter is estimated to be around $400 million.  The rest of the $17 billion is presumably operations and maintenance costs associated with the program over its life cycle.

    Yes, you read that correctly.  $400 million. Per. Freaking. Helicopter.

    To put things in perspective, that’s about the same unit cost as the Air Force One Boeing 747.

    The USMC and Navy have been down this road before.  They previously spent $3.2 billion on a failed effort to replace the Marine VIP helicopter fleet.  That effort was terminated because it was “too costly”.

    Adding that cost, the total spent to replace the Marine VIP helicopter fleet comes to a cool $20 billion.

    Oh, and did I mention that the new helicopters won’t be ready until 2022?  Or that the program cost does not include the cost of maintaining and operating the existing Marine VIP helicopter fleet until the new aircraft are available?

    You know, it just seems to me that we could have negotiated a better deal than $400 million per helicopter.  But I also have to wonder just hard we really tried to negotiate – seeing as only one firm (Sikorsky) bid on the latest contract.

    And in case you were wondering:  yeah, Sikorsky builds the current VIP fleet.

    Sheesh.  Perhaps the best comment I’ve heard on the situation was from a former senior DoD official, who quipped that at that price, “Marine One should be able to have a solid gold toilet for the president – except that it would add too much weight.”

    Further details are found in this UK Daily Mail article.  Don’t read it unless you want to get royally p!ssed.

    But I guess in a way this is good news.  After all, like I said yesterday:  this means DoD – and especially the USMC and the Navy – must be absolutely flush with cash, right?

  • Weird Scenes Inside the Justice System

    Two years ago, a former NYPD cop was arrested.  The charges were even in this day and age, still shocking:  conspiracy to kidnap and murder women – then cook and eat them.

    He was convicted.  He’s currently incarcerated while a judge considers his request for a new trial.  I guess you can say he’s awaiting his chance for a second bite at the big apple (yes, the double-pun here is intentional).

    While incarcerated, like many prisoners he’s working at a prison job.  He’s earning 44 cents an hour while working.

    His job?  He’s one of the prison’s cooks.

    No, I’m not joking,

  • Yeah, This Makes Perfect Sense

    Coming soon, perhaps: Athiest Chaplains.

    I suppose I’ve heard more foolish proposals.  But at the moment, I can’t really say when.

    From Fox News:

    A source tells Fox News that the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers plans to make the request on Tuesday, floating its president Jason Torpy as the proposed chaplain.

    No, I’m not joking.  The Fox article linked here has more details.

    Somehow, I just don’t see this as making sense.  I know Chaplains do far more than simply lead worship services.  But I believe that there is indeed a religious component to a Chaplain’s duties.  And besides, an “Atheist Chaplain” just seems like a freaking contradiction in terms to me.

    However:  given the way things have been going recently, I wouldn’t bet against seeing this implemented sometime in the next 2 1/2 years.