YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK:
"Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that's what they want to do. Because their union contract makes it extremely difficult to fire
them, the teachers have been banished by the school system to its
"rubber rooms" — off-campus office space where they wait months, even
years, for their disciplinary hearings."
This costs the taxpayers $65 million per year.
I was going to title this "your government and unions at work"--but no.
The ultimate blame falls on the government in NY City for putting up with this nonsense, and for failing to do anything about it. They negotiate agreements with the unions, after all.
IRAN UPDATE:
President Obama is finally talking tougher:
"President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared the United States and the entire world "appalled and outraged" by Iran's violent efforts to crush dissent and for the first time expressed significant doubt about the legitimacy of the national election at the root of the upheaval. The president suggested that Iran would face consequences for brutally beating back protest, warning that the way the country responds in the days ahead will shape its relationship with other countries, including the United States. He would not specify what any punishment might be."
I'm glad he said all this--maybe he finally realized that holding his fire gained him nothing with the Iranian regime.
HOWEVER: did you know that Obama advisers--privately, but making sure it all gets in the papers--are now claiming that Obama's Cairo speech encouraged the Iranian demonstrators to rise???? To me, it's not only inconsistent and incoherent ("we're not meddling in Iran, but by the way we helped cause the rising"), but also the height of arrogance and, let's face it, is not supported by a shred of hard evidence. Wow.
BASEBALL DIARY: both the Tigers and Rangers were off. The Cubs, meanwhile, reverted back to their old habits, getting shut out 2-0 by Atlanta. The Cubs banged out 9 hits. But Cub hitters combined to strand 19 runners, failing to get the big hit and wasting a very decent pitching performance from Ryan Dempster.
The only good thing about this from my perspective? Maybe the Braves cooled off the Cubs, just in time for the Cubbies' series with the Tigers, which begins tonight.
PUBLIC OPINION UPDATE: is this really shaping up to be a golden age for liberalism? Are the American people all fired up for government activism and spending? Hmmm:
"...the fallout from the stimulus and auto bailouts are stoking a distaste for deficit spending and government activism that is remarkable in what is touted as a statist golden age on par with 1933 or 1965. In a Wall Street Journal poll last week, 58 percent of people said the government should keep the deficit down, even if it slows economic growth. Fifty-five percent opposed the bailout of General Motors, and nearly seven in ten expressed worry about the government’s interventions in the economy."
And by the way, speaking of public opinion, there's more good news out there for conservatives and the GOP:
"A month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's showdown with the CIA over interrogation techniques, just 38 percent of Americans approve of her job performance, while 45 percent disapprove, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday. That's the lowest approval rating she has received in the poll."
