It’s all based on the intent. Investigators in the Station Fire, currently the largest fire in Los Angeles County history, say that there’s a good chance the fire was started intentionally. As two firefighters died in the blaze, that could lead to death penalty charges for the suspect. It’s not without precedent – Raymond Lee Oyler was given that sentence in June for starting the Esperanza fire in 2006. source
The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child. I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.
Pearland, Tex. parent Brett Curtis • Describing the reason why he’s keeping his three children home. Why is this a story? Because Web sites and conservative talk show hosts started giving it attention on Wednesday, despite the fact that it had been planned for weeks. We hate the fact that this is now a big story. Teachers are largely in a cruddy situation because of the controversy: If they show it, conservatives are up in arms. If they don’t, they’re disrespecting the president. We don’t like this one bit. • source
Man, we need to work on our Glenn Beck impression. Maybe if there’s three Glenn Beck clones, we can gang up on the actual Glenn Beck and beat him up.source
You can have your books back. Or, if you want, $30. Back in July, a big to-do broke over Amazon’s ironic handling of the books “1984” and “Animal Farm,” two George Orwell books that tackled the very issues Amazon created when they took them away from readers. Realizing that they done #(^@!* up, the sent an e-mail to affected users offering to fix the problem. Which just goes to show you: You can’t take back stuff you already sold, idiots. source
These are horrible choices … It’s a blatant failure of this system and it makes it, I’m afraid, not credible.
Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Department Chair Walter C. Willett • On the food industry’s “Smart Choices Program,” which allows marketing to go on healthy food. Problem is, the healthy food includes such good-for-you staples as mayonnaise, Fudgesicle bars, Cocoa Krispies and Froot Loops. In the case of Froot Loops, the food meets the guidelines for fiber and Vitamins A and C, but doesn’t exceed the guidelines for fat, sodium and sugar. Even so, a box of Froot Loops is made up of 41% sugar. • source
Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount, the team’s star running back, violently punched Boise State defensive end Byron Hout after the team lost Thursday night. source
After viewing the tapes and seeing how blatant the move was, the team chose to suspend him for the season. The suspension effectively ends Blount’s college career. source