Hell has no fire ...

... hot enough to punish this son of a bitch.

La. father accused of killing son owed $4K

9 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – A father accused of killing his 2-year-old son in New Orleans over child support apparently owed his estranged wife $4,000.

The boy's mother, Daniella Powell, said Sunday she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when Danny Platt picked up the boy Friday for a weekend visit.

But a few hours later, she says Platt called her and told her that Ja'Shawn Powell had been kidnapped. She says Platt then gave her conflicting stories about how the boy was abducted.

Police say the 22-year-old Platt made up a story about his son being kidnapped and later confessed to the killing. He told authorities where to find the boy's body Saturday.

The boy's mother said Platt learned last month that he owed back child support.

Dudes, c'mon ...

... it's Pamela Anderson you're fighting over. I mean, seriously, ewwwwww.

Forget the tramp and move on.

Tommy Lee, Kid Rock brawl at VMAs

How to waste time without really trying

Still showing their stupidity ... and wasting money:

When they weren't making laws, lawmakers passed around praise
By JESSICA FENDER
Staff Writer
Tennessee lawmakers sponsored more resolutions than
anything else this legislative session, lauding people like pop star Justin Timberlake and expressing solidarity with a Turkish religious movement, among other endeavors.

A Tennessean review of more than 6,000 records shows that 42 percent of all measures filed were resolutions with no force of law.

And while not all passed — Timberlake didn't, religious freedom in Turkey did — the drafting of such "memorial" resolutions cost about $70,000, by staff estimates.

Most resolutions honored local teachers, soldiers, sports teams, administrators or students for outstanding achievement.

Among them was Hendersonville Christian Academy valedictorian Jamie Wallmark, 17, who earned a
4.125 grade point average.

Being honored on the Senate floor meant a lot, she said, especially because she knows lawmakers are busy.

Resolutions cost time, money But lawmakers' busy agendas are precisely the problem when it comes to penning a deluge of resolutions, said John Summers, a lobbyist and Metro councilman who represents part of west Nashville.

While most are quickly dispatched, they can still "grind business to a halt," said Summers, who said
the Metro Council had a similar problem in the past.

"Clearly there are individuals that deserve recognition," he said. "And clearly there are some
resolutions that are there for political purposes by the sponsor."

About 100 of the 1,699 resolutions filed established study committees, ratified the legislature's rules or made a first step toward amending the state Constitution.

Rep. Tom DuBois, R-Columbia, introduced 167 congratulations, memorials and proposals to rename stretches of highway — the most by far of any legislator.

I hate UT sports

... and this is why:

In a little more than five months — and after years of lobbying from one of the game's most renowned coaches — Tennessee will finally have its plush basketball practice facility.

There's an irony here: Summitt has won seven national titles and is the winningest coach, male or female, in Division I college basketball history. Still, it took the success of a men's coach, Bruce Pearl, just two years at UT to generate the donor interest to finally make all this come to pass.

At
UT, it's still a man's world

Dumbasses. They deserve to lose Pat for all the respect they give her.

Lowering the standards

Earlier this year, those great bastions known as the Tennessee General Assembly decided that it's OK if your city or county mayor and their boards didn't graduate from high school.

Now they're looking at lowering -- yes, lowering -- the GPA required for the state's lottery scholarships.

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_5499206,00.html

Right now, it takes a 3.0 GPA -- a B -- to qualify for the what will be $4,000-a-year gifts under Gov. Bredesen's education plan. To keep it, they must sustain a 2.75 GPA the first year of college and a 3.0 subsequent years.

The plan, which, sadly, has the support of Bredesen, is to lower the GPA to 2.75 for those later college years.

We're giving these kids free money, folks. Isn't the least they can do is work for it?

Things happen, and I understand that. But wouldn't it be better to impose a probationary semester to give students a chance to improve?

Lowering the standards is one of the factors putting us behind in education. It's simply not acceptable, in my opinion, to drop the requirements.

What kind of message does that send to young people? Oh, yeah -- I forgot. This legislature doesn't CARE about the impression their actions make on the state's youth. Silly me.

Imagine, if you will ...

My beautiful, brainy Girl has decided to ditch high school. Her rationale might go something like this:

Mom, there are a lot of things I could do. I could be mayor! Or on city council ... or, if I want it, county mayor someday!

Thanks to those idiots we refer to in nice company as the Tennessee General Assembly, she and other youngsters across the Volunteer State could make such a valid claim. Because those esteemed solons -- the same ones who think some of us love our pets too much -- rejected a bill requiring elected officials to have a high school diploma.

Bill on officials education is killed

Dumbasses. Truly dumbasses.

... critics said the proposed law would undermine voters' rights to choose among a variety of candidates and that education does not necessarily assure quality.
"This is punishing individuals who may not, for whatever reason, have the educational level that someone thinks they ought to have," said Rep. Gary Moore, D-Nashville. "A person's education level, in my opinion, doesn't really hinder the ability to serve."

These legislators have proven time and time again how unimportant education is to them. What the hell is wrong with requiring a high school or GED? I remember one commissioner in my county who couldn't read. Do we really want someone in running or city or county who is unable to read -- let alone understand -- the matters before him?

Further, is this the message we're anxious to send young people? Hey, education is overrated -- you, too, can lead your county! But not on school board or as sheriff. Because:

Under current state law, there are no educational requirements for any officeholders except sheriffs and school board members, who must show they have a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma.

So, it's OK for the men and women who are setting my tax rate not to have a high school diploma, but the sheriff better have one.

We had a sheriff in my hometown who I know didn't finish high school, yet he solved a murder. They had the accused but lacked the dead bodies. This guy found them. How?

He drove all over the county and watched the skies, looking for buzzard action.

Given my choice, I'll take an educated county mayor over an educated sheriff any day.

Speechless

The religious right has a problem with calling deviled eggs by their rightful name? Gimme a break!

the-devils-in-the-details

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the umbrage that accompanied some e-mails and letters over the satanic moniker. While we assume that's it's a playful reference to the spices, some readers prefer the more church-friendly name of stuffed eggs or dressed eggs.

I've tried every way in the world to PC my reaction, but only one word fits:
Bullshit.

Insert eyeroll here.

Wonder what they call devil's food cake? Deviled ham?

Some things just weren't meant to be

Like this:

Wine-flavored ice-cream-for adults only/

My stomach is churning at the mere thought of it.

Then, there's this:

Pungent pulp: Panda poop perfect for paper

I'm all for recycling, but UGH! Read on:

The base is in talks with several paper mills on how to turn the droppings of Jing Jing, Ke Bi, Ya Ya and dozens of other pandas at the base into reams of office paper and rolls of wrapping paper, Liao said.

• Why, yes, Mr. Insert-Boss'-name-here, I did think your latest memo was a piece of shit.
• What kind of shit did you wrap this gift in?

And there's more:

The Chiang Mai Zoo in northern Thailand already sells multicolored paper made from the excrement produced by its two resident pandas. Making paper there involves a daylong process of cleaning the feces, boiling it in a soda solution, bleaching it with chlorine and drying it under the sun.

What shades of multi-colors? Beige, brown, tan, yellow and, for the really environmentally conscious, green.

Why should we limit this to pandas? I have a dog -- and he's Chinese. Maybe I could make a killing off Pekingese poop!

I'm taking orders now. Be sure to indicate the amount of paper and color desired. Refer to the above for available shades. Just for taking advantage of this one-time offer, I'll throw in some oceanfront property in Montana and a set of Ginzu knifes, absolutely free!

No CODs, please.

(Advisory: The preceding was an attempt at sarcasm. Any similarities to an actual advertisement for feces paper is intentional with tongue firmly planted in cheek and clothespin tightly clamped to nose.)

Where do I sign up?

Can anyone out there in cyberspace tell me how I can apply for a position with the Center for Science in the Public Interest?

For those unfamiliar, this posturing organization has taken us to task for at least a decade over the foods we eat. That's OK -- I know I put empty calories and nutritionally lacking food in my mouth daily.

What I don't get is their reports. The contents of said reports are presented as if they are earth-shattering information. They are earth shattering only if you're a buffoon.

(Aside to buffoons: The preceding remark was not meant as a slam to you.)

I wrote a newspaper column several years ago about one of their reports: breakfast foods are bad for you. Now tell me, who doesn't know that?

They're at it again. Note the following headline:

Chinese restaurant food draws criticism

Does it have bugs in it? No. They really use cats in their General Tso's? Nada. My ex was really correct when he dubbed skewered teriyaki chicken "rat on a schtick"? Not even close.

The revelation, and I quote the AP article's lede, in part:

The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of
nutritional no-nos

I think my eyes rolled into the next county. No shit, Sherlock! It's bad for you? Who knew?!?

Bonnie Liebman, the consumer group's nutritional director, has uncovered that Chinese food is laden with -- are you ready for this? -- SODIUM!

What rock has Bonnie been living under? EVERYBODY knows the stuff has a ton of sodium! My 13-year-old knows it. My Pekingese knows it, and not because he's Chinese.

How the hell could you NOT know?

Bonnie the Dietary Goddess acknowledges that Chinese restaurants have many veggie offerings, but that's not necessarily a good thing because -- I know you've been on the edge of your seat -- they're loaded with calories and sodium, too!

Per AP:

"We were shocked. We assumed the vegetables were all
low in calories," Liebman said.

(Note to Bonnie: You need to use some of the money from your next CSPI paycheck to buy a clue.)

I'm not sure what's worse: A consumer group that's obviously filled with crackpot "experts" or media groups such as the Associated Press for giving them attention.

There go those rolling eyes, again. Maybe somebody in Cumberland County can catch them for me?