An 86 story residential tower in Dubai went up in flames.. Fire started on the 52nd Floor and there are no reported deaths or injuries. I think "reported deaths and injuries" is the key thought to remember.

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Online story: "Federal prosecutors filed multiple criminal charges against Duke Energy on Friday over years of illegal pollution leaking from coal ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. * Duke said Friday in statements and court filings that it has already negotiated a plea agreement under which it will admit guilt and pay $102 million in fines, restitution and community service. The company said the costs of the settlement will be borne by its shareholders, not passed on to its electricity customers." -- "not passed on to its electricity customers"? Good grief... Pinocchio's nose just grew another trunk! I'm sure the NC PSC is structured like the GA PSC and Duke Energy will just roll it's fines into its expenses and ask for a rate increase rubber stamp.....

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Online story: "Temperatures dropping close to 0 degrees at home? That's nothing to folks in Embarrass, Minnesota. * On Thursday, the community reported a temperature of 41 below zero - without the wind chill factor." -- "without the wind chill factor"? Good grief... wouldn't wind freeze still, too?

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Online headline: "Ex-first lady becomes first to head to prison" -- Ooops, my bad... it wasn't Hillewinsky.

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Online headline: "WH confesses to embarrassing Obamacare flub" -- As Elizabeth Barrett Browning might react.. "How did I flub thee, let me count the ways". You know, what's really sad is none of HEBDObama's other flubs are embarrassing to him.....or as Browning might paraphrase, "Let me count the frays".

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Online headline: "Obama admin fights ruling on immigration" -- Good grief.. circumventing Congress isn't enough for HEBDObama.. now he's trying to circumvent the judicial system as well.. Supreme Court , can you hear him now? How does even a president file an appeal for a stay on a federal ruling on a Constitutional issue he caused with an Executive Order that bypassed Congress illegally?

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Online headline: "You've never seen Kanye like this before" -- Oooops, my bad.. thought someone caught him being polite.. civil.. playing well with others...

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Online headline: "Creepy lottery fraud uncovered in New Jersey * An audit released this week revealed that dozens of winners were concealing a pretty dark secret. * An audit released this week also found the lottery failed to recover up to $890,000 in taxes and other obligations from winners. * But audit states the lottery wasn't verifying Social Security numbers on all claim forms and found 680 instances where unconfirmed information was given - 46 of which had dead people's Social Security numbers and names" -- Oh! so audits do work...

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Former MCSD Board member Fife Whiteside's online commentary website fully exposes why we need a forensic audit......transparency. Her is the link to his website:

https://curmudgeoncommentary.wordpress.com/

As noted just above this.. Audits do work.... and are necessary...

An audit of student addresses will reveal a Columbus High soccer player who has been allowed to use a secondary Muscogee County address instead of her family's Harris County home of many years... and not paying out-of-county fees that are on the books.

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Online quote source: " “All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” - Friedrich Nietzsche" -- Oh.. the old "ends justifies the means" gambit raised to new heights by mainstream media coverage of Fergiuson...

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Wow....I just received a new ID card in the mail for my new cat.. Think I'll run out Monday and see if I can get him registered to vote.

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Online headline: "Obama: Americans Are Inviting Jihad By Criticizing Islam" -- Yeah... just ignore a problem and it will go away... sorta like how our MCSD handles the results of the CRCT scores...

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Online headline: "Baseball games are about to be much shorter * Major League Baseball and the Players Association announced rule changes on Friday regarding the pace of play during games." -- Yeah.. right.. the game may be quicker, but the delays for ads will make up for any time "quickened".

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L-E headline/story: "EDUCATION * Muscogee County has two AP Honor Schools for 2015 * Columbus and Northside among 609 in Georgia * Columbus High School is listed in four of the five categories for which it was eligible, and Northside High School is included in one. There are six categories in total:
• AP STEM Schools, 198: Columbus, Northside, LaGrange and Troup County are the area schools in this category. These schools had students test in at least two AP math courses and at least two AP science courses.
• AP STEM Achievement Schools, 121: Columbus, LaGrange and Troup County are the area schools in this category. These schools had students test in at least two AP math courses and at least two AP science courses, and at least 40 percent of those scores were 3 or higher."

I am proud we have 2 high schools recognized for above average performances, but we do have 9 total.. Sadly, one of those.. our newest most advanced campus is actually a "STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)" magnet school, but it did not merit consideration, nor did the school which the MCSD wants to teardown and build anew, and it is the "Academy of Computer Science & Electronic Game Design" which should be excelling in "STEM" categories..

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In the above story, Dr Lewis said this, "The successful magnet program benefit the schools, Lewis said, because they "foster a culture of high expectations, as evidenced by their student participation and performance on this rigorous coursework and related assessments." -- If designating a school a "magnet" is the cure-all.. why are all our magnet schools qualifying?

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L-E's "Today in History" feature: " In 1965, black Muslim leader and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York by assassins identified as members of the Nation of Islam." -- So neighborhood black-on-black crime is not just limited to Chicago and Columbus, and Islamist terrorists don't exist..

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You know.. I do not have problems with school curriculums that are labeled "Liberal Arts" .. it's liberal professors teaching those classes that are the problem.. graduates have to experience a learning curve after they graduate...

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L-E story: " SAVANNAH, Ga. — Convicted of extortion and illegal gambling, Savannah’s former police chief will continue to collect a pension worth nearly $130,000 a year while he serves 7 ½ years in federal prison.
* That comes to more than $970,000 before taxes. * Some City Council members have called for revoking or slashing the retirement benefits of former Savannah-Chatham County Police Chief Willie Lovett, who was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge earlier this month. * But City Attorney Brooks Stillwell told council members Thursday a state law that forces convicted public employees to surrender a chunk of their pensions can’t be applied to the ex-chief." -- Great lesson.. crime does pay.. and pay.. and pay... if you are a government employee.. I do have a question: Why hasn't the Council fired the City Attorney? His answer is was not the one to give to Council.. something like, "I've already started appealing the laws that govern this" would have shown more interest in his community.

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L-E story: " The Georgia Bureau of Investigation discovered it had sent the wrong body for burial in Augusta after an employee at the state crime lab noticed that a corpse being prepared for pickup wasn’t the right person, according to an executive report from the agency." -- Good grief... and we'll be paying their pensions, too.

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L-E story: " As recently as a year ago, the Calvary Christian baseball team was battling more than just the players in the opposing dugout. * Issues with the facilities and, more importantly, the field caused catchers to throw multiple feet downhill to second base and pitchers to throw uphill across the plate. When it rained, the unlevel field didn’t drain properly and players didn’t have an indoor alternative to continue practice. Amenities like restrooms for players and spectators were an afterthought. * That all changed over the offseason, and when the Knights begin their regular season at 11 a.m. today, it’ll be on a field that coach Steve Smith says rivals any in the area. * Calvary Christian is putting the finishing touches on a $200,000 project that gave the baseball program new home and away dugouts, a press box, an improved infield, a new backstop and spectator seating, a clubhouse, three restrooms, a concessions stand, a scoreboard and a three-lane indoor hitting facility, which is currently still in progress." -- What a timely story... the MCSD 2015 SPLOST has $7,200,000.00 set in it to renovate baseball/softball fields at 5 high schools.. that's an average of $1,440,000.00 per school...yet a local private high school just accomplished a pretty difficult renovation for $200,000.00 ... bet they did on a "bid", rather than "no-bid" basis. Just think about this when the MCSD says it "needs" $56,000,000.00 to build a new ...unneeded at that.. high school and "needs" over $11,000,000.00 to build another multi-sport complex...