Friday Randoms: Desk Clearing

Okay, let's just go ahead and dump the desk here, so we can start over next week:

First: If Salt Lake County goes through an in depth audit of Real Salt Lake's financials and future projections, and says the numbers don't add up, and therefore you will be getting no money from the citizens of the county to line your pockets, why, then, does the legislature think it's okay to override that decision, take the money, and valuable legislative time, and hand over the money?

Are you going to sit there are tell me that the morons now convening at the Capitol (Capital?) have somehow scrubbed the numbers more in-depth-ly than our own bulldog, Mayor Corroon? Hah... I didn't think you would make that assertion. They just "thought it was a great idea, we really want them here."

Why?

I'll just add the 90th - 120th South area of State street to the list of stupid places I don't go, along with the rest of Weird Uncle Larry's 427 car dealerships, the Glow-Dome, and the Larry Miller's self-congratulatory complex of movie theaters, restaurants, and a tall office building from whence I can look down upon my loyal subjects. And cry.

That feels much better now. Thanks.

Second: The last four months has been a stupid bunch of reporting about Anna Nicole Smith, this and that. Now she's dead. What a poor misguided troubled life. The experts over time have opined with authority about paternity this and that, suicide this and that, and now are reporting on drug interactions, etc, in incredible depth and clarity of detail.

Months, now. Great. She was famous for .... well... being famous, I guess. That puts her right up there with our other national shames - Nicole Ritchie, Lindsey Lohan, Brittney Oops I Forgot Them Again Spears, Paris Hilton - the only Hilton that will charge you for space by the hour.

Umm, in the grand scheme, who cares what these little whores are doing?

And yet, with all the wonderful, assertive, expert reporting, we can't seem to get a clear picture of REAL issues that actually MEAN something to the people of this country - who knows what the hell is going over there in Iraq? Certainly our own leaders are useless in this now-tarnished quest. About 70% of 12 BILLION dollars in CASH can not now be accounted for - cash that was supposed to infuse some sort of peace and order over there. (don't get me started on the logic of THAT argument... we just don't have the time..) But nobody knows where about 7.5 Billion of it even WENT.

People, it was on a giant military transport plane, loaded by FORKLIFT, and now we can't FIND IT? Let's send about 20,000 kids over there and see if THEY can find it.

But alas, I need to get me hence down to the corner store and pick up a copy of the new People magazine.

Third: Our own SFL (senator for life) was one of only TWO senators to vote against the ethics reform package that was passed in Washington only a week or two ago. Illustrious company, we keep, no? Some say, "where are our leaders?" I say, "where were the voters?"

Fourth: Davis and Weber County School Districts - what the HELL is in the water up there? Certainly not Smart Juice. In Weber County, the SECRETARY of a schools foundation has made off with $900,000 of foundation money over a period of time. The foundation has 1.3 MM in assets. How does this HAPPEN? Are we asleep at the switch up there?

"We are reviewing policies," the foundation said. "We are looking into our past audits."

ya think?

In Davis County, the story is similar. A couple who run/ran an outfit that procured books or whatever for schools is now under federal investigation for bilking Davis county schools out of about $800,000 with inflated prices, undelivered stuff, etc, etc. When this came to light, the husband and wife went on TV all teary-eyed, saying they did nothing wrong, we'll put this all right once the investigation is done.

Well, the investigation is done, and they have now been indicted. Not only that, but apparently, a big portion of the money went to help buy three homes for their children. The prosecution now wants those houses seized.

Fifth: My favorite corporate punching bag, WALMART, is back in the news. It seems they are going to court as the defendant in a class-action suit aimed at their gender-equality policies. It seems a lady who had worked in a walmart bakery department asked the management why a (male) co-worker was getting paid more than her, even though she had been at the job twice as long as he had. The answer: Because he's the head of his household.

Effing Brilliant. She hired a lawyer the next day.

Don't worry, that place is ALREADY on my list of places I don't patronize.

The problem is that (almost) no matter what the penalty is for this, it will only be a slight fart in the wind, in comparison to the riches amassed by this corporate consumer of people and communities.

Thanks for listening - I feel better now.