stuff you just cant make go away

SEPARATED AT BIRTH TWINS GET MARRIED
(who says fraternal twins aren't drawn and connected to each other- nudges Josef with elbow)

In London, twins who were separated at birth and adopted by different sets of parents later married each other without realizing they were brother and sister. The brother and sister were granted an annulment after a high court judge ruled that the marriage had never validly existed.

The identities of the twins and details of their relationship and marriage have been kept secret, but it was known they were separated soon after birth and never told they were twins. They only discovered they were blood relatives after the wedding.

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE ON YOUR CHECKS
"Motherfucking fuck is just another fucking word.
The idea the word is dirty is to him fucking absurd."
(Jay Brannan ~ On All Fours)

A man who wrote a vulgar message on the memo line of a check he used to pay a $5 parking ticket has apologized in writing, leading police to drop a disorderly conduct charge against him. The man sent the check after receiving a $5 parking ticket. He calls it "a temporary lapse of judgment." Clerks were offended by the message, and the disorderly conduct charge was filed because the comment was obscene.

A lawyer for the man said his client would have prevailed if he went through a trial. "The F-word isn't what it used to be," the attorney said, because it doesn't have a sexual connotation anymore and so can't be considered obscene. However the man has agreed to pay the parking fine and court costs.

NEW JERSEY SIGNS ON TO ELIMINATE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
(you idiots - The Constitution was written that way to provide a fail safe for the people!)

Yesterday New Jersey became the second state to enter a compact that would eliminate the Electoral College's power to choose a president if enough states endorse the idea. New Jersey’s governor signed legislation that approves delivering the state's 15 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. The Assembly approved the bill last month and the Senate followed suit earlier this month. Maryland had been the only state to pass the compact into law. The measure could result in the electoral votes going to a candidate opposed by voters in New Jersey, which has backed Democratic presidential candidates since 1988.

The compact would take effect only if enough states agreed to it. The compact has also passed both houses of the Illinois Legislature and has been approved by one legislative house in Arkansas, Colorado and North Carolina. Governors in California and Hawaii, though, vetoed bills to join the compact.

TEXAS STUDENTS SUSPENDED FOR REFUSING HAIRCUTS
(at least if the youth were native they could fight under religious protections)

Four Kerens, Texas teens were suspended from school Tuesday for refusing to get their hair cut over the Christmas break. The students had been warned that the district was cracking down on dress code that hair cannot extend beyond the collar in the back. They had been allowing the students to bind their hair, but that practice became “inconsistent.” After several complaints from parents in the small rural town south of Dallas, school officials decided to eliminate the hair-binding loophole. Students were told to go to the barber over break or face the consequences. Persistent insubordination could go as far as a disciplinary alternative school placement, according to the school.

Strict dress codes are common in Texas, and have been upheld by challenges which went as far as the Texas Supreme Court. Students at the high school are also prohibited from wearing sleeveless shirts, excessively tight or baggy pants, mismatched socks, "disruptive hair styles" and "unnatural" hair colors, according to an 86-page student handbook.

FBI WIRETAPS DROPPED DUE TO UNPAID BILLS
(the Patriot Act was pissed on from within the Administration. So why renew it Mr. Souder?)

Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time. A Justice Department audit released yesterday blamed the lost connections on the FBI's oversight of money used in undercover investigations.

In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000. In at least one case, a wiretap used in an investigation "was halted due to untimely payment," the audit found. These wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal and intelligence investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies. More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time.

The faulty bookkeeping was blamed, in large part, on an FBI employee who pleaded guilty in June of 2006 to stealing $25,000 for her own use.

(That isn't an explanation. Does anyone else belief that a twenty five thousand theft accommodates for the almost a thousand bills going unpaid?)

THEY SAY THERE IS ANOTHER RECALL: TRAILER BICYCLES

(This is on here to show solidarity with a fellow local blogger @ Fetchy's Bantering. Eric's recent fiasco with his Schwinn Indoor Trainer disintegration over the New Years holiday causing plentiful damages to his house and scraping him but thankfully not his sister and pets.)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall of about 7,000 InStep “Pathfinder,” Schwinn “Run About,” and Mongoose “Alley Cat” Trailer Bicycles—single-wheeled children’s bicycles that connect to an adult’s bike by a coupler. The coupler connecting the children’s trailer bike to the adult’s bicycle has welds that can fail, posing a fall hazard to children. There has been one report of the coupler failing, resulting in a fall and abrasions to the rider.

The items were sold at bicycle stores and retailers nationwide from January 2007 through August 2007 for between $80 and $120. The items were manufactured in China (can we expect another execution?) Consumers should stop using the trailer bicycle immediately and contact the firm for a free repair kit.

For additional information, contact Pacific Cycle toll-free at (877) 564-2261 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit www.instep.net, www.schwinnbikes.com, or www.mongoose.com