That’s What Unions are For

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I’m just going to quote the whole piece:

Nine students have been suspended from a San Diego middle school after classmates claimed they were watching porn on cell phones and masturbating in class.

The U-T San Diego says the suspended students were in an all-boys English class at Bell Middle School in Paradise Hills.

The school told the newspaper on May 29 the reason for the suspensions could not be released. Parents of students in the class say they haven’t been told anything.

The paper has obtained and reviewed testimonials written by 22 students in the class.

Several said they raised their hands to report the behavior but the teacher kept reading a book.

The teacher has not replied to a newspaper request for comment but a union representative is rallying support for him.

Does California have “rubber rooms” for its useless, unfireable teachers?

Kids and Guns

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And “safe-storage” laws.

The anti-gun, er, gun control, ah, gun-safety supporters tell us that guns and children are a dangerous mix, and that all guns should be locked up, separate from their ammunition.  In addition, any parent that leaves a loaded firearm unattended where kids can get to it are (or ought to be) criminally negligent.

I don’t think so:

Phoenix boy, 14, shoots armed intruder while watching three younger siblings

A 14-year-old Phoenix boy shot an intruder who broke into his home while brandishing a gun as the teenager watched his three younger siblings, police said.

The teen and his brothers and sisters were at home alone at their residence at 55th Avenue and Baseline when a woman rang the doorbell Friday. The teen didn’t open the door because he didn’t recognize her, Police Officer James Holmes said Saturday.

Soon after, the teen heard a bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent’s bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man breaking through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who is in critical condition but expected to survive and be booked into jail.

Sounds to me like mom and dad did a helluva job raising their kids, and if that handgun hadn’t been available and loaded, things could have been much, much worse.

UPDATE: According to this report, the intruder was armed with a rifle.

Roku Won’t be Getting Any More of My Money

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I bought my first Roku box on the recommendation of Instapundit back in April of 2011.  Streaming Netflix to my TV!  How cool! 

But in February, 2012, it croaked, and Roku’s warranty is 30 days – period.  Including shipping, $95.26 and ten months of life.

Well, OK, sometimes you get a bad piece, and in the mean time new models with higher performance had come out, and I didn’t see a competing device that was any better so I popped for an upgrade – $98.18 with free shipping.

It’s dead, Jim.  Four months old and it’s a paperweight.

I’m done.  No more Roku anything.  Apparently “Roku” means either “junk” or “sucker!”  Either way, once is happenstance; twice is coincidence.  Three times is enemy action. 

UPDATE: One of these is on order. With my Amazon.com points, it was $87.50. And I can watch YouTube videos on it, which Roku doesn’t allow.

Atheist President?

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Primeval Papa links to a recent survey that says that atheists are no longer the most distrusted people on the planet. For the first time since the question has been asked, a majority of people would be willing to vote for an atheist for president.

As I noted in my comment, being an atheist myself (small “a” version) I don’t have a problem with someone who does not hold a belief in a divine creator still being a moral and trustworthy individual. However, the Big “A” evangelical Atheists who hold the belief that THERE IS NO GOD! rub me the wrong way. With sandpaper. Just like Fred Phelps does. So it depends on what kind of “avowed atheist” is running.