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How to Test Your Kid for Drugs, or Not

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:40:26 GMT

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RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- A New York sheriff is using money seized from drug dealers to buy drug-testing kits that he will distribute free to parents. Sheriff Vincent DeMarco says he is providing the free drug test kits to help parents and guardians monitor their children. The kits cost about $1 and test for six different drugs, from marijuana to opiates to cocaine. DeMarco says the test kits give parents a tool to engage in conversations with their children about drug use.

..."engage in conversations" ? ...How exactly will those conversations go? ..."Get over here, kid! We're gonna engage in conversations! I'll go first: roll up your sleeve!"

BTW: what does the sheriff want parents to do with the results: bring the kid to the station? Tase them? (See item, below.)

It may be a fine idea for parents to learn which of six different drugs their kids are hyped-up on; but I'm not certain what Sheriff DeMarco wants them to do with their new-found intel.

"Mom & Cop of the Year" Contest Losers

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:30:24 GMT

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Every mom will be able to relate to the frustrations of dealing with a child who's throwing a tantrum. Hopefully, not every mother will be able to relate to one Arkansas mom's response: having police taser the kid (pictured above, in happier times).

Our story so far: child, 10, runs amok: refuses bedtime. Mom calls Ozark PD. Cop sees no 'peaceful resolution,' threatens child with jail time. Cop handcuffs kid. Kid kicks cop in groin. (This stuff writes itself. -Ed.) Mother gives permission to officer to tase the tot. Officer does. Child stops resisting. Full story, here.

Let's see a taser demonstration on a big, burly official: it runs 4 times, in case you miss the point, the first three.

(BTW: Where did they hold this demo? Why are childrens' voices heard in the background?) Now imagine that kind of juice going into a 65-lb. girl. As a President of the United States who shall remain anonymous, said at a White House news conference last July, "Now I don't know...all the facts," but I'm wondering if either the mom or the officer really responded in the smartest manner. Try to 'cuff a kid? Tell a cop it's OK to tase your daughter? Take that kind of direction from a civilian?

We could ask the girl, but she's probably busy fielding interviews from the morning talk shows... and the Guinness people, because she can make a light bulb glow, just by holding it in her hand.

You Unfriend Me? I Unfriend You!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:24:17 GMT

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So the Oxford English Dictionary picks its official 2009 Word of the Year. The word is: "Unfriend." You know... the act of removing someone from access to your page on a social networking website like Facebook or MySpace.

What's your motive for unfriending? I've done it to people who repeatedly use my page to plug their product/service/event. Not CBS2 viewers who have a worthwhile story idea, or want to pass along details of a charity event. I'm talking about the people from the PR agencies who are relentless. Sure, they think they're being hip, using new media to spread the word, but since their pitch is so impersonal, I figure they won't take it personally, when they go away. Besides they might not even notice.

Do you tell someone when they're unfriended? Do you figure they will find out themselves? What if you saw them on the street, later? How have you responded when someone has unfriended you? Leave your Comments, below. And please be my friend on Facebook. As long as you don't constantly push your product/service/event.

Hall of Fame Video! Daringest Daredevil

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:29:04 GMT

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If you're looking for a way to waste a lot of time at the laptop today, sorry; I won't be of much help. This is just a short entry, but it is a significant one, because it's our Let's Blog! Hall of Fame Video Winner, in the category of Daringest Daredevil. Of course, you could always play this short clip over and over and over and ....

Well, we were all young once. My dad used to tie a rope to the back bumper of the car, and tow us on streets that were --ideally-- empty. Sleds in the winter, bikes in the summer. Swinging wide on 90-degree turns ("Cracking the Whip") was always an adventure. What's the dumbest stunt you ever did? Try to top today's video winner, in the Comments section, below..

A School Prank for the 21st Century

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:12:29 GMT

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My 8th-grade English teacher used to read chapters of books to my class -- there's an innovative technique. And to make it worse, (my class was "period 1"), she'd read into a tape recorder, so for later classes, she could press 'play,' then head to the teachers' lounge for some schnapps, or whatever. My friend "Bodle," once came up with a plan to stir it up a little, that was brilliant in its simplicity: take a big stack of texts, hold them out arm's length, and --BAM!-- drop them to the floor. The guy was a genius. Of course, the surprised young teacher shreiked (we're lucky she didn't have a heart attack), and there was hell to pay. Bodle's excuse of "I just lost my grip" didn't fly. Subsequent classes got to hear her shreik through the day: no sense in actually backing up the tape, or re-recording, during second period for this woman.

All that comes to mind, because of the following Associated Press story:

DANVERS, Mass. (AP) -- Who knew "Meep!" was a four-letter word? The utterance favored by bungling lab assistant Beaker of "The Muppet Show" has been banned at Danvers High School in Massachusetts after students said it to repeatedly interrupt school. Principal Thomas Murray says the word was part of a disruption planned using Facebook. He warned them that students who said or displayed the word at school could be suspended. Murray says the warning was needed because students didn't heed his "reasonable request" to stop the meeping.

A bunch of kids roaming the halls, saying 'meep' to each other. Would the principal prefer they use other words? I'm sure they know some. Anyway, looks like order will be maintained, there in Danvers. Now the students can get back to the business of learning: possibly by listening to taped recordings from one of their English teachers.

The Most Creative Suggestion Box Entries

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:46:51 GMT

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In this era of email, does anybody still use the workplace suggestion box? It's kind of the last place where you can narc-out a coworker of suspect personal hygene, or inform that the company's "Double-shift Sunday" isn't really the party it was promised to be. A website (CareerBuilder.com) has released a list of some of the more unusual suggestions, as collected from nearly three-thousand managers:

Allow people to change their clothes in their cubicles.

Cover jail time under family medical leave.

The HR director should wear nicer shoes.

(I once worked for a 'news organization" that had a locked suggestion box, to insure... I don't know what. Probably, security. It was secure alright: nobody had the key. When they finally broke it open, it said things like "More stories on the war in Vietnam." And this was in 1991.) More actual suggestions:

Add a tanning bed in the break room.

Set aside a special area for medical marijuana smokers.

Put beer in the vending machine.

Ever submitted a suggestion? What was it? Did it do any good? What would you really like to suggest? Submit to Comments, below, and then hint to the person you want to take note, to read this entry....

Get Out of MySpace & Other Stuff

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:49:19 GMT

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1) The next entry, below ("School, Where It's Now OK to Buy Grades"), seems to have hit home. In less than 24 hours, that middle school in North Carolina has become the "School Where It's Now *NOT* OK to Buy Grades." Updated article, here. The principal who approved the fundraiser, though, is keeping her job. For now.

2) "We answer your personal questions." -- A quick check of the Let's Blog! Control Center (Seriously. -Ed.) shows this headline got more hits than any other in the past three weeks. My question: Then why don't more readers actually ask questions? Odd to me, that a large number read the entry, but few stepped up to the microphone. Sort of like wanting to go to see a new car, being told "You can drive it;" and responding, "No thanks, I'll just look at it." Likewise, I'm resigned to the fact that nobody ever takes the Let's Blog! poll.

3) On the topic of cars: I'm looking forward to the L.A. Auto Show. The media preview days are Dec. 2 & 3. We'll be all over it, on Newscentral, starting at 5 a.m. Lexus will officially unveil is LFA supercar (above). But they won't let me drive it. They must have heard from the people at Aston Martin.

4) And it's hard to talk about Aston Martin, without thinking of James Bond, who drives one. Next Bond movie, not until late 2011; but I came across a new recording from the woman who sang three of the most iconic Bond songs, in the '60's and '70's: Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Shirley Bassey still has a great voice. But here's what interests me: this new song was composed by David Arnold, with lyrics from Don Black-- both, Bond-song veterans themselves. And the lyrics contain the word 'solace.' Was this a rejected title song for last year's Quantum of Solace? Listen:

If this was a contender, the producers should have used it: it's about a million times better than the real one, by Alicia Keys and Jack White, that sounds like somebody's picking up a cat with a pliers.

School, Where It's Now OK to Buy Grades

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:45:40 GMT

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Let's cut right to the chase: this is the stupid-est, most moronical, ridiculousesque -- I'm so upset, I'm making up words -- idea in the history of modern education. Strike that: it has nothing to do with education.

For $20, a school in North Carolina will sell students 20 points, to add to their test scores. The school is selling grades.

Good news, kids! You don't have to study anymore! Put down the text books, and pick up the check books! It's not what you know, it's how much you spend.

The Rosewood Middle School (new motto: "Home of stupid kids, slothful parents and incompetent administrators") in Goldsboro, N. Carolina, didn't have much luck with candy-sales as a fundraiser, so this year the principal has endorsed a parents' council idea: 20 extra points, divided between two tests of the paying-student's choice. They actually worked out those little details. Failing math?: Ad this! ...Hate grammar?: It don't matter no more! (Well-written article, here.)

Honest to God, you can't make this stuff up. It's wrong on so many levels, I'm not even going to single any out. All for $20. They want to raise serious money? Put everyone who supports this plan in a pen, under a giant, tipping bucket of barnyard waste. Tell 'em they can have a raincoat for a thousand bucks. At the same time, charge people to watch. Now that would be an education worth paying for.

Leve your Comments, below. And I would love to hear from anyone who thinks this is a good idea.

Video: When Concerts Get Out of Hand

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:01:06 GMT

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What crowd behavior is out of bounds at a concert? Post a message in Comments, below. I don't envy any concert venue operator: you want audiences to have such a good time that they tell their friends, and want to come back. But you also have to make sure that they're not having such a good time, that they start going crazy-- and assault the performer.

Of course, with some shows, it seems like the point is to trash the place: but I'm talking about concerts for the rest of us. All this comes to mind, because some yahoo beaned singer Morrissey on the head this week, with a full beer bottle. At least, we hope it was beer. Sometimes this kind of fan thinks the restrooms are just too far away. My opinion; Morrissey responded perfectly: he stood up, said "Goodnight," and left the arena. Here's the video.

How ticked would you be, if you'd bought tickets to last week's U2 concert at the Rose Bowl, and thanks to some stunt by a 'fan,' Bono calls it a night halfway through the second song? I bet audiences would start self-policing pretty darn quickly. And by self-policing, I mean murdering the offender. Either way, word would spread quickly, n'est pas?

An old David Letterman joke went something like; "You know you're getting old, when you wish those two girls in the tube-tops jumping up and down in the front row would just sit down and enjoy the music." There's a happy medium. I doubt Morrissey's response actually will start a trend, but I wouldn't mind if it did.

What's w/ Suzanne & NCIS's Mark Harmon?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:37:37 GMT

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We can't do a story about TV's #1 show, CBS's NCIS, starring Mark Harmon, without mentioning that he's Rico's close personal friend. Frankly, I have no idea how well they know each other. I just know that both went to UCLA --he was a football star, and she was, well, Suzanne Rico, and that's enough. I also know she still has his cowboy hat.

Where did they meet, you ask? Well, either on the set of his show, or on the set of ours. And since he hasn't been on Newscentral 5-7 a.m., I guess it was during a Rico guest appearance on NCIS. Every once in a while, when a production needs a credible news reporter for a cameo role, the call comes in: "Get me Suzanne Rico!," etc.

When Suzanne finished her appearance, she asked somebody in wardrobe about a hat she needed to borrow for an upcoming trip to cold-country. The wardrobe lady said, "Take this one, it's Mark's." Suzanne promised to return it, upon her return. When she called to get his address (clever girl -Ed.), wardrobe told her "We told him you took it and he said to consider it his gift to you."

I've met Harmon too, but nobody ever writes about that. In person, I think he's a genuinely cool and very welcoming guy. In character, I love his style as the perpetually grumpy, but always on-target Agent Gibbs. It's no surprise NCIS is in its 7th season, and still getting stronger. And as much as Iike watching the whole cast-- are you listening Paulie Perrette? -- it was a huge thrill for me a few weeks ago, to meet David McCallum, aka Dr. Donald ("Ducky") Mallard. I'm sure he was excited to learn I still have my Man From UNCLE fan-club card. If you're under 25, just keep moving.

How did I happen to see Mr. Harmon and meet Mr. McCallum? Put on your crime-solving hats; the answer may lie in Tuesday night's episode of NCIS , at 8 p.m.

By the way, Rico: I told Mark you were trying to sell the hat on E-bay.