SNIPPETS

AUGUST 11,  2010

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A 7-year-old Oregon girl whose lemonade stand was shut down by health authorities and reopened with the help of sponsors said she has now made $1,838.31.  Julie Murphy of Oregon City, whose Portland lemonade stand was shut down last month for not having a food safety license and reopened a short time later with the help of radio station KRSK 105.1 and Les Schwab Tire Centers, said she plans to use her profits to bankroll a trip to Disneyland with mother Maria Fife, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Tuesday.

What?  A successful business in the age of Obama?  Stop it now!  Tax her!  Tax her!

AUGUST 10,  2010

From the Whittier (California) Daily News:  It hasn't been the coolest summer on record, but it's been close, forecasters say.  The average temperature in July was 79 degrees, five degrees below normal, and the first eight days of this month also have been five to six degrees below normal, weather experts said.  That could put Southern California on track for a near-record-low summer..

In fact, liberal Hollywood stars are moving to New York to associate themselves with more politically correct weather pattererns.  Cool just isn't cool.

AUGUST 9,  2010

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A Swedish biker gang leader must return about $200,000 in disability benefits because crimes he's accused of aren't possible with a bad back, officials say.  Kent Nilsson, leader of a Hell Angels motorcycle club in northern Sweden, filed for disability benefits in 1998, citing back problems, Swedish news agency TT reported Sunday.

Wait.  Some Swedish judge will rule that, as a gang leader, he's been driven to crime by social oppression, and that taking away his benefits will aid the oppressor class.  Don't laugh.

AUGUST 8,  2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Japanese competitive eater won't have to try jail food after all, a judge ruled on Thursday, dismissing charges against the skinny speed-feeder for crashing a hot dog eating contest.

It's pretty obvious that another Pearl Harbor has been prevented.

AUGUST 7,  2010

HAWERA, New Zealand, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Turkish man living in New Zealand said allegations he beat his wife were the result of police misunderstanding a traditional dance...
...he said the reported hitting, kicking and strangling a witness reported him perpetrating on his wife, Elmas, were simulated moves that comprise part of the dance.

Some cultures have a strange definition of fun.  But, in this age of political correctness, I'll bet the police buy it.

AUGUST 6,  2010

MIAMI, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Officials in a Florida school district said a principal who sent a profane e-mail to a parent has been transferred to a different school.  Eva Ravelo, 45, the former principal of Coconut Grove Elementary in Miami, was officially transferred Wednesday to Coral Terrace Elementary, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

Apparently, the other school was looking for a principal who's good at profanity.  It's so hard to get qualified people these days.

AUGUST 5,  2010

(Reuters) - A Malaysian state is to allow Muslim girls under the age of consent of 16 years to wed in a bid to stem unwed pregnancies, angering the country's women's activists and politicians.  The Islamic council in the southern Malaysian state of Malacca on Tuesday announced that it would to allow marriage for Muslims below the current minimum age of 16 years for females and 18 for males.

We're sure Western "feminist" groups will swing into action to show their usual concern for Muslim women.  Don't hold your breath.