How much would you pay for a toilet?

$14,740 for a toilet?

What??

Now, granted, I don't have the cash to go souvenir shopping like some collectors out there.  I know that some people will spend mucho bucks on their childhood heroes and memories.  People buy signed posters, gold albums, #1 Edition Comic Books and the like.  There are conventions and all kinds of stuff. 

But where does it end?

A porcelain toilet that once belonged to John Lennon just sold at auction for 9,500 Pounds (about $14,470).  So what is someone going to do with a 40 year old porcelain toilet?  Do you put it in use?  Do you mount it on the wall?  Do you hold open houses and show it off.

Anyways, I'm not judging, just asking the question.

Till tomorrow.... Keep asking the questions.

Tiger Cub Smuggled in Luggage?

I am a cat person.  I especially love the big cats.  Tigers, particularly White Tigers, are probably my favoriate of the breeds.  But it appears that someone really wanted to take one with them on a trip.  Security luggage screeners at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport found a sedated, but very alive, 2-month old tiger cub in a suitcase with some stuffed toys.

What?

How does someone think that it would be a good idea to stuff a tiger cub into a suitcase? 

The article then goes on to say that the flight was to Iran.  It's really fortunate that security found the cat, because many luggage areas aren't pressurized like the rest of the plane, so at 35,000 ft it's going to be damn cold and not a whole lot of oxygen.   The cub would most likely have died.

I think we should sedate this guy and throw him in the luggage compartment for a flight.

Cab Driver Attacked for being Muslim

Sigh

Okay, so I'm scanning the news of the day, trying to find out who my "winner" is for today and I find this article.  A NYC cab driver was stabbed in the neck and face after confirming that he was indeed of Muslim faith after the passenger asked him.  Michael Enright, 21, who I resembles your stereo-typical WASP, hailed a cab on Tuesday early-evening and then attacked the driver after asking him if he was Muslim.

This is clearly not the only religious war going on in NYC right now.  We've all heard and read about the protests going on because the city approved for a Muslim Mosque to be built close to ground zero.  Which is in itself another completely ludicrous event.  I recently read something about this that I so completely agree with that I wanted to share:

"There's a small chance you have heard about a plan to build a mosque near (not "at") Ground Zero in New York. The controversy is puzzling on many levels, most important, that this is America! Freedom must not be an empty concept. Freedom of religion means freedom of religion. The basic bargain of the First Amendment, as regards speech as well as faith, is that the sole way to protect the right to opinions and beliefs is to protect all opinions and all beliefs, keeping government out of the business of deciding which ones we like or don't like.

The people who attacked the United States on 9/11 might have called themselves Muslims, though clearly they were breaking the tenets of their faith. All religions have produced a few murderous fanatics -- we don't hold this against the faith when Christianity or Judaism is involved. Baruch Goldstein, raised as a Jew, used a machine gun to murder 29 Muslims in 1994 in Hebron on the West Bank. Goldstein was a monster, not a religious believer, and was breaking the tenets of the faith he claimed. No sensible person would say that because of Baruch Goldstein, synagogues should not be built on the West Bank. Timothy McVeigh, who was raised as a Christian, murdered 168 people with a terrorist bomb in Oklahoma City, and it's clear to everyone he was breaking the tenets of his faith. Why can't we understand the same thing about the 9/11 killers? No one would object to a Christian church being built near the Oklahoma City terror bomb site.
Here's what really puzzles me -- with all the snarling on display regarding the proposed downtown New York mosque, there's been no discussion of the mosque that already exists inside the Pentagon. Islamic services are held in an interfaith chapel quite close to where a plane flown by murderers struck on 9/11, and that has caused no problems. The Washington Post buried the story on Page A-11, and most newspapers and newscasts haven't mentioned the Pentagon mosque at all. If the people who work inside the Pentagon can see past their differences and embrace religious tolerance, how come this is impossible for people such as Newt Gingrich?"
- Gregg Easterbrook

We have seen what religious wars have done over the years.  Look at Israel and Palestine now, they are still fighting.  America is the country of freedom of speech and religion.  We are living in a different place that we were 10 years ago, I understand that.  But if we are are not careful, we are going to continue down a road on internal religious strife that will be more costly than any individual terrorist acts.

Just my opinion, what do you think.  Agree?  Disagree?  Think I should be punched?  Post you comments.

$578 Million Public School?

$578 Million for a Public School Facility? 

What!?!

So, I'm reading this article this morning about the Los Angeles Unified School District and its brand new facility that cost $578M.  That's $578,000,000.  That is a lot of tax payer money.  And I think that the city/county/state, where ever the money came from, could have easily built or completely refurbished at least 6 or 7 schools, that would still be very nice and provide a lot of the extra features that school children need, such as musical instruments and auditorium, art studios, even a pool.  How could anyone think that it was a good idea to spend that kind of money of a single facility?

But here's the really good part - We have all heard how California is in a severe budget crisis, and I'm sure the city of LA is not an exception to that.  Well, according the article, and I quote:

"The pricey schools have come during a sensitive period for the nation's second-largest school system:  Nearly 3,000 teachers have been laid off over the part two years, the academic year and programs have been slashed.  The district also faces a $640 million shortfall and some schools persistently rank among the nation's lowest performing."

3,000 teachers cut in the last 2 years?!?
$640M Budget Shortfall?

In looking at these numbers, I can only ask one thing.... "What were they thinking?" 

But what are your thoughts?  Agree with me?  Disagree?  Think I'm an idiot?  Post on here and let me know. 

Thanks for reading.
Bart

First Post

Welcome!

I know there are lots of Blogs our there and various other forums for people to vent, rant, comment and posture about everything from sex to politics to food to kids.

This blog is dedicated to asking the question: "What?"  What was that person thinking?  What is Congress doing?  Why does that movie star think they are above the rest of humanity just because they make a big budget movie.

What, What, What!

I will have a viewpoint, of course I do, why else would I start a blog.  But I want to see what you have to say, or with me or against me.

Thanks for reading.