Public Service Announcement

Seems the IRS has a competitor in the crooked thieves business. Its their money and they don't want you giving it to other no good scoundrels.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an e-mail scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the agency’s Criminal Investigation division.

The e-mail purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Board. The e-mail seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them. The IRS warned people that the e-mail link and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take over the person’s computer hard drive and allow someone to have remote access to the computer.

The IRS urged people not to click the link in the e-mail or open the attachment.

Similar e-mail variations suggest a customer has filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator. The latest versions appear aimed at business taxpayers as well as individual taxpayers.

Lastest Winkle

A weekly opinion poll is in Beta development. If you had problems with the topic section yesterday the new addition caused a small problem. The illegals working away down in the lower basement of Command Central were so excited about the possibilities of obtaining a Z card they didn't perform their quality check as they should have. After a little discipline their minds are now right and the failure to communicate has been rectified. Thought a small reference to Cool Hand Luke on a hot day was in order.

What Child Ever Wanted Easter Bunny Power

“They don’t want the Easter Bunny’s power,The children in our generation want Harry’s power, and they’re getting it.” part of the argument used by Laura Mallory of Gwinnett County Georgia, in her lawsuit to ban the Harry Potter series from public schools.

The one series that encouraged the most kids to read is also the most challenged series according to the American Library Association. If there are witches out there one of them should turn Ms Mallory into a newt.

Memorial Day 2007

Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus "Marc" Golczynski, was killed in Iraq on March 27. At his funeral in April, Daily News Journal photographer Aaron Thompson captured Marc Golczynski's teary-eyed son, 8-year-old Christian, accepting a U.S. flag from his father's casket.

Followup

To yesterday's report on the Squirrelgator attack in Florida

An alligator that got itself caught between two houses in the Meadow Pointe community Thursday evening had been trapped, killed and ready to be made into “alligator nuggets” by this morning, a local trapper said.

Ms Emily Goes To The Movies

Just to help you plan your weekend entertainment Ms Emily made an early trip to the movies.

Review by Emily Trosprel
9th Grade BHHS Senior Entertainment Editor

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

In a season of mega-budget threequels that fizzle after all the hype, there is something to be said for a movie that rivals the charm of the original and surpasses the scope of the second. There’s also something to be said for one brimming over with more sword-fighting, cannon-blasting, tentacle-waving action than ever before seen. That which has to be said is one word—whoa. Avast ye mateys, Pirates of the Caribbean is back, bigger and more ridiculously delightful than ever. It’s also ridiculously convoluted, more than any normal pirates movie would have a right to be. The general arc of the story is thankfully clear. With Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) down and out of action after being swallowed whole, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley), and newly ressurected Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) set out to rescue Jack from Davey Jones’ Locker, where Jack has his own surreal purgatory slowly melting away at his sanity (not that he had much to begin with). They’ll need all hands on deck for Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company takes control of Davey Jones’ (Bill Nighy) cut-out heart, bending the tentacled captain to his will for his desire to wipe out all pirate scum of the seas. It will take the united help of pirate lords from all corners of the world to fight an epic battle for freedom on the high seas. Throw in the goddess Calypso who is trapped in human form and out for revenge, the fact that Will is looking to free his father’s soul from debt on Jones’ ship, and a trip to Singapore to see infamous pirate Sao Feng (Yun-Fat Chow) and you’ve got the makings for nearly three hours of swashbuckling adventure. Load your cannons!

Think the 250 million dollar budget for Spiderman 3 was indulgent? At World’s End tops off at 300 million. Unlike Spidey however, every penny of the money is visible onscreen, redefining the term “eye candy.” From a colossal arctic landscape to one of vast desert dunes, the locations the film takes you to and cinematography that captures them are wondrous to behold to even the most begrudging viewers, and those are just the non-CGI shots. When visual effects come into play, the extraordinary become supernatural, all building up to a final half-hour climax which locks two ships together inside a churning, godly whirlpool. Spectacular as CGI is, it merely sets the stage for the performers. You’ll find yourself looking more at Johnny Depp than any monstrous vortexes, for while he was just plodding along comically in Dead Man’s Chest, Captain Jack is here given ample room to commandeer the film. Knightley and Bloom are not merely present to play second fiddle to Depp though; their progress in acting can be tracked through the trilogy and ends on a high note. Of the three films, Curse of the Black Pearl remains master of summer blockbuster territory. The novelty and escapism of the surprise hit four years ago will not be matched for many summers to come. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End can only be a fine way to wave farewell to Jack Sparrow and crew, wave while the man himself sails off to sea and away the overdone, commercial and thoroughly satisfying franchise that’s bound to stay around for a long time.

Three out of four stars for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Can't Have Too Many Plans

The Pennsylvania School Board Association plan to reduce property taxes.

This week PSBA conducted a news conference to call on the governor and the state legislature to develop a comprehensive, workable plan to address the critical over-reliance on school property taxes to fund public education.

“The results of the Act 1 front-end referenda indicate that voters and property owners of the commonwealth want more comprehensive and meaningful property tax reform,” said William LaCoff, 2007 PSBA president and a member of the Owen J. Roberts School Board.

“PSBA has repeatedly said that high property taxes are a symptom of a larger problem, namely a broken system of financing public education,” said Thomas J. Gentzel, executive director of PSBA. “PSBA believes that a workable solution to local tax reform requires the legislature and the governor to revamp local tax systems, reduce the costs to school districts of providing a public education and increase the level of state funding to adequately meet the needs of all students.”

PSBA also is asking lawmakers to review again the association’s 2005 recommendations for correcting school funding problems. “A Blueprint for Comprehensive Local Tax Reform” outlines the association’s recommendations for achieving significant and lasting property tax relief for the citizens of Pennsylvania. Throughout the 33-page report, PSBA provides suggestions for how the commonwealth can provide property tax relief while becoming a greater participant in funding public education and helping school districts manage their costs. PSBA also is seeking a stronger commitment to funding public schools.

PSBA statistics indicate that the state’s share of funding educational costs has declined over the last 15 years to a statewide average of 38%[BRANDYWINE is under 30%] of all public education costs. The “Blueprint” also recommends school district costs be reviewed and lowered. The report notes that the state can play a major role in helping to reduce costs by adequately funding mandates and requirements that are placed on districts or through repealing, reforming or amending the various laws that cost districts money.

“A Blueprint for Comprehensive Local Tax Reform” can be found on PSBA’s Web site at http://www.psba.org/issues-research/BlueprintLocalTaxReform.pdf.

Before You Retire To Florida

Keep in mind they have alligator-squirrels. Somebody should really think about investing in a fence. A very tall and very strong fence. But on the bright side they do keep school taxes down by reducing the number of kids in the area. Surprised Sam's not introducing legislation in Harrisburg to import them up here. Better chance of working then relying on gambling revenue.

WESLEY CHAPEL - A 6- to 7-foot alligator drew a small crowd of incredulous onlookers Thursday evening in the Morningside neighborhood in Meadow Pointe.

As the reptile attempted to climb the stucco wall of a house, near several electrical boxes, a woman across the street said, "Oh my God."

Pasco County sheriff's Deputy Todd Koenig said his agency was called to a house on Morning Mist Drive about 6:15 p.m.

Rick Skinner, onto whose property the gator crept, said it was the second one he had seen in his yard in five years. Homes on the street were built between at least two ponds.

Sucks To Be You

but here is a summer school option. Starting in June, summer school students taking classes through the Wilson School District can do much of the work online. The program is open to students from Wilson and other school districts.

The district’s virtual academy will bring summer school to students’ homes. After a week of traditional classes at the high school, students will do most of the work from home or in a computer lab.Wilson students will pay $150 per course, and students from outside the district will be charged $200.

The early registration deadline for the Wilson School District’s virtual academy is June 15. Late registrations will be accepted until June 19.

For more information go to the Wilson Summer Academy site.

Who Edited The Signs

"Let are kids walk" is not the best sign to be carrying to convince people that students who failed a minimum skills test should be being allowed to participate in graduation.

Hippies Are Everwhere

Norway is the 3rd largest oil exporter behind Russia and Saudi Arabia. The revenue from the offshore oil fields has created enough wealth in its Government Pension Fund to have $180,000 for each man, woman and child in the country of 5 million. The flood of wealth seems to have created a lot of guilt, so they let hippies manage the fund.

The fund's investment committee sold off its Wal-Mart stock for perceived ethical violations but still invests with Saudi Arabia, where stoning a victim of gang rape is considered justice. American companies seem to be singled out,Twelve of the 21 companies on Norway’s excluded list are American, more often because of the ease of obtaining information about US companies. More

Science Confirms: Finger Length Corrensponds To A Larger

,you guessed it, SAT score.

A quick look at the lengths of children's index and ring fingers can be used to predict how well students will perform on SATs, new research claims.

Kids with longer ring fingers compared to index fingers are likely to have higher math scores than literacy or verbal scores on the college entrance exam, while children with the reverse finger-length ratio are likely to have higher reading and writing, or verbal, scores versus math scores.

Scientists have known that different levels of the hormones testosterone and estrogen in the womb account for the different finger lengths, which are a reflection of areas of the brain that are more highly developed than others, said psychologist Mark Brosnan of the University of Bath, who led the study.

Exposure to testosterone in the womb is said to promote development of areas of the brain often associated with spatial and mathematical skills, he said. That hormone makes the ring finger longer. Estrogen exposure does the same for areas of the brain associated with verbal ability and tends to lengthen the index finger relative to the ring finger.

To test the link to children's scores on the College Board's Scholastic Assessment Test (for which the name has changed a number of times in the past 100 years), Brosnan and his colleagues made photocopies of children's palms and measured the length of their index and ring fingers using calipers accurate to 0.01 millimeters. They used the finger-length ratios as a proxy for the levels of testosterone and estrogen exposure.

Happy Birthday Duke

NEW YORK - On the 100th anniversary of John Wayne's birth, the Duke still swaggers through the American psyche as not just an actor, but a patriot — his centennial spawning fond remembrance, and perhaps a few small protests on the side.

It could be argued that no other film actor has ever come to symbolize so many things: rugged masculinity, the frontier, even America itself. The Duke has remained, in the truest sense, an icon. More

If the Duke was still around the show 24 would be renamed 15 minutes and Jack Bauer and the rest of CTU could home and get a good night sleep.

The Joys of Being A Coach

A Staten Island mom is blaming her son's injury during a Little League game on a bum education in base-running.

In a new twist on an old rite of passage, Jean Gonzalez is suing a beloved veteran coach for not teaching her son Martin how to slide properly, according to a lawsuit filed on May 4.
...
New Springville league President Luis Mojica expressed dismay that a lawsuit would target a program that introduces youngsters to the national pastime. "All we do is provide a place for kids to play," said Mojica. "We're a community service." More

Hint, if it's a secret, maybe Teh Intarwebs ain't the place for it

Parents who are desperate to find out what their children are up to in their spare time are joining networking websites aimed at teenagers.

Almost half of parents snoop around the sites that their children visit to check up on them, according to research. Parentline Plus, a helpline, says that calls from parents trying to keep tabs on their children’s internet activities are “regular and increasing”.

The explosion in popularity of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, along with the messaging service MSN, have given parents a new headache, with many fearing that the sites are a hunting ground for stalkers and paedophiles. Others use the websites to gain an instant insight into their children’s private lives.

Science In Seattle

Getting kids to learn science can take blackboards and story problems, wood blocks and three-ring binders. The occasional number-munching monster doesn't hurt either.

For adults, just take the science and add beer.

At least that's the theory organizers of Science on Tap wanted to experiment with when they started hosting the monthly science gatherings at Ravenna Third Place Books three years ago. The beer-fueled forums have since garnered a growing following that often fills every seat at the Ravenna neighborhood bar, in the basement of the bookstore.

A Science on Tap evening usually starts with a brief lecture by the night's presenter, who then takes questions from the crowd. The topics are wide-ranging across fields. Past speakers have discussed fuel cells, nanotechnology and stem cells.

On a rainy Tuesday evening last month, University of Washington psychiatry professor Peter Vitaliano held court for a capacity crowd. As participants consumed pub fare and microbrews, Vitaliano discussed recent findings on the health impact facing caregivers. More

The next thing you know we will have the Toad Creek Science Center.

When Squirrels Go Bad

An elementary school went into lockdown when a squirrel evaded security and went on a rampage. The terrorist rodent bit an 11-year-old girl and a parent in a slashing, biting assault and injuring a second grown-up before making its escape. Luckily the squirrel was captured on surveillance cameras moments before the unprovocated assault.

Since this did happen in California school officials immediately blamed President Bush. If captured the critter faces being served in a stew at Camp Gitmo.

Modern Fairy Tale

Republican National Committee's dutiful press release on the Amnesty agreement

No Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants: Illegal immigrants who come out of the shadows will be given probationary status. Once the border security and enforcement benchmarks are met, they must pass a background check, remain employed, maintain a clean criminal record, pay a $1,000 fine, and receive a counterfeit-proof biometric card to apply for a work visa or "Z visa." Some years later, these Z visa holders will be eligible to apply for a green card, but only after paying an additional $4,000 fine; completing accelerated English requirements; getting in line while the current backlog clears; returning to their home country to file their green card application; and demonstrating merit under the merit-based system

Why don't they end the war on drugs at the same time by just calling drug dealers unlicensed pharmacist.

If you contribute to the Republican party do some real good and send it to the fund in the post below. Then visit the sites of the Republican National Committee, the
National Republican Senatorial Committee (they especially need money), or the

National Republican Congressional Committee.

Send-a-Brick.com is still in business.

This is one of the biggest disconnect between ordinary Americans and political elites? Human Events has run a poll asking its conservative readership, what is the most important issue to you? Number 1: 86 percent say illegal immigration.

Fund For Fire Victims

Checks may be sent to
Sovereign Bank, Attention: Sue
61 Constitution Blvd.
Kutztown, PA 19530

Checks should be made payable to: Evangelista, Ott Family Fund. You may also send monetary or check donations to school(DT)with your child in an envelope marked "Evangelista, Ott Family Fund/PTC

Previous Post Should have been Two Twofers

In addition to repeating as county softball champions, Matt Yocco has been named the 2007 Shalles Pennsylvania Pinner Award winner. He is the first wrestler to win the award more than one time and has 101 career pins with his senior year still ahead of him.

Kid Wished Dog Had Just Eaten His Homework

A Kentucky elementary school was evacuated due to a strange smell all through the school. It was finally traced to an animal urine soaked backpack in a locker. Strange that this was an unusual smell in KY.

A Twofer

Alyssa Fegely’s arm and a three-run seventh inning help Brandywine Heights hold off a tough Muhlenberg team and give the Bullets their second straight Berks Softball League championship.

Fegely struck out 12 and stranded seven runners to help Brandywine defeat spirited Muhlenberg 4-1. Fegely was voted the first recipient of the Tim Braun Memorial Most Valuable Player Award, named after the longtime Muhlenberg coach who died earlier this year.
Good article in the Reading Eagle

School Board Results

Democratic Primary
24% Emrick, Carol459

22% Heffner, Ken427

16% Yocco, Lori Ann313

15% Stehman, Elizabeth296

14% Lowry, Robert275

9% Newsham Jr, Bryce178

Republican Primary
23% Emrick, Carol480

23% Heffner, Ken474

16% Yocco, Lori Ann329

15% Lowry, Robert306

14% Stehman Elizabeth293

10% Newsham Jr, Bryce214

Act 1

Appears that Act 1 was defeated in every district besides Reading usually by a 2 to 1 margin.

Brandywine Heights Area School District - 5/5 Precincts Completed

Do you favor the Brandywine Heights Area School District imposing an additional 1% earned income tax? The revenue generated from the increased tax rate will be used to reduce school district taxes on qualified residential properties by an estimated $402 the first year and approximately $574 in subsequent years. The current school district earned income tax rate is .5%.

YES: 429

NO: 821

Tomorrow Is Election Day

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

Since tomorrow is election day a good time to look at how special interest manage to make harmful policies appeal to the majority. Calling Act 1 property tax relief, appeals to seniors and everyone that doesn't want to kick grandma out in the snow. Who could oppose a bill with such good intentions. If you called it what it really was Politician Relief From Reformers bill it wouldn't have near the appeal. Voting Yes for Act 1 ensures that it will be a long time before any real relief from property tax, while putting even more burdens on school districts to comply with state and federal mandates. This act is terrible for wage earners, parents, renters and in a short time for the very people it is designed to help. Property taxes will continue to rise wiping out any small gains from this bad legislation.

Tomorrow vote NO and send a message to Harrisburg to do it right.

Bryan Caplan explains in the Wall Street Journal.

When special interests talk, politicians listen and the rest of us suffer. But why do politicians listen? Social scientists' favorite explanation is that special interests pay close attention to their pet issues and the rest of us do not. So when politicians decide where to stand, the safer path is to satisfy knowledgeable insiders at the expense of the oblivious public.

This explanation is appealing, but it neglects one glaring fact. "Special-interest" legislation is popular.

Keeping foreign products out is popular. Since 1976, ... Americans who "sympathize more with those who want to eliminate tariffs" are seriously outnumbered by "those who think such tariffs are necessary." Handouts for farmers are popular. A 2004 ... Poll found that 58% agree that "government needs to subsidize farming to make sure there will always be a good supply of food." In 2006, ... over 80% of Americans want to raise the minimum wage. ... These results are not isolated. It is hard to find any "special interest" policies that most Americans oppose.

Clearly, there is something very wrong with the view that the steel industry, farm lobby and labor unions thwart the will of the majority. The public does not pay close attention to politics, but that hardly seems to be the problem. The policies that prevail are basically the policies that the public approves. ... To succeed, special interests only need to persuade politicians to swim with the current of public opinion.

Why would the majority favor policies that hurt the majority? ... The majority favors these policies because the average person underestimates the social benefits of the free market, especially for international and labor markets. In a phrase, the public suffers from anti-market bias. From Marginal Revolution

Get Out Into The Big Room

While the staff is busy with some spring house cleaning. Topics will be shutdown through the weekend.

Ms Emily Goes To The Movies

Review by Emily Trosprel
9th Grade BHHS Senior Entertainment Editor

Spider-Man 3

A quarter of a billion dollars. Where exactly does a quarter of a billion dollar budget go in a movie? Apparently not into a decent script, and as Spider-Man 3 proves, money can't buy critical acclaim. What the story is suffering from is a bad case of overkill; too many villains, too many action scenes, and too many plot developments. Things are going great for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), aka "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man," at the beginning. He's got his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) whom he wants to propose to, has success as a photographer with the Daily Bugle, and his alter ego is finally celebrated as a hero throughout New York City. However, things begin to change for Peter as he is lying with Mary Jane watching the stars, and a meteor crashes to Earth nearby. Riding on the rock is a black, squirming goo, a "symbiote" as is later said (Why did it crash there and where is it from? Don't ask the screenwriters.) Hold off on that plotline for a while as here comes into play the "new" Green Goblin who is Harry Osborn (James Franco) looking to avenge his father's death on Spider-Man. Of course, there's also Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an escaped convict who as Peter/Spider-Man learns is the man actually suspected of murdering Peter's Uncle Ben. While on the run, Flint falls into a sort of molecular sand test and turned into, you guessed it, Sandman. Back to the goo, it attaches itself to Peter, creating out of him a vengeful, black-suited Spider-Man who's soon out to get Sandman, and later the substance drops onto another bitter soul who turns into the fanged nemesis Venom. Follow all of that? For those counting that makes four villains including Spidey's dark side in a movie that should have drawn the limit at two.

Apparently there are nearly one thousand CG shots in Spider-Man 3. Now we know where all of that money went. Whether they were worth it or not can be debated, but one thing that's clear is that the visual effects are magnificent. Flint's "rebirthing" as Sandman particularly stood out as a staggering technical achievement not only because of the authentic textures and movements but because of the emotion churned out of the computer-generated character. It could be said that the emotion rivals any put out by the actual actors, but that wouldn't be saying much as most of their performances are best described as lackluster. Maguire, Dunst, and Franco's styles may be impaired by the cheesy dialogue, but expertise can overcome even bad writing. The trio lacks that expertise. The blame could also be placed on sheer scale of the picture which had as many as seven working sets at a time. Director Sam Raimi spent much of his time zipping between them, never being able to truly work things out with his actors. No wonder the movie has a sprawling feel. However, in the end does the studio really care if the film is cinematic genius? Of course not. They're going to make a billion dollars on it in any case, because what movie-goers want in a summer blockbuster is some loud, action-packed entertainment. On that count, you can be sure Spider-Man 3 delivers.

Two and a half out of four stars for Spider-Man 3.

Fawlty Logic

From The Times of London comes advice on how to reduce your carbon footprint: Having Large Families 'Is An Eco-Crime' HAVING large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a 4x4 car and failing to reuse plastic bags, according to a report to be published tomorrow by a green think tank. The paper by the Optimum Population Trust (OPT) will say that if couples had two children instead of three they could cut their family’s carbon dioxide output by the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between London and New York. John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said...: “The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.” In those terms, surely the greatest thing everyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to reduce his carbon footprint to zero by killing himself. The United Kingdom's present fertility rate is not three children or even two but 1.6 or 1.7, and the British will be extinct long before the polar bear. And when the self-loathing westerners are gone how many Yemeni imams will want to man the late shift at the local Greenpeace office? Mark Steyn post on National Review's The Corner

Best Headline Of The Week

Skywalkers in Korea cross Han solo

Welcome To America

The Chicago marathon winner Robert Cheruiyot is fast becoming an American. After slipping as he crossed the finish line last October he is now planning on suing.

"Discussions have been going on because I would like them to pay me some money as compensation ... I always have headaches following that fall," Cheruiyot told Reuters.
However, Cheruiyot added that he would defend his title in Chicago.
"I will run because they want me back, being the title holder, but I will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion," said the 28-year-old, who last month won the Boston Marathon for a third time.

One Reason For A Dress Code

OK Who Wants To Ditch School Tomorrow

30 Second Teacher Evaluation

An infamous study by Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal,"Half a Minute: Predicting Teacher Evaluations From Thin Slices of Nonverbal Behavior and Physical Attractiveness," shows that students can predict a teacher's ratings with significant accuracy after watching a 30-second silent video clip of the teacher at work. Resist the urge to attribute this to the superficiality of students' ratings. What is the nonverbal magic that an audience recognizes so quickly?

I believe they are seeing communication uncluttered by extraneous motion, facial expressions, fidgeting, utterances (when the sound is turned on), and other nonverbal behavior so subtle that the speaker is entirely unaware of doing it. Most academics—even the good teachers—are too ``in their heads'' to be cognizant of how their body language and vocal nuances make or break their ability to express anything. A faint, transient facial expression; a brief unconscious twitch of the arm are enough to rob a speaker's words of their force, even break an audience's attention.
From Giving An Academic Talk

Hollywood Solves School Violence

Filmmaker David Lynch will announce during a global webcast (www.DavidLynchFoundation.org) on Tuesday, May 1, at 12 noon (EDT), the David Lynch Foundation’s new plan to end school violence: Teach one million students around the world to meditate to transform schools from breeding grounds of stress and violence into centers of creativity and peace.

West Virgina Kids Have Happy Feet

Dance Dance Revolution as the latest weapon in the nation’s battle against the epidemic of childhood obesity. While traditional video games are often criticized for contributing to the expanding waistlines of the nation’s children, at least several hundred schools in at least 10 states are now using Dance Dance Revolution, or D.D.R., as a regular part of their physical education curriculum. More