Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[skjl47]

Hello; Saw today the spelling was corrected on the building. Now says Learning center rather than learing Center.

Hello; In a possibly related report a child day care center, Nokomis Day Care Center, was broken into and damaged. Happened in Minnesota. An interesting form of vandalism I guess in that documents regarding children and such were stolen. I cannot personally ever recall of hearing about someone stealing day care documents.

What could be the reason for such a theft?

Not clear in the report I read but maybe the security cameras were not working. That would hamper an investigation I suppose.

I may have missed it but do not recall reading anything about where the children will go after the break in. But the good news may be there are lots and lots of daycare places in the area, some apparently without any children in them at all. I may be concerned over nothing.

 

[Caperguy99]

Happy new year!

 

[skjl47]

MSN

Hello; Not related to the day care stuff. This is about a nonprofit organization leader being found guilty of stealing something near $250 million from a kids meal program. Near as i can tell from a quick read monies were received from government programs for "fake" meals. Fake in the sense the meals only showed up on paper and were never served.
The founder of the nonprofit was convicted and maybe 70 or so others involved in the scam pled guilty.

I have watched getting on a "check" become a lifestyle choice for many people in my area of KY, TN & VA. Back in the early 1970's a friend and I were just out of college. I got a teaching position. He became a case worker (maybe called a social worker) for the county welfare agency. As he described it part of his job was finding and signing up more & more folks. Over the decades I could observe second hand the programs boom from my teacher position. Got to where many, if not most, students were on some sort of check.
Judges would use taking way checks threats to force truant students into school. Problem was such students did not do schoolwork. They wound up causing much of the problems in classrooms. So the end result was disruption for those students who would have tried to get an education. A lose -lose for all. But the checks flowed.

 

[RD.]

Hello; I lived on US 119 in Harlan County KY many years ago. Saw this take place from my front porch. Snapped a few pictures. Guy was hauling aluminum. Happened to get pulled over near my place.

Too funny, looks like he might have had room for one more piece.

Harlan County KY, no doubt you are familiar with this song.

 

[skjl47]

Too funny, looks like he might have had room for one more piece.

Harlan County KY, no doubt you are familiar with this song.

Hello; Yes, I know the song. Some of the images in the video struck a chord. I knew old miners who worked with mining ponies. I recall being told they had to fit rubber boots on the ponies to keep the high Sulphur coal from eating away at the hooves. The images with the song showed mules but in some places, I think they used smaller ponies.

Saw many a miner after a shift with dirty faces. Many of the bigger mines had shower houses where the miners could clean up. My current house was built by a coal miner back in the early 1970's. There is a shower in the basement where i figure he cleaned up before going into the house. There are mine roof bolts run thru a short wall on one side of my driveway. To hold it in place I suspect. My brother was a coal miner for over 20 years.

During a strike in the early 1970's I had to drive thru a picket line at the Brookside mine to get to Evarts High School where I taught. There is a movie HARLAN COUNTY USA in which there is film of that strike. I knew some of the folks.

I have the only award given to me on my wall. It is for driving five busloads of Harlan County students from Hall Elementary School to the 1982 Worlds Fair at Knoxville TN. We raised enough money to pay for the tickets and fuel. I volunteered to drive as i was one of the schools regular drivers. Many of the kids had never been out of the county before.

I went to college the first two years at an extension of The University of Kentucky in Cumberland KY. Rented a room in Lynch KY not far from an active US Steel deep mine. It is a tourist place now. # ten portal if memory serves.