First, they find a way to hire all their friends, cronies, and relatives, getting them on the government payroll. Then, they figure out a way to get their hands in the cash drawer.

I'm so sick of this.

You have to wonder...what kind of reference did she get from the previous employer?

I once had an employee that I fired. I fired her for being insubordinate. I knew she was stealing, but I couldn't prove it. A few months later, a business in south Florida called, asking for a reference. I told them I could not give one. They asked why, and I replied, "read between the lines, ma'am. I'm trying to tell you something here." End of story. Don't think they hired her.

Quick! Someone please tell me how he is "unfortunate", or a "victim of society". Otherwise, I'll probably have to just think he's a sorry piece of welfare-freeloading crap.

I'm guessing the same parents who are so outraged by this book stuff their kids' ears with cotton when they go to school, don't let them use the internet, watch TV other than those bland, mindless, sanitized shows on the Disney channel, listen to any music videos, and don't let them pick up any printed publication of any kind.

I'm always amazed at the parents who think that they can shield their children from life's realities. What they need to do is teach them how to deal with reality, and how genteel people with manners act in public. Truth be told, their kids probably know the definition of every vulgar word in that book plus another dozen or so. Parents who live in this type of fantasy land have selective amnesia about their own upbringing.

You just can't get good customer service any more.

@Historically-funny: as opposed to "thugs, thugs, thugs" here in Athens, right?

@TeeWee: I totally agree. It makes you think that the dumbing down of our educational system over the last 40 years was intentional. (Nah...they wouldn't do that, would they?)

@Humbucker bob: no, not reaming you at all, just offering a suggestion. If I ever ream you, you'll know you've been reamed.

@Ben Had: if they were registered, that would keep the criminals from using them? Just exactly HOW would that help?

@OrneryConservative: your soul...and your money.

@EducateGeorgia: This entire "Arab spring" movement has been one of spreading the Muslim Brotherhood, and by doing so, Sharia law. This is also a battle between the Shiite and Sunni sects of Islam, with Iran and the Syrian government being the Shiites, and the Muslim Brotherhood, most likely backed by the Saudis, being the Sunnis. Their goal is to spread Sharia law worldwide. Make no mistake about that. Have you seen any new wave of "freedoms" in Egypt since the takeover of the government by the brotherhood? Seriously....this is not about democracy as we define it, in any sense of the word. It is about domination.

The Democrats have pursued a campaign of harassment and intimidation against anyone who dares disagree with them or their leader that hasn't been seen since the Nixon administration. If this is what they think passes for "open government", I'd hate to see what they think "oppressive government" would look like.

@Humbucker bob: you probably should stop now. You're just getting in deeper and deeper.

Memo to AAA, OPEC, et al:

Nobody believes this crap any more. We know it's summer, we know when Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day come. We know about summer blends, winter blends, and all the other jerk-off excuses you provide. We also know that there's enough capacity produced in THIS country, that we shouldn't have to buy oil from people who want to cut our heads off.

So, oil companies, you're right up there on my list with the IRS, going to the dentist, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

I guess Kia saw what the unions had done to GM, Ford and Chrysler, and wanted no part of it. Ain't freedom a wonderful thing?

"Equity"....

You can guarantee that every time you see that word in a political context, it means giving someone something for free, provided by the labor of someone else.

Hope and Change, people. I hope those of you who voted for Obama choke on it.

I thought guns were illegal in Chicago! How could this happen?? Criminals can't get guns if they're illegal. That would be against the law! I don't understand.

@avenger: Most likely your reason #2, plus, it gives well-connected people the opportunity to buy up the land in question, and make a killing when the city buys it.

Nah....never happens that way.

I'm sure they cut teacher positions, staff, maybe down to a janitor or two. I wonder how many of the higher-salaried administrative positions got whacked?

Maybe he shouldn't have killed the guy to start with.

@LinaryKingdon: If I had not known brothers and sisters who grew up in the same household, yet turned out radically different, I would agree with you. I think it is less about environment, and more about the mental deficiency of the individual.

For the last 60 years or so, we as a culture have tried to blame everything under the sun except the individual for his crimes. Bad childhood, abusive parents, bullying, you name it, and we have blamed bad behavior on it. If that were the case, EVERY child born to abusive parents or living in poverty would be a criminal, and that is not the case. I believe that there are some people who are just bad apples, and it has nothing to do with the external factors of their upbringing. Consider the cases of those people born into wealthy homes and/ or good families who have gone on to become terrible criminals.

I understand your outlook, but I just don't think this murderer or any other would be truthful enough for us to learn anything substantial.

@Save our Republic: Yep. Bush is looking better and better all the time. Wait until the Fed quits printing new money, and the stock market falls into the toilet again.

By the way, a CNN poll this morning said 50% or so of Americans do not believe Obama is personally truthful. Maybe some of the liberals are waking up.

"I think we know who the good guys are...who we can trust and who we cannot."

Really?? Even though the rebels have links to Al-Qaeda? Like we "knew" the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Libya?? And we're supposed to TRUST the people who were responsible for the Benghazi disaster AGAIN???

Sorry, but Obama looks weaker than Jimmy Carter on foreign policy, unless he can kill them with a drone, and I'm surprised he does that, with his nose stuck so far up the rear end of the Muslim Brotherhood. He must be killing the ones they don't like.

And, by the way....has anybody wondered if these chemical weapons are the same ones that Saddam used against HIS people, and that we didn't find? Remember...nobody has ever said they didn't exist. We just didn't find them.

I've always said that Bush would be proven right about Iraq. He's looking better and better all the time, the mainstream news media notwithstanding. Bush has stayed out of the public eye, so it must be because Obama is failing so miserably.

@LinaryKingdon: the only thing you will learn, is that criminals like this enjoy manipulating people, and are rarely truthful. If you're looking for some magic-bullet reason for why he and others commit horrible crimes, you won't find it. This is not a situationally-driven problem. These people have serious mental defects.

I think your intentions are good, but I don't believe that your methods will produce results. There is only one way to deal with people who intentionally kill others, and that is to remove them from society permanently. They can't be rehabilitated.

Hey, Academy Sports! How about an east side location???