They're Not Just a Line on the Resume

 

July 5, 2026

 

The St. Louis area seems to be particularly friendly to people who get high-paying jobs without actually being able to carry out their duties. I’ve lost track of the number of news articles in which a highly-paid person was let go from a municipal (including education) position because they weren’t performing well; and upon investigation, it was found that the person left his or her previous employment because of (at best) underperformance.

 

And do you know how they got hired? Because nobody checked their references.

 

As I offered to do for the police board, I can provide vetting for the candidates; that is, I can hire somebody to hop on the internet and look these people up. They can start with the news feeds in the candidate’s former city to see if there is a reason the person left. (Seriously—some of these people made the news in their former towns for the bad work they did.) For an additional fee, I can have my subcontractor contact people by telephone (that being more of a specialized skill these days) to confirm certain facts of employment. I guarantee you that my fee will be a lot less than the settlements the area has been paying to these people when they kick them out.

 

Or we can continue to hire people for an exorbitant amount of money, and then pay them lots of money to go away.

 

Any takers?

 

The World's Biggest Non-Problem

 

July 5, 2026

 

 

I continue to get mind-boggled by the number of tips there are for cleaning crusted-on food in the microwave.

 

How does that even happen?

 

For civilized people, these are the only tips you need to know:

 

Anyone who uses the microwave should cover the food. There are actually plastic, microwave-safe covers sold at grocery stores or in the home-goods section at other stores, made just for this purpose. Use them. (Tip: Store the cover IN the microwave so that anybody who uses the microwave will have to handle the cover, and can't say that they forgot it.)

 
When the food is finished heating, you or whoever takes it out should clean up anything that spilled. If you’re in the middle of a dinner party, and you don’t want to clean the spill RIGHT THEN, wipe out the microwave when you wipe down the stove (as I assume that you do) when you’re doing the dishes.

 

Seriously.

 

 

 

He Stole Religiously

 

June 29, 2026

 

A man who is in jail for lying, stealing, cheating and other miscellaneous offenses wants his religious needs to be met, specifically dietary needs and prayer practices.

 

Impressive that he’s so devout. But if he’s following the Word of God that closely, can he tell us where his religion allows the lying, stealing, and cheating that landed him in jail in the first place?

 

If he’s played that fast and loose with so many rules of religious behavior, perhaps we shouldn’t be required to accommodate his selective following of the others.

 

In other words, he didn’t land in jail by being devout; so he can live with the hand he dealt himself.

 

It’s a Matter of Safety—But Whose?

June 29, 2026

 

In a truly bizarre twist on the issue of elderly people who continue to drive, the State of Illinois has declared that people between the ages of 79 and 86 will no longer have to take the road test when they renew their driver’s licenses.

 

Now, I could see it if they skipped the written test: How many 79-year-olds can’t identify a Stop sign?

 

But to not have an actual road test, to see how well the vision and the reflexes and the judgment are working? That seems insane.

 

All I can think of is that the testers are too afraid to get in the car with some of the drivers, so they decided to skip that part.

Ask a Simple Question...

June 25, 2026

 

A federal judge said that the Trump administration must report why a tarp and scaffolding are covering the façade of the Kennedy center.

 

He gave the administration until July 31st to respond.

 

It seems like a pretty long lead time. White House PR officials are trained to answer any questions promptly, whether the answers make sense or (as often happens) not. So why can’t they answer now?

 

“Because we’re trying to overturn the court’s decision about removing the Trump name from the building, so we’re leaving everything as is for now.” That’s a reasonable answer.

 “Because the president is pouting.” Not flattering, but believable.

“Because..." 

 

Really, it’s not that hard.