Stupid Government Spending

•During 2002, two hundred thousand dollars were approved to be spent in Georgia to build a “group shelter” at Jefferson Davis Historic Site.


•In the Amended Georgia FY 2002 Budget, 8.7 million dollars was alotted to the Georgia Technology Authority for “portal development”.


•The H-4, more commonly known as the “Spruce Goose”, was the largest airplane ever to be built, and first lifted off on November 2,1947. The unexpected flight lasted for approximately a minute and stunned onlookers who had never seen a plane so massive (the Spruce Goose’s wingspan was 320 feet). Designed, constructed, and flown by Howard Hughes at the first trial run, the plane would never fly again. Final cost: 22 million dollars paid by the federal government and 18 million dollars paid by Hughes personally (numbers not adjusted for inflation).


•In 2002, three and a half million dollars were approved to be spent in Georgia for the construction of a “fishing area” in Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area.


•The Amended Georgia FY 2002 Budget gives 4.7 million dollars to the department of human resources for postage alone!


•In the Amended Georgia FY 2002 Budget, $65,000 was spent to buy a new cooler for the Georgia School for the Deaf.

British government spells end of 'i before e' rule

LONDON – It's a spelling mantra that generations of schoolchildren have learned — "i before e, except after c."

But new British government guidance tells teachers not to pass on the rule to students, because there are too many exceptions.

The "Support For Spelling" document, which is being sent to thousands of primary schools, says the rule "is not worth teaching" because it doesn't account for words like 'sufficient,' 'veil' and 'their.'

Jack Bovill of the Spelling Society, which advocates simplified spelling, said Saturday he agreed with the decision.

But supporters say the ditty has value because it is one of the few language rules that most people remember.