Kickass Dad of the Day: When Stuart Chaifetz learned that his 10-year-old son, Akian, was being violent and disruptive in class, he was puzzled. He knew Akian, who has autism, to be mild-mannered and sensitive, and had a hunch that something more was going on. But after several meetings with a team of school officials created to help special-needs students, nothing changed. So Chaifetz did what any concerned parent would do.
On the morning of Friday, February 17, 2012, I wired my son and sent him to school. That night, when I listened to the audio my life changed forever. I heard my son being bullied by his teacher and aide. The six and a half hours of audio I had proved that my son wasn’t hitting the teacher because there was something wrong with him — he was lashing out because he was being mocked, mistreated and humiliated. His outbursts were his way of expressing that he was being emotionally hurt at school.
The New Jersey father has since launched a website full of damning evidence and aFacebook page, and he is petitioning the state to change legislation so that teachers who bully children are immediately fired. The aide has been fired, but the rest of the staff have merely been relocated.
“I seek a full and public apology from all those adults who were in my son’s class for what they did to him,” Chaifetz says. “It is also far past time that these issues are allowed to be hidden from public view.”
[vvv]
— Kai Matthew Christensen, one of the two guys arrested for setting ‘Rambo’-style booby traps on a popular trail in Utah. (via thedailyfeed)
(via thedailyfeed)
![thedailywhat:
Better Late Than Never of the Day: To mark the two-year anniversary of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, an arrest has been made linking BP to the horrific aftermath. Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, has been charged with two counts of obstructing justice for deleting from his iPhone hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a co-worker and a contractor, according to a criminal complaint unsealed today.
From the Wall Street Journal:
The deleted messages, some of which were recovered forensically, included sensitive information about the failure of one of the efforts to stop the flow of oil, known as the “top kill.” This includes a May 26, 2010, message from the first day of the top-kill efforts that said, “Too much flowrate—over 15,000,” indicating the flow from the well was three times higher than the company had said was the official rate of flow.
In related news, BP posted a 2011 profit of $26 billion; former BP exec Tony Hayward, now chief executive of oil venture Genel Energy, received in a mergerthis year shares worth $17 million.
[consumerist]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2zzg2kzpS1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Better Late Than Never of the Day: To mark the two-year anniversary of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, an arrest has been made linking BP to the horrific aftermath. Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, has been charged with two counts of obstructing justice for deleting from his iPhone hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a co-worker and a contractor, according to a criminal complaint unsealed today.
From the Wall Street Journal:
The deleted messages, some of which were recovered forensically, included sensitive information about the failure of one of the efforts to stop the flow of oil, known as the “top kill.” This includes a May 26, 2010, message from the first day of the top-kill efforts that said, “Too much flowrate—over 15,000,” indicating the flow from the well was three times higher than the company had said was the official rate of flow.
In related news, BP posted a 2011 profit of $26 billion; former BP exec Tony Hayward, now chief executive of oil venture Genel Energy, received in a mergerthis year shares worth $17 million.
Inspirational Motivational of the Day: 18-year-old Jeremy Minnier is just your average high school senior except for the part where he’s the mayor of an entire town.
Minnier, the newly elected mayor of Aredale, Iowa, recently defeated 76-year-old incumbent Virgil Homer by a vote of 24 to 8.
If the vote tally seems rather small, that’s because Aredale only has 74 residents. But, as diminutive as the population figure might be, it still has some pretty big problems, and it’s now up to Minnier to fix them.
“One of the main things right now is our septic systems in our homes as they’re not up to state codes,” said Minnier, who plans to spruce up Main Street with some new signs and do a little landscaping in front of City Hall.
“Being the mayor doesn’t mean that you just sit back and tell other people what to do,” he says. “You gotta be there helping. I’m gonna be sweeping the streets out there with a broom and shovel just like they are.”
Aredale residents say they’re hopeful about the future with Mayor Minnier at the helm. “Some fresh blood may see things differently,” says town councilor Deb DeBerg.
Even his high school principal is behind Minnier all the way. “I’m hoping he inspires a lot of our kids to step up when they see something that they think they might be able to do,” said Principal Steve Madson.
Minnier himself isn’t too worried about balancing his dual identities: “It’s not a job when you wake up every morning and just love what you do.”
[msnbc / thanks aw!]
![thedailywhat:
Canned Cocktail of the Day: Beer and iced tea — together at last.
Molson Coors Brewing will introduce a new iced tea-flavored beer next month that will be caffeine-free and 4% alcohol by volume.
Canada will serve as the testing ground for the new concoction. If the Canucks take to it, a US roll-out will follow.
[laughingsquid.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0jei51hsF1qz4cuyo1_1280.jpg)
Canned Cocktail of the Day: Beer and iced tea — together at last.
Molson Coors Brewing will introduce a new iced tea-flavored beer next month that will be caffeine-free and 4% alcohol by volume.
Canada will serve as the testing ground for the new concoction. If the Canucks take to it, a US roll-out will follow.
In Case You Missed It of the Day: Jimmy Fallon puts on his Eddie Vedder
hatwig and performs an ode to the Knicks’ star point guard set to Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.”[lnwjf.]
Turns out if America were a high school, Hawaii would be prom queen and California wouldn’t even be able to find a date to the dance.
![thedailywhat:
Survivorman of the Day: A 45-year-old man in Sweden has reportedly managed to survive for two months trapped inside a snowed-in car with no food and only a sleeping bag to keep warm.
Snowmobilers who spotted his vehicle near the northern city of Umea initially believed it to be an abandoned wreck. Upon clearing away the snow, they discovered a dangerously thin person living inside.
“Just incredible that he’s alive considering that he had no food, but also since it’s been really cold for some time after Christmas,” said a rescue team member.
Doctors believe the man managed to survive by going into a “dormant-like state,” similar to ursine hibernation. “Humans can do that,” said doctor Stefan Branth. “He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up.”
It remained unclear how the man found himself stuck in the snow to begin with.
[msnbc / photo: photoblog.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lznrbe5zo41qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Survivorman of the Day: A 45-year-old man in Sweden has reportedly managed to survive for two months trapped inside a snowed-in car with no food and only a sleeping bag to keep warm.
Snowmobilers who spotted his vehicle near the northern city of Umea initially believed it to be an abandoned wreck. Upon clearing away the snow, they discovered a dangerously thin person living inside.
“Just incredible that he’s alive considering that he had no food, but also since it’s been really cold for some time after Christmas,” said a rescue team member.
Doctors believe the man managed to survive by going into a “dormant-like state,” similar to ursine hibernation. “Humans can do that,” said doctor Stefan Branth. “He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up.”
It remained unclear how the man found himself stuck in the snow to begin with.
I’m glad I did not venture out to Black Friday Shopping today.
