Oh, those pesky unplanned hiatuses.  What’s the old saw? “if you want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans for the next five years.”  I would change that, in some circumstances, at least, to five minutes rather than five years.

Life is an adventure for all who are lucky enough to realize it, yes?

During this hiatus the bureaucratic stuff has kept right on swinging along, one bit after another after another.  Here are a few of the stories I’ve bookmarked, listed in no particular order.

Savanna Redding was 13 years old when she was strip-searched by officials at her school in Arizona under suspicion of hiding prescription strength ibuprofen, of all things, in her underwear. The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down a 8-1 decision saying that the strip search was illegal, which is good.  However, they also held, by a smaller margin, that the school officials involved are immune from being sued for their actions. (If you’re familiar with the archives of this blog, you know how I feel about that.)  Read the story here.

Huffpost blogger Glenn Sacks presents an important perspective on the Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2009 which is making its way through Congress.  It’s a good analysis of how legislation that ostensibly is to help particular segments of the population sometimes does little more than insure jobs for bureaucrats.  (Disclaimer: I’m all for state child support collection.  My best friend’s ex is one of the truly deadbeat dads.)

Maybe you’re already onto this since, it’s kind of old news at this point.  Amy Poehler of SNL fame has a new show on NBC called Parks and Recreation.  She plays a bureaucrat who can make you love bureaucrats.  We’re much in need of role model bureaucrats who see themselves as being there to help the people who pay them.  They are out there–we just need more of them!  Read about the show here.

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman‘s case continues to drag on.  For an excellent rendering of the details of his case, see The Cheating of Don Siegelman, Part I, and The Cheating of Don Siegelman, Part II, by Roger Shuler and freshly posted on OpEdNews.

Peace.

Deborah Alicen