Round at the Ends and Dead in the MIddle

This is a picture of Sladjana Vidovic, the latest suicide at Mentor High School near Cleveland, Ohio.

She is the fourth teenager to kill herself because of bullying in the last two years.

I'm guessing by the press coverage that is a high number of suicides compared to most high schools?

If so, what is up with that community? Every school has its bullies, but it sounds as if the ones at Mentor are uber-bullies. Kids can be such a vicious group, but what is it about these kids that makes them so venomous?

CNN and Money Magazine named Mentor one of the "100 Best Places to Live" this year and it is described as a 'beachfront community.'

A beachfront community in Ohio? On Lake Erie?

'100 Best Places to Live' compared to what? Gary, Indiana? The Amazon?

I think describing a place on Lake Erie as a beachfront community might be an indication that everyone there is crazy. Beachfront is the Hamptons or Malibu. Not Mentor, Ohio.

Bonfire of the Vanities

The State of Ohio has issued a document listing all the proposed vanity license plates that it has rejected.

What a fabulous idea! Now Ohioans don't have to waste their time submitting plate suggestions that are only going to end up in the scrap heap.

http://media.ohio.com/documents/denied+plates+1-1-07+-+1-29-09.pdf

I have to admit that I don't understand what a lot of them mean so I have no idea if they're offensive or not. I am grateful, however, that someone in Ohio is more tuned in than I.

A selection of a few:

H8BCS NOWH8TE 4BENWAH WTFIN MYPUS
NOBITCH BLKHOS PEEWIPT KATAS5 SHGWAGN

Let's Get Physical!

Christine Newton-John, 41, pictured above, has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide for exercising her 73-year-old husband to death last June in Ohio near Cleveland.

Lest you think James Mason could have overpowered his bride, be aware that Christine was actually born a dude named John Vallandingham. I'm guessing Christine is not just a pretty face but packs some muscle under her frilly frocks.

Actually rumor has it that the deceased was a frail little guy and his mammoth wife made him swim laps in their apartment complex's pool despite the fact that he was terrified of water.

Thank God for surveillance cameras! Mason's death might have been chalked up to a heart attack if videotape hadn't shown the savage Newton-John preventing her beloved on 43 separate occasions from leaving the water. She dragged him around by his arms and legs. On several occasions, he laid his head on the side of the pool gasping for breath.

The lovely Christine will probably not get more than five years in the slammer for her deed.

Leave it to Beavers

Party favors?

One of the reasons you don't give guns to 4-year-olds is because they have hairpin tempers.

Take the little guy in Jackson, Ohio who got pissed off when his babysitter, 18-year-old Nathan Beavers, stepped on his foot.

So the kid pulled a gun out of the closet and shot Beavers in the arm. Beavers is expected to recover.

Apparently Beavers and some other teenagers were watching the shooter and a few other kids in a trailer. Must have been pretty crowded in there. No wonder he stepped on his foot.