THIS is TRUE – Jan. 9Copyright www.thisistrue.com
- CARELESS: If you are an elderly American with questions about Medicare, ask anyone but the official Medicare toll-free “help” line. “We found that six out of 10 calls were answered accurately, three out of 10 calls were answered inaccurately and we were not able to get a response for one out of 10 calls,” according to an audit report by the Government Accountability Office. In one example, they asked a question about whether electric wheelchairs are covered by Medicare. The right answer: yes, if a person’s “trunk strength” is low enough to require it. The answer they got: “Medicare would cover a power wheelchair only if a beneficiary had adequate space to put it in the trunk of his car.” A separate audit of a special line for doctors to call about billing issues was even worse, with complete and accurate information given only four percent of the time. (New York Times)…Where they mostly advised doctors to hide bodies in trunks.
- THE EDUCAMATIONAL SYSTEM: A third of all schoolteachers in Florida have failed their certification tests at least once, and many have not even been able to pass the tests they give their students. Students aren’t allowed to move to the next grade if they don’t pass their standardized tests, but some teachers continue to teach even after failing their own exams and then receiving waivers, according to a review of test scores. Almost 1,400 teachers have failed more than 10 times; more than half-million kids suffer with substandard teachers. State Sen. Frederica Wilson decries the report, saying the poor teachers are “destroying the lives and futures of Florida’s children.” And the bottom-line result, Wilson says, is “The economy is going to suffer. Our tax base is going to suffer.” (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)…Leave it to the politicians: It takes their peculiar mindset to really see the big picture.
- WHEN BOOBS ARE OUTLAWED, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE BOOBS: The City Council of San Antonio, Texas, has proposed that strippers in the city not only have to get a $50 license, but that they also be required to wear the license while performing. Councilman Chip Haass says the license will keep dancers who do something illegal from giving a fake name to escape prosecution. (San Antonio Express-News)…But the licenses can’t be issued until they find a print shop capable of producing the 4- by 6-foot license cards.
- Smart … The surest sign that intelligent life exist elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. – Bill Watterson, cartoonist
- Clerks at a gas station in Poulsbo, Wash., called police to report a robbery despite the robber still being inside and threatening them with a knife. The robber tried to cut the phone cord with his knife, but failed. He escaped in a waiting get-away car before police arrived, but clerks called the cops again a short time later when the car pulled in again — the driver wanted directions out of town. “I guess they got lost,” a police spokesman said. “They’re not the brightest bulbs in the closet.” The alleged robber, Jared Persitz, 22, and the driver, Matthew Barela, 22, not only admitted to the attempted robbery, but also to a burglary earlier in the day. (Central Kitsap Reporter) …And thus begins the race for the Biggest Idiot of the Year.
