What Caught My Eye Today - The "That's a Shame" Edition

Fred's Note: Every once and a while the stars line up and you get an assortment of stories that leave you shaking your head in disbelief and muttering to yourself, "That's a shame". This is one of those occasions.

Africa - This year's Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership goes to...nobody. That sounds a bit harsh, doesn't it? The $5 million award is given annually to an African leader who has exhibited the strongest commitment to democracy and good governance and, crucially, has left office within the last three years. Many of Africa's rulers have been in power for decades and show no signs of retiring. I stand corrected. That first bit wasn't as harsh as I thought. This part, on the other hand... The committee that awards the prize said that "after in-depth review," it simply "could not select a winner." Ouch.

Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia legalized handgun ownership this week, in an effort to curb a thriving black market. This is the best they could come up with? The Interior Ministry announced that it would begin licensing gun shops to sell handguns and other personal firearms. Some Saudis are skeptical of the new right to bear arms. "We can't even adhere to traffic regulations," a business owner said. "How can we put guns in the hands of people who have no discipline?" Is it just me or does this scream "train wreck"? And who doesn't like a front row seat to one of those?

Hawaii - In an effort to cut $468 million from the state education budget, Hawaii's teachers have agreed to take Fridays off for the rest of the school year. The plan will give Hawaii's 171,000 public school students the nation's shortest school year, at 163 days. Although teachers say they will try to compress five days of schoolwork into four days each week (yeah, good luck with that), parents are objecting saying it's just not enough time to learn (Translation: "Damn, we're stuck with knucklehead.") Hawaii already trails most states in national education achievement. Really? I wonder why.

Potpourri -

• Hungary - The entire police force of Budaors, Hungary (all 15 of them) resigned after the group won $16 million in the lottery.
• Mexico - Mexico City put 1300 of its heaviest officers on a diet because 70% of the city's 70,000-member police force is overweight.
  Well you have to start somewhere I suppose. That's 1,300 down and only 47,700 to go.
• Italy - an Italian couple sued a cruise line for $4,500 claiming they had not been told they had booked a trip on Italy's first gay cruise. They said they were the only straight people among the 1,500 guests on board, and that the events frequently left them "uncomfortable" and "embarrassed."
  I'll just leave you to your own imaginations on this one.