But the University of Hawaii at Mānoa looks to be more broken than others. Christie Wilcox writes about the budget cuts there: the place is being gouged to the bone — the College of Natural Sciences has a cohort of graduate students to whom they are failing to live up to their responsibilities (the university brought them in, these students made a commitment to UH Mānoa, you don’t get to suddenly decide midway through their training to abandon your obligations.)

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Do you have your guns locked up? Do you only bring them out when you have a very specific purpose, like target shooting at a range or hunting? Do you own fewer than a handful? Then you might be OK. I might look at you suspiciously, but I won’t actively despise you, like I do the obsessed gun-fondlers.

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The unrepentant con man is getting shuffled around a lot, lately; he was in a Colorado prison for a while, then New Hampshire, then Alabama, Georgia, and is now locked up in the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Florida. It was all apparently part of phasing him in for a new trial in Florida.

Hovind, 61, is approaching the end of that sentence, but he is now facing a new suite of charges on allegations that he tried to stymie the government’s efforts to collect on his outstanding debt.

According to an Oct. 21 federal indictment filed against Hovind and Paul John Hansen — a Nebraska man known for his vigorous opposition of government tax and property laws — the duo has been charged with mail fraud and criminal contempt for interfering with the sale of Pensacola properties Hovind was forced to forfeit as a result of the 2006 case.

The indictment says that in 2011, Hansen filed liens on nine of Hovind’s forfeited properties on North Palafox Street, Cummings Road and Oleander Drive.

In 2012 the government was granted an injunction ordering that neither Hovind nor any agent acting on his behalf file or attempt to file any "liens, notices, financing titles and claims of whatever nature … to cloud the title of the properties."

The following year, both Hovind and Hansen reportedly mailed additional documents disputing the ownership of the property.

Both men were charged with mail fraud, attempt and conspiracy to commit mail fraud and criminal contempt. Mail fraud can be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and as much as $500,000 in fines when involving an organization.

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John Oliver takes on state lotteries. Short version: they’re a disgraceful scam.

The Republicans now control congress. That means nothing will get done for the next couple of years as the conservatives try to roll back slight progressive gains, and liberals struggle to keep them in check. You can just ignore us for a while, World.

Except for the drones and the bombs and the aircraft carriers, that is.

They bring me presents. Mr Geiger, of Morris North Star infamy, visited a Famous Author and brought me a signed copy of her book.

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Kent Hovind is scheduled to be released from federal prison in August of 2015, an event I’m sure we all eagerly anticipate. Or is he? I just heard that he’s been indicted on new charges of mail fraud by a federal grand jury. I have no details other than what wikipedia says — Indictment, Oct. 21, 2014, United States v. Hovind, case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.). — and the completely uninformative wailing of a great many creationists.

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But seriously, I hope no atheist was responsible for this vandalism.

Authorities say someone drove across the Oklahoma Capitol lawn and knocked over a Ten Commandments monument that a group has been suing to have removed, smashing it to pieces.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. George Brown says the person drove into the monument on the statehouse steps Thursday night, abandoned the vehicle and fled. Brown says the vehicle was impounded and authorities are searching it for evidence.

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