8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, Kansas - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

Orthography (Time, one hour)

Geography (Time, one hour)

Call it product placement. Across the Middle East, rival shoemakers have claimed it was they who created the footwear flung at U.S. President George W. Bush by an angry Iraqi and immortalised by TV cameras.

For many, reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi is a hero for the attack on Bush, and some of the glory seems to have rubbed off on the shoes that almost connected with the presidential head.

Suggestions have been made that they came from cobblers in Turkey or Lebanon -- or, like most of the shoes in Iraq, are Chinese-made. But Wednesday, the brother of Zaidi dismissed such reports:

"One hundred percent they are Iraqi-made shoes," Udai al-Zaidi told Reuters. "His shoes are not Chinese, nor Turkish."

Udai said they came from the Baghdad factory of Iraqi shoemaker Alaa Haddad, viewed as among the country's best.

Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported Turkish businessman Ramazan Baydan had made the shoes and carried a front page picture of the design, alongside the headline "Made in Turkey."

Baydan said he had designed the style in 1999, and orders from Iraq had increased by 100 percent since the Bush incident.

"If it had hit Bush's head it wouldn't have hurt him," he said of his shoe, apparently referring to the softness of the leather.

The Lebanese newspaper as-Safir bore a frontpage photo showing Zaidi during a visit to Beirut in November with an accompanying headline: "Did he buy the shoes in Beirut?"

A senior Iranian cleric, who is supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in Syria, praised him for a "very important and historic" act, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Pssst, Hosseini!  The truth of the matter is, it wasn't the Islamic revolution that enabled the reporter to pitch his shoes at the President.  It had a lot more to do with Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Furthermore, you're not quite there yet.  You'll have real cause to celebrate when a reporter tosses his shoes at the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad .  .  .  and lives to write about it!

Update:  The Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S. seems to agree with me.

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Ambassador Samir Sumaida’ie is to be commended for his willingness to speak out. I hope his voice can be heard above the hostile din .

With gas-tax revenues plummeting, the state of North Carolina is looking seriously at taxing motorists for how far they drive.

If the “road-use tax” is implemented, it would at first be simple – with the state checking your odometer annually and taxing you based on how many miles you have driven. But transportation experts say new GPS technology could allow the state to charge people different rates based on when and where they drive, in an attempt to manage congestion.

Talk of a Vehicle Miles Traveled tax has long been discussed as a necessity in a decade or so, because cars are becoming more fuel efficient, and states and the federal government are losing gas-tax revenue.

But there is now a sense of urgency about the new VMT tax. When gas hit $4 a gallon this summer, Americans sharply curtailed their driving. And when the economy cratered this fall, the driving rollback continued, even when gas prices plummeted.

The 21st Century Transportation Committee suggested that, in addition to the gas tax, motorists pay a quarter-cent for each mile they drive, with the first 2,000 miles annually free. A motorist who drives 12,000 miles a year would pay $25 – possibly due when the driver gets the car inspected.

It's unlikely the General Assembly will add a new tax in 2009, during a recession.

But the N.C. Department of Transportation will need help soon. Revenue from the motor fuel tax of 29.9 cents per gallon is down 12 percent this year, and the state expects a three-year loss of $580 million.

Doesn't that sound positively peachy?  I was just thinking to myself the other day that what I need in my life is another tax.  And the extra joy of being required to have my odometer checked yearly by someone at the DMV, well .  .  .  I'm speechless.  Fortunately, I don't live in North Carolina, but good news travels fast.  We could soon see programs like this implemented in all 57 states!

.  .  .  See you there!

A Saudi businessman has offered $10million for one of the shoes, Saudi television has reported.

Hasan Mohammad Makhaffa, who owns lands and properties south-west of Saudi Arabia, claims the sum he offered is an auction 'starting price'.

Makhafa, 60, a retired teacher said: 'I consider the shoes the most precious of all my real estate and property, and I will leave them behind as inheritance for my children, to become the shrine, a Medal of Freedom.'

Meanwhile, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets again today to demand the release of the journalist.

Mr Zaidi had yelled 'This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq,' as he hurled the footwear during a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday.

An Iraqi government official says the journalist has been handed over to the Iraqi military command in Baghdad.

There are many photos of the demonstrations and protests on this linked article. Believing that there are at least two viewpoints to every story, I went to find pictures of  Muslims marching in support of George Bush.  I found none. So much for the moderate Muslim point of view. I guess they don't have one.

It is also claimed that Zaidi, who is now in prison, is suffering from a broken arm (God, I hope it wasn't his throwing arm!) and broken ribs.  It's not clear whether he received these injuries while being apprehended or if someone beat the snot out of him since then.  My money's on those American dogs that run the prison!  Remember Abu Grhaib!!!!!