Random sighting in the cafeteria:

You just don’t see a big mound of large bags of cereal every day. And, given the lunch the last few days, this was looking pretty good. They brought in this new vendor last fall — because food is definitely a place you seek out the lowest bidder. Meanwhile …

I … just …

@sodexoUSA adding some iron to our diets WITH LITERAL SCREWS IN BURRITO BOWLS YOU GUYS. pic.twitter.com/NQDRlpYTIN

— Rob Johnston (@RobertHJohnston) January 29, 2015

Things to read … because that’s a screwed-up picture.

Tomorrow is the anniversary, Remember ‘The Great Raid’ of 1945:

A group of more than 100 Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas traveled 30 miles behind Japanese lines to reach the camp. Along the route, other guerrillas in the villages muzzled dogs and put chickens in cages lest they alert the Japanese.

The 30-minute raid liberated 513 POWs.

Some of them weighed so little the Rangers could carry two men on their backs. At a rendezvous point, trucks and 26 carabao carts — local wooden carts — waited to carry them to safety. Villagers along the way contributed more carts because the Americans had little or no clothing and shoes, and it became increasingly difficult for them to walk. By the time they reached American lines, 106 carts were being used.

Audacious things are done by audacious individuals.

Such great news, ‘Rescue Ship’ rescued: ‘Batmobile’ driven by 1980s Birmingham good Samaritan set for restoration:

“It’s like ‘Where’d this thing come from?'” said Lee Shook, who’s making a documentary about the car. “It’s a time capsule. It’s amazing.”

The 1971 Ford Thunderbird is labeled the “Rescue Ship,” and three decades ago that’s exactly what it was.

In the early 1980s, Willie J. Perry drove the car around Birmingham looking for people who ran out of gas, had a flat tire or otherwise needed a helping hand. The Rescue Ship was an icon, covered with flashing lights and a flashy paint job, and equipped with a record player, toaster oven, and more inside.

The future!

Graphic Body Cam Footage Shows Oklahoma Cop Shoot and Kill Fleeing Suspect
Microsoft’s HoloLens Is a Viral Hit. Next Test: Real Life

And the present, The state of the ombudsman in 2015:

Daniel Okrent, who served as The New York Times’ first public editor, made reference to a “downgrading” of the position, based mostly on financial constraints.

“At a time when newsrooms are shrinking and news holes are shrinking, the idea of paying someone to criticize a newspaper is perceived by management as more and more obtuse,” he said.

The position is often the first to go when news executives are trying to trim their budgets.

“Do we really want to be spending scarce resources on an in-house critic?” New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen asked, hypothetically. “There’s the sense that media criticism rains down on us from all sides. Isn’t it better to let outsiders handle it?”

Buzzfeed editor in chief Ben Smith has often said as much—that the instant Twitter critics make a formal ombudsman unneccessary for the company.

Maybe I’m alone in this, but it seems that this is exactly the reason we need public editors right now. There’s such a thing as getting in front of an issue.

Need to be overwhelmed by data in numbers? The Internet in Real Time

And, finally, I’m told this happens in schools all over the country now. ‘No zeros’ grading policy awards students half credit for work they don’t turn in:

A policy instituted by Principal Nichole Davis Williams in the fall states that “Students should not receive a grade lower than 50.” This means that students at the school can fail to turn in work, and still receive some credit for the work.

[…]

The policy, which is not a district-wide policy, was implemented after a parent questioned her child’s low score on a progress report, the teachers said. Some students who are aware of the policy aren’t doing classwork and projects, and just taking 50s. The teachers said they have noticed behavioral problems they believe to be connected to that policy.

“Students aren’t learning because we can’t get them to do the work,” one of the teachers told AL.com. “When do we hold the students accountable?”

Can’t imagine what that does to the culture of the campus.