In our January/February issue we reported that Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent Terry Holliday told the county commissioners that he had cleaned up the financial “mess” of his predecessor, boasting, “We have a fund balance we didn’t even know we had.”

Holliday said the fund balance would total about $3,000,000 at the end of the fiscal year. There was a difference of $457,000 between that sum and the amount reported in the official audit. The discrepancy has not been explained.

At its October 19 meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted to request that the county manager to write an letter to Holliday asking for an explanation of the $457,000 discrepancy.

The mainstream media has not reported this story.

The editors of the Record & Landmark exercised poor judgment in publishing, in the December 1 issue, a syndicated cartoon with a drawing of several flag-draped coffins and the caption “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

To its credit, five days after the cartoon was published the paper ran an editorial that more-or-less apologized. It also published several letters-to-the-editor from readers who were deeply offended by the unpatriotic cartoon.

In the weeks and months before an election the roadsides are dotted with thousands of political signs. Most political candidates remove their signs as soon as possible after the votes are cast.

But as this is written, over a month after the November 2 election, a few politicians’ signs still litter the landscape. The worst offender is unsuccessful county commissioner candidate John Meadows. It does not appear that he has made any effort to remove his signs, at least not those in the Statesville area.

The political scuttlebutt is that Meadows plans to run again in 2006. If so, he would improve his image with the voters by taking down his old signs.

A California school has barred a fifth-grade teacher from giving his students copies of the Declaration of Independence and other historical documents that make reference to God.

Steven Williams, a teacher in the San Francisco suburb of Cupertino, says he is required to submit all his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to principal Patricia Vidmar for approval, and that she will not permit him to use those that contain references to God or Christianity.

Among the materials the principal has rejected are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington’s journal, John Adams’ diary, Samuel Adams’ “The Rights of the Colonists”, and William Penn’s “The Frame of Government in Pennsylvania.”

Williams has filed a lawsuit against the school system.

“Politically correct” censorship of any mention of God or religion is not confined to the west coast.

In teaching the history of Thanksgiving, Maryland public school students are told that the Pilgrims invited the “Native Americans” (the politically correct term for American Indians) to a feast, at which they thanked the “Native Americans” for their blessings. Students are not informed that the Pilgrims also gave thanks to God, or that the Thanksgiving holiday has any religious significance.

In the first official U.S. Thanksgiving Day proclamation, President George Washington stated: “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

Before the election, college Republicans at UNC-Chapel Hill set up a table to advertise candidates. A protester grabbed an American flag at the table and set it ablaze. A columnist in the Daily Tar Heel, the campus newspaper, defended the arsonist, asserting, “He had as much claim to that flag as anyone else.”

We are relieved that George W. Bush was re-elected, as the alternative was far worse. That being said, there are areas where he deserves criticism, chief among them being his failure to use his veto power to curtail wasteful spending.

“Pork barrel” appropriations passed by the just adjourned session of Congress included $1,500,000 for retiring Rep. Richard Gephardt’s archive at the Missouri Historical Society, $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, $250,000 for the Country Music Hall of Fame, $100,000 for the Municipal Swimming Pool in Ottawa, Kansas, and $100,000 for the Punxsutawney Weather Museum.

Every five years the Pacific Research Institute, in association with Forbes magazine, publishes an “Economic Freedom Index” of the states. The index computes more than 100 variables, including taxes and regulatory burdens. The states with the lowest taxes and most favorable business climates rank highest.

Kansas ranks highest in the index, followed by Colorado, Virginia, Idaho, and Utah. New York has the lowest rank, and California the second-lowest.

North Carolina places in the middle of the pack at 24th. This is a decline from our 1999 ranking of 17th.

Bush carried 23 of the 25 highest-ranking states. Kerry ran first in 17 of the 25 lowest-ranking states.

Antoinette Millard applied for an American Express card, falsely claiming to be a wealthy Saudi Princess. She was issued a prestigious Centurion Black card with a high credit limit.

Millard ran up nearly a million dollars in charges she could not pay, and has been charged with grand larceny.

The phony Princess claims American Express is at fault because she was mentally incompetent when she applied for the card and the company should have known it. She is suing for $2 million.

John Edwards will soon be out of a job. Maybe he can take on this case.