Her broom pilot's license is still valid.

I smell a lawsuit.

Actually had one really nice bus driver in school. Always made sure there was a cooler of ice for us on those 100+ degree days and always told jokes.

As for the lady, I don't feel much sympathy for her. Driving a bus isn't exactly a privledge, but it isn't a right either. She has the right to be a ridiculous neo-pagan nutball, not a bus driver.

"It is our opinion that Ms. Carpenter does not serve as a role model, nor is suitable to provide transportation services for the Princeton School District, in light of recent media reports of her husband/friend to be a vampyre who is running for public office, and Ms. Carpenter informing other bus garage employees that she is a witch."

Ummm...why would the employer put this stuff in writing? Duh....

Otto?

I like how the school district spelled "vampire" in the new, Impaler-approved fashion.

I have a good friend who's Wiccan. She's constantly worried about being outed by conservatives who will take her away from the kids (who she truly adores, seriously, this woman lives for education with the passion normally reserved for missionaries and the like.)

I have to keep reminding her, "You're a far left liberal teaching in far left Oregon! Hell, the wiccan thing gives you bonus points!"

She still petrified, though. She moved to Oregan to get away from that conservative hotbed of fascist hate-mongering... Northern California.

So, she's a witch, so what? Big deal. It's not like she's wearing a turban, or something.

(Sarcasm intended. Firing someone for thier religious beliefs is un-Constitutional, boys and girls. However, the reported "blood sucking" may violate various local health ordinances.)

I predict a number of Princeton School District officials will soon be found dead from a mysterious, massive draining of blood.

Woe betide he who incurrs the wrath of Sharkey!

Witches should be OK. Witches whose spouses feed on the blood of young virgins, not so much.

Has anyone ever really considered a bus driver a role-model, by the way?

Are you kidding? I thought the Ace of Spades Lifestyle™ fully endorsed the slogan, "my name is Otto, and I like to get blotto ..."

it's not every day you see a vampire speaking at the Lions Club nooner.

Lunch Ladies, Yes. Bus Drivers, No.

His campaign sign actually says, "The Impaler." Why, oh why couldn't I have been born in Minnesotta?

Although it does look like he's been hitting the A Positive a little too much. Or maybe the throw rug is just naturally slimming. Can vampyres diet?

BURN HER!!!

Everyone knows that bus drivers swing from the lowest link on the food chain. (Sortelli's example being the exception to the rule).

No offense to school-bus drivers, but they are the dregs of society. The idiot who thinks he's a vampire's girlfriend is a perfect example of what kind of people the occupation attracts.

This is good news for the Reep in the governor's race. Jonathan will steal votes away from the Dem candidate in Minnesota, not the Republican. Especially if news gets out that the evil conseratives are persecuting his little witch.

Jonathan will get the "idiot" votes that went for Ventura in '98 that normally go to the Democrat. The "idiot" vote is the dirtbag who hates Republicans and therefore votes Democrat.

School District: "No Niche for Witch Bitch"

Wasn't Ralph Kramden a bus driver? He might be a role model for someone, somewhere.

I remember two bus drivers from my school days (and even at my tender age, I don't remember much about those days) -- I remember one for being unusually grouchy and the other for being unusually kind.

Ace writes:
On one hand, people have a right to have their own political views and odd lifestyle choices without being persecuted for them.

Uhhh. Is that what they call "religion" these days?

Are we to doubt that if she was fired for being the wife/girlfriend of a Christian, you'd still be conflicted?

Jason

Bart, bus drivers are far from being lowlifes. They're working people. There are many other better candidates for the "dregs of society" label. (I'd put it on pimps, hobos, and drug dealers, myself.)

Yeah wiccan is a religion like scientology is a religion. Then there are the churches of John Coltrane and Jimmy Hendrix. People have the right to be crazy but I don't have to buy into their crap. What's next? The Church of AoSHQ?

I'd be more embarassed to be a bus driver than a witch.

What genius at the bus company decided to put, in writing, that they fired her for being a witch? I think that lady is about to win the lawsuit lottery.

Jason, are you proposing that if she were the boyfriend of a Christian, there would have been any reason to fire her? The proper anaolgy would be the boyfriend of a Christian who handles snakes, speaks in tongues, and runs as a candidate that claims fags and bastards should be burned at the stake publicly. Y'know, someone in the Phelps family.

I'm sorry, I'm not even a parent with an over-protective button to get pressed, and I don't think someone who's willing to be openly known as the "donor to a vampyre" that says he's "evil, but in a good way" should be responsible for a bus-load of kids.

I think anyone who wanted to make this a case for religious persecution would have a pretty hard time of it.

The school district spelled it "vampyre" because the bureaucrat there actually didn't know how to spell the word correctly, and just copied the word off the campaign literature.

Oh, and to the someone who just compared Wicca to Scientology ---- can Scientologists stick out their arms and call down LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!

The Church of AoSHQ?

I'm in. If we get money.

Sortelli writes:
Jason, are you proposing that if she were the boyfriend of a Christian, there would have been any reason to fire her?

Sortelli, when you open with a statement like this, I just stop reading because your credibility makes a flushing sound.

Don't start the conversation in bad faith.

Jason

Mrs. P, schoolbus drivers are pimps, bums, and drug-drealers. I did not mean to imply simply being a bus driver makes one a low-life. My implication was that the occupation draws it bodies from the same pool as the scum of society.

Of course there are some very decent people filling the driver's seats of buses. Unfortunately, they find themselves among bad company.

Don't be so naive, the occupations that require no skill and no education and offer low pay attract seedy people. How many times have we heard news reports about bus drivers who are ex-cons or have DUIs? It's more common than you think.

I did follow up with a pretty good example of a hypothetical Christian that should get fired similarly, so in that note, care to exercise your reading skills a little further?

This isn't about her religious beliefs, it's about her behavior.

Has anyone ever really considered a bus driver a role-model, by the way?

If you've ever hung out in a driver's lounge, you'd know better than even think that question.

This is irritating me. His name is JonathOn. Two Os.

Bart, bus drivers are far from being lowlifes. They're working people. There are many other better candidates for the "dregs of society" label.

One of my bus drivers was the drug dealer, another turned out to be a child molester. His bus was always filled with the smell of chewing tobacco. So yeah, they're the dregs. Not all, but a huge majority. Come on, didn't you ever ride a school bus??

This isn't about her religious beliefs, it's about her behavior.

No it's not, its about her behavior OFF the job. Are gay people good role models for kids? Should we fire all gay bus drivers?

Are gay people good role models for kids?

I don't think that, do you?

Are gay people good role models for kids?

Gah, scratch last post if it sent. I mean, I don't think that gay people aren't good role models, do you? Because that's what it appears you are implying.

"Sortelli, when you open with a statement like this, I just stop reading because your credibility makes a flushing sound. Don't start the conversation in bad faith."

What? Bad faith? Sortellis point is perfectly valid in my opinion. Why should some peoples religious beliefs be protected and others shouldnt?

I think this situation should be separated into religious beliefs and actions. You can't fire someone from a bus driver job for being a witch, but you might be able to fire someone for being a blood drinker. The question is, as bad as this sounds, is it illegal to engage in vampire behavior?

Whatever the answer, the bus company still screwed up by including this woman's professed religion in their list of reasons. They will lose because of that.

This is in Minnesota. Here, you can fire somebody for not being Scandinavian.

They're watching us. Them. The ones that Omtay Ruisecay gives huge wads of unmarked bills to. I tried to post a snarky comment about the Unmentionable One also known as Enuxay. Tried. Rejected for some error I've never heard of. I can't say anymore right now. "The witch flies sideways at midnight. " Hopefully the right people will see this or Gaia only knows what will happen to me. And you, if you read this. You didn't read this, did you? Gaia help you...

Are gay people good role models for kids?

No, but you can't fire someone for being gay without paying big lawsuit money either, this is no different.
My guess is that the kids had no idea of her beliefs.

Actually, I'm more of the belief that certain things people would try to call "religious beliefs" shouldn't get any protection, at least in terms of employment.

Someone who thinks that her mate is gaining sustenance by gashing her neck open and slupring blood out of her veins just doesn't need to be working for the school system. If she were just a wiccan I wouldn't see any problem.

I see your point, Bart, but having spent the formative years of my life in a neighborhood surrounded by pimps, prostitutes, and hobos, I'm very sympathetic to someone who at least gets a job.

Besides, it was our chemistry teacher that made drugs in the lab and sold them, not any bus driver. (And believe me, I wish I were kidding.)

Daisy - Yes, I did, for 11 years.

Oh, and to the someone who just compared Wicca to Scientology ---- can Scientologists stick out their arms and call down LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!

Worse. Scientologists pick up phones and call their lawyers.

Daisy : "One of my bus drivers was the drug dealer, another turned out to be a child molester. His bus was always filled with the smell of chewing tobacco."

So the vast majority of bus drivers are drug dealers and child molesters? And whats worse some of them even chew tobacco!

Look. Driving a bus is just another crappy part time job. Every bus driver I ever had had another regular job or was retired and were just making a little extra cash on the side.

Whats all this "dregs of society" shit?

Just because they dont sit on their fat asses and type bullshit opinions on moronblogs doesnt make you better than them.

Why does Ace have all of these contentious culture and religious threads? It just makes us hate each other when we should be spending our venom on the true enemy -- handicapped people.

Someone who thinks that his mate is gaining pleasure by sticking his dick in his ass just doesn't need to be working for the school system.

Really the only questions are - Did she do a good job driving the bus? and did she ever endanger the children?

Someone who thinks that his mate is gaining pleasure by sticking his dick in his ass just doesn't need to be working for the school system.

Unlike homosexuality, blood drinking actually requires you to be fucking crazy. So there is a difference.

Why does Ace have all of these contentious culture and religious threads? It just makes us hate each other when we should be spending our venom on the true enemy -- Foreigners. Named Adolpho. Who smell funny.

The Church of AoSHQ?

I'm in. If we get money.

Oh, come on! Every single kid on that bus is going to know that their driver is the lover of a person who claims to be a vampire (vampyre?) who regularly drinks her blood. They'll also know that she thinks she's a witch. Ordinarily, these kids would not know nor care who is running for governor, but when the candidate is a VAMPYRE named the IMPALER who's married to a witch, they'll know.

These kids will haze this driver unmercifully - as they should. As a practical matter, the driver of the bus will be so distracted by the endless jokes and comments that keeping her eyes on the road will be a real challenge. Her affiliation will be a distraction and a potential danger.

I personally would not think she should have been fired except for the revelation that she lets her husband drink her blood from her neck. Sorry, but that's just too creepy. To me this isn't like firing the friendly neighborhood nature-loving wiccan.

That her husband is a "vampyre" might be a valid issue, but "Wicca" is a recognized religion. If she was pushing her religion on the kids - whether she is Wiccan or Christian or Shinto - she should be stopped from doing so. Just because she follows a non-traditional religion doesn't mean one can fire her. Unless she works for a Christian school or something where her religion could be an issue.

Since when is vampirism a religion?

Since the jews killed Dracula.

I suggest everyone check on Allah's link to the Wachowski article. I'm sure you all could learn something.

I thought the Jews killed the Golam (sp)?

Has anyone ever really considered a bus driver a role-model, by the way?

Actually, yes.

In my early-teen years I had this black bus driver named Mike who I considered a friend. I was the first kid on and the last kid off the bus every day on a long route, so we would chat. Mike was extremely entertaining. He was a former Green Beret. This was early Viet Nam era, when the "Ballad of the Green Berets" was a hit. Mike would tell me stories about military life -- I still remember a couple of them. But he never talked about combat or the war. He talked to me like I was an adult.

Actually, that bus was the first motor vehicle I ever drove -- Mike let me take the wheel a few times after everyone else was off and we were just on some country road.

I remember one time we got together on a weekend to take our beagles out in the field and run rabbits. That's when it sort of hit me that Mike was probably pretty poor, because he kept jugs of water in his car to refill the radiator, which had a leak that he obviously could not afford to fix.

So, yeah. I had a bus driver that I admired and considered a role model.

"Actually, that bus was the first motor vehicle I ever drove -- Mike let me take the wheel a few times after everyone else was off and we were just on some country road. "

Was Mike wearing pants while this was going on?

Arent't "Vampyres" immune to lightning bolts? I'll have to check out my Monster Manual.

"" wrote:

Yeah wiccan is a religion like scientology is a religion. Then there are the churches of John Coltrane and Jimmy Hendrix. People have the right to be crazy but I don't have to buy into their crap.

I've known a few Wiccans and have been interested enough in it to read up on it a bit. My impression is that most Wiccans are well-meaning people that find spiritual sustenance in nature. Some do have a sillier side, which I'll get to in a bit...

One person's religion is another's crap. I think, within certain boundaries, we should be respectful of others' religious choices. Blood sucking is outside those boundaries, in my opinion. I'm not going to stop you from doing it, but I'm also not going to care if you get fired from a job working with kids, either.

adolfo velasquez wrote:

Oh, and to the someone who just compared Wicca to Scientology ---- can Scientologists stick out their arms and call down LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!

Anyone can call for lightning bolts to come down. Nerds seem to do it best, though.

scott wrote:

Are gay people good role models for kids?

No, but you can't fire someone for being gay without paying big lawsuit money either, this is no different.
My guess is that the kids had no idea of her beliefs.

Until it hit the papers. Now they'll know and will be looking for the scar tissue on her neck every day. And this may actually frighten some of them or at least really creep them out. Sorry, but if you want to do this, and you work with kids, you'd better be very discreet. Once it hits the papers, too bad.

As for gays, the very best teacher I had was suspected of being gay. He was a great role model. Nobody really knew for sure what went on in his private live, so whether he was gay or not didn't matter to us (aside from providing us with some snickering speculation).

And now the "dark side" of Wiccans:

I have a good friend who's Wiccan. She's constantly worried about being outed by conservatives who will take her away from the kids (who she truly adores, seriously, this woman lives for education with the passion normally reserved for missionaries and the like.)

I have to keep reminding her, "You're a far left liberal teaching in far left Oregon! Hell, the wiccan thing gives you bonus points!"

She still petrified, though. She moved to Oregan to get away from that conservative hotbed of fascist hate-mongering... Northern California.

As I mentioned, out of curiosity I did some reading on the web about Wicca. A couple very pro-Wicca sites made fun out of a lot of the Wiccans out there for seemingly joining the religion to feed their enormous persecution complexes. The typical person who did this would put up a web site with a promiment "The Burning Times: Never Again" logo (referring to the very exaggerated number of witch burnings in Europe) and go through life as if they were one step away from being burned at the stake themselves. But then often this typical person would invite persecution by walking around wearing pentagrams, etc., just so they could freak out when someone objected (by, say, giving them a dirty look). While your friend isn't doing that, it sounds like she may have some of the persecution complex thing going.

Sortelli wrote:

Actually, I'm more of the belief that certain things people would try to call "religious beliefs" shouldn't get any protection, at least in terms of employment.

Someone who thinks that her mate is gaining sustenance by gashing her neck open and slupring blood out of her veins just doesn't need to be working for the school system.

Amen! Er...

Look, I don't know how I could justify this legally, but personally if you want to drink each other's blood, whatever, but don't expect to be allowed to work with children if it becomes public.

"" wrote:

Look. Driving a bus is just another crappy part time job. Every bus driver I ever had had another regular job or was retired and were just making a little extra cash on the side.

Whats all this "dregs of society" shit?

Just because they dont sit on their fat asses and type bullshit opinions on moronblogs doesnt make you better than them.

I agree. Most of bus drivers I had were pretty old and I felt bad for all the abuse they had to put up with. It doesn't seem to be a very happy way to make what probably isn't too much money. Insinuating that most of them are drug dealers, etc., doesn't seem very nice. It's like insulting a lurker that's just come out.

"" wrote:

Someone who thinks that his mate is gaining pleasure by sticking his dick in his ass just doesn't need to be working for the school system.

But who is going to know?

I will kind of agree with you though. If details of someone's sex life become well known, then I don't think they need to be working for the school system. This is straight or gay. Obviously if people are married or living together it will be assumed they have some sort of sex life, but really nothing else needs to be known about it by school children.

Sortelli wrote:

Unlike homosexuality, blood drinking actually requires you to be fucking crazy. So there is a difference.

Ha ha. You're on a roll today, Sortelli.

angler wrote:

These kids will haze this driver unmercifully - as they should. As a practical matter, the driver of the bus will be so distracted by the endless jokes and comments that keeping her eyes on the road will be a real challenge. Her affiliation will be a distraction and a potential danger.

Maybe. Or maybe, as I said above, they'll be freaked out or even afraid (which I guess could be gone in certain situations, but...). The point is this is just something the kids and the school don't need to deal with.

Geez, Bob. Don't your typing fingers get tired?

Great observations about wicca, though. And also:

Obviously if people are married or living together it will be assumed they have some sort of sex life, but really nothing else needs to be known about it by school children.

Yup.

Bah! Another pointless "dilemma" caused by the mere existence of the public school system.

Jonathan the Impaler meets Conan the Barbarian what a concept

He's wearing a suit now, which he considers more "gubernatorial" than a throw-carpet.

Only the top half - the podium's covering up the fact that he has no pants.

OK, late to the comments on this post, but the final query requires a response. "Has anyone ever really considered a bus driver a role-model, by the way?"

When my firstborn son prepared to go off to school for kindergarten, I discussed with neighborhood moms if he should ride the bus at the age of 5. They reassured me that "Mr. Jim," their bus driver of several years, was an excellent driver who kept the kids under control and safe. Then they each, individually, got a funny look on their faces and went on to say that Mr. Jim was quite a wonderful person and they all loved him quite a lot. Well, I filed that away under general oddness, until the first day of kindergarten, when the bus pulled up to take my son off to school. Every single female with kids of school age from my neighborhood was waiting for the bus with their kids. The bus pulled up, the door swung open, and all the women rushed forward onto the bus to welcome Mr. Jim back from summer break. After the initial rush, I helped my son onto the bus and saw that Mr. Jim was about 25, with a bodybuilder's muscles, and long wavy black hair outlining his chiseled features. The women all seemed to know him quite well, and their hugs were very well received by Mr. Jim. At least now I understood the odd, faraway looks they got when discussing the bus driver, although in future I avoided conversations with the women about their relationships with him....

So does that count as a role model for the kids, or not?

The last line of the article quotes the Wiccan at issue:

"Tuesday I'm going to watch buses driving and I'm probably going to cry because I love that job," she says.

Maybe she should check the Necromicron for anti-depressant spells. A little eye of newt and testicle of Prozac and she'll get over losing the prestigious job of brat-carting.

Yeah, no shit. Can't she cast a spell to keep her job?
What good is being a witch if you can't cast spells?
Where's the magic? I want magic!

P.S. Why is it everytime someone expresses an opinion or uses an off-color phrase on the Internet, another person comes along to chastise that person for their opinion or phrase?

Do self-appointed conscience police/busy-bodies have special software that alerts them every time an "insensitive" phrase is used?

For all of those people, and you know who you are, I have a special message on the end of my long, thick middle finger...

God Bless America Not Satan Bless America you idiot

P.S. Why is it everytime someone expresses an opinion or uses an off-color phrase on the Internet, another person comes along to chastise that person for their opinion or phrase?

Because that's just how it is on the Internet. Just accept it, and you'll be happier. Just as I was happier once I accepted that people would do the cute little "P.S." thing without even bothering to have a signature first.

Did anyone notice his new picture shows him as more plump than the lean blood-sucking machine we saw before?

In order to prepare himself for the rigors of the campaign trail, he gorged himself on blood - he's swollen up like a wood tick.

wow it takes alot of balls to talk shit about people you don't even know. if she wants to worship the devil and drink blood woopty fuckin doo. as long as it's not yours what are you bitching about?? it's nobody else's business as to who believes what. what next are you gonna make fun of the jews? these people obviously have more balls then you all to come out and be themselves instead of pretending to be something they arent. by the way it's pretty funny when a 16 yr old makes more sense then a bunch of immature, hipicritical, judgemental, ruthless adults. fuck you all and have a peachy day!

wow it takes alot of balls to troll a blog and not bother with capital letters or punctuation or shit like that. and who cares if i don't know how to spell all these big words i heard michael moore say? i have to go take my meds now and then go back to my finger painting. fuck me.

by the way it's pretty funny when a 16 yr old makes more sense

And where would we find this wunderkind? It certainly can't be you.