Parents calling police to make sure they are in compliance with the law prior to spanking their kids is a real concern and becoming a common practice. As WPBF reports, a Florida father said he wanted to discipline his daughter by paddling her, but did not want to break the law, so he called the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office to come supervise.

The man’s 12-year-old daughter got into a heated argument with her sister Monday, and the father wanted to discipline his daughter, according to a deputy’s report. A deputy came over to his house, supervised the discipline, and determined it was within legal bounds and that there was no crime, and left, authorities said.

Although it may sound bizarre to some parents, the sheriff’s office has received several similar requests in the past. Undersheriff Noel Stephen said he has personally supervised approximately 12 spankings. “It happens,” Stephen said. “It’s definitely not something we advertise to do, and even though law enforcement has been willing to help out in this situation, watching a parent discipline their child is something that’s done only when a deputy has no other calls to handle.” Stephen estimated that he alone, has supervised 12 spankings.

The trouble is that the fundamental structural problems that undermine the whole idea of a currency union encompassing widely differing economies have not gone away. The latest calamity comes courtesy of further political ructions in Greece, probably the weakest of the EU basket-case economies, although there is plenty of competition. Earlier this week the pro-austerity ruling parties in Greece failed to gain enough support in parliament to elect a new head of state, thereby triggering a snap general election to take place later this month.

Ahead in the opinion polls, and most likely at this point to form a new government, is the far Left Syriza party that wants to tear up the agreements with the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Syriza rejects the austerity measures imposed as a condition of Greece’s 240 billion euro worth of bailouts and also wants the country’s 320 billion euro worth of debt simply wiped out. Given the terrible damage the EU has inflicted on ordinary people, not just in Greece but right across the eurozone, it is hard not to sympathise.

Because of the grandiose ambitions of the Euro-fanatics, lives have been ruined, businesses destroyed and the life chances of a whole generation of young people sacrificed to the mad idea of a United States of Europe.

In November, Saudi succeeded in bullying the other members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) into continuing to pump their current quota of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) as its first objective. The strategy born in the palaces of Riyadh has sparked the apparently desired oil price rout, which the kingdom’s veteran oil minister Ali Naimi clearly believes is necessary to shut down the cartel’s biggest rivals in Russia and the shale oil fields of Dakota.

Oil equals political power and influence for Saudi Arabia and a seat at the table of the world’s most powerful nations at the G20. Despite the colossal risks, something had to be done to reverse the tilt towards high-cost production coming from the US and elsewhere to maintain Saudi Arabia’s dominance as the so called global “swing producer”. With 13 percent of global oil reserves and the cheapest production costs, the kingdom believes that it can still buy back the market and secure higher prices over the long term.

“This is one of the most important policy initiatives by Saudi Arabia in the modern era,” said Edmund O’Sullivan, an expert on the kingdom with Middle East Economic Digest and author of the book, The New Gulf. “It isn’t without risks but they have the political power and economic resources to pull it off.”

Saudi Arabia is not alone in the GCC when it comes to royal succession worries. In the UAE, the current ruler Sheikh Khalifa is recovering from a stroke, while in Oman, Sultan Qaboos remains too weak to return to the country after travelling to Germany for medical treatment last summer. In both cases, the transition of leadership could make these states review their support of Saudi Arabia’s current strategy.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese yields have seen spectacular drops over the past two trading days. The French state can borrow for five years at a rate of 0.13 percent, and Ireland can do so at 0.32 percent. Nothing like this has been seen in European history since the 14th century, after the depletion of silver mines set off a slow monetary contraction, followed by Edward III's default on debts to Italian banks and the Black Death soon after, compounding a deflationary collapse.

“What we are seeing is the 'Japanification' trade,” said Andrew Roberts, credit chief at RBS. “The eurozone is sinking into corrosive deflation and it is too late to stop. We think the inflation rate in December may already have been negative. The ECB are in trouble, and they know it.”

Mr Draghi said the ECB is “making technical preparations” to boost its balance sheet in early 2015, but offered no fresh clues on how much it will be or whether the measures will include full quantitative easing in the form of sovereign bond purchases.

He said that the basis of the complaints would be that Abbas's partnership in a Palestinian consensus government with Hamas makes him complicit in the Islamist terror group's rocket attacks from Gaza against civilians inside Israel. "In recent days officials in Israel stressed that those who should be wary of legal proceedings are the heads of the PA who cooperate within the unity government with Hamas, a declared terrorist organization which like the Islamic State (jihadist group) carries out war crimes - it fires at civilians from within population centers."

1. Student, 13, shares lunch, gets detention

A 13-year-old boy at Weaverville Elementary School in California shared his school lunch (a chicken burrito) with a hungry friend. For this, he got detention. Superintendent Tom Barnett explained, “Because of safety and liability we cannot allow students to actually exchange meals.”

2. Sunscreen not allowed on field trip — kids might drink it

A San Antonio, Texas, school forbids students to bring sunscreen on a field trip. Why? According to spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor, “We can’t allow toxic things to be in our schools.” The children, “could possibly have an allergic reaction (or) they could ingest it. It’s really a dangerous situation.”

3. Kindergarten cancels its year-end show to allow more time for college prep

A letter home from the Harley Avenue Primary School in Elwood, New York, read, in part: “The reason for eliminating the Kindergarten show is simple. We are responsible for preparing children for college and careers with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can best do that by having them become strong readers, writers, coworkers and problem solvers.”

4. Teacher suspended on weapons charge for demonstrating carpentry tools

A second grade teacher at Chicago’s Washington Irving Elementary School was suspended for four days without pay for bringing screwdrivers, wrenches and other shop tools to class, and demonstrating how to use them. These are dangerous items.

5. School bus driver loses job for keeping kids warm when bus breaks down

This one’s in Canada! On a day when the windchill dipped to -34 Fahrenheit, school bus driver Kendra Lindon’s bus broke down. Knowing it could take a long time for a replacement to arrive — and that kids would be waiting outside till it did — she picked up the few children on her route (including her son) in her SUV. A neighbor noticed two kids sitting in the cargo hold without seat belts and called the bus company. She was promptly fired.

Here are the dates to watch as the conflict unfolds:

February 2: Obama’s budget deadline - The president is required under the law to submit his budget proposal to Congress by the first Monday of February, which in 2015 falls on the second day of the month.

February 27: DHS funding runs out - GOP leaders will have two months to decide how to handle funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the rest of the fiscal year. The $1.1 trillion spending bill Congress passed at the end of the lame-duck session only extended DHS funding through February and did not allow for any spending increases.

March 15: Debt limit suspension expires - Congress in February approved a “clean” increase of the debt ceiling that authorized the Treasury Department to borrow as needed, without limit, through March 15, 2015.

April 1: GOP budget resolution? - Following in Representative Paul Ryan’s (Republican for Wisconsin) footsteps as House Budget chairman, Price is likely to unveil a budget resolution in the spring that would direct appropriators to rein in federal spending.

September 30: Shutdown deadline - The government must pass legislation funding the government by September 30 or the government will shut down.

October 1: Fiscal 2016 begins - The new fiscal year begins on October 1, by which point the budget brawl by Obama and the GOP may have run its course.

Frustration following the defeat at the United Nations, combined with internal political pressures, forced Abbas to make the move he has avoided for the last six years. All along, the United States and Israel have made it clear to the Palestinians that the court in The Hague is a red line. But despite the warnings from Washington and the threats from Jerusalem, Abbas utilized his “nuclear option,” otherwise known as the International Criminal Court.

Like every “nuclear option,” using it is dangerous for the attacker as well as the attacked. By joining the ICC, the Palestinians will also expose themselves to counter-complaints over rocket fire from Gaza and suicide bombings on Tel Aviv buses. As in the Cold War, the principle of MAD – mutually assured destruction – could create a balance of deterrence. Each side would bombard the other with complaints until they can no longer breathe.