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BS: I Read it in the Newspaper
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Nov 04 - 11:51 AM Such a valuable contribution to our ongoing discussion of topical news stories, super ted. Here's a story just for you:
Link One, three, six, ten .... not being able to focus on anything but counting has really concerned me lately. Why do I do this, and what causes it? Counting has become an everyday, normal part of my life. I do not just count numbers, I also group them and add them up in my head. In school I usually count and add the numbers on a clock, or I group and add the number of people in my class. In a car, I count the numbers on license plates, the letters on billboards, even the white dashes on the interstate. My problem became clear to me two years ago while watching "Dateline." I discovered I am not the only person with this problem, and that it has a name: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is an anxiety disorder that may have genetic origins and is believed to be caused by an imbalance of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical that acts as a messenger between the orbital cortex (the front part of the brain) and the basal ganglia (deeper structures of the brain). When the serotonin levels are unbalanced, messages that go from one part of the brain to another get messed up, resulting in repetitive thoughts. These intrusive impulses are called obsessions, and they drive people with OCD to act out time-consuming rituals or habits known as compulsions. My time-consuming rituals finally had a name and reason. My counting was not because I was insane, but because of a chemical imbalance in my brain. People suffer from different types of OCD. Obsessions are thoughts, images or impulses that occur over and over again out of a person's control. They feel disturbing and intrusive, and a person usually recognizes that they do not make sense. Excessive worries about dirt and germs and being obsessed with the idea that they are contaminated, or may contaminate others, are major concerns of someone with OCD. They may also have obsessive fears of having accidentally harmed someone, even though they usually know this is not true. Obsessions are accompanied by uncomfortable feelings such as fear, disgust, doubt or a sensation that things have to be done "just so." People with OCD typically try to make their obsessions go away by performing compulsions. About 90 percent of those with OCD have both obsessions and compulsions. Compulsions are acts a person performs over and over again, often according to certain "rules." Each person has their own set they follow. For example, someone with an obsession about contamination may wash their hands until they become raw or even bleed. A person may count objects over and over because of an obsession about losing them. Counting is one compulsive disorder, others are washing, touching, arranging, hoarding, saving and praying. While my compulsive disorder, counting, seems to have a reason - an obsession - I am not sure what my obsession is, because the fear of losing something is not my problem. Oh, wait - as I write this, my obsession has become clear to me! I have an obsession with even numbers. I count and add all the time to get even sums. To me, even numbers are the only ones that are "real." I cannot stand odd numbers; they almost terrify me. This is going to sound really weird, but odd numbers do not have friends, and even numbers do. At some time I must have felt I needed the comfort of knowing someone was always there for me. This problem must have started with my parents' divorce; they split up when I was in first grade and I started counting soon after. It is estimated that one million children and adolescents in the United States suffer from OCD, which could mean three to five children with OCD per average-sized elementary school and about 20 teenagers in a large high school. Treatments for OCD vary. It can be treated with a mild anti-depressant, and behavior therapy is effective, too. A combination of these two helps most sufferers find relief. When I first realized I had OCD, I did not think it was that bad, but then I started recalling everything I count. I amazed myself; not only do I count people, letters and numbers, but also pictures on the wall, windows in my house, chairs at a table, doors in a building, lights in a room, icons on a computer screen. The list goes on and on. You would think doing this must exhaust me, but the truth is I barely notice. I will be in the middle of counting something, and realize, Oh, I'm counting again. I'm debating treatment. It is scary to think that counting and adding are not normal. If I were to get treatment I would have a lot more time to concentrate on more important subjects. I guess I will just have to wait and see what feels right. And here's a bonus, an article on "Overriding Obsession: Thought Control" from the BBC online. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Nov 04 - 10:32 PM Here's one that might impact a few 'catters: AOL Tells Customers to Find New Carrier November 12, 2004 10:45 AM EST DULLES, Va. - America Online, which earlier this year stopped signing up new broadband customers, is telling existing broadband subscribers in nine Southern states that they must find a new broadband carrier by Jan. 17. Those customers who do not switch to a new broadband carrier by that date will have their accounts revert to AOL's traditional dialup service, said AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley. The company has been e-mailing its customers in those nine states that they can switch to high-speed broadband service offered by BellSouth Corp. for a special promotional rate. Most of AOL's 23 million subscribers receive standard dialup service for $24 a month. The company will not disclose how many customers still receive the $54 monthly broadband service, which Bentley acknowledged is relatively expensive compared to other broadband pricing packages now available to consumers. Bentley said she expects AOL will phase out existing broadband customers in the rest of the country in a similar manner over the next year. The affected states are Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. America Online is a unit of Time Warner Inc. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Nov 04 - 12:27 PM Here is an interestingly whimsical photo, of a protest in Seattle over not reducing the budget to deal with street trees. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Nov 04 - 12:36 PM Still going through the P.I. photos. The photo credit says "A deer chews on a rope that became tangled in its antlers as it wanders a backyard in Petersburg, Alaska. (AP Photo/ Petersburg Pilot, Klas Stolpe) (November 17, 2004)" |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 26 Nov 04 - 09:22 AM Apology as schools get porn emails - National - www.smh.com.au Apology as schools get porn emails By Les Kennedy November 26, 2004 When principals at five NSW primary schools received confidential emails from police seeking to identify three girls at risk, the images they unlocked showed the girls in explicit poses and an unidentified man having sexual intercourse with one of the girls. The Child Protection and Sex Crimes Squad sent photographs of the girls, aged between 4 and 8, to 1800 principals on Wednesday. The photos were meant to be only head shots. By 11.30am yesterday five principals had complained to police that they had received full pornographic images of the girls. "I can only imagine that they would have been horrified by them," the head of the State Crime Command, which incorporates the squad, Assistant Commissioner Graeme Morgan, said in a public apology to the principals and any other school heads who saw the full images. The bungle was attributed to a combination of human error and older computer systems at some schools that were incompatible with police computer software. Mr Morgan said the officer involved in the bungle was unlikely to be disciplined, although an inquiry was being conducted and measures were being taken to prevent it happening again. He said the photos were not related to any arrests made under Operation Auxin, the nationwide swoop on internet child pornography users. Mr Morgan said 80 per cent of principals had received the photos without problem and police had asked that the files be deleted. The decision to seek help from principals followed police consultations with Education Department lawyers after a 30-year-old man was arrested in Cessnock last week with the photos. The man, who will appear in Cessnock Court on December 15 charged with possessing child pornography, allegedly told police he received the photos as internet spam from an associate whom police have yet to locate. Mr Morgan said there was nothing to indicate the girls were from NSW or Australia, but Cessnock police had asked the child protection squad to help locate them. Meanwhile, Warren John Daines, 50, who was to have been sentenced yesterday as the first of 47 NSW men charged under Operation Auxin with possessing internet child pornography, has had his case adjourned to February 18. Daines, a company director of Quakers Hill, pleaded guilty in Blacktown Court last month to possessing child pornography. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 26 Nov 04 - 10:08 AM Aid threatened as US fights war crimes court - World - www.smh.com.au Aid threatened as US fights war crimes court By Colum Lynch in New York November 27, 2004 The Republican-controlled US Congress has stepped up its campaign to curtail the power of the International Criminal Court by threatening to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid to governments that refuse to sign immunity accords that shield US personnel from being surrendered to the tribunal. The move marks an escalation in US efforts to ensure that the first world criminal court can never judge US citizens for crimes committed overseas. More than two years ago Congress passed the American Servicemembers' Protection Act, which cut millions of dollars in military assistance to many countries that would not sign the Article 98 agreements, as they are known, that undertake not to transfer to the court US nationals accused of war crimes. A provision inserted into a $US338 billion ($425 billion) government spending bill for next year would bar the transfer of assistance money from the $US2.5 billon economic support fund to a government "that is a party" to the criminal court but "has not entered into an agreement with the United States" to bar legal proceedings against US personnel. Legislators are to vote on the budget on December 8. Congress's action may affect US development programs designed to promote peace, combat drug trafficking, and promote democracy and economic reforms in poor countries. The legislation includes a national security waiver that would allow President George Bush to exempt members of NATO and other key allies, including Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Argentina, South Korea, New Zealand or Taiwan. The waiver was added after the State Department raised concern the cuts could undermine programs that advance US foreign policy. The criminal court was established by treaty in 1998 to prosecute perpetrators of the most serious crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The treaty has been signed by 139 countries and ratified by 97. The Clinton administration signed the treaty in December 2000, but the Bush Administration renounced it in May 2001. It says it fears that an international prosecutor might conduct frivolous investigations and trials against US officials, troops and foreign nationals sent overseas on behalf of the US. "This is a body based in The Hague where unaccountable judges and prosecutors could pull our troops, our diplomats up for trial," Mr Bush said in his first re-election campaign debate with Senator John Kerry. Washington's important European allies, including Britain, France and Germany, have opposed the US move on the grounds that it undermines the treaty. The court's advocates say the tribunal was created to hold future despots in the ranks of Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and Idi Amin accountable for mass killings. The Washington Post |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 26 Nov 04 - 10:11 AM Robin Hood duo aims to sink Coke, return profits By Paul Marinko in London November 27, 2004 An anti-capitalist former stockbroker and the son of Sir James Goldsmith have launched an audacious attempt to halve the value of shares in The Coca-Cola Co, the worldwide Coke parent based in Florida. Radical activist Max Keiser has joined forces with the editor of The Ecologist magazine, Zak Goldsmith, to launch a hedge fund that will donate the profits from short-selling Coke's shares to the "victims of Coke's business model in places like India and Colombia". The idea is that, as a boycott spreads, the money in the fund will increase as shares in the company drop. Mr Keiser, founder of activist website karmabanque.com, believes the stunt will reduce Coca-Cola shares from their current value of $US41 to $US22. The campaign says it will "commit to as much money as it takes to take down Coke", but Mr Keiser refused to say whether the son of the late billionaire had invested any money of his own in the project. He said Mr Goldsmith's role in the campaign was to promote it in his magazine. Mr Goldsmith was unavailable for comment. Mr Keiser said the hedge fund already had "several hundred thousand dollars" in it despite not yet being listed, and he was approaching several big banking figures, including George Soros, to increase the value. The high-risk strategy would see the hedge fund borrow shares in Coke from a broker and sell them at less than their market value, gambling on them dropping in value thanks to the boycott. It would then buy them back at less than it sold them for and pocket the difference before handing them back to the broker. But if the value of the stock goes up, the hedge fund will lose money. Any profit made would be ploughed into supporting communities around the world which investors felt had suffered at the hands of Coca-Cola. As Coca-Cola is one of the world's largest corporations, valued at about $US95 billion, the attempt is unlikely to succeed. But Mr Keiser remained optimistic. "There's a general anti-American feeling out there which is growing all over the world," he said. "People now associate Coke's brand with the American brand and they are rejecting it across the globe. The company has never been more vulnerable." No one at Coca-Cola was available to comment due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Previous boycotts of major companies have had mixed results. Success stories include Barclays Bank deciding to pull out of apartheid South Africa in 1986 after a campaign halved the bank's share of student accounts. Greenpeace managed to slash Shell's pump sales with a boycott over plans to dump the Brent Spar oil platform in the Atlantic. But the Baby Milk Action Group's boycott of Nestle has failed to damage the company in nearly 25 years. Likewise, it was not the Burma Campaign's boycott attempts of British American Tobacco that forced the cigarette company out of the country but pressure from the Blair Government. The Guardian |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Nov 04 - 03:44 PM Here are a couple of interesting articles to do with privacy and protecting yourself from identity theft. After reading these, and feeling virtuous for not carrying my social security card, I had a thought and went through my wallet. No less than four other cards used my SSN as my ID. So I've removed them and will request that each of these accounts give me a unique account number not tied to my SSN. Too many carry Social Security cards NEW YORK, NY, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- An American Express study found U.S. consumers have a lot to learn about how to protect themselves against identity theft. While 77 percent of those who participated said they take precautions to secure their personal financial information, but nearly half still make the mistake of carrying their Social Security numbers in their wallet, American Express officials said in a statement. Experts warn that Social Security numbers are the ultimate prize for criminals. One consumer had a $32,000 truck, a pricey apartment and a cell phone charged in her name without even having her wallet stolen -- a thief stole her personal information from a real estate application and racked up $50,000 in debt. (follow the link for the rest) Safeguard your Social Security number Protect yourself from identity theft by keeping a tight rein on your Social Security number. Only a few organizations have the right to demand it. Here's how to fend off the rest. "I think it's spooky. Everybody has that one number, and everything about you is tied to it," worries Jim Edwards, program director at WJNO in West Palm Beach, Fla. "Put it in a computer and poof -- here's your bank account, your phone number, where you work." The key to all that private information? Your Social Security number. Edwards was way ahead of most people. Back in the early '80s, he refused to give his Social Security number when he enrolled at Miami Dade Community College. The school wanted to use it as a student identification number, but Edwards held his ground and the school gave him a different number -- all zeros, as he recalls. Today, schools, phone companies, utilities, health clubs, insurance companies, video stores -- just about everybody wants your Social Security number. Some of the more prevalent uses are to get your credit rating and determine whether you pay your bills, and to keep track of you through name and address changes. [snip] Who has the right to ask for your digits? While any business can ask for your Social Security number, there are very few entities that can actually demand it -- motor vehicle departments, tax departments and welfare departments, for example. Also, SSNs are required for transactions involving taxes, so that means banks, brokerages, employers, and the like also have a legitimate need for your SSN. Most other businesses have no legal right to demand your number. "There is no law prohibiting a business from asking for your Social Security number, but people don't know they can say no," says Carolyn Cheezum of the Social Security Administration. (follow the link for the rest) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 Nov 04 - 08:00 PM Porn Prohibitionists Miss Point By Regina Lynn http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65831,00.html All week I've been thinking about the recent "porn is heroin" hearing, which concluded that porn bypasses the cognitive speechmaking part of the brain, turns men into rapists and -- my favorite -- releases damaging "erototoxins" into the bloodstream. The stated point of the hearing was to determine whether Congress should fund studies about the effects of pornography addiction on families and communities, and whether it should launch a public health campaign to warn people of the dangers of online porn. If it's going to spend money in this arena at all, I'd rather Congress fund studies about the effects of pornography in general, including its effect on the economy, on technological innovation, on sexual function and dysfunction, and so on. Even the anti-porn panelists who testified before Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) admitted the dearth of such studies. I would hate to see anyone confuse "addiction to porn" with "existence of porn" and pursue a study about addiction without establishing a base line for normal use. Porn did not become a billion-dollar industry on addiction alone. Porn addiction -- which I define as an overwhelming compulsion to watch porn, such that viewing porn becomes your top priority, taking precedence over work and family -- is certainly a cause for concern and possibly intervention. Yet like any addiction, when the substance in question is relatively harmless to most people, as porn seems to be, criminalizing that substance backfires. Porn, like alcohol, is an indulgence that I suspect the vast majority of people enjoy in moderation, in small doses or not at all. And porn, like alcohol, is meant to be a treat for adults. In fact, everyone I've spoken within the adult industry also supports the separation of children and adult content -- that's why it's called adult content. The panel's concern that the internet makes pornography much more available to children than it was in the good ol' days of the printing press is a valid one. I have no objection to increasing our efforts to educate adults in how they can keep pornography away from children, or to developing better content filters, age-validation tactics and other yet-to-be-invented technologies that would make it almost impossible for kids to find porn online. If nothing else, just think of the pool of brilliant problem-solvers we'll create, and the security experts that will arise out of a generation of Sneakers. As a whole, however, the witnesses in this particular hearing fail to inspire my confidence. While some of their concerns make sense -- I mean, really, who could argue that addiction is healthy or that young children should view sexual imagery? -- some of their examples expose the shaky foundation beneath their case. To wit: Psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover claims that porn "causes masturbation." What's so bad about masturbation? We're born sexual beings -- even infants masturbate, long before they can say "free porn," much less Google it. Given the other challenges we're facing, from the war in Iraq to the 30 percent of American children living in poverty, autoeroticism is hardly high on the list of threats to families or society. I'd hate to have to replace it with macramé just because a handful of people can't stand the thought that I might be taking longer showers than they deem necessary. And it wouldn't hurt certain people to let go of their obsessive guilt and add this simple pleasure to their daily routine. Dr. Mary Anne Layden states that "the myth that women are sexually aroused by engaging in behaviors that are actually sexually pleasuring to men is a particularly narcissistic invention of the pornography industry." What? I'm plenty aroused by fellatio and other "behaviors" that are "pleasuring to men." That's why I'm fun in bed, even though I may inadvertently be proving her point, as my delight in such activities is a result of the healing power of cybersex. (Cybersex did more to help me overcome childhood sexual trauma than two years of therapy. But that's another column.) And then Dr. Judith Reisman says that police always find pornography when searching the homes of rapists and pedophiles, and suggests that porn consumption leads to crime. I'm more inclined to believe that poverty, disenfranchisement, desperation, racism, child abuse, ignorance and gang mentality contribute more to serious crimes than pornography does. I also suspect that almost everyone, especially males, keeps a stash of adult content somewhere. I have a small cache myself. But of course most of us aren't subject to police searches, and therefore our collections remain private. It seems to me that if Congress were to fund an in-depth, scientifically valid, nonpartisan study on porn's role in society, we could lay this question to rest. Then the porn prohibitionists would have to stop inventing scare tactics to support their agenda. They'll either be proven right, which they won't be, or they'll be exposed for the meddling, big-government proponents they are. Now, where can I get those erototoxins? See you next Friday, Regina Lynn |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Nov 04 - 01:29 PM She has the right idea! |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 29 Nov 04 - 06:11 PM Every home in which a pedophile has been found has been likewise found to contain food and bathroom fixtures. This proves beyond all reasonable doubt that eating and defecating lead inexorpabl;y to child abuse. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Nov 04 - 11:54 PM This is only scratching the surface, Amos. Those homes also have doors, windows, a roof, furniture, and frequently, a television and radio. To cherry-pick evidence the way described in the article is to force your evidence to fit your hypothesis, without checking out the field first and seeing what all of the commonalities are. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 30 Nov 04 - 12:05 AM Okay, maybe it is that windows cause pedophilia, huh? That woukld give Bill Gates a lot to answer for, wouldn't it? Huh? Huh? I know that seems clownish but there are people out there whose logical capacity is actually on that order. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Dec 04 - 10:36 AM The Herald - Everett, Wash. - www.HeraldNet.com Published: Thursday, December 16, 2004 Horrific crash kills 1; heroism saves 4 lives |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 16 Dec 04 - 06:42 PM Thanks, SRS -- it restores me faith in humanity (but not in SUVs!!) A |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Dec 04 - 10:34 AM Here's a little bit more about that. They haven't been able to speak to the driver of the Explorer yet, due to her injuries. Published: Friday, December 17, 2004 link Many helped, hero says For truck driver Jim Swett, saving four people in a destroyed Suburban brought back memories of his late grandson. By Yoshiaki Nohara, Herald Writer Children could be heard crying from inside the wreckage. Flames were licking the mangled cars. Plumes of acrid smoke filled the air. Amid that chaos along I-5 near Smokey Point on Wednesday afternoon, about a dozen strangers came together to save four lives. "It wasn't just me. It was everybody," said Jim Swett, 68, a truck driver from Sedro-Woolley. The rescue was personal for Swett. He pried open a door on the destroyed Chevrolet Suburban. In the back seat were two children. Both had red hair. "We knew we did everything we could do to help those people," says Jim Swett, 68, who was one of the first to help at Wednesday's fatal accident on I-5. Swett said his mind instantly went to the memory of his grandson Brandon, who died in a rollover accident four years ago in Whidbey Island. The 15-year-old boy had red hair, too. He stood 6 feet, 1 inch. He was a bundle of energy. His death left a hole in Swett's family. He would have given anything to be there to save him. On Wednesday, the Sedro-Woolley man helped scoop the crying children from the Suburban. But Swett insisted Thursday that he wasn't the only hero. An off-duty firefighter hooked a towing rope to the Suburban. Others brought blankets and coats to warm the injured pulled from the four-vehicle wreck. 'Get me out of here!' Swett was heading north on I-5 toward home. It was around 1 p.m. and he'd just delivered flowers and plants to a Woodinville nursery. Near the Smokey Point exit ramp, Swett saw a few cars engulfed in flames and smoke. Immediately, he pulled into the center lane and put on his hazard lights. Swett, who wore a blue T-shirt and sweat pants, grabbed a crowbar and a fire extinguisher, and jumped out of the truck. With a few men, Swett rushed to a burning car. He smashed the window with the crowbar, and they got a wounded woman out of the driver's seat. "She was screaming, 'Get me out of here!'" Swett recalled. Then, they rushed to the crumpled Chevrolet Suburban with five people trapped inside. A woman in the passenger's seat was dead. He heard two children crying in the back seat. Swett used the crowbar to pry open the door to help the children. He doesn't remember whether they were boys or girls - (it was two boys, 9 and 12) - but their red hair caught his eyes. Swett took one of them in his arms, memories of his grandson rushing through his mind. By the time he and others rescued both boys, flames from another car threatened to spread to the Suburban. There were still two people trapped alive in the wreck. "We were so afraid the gas tank would blow," he said. An off-duty firefighter at the scene helped Swett tie a rope to the Suburban and to Swett's truck, to pull the wreck away from the flames. Other people emerged from their stopped cars. Swett figures there were at least a dozen, some carrying blankets, others carrying coats. They wrapped the victims up, protecting them from the cold and shock. "None of us were thinking of us," Swett said. Firefighters and paramedics arrived and took over, bringing hope and relief to the onlookers. "We knew we did everything we could do to help those people," he said. Calm in a crisis Swett drove back to Sedro-Woolley around 5:30 p.m. He and his wife, Jean, live on Brandon Lane, a private road named after their grandson. Soon, family, friends and TV news reporters made their way to his door to hear his story. Jean Swett said that in their 48 years of marriage her husband always has been someone who can stay calm in a crisis, identify what needs to be done, and do it. "It doesn't surprise me he did what he did," she said. Her husband was so focused at the accident scene that he didn't realize his arms had been burned by the heat from the fires until his took a bath in the evening. Swett couldn't be there for Brandon four years ago. But he was there - along with a dozen others - for the Holschen family, when they needed help. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Nick Date: 17 Dec 04 - 11:17 AM Club Bans Oxygen Cylinder Woman By Pat Hurst, PA A pensioner who needs an oxygen cylinder to breathe has been banned from her local Royal British Legion because she has been declared a fire hazard. Gillian Western, 66, has been told her life-saving cylinder is too dangerous because she is a smoker and it could explode if flames mix with the oxygen. Mrs Western, who lives round the corner from the club, is now house-bound after the branch in Heswall, on the Wirral, told her not to come back. Wheelchair-user Mrs Western, suffers from chronic bronchial asthma and must take the oxygen with her at all times. She said: "I have been a member for more than 25 years and have been going in there with the cylinder for two years. "I think they are just being petty. "They rang my carer and said, 'By the way we don't want Gill coming in with her oxygen cylinder.' They said it was too dangerous. "It's not very nice considering I was on the committee." Mrs Western used to be pushed to the club by her carer to meet friends and watch Liverpool football games on TV. She has tried going to a local pub but said does not enjoy it and the ban has left her virtually house-bound. "I like it there, it is nice and cosy and all my friends go in there," she added. Jeff Harrison, county field officer for the Royal British Legion in Cheshire said it was the committee's decision on how they run the club. He added, "Mrs Western, I understand needs to use oxygen. There is a health and safety difficulty because of smoking. Therefore they have asked her to keep out. It's as simple as that." The club could not be contacted through telephone calls today. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: kindaloupehackenweez Date: 17 Dec 04 - 02:57 PM Dear Abbey. Dear Abbey My feet are too long, My hairs falling out and my rights are all wrong..John Prine |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Dec 04 - 04:15 PM Maybe this story will get enough attention that they ban smoking in the club--then she wouldn't be at risk of exploding. Might serve them right! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: kindaloupehackenweez Date: 18 Dec 04 - 03:08 PM I am hoping that i am not out of line here by just putting in lyrics of a song that this thread reminds me of.. I do not mean to be rude or disrespectful of the thread or of the people (and and all) of mudcat. I have over stepped my bounds in a couple of threads which has caused myself great embrassment and shame for which i dont ever want to feel again.. For i am new i dont know ya all nor you me. I just jumped in. Like i did in the deep end of the swimming pool in grade school..Thank God for life guards. Anyway to explain as to why and what i do here is because this threads name. John Prine said on one of his albums that when he was in Italy someone brought him a newspaper. The only one in that place, That was in english, which inspired him to write the song "Dear Abby" Which i played for many years. Until (here's the 3rd and 4th line to the previous 1st 2 lines from last week) My friends they all tell me there no friends at all, Wont you write me a letter, wont you give me a call, signed bewildered...(To be contiued???You decide>>) But in the name of "Fair Game" The town i live has two weekly papers one on wednesday and the other saturday. And i just pulled it out of the box while getting back from doing laundry. Heres a headliner, From the "Park Rapids Enterprise" Sat. Dec, 18 2004. "County board deems EIS unnecessary" along with "Film will document impact of ATV's" "City authorizes study for airport businesses" "Midwest and Norway have similar Christmas traditions" Huh no head liners concerning Meth Bust. Finally. For furture interest if any in the paper just do the www.park rapids enterprise.com thing and you'll be checking it out first hand. Once again i apoligize for last weeks "Head up my ass moments" and conducting myself in undignafide of Mudcat stature. I love this place and dont want to be exsiled. I;m sorry for i do know better. and there is no excuse. I know my place know and hope to get to know more of ya all in the up comming weeks that im off from work. For work is all i have up till i was introduced to mudcat..Its nice to have a place to go when you get off work or when i get up in the morning> Heck its hard to stay away..I just hope i didnt blow it.. Damit I know i phucked up. I was wrong, I am wrong alot, I havent the wizdom nor the wit i thought i did.. all i can do is make amends and ask for forgiveness....And give you my word not to step out of line again..I have a hard time believing any of you cats can be more disapointed in me than i am of myself..I could of stayed away;(Maybe) but that wouldnt be right. I did wrong and must if possible make it write. I'll have time these next two weeks to get to know more of ya.,Thats if anyone still wants to get to know me for i dont blame them either. I was a jerk off, I',m better now. Thank you for your time and space....Later..Peace..Love ya's Dont know ya's but love ya's anyway. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Dec 04 - 11:12 AM Here's a story with a bit of a self-interest link: I used to work at Ellis Island as an interpreter with the Park Service, and I met Tom (subject of this article) there. I helped him get this latest printing of the book off the ground, because after 9-11 he was in a hard spot as far as finding a printer. I'm putting the whole thing here because the paper's archive is free for only two weeks, then you have to pay to read it so a link alone won't work. The temporary link Worldly flavors of Ellis Island book will whet your appetite Author pays tribute to past with immigrants' recipes, stories Wednesday, December 22, 2004 By Sonia Andresson-Nolasco, [Jersey] Journal staff writer Today, it is unlikely that someone wouldn't know how to eat a banana. But in the early 1900s, when so many newcomers to the Americas set foot on Ellis Island for the first time, the pale yellow fruit, like so many other foods, was an enigma. "We didn't even know how to eat a banana," said Tom Bernardin, reciting the phrase he often heard uttered by immigrants who had passed through Ellis Island. Bernardin, 56, the author of the "Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook," and a former Ellis Island interpreter, met many of these immigrants in the mid-1980s while presenting a slide lecture he developed, "Ellis Island - The Golden Door," at senior citizen centers and nursing homes. Most of the immigrants he met, then in their 80s, had come through Ellis Island in the early 1900s. "(The book gives) people a sense of importance of family, memory, tradition, hope, and respect for their past and admiration for these people," said Bernardin, who has done a lot more cooking since publishing the book. One of his favorite recipes is a Polish honey cake. Though some immigrants cooked with olive oil, and others with curry or soy sauce, noting the different ingredients used isn't the only aim of Bernardin's book. With 272 pages of recipes and family stories of people from 30 different countries, the book also illustrates the comfort and connection that food provides and demonstrates how food can make connections to the past. "If you draw a circle to show what we all have in common, we all needed to eat. I wanted to use food to tell the Ellis Island story," he said. It's the scents and flavors of the foods, passed down from generation to generation, that resurrect a person, place and time. As the new year approaches, Bernardin's book offers a simple way to summon the past. The book's plain cover, showing the back of a modestly dressed woman with a child over her shoulder - an image Bernardin found in his lithograph collections of immigrant images - also tells a million stories. "It jumped out at me. It's sentimental, sweet, and you can't see her face, so it can be anyone," he said. Bernardin never imagined himself working at Ellis Island, even though he had long collected Statue of Liberty memorabilia, until one day a friend suggested he apply for a job there. "Much has changed," he said. "The 35 original buildings were very dramatic, and had an almost haunted quality. You would arrive there and wander around. But some of the ghosts have been swept away to accommodate the people." It wasn't until the curators for the National Park Service at Ellis Island began gathering artifacts to reopen the Ellis Island museum following its restoration that Bernardin realized something was missing. And that something was food. Inspired by the conversations he had with seniors citizens about food at Ellis Island, Bernardin put notices in newspapers and sent out press releases, starting a national recipe search asking people to send him family recipes. As the letters poured in, Bernardin received more than just recipes. People sent all sorts of family stories, which he felt compelled to include in his book. And though his family didn't come to America by the way of Ellis Island, he includes two of his own family recipes: cretons, a pork recipe often used on Boston baked beans, and stuffing for pumpkin or turkey. Bernardin is originally from Lawrence, Mass., where his father, a French-Canadian immigrant, settled after meeting his mother, an Irish-German American, at a wedding at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. For the last 33 years Bernardin has made New York City his home, and has no plans to leave the city he finds "addictive." Also addictive was the full control he had over his book; something he managed to do by remaining self-published. Even though he has not been able to sell his book at mainstream bookstores, Bernardin has sold more than 73,000 copies. In addition to recipes, the book has immigrant portraits ranging from Italian and Russian to Swedish and Hungarian faces. Also, there are 24 entries by immigrants about food in a chapter called "Immigrant Food Memories." He also includes a section called, "Tips on Preserving a Family Recipe." The tips include taking notes or tape-recording discussions with family members about recipes, and videotaping the process of preparing food. There is also a model family tree and information on how to trace your family roots, plus a number of resources to begin the search. It took Bernardin several years to complete the cookbook and another 13 years to promote it while giving his lectures, which he still offers. The book has been featured on a number of television programs, including the History Channel's Modern Marvels and on QVC and the Food Network. "(People said) 'You're book inspired me to save my family recipes,'" said Bernardin, emphasizing how much this meant to him. "I didn't even know what I was doing." Today, Bernardin works as an independent, licensed New York City tour guide, and gives private tours of Ellis Island and other New York City landmarks. But launching himself as a licensed tour guide didn't come easy. Bernardin obtained his license shortly before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and was forced to cancel a number of scheduled tours because of the disaster. Like many sectors of New York's tourism industry at the time, Bernardin's business suffered, particularly since two of his main attractions - Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty - were closed to the public. Ellis Island did not open for three months after the attacks and the Statue of Liberty was closed until this past summer. Though Bernardin was unemployed following the attacks, he managed to get by with help from the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations - for which he reserves a special note of thanks in his book. As a way of giving something back, last Christmas Bernardin organized a food drive for St. Frances Xavier Church in New York City, and wound up helping more than 1,000 families. He has also made it a tradition to grow out his white beard and then, wearing a Santa costume, he visits bars in New York City to recruit people to help him with his drives. This year, he's doing a toy drive to service the Bailey House - which helps HIV-positive families. "This is my opportunity to give back," he said. "I dress up and run around and speak to bar managers to start these drives." For more information about the Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook, visit http://www.ellisislandcookbook.com/. To contact Tom Bernardin, call (212) 229-0202 or e-mail Ellisbook@aol.com. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 24 Dec 04 - 12:30 AM Police dog goes down taking nazi off the streets By Les Kennedy December 24, 2004 Titan ... 18 months of service before being killed. White supremacist Luke Curtis thought he was unstoppable - until he met Police Dog 33, a German shepherd known to his handler as Titan. Curtis had told his girlfriend he would chop up two men with an axe to show her what he was really like. He then took an axe and threatened her father. Early on Thursday he stepped out of his home in Barbara Boulevard, Seven Hills with a carving knife in each hand ranting neo-Nazi slogans. The police had him surrounded and were prepared to do anything to bring him down without using bullets. As the 23-year-old apprentice boilermaker approached the police line that had been placed around the house seven hours earlier, officers shot him with an electric charge from a dart gun. He kept coming and kept ranting. Police shot him three times with a "bean bag" shot-gun. But Curtis kept coming, and broke through the police line, still holding the knives. Senior Constable Sean McDowell then set Titan on his heels. The three-year-old attack dog had served 18 months on the force and was a pet to Constable McDowell's two young children when kennelled at his home. Titan chased Curtis for about 50 metres before biting into his left arm and forcing him to drop one of the knives. But Curtis plunged the other blade three times into Titan's chest. By then police had caught up and managed to wrestle Curtis onto the road as he struggled and screamed. But the damage had been done. Titan was dying. The police account of the siege and Titan's role in capturing Curtis were revealed in a statement of facts read by Magistrate Jennifer Betts when Curtis appeared in Blacktown Court on Thursday charged with nine offences including abduction and aggravated cruelty to an animal. The Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, said that Titan's body would be sent to a taxidermist for preservation then put on display at the NSW Police Academy. He also announced the creation of a Titan Memorial Award, which would be presented each year to the best handler and dog for outstanding police work. Ms Betts said she was alarmed at Curtis's neo-Nazi ravings and that the offence had happened while on parole for assaulting police and carrying a knife in a public place. "Certainly the welfare and protection of the community is paramount," she said in refusing bail and ordering Curtis to reappear in Penrith Local Court on January 14. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Dec 04 - 02:00 AM What a nasty piece of work he is! Robin, your attention is required at the Mudcat Tavern. Nurse Ratched has been called for several times. Can you locate her for us, do you think? :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 24 Dec 04 - 06:11 AM Since I don't know who she really is.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 Dec 04 - 01:57 AM This was a little "card of thanks" published on the obituary page in the Everett Herald yesterday: Obituary, Everett Herald, Dec. 25, 2004 Card of Thanks I would like to take this time to thank everyone for all their kind words, cards, flowers and donations in my father, Floyd Wright's name, after his death on December 2nd. Life will never be the same without him. My special thanks go to all the people in Darrington who, after my mother's death in 1995, watched out for my father. Due to the fact that Darryl, Terry, and myself had long since moved to Everett, Dad became very lonely being by himself. You met him for coffee at the Red Top, you made sure he took his medicine, you invited him into your homes for dinner or drinks, and you made sure he went to see the doctor when he was sick. You all were his true friends. Thank you. Nowhere else could this have happened except Darrington. He loved that town and would not move to Everett and I understand why. He did not want to leave all the people that meant so much to him. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Nancy (Wright) Measor Darrington is a tight-knit little town that didn't used to accept outsiders easily (there are stories of violent encounters). With the reengineered highway and better maintenance they're not trapped in their little mountain town each winter, but they're still good at looking out for each other. A friend of mine works as a home-health worker up there, spending a few hours a day looking out for a neighbor. I can easily imagine she or someone like her performing the necessary tasks outlined in the thank-you card. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jan 05 - 11:03 AM Ouch! Woman Gives Birth to Giant Baby January 20, 2005 7:57 AM EST SAO PAULO, Brazil - A woman in northeastern Brazil has given birth to what one doctor called a "giant baby," a boy weighing 16.7 pounds. Francisca Ramos dos Santos, 38, gave birth to the healthy boy named Ademilton on Tuesday at a hospital in Salvador, 900 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. He was the largest baby born at the Albert Sabin Maternity Hospital in its 12-year history, the hospital said. "Obviously the baby was born by Caesarean section," hospital director Rita Leal said. "Both mother and baby are doing just fine." Ademilton "could truly be considered a giant baby, for he was born weighing what a six-month-old-baby normally weighs," pediatrician Luiz Sena Azul told the Correio da Bahia newspaper. Santos has four other children - ages 9, 12, 14, and 15 - who were born weighing between 7.7 pounds and 11 pounds. "She knew Ademilton would be a big baby, but not this big" Leal said. "She, her husband and the hospital staff were caught by surprise." The average weight for newborns in Brazil is 7.7 pounds for boys and 6.6 pounds for girls. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 20 Jan 05 - 12:29 PM 16 POUNDS!? Jaysus!! Global warming, ya think? A |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Bert Date: 20 Jan 05 - 01:47 PM This inflation is hitting EVERYWHERE! |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Jan 05 - 10:03 PM Posted on Mon, Jan. 24, 2005 Panting to hear more about this one: Attacker left pants behind, police say By Aman Batheja, [Fort Worth] Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH - An elderly man was beaten and robbed in his south Fort Worth apartment over the weekend by a woman who left an unusual calling card. Herman Green, 72, answered a knock at his door Saturday afternoon to find a woman he had never met. She asked him if he had any cigarettes. When Green said no, the woman grabbed Green's cane and beat him with it, according to a police report. The woman then searched Green's pockets until she found his wallet and took it, the report states. Before leaving the scene, the woman removed her blue jeans and left them on the floor, according to the report. The woman was wearing additional clothing underneath the jeans, the report states. Police are investigating the incident, described as an aggravated robbery, robbery Detective Mike Baggott said. Baggott said he was not ready to explain why the woman left behind her pants but surmised that she might have worn more than one pair because of cold weather. "Why she would take one pair off is of course not clear," Baggott said. Anyone with information about the robbery can call Crime Stoppers |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 24 Jan 05 - 11:29 PM Obviously she had something mixed up in her genes... |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 25 Jan 05 - 06:31 PM Maybe took them off cause she thought she might have got blood on them from beating the guy? |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: GUEST,Amos Date: 27 Jan 05 - 09:14 AM Thieves prefer coffee to cars |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 Jan 05 - 02:06 AM While they were investigating this crime, somebody broke into the Police Station and stole the toilet. The Police have nothing to go on... |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 Jan 05 - 02:14 AM Porn star hawks cellphone 'moan tones' 28.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10008401 NEW YORK - This is one cellphone you might not want to set to "High & Vibrate." Porn star Jenna Jameson is now hawking her "moan tones." For $2.50 ($NZ3.52) fans of the ubiquitous porno queen can choose from a variety of moans, grunts and lurid sexual noises all recorded by the blond bombshell. If that's not enough, Jameson will talk dirty to you when your phones rings, in English or Spanish. Jameson, who recently wrote a best-selling memoir, has launched the venture with Wicked Wireless, a mobile music and entertainment company. Also available are colour pictures of the porn star posing naked that can be displayed on your phone for $2.99. "Rock stars make music tones, porn stars make moan tones," said Dennis Adamo, head of Wicked Wireless. "We thought it would be an interesting novel approach of introducing new content to the mobile users." Jameson's charms are already being downloaded in Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, and in a couple of weeks will be available from Mexico to Uruguay. Latin American users can download a moan or a picture for $1.00 each, while US customers will pay $2.50 for a moan and $2.99 for a wallpaper once the service is launched. Some people were shocked, but others said they wanted more from the product. "If you can get her to say my name then I would buy it. I need that kind of personal attention," said Martin Gibson. US users will have to wait to get Jameson on their phones as no mobile carriers in the United States have expressed any interest in carrying the service. - REUTERS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 Jan 05 - 02:20 AM Police introduce stick icon to curb paedophilia 28.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10008370 Children will be able to instantly report suspected paedophiles prowling the internet in an initiative announced by Australian Federal Police. Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty launched the Virtual Global Task Force website as part of a worldwide crackdown on online child abuse. The system allows children visiting such sites as internet chatrooms and email websites to report suspect messages to authorities by clicking on an icon - a stick figure with an eye. http://www.afp.gov.au/afp/page/media/2005/mr050127vgtwebsitelaunch.pdf |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 28 Jan 05 - 08:48 AM http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/27/jailed_for_using_a_n.html Thursday, January 27, 2005 Jailed for using a nonstandard browser |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Jan 05 - 02:58 PM This one has a complex set of issues attached. And the end of it--new shoes and coats for poor children. It's cold down here now, and they used the money for necessities. Too bad drug dealers aren't altruistic, or they'd see the charm of this outcome. Dallas Kids Find Pile of Cash, Spend It January 28, 2005 DALLAS - A convenience store owner in one of Dallas' poorest neighborhoods was amazed when she started seeing children from the elementary school across the street buying candy and chips with $100 bills. "One boy came in here with a $100 bill and asked for change," Charlene Williams said of an incident on Saturday. When she told the boy he needed to be careful with his "mama's money," he told her: "This ain't my mama's money. This is my money." It turned out that a youngster had apparently found tens of thousands of dollars in suspected drug money and was handing it out to others. Soon, though, some men came looking for the money, spreading fear through the South Dallas neighborhood. Over the past few days, parents have told police that men had come to their doors, threatening their children and demanding their money back. The elementary school was so rife with rumors and threats of a drive-by shooting that it was locked down for an hour on Wednesday, and about 200 of the 600 children stayed home the next day. On Thursday night, a man was arrested and accused of abducting and beating a 12-year-old boy who had some of the money. The boy was later returned home. Before he was jailed on $5 million bail, the suspect, 23-year-old Sylvespa Adams, told KDFW-TV that he never threatened anyone and that the money had been stolen from him. He disputed it was drug money, as police suspect. "I'm not no kidnapper," he said. "I work." The boy's mother told The Dallas Morning News that her son had spent part of the money and given away the rest. She said she assured Adams that she would pay him back in installments. "I don't know what else to do," she told the newspaper, speaking on condition of anonymity. "These people already know where I stay." In another incident, Erie Roy told the newspaper that she was watching television with her 12-year-old son Tuesday when two men stormed through her open front door with two of the boy's friends. She said one of the men kept his hand in his pocket as if he had a gun, and one of the boys was crying. Roy said one of the men threatened her son by telling him: "I don't have no problem with killing you. I want my money right now." "These are drug dealers. If they come back - I'm afraid," she said, sobbing. "I know they're going to hurt me. What am I supposed to do?" Roy said that her youngest son was offered money by neighborhood kids Sunday but did not take any. Lt. Jan Easterling, a police spokeswoman, said Thursday that detectives believe the youngsters may have found anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000. On Friday, investigators said were still trying to determine who found the money, where and exactly how much. There were no additional suspects, and none of the children had been charged with a crime. "Definitely people are saying they're afraid," Easterling said. "They're afraid for their kids." At the Joseph J. Rhoads Learning Center, teachers became suspicious after seeing one boy passing out money at school Monday. And Williams, the store owner, said she also noticed children with new shoes and coats. "All you have to do is see the ones with the new stuff on them and you know," she said. Security remained tight at the school Friday, though the number of students absent was down to about 100. "They feel a little better now that this alleged suspect turned himself in," district spokeswoman Sandra Guerrero said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Cluin Date: 29 Jan 05 - 07:57 AM It's a good thing they watched it to the end just to be sure. SEX MOVIE MIX-UP SHOCKS COUPLE A devout Baptist couple who bought a Doris Day DVD from a supermarket were shocked to find a sex film instead. Alan and Anne Leigh-Browne, from Wellington, Somerset, had been expecting to enjoy The Pajama Game. Instead they were confronted by Italian sex film - Tettone che Passione, which translates "Breasts, What a Passion" . "Some topless young women appeared and started talking in Italian... it's not what you expect from a Doris Day film," Mr Leigh-Browne said. Retired doctor Mr Leigh-Brown, 67, said he picked up the film, which was sealed in plastic wrapping, for £2.99 from the bargain bin of a Safeway supermarket in Taunton. No 'plot' The couple, regular attendees at their local Baptist church, settled down with a cup of tea to watch the 1957 musical which has a U (universal) certificate. "It was a pretty raunchy, explicit film, it certainly pulled no punches," Mr Leigh-Browne said. "My wife and I were very shocked but we watched it until the end because we couldn't believe what we were seeing. "The film became progressively more graphic, there was no plot to it, it was just sex." Alan and his wife Anne, 60, a retired teacher, complained to Safeway the next day and all copies of The Pajama Game were removed from the store. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Amos Date: 29 Jan 05 - 10:14 AM Yeah -- what if it had turned out to have Doris Day in it, three-quarters of the way through? A |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Jan 05 - 02:33 PM I expected the punchline to be that all copies of The Pajama Game sold out immediately. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Feb 05 - 01:59 AM I'll state here that I oppose the death penalty, but don't see it going away any time soon. What is so bizarre about the really short loop in this argument is highlighted below. The guy admits the horrible murder of multiple women, he's on death row, and he's depressed. Only a bureaucrat could decide that a suicidal death row inmate out of appeals is unsuited to be put to death because he wants to die. Go figure. Conn. Again Delays Serial Killer Execution January 31, 2005 HARTFORD, Conn. - The state postponed plans Monday to execute a serial killer after he agreed to have his mental competency examined, delaying for at least a month what would be New England's first execution in 45 years. The execution was first scheduled for Wednesday and was postponed three times last week as new court challenges emerged. It was set for 9 p.m. Monday before being put off again. Michael Ross, a 45-year-old Cornell University graduate, has confessed to eight murders in Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s. He said last year that he wanted to die to end the pain for the families of his victims. But the attorney hired by Ross to expedite his execution now says new evidence raises questions about his competency to "volunteer" to be executed. "On Friday, new information was revealed to me that made me question Mr. Ross' competency," attorney T. R. Paulding said in a motion. "The last 48 hours have reinforced my belief that the execution of Michael Ross should be delayed to determine whether he is competent. New and significant evidence has come to light that I simply cannot ignore." He said Ross' decision to drop his appeals remains unchanged, but he "recognizes that serious questions have been raised" about his competence and he wants a more thorough evaluation. Prosecutors said they would try to obtain a new death warrant as soon as possible and fight to prove Ross' competency in court. It is unknown when those issues will be resolved; a new death warrant would set Ross' execution date for no earlier than March, although lawyers say it could be months before all the legal hurdles are cleared. "I long for the day when we can say that we've forgotten about Michael Ross, and I want everyone to remember that we should never forget his victims," Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano said. "It is my hope that sometime in the not-so-distant future we will finally be able to give their families a sense of justice." Ross was about an hour from execution Saturday morning when Paulding announced he had requested a postponement of the lethal injection. The decision came after U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny accused Paulding of not adequately investigating new evidence in the case. Paulding said he is persuaded of the need to explore a phenomenon known as "death row syndrome." [in other words, he's suicidal. He's on death row with a death wish--can't have the state participate in suicide!] Public defenders have argued that years of harsh conditions on death row have in effect coerced Ross to drop his appeals. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Feb 05 - 08:46 PM She's Australian and mentally ill - yet immigration locked her up By Andra Jackson February 5, 2005 Mystery woman ... Cornelia Rau Photo: Supplied She has spent the past 10 months in immigration detention, her identity a mystery. But a mentally ill woman, Cornelia Rau, has lived in Australia since she was one, and since last March her distressed family had thought she was dead. The 39-year-old, who suffers from schizophrenia and is a permanent resident of Australia, was last seen in March after she escaped from the psychiatric unit of Manly Hospital. A Qantas flight attendant until 2000, Cornelia Rau has been officially listed as missing by NSW police since August. But despite a national appeal for information in November, no trace of her was found. Until two days ago, when her parents found out that their daughter was still alive but in Baxter detention centre in South Australia, a centre for refugees denied asylum. Ms Rau's sister, Chris Rau, a Sydney journalist, read a Herald article last Monday about a mystery German-speaking woman held at Baxter, known only as "Anna". She called police, who had Baxter authorities fax a photograph which confirmed "Anna" was her missing sister. "We're just relieved that she is alive," Ms Rau said. Her parents, who planned to wait until their daughter was in a more stable condition before they went to visit her, were finding it hard to come to terms with how Cornelia, born in Germany but an Australian resident since she was 18-months-old, could be held in immigration detention, Ms Rau said. They were also bewildered why the department could not establish her identity when police had her details. "To put it kindly, there was obviously a woeful gap in co-ordination between the police and the Department of Immigration, especially when you consider how many dozens of languages Australian residents speak," she said. "My mum in particular lay awake at night imagining all sorts of far-fetched scenarios." Ms Rau was first taken into detention in April. She had been staying near an Aboriginal camp at Coen, in far north Queensland. The Aborigines became concerned that she was sick and took her to Cairns police station. Senator Kerry Nettle, of the Greens, last night called for an inquiry into "this staggering case of mismanagement and abuse". The Opposition's immigration spokesman, Laurie Ferguson, accused Immigration Department officials and Queensland police of ineptitude. "How a mentally ill female Australian resident ends up in solitary confinement in the Baxter detention centre is mind boggling. Most Australians would find this situation totally reprehensible," he said. "Suddenly its dangerous to speak a second language in Australia." During her three months in Baxter, Ms Rau was kept in an isolation cell for a week and then in a high-security unit locked in a room on her own for 18 hours a day, said a refugee advocate, Pamela Curr. Detainees noticed her strange behaviour and distress and asked refugee advocates to help. Queensland police said she was found in Coen, north of Cairns around April. They said she gave false names which they checked against databases. "When these checks and other inquiries failed to positively identify the woman, police formed the opinion she may be a suspected non-citizen because of statements she made and the language she was speaking," a Queensland police spokesman said. "She was transported to Cairns and handed over to immigration officials after efforts to identify her failed." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some Aussies are very afraid that this will be used as a reason for an "Australia Card" with national compulsory fingerprint records. It could even have been engineered as a justification. I wonder how many other people have been spirited away by the State if they happened to mutter in another language. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Feb 05 - 08:52 PM Adopt a Sniper' fund-raiser (article & rebuttal) 'Adopt a Sniper' fund-raiser shot down Marquette University says 'no' to Republican students' plan Thursday, February 3, 2005 Posted: 5:10 PM EST (2210 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/life.sniper.reut/index.html CHICAGO (Reuters) -- A Catholic university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has blocked an attempt by Republican students to raise money for a group called "Adopt a Sniper" that raises money for U.S. sharp-shooters in Iraq and Afghanistan. The students were selling bracelets bearing the motto "1 Shot 1 Kill No Remorse I Decide". "Clearly the rhetoric of that organization raised some questions and we had some strong objections as a Jesuit university," Marquette University school spokeswoman Brigid O'Brien said Thursday. The students, representing a group called College Republicans, originally got permission to set up a table at the student union to raise money for U.S. troops in Iraq. But they chose to promote a group called Adopt a Sniper, which says on its Web site it supports snipers deployed by the United States armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group says it "helps real snipers get the real gear they need to help keep us safe." The brainchild of a Texas police SWAT officer Adopt a Sniper (www.adoptasniper.org) has raised thousands of dollars in cash and gear to supplement the kit of sharp shooters in U.S. combat platoons. Among products sold on the site is a $15 coin with the imprinted phrase "Assistance From A Distance." Copyright 2005 Reuters. -------------- Rebuttal Article: MU Administration Suppresses CR ''Support Our Troops'' Table http://www.murepublicans.com/modules.php? name=News&file=article&sid=167 For Immediate Release Contact: Brandon Henak, Chair, 414-243-9558 Once again the Marquette University Administration has taken its ultra-liberal inclinations to the extreme, violating its own commitment to academic freedom and ideological diversity. Yesterday afternoon, a University official abruptly suspended an approved "Support our Troops" table the College Republicans at Marquette University (CRs) set up to benefit Adopt a Sniper, a 501c(3) organization helping our troops in the Middle East. Today, the University Administration issued a memo canceling the table for the rest of the week. Students were volunteering at an Office of Student Development (OSD)-approved "Support Our Troops" table in the Alumni Memorial Union this afternoon, selling Adopt a Sniper trinkets modeled after the Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" bands. During a transition between volunteers, OSD staff canceled the table, confiscating the signs and supplies. Today, OSD Dean Mark McCarthy issued a memorandum stating "this fundraising activity does not comport to the University's mission." He said the Adopt a Sniper program was "clearly provocative" and ran contrary to Catholic values. CRs chairman Brandon Henak decried the Administration's suppression tactics. "Our group saw this table as an opportunity for our fellow students to support our troops by making peace possible through victory," Henak said. "This program directly benefits the men on the front lines, who use this material to eliminate terrorists and protect the lives of other American troops and innocent Iraqi civilians." "It is an absolute shame that this Administration is so blinded by its liberal bent that they refuse to recognize that the success of our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan is crucial to building a safe, free, and ultimately more peaceful world," Henak said. He pointed out that the Catholic Church has long upheld the tenets of Just War Theory as a legitimate way for governments to achieve long-term peace through military action. Henak also noted the proud American foreign policy tradition of "Peace through Strength," stretching from Teddy Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. He concluded by saying, "If Marquette is serious about its Catholic values, perhaps they can start by ending the scandal of granting University honors to pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage politicians and dissident theologians who directly perpetuate heresies to our student body." Adopt a Sniper, the group chosen by CRs as the beneficiary of their efforts, has garnered press coverage from Fox News, Reuters, The New York Times, and Stars and Stripes for its innovative program. Donations taken at the CR table are sent to the foundation, which is run by US-based law enforcement and retired military. These officers buy highly-specialized sniper equipment, including unique body armor, flashlights, and tactical gear that military procurement does not always provide. For more information, please visit: http://americansnipers.org/faq.html. |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Feb 05 - 10:43 PM Holy-oh-moses-oh-jesus-h-christ, as my mom used to occasionally say. That must be one heckuva liberal college to shut down that action, eh? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: GUEST,foolestroupe - "I come fru da window!" Date: 05 Feb 05 - 08:16 AM Re: Mystery woman ... Cornelia Rau She was mishandled by 3 separate Govt Depts - the Mental Health Dept assessed her (previously diagnosed as Schizophrenic) as having a few minor problems but perfectly sane - Immigration (because she was speaking only German) contacted several countries to try to identify her (so she was classified as a 'non-citizen'!!!!!) - and she was placed in solitary in Baxter - where she was locked up for 20 out of 24 hours - when let out, she would sit on the ground and eat dirt and mumble in German.... nobody checked with the Police Depts Missing Persons List... a family friend heard about this woman with strange behaviour and checked her out and was surprised... Makes you wonder just how many other insane Australian 'non-citizens' have been deported..... |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: GUEST,heric Date: 07 Feb 05 - 12:31 PM Boy, 4, drives mom's car to video store and back |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 07 Feb 05 - 05:18 PM Hmm, I posted a correction which seems to have been purged... "when let out, she would sit on the ground and eat dirt and mumble in German" should read "when let out, she would tear off her clothes and run around naked, sit on the ground and eat dirt and mumble in German" |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Feb 05 - 06:19 PM That is markedly more dramatic! |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: JennyO Date: 07 Feb 05 - 09:30 PM A 4-year-old boy drove his mother's car to a video store a quarter-mile from their apartment in this town about 15 miles north of Grand Rapids.........................................It was the third time in six weeks that a west Michigan child was caught driving a vehicle. *sings* baby you can drive my car... |
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Subject: RE: BS: I Read it in the Newspaper From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Feb 05 - 04:23 PM These stories always contain such pathos, as with the grown women, Iranian conjoined twins who wanted to be separated a couple of years ago. Rare Surgery Set for Peruvian Baby February 08, 2005 Peruvian doctor Luis Rubio play with baby Milagros Cerron, nine-month-old, in a public hospital in Lima, Peru on Friday, Feb. 4, 2005. MARTIN MEJIA LIMA, Peru - Milagros Cerron smiles, babbles and fidgets in the arms of her mother like any healthy 9-month-old, but she is no ordinary baby. Milagros was born with her legs fused in a tight coating of skin - giving her the appearance of a mermaid. "When I saw her for the first time, I felt pain," said Milagros' mother, 19-year-old Sara Arauco. "In that moment I thought, 'What will she do with her life? Was God going to take her away or not? Was she was going to live or not?'" A team of Peruvian doctors believe Milagros is the perfect candidate for surgery to separate her legs - something that has never been tried before in Peru. They plan to attempt the operation Feb. 24 and hope that after a few years of treatment, Milagros will be able to live a normal life. "Our dream is for Milagros to be able to run, walk and play like every normal child," said Dr. Luis Rubio, the leader of the medical team. Milagros, who looks months younger than her actual age, was born with a rare congenital defect known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome." The condition occurs in one out of every 70,000 births and there are only three known cases of children with the affliction alive in the world today. The deformity is almost always fatal within days of delivery due to serious defects to vital organs. But Milagros - whose name means "miracles" in Spanish - has survived. Although most of Milagros' organs, including her heart and lungs, are in perfect condition, she was born with serious internal defects, including a deformed left kidney and a very small right one located very low in her body. In addition, her digestive and urinary tracts and her genitals share a single tube. Sirenomelia is usually fatal because of complications associated with abnormal kidney and bladder development and function. Milagros' doctors have managed to stave off kidney and bladder infections, allowing her to continue to gain weight and grow, Rubio said. His medical team has been studying the case of Tiffany Yorks, a 16-year-old American girl born with sirenomelia whose legs were successfully separated when she was a baby. Rubio said Yorks' surgeon, Mutaz Habal, has provided invaluable advice to the Peruvian doctors. "There is not a great amount of experience with this in the world," Rubio said. "It is also unique in our country." The operation will be performed by a group of physicians, including trauma surgeons, plastic surgeons, cardiovascular surgeons, neurologists, gynecologists and a pediatrician, he said. During a recent hospital checkup, Arauco and Milagros' father, Ricardo Cerron, 24, watched with tenderness as their child was placed on a hospital bed and instinctively made her way toward them. First, she sat, leaning on her two hands, struggling to maintain balance. Then she twisted around and fell to her side. Lying face down, she slowly pulled herself with her arms across the length of the mattress until she reached them. "The truth is when I saw my baby when she was born I was filled with desperation," Cerron recalled. Cerron, an electrical technician, was unemployed when his wife gave birth to Milagros in a hospital in Peru's Andes. He left Arauco at their home in the mountain region of Chupaca to recover from childbirth and brought the baby by bus 125 miles west, to Lima to seek help. Milagros was admitted to one of Lima's public hospitals, where the operation will take place. "Right now the child has extraordinary psychomotor development," Rubio said. "She has a marvelous relation with her environment, with her parents. She babbles words and has her own personality." To prepare Milagros for the surgery, silicone bags will be gradually inserted between her ankles and knees to slowly separate the two fused legs and stretch her skin to close over the incisions at the end of the surgery. The operation is expected to last about five hours, Rubio said, and will begin with disentangling the internal network of arteries and veins that surround her fused legs. Milagros will require additional operations in the next 10-15 years to properly rotate her feet forward and reconstruct her genitals and urinary tract. "I have great faith that my daughter will come out OK and be well," Arauco said, "that she will stay with me, that she will be like a normal child." |
