Page created 23 Oct 2003 by pedro
URL: http://www.optimists.org/
This is for stories that show that maybe the world is NOT going to hell in a handbasket.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0310230304oct23,1,6207178.storyCabdriver is a gem, jeweler discovers
Earrings and necklaces--worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars and left in a taxi's trunk--are returned to the ownerBy John Biemer
Tribune staff reporterOctober 23, 2003
As a Chicago cabdriver, it's nothing new for Mohammed Hussain to find items left by passengers in a hurry, a cell phone here and there, an occasional wallet.
But that didn't prepare him for what he found Sunday evening in a nondescript carry-on bag in his trunk.
The green sack contained 42 ornate pieces of jewelry, handcrafted 18-carat gold earrings and necklaces woven around sparkling walnut-sized sapphires, aquamarines and rose quartzes. The retail value of the jewelry, he would find out later, was an estimated $230,000.
"I was not sure if these were real, to be frank," Hussain, 26, said with a broad smile Wednesday. "When I went through these documents and invoices (in the bag), I was sure they were really costly."
On Wednesday, the precious cargo was returned to Anthony Camargo, the thrilled and very relieved co-owner and designer for an Austin, Texas-based jewelry-maker.
"I thought that was just so admirable," said Camargo, 40, who's been in the business long enough to hear horror stories about other dealers losing merchandise. "This doesn't happen where it gets returned in this manner," he said.
Since its inception five years ago, Anthony-Nak Fine Jewelry, Inc., of Austin, has catered to celebrity clients including First Lady Laura Bush, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Cher. In Chicago, Camargo says the company sells only through Barneys New York.
On Saturday at about 9 p.m., Camargo and a sales associate took a cab from Barneys at North Rush and East Oak Streets back to Hotel 71, 71 E. Wacker Drive, after a long, tiring day. Moments after getting out of the car, they realized they didn't have the jewels.
"My immediate response was to fly into overdrive and chase it down," Camargo said. But when he took off running down the street, there were lots of cabs and he wasn't sure which one they'd taken. He stopped one, but Hussain wasn't the driver.
Camargo called police, but he didn't have the taxi number or the correct company. Chicago police began an investigation, but Harrison Area property crimes Sgt. Joe Petrenko said detectives didn't have too many leads.
Hussain, a cabdriver for about a year who moved to Chicago from his native southern India about 2 1/2 years ago, didn't discover the bag until Sunday evening, when he went through the trunk to tidy up. Sifting through the documents inside, Hussain found Camargo's name as the designer and e-mailed him Monday.
Camargo alerted Chicago police who picked up the treasures. The jeweler flew back to Chicago Wednesday morning to thank Hussain in person and reclaim the jewels.
The jewels were insured, Camargo said, but he held out hope he'd see them again even if it was a long shot. "I think whatever you give will come back to you, so that's my moral," he said.
Keeping the expensive jewelry in his South Side home for a couple of days caused Hussain to lose some sleep, but he said he never thought twice about keeping it.
He, too, said he believes that what goes around comes around. "If I would've kept these, sometime, you never know, something might have happened to my family," he said.
On Wednesday, Camargo reclaimed the jewels at a Chicago police station and presented Hussain with a check and a pair of lemon citrine earrings with multicolor sapphire briolettes, made from stones cut in India. Camargo would not disclose the value of the check and jewels, only saying, "It's a nice reward."
Hussain, who is not married, said he would probably send the earrings to his parents in India.
Petrenko said he would nominate Hussain for a citizen's award for his honesty. "That's the least we can do for the guy," Petrenko said.
And those cell phones and wallets? Hussain said he returns those too.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
...and then we'll have a conclusive answer regarding the state of the world.
... if this should go to the in the pot or not in the pot. From an e-mail:The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.
Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.
muslim registry scrapped
absolutely crazy
My grandma and both of her sisters had breast cancer. It is a cause of mine. I'll go back there every day.
huzzah
but I think this is cool
I think that's great.
I've often wondered how somebody gets all the specific LEGO pieces they need for certain projects. Can you call LEGO and ask for 200 little grey round pieces?
I guess you used to be able to buy them in bulk... i don't know if you still can or not.
Thanks for sharing that, Pedro. Hernando sold a lot of LEGO pieces on Ebay for some serious cash last year. He is into constructing things out of LEGOs (it sounds stupid to say he works in the "medium" of LEGOs, but then again I suppose lots of unlikely things are mediums) and he has made some really cool stuff. He had an awesome clown that he made for my friend's wedding gift. He should have pictures of it; if I find them I'll post them here.
you can get boxes of assorted basic parts. i don't know if you buy them by color or if it's a mixed set, but they're sold by 1200 count in these big plastic buckets. it's all the standard 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x6, 2x2, 2x3, full height, 1/3 height, inclined, plates, etc. my brother went out and bought a dozen buckets once, so they can't be very expensive.
New Pink & White M&M'sThe makers of M&M candies has teamed up with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to raise funds through the sale of their new " pink &white " M&M candies. For each 8-ounce bag of the special candies sold, the makers of M&M (Masterfoods) will donate 50 cents to the foundation. The next time you want a treat, please pick up a bag (now sold in stores nationwide) - you will be donating to a great cause and satisfying your sweet tooth.
and aaron mcgruder.
The Wikipedia Rules.
john schneider
daryl hannah and friends change the world?The Green Fuel Future
Biodiesel is a vegetable oil based fuel that can be used as a replacement for petroleum diesel in any diesel engine with little or no modification to that engine. Biodiesel is rapidly gaining acceptance around the world, in large part, due to the its many health and environmental benefits, when compared to the effects of regular diesel.
The combustion engine has stood unrivalled as the primary source of power for industry and transportation. Continued use of these engines in the near and distant future is almost certain. Much like crude petroleum oil, crude vegetable oil can be processed into fuels. Unlike fossil fuel, "bio-fuel" can be grown year after year on the same land.
Rudolph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) presented his engine to the world (in 1900) running it on vegetable oil alone. He wanted to offer towns, farms and villages a way to produce their fuels regionally and believed that nations growing their own fuel would economically prosper. Today those of us dependent on petroleum imports go steadily into debt, exporting our nations wealth to acquire another nations fuel. As we deplete the earth's supply of non-renewable fossil fuel, Rudolph's wisdom becomes clear.
Spent fryer oil is created by every restaurant in the world serving french fries, chicken wings and the like. Each year in the United States alone, 3 to 4 billion gallons of Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) are being dumped into landfills, added to pet food and cosmetics as well as filtered and sold as "cooking oil" to people in third world countries. This same waste oil can be used to cleanly power our vehicles. After reheating the oil numerous times, restaurants must pay someone between $1 and $2 a gallon to dispose of it. WVO makes economic sense in today's high priced, petroleum monopolized, fuel market.
Overseas, biodiesel has been in use for well over a decade and most countries now offer biodiesel at the pump along with gas and diesel. In several countries the price of biodiesel is lower than that of petroleum fuel, in part, due to the country's commitment to the environment. Recently U.S. subsidies to "oil seed" farmers have brought the price of biodiesel well within the range of diesel fuel costs at the pump.
Many thousands of people around the world are fueling diesel engines (the most efficient type of internal combustion engine) with biodiesel. In 1999 Volkswagen put the "Lupo" car on the European market. The Lupo uses the latest in Diesel technology creating a vehicle that is quiet, powerful, clean, gets 80 miles to the gallon and is approved (i.e..under warranty) for use with biodiesel.
Bio-diesel is not only renewable and economically feasible but it is also considerably cleaner for the environment as a liquid or when burned. Petroleum products create significantly higher levels of greenhouse gasses and other emission toxins than their plant based counter parts.
In terms of human health, petroleum gas and diesel are well known carcinogens. Veggie fuels biodegrade quickly, are nontoxic and pose almost no threat to the health of plant and animal communities (the exhaust smells like french fries!!). The amount of co2 (the primary greenhouse gas) produced by burning one gallon of bio-diesel is about the same amount needed to grow enough plants for that much fuel. The carbon dioxide, created by burning the fuel, is essentially recycled by the next crop of fuel oil producing plants, this results in emissions that are virtually "carbon neutral".
Biodiesel can be easily purchased in the U.S.A. or made at home with a small co-op of friends. Affordable, earth friendly fuel is a reality today. Large petroleum companies stand to benefit from oil becoming a scarce and precious resource so don't expect "Big Oil" to be the driving force behind new fuel solutions, after all veggie fuel has been around a hundred years. The time is right for those of us who wish to move forward on cleaner burning alternative fuels!
seriously. I want a biodiesel hybrid car.
...bought a diesel VW bus with the intention of using biodiesel in it. I'm not sure where the project is at this point. There was a guy on TV who turned his diesel Chevette into a biodiesel burner and he went around to local fast food restaurants to get the oil needed. The "fuel" was free but it took awhile to process it correctly in his garage. But the exhaust did indeed smell like french fries the reporter said. That guy who was linked to awhile back about the impending oil crisis should get on the biodiesel bandwagon!
in my opinion, is that the engines were designed to run on the stuff. so, most diesel vehicles don't need to be converted [as i previously thought]. i'm sure that guy rudolph diesel or whatever, was taken out by the people who had their money in oil [you say he threw himself over that cliff inside a plastic bag full of rocks?]. apparently if you are going to start using biodiesel in an engine that has been using diesel, you need to change your fuel filter often at first, but with lessening frequency and then just as normal.i guess the only drawback is the making/storage of the fuel. however. there are "charging stations" all over california for electric cars. how difficult would it be to set up "biodiesel co-ops" all over where you could buy your fuel in a similar fashion?
both because she was in kill bill and because she has a biodiesel run EL CAMINO, i nominate daryl hannah as my favorite "known person."
Nope.
pretty cool
I'll have to take Jackie to go see that in July. she'll probably be one of the ones that the apes play their 'practical joke' on.
if any one on here has not gone to Lincoln Park Zoo in a while you definitely should. With the new African Adventure, Ape House, Small Mammal/Reptile House, relatively new small ape house, and the always great aviary, the zoo looks completely different than it did 5-10 years ago. So, for everyone who hasn't, go. And for everyone who has, go again. I always do, but then when I go I talk nonstop for the entire time, that's another eye rolling causer.
when do you leave? maybe we should have a lincoln park walking tour with bigj as our guide?
And I'm always down for that. I know the zoo like the back of my hand, and more random animal facts than I can say in one visit. We can pick a day, preferrably weekend for work reasons, and we could have a Diner trip, followed by pizza or something multi-person friendly.
that sounds awesome! our own guided tour with an in-house expert! I think Jackie and I would enjoy that. what say you Chicago diner denizens?
but don't build it up too much or I won't live up to the hype, :)
when would work for you all. I figure sooner is better than later with plans being made too far future being difficult. Speaking of plans though, when are you getting married Pedro?
haha, 7-24... that's funny.
that's real close, you going crazy yet?
not crazy. we've signed a lease and everything. my biggest challenge is preparing to move.
things always go crazy before a wedding, that's what they're there for.
Maybe the wedding fairy will keep it calm for pedro.
That's certainly no fun. Everyone needs a "good" wedding story. I mean, really, how embarrassing is it to say "Honestly, our wedding was boring."
...I pray they will always remain this passionate about their faith.Catholic youth proudly raise up their hands and hearts for their faith During a time of life when conformity rules, these youths dare to be openly religious.
08:24 AM EDT on Monday, August 2, 2004
BY MICHAEL CORKERY Journal Staff Writer
Digital Extra Look back at previous installments in the "Teens: The Next Generation" series ATTLEBORO, MA -- Under a white circus-size tent on a sparkling Sunday morning in July, more than 1,000 teenage boys gathered for a talk called "Every Man's Battle."
At first, the boys addressed topics one might expect at such a large pubescent powwow.
They laughed about the joys of bellybutton sweat and the female fascination with shoes. They cheered when the speaker, a young man in flip-flops, with doubled pierced ears, named Righteous B, said the last romantic movie he had watched was Braveheart.
But amid all the chanting and locker-room humor, the boys got serious and talked about their struggle to follow Jesus. When it was over, they took a card that contained a pledge not to have sex until they marry.
Philip "P.J." Shea, 18, of Pawtucket, has signed four such "chastity cards" over the years.
Journal photo / Ruben W. Perez Shannon Hennigan, 17, of Pawtucket, sings during Mass at a recent two-day Catholic youth conference at LaSalette Shrine. He plans to keep this most recent card locked in a safe in his bedroom. "I made a promise to myself that I would stay a virgin until I'm married," Shea said.
Some of his high school friends don't get it. Shea doesn't care. What's important is that most of the boys under that tent understood the need to fight the temptations of alcohol, pornography, premarital sex and all the other "lies the devil whispers," as Righteous B put it.
Welcome to Steubenville East, a two-day Catholic youth conference at LaSalette Shrine.
The teens came from as far away as Maryland and from nearby Pawtucket, numbering more than 2,700, wearing T-shirts, body art and baseball caps and looking very much a cross section of American youth.
But many of these teens are different. They define themselves, not by their tattoos or nose rings, but by daring, they say, to do what is considered in many high schools to be unequivocally uncool: Being openly religious.
"Kids don't respect it," said Shana Girouard, 15, of Pawtucket. "Everyone is so afraid to talk about religion in school so I've learned not to talk about it.
"I am follower. I admit it. I buy the most expensive sneakers," she said pointing to her pink-striped Adidas. "But this group understands. I don't have to hide that I'm Catholic."
The message of the two-day conference, conveyed in seminars and prayer sessions, implored the teens to stand apart from a society that glorifies sex, parties and cynicism.
And the organizers urged participants not to be afraid to wear their Catholicism on their sleeves by praying, singing and buying T-shirts, with slogans such as "Rise Up" and "Catholicism is not a Spectator Sport."
During the men's talk, Righteous B told the boys to become "warriors" who roar about the virtues of Jesus Christ.
"Let's pray so hard that this tent falls down," yelled Righteous B, whose real name is Bob Lesnefsky and has a degree in theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. According to the conference brochure, Lesnefsky has three "ghetto-fabulous childs" with his "long-time shorty Kate," his wife.
Together, the entire tent belted out the rosary, like a football team about to take the field. Lesnefsky held up a folding chair and shook it in the air as they prayed.
He asked the group to talk about their greatest challenges.
"I am just afraid I'm going to grow up to treat my wife the way my father treats my mother," said one boy in the back of the tent. "I feel like there is no escape. But last night I turned to Jesus."
Another boy, his voice squeaking in transition, said, "A lot of times I feel alone and I feel I'm not going to end up with a family like you."
Lesnefsky told the boys they should find a friend with whom they can pray and fight the temptations together.
"When you stood up for Jesus Christ, you signed for the army," he said. "You are going out to battle."
Shea turned to God recently when he was rejected from the college he wanted to attend. He considered taking a year off or enrolling in the Community College of Rhode Island in the fall. He prayed for an answer. "I realized I should push through," he said. Shea plans to attend CCRI in the fall.
"It's more than just praying. It's looking through the Bible," Shea said. "Psalms are like my best friend. There is always something in there."
Shea said he fights many challenges to being religious at 18. "It's wanting to be like any other high school grad in the summmer; there are girls, friends," Shea said.
This was Shea's second trip to Steubenville East with his youth group from St. Teresa's parish in Pawtucket. Shea said he first became involved in the youth group because he needed to fill hours to make his confirmation.
"I needed something to do," he said. But when he went on a retreat organized by the Diocese of Providence and attended his first SteubenvilleEast conference last summer, his faith deepened. Shea said he might want to become a deacon one day.
Many described the weekend as a life-altering experience. One girl said that during the Eucharist Adoration, the teens would laugh, cry and speak in tongues.
At one moment, during Righteous B's lecture, a group of teenages knelt in the grass and put their heads on the ground. The rapper himself lay on the ground, with his face in the grass.
"It becomes an insatiable hunger for the love of Christ," said Geoff Edwards of Bow, N.H. "You can't get enough of it."
A stocky teen with a surfer's air, Edwards said he has been religious since he was a child. He said some people tease him about being religious. "But it's nothing compared to the suffering that Jesus Christ went through."
Edwards spoke surrounded by a group of fellow Young Apostles, who helped run the conference. They led the younger Catholics in the rosary and seminars. It was a great honor, they said.
One apostle, Jason Delangie, 17, of Litchfield, N.H., said he backed into religious life. "I was dating the youth minister's daughter. But then I got into it."
After the men's talk, the boys stampeded across the grassy campus to a large tent on the hill. And they roared, as Righteous B had told them, like warriors.
From the tent came the shrill chants of the girls, already seated and awaiting Sunday Mass: "We want Jesus. We want Jesus. We want Jesus."
Before the service, Bob Rice, a pop singer and professor at Franciscan University, stood on a makeshift altar in front of a large crucifix and preached against sin.
"We live in a society where we are supposed to be instantly satisfied. Help this generation rise up from this society of lust, abortion and unfaithful marriages," he said.
Rice told them that he signed a chastity card when he was 22 and made an agreement with his girlfriend to be "pure."
"Three months later she dumped me and I hated this card," Rice said. But he kept the card in his Bible and met another woman, who had a chastity card of her own. "That woman became my wife and we have three children," Rice said.
The tent thundered with applause.
Father John Gordon took the altar, booming like a Southern minister, or a rapper in a flowing robe. "Give it up for the Lord," Gordon said. "Give it up for Jesus Christ."
Shannon Hennigan, 17, raised her hands in the air, like a fan at a rock concert. After the service ended, Hennigan and her youth group from Pawtucket kept singing, swaying and dancing.
Jackie Ciesynski, 15, wore a shirt proclaiming "Jesus is my Homeboy." She plays varsity soccer at Tolman High School in Pawtucket, and attends church every Sunday. Her friends "think church is stupid.
They would never understand why she would spend a sunny weekend in July praying at a shrine in Attleboro. "I can't explain it to them," she said.
At the end of Mass, the priest called up to the altar any boys considering the priesthood and any girls thinking about becoming nuns.
About 100 teens came forward. The crowd clapped and hooted. The priest implored the other teens under the tent not to talk about who stood up when they returned home to their high schools and homes. He didn't want the group to become discouraged.
Then, the priest asked everyone to pray for them.
I live in a town small enough that the local branch of my bank sent me a birthday card. You might think this is a clever ploy, and I would agree except that of the 5 signatures, I know at least 2 or 3. Oh... and the sun is out.
I drove to work early yesterday only to find upon exiting my van that my front left tire was flattening with a loud hiss. I said to myself, "I'll deal with this later, (after some other choice thoughts/expressions)" and came back at lunch time to swap out the spare, which I haven't touched in 5 years and desperately hoped would be full (it's a fullsize tire under the van). Just as I was taking the flat off the van, Eric "Roommate" R0binson (I think it's R0binson, anyway) came out of the old Urban 0utreach office and said hi. He noticed my flat and asked, "Did you find the hole?" I said "Yeah," he said, "I have a patch kit right here in my car, we can totally fix this." So he got his patch kit and patched my tire, and I carried it over to shell, pumped it up for $.50 and it's holding like a champ! Could not have been easier!Seriously -- go buy a patch kit right now!
Actually, does anyone have experience with those "self sealing" tire aerosols that you can use to seal and inflate a punctured tire? Those seem pretty handy too. The patch kit Eric had was kind of a spongy, rubbery plug that you jam in there that melts under the pressure and seals the hole. Either way -- you can buy a tire patch kit and one of those cigarette lighter compressors and practically never* have to worry about being stranded with a flat!
* patch kits generally cannot fix sidewall tears/punctures, but those are much less common than your average stray nail, etc.
that's pretty cool, Pedro. it's always nice when something like that happens. I've had my share of flats, and they suck. a whole lot. especially when it's 3:30 am on the highway and you have a spare but no jack. and then people stop who can't help you, but want to ask you for directions. I've had that happen twice, actually.then again, that was when the nice cop helped me while i changed the tire. he sat behind me with his lights on so i could see and so that other people could see me better.
Fix a flat works pretty good on small holes and leaks. I'm not too sure about a real puncture. I always keep a can in my car. At $3 why not?
fix-a-flat works pretty decently, but you shouldn't put your faith in it. It sprays a mixture into the tire and then coats the inside of the tire as you drive...you can trust it, but it's your life. On the can we have in the garage it says "5. Have permanent repair done immediately at nearest service station. Warn tire installers that the tire contains this product, and that the tire should not be subjected to extreme heat by welding on or applying a flame tothe wheel when the tire is still on the rim".
And pedro, you're right, sidewall punctures are least likely to happen...unless you're me...four out of my last five flats were sidewalls, actually, two combos, two sidewalls and one tread. because of this, I now hate construction workers, railroad ties and curbs (that one's by association, and a damn funny story.
The writer of this article comes from a politically "liberal" perspective and criticizes "conservatives," but I think that I pretty much agree with everything he says, and I think there is an important message about truth.
HA HA says brad pitt
in this article from the times lays it out, my personal fav is "You are on CNN," he said. "The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls."
pianist regains use of fingers after botulinum injection
Band atoning for sewage incident The Dave Matthews Band is trying to make amends for dumping human waste from its tour bus onto a boat full of tourists on the Chicago River. The band have offered a $100,000 (£54,252) donation to two groups that protect the Chicago River and its surrounding area.The band is being sued by the Illinois Attorney General office.
They said they had contacted the boat owner and were now trying to trace the 100 passengers affected by the incident
The driver of the tour bus, who was the only person on it at the time, has been suspended but continues to defend his innocence, a statement on the Dave Matthews Band website says.
It is alleged he emptied the septic tank from the bus while crossing a bridge, covering the tourists with raw sewage.
Frustration
"We know we cannot erase what happened that day, but we hope by reaching out and helping now this will help demonstrate our commitment to step up if we are found to be the responsible party," the band said in a statement.
"As a first step, if we were the responsible party, we offer our deepest apologies to the passengers on the boat, the City of Chicago, our fans and those who have worked so hard to clean up the Chicago River."
The band said they were also frustrated at the length of time it was taking to sort out the matter, which is why they had offered the donations.
Melissa Merz, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the parties were trying to negotiate a settlement but their donation did not impact on the ongoing talks.
"We certainly ... appreciate the gesture of goodwill, but legal negotiations are based on evidence and legal procedures and we have not yet reached a resolution in this case," she said.
The Dave Matthews Band won a Grammy Award in 1996 for their single So Much To Say and have built up a reputation as a successful live act.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/3950699.stm
Published: 2004/10/25 10:51:34 GMT
© BBC MMIV
Jenna Bush to teach at public schoolWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's daughter Jenna plans to live in the District of Columbia and teach at a public school serving low-income children.
Jenna Bush, 22, graduated last spring from the University of Texas with a degree in English.
She campaigned with her father during the summer and fall as he sought re-election but said she hoped to teach at a charter school after the election.
A spokesman for first lady Laura Bush, Gordon Johndroe, confirmed that Jenna would go to work for a public school in Washington but declined to disclose where she has applied for a teaching position or other details.
The president "thinks it's great that she's pursuing what she wants to do," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday.
Her twin sister, Barbara, earned a humanities degree from Yale last spring. Her career plans have not been announced. McClellan said Barbara is helping with the Bush inaugural operation.
bush makes satanic(?) salute, confuses norweeegians. inbred news reports
I'll read all the news before i post anymore. man castrates self, world sighs in relief
like the horns were originated in Sweden or something. how lame.
I love that picture, I've had one off the 'net for a few months now. He's my kind of guy
...
that sometimes i post things real quick. and i mean, real quick. the one about the guy giving himself the slice, that belongs here, he did a good thing for the world. the one about bush, it's just hilarious, mabye i should've thought about the placement a little more.
blvd Is that sarcasm i sense? if so, well played, well played indeed.
a happy ending
lawyers...
explain
sorry. i forgot that Karna was a lawyer.ok i will explain. lawyers, as a general, stereotyped class of people, have been characterized as greedy, selfish, and cruel. my thoughts when reading the article were that I wasn't surprised to read that the guy who was keeping the dog and being a dick about it was a lawyer.
of course, i didn't really mean anything by it. i hope she wasn't offended. there are some great lawyers in this world.
it just an annoying stereotype now that I know several lawyers.
got a book of lawyer jokes when she graduated law school, they're not that funny. I think that that stereotype is perpetuated because all of those types of lawyers (not all, but the ones you remember) have television ads ala Peter Francis Geracy...who i might add, was drunk dialed a few times by pedro's old downstairs neighbor and invited to parties there.
Absolutely amazing. This brought tears to my eyes.
from a chow i though they were little dogs. anyway, the pit bulls have now made up for one mauling, a hundred thousand or so to go. :-D
Alberto Gonzales spoke before law students at Georgetown today, justifying illegal, unauthorized surveilance of US citizens, but during the course of his speech the students in class did something pretty ballsy and brave. They got up from their seats and turned their backs to him.Fortunately for him, it was a brief speech... followed by a panel discussion that basically ripped his argument a new asshole.
And, as one of the people on the panel said,
"When you're a law student, they tell you if say that if you can't argue the law, argue the facts. They also tell you if you can't argue the facts, argue the law. If you can't argue either, apparently, the solution is to go on a public relations offensive and make it a political issue... to say over and over again "it's lawful", and to think that the American people will somehow come to believe this if we say it often enough.
In light of this, I'm proud of the very civil civil disobedience that was shown here today." - David Cole, Georgetown University Law Professor
in norway
solomon linda never made any money... off this super song. until now
this is ABSOLUTELY INSANE
I think we REALLY need a regime change here in the US.
but yes, that is totally NUTS
veterans for PEACE - i've never understood what so many people had against peace.
CCR LAUDS SUPREME COURT VICTORY IN HAMDAN V. RUMSFELD AND CALLS FOR FAIR TRIALS AND CLOSURE OF GUANTÁNAMO Attorneys for Guantánamo Detainees Say Decision Vindicates Five-Year Legal Struggle and Will Force Bush Administration to Provide Fair U.S. Trials or Release DetaineesSynopsis
CCR Submitted Two Amicus Briefs on Behalf of Hamdan, Arguing Against Military Commissions and Detainee Treatment Act
NEW YORK, June 29, 2006 - Today the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) declared the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld as a significant victory for the Constitution, fairness and due process, vindicating the Center's five-year legal fight for due process and human rights against the Bush Administration's illegal detention policies. CCR filed two amicus briefs in the case, which is the first Guantánamo case to reach the Court since its June 2004 decision in Rasul v. Bush, which CCR brought and won.
"The Supreme Court has firmly rejected President Bush's attempt to sidestep American courts. Now the President must act: try our clients in lawful U.S. courts or release them. The game is up. There is no way for President Bush to continue hiding behind a purported lack of judicial guidance to avoid addressing the illegal and immoral prison in Guantánamo Bay. Significantly, the Court decided that the Geneva Conventions apply to the so-called 'War on Terror' - people must be treated humanely and the administration cannot put itself above the law," said CCR President Michael Ratner. "We are gratified that the Court accepted our argument that fundamental human rights are protected by the Geneva Conventions, and this decision vindicates our five-year legal struggle," he added.
Mr. Hamdan is a detainee who was designated to be tried before a military commission in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. His lawsuit challenges the President's authority to establish military commissions in the absence of specific congressional action, and it also challenges the trial proceedings as violating the Constitution, U.S. military law, and the Geneva Conventions. CCR filed two amicus briefs in support of Mr. Hamdan's case, arguing that the administration's military commission system "violate the well-established norms of international humanitarian law" such as the Geneva Conventions, and challenging the legality of the Detainee Treatment Act. (The first brief was filed jointly with pro bono attorneys representing hundreds of detainees at Guantánamo, and the second was filed jointly with Human Rights First and FIDH.)
CCR Legal Director Bill Goodman explained the significance of today's ruling in light of CCR's 2004 victory in Rasul v. Bush: "Ever since we won the 2004 Supreme Court decision requiring due process at Guantánamo, the administration has been evading the decision, breaking American law and undermining America's stature in the process. Today the Court firmly rejected President Bush's unlawful and immoral Guantánamo policies, and I hope we can begin rebuilding due process and respect for human rights in our legal system."
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/enThough nothing works completely, though peace is never quite achieved, isn't it right to try, just because it's right? And isn't something accomplished, too? If war is terrible because of the impact it has on individuals, aren't actions for peace, justice, and reconciliation laudable in that they break down hatred in individuals? In that they teach people to forgive? And in that they give to people as far away as I am now, hope? If I have hope, then I will try too.
October 26, 2006 5:49 PM ETVermont College to Run on Cow 'Power'MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Cow poop is lighting the way for students at a tiny Vermont college.
Green Mountain College, a 760-student school located along the Vermont-New York border, started Thursday to get half of its electricity from farms that run generators powered by methane gas extracted from cow manure.
The college will pay a premium for the privilege -- an extra $48,000 on its $250,000-a-year electricity bill.
"It's a perfect fit," said college President John F. Brennan. "We're an environmental college, we're dedicated to environmental applications and renewable energy."
College and utility officials gathered at Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport, 35 miles north of its Poultney campus, to announce the agreement. The farm is the site of Central Vermont Public Service Corp.'s first cow power generator, which its owners fired up nearly two years ago.
The power company, which harnesses and delivers the power, allows customers to take 25 percent, 50 percent or all of their electricity from the cow power program. Since the Audet family installed the initial generator for the project at their farm, they've installed a second.
The utility, which has signed up more than 3,500 other customers for cow power, has provided grants to four other farms to help them pay for generators, and more are in the works.
"We're hoping by the end of 2010 to have 12 farms and 7,500 to 10,000 customers" involved in the program, said power company spokesman Steve Costello.
The Audets have about 1,000 milking Holsteins and 500 young stock in high-tech barns that feature "alley scrapers" -- much like big squeegees on wheels -- that move down the rows of cows, pushing their manure through grates to a conveyor belt below.
The belt carries the manure to an anaerobic -- meaning oxygen-free -- digester, a 100-foot-by-70-foot structure similar to a covered swimming pool. Methane is extracted from the digester and piped to the two generators. The power they make is then sent through transformers and onto the grid.
About 600 utility-sponsored programs around the country ask customers to pay a premium on their rates to support development of renewable energy sources, Costello said. In many such programs, customers are told their power is coming from some combination of wind turbines, hydroelectric dams or other renewable sources.
But there's less specificity about the sources of that power than there is with the CVPS program, he said.
"One of the reasons we did cow power as opposed to wind or just plain renewables is the homegrown nature of it and its connection to Vermont," he said. Customers can "drive by the farm and see where their energy is coming from and stop by for a visit if they want to."
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2006 AP
link : is it a sign that we can still be creative in dark times, or a sign that we all fiddle while the world burns?
Today Pope Benedict XVI issued a motu proprio recognizing that the Tredentine/Pian Rite, used prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and to the introduction of the current Novus Ordo/Pauline Rite, was never abrogated and that priests and lay have a right to its celebration. It's Law now.http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=52234
one town at a time
http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/give-one-get-one.php$400 will get you a laptop and give one to a kid somewhere that wouldn't normally be able to get one. Awesome program. It's also tax detectable, make you feel good and the laptop you get would be great for your kid(s) or for some kid's best Christmas present ever. Or you could keep it and have a durable laptop to take places you wouldn't normally want to bring a computer.
barry bonds indicted. pete rose is starting to look like an eagle scout.
chicagotribune.com Roid-handed? Feds, not fans, now call Bonds liar, steroid userRick Morrissey
In the wake of the news
November 16, 2007
This is like the slow turn of a screw. You can hear the hard wood whining as the grooves dig in. By hand, it takes some effort, but it's steady and methodical and ultimately satisfying.
As much as some of us would like the process to hurry along, the just punishment of Barry Bonds is taking its own sweet time. And there's something right about that, something having to do with rigor and thoroughness. You know, something having to do with dotting the "i's" and crossing the "t's" in "steroids" and "grifter."
Bonds was indicted Thursday on federal charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. He allegedly lied when he told a grand jury he hadn't knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. It must have been too similar to the but-I-thought-she-was-17 defense.
It was the latest slow turn, but a big, noisy one. This time, it's not baseball fans telling Bonds he's a cheat. It's the federal government. Big difference. One holds up posters with drawings of syringes during games. The other can send you to prison for a long time.
An era that has left some of us with such a helpless and hopeless feeling now stands in the glare of hard evidence. And the hulking symbol of that era stands accused. The indictment says investigators found positive tests for Bonds that show he used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. It's what we thought we knew but couldn't prove. Bonds' haughtiness and his open disdain for people who questioned him seem very, very empty today.
So what now of the good people of San Francisco who cheered lustily for Bonds? Still a conspiracy, folks? Your man unduly singled out? Well, when your man decides he's going to break major American home run records any way he can, the consequences get more serious. The bigger his body got, the bigger the potential penalties.
Those penalties are bearing down on Bonds like a tank.
Now we know why Commissioner Bud Selig treated Bonds' quest to break Hank Aaron's career home run record as if it were the plague.
If this goes to its logical conclusion--Bonds being stripped of his records and possibly of his freedom--it will be the result of his own ego, nothing else. It was ego that made him want to prove to the world he, and not other blown-up stars such as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, was the best power hitter in baseball.
Although the use of steroids and human-growth hormone often is done in the shadows, it is not done in complete secrecy. Ballplayers are finding this out as the federal government gets tough on phony businesses that have been selling performance-enhancing drugs under a shingle that says "Rejuvenation Clinic."
Bonds has been at the center of the storm since he hit 73 home runs in 2001, 24 more than his previous career high. The galling part was the sneer that challenged any and all comers to prove he had cheated.
Obviously, the federal government took him up on his challenge, which is why today dawns sunny for anyone who cares about the game of baseball or, more important, about kids who believe the way to fame and fortune is through a needle or pill. If you haven't noticed, steroid use among teenagers continues to grow.
I spoke to a group of high-school students the other day, and someone in the audience asked whether I get sick of writing about steroids. Yes, I answered, I'm sick green of it. Sick to death of it, if you really want to know. For my sanity's sake and your sanity's sake, I don't write about it every day, though Lord knows I could.
Some of you wish we would stop writing about it, period. But that's what Bonds has been counting on--that people would get tired of it and wish the whole mess away. He also would love federal prosecutors to leave him alone. And he would get a great, big "amen" from the rest of the cheaters in sports.
But it's time for everyone to wake up about this. Enough already.
Enough from the people who say steroids only aid in recovery and not in strength or the ability to hit a baseball a long way. Explain how this allowed a 37-year-old man to go from 49 to 73 home runs in one year.
Enough from the people who say Bonds is getting picked on because he's black. Explain all the white players getting nabbed in the federal steroids investigation.
And, coming full circle, enough from the people who say too much is written about the negative side of sports. Take it up with the athletes doing the cheating.
If you want to put your head in the sand, have at it. But something happened Thursday. A screw turned a full revolution, and Barry Bonds came a little closer to the realization he's in big trouble. Pretty soon, he won't be able to move.