Blog for Sandy

Stop Paying for Ring Tones

2007-06-23T10:59:00.000-04:00

What you need to create free Ring Tones:

Cell phone with MP3 ring-tone support
CD or MP3 of the song
Any method of transferring the ring tone from computer to phone (USB, Bluetooth, e-mail, instant message, etc.)
Audio-editing software that allows export to MP3. If you don't already have this, Audacity is a good open-source program you can download for free, and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You'll also need the LAME library for Windows, Mac or Linux. (LAME is a free downloadable MP3 codec that enables Audacity to encode to MP3.)
About 20 minutes

Instructions

If you're creating your ring tone from a CD, rip the song you want as a WAV (Windows) or an AIFF file (Mac). Using iTunes, specify this type of ripping in File/Preferences/Advanced/Importing. It's a good idea to specify a new ripping location, too, so the ripped song doesn't end up lost in the rest of your collection. In iTunes, set the "rip to" folder in File/Preferences/Advanced/General.

If you're creating your ring tone from an MP3, just copy that MP3 into a new folder so that your ring-tone editing won't affect the version of the song in your digital music collection.

Once you have the song as a digital music file (whether WAV, AIFF or MP3), run your audio-editing software. I highly recommend Audacity for this task. It's free, it's open-source, it runs on all major platforms, it rocks. If you don't plan to use it, skip the rest of this tutorial and consult your software documentation.

Before Audacity can export audio to the MP3 format your cell phone wants in a ring tone, you'll need to download the LAME library. LAME is open-source MP3 audio-compression software that rates among the best anywhere for recording fidelity. It also claims a legal exemption from MP3 patent royalties, meaning it's free, for now at least. Find the link for your operating system listed above on this page, and download LAME to a new folder on your computer (it will need to stay there for Audacity to access it for MP3 encoding).

Run Audacity, go to the Audacity/Preferences menu, and click the Find Library button near the bottom of the screen. Navigate to the LAME Library on your hard drive, and select it. I recommend setting your bit rate to 128 Kbps. You can choose a lower bit rate to save space on your phone, but you'll get lower-quality sound.

In Audacity's File menu, select Open and find the song you ripped for your ring tone.

You'll see your song laid out from left to right. Click the cursor around until you find the section you want for your ring tone. You're looking for a phrase of 10 to 15 seconds or so. Take a few passes at highlighting your future ring tone. Press the space bar to preview the selections. When you find the right one, you can export it as is -- or you can personalize the ring tone with audio effects.

Audacity comes with several effects; to try them out, leave the ring tone selected in the Audacity window, and then select anything in the Effect menu.

I recommend trying the Echo and Phaser. Each has various settings to tweak. Adding these effects is a matter of taste, but I figure it adds a bit of spice to the ring tone and makes it more of an individual statement.

Creating a derivative work of a copyright song is technically illegal. I'm no lawyer, and this does not constitute legal advice, but I am fairly certain that one could successfully defend these highly unlikely charges on the grounds that creating -- and not distributing -- a ring tone from a legally purchased song is covered by the affirmative defense of fair use.

After you're happy with whatever effects you've decided to use (the Edit/Undo function often comes in handy here), leave the ring tone selected in Audacity and choose File/Export Selection as MP3.

It's time to transfer the MP3 ring tone onto your phone. The easiest way to do this is with Bluetooth, assuming you have already paired your computer and cell phone. If your phone came with a USB connection, use that; otherwise, try e-mailing or texting it as an attachment. Put the ring-tone file into the Audio folder if your phone has one, and then select the new ring tone in your Tools or Options menu. (excerpted from Eliot Van Buskirk a freelance writer for Wired Magazine. Click on the title post to see the complete article).

BECAUSE WE ARE ALL DANES NOW!

2006-02-08T22:31:00.000-05:00

No anti-semitism here

2006-02-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

Day by day

2006-02-07T18:21:00.000-05:00

Not the song, but my life.....Knee To Be Free.

Knee to Be Free

2006-02-02T20:54:00.000-05:00

I'll be posting to my new blog Knee to be Free starting today. I'm going to chronicle my journey through knee surgery. Check it out!

Dead Man Rides Subway for 6 Hours

2006-01-20T21:00:00.000-05:00

Man Found Dead On NYC Subway May Have Been Dead For Hours

POSTED: 11:15 am EST January 20, 2006

NEW YORK -- A man was found dead on a New York City subway car during morning rush hour, and his lifeless body may have ridden on the train for about six hours.

The body of Eugene Reilly, 64, was discovered shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday in the last car of the Q subway train in the 14th Street-Union Square station, said James Anyansi, a NYC Transit spokesman.

The train was evacuated while emergency medical technicians were called to the scene.

There were no signs of foul play or injuries, and an autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause and time of death, authorities said.

Reilly, a Postal Service employee, typically worked a 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. shift as a mail handler in midtown Manhattan. If Reilly left work at the usual time and died during the 35-minute trip home to Brooklyn, then his body could have been on the train for more than six hours before being noticed.

In June 1999, the body of a man was found on a No. 1 train. He apparently had been dead for five hours before anyone noticed.

New $20 bill contains 9/11 images

2006-01-18T19:08:00.000-05:00

The english website of Aljazeera has a special section for conspiracy theories. Aljazeera poses the question "Coincidence or Conspiracy?" Of course the answer is always conspiracy even if you have to have to fold a $20 bill numerous times to find an image of the burning World Trade Center. Why would the US want to do this? I don't know why, but I bet the neocons and Israel had something to do with it.

The Republic of Greenwich (CT)

2006-01-12T13:41:00.000-05:00

The continuing saga of alleged discrimination in the Greenwich beach bias case faced another obsticle when town officials failed to turn over the investigator's report. Town officials claim the the report does not exist because the complaintants never filed an official complaint and as such the matter was resolved informally.

The state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities are negotiating with Greenwich to settle the matter. The proposed settlement would require Affirmative Action Officier Houston and the employees of the Human Resources and Parks department to attend a 10 hour anti-discimination training class in June and a yearly 5 hour class.

It seems that Greenwich and the complaintants are not happy with proposed settlement. "Giving a minority woman 10 hours of anti-discrimination training is an insult" according to complaintant Rothman.

The irony is Houston, the wife of Greenwich's NAACP President, exposed her racist views about whites, when she proclaimed Greenwich racist against blacks and hispanics.

One Eyed Cat & Cat with two faces

2006-01-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

Don't mess with cat genetics. These pictures illustrate the reason there's one basic cat and you shouldn't try to manipulate their breeding.

Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in this photo provided by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. The kitten, a ragdoll breed, which died after living for one day, was

And the Cat with Two Faces

Wife of NAACP President to undergo sensitivity training

2005-12-22T19:33:00.000-05:00

HARTFORD, Conn. --The state's human rights agency has proposed sensitivity training as part of a settlement of bias complaints against Greenwich town employees. The state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities made the settlement offer to the town earlier this week. The CHRO proposal is in response to a complaint involving the wives of former New York Mets Bobby Bonilla and George Foster at a Greenwich beach in June.

Under the proposed settlement, Greenwich Affirmative Action Officer Kelly Houston and other employees in the town's Human Resources and Parks departments would be required to attend anti-discrimination training classes."It's something they ought to be able to live with," R. Hamisi Ingram, the state agency's executive director, said Wednesday. First Selectman Jim Lash said that town attorneys were reviewing the settlement offer.

Greenwich Official Acknowledges Beach Bias Towards "those people"

2005-12-18T08:15:00.000-05:00

A group of hispanic and black female Greenwich residents, including two wives of NY Mets Bonnlla and Foster, claim they were denied entry to Greenwich beach because of their skin color. The women had organized a summer exercise program with other black and hispanic women complete with a white professional trainer.

This past June, the women and their trainer were denied entry to the beach. The trainer, Jason Hall, wrote a letter to the Greenwich town's affirmative action Officer Kelly Houston, who happens to be black. In his complaint he noted that other resident exercise groups he's led were never denied beach access and turned away. The other exercise groups were all white and accessed the accessed the beach under similar circumstances. He wanted to know why this hispanic/black resident group were denied access.

Officer Houston, investigated the matter and cleared Greenwich employees of wrongdoing. She concluded that they were simply enforcing the rules. This appeared to be the end of the case until the emails were found.

These newly discovered emails tell a completely different story. On June 8, one day after the trainers' initial compliant Officer Houston responded via email:

"I would love to tell you, you are wrong, but I am positive that you are not" "Understand this is not intentional. These men are just conditioned (sic) to see white people on the beach all the time. So yes, when there is a few (3-4) black people together they take notice."

Houston told the trainer a smaller group of minorities would be preferred.

"Seeing a group of Black people that they do not know is going to draw attention""I do think that you can use the facilities. However you will have to be discreet and if you are asked you are going to have to say you are just working out with friends. If you are doing a black group, you are going to need to cut your numbers down. Welcome to Greenwich!"

WOW. The town's affirmative action officer, Kelly Houston, whom after investigating and clearing the town of any wrong doing is then caught affirming the racial bias by beach employees.

The plot thickens when you realize that not only is Houston black and wanted to join the group, but that her husband is the NAACP Greenwich office president.

What's going on here? Certainly not the truth. Is there collusion between Houston and her NAACP husband to "expose" Greenwich or is Houston trying to set up Greenwich or is this a political patronage job given to Houston who is either incompetant or targeting someone/something in Greenwich or is Houston jealous and seeking revenge because they wouldn't let her join their group?

On thing is for sure: Greenwichs' beach access is designed to keep out non-residents whom Greenwich considers to be non-whites.

Check out DealyDaily for a locals opinion about these events.

Bangkok Street Dogs

2005-12-12T19:15:00.000-05:00

A dog, his friends and his life on the streets of Bangkok. This is what blogging is all about!

China, Torture and Cadaver exhibit

2005-12-03T08:20:00.000-05:00

China & Torture: The use of torture in China is widespread, and frequently carried out by police who exercised “wide discretion” to obtain confessions. Techniques such as beatings and sleep deprivation by police and other security authorities focused on “breaking the will” of individuals, thus creating a “general culture of fear”. Detainess were held under vaguely worded security laws and had poor legal protections. Furthermore, the majority of these detainees were ethnic minorities, political dissendents, religious activists and Falun Gong believers.

Cadaver Exhibit: According to the Institute for Plastination: "It is standard legal practice in both the United States and China that unclaimed or unidentified remains are made available for medical education, which is one of the key goals of our exhibition," he said. Thus the bodies in question are unclaimed or unidentified individuals from China and as such, neither the deceased nor their families consented to the use of the corpses in the exhibit.

Moral Outrage: China tortures & kills illegally held individuals. Their body is then plasticized and displaced in a for-profit exhibit currently touring the US.

Bedbug Infestation in NYC

2005-11-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

Sing to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner:

Oh say can you see,
any bedbugs on me.
If you do,
take a few
'cause I got them from you

Last year the New York City logged 377 bedbug violations, up from just 2 in 2002 and 16 in 2003. The bedbug resurgence has been blamed on increased immigration from the developing world, the advent of cheap international travel and the recent banning of powerful pesticides. Other culprits include the recycled mattress industry and those thrifty New Yorkers who revel in the discovery of a free sofa on the sidewalk.

And that new mattress delivered from a reputable department store, which kindly hauled away your old one? It may have spent all day in a truck wedged against an old mattress collected from a customer with a bedbug problem.

Check out these photos posted by New Yorks finest bedbug freedom fighters. Thank you for posting these photos and sharing your stories. Latrippi's close up of bedbug stained pillow and
Carynsolly's bedbug nightmare

The True Tree of Christmas: Wishes Come True Tree

2005-11-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

I hope Santa isn't confused where to put my presents. I want them under my "Wishes Come True Tree" that sparkles and tinkles like sleigh bells, oops, I mean happy bells. Sears sent this catalog disguised as a childrens book complete with coupons. Read the more about it here.

Oh what wishes will come true under the True Tree?

Face of Freedom: Rosa Parks

2005-11-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

An ordinary woman, performing an ordinary task, helps to make this country great. She did it on her own without cameras, press releases or the media.

A moral woman violating an immoral law using moral means.

Freedom Fighter.

Farrakhan Finds Black Gay Group Speaker Loophole

2005-10-08T18:25:00.000-04:00

The National Black Justice Coaltion (NBJC) a black gay group has been trying to convince Farrakhan to allow a gay speaker to address the Millions More March. After months of being teased by Farrakhan's evasive answers, the National Black Justice Coalition got what they wanted. Kinda. Farrakhan has invited a speaker from the Black's Men's Exchange, an all-male New York City group that disputes the existence of black gays and describes its membership as same-gender loving. The perfect loophole: black males who have sex with other men, but aren't gay (and if they are gay, they're the wrong kind of gay according to NBJC)

Oh the irony!

P.S. If you've ever wondered what kind of car Farrakhan drives it's a Hummer.

McDonald's to Close Jamaica Restaurants

2005-10-06T22:14:00.000-04:00

There will be no more Big Macs in Jamaica. McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food company, said Thursday that it will suspend business and close its eight restaurants in Jamaica later this month. The restaurants, all owned by the company, will close Oct. 14 as part of a "business decision. "At the moment, we cannot continue to serve Jamaicans the way they deserve and expect," said Santana, who is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I wonder why?

Congressional Black Caucus backs Sharia Law

2005-10-06T19:53:00.000-04:00

The Congressional Black Caucus supports Louis Farrakhan and Farrakhan wants the US to follow Sharia law. In a letter addressed to President Bush on December 2001 Farrakhan states:

In order for you and America to receive the greatest of Allah's (God's) Blessings, which is the longevity and perpetuity that former great nations and empires have not enjoyed, you must rule according to the Will and the Way of Allah (God).

Mr. President, you and this nation stand in the position of the Vicegerent of Allah (God). (The person or nation that rules the earth in the place of Allah (God)). This is why America must rule the world as Allah (God) Himself would rule, for, she is now standing in His place by His permission.

I have written these posts about the Nation of Islam's Farrakhan because of the mainstream support he is receiving for the Million Mores March. Black leaders, politicians, various groups and even a black gay group are kowtowing for this hatemonger while crucifying Bill Bennett and Trent Lott.

Racism has no place in American society. Black Americans that promote racism against white Americans must be vigorously denounced. When that day comes, we will all be free. We will all be Americans.

This letter can be found on the Final Call website or by googling farrakhan letter bush.

Farrakhan: Red Cross is Racist

2005-09-18T21:08:00.000-04:00

After a one day tour of hurricane damaged Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan addressed an audience at the Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As printed in the official student newspaper The Southern Digest:

"FEMA is too white, the Red Cross is too white. You know that there is racism in education, racism in politics, racism in economics, racism in jurisprudence, racism in public policy, racism in international policy...Well then, why wouldn't racism be a part of FEMA? Why wouldn't racism rear its ugly head in the Red Cross or United Way?"

I think it's important to report what Farrakhan says outside of the mainstream media. Why? Because some mainstream politicians are giving him legitimacy by speaking at the Millions More march. We need to let the politicos know this is not OK.

Cell Phone Porn

2005-09-18T20:37:00.000-04:00

Pornography: I know it when I see it and I see way too much of it. We don't have a choice, it's everywhere and now it maybe on your cellphone too.

With the advent of advanced cellular networks that deliver full-motion video from the Internet — and the latest phones featuring large, bright color screens — the pornography industry is eyeing the cell phone as a lucrative target.

In recent months, that prospect has produced a cadre of entrepreneurs in the United States hoping to follow the lead of counterparts in Europe, where consumers already spend tens of millions of dollars a year on phone-based pornography.

What If the United States Had Not Invaded Iraq - article by Daniel Pipes

2005-09-11T20:13:00.000-04:00

Much would be different had George W. Bush not decided to invade Iraq.

In some ways, the situation would be worse:

The Iraqi population would still suffer under the totalitarian rule of Saddam Hussein. The shaky economy, car bombs and ethnic unrest that Iraqis face today are far lesser evils compared with the poverty, injustice, brutality and barbarism that was their fate between 1979 and 2003.
Regional security would be imperiled. Saddam Hussein invaded two countries (Iran in 1980, Kuwait in 1990) and launched missiles against two others (Saudi Arabia, Israel); the chances are high that he would aggress again, perhaps this time to impede oil routes through the Persian Gulf. Additionally, he sponsored suicide terrorism against Israel and maintained close relations with the thug regime of Bashar al-Asad of Syria.
U.S. security would be endangered so long as a megalomaniac ruled Iraq with the means to build and the will to use weapons of mass destruction. Hussein showed this capability as early as 1988, when he several times deployed chemical gas, even against his own people (in a village in 1988, killing 5,000). His links to al-Qaeda might have led to his cooperating with it to deploy WMD in the United States.

But, had the war not taken place, the situation in other ways might be better:

European attitudes toward the United States would be improved. Polling and other data demonstrate that the Iraq war inflamed an international hostility against Americans unprecedented since 1945.
Muslim unrest has been exacerbated by the war. A powerful radicalization has been apparent not only in majority-Muslim countries (Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan are good examples) but also in Western countries (such as the United Kingdom).
Domestic U.S. politics would be less fractious without the war. The post-9/11 solidarity had already frayed before the Iraqi war began in March 2003, but that decision worsened tensions, as symbolized by the heightened acrimony in the U.S. presidential elections of 2004.
To generalize, benefits of the war have been mainly security-related and the costs mainly attitudinal. The world is safer with Hussein awaiting trial in a jail cell, but also more divided. The Bush administration succeeded militarily but failed politically.
On balance, the war brought more positives than negatives; unpopularity and acrimony are a price worth paying so that the Iraqi government no longer endangers Iraqis or the rest of the world.

Orginally Published Daniel Pipes Website:Daniel Pipes, director of Middle East Forum & prize-winning columnist for the New York Sun and The Jerusalem Post. His most recent book, Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics appeared in late 2003. His website, DanielPipes.org, is the single most accessed source of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. It offers an archive of his work and a chance to sign-up to receive by e-mail his new materials as they appear.

Sudden Appearance of Homosexuality in Ghana!

2005-09-11T13:26:00.000-04:00

This article from a Ghana website caught my attention. While trying to figure out why there's an increase in homosexuality, the website is conducting a poll about polygamy. So far, support of polygamy is at 80% of respondents.

Homosexual, Lesbian Clubs Mushroom In Kumasi, Ghana
Sexual attraction between people of the same sex has become a new craze in the Kumasi Metropolis. This kind of attraction between same women is known as lesbianism while that in men is called homosexuality or sodomy.

The practice was, hitherto, unknown in the Garden City. Spectator investigations have revealed that there are numerous homosexual and lesbian clubs in the Garden city most of them operating at Krofrom, Bantama, Nhiaeso and Asafo. The clubs are mostly patronized by high society men and women who drive expensive cars. They are also very fashionable in their appearance.

One significant thing about them is that most of homosexuals bleach their skin and wear earrings in one or in both ears. Lesbians dress scantly and in a very seductive manner. The homosexuals are more often recruited through social functions and lured with money and gifts by the affluent.

With the lesbians, the Spectator learnt that they are young innocent girls who are initially employed by rich shop owners as shop assistants in the commercial and fashionable areas of the metropolis. Some are also employed as house-helps and during their course of duties, they are enticed with fat salaries, gifts and luxurious personal items by their ‘Madams' and consequently lured into the system.

Women bus drivers too afraid to drive in New Orleans

2005-09-10T19:25:00.000-04:00

New Orleans Police looting Walmart

Highlights from the NY Times investigation of New Orleans:

Women bus drivers in New Orleans refused to drive the buses because they were afraid, according to Louisiana Governor Blanco. This left the state scrambling to find qualified replacement drivers.
As the New Orleans violence started, local parishes afraid for their buses, resisted turning them over for the evacuations.
Seventy percent of the nursing homes ignored mandatory evacuation orders dispite laws requiring evacuation plans including private contracts for buses.
Two thirds of the 24,000 people in the Superdome were women, children or elderly. Security consisted of 90 New Orlean policemen and 300 Lousiana Natl Guard troops.
(NOTE: These activities may not have occurred. It's unclear.] Gang rape, murder, robbery and assaults were carried out by armed gangs of 15 to 25 men without resistance from security or evacuees. If these thugs were caught by the police they were simply moved to another hall and with the hope "they would not find their way back".
Governor Blanco admits she didn't always know exactly what to request and that she didn't even know how the supply chain works.
Pentagon, White House and Justice officials debated for two days whether the President should seize control of the relief mission from Governor Blanco. However they were concerned about using combat forces in an American city without the governors consent. Defense Secretary Rumsfield said "the way it's arranged under our constitution, state and local officials are the first responders."
Firefighters from across the nation were forced to undergo community relations and sexual harrassment training in Atlanta before going to devastated areas.
New Orleans had used $18 million in federal funding since 2002 to stage exercises, train for emergencies and build relay towers to improve emergency communications. After years of delay, a new $16 million command center was to be completed by 2007.

Sean Penn saves the day with a sinking boat & flak jacket

2005-09-07T13:32:00.000-04:00

Why the flak jacket Sean? It must be because he's a national treasure.

Sean Penn's attempt to sail to the rescue of young victims of Hurricane Katrina has foundered. The actor apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of his boat, which began to take on water as soon as it was launched. Things then got worse - the boat's motor failed and those on board had to start rowing.

And then the final straw: bystanders eyeing off the massive entourage on the boat - it even included a personal photographer for Penn - taunted the actor. "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"

Wal-Mart offers FREE Prescriptions for Evacuees

2005-09-07T13:19:00.000-04:00

Emergency Prescriptions Filled Free for Evacuees With No Money: Evacuees with emergency medicine needs and no money may go to any Wal-Mart pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled free of charge, even if they do not have a copy of their prescription. People who have been displaced and are temporarily residing in other areas may receive a seven-day supply of free medication.

Housing Prices vs Income

2005-09-02T21:08:00.000-04:00

"It is clearly a good thing if you own a home, because you're wealthier now; the value of your assets has gone up," said David W. Berson, chief economist for the Fannie Mae, a mortgage buying agency in Washington. "It's clearly not a good thing if you don't own a home and want to buy."

A government index (based on single family conventional mortgages of up to $359,650 that were bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) shows:

Rhode Island ranked 10th in the nation and led New England in house price appreciation during April, May and June.
Massachusetts 22nd nationally for house price appreciation, at just under 12 percent;
Connecticut ranked 16th, at 13.6 percent.

Historically low interest rates have made it more affordable in recent years for Americans to buy houses, driving home-ownership rates nationally to nearly 70 percent. Now, as interest rates have begun to approach 6 percent, economists say, the question becomes: How much longer can middle-income Americans afford to buy?

Rhode Island's single-family house prices have been rising at double-digit rates for five years, far outpacing the growth in income.
Rising house prices have prompted buyers to take on bigger mortgages with adjustable rates or years of interest-only payments betting that their house value increases
The longer that prices appreciate at this rapid rate the more certain there will be a turnaround in the market.

To gauge how far out of whack house prices are with income, Clayton-Matthews has developed an index that charts the ratio between the two over time. The housing affordability index he created for the New England Economic Parnership divides average house values (what homeowners told census takers their houses are worth) with per capita income. In Rhode Island, house values last year, on average, were 6.9 times per capita income -- ahead of Massachusetts and the national average. That's roughly the same ratio as during the last housing boom, in 1989. In the years that followed, house prices plummeted.

Clayton-Matthews remembers that time well. He bought his first home, a condo, during the 1989 boom -- and sold it, seven years later, for "tens of thousands of dollars less than what we paid for it." It could have been worse, he said. He and his wife had enough equity in the house so they could walk away from the sale with "a couple hundred bucks."

The Nation: Looting OK and It's Bush's fault, again.

2005-09-02T10:28:00.000-04:00

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation was on C-Span Washington Journal, this morning. She managed to tie all the Hurricane Katrina problems with Bush. From the poor people looting (we need income redistribution) to the flooding of New Orleans (Bush spent the money defending the USA). Talk about a unifying theory of everything!

When a caller accused her of politicizing the Hurricane, at first she said she wasn't, then in the same breath she said the policies of the Bush adminstration were at fault.

The Evil Empire, Wal-Mart opens their doors to help refugees. So Left-wingers, how bad is Wal-Mart now?

2005-09-02T00:13:00.000-04:00

Following President Bush's announcement today that former Presidents Bush and Clinton will lead a nationwide fundraising effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott contacted President Clinton and the White House and committed $15 million from Wal-Mart to jump-start the effort.
As part of this commitment, Wal-Mart will establish mini-Wal-Mart stores
in areas impacted by the hurricane. Items such as clothing, diapers, baby
wipes, food, formula, toothbrushes, bedding and water will be given out free
of charge to those with a demonstrated need.
Wal-Mart previously donated $2 million in cash to aid emergency relief
efforts and has been collecting contributions at its 3,800 stores and CLUBS,
and through its web sites. Through its Associate Disaster Relief Fund, the company will also give displaced associates immediate funds for shelter, food, clothing and other
necessities.

What's wrong with New Orleans?

2005-09-01T13:15:00.000-04:00

What's going on in New Orleans is shameful. The way certain individuals are behaving, the gangs, the looting (non-food looting), the armed thugs robbing people.

I hate reading "Why?" postings but I don't know how else to express my feelings. It's so overwhelming and there is nothing being done.

The people are dying. The elderly, the sick, the weak. They've died.

Why aren't there food & water drops?

Where are the police? Where are the National Guard? If someone is shooting at a helicopter, why aren't they firing back and killing the bastards?

Where's Al Sharpton? Where's Jesse Jackson? Where's the Nation of Islam?

Where's Cindy Sheehan? Where's Sean Penn? Where's the anti-war protestors who are so concerned about Iraqis being killed?

Why the F** is this happening?

In Reality, Cindy Sheehan Does Not Want to Meet Bush

2005-08-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

'I look back on it, and I am very, very, very grateful he did not meet with me, because we have sparked and galvanized the peace movement,' Sheehan told The Associated Press. 'If he'd met with me, then I would have gone home, and it would have ended there.'" Cindy Sheehan's comments came as war protesters packed up their campsite near the ranch and prepared to leave Tuesday for a three-week bus tour.

Operation Liberation or Operation Looting

2005-08-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

The storm is over and now the oppressed people of New Orleans are free - free to steal. Here's some quotes:

One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store. "No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store."

Looters filled industrial-sized garbage cans with clothing and jewelry and floated them down the street on bits of plywood and insulation as National Guard lumbered by.

Mike Franklin stood on the trolley tracks and watched the spectacle unfold. "To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said.

Home Sales Keep Falling

2005-08-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

Single-family home sales in Greater Hartford fell for the sixth straight month in July, a further sign that the area's housing market is cooling a bit from the torrid sales pace of the past four years.

US heading for house price crash, Greenspan tells buyers

2005-08-27T16:05:00.000-04:00

WALL STREET shuddered yesterday after Alan Greenspan, the United States’ central banker, warned American homebuyers that they risk a crash if they continue to drive property prices higher. He said that the US house-price spiral had become an economic imbalance, threatening stability like the country’s trade gap or its budget deficit.

In a pre-retirement speech Greenspan said that people were investing in houses as if they were a one-way bet, not allowing for the risk of price falls. He said “history had not dealt kindly” with investors who kept ignoring risks.

Traders said that Greenspan’s comments were reminiscent of his 1996 inveighing against “irrational exuberance” on the stock market, for fear that a crash there would hit consumers and push the economy into recession. When the share price bubble finally burst, Greenspan cut Federal interest rates to 1 per cent, triggering the flood of cheap loans for housing. He fears that rate increases set in train as the economy recovered could throw the housing market into reverse and suggested that the twin deficits would now restrict his room to manoeuvre if a house price downturn hit spending. Asset prices were, he complained, driving monetary policy more than ever before.

About a third of US local homes markets are now markedly overpriced. Over the past five years, the average US house price has risen by 50 per cent. However, prices have risen more sharply in favoured areas, such as New York, and more than doubled in a few cities, such as San Diego. [org pub Financial Times, UK, by Graham Searjeant]

Farrakhan kind of invites Black Gays to his rally

2005-08-27T10:23:00.000-04:00

In an attempt to mainstream himself, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the hate-spewing Nation of Islam, has sent a letter asking the National Black Justice Coalition to be one of 100 co-coveners of the October 15th Millions More Movement rally. Farrakhan and his cult, Nation of Islam, is an equal opportunity racist organization, although has a special hatred for Jews. Whenever Farrakhan is accused of being anti-semitic, he denies it by using an old racist trick: he can't being anti-Semitic because he loves the semite (arab) speaking people of the middle east, and since the Jews are not semites he's not "anti-Semitic." He does not deny being an anti-Zionist, which is the European code word for "hates Jews" and he does not deny hating 'Neo-Cons,' which is the American politically correct code word for hating Jews.

Despite all this, mainstream Blacks desire to stand next to him at these rallies. What a disgrace.

The last minute invitation follows activist outrage after a controversial, July 3rd sermon by the Rev. Willie Wilson, the Farrakhan handpicked executive director of the Millions More event. Rev. Wilson, pastor of Union Temple, a prominent DC Baptist congregation and considered one of the city's most politically influential ministers. At the July 3rd sermon Wilson accused lesbians of attempting to take over the black family and other disparaging remarks about sexual acts among gays.

In response, Farrakhan sent out an invitation that stated: "The Millions More Movement is for all of us and is aimed at creating a tent big enough for all of us to come together," but he did not include the words gay or lesbian and did not invite the group to speak at the rally.

The Black Gay rights group quickly accepted the cold invitiation and then announced "While I would not count this as a victory, it is not a defeat, ..."This is an historic act." it's another step toward gaining inclusion... however, being a co-convener is almost like being on a laundry list...It's easy for them to say this is important, but it doesn't get us into the inner sanctum.".

The inner sanctum? Hopefully the Natl Black Coalition will not share their member list with Farrakhan. Doing that would be like pre-WWII Jews signing up as a Jew for Hitler, and we all know what happened to them.

Jordan - Palestinians not welcomed here

2005-08-26T15:52:00.000-04:00

The loving country of Jordan has decided that Palestinians cannot resettle their. Nevermind that after 50 years the Palestinians in Jordan are still living in refugee camps.

King Abdullah said Jordan would not resettle any Palestinian refugees in its territory. Addressing Parliament in Amman last week, Abdullah said that Jordan would insist that Palestinian refugees go to lands under Israeli control.

“It is the right of the Palestinians to return to their homeland and create an independent state on Palestinian land and nowhere else,” he said.

Jordan was created from land included in Britain’s original Palestine Mandate, and its population is mostly Palestinian."

Brigitte Bardot calls for halt to use of puppies as shark bait

2005-08-26T00:24:00.000-04:00

DO YOU THINK IT'S REAL? I THINK SOMEONE IS PULLING A JOKE/SCAM. This is the only photo I could find. I couldn't find any thing on the web that talked about different incidents.

Brigitte Bardot, the 1950s and 1960s film star turned animal rights campaigner, has called on the French government to halt the reported use by fishermen on the island of Reunion of live puppies and kittens as shark bait.

From the Brigitte Bardot Foundation:
Live baits for sharks
Another issue that is very important to us and that we discussed with the minister remains shark fishing in the Reunion Island. A local custom consists in going shark fishing with dogs used as live baits.

Last September, a dog came back to its owner in a very sad state. It had run away the previous night and came back the next morning with a hook planted in its muzzle. The owner brought the poor dog to the nearest SPCA to nurse him back to health. Before removing the hook, the vet noticed a fracture of the lower jaw. There was no doubt that the animal was destined to serve as a bait for big game fishing. It is indeed a common habit on the island. Back in 2000, a stroller was intrigued by whining noises from the trunk of a car.

Inside, she discovered two small dogs with their paws tied up; they had multiple injuries around the muzzle, paws and sternum. The veterinarian examination disclosed that they were left by a large hook. The Foundation sued the fisherman for deliberate acts of cruelty against animals. Unfortunately, the court could not condemn the culprit, because he had already been judged a few months before by the police court, where the fisherman keen on using live baits was given a one month suspended prison sentence and a 6 000 francs fine.

We asked the government to be more vigilant and make sure animal protection laws are put into practice in the same way as Metropolitan France.

Gore Won the 2000 Election according to Paul Krugman

2005-08-24T21:53:00.000-04:00

Another case of a big name columnist who doesn't have fact checkers: Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist. According to Krugman's August 19th column, Al Gore clearly won the 2000 election:

Two different news media consortiums reviewed Florida's ballots; both found that a full manual recount would have given the election to Mr. Gore.

The only problem is the media consortium Krugman is referring to, of which the NY Times was part of, found that Al Gore DID NOT win the election:

Even under the strategy that Mr. Gore pursued at the beginning of the Florida standoff -- filing suit to force hand recounts in four predominantly Democratic counties-- Mr. Bush would have kept his lead, according to the ballot review conducted for a consortium of news organizations... The media consortium included The Times ...

I'm not sure what's more ridiculous: the 'old gray lady' The New York Times doesn't has fact checkers OR that Krugman is still bitching about the 2000 election.

Jihadis are like Nazis, says Tory leadership hopeful

2005-08-24T12:51:00.000-04:00

This is a very interesting article. David Cameron, a member of the British Tory party compares Jihadists with the Nazis. It's a good comparison and it makes sense. A little historical tidbit: after WWII, the Nazi SS scattered and made their new goal, the destruction of Israel. Some of these SS elite went to various Arab countries and helped form the current ruling governments. I always wonder what role that has on today's problems?

A Tory leadership contender today likened Islamic extremists who justify violence by the concept of a holy war to the ideology of Hitler in the 1930s. David Cameron said that a strain of Islamist thinking developed during the last century "which, like other totalitarianisms, such as Nazism and Communism, offers its followers a form of redemption through violence". Mr Cameron, in a speech to the Foreign Policy Centre in London, said that after the Arab world declined in power and prestige, some Islamic thinkers had argued that the reason was because it had abandoned true Islam. Some, including Osama bin Laden, argued for a jihad (holy war) to "purge" the Arab world.

He said that it would be a huge mistake to bow to the pressure from a violent minority, or to believe that the jihadists' desire for blood would be assuaged by, for example, Britain withdrawing from Iraq. He said: "Jihadism, like Nazism and Communism before it, often bewitches the minds of gifted and educated young men. Just like the Nazis of 1930s Germany, they want to purge corrupt cosmopolitan influences. "The parallels with the rise of Nazism go further. Just as there were figures in the 1930s who misunderstood the totalitarian wickedness of Nazism and argued that Hitler had a rational set of limited political demands, so there are people today who try to explain Jihadist violence with reference to a limited set of political goals.

"If only, some argue, we withdrew from Iraq, or Israel made massive concessions, then we would assuage Jihadist anger. That argument, while often advanced by well-meaning people, is as limited as the belief in the Thirties that, by allowing Germany to remilitarise the Rhineland or take over the Sudetenland, we would satisfy Nazi ambitions. "As we discovered in the 1930s, a willingness to cede ground and duck confrontation is interpreted as fatal weakness. It can provide an incentive to escalate the struggle against a foe who clearly lacks the stomach for the fight. Indeed, in the 1990s the inaction of the West fed the belief among Osama bin Laden and his allies that we lacked the strength to defend ourselves." Mr Cameron added: "The lesson from all of this with respect to our presence in Iraq is clear. Premature withdrawal - and failure to support the Iraqi authority - would be seen as a surrender to militant jihadism. Nothing would embolden the terrorists more."

Mr Cameron is currently the Tory spokesman on education. In his speech on terrorism and homeland security today, he said that shared British values could be summed up as "freedom under the rule of law". He called for a number of reforms to protect British freedoms, including: a dedicated UK border police force; withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights; a special commission to investigate the July 7 bombings; more resources for MI5; encouraging every citizen to learn English; ensuring that the national curriculum was enforced in faith schools, with lessons conducted in English; a Mosque Commission, led by Muslims, to "provide proper regulatory oversight" of mosques. [org pub Times Online, by Jenny Booth]

Cadaver exhibit opens in defiance of ban -

2005-08-19T23:36:00.000-04:00

This is just morally wrong. Where are these people coming from? Are they Chinese prisoners who didn't want to perform salve labor for the People's Republic of China? More to follow tomorrow. Here's an example of the "art".

Shark Fishing From Shore is Discouraged!

2005-08-19T23:34:00.000-04:00

Beach officials worry people attempting to catch sharks intentionally

Fort Myers Beach town government thinks new fishing restrictions will help keep swimmers safe from sharks. The town is asking Lee County Parks and Recreation to impose stricter regulations on fishing at the county's pier.

The request comes after two big sharks – including a nine-foot lemon shark – were caught off the pier this summer. One man denied it, but council members worry that people are intentionally fishing for sharks.

They want Parks and Recreation officials to put restrictions on the size of fishing rod and line. 'I think it's a good idea,” said a man who would only identify himself as Chris. “Cause you don't need to bring the sharks in here, but they're already here anyway, they're already here.'

Placing chum in the water to attract sharks is already illegal. People at the pier Friday said they often accidentally catch small sharks. Town officials will meet with Parks and Recreation officials in the next week to talk about the issue."

Crusty Crab, no relation to Mr. Krabs or Krabyy Patties

2005-08-19T23:22:00.000-04:00

Crusty proves a hard nut to crack. Aquarist Becs Smith with Crusty the edible crab. The crab also has the ability to snap pencils in half. A giant crab which was caught in waters off Cornwall is proving to be a cracking draw for visitors.

Crusty the half-metre edible crab, thought to be about 20-years-old, was pulled up in a crab pot off the Lizard.

In the wild, edible crabs use their giant claws to fight with other crabs and crush shellfish. He was taken to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay, where he is now amazing visitors with his ability to crack walnuts with his fist-sized claws. They wanted to demonstrate how powerful Crusty's claws were.

The edible crab is the largest species in Britain.

College Level Cheating

2005-08-19T19:01:00.000-04:00

Cheating happens at all levels. AND, for the most part, it's covered up. MIAMI- Two employees at a Florida university with access to computer databanks have been charged with accepting cash -- and one with accepting sex -- in exchange for changing the grades of dozens of students, authorities said.

Ellis Peet and Clifton Franklin allegedly used generic passwords or those belonging to other registrar employees to make the switches at Florida Memorial University. They both had graduated from the school and were fraternity brothers there, authorities said.

Peet, 37, was fired and Franklin, 32, resigned during the investigation at the school in the working class suburb of Miami Gardens.

The former students received payments ranging from $75 to $600 to change more than 650 grades for 122 students over three years, ending in 2002, authorities alleged in court records. Franklin also allegedly received sex from female students after changing their grades, and both men were accused of changing their own grades.

Peet, a computer technician in the registrar's office, and Franklin, a data entry clerk, acted on their own to organize the scheme, school officials said.

'We were very disappointed and very dismayed by the actions of these individuals,' Marty Pinkston, the school's director of governmental and public affairs, said Thursday.

Peet was arrested last month. He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and violating intellectual property and computer access laws. His attorney, J.C. Dugue, declined to comment on specifics but said his client hopes to be vindicated at trial.

Franklin, who faces identical charges, has not been found by police. Of five students charged as middlemen, three have been arrested, police said. They were charged with racketeering.

The school discovered in May 2002 that unauthorized access to its computer system had happened and grades had been illicitly improved. The school hired a private investigation firm.

The school has taken several safeguards to prevent a repeat of the scheme, including a mandatory change in passwords every 40 days, and the elimination of generic passwords, Pinkston said."

Public School Segregation: OK if you're not white

2005-08-18T23:28:00.000-04:00

Virginia Tech University agreed to created sex segregated classes to appease visiting Muslims faculty from Saudi Arabia. The Saudis bribed Virginia Tech $246,000 to violate the law. If a group of white male students did this, it would have never been. Those white guys would have been instantly thrown out for racism.

Japanese politican comes out as Lesbian

2005-08-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

Kanako Otsuji, 30, came out as a Lesbian at the Tokyo Pride Festival. Otsuji is a member of the Prefectural Assembly in Osaka, the country's second largest city. She decided to come out because she said

"...too many people had kept silent in the past, fearing "discrimination and prejudice. By declaring I'm homosexual, I would like to highlight the problems and put an end to a vicious circle of discrimination and prejudice."

Worlds Ugliest Dog

2005-08-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

Here he is the three time champion of the World's Ugliest Dog contest. Sam, a Chinese Crested dog, shows that no industry is safe from outsourcing. Sam’s human, Susie, is the kind of human dogs dream about. Cutey Sam with a wink and a tail wag convinced his human, Susie Lockheed, to bring home 2 more of these adorable dogs. According to Sam, Susie massages his fleshy potato-chip thin ears, then runs her fingers through his small patch of white hair (on his head) and then she kisses him all over his hairless body, complete with blackheads, brown warts, moles and a large hernia lump near his rump. Note: Sam is very sensitive about his eyes and he refused to talk about them. He apparently suffers from a cataract which has made his right eye reddish-purple versus his left eye, a very attractive milky white. Sam's website is:
www.samugliestdog.com

Man dies while fishing with rod still in hand

2005-08-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

I guess if you have to go, this is a pretty good way. A 71 year old Yonkers New York man was found dead at the bottom of a pond clutching his fishing pole in upstate Brighton after he suffered a heart attack and fell out of his canoe while fishing Wednesday, authorities said.

Pity the Mother

2005-08-12T12:11:00.000-04:00

Cindy Sheehan, the mother who's son died in Iraq has planted herself outside the Western White House and is demanding to see President Bush, again. I say again, because she already saw him a few months ago. According to her TV interview, she asked to speak to Bush, it was arranged and she got 6 minutes with him. The first problem was her ex-husband, the father, whom Bush felt that he should meet to. Ms. Sheehan feels that she is a single mom, a family of one and thus she didn't want to sit with her ex. Thus they split the time and she got 3 minutes. At that point she thought Bush was an OK guy, and she supported the war. Now, she claims Bush "got into her face," "was very aggressive" and "wanted to hug her". If she felt so strongly against the war then, why didn't she say anthing at that time, to either Bush or the media? If she admitted this I would have a little more sympathy. But she wants to rewrite history and I'm sorry to say there are no do-overs.

Man dies from 50 hour computer game marathon

2005-08-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

A South Korean man died after playing the online battle stimulation game Starcraft for 50 hours. The man who was recently fired because of his game play, apparently had a heart attack minutes after he finished the game. Online computer games are very popular in South Korea and strangely enough this is not the first time someone died from a marathon gaming session.

The game that did the man in was Starcraft, a game about galactic warfare where humans must fight for their survival.

Tommy Boys: Lesbians in Africa

2005-08-10T13:12:00.000-04:00

A South African women's jail was host to a book launch for "Tommy Boys, Lesbian Men and Ancestral Wives: Female Same-Sex Practices in Africa". The book provides an insight into lesbians in Africa with special contributions from South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Swaziland and Namibia.

Here is an excerpt from the chapter entitled same-sex Sangomas in South Africa:

Traditionally every sangoma is allowed to have an ancestral wife to help them with their healing work. The issue of a sexual relationship within an ancestral marriage is historically taboo. However the taboo has been secretly broken by some sangomas such as Hlengiwe. The relationship described here is secret due to the fact that these two women live in a conservative rural area: “My relationship with ‘Nomsa’ started the day she came out to find out why my husband wanted to pay lobola [bride price] for her although she never met him before. So when we explained everything to her and told her that she will not stay with my husband but with me. I believe that’s where it started because after my husband paid lobola for her, she didn’t waste any time and moved in with me…Two weeks later when we were alone…she started to ask me if I was a lesbian and why I got married [to a man]? I told her the reason why I got married and asked her to explain the words ‘lesbian’, ‘gay’ and ‘homosexuality’ to me ... she then explained them to me, then we kept on talking. Then during our lovely conversation, she asked me how I felt about her. Did I feel attracted to her or what? I just didn’t know what to say then my heart started to beat so fast that I found myself mumbling. She kissed me and told me that she was a lesbian but that she had to hide it because of how life was in the rural areas. She explained if you talk about these things you are a sinner so let’s keep it to ourselves. I just shook my head then we kissed and we never told anybody. We sleep together staying in the same house. She helps me inside the house and even assists with teaching the trainees [amathwasa]. She has learned to beat the drums and the trainees take her as their mother. They love her so much although they don’t know that we are lovers. It's just between me and her.”

A whale of a receipe!

2005-08-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

Stay off my ferry & my beach! signed Greenwich, CT

2005-08-09T17:34:00.000-04:00

Island Beach, also know as Captain's Island is an exclusive Greenwich park that makes no exceptions for non-residents. As I was reading this Greenwich Time article, I wondered why I had never heard of this island getaway. You hop on a ferry and suddenly you're in paradise. The writer interviewed some atypical Greenwich residents, i.e. working class people, who have lived in Greenwich for generations. They described Island Beach as an 'everyman's Nantucket' where families who can't afford Martha's Vineyard could go to. At this point I couldn't wait to find out where it was, so I quickly went to my map and to the Greenwich town website.

Curiosity and anticipation quickly turned to sorrow and thoughts of a lawsuit. This is what I found: If you have a resident park pass ($100), the ferry ride is only $2/adults, $1 under 14 and free for seniors. Guests are allowed but only when accompanied by a resident who has the $100 park pass. Visitors, the term used for non-residents who are not welcomed, I mean, who are not with a resident, cannot go to Island Beach. I'm very disappointed and wondering why I was born beautiful and not rich! Seems like those ordinary folks all have had an employment relationship with the town (which sometimes comes with reduced housing). Then there is the very curious statement: "And we pass it along down to generations." Hmmm. Do I detect a non-resident in the bunch? someone with a Greenwich ID who doesn't live their anymore? A, gulp, visitor? I wonder if they'll get arrested like the 75 year old man who bicycled into Greenwich Point Park without a non-resident, visitor, daily park pass.

PETA: dog euthanasia ok, just don't go fishing

2005-08-06T23:57:00.000-04:00

PETA truly has no shame. It's only been a few months since North Carolina's PETA was caught dumping dead dogs into other people's dumpster. PETA had made an agreement with various North Carolina agencies to pick up and place dogs for adoption. According to PETA these dogs were unadoptable and thus had to be euthanized. The only problem was PETA is neither licensed to do this nor did anyone know they were doing this. Even though some of the dogs were not completely dead PETA threw them out anyway.

Now comes PETA's new anti-fishing campaign. Ironically it not ok for us but it's perfectly ok for PETA.

CT Muslim March against terrorism and radical islam

2005-08-06T10:10:00.000-04:00

The war against terror, which is really the war against radial Islam and their followers Islamasists, Muslims will have to stand up and denounce them. All American Imans need to issue Fatwa's that jihad is immoral and that suicide bombing is immoral even if it's against Israel. American Muslims must use the soap box and proclaim that America is an accepting nation where everyone has an equal chance to succeed or an equal chance to fail. We have rarely seen these demonstrations except maybe post-Operation Iraqi Freedom in Detroit. When American Muslim group leaders appear on TV they only talk about real or perceived discrimination towards Muslims and somehow they always manage to weave the Israeli and Palestinian conflict into the conversation.

In today's Hartford Courant an AP story ran about the yesterday's march at the Connecticut state capital denouncing terrorism. It was attended by 150 Pakistani and other Muslim Americans. They openly proclaimed their love for the US, they denounced terrorism and the Islamasists who have hijacked their religion.

One hundred fifty people is not many but hopefully it will start a trend and more marches, and bigger rallies, will follow across the nation. When that day comes, Isalmasists and terrorists will see the might of the USA and they will realize they have lost their jihad. blog for sandy

Americans didn't flock to Canada after Bush win

2005-08-04T23:40:00.000-04:00

The mass exodus to Canada never occurred. What a surprise! But Hollywood, which writes it's own facts, and continues to promote the non-exsistant migration. On the most recent episode of "Queer as Folk" the characters were talking about fleeing to Canada and following everyone else. And since the last time I checked, no 'celebrities' left. As long as your educated, talented or a professional Canada will take you. If you're just an unhappy Democrat looking for cheap prescription drugs, Canada doesn't want you.

How the tables turn on reporters

2005-08-03T12:50:00.000-04:00

Reporters are like the Catholic Church in the medieval Ages. They know what the truth is and they will always tell it. We trust them that their annoymous sources are legitimate, trustworthy and not just seeking revenge (think Watergate). Reporters, unlike lawyers, do not take an oath to be ethical or truthful. Yet somehow we have a million lawyer jokes but no reporter jokes.

The reporter who published Helen Thomas' statement about wanting to kill herself if Vice President Cheney ran for office is getting grief from Helen and is looking for an out. He found it in Matt Drudge, that "cybergossip" who "would pounce on" anything.

Albert Eisele of "The Hill" is apparently upset that his column was read worldwide by millions. It seems that his Helen Thomas article was meant for a select few.

Mr. Eisele apologizes profusly to Ms. Thomas for including the quote. While at the same time wondering why Ms. Thomas didn't realize the quote would be used. However, at least 50% of the column is devoted to trashing Drudge and his readers, which would include all the major television news media, for his Helen Thomas problem.

George Bush made me fat

2005-08-02T13:49:00.000-04:00

story to follow after I eat my bag of chips and finish watching the soaps.

Stay Out Greenwich Point Beach

2005-07-26T12:42:00.000-04:00

When Greenwich CT had to open their beaches to the public they had to quickly come up with a plan to keep the undesirables out. Going with the 'best defense is a good offense' strategy they concocted a two tier plan: first charge'em alot of money and two, if they have the money, make it a bureaucratic nightmare. The minimum cost for one person is $30 ($10 for a beach pass which must be purchased at town hall located several miles away and $20 for parking at the beach).

The Greenwich Times looked into the beach policy and discovered that the "Beach policy seems to keep outsiders out".

"We've had some grumbling, but usually we tell people how much it is and they come or they don't," said Craig Whitcomb, operations manager for the marine and facilities division of the parks department.

Sphere blog writer Tom Andersen, who also wrote a book on the Long Island Sound, questions whether Greenwich Point Beach is really all that special.

Take heed: Recently a 75 year old man dared to ride his bicycle into the park without paying the $10 fee. This dastardly criminal was apprehended by a police roadblock and issued a $92 ticket.

Ricky Martin protecting young Muslim males

2005-07-25T19:14:00.000-04:00

Ricky Martin understands your pain. He knows people are ignorant and that you have to "ignore the ignorant". So as a UN spokeman (oops spokesperson) he will defend Arab youth. To show his solidarity he posed for pictures with a traditional Arab kaffiyeh headscarf with the slogan "Jerusalem is Ours" written on it. Hmm. I guess he's not defending the right of Israel to exsist.

Unions leave AFL-CIO, vow to organize Wal-Mart

2005-07-25T18:58:00.000-04:00

When I was 8 I asked my father what that little blue book was with his name on it. He told me it was his Int'l Machinist Workers union dues book and that even though he worked for a nonunion shop he still paid his dues. My mother recounts her experience as an office worker in the 30's at a Brooklyn NY factory where the union rep always came on pay day and took money from the illiterate factory floor workers (mostly black) whom the union never helped.

The moral: unions are good and unions are bad.

Today the Service Employees Int'l Union (SEIU) and the Teamsters announced they are leaving the AFL-CIO. Several other unions including United Food & Commercial Workers may also leave the umbrella organization.

Before they left, they gave the AFL-CIO a chance:focus on organizing new workers by using the unions' money. D'uh. That makes so much sense I can't even think of anything witty to say. I have friends that moan and groan about how much they hate Wal-Mart because 'Wal-Mart treats their employees bad'. Okay. But where are the unions? Why haven't they tried to organize Wal-Mart, or Borders, or Lowes, etc? Wal-Mart would rather close a store than succumb to the union. Which is why the lone store strategy doesn't work. If there was a state wide effort to organize, Wal-Mart could not afford to leave the state. But the AFL-CIO would rather give all their money to Democrats and who knows what than organize new workers.

Of course there are other issues that need to be addressed but with a diminishing amount of union workers (only 8% of the workforce) these issues are moot.

I hope the split will see less union money going to democratic candidates who have done nothing for the unions. Imagine if all the money the unions spent on John Kerry were put to organizing: Wal-Mart would be a great place to work and my friends will have to look for something new to complain about.

Change to Win Coalition ; Money- Big Labor in Big Fight With Itself

Molly Ivins - forgets to check the facts

2005-07-13T23:13:00.000-04:00

Molly Ivins: She rants, she raves, she doesn't bother checking her facts. She hates George Bush, the republicans and hates Supreme Court justices who think it's not OK to take private property to build luxury condos.

Today, Ms.Ivins confesses that she never bothered to check the facts when she accused the USA of killing more Iraqi civillians than the mass murderer Saddam Hussein. She figured Saddam killed 20,000 people over 24 years which averages to 834 killings a year. (With such a low death count I'm not sure why she even opposed him). But alas, she confesses she never checked her figures and didn't realize Saddam killed closer to 1,000,000 people. Actually, she doesn't really say how she came to those numbers other than saying: Saddam's regime left 271 mass graves, with more still being discovered. That figure alone was the source for my original mistaken estimate of 20,000."

Ms. Ivins was so blinded by her hatred for America, Pres. Bush and the Republicans that she never saw how absurd it is to think Saddam killed only 20,000 people in 24 years. It's like Holocaust deniers who can't see the truth because they are so blinded by their hatred of Jews. That's not a fair comparison, Holocaust deniers don't have the resources that a national syndicated columnist and author of numerous books has. Maybe she outsources her fact checkers to France.

CROW EATEN HERE
This is a horror. In a column written June 28, I asserted that more Iraqis (civilians) had now been killed in this war than had been killed by Saddam Hussein over his 24-year rule. WRONG. Really, really wrong. The only problem is figuring out by how large a factor I was wrong. I had been keeping an eye on civilian deaths in Iraq for a couple of months, waiting for the most conservative estimates to creep over 20,000, which I had fixed in my mind as the number of Iraqi civilians Saddam had killed. The high-end estimate of Iraqi civilian deaths in this war is 100,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University study published in the British medical journal The Lancet last October, but I was sticking to the low-end, most conservative estimates because I didn't want to be accused of exaggeration.

Ha! I could hardly have been more wrong, no matter how you count Saddam's killing of civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, Hussein killed several hundred thousand of his fellow citizens. The massacre of the Kurdish Barzani tribe in 1983 killed at least 8,000; the infamous gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja killed 5,000 in 1988; and seized documents from Iraqi security organizations show 182,000 were murdered during the Anfal ethnic cleansing campaign against Kurds, also in 1988. In 1991, following the first Gulf War, both the Kurds and the Shiites rebelled. The allied forces did not intervene, and Saddam brutally suppressed both uprisings and drained the southern marshes that had been home to a local population for more than 5,000 years.

Saddam's regime left 271 mass graves, with more still being discovered. That figure alone was the source for my original mistaken estimate of 20,000. Saddam's widespread use of systematic torture, including rape, has been verified by the U.N. Committee on Human Rights and other human rights groups over the years. There are wildly varying estimates of the number of civilians, especially babies and young children, who died as a result of the sanctions that followed the Gulf War. While it is true that the ill-advised sanctions were put in place by the United Nations, I do not see that that lessens Hussein's moral culpability, whatever blame attaches to the sanctions themselves -- particularly since Saddam promptly corrupted the Oil for Food Program put in place to mitigate the effects of the sanctions, and used the proceeds to build more palaces, etc.

There have been estimates as high as 1 million civilians killed by Saddam, though most agree on the 300,000 to 400,000 range, making my comparison to 20,000 civilian dead in this war pathetically wrong. I was certainly under no illusions regarding Saddam Hussein, whom I have opposed through human rights work for decades. My sincere apologies. It is unforgivable of me not have checked. I am so sorry.

Numbers of Civil Unions Declining

2005-07-02T15:11:00.000-04:00

Saturday, July 02, 2005 2:27 p.m. ET

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- In the last six months of 2000, when Vermont was the only state in the nation recognizing anything resembling marriage for gays and lesbians, 1,709 couples were joined in civil unions.

The popularity has waned every year since and has plummeted since Massachusetts began permitting same-sex marriages a year ago and several Canadian provinces did the same.
For all 12 months of 2004, 711 couples obtained civil unions "and we won't even come close to that this year," said Rich McCoy, chief of public health statistics at the state Health Department.

"I would say the primary reason is same-sex marriage in Massachusetts," McCoy said. "Many, many of our civil unions in the first couple of years were to couples in Massachusetts. Also ... the numbers we had coming from Canada dropped off. Now Connecticut has its own civil union law. We did get couples from Connecticut."

Civil unions have been most popular with out-of-state couples. Of the 7,549 couples who have had civil union ceremonies since July 1, 2000, only 1,137 have been Vermonters. There have been 78 dissolutions, or divorces. Slightly more than two-thirds of the couples have been women, McCoy said.

Elsewhere, California couples can register with the state and qualify for all the benefits of marriage except for the right to file taxes jointly. Oregon is close to becoming the third state to offer civil unions. [found on Wired News]

George W's Quagmire

2005-07-02T14:54:00.000-04:00

George W’s Quagmire
Different war, same old complaints.

By Michael Graham

Philadelphia, the American Colonies, July 4, 1776 — Leaders of the self-described “American patriots” movement gathered in this Pennsylvania city today to sign an official declaration of their political intentions, despite widespread criticism of a failing war policy and complaints that their military action was launched under false pretenses.

“Here it is, July of 1776, and George W. and his lackeys are just now getting around to declaring what this war is supposedly all about?” complained Loyalist playwright Michael LeMoore. “Washington and his neo-congressionalists rushed us into war at Lexington and Concord, before anyone had ‘declared’ a single word about independence. Face it: George lied, and people died.”

LeMoore was referring to what patriots call “The shot heard 'round the world,” when colonial forces fired on British soldiers in violation of accepted international rules of military engagement.

Supporters of George Washington and the so-called “war for independence” dispute claims from the antiwar movement that their actions are unlawful, and they point to their formal “Declaration of Independence” as proof.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” reads the Declaration in part, “that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The document was reportedly written by Thomas Jefferson, a white, southern slave-owner, and one of the architects of the “patriot” movement.

Critics quickly noted the hypocrisy of Jefferson's reference to “unalienable rights” of liberty and the author's own record of slave-ownership.

“If they really believed in spreading ‘freedom,’ they would free their own slaves instead of killing the British and shelling innocent civilian Loyalist women and children in Boston and New York,” said Howard Deanne, head of the Loyalist National Committee. “And what of the recently uncovered Commonwealth Avenue memos, which would seem to indicate that those closest to Washington were planning for war after the Boston Tea Party back in '73? I'm telling you, the colonists of America have been misled into war!”

Though most colonists agree that King George III is a tyrant, polls consistently show that a minority of colonists support open military action against the British. Many pundits also question whether removing the monarchy will make any fundamental difference in the lives of Americans.

General Washington came to Philadelphia to report to members of the Continental Congress, and anonymous sources report he came under heavy fire over the actions of his army and the costs of the war.

“We lost 140 Americans at Bunker Hill, more than 600 killed or captured in our disastrous attacks on Canada, and there’s no end in sight,” said one congressional staffer who asked not to be identified. “People are asking, ‘When is this war going to end? What is our exit strategy?’ This is George W's war, no doubt about it.”

Indeed, as support for the war among the American colonists wanes, some Quaker antiwar activists are using the other “Q” word in colonial politics: quagmire. Some even suggest that the entire war was manufactured by Gen. Washington to settle a personal score with the British over perceived insults he endured during the French and Indian War.

“Washington was just looking for an excuse to go to war,” said prominent lady activist Rosalind O'Donnell. “Everyone knows little Georgie would be broke if not for his connections to major land speculators pushing out beyond Kentucky. This is just a land grab! No war for Ohio! No war for Ohio!”

Patriot leaders gathered in Philadelphia, however, were determined to ignore the mounting criticism and celebrate their unanimous adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

“I firmly believe that in the future, this day — July 4, 1776 — will be viewed as a great moment for America and for freedom around the world,” John Adams of Massachusetts told a handpicked audience of “patriot” supporters. But neither he nor any of the other speakers said anything new about the costs or justifications of this divisive war policy, returning instead as they often do to the broad themes of freedom and democracy.

The Declaration concludes by stating: “We, therefore…declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

“That's the kind of simplistic jingoism one expects to read in Fox's Daily Broadsheet, not in serious political discourse,” said Noah Chommsey, head of the political-science department at King’s College. “But the idea that the American colonists have come up with some superior form of self-government that is inherently more just than, say, monarchy or theocracy, is the height of arrogance.”

Meanwhile, the war effort continues. Loyalist supporters among the American colonists continue to support the British military, particularly in the South, and hopes are fading that a major European power will come to the aid of the Americans. Military analysts suggest that the American “War for Independence” could last another seven years and result in the death of up to one percent of the entire American population.

“Is a free, democratic America really worth such a price?” demanded playwright LeMoore. “I certainly don’t think so. The world shouldn’t look to America for leadership. They should look instead to courageous nations truly endowed with greatness. Like France.”

— Radio-talk host Michael Graham covers southern politics from his home in Virginia. He is an NRO contributor.

The Homeless? Tough Luck

2005-06-20T09:54:00.000-04:00

The homeless? Tough luck

You might not guess it from newspaper articles or real estate ads, but roughly a third of all Nutmeggers rent.

But while one winces at code violations that doubtless infest some places, one shudders at the plight of other poor souls who can't even get in. Many show up each night at the homeless shelter. Others, upon the arrival of warm weather, materialize like mayflies in parked cars, abandoned buildings, and under accommodating bridges.

These folks do not qualify for America's dominant housing assistance program -- the mortgage interest deduction. Neither are they eligible for programs boosting first-time home buyers. In fact, rather than being helped, they often suffer at the hands of government.

For instance, they are regularly doomed by the demolition, rather than repair, of public housing. Or by the budget cuts to Section 8.

And this is just in the cities. In the suburbs there never were any public units, Section 8, or decayed but cheap downtown apartments. Low-income workers there have simply been expected to live "somewhere else."
'Urban sacrifice zones'

"Somewhere else" typically means Connecticut's "urban sacrifice zones." Foremost among these are Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury, Willimantic and New London. Those cities diligently house, educate, feed, police and nurture poor folks far out of proportion to their overall numbers. This leads inexorably to high local taxes, poor schools, run-down neighborhoods, plentiful crime, and all the other symptoms of economically segregated society.

And in the state's other towns it eventually becomes tiresome to keep reading that one must earn $17.90 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Connecticut, or that our state is still short a gazillion affordable housing units. We've known that all along. That's why we in the middle class each go to the trouble of inheriting property and getting master's degrees. And frankly we don't want any more affordable units locally.

Not that there isn't always a cadre of sainted Nutmeggers working to change such things. They sit on housing authorities and non-profit boards, they hammer for Habitat, they volunteer for VISTA, they even hold public office. There just aren't enough of them.
'Spending' required

Such housing expenditures (and other vital services) are what the governor and Republican legislators refer to as "spending." "Spending" is much to be reviled.

Democrats often don't buy into that dogma, but are fearful that the voting public does. Taxes to help poor folk buy health insurance may possibly be acceptable, but taxes to help them rent an apartment, maybe in our town, are something else.

Let's not push our luck.

Thus Connecticut coasts amiably along in its bipolar coma: affluence on the one hand, anguish on the other. Lip service abounds for the ill housed, but not programs. We have learned by now that democracy plainly promotes segregation, and that in our highly civilized local religions, the Lord truly does help those who help themselves.

Originally published by Norwich Bulletin written by Collins, a former state representative and former mayor of Norwalk, writes for MinutemanMedia

Real Estate:Is it the 80's again 6/19

2005-06-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

FROM RECORD JOURNAL MERIDAN CT. The reak estate bubble: Will it be the 1980s all over again? by: Mary Ellen Godin

When Lise Milinovich went shopping for a home, she saw she was priced out of much of the suburban market. So she paid $159,000 three months ago for a condominium at Quarry Farms on the east side of Meriden that had increased in value $20,000 from the day she signed the contract to the actual closing. But Milinovich knew that if she had bought a multifamily, she could have saved even more through real estate interest tax exemptions and tenants who pay the mortgage. So, even though she bought the condo, she's looking around for multifamily investments to build long-term equity.

As the average home price continues to climb nationwide, first-time buyers are getting a case of sticker shock as they see two-to-three-bedroom Capes priced at $235,000 and up in suburban Wallingford, Cheshire and Southington and in Meriden. Most buyers can't touch the 3,500-square-foot high-end houses that developers are frantically building in Meriden and the rest of central Connecticut. A four-bedroom house on a 2-acre lot in the Stone Ridge subdivision in Wallingford starts at $549,900, which requires that the buyer have an income of at least $140,000 and a $20,000 down payment.

The steep increase of housing prices has some economists predicting the housing boom (defined as when inflation-adjusted prices for homes rise by 30 percent or more in a three-year period) is going to go bust. Busts occur when home prices decline by at least 15 percent over five years. The office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reported that the average U.S. home price rose by almost 11 percent in 2004, up from 7 percent in both 2002 and 2003; and that the number of boom markets increased by 72 percent last year to now include 55 metropolitan areas. These housing boom markets included 21 cities in California, 18 in the Northeast and 11 in Florida.

A similar occurrence happened during the market boom and bust of the late 1980s, which followed the collapse of more than 750 savings-and-loans and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The failure of the banks was blamed by many in part on their aggressive real estate lending practices that led to foreclosures across the country. But many are hoping this boom won't burst and hurt too many homeowners. The National Association of Realtors maintains that with demand high and interest rates low, and no downturns in the economy, the stock market and consumer prices will catch up with housing prices. Victor A. Matias Jr., a real estate agent with Cross Town Realty in Meriden, said he recently had a customer who qualified for a $159,000 mortgage and it took him three months to find something. The customer finally settled for a fixer-upper.

"Too many people are being outpriced. It's been exponential," Matias said. "The real estate market is exceeding the business cycle." He's seeing more first-time or moderate-income buyers with an annual income of about $50,000 moving toward condominiums in the city or multifamily houses to get tenants to help pay the rent. But with no one building multifamilies and investors — many from New York — snatching them up as cheap investments, the availability of affordable units is rapidly decreasing as their prices increase, Matias said.

Trudy Magnolia, an assistant in the city's Economic Development office, said she fields calls from New York investors inquiring into city-owned multifamily properties for investments. Multifamilies were once seen as one way families could pool resources and own property while living inexpensively. Later they were sold or leased out, giving the sellers more cash to move up or invest. "We look to these to generate cash flow," said Matias, who owns several multifamily buildings in the city. "They're looking at them as tax shelters. You can't enter that market anymore. " Not if or how — but when William Wadsworth, founder of Wadsworth Investments in Wallingford, has only two words of advice for real estate investors: "sell now." Wadsworth is a securities adviser who carefully watches the housing market for himself and his clients. He said today's situation is similar to the 1980s, when he told his clients that the market is not only going to burst, but it's going to be a disaster. He's repeating that advice and has taken it himself. A piece of property he bought for $1 million just after the bust in the late 1980s was sold Thursday for $3 million. "I eat my own cooking," he said.

"Generally speaking, it (real estate) is getting overvalued," Wadsworth said. "It hasn't cracked yet, but the (interest) rate has increased. It's not a matter of if or how — it's a matter of when. The real estate market is higher than it should be. It doesn't make sense." Wadsworth said areas that are very hot right now in California and Florida are primed for market busts, and he advised investors to watch for cracks. He describes cracks as instances where houses sit on the market longer, prices begin dropping; but when foreclosures increase, it's too late. He predicts local market prices could continue rising another 10, 20 or 30 percent, but he recommends taking money out before prices start falling.

"It's better to be out a little early and miss the last five percent," he said. Wadsworth recommends that buyers wait about three to eight years before buying again, when prices return to market value. But licensed real estate broker Teresa Roccapriore-Vitelli, who founded Cross Town, said the market is simply repeating the same cycle it saw in the 1980s — and has already started to correct itself. "The rental and condo market is escalating, and the cost is going up, with interest rates staying low," Roccapriore- Vitelli said. She also feels it won't go much higher and will begin to level off. And she is concerned about the influence real estate agents have on market value, thus encouraging the seller to hold out for more. "Where does it stop?" Roccapriore-Vitelli said. She said she's seen agents set prices at $30,000 higher than market value, and others follow suit. If the appraisal doesn't match the price, quite often the buyer cancels the sale. But appraisers are now adjusting for the recent price spike in the sales of comparable homes, and appraising accordingly.

Another factor keeping costs up and the housing supply tight is the number of homeowners who are refraining from selling even though they may be sitting on a ton of equity. Many know that if their house can get a great price, an upgrade can get a greater price. For that reason, many potential sellers are reluctant to jump into the higher-priced market that brings more in closing costs and property taxes. This phenomenon has led to a boom for local construction companies as people have properties fixed up or add family rooms instead of selling. But Sandy Maier- Schede, a licensed broker since 1973 and partner with Maier Real Estate in Meriden, said she saw more of that phenomenon six months ago, but sees the market loosening up now.
"It's more cyclical because of the time of the year," she said. "There's a hesitant confidence."
She agrees with Roccapriore-Vitelli that the housing market is in a cycle similar to the 1980s, and said one key to real estate is if you buy high, hold on to it.

"There's always a risk" But Maier-Schede doesn't like some of the creative financing tools used by banks or lenders — such as 80/20 mortgages, which offer 100 percent financing broken down with a 20 percent down payment mortgaged at a higher rate and the remaining 80 percent mortgaged at the lower market rate. Sometimes the difference can be five percentage points. These mortgages often drain all the equity out of the home, she said.

Those who bought real estate in the 1980s and saw values drop are now seeing significant gains, Schede said. The rebound of the condominium market is also an example of how the economy caught up to housing prices. She said there are now only 40 units listed in the Meriden market.
Charito Coriano, a partner in Coriano Realty, agrees that many first-time buyers are priced out of the starter market and helps steer her clients to clear up any credit issues that can get them a better mortgage.

"There's always a risk; its a sellers' market," Coriano said. "I hope that by the end of the year there's a change." Matias, of Cross Town Realty, reminds his clients to look realistically at what they can afford before signing any mortgage. "Too many people are living beyond their means and don't have financial freedom," he said. "Let your home work for you, don't work so hard for your home. Don't let it lasso you." But Matias acknowledges a strong motivator for most buyers and investors. "You can't grow any more land." But Wadsworth recommends investing in liquid assets, such as certificates of deposit or bonds, when the housing and stock markets are volatile. Unlike real estate, these can free up cash much quicker.

Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Dancer of the Numa Numa

2005-03-01T20:15:00.000-05:00

The video leaves a big smile on my face and makes me want to dance. If this was American Bandstand, I would give it an 10 (it's got a good beat and you can dance to it!). Leave it to the New York Times to trash this guy:

Here, then, is the cautionary tale of Gary Brolsma, 19, amateur videographer and guy from New Jersey, who made the grave mistake of placing on the Internet a brief clip of himself dancing along to a Romanian pop song. Even in the bathroom mirror, Mr. Brolsma's performance could only be described as earnest but painful. His story suggests that the quaint days when cultural trinkets, like celebrity sex tapes, were passed around like novels in Soviet Russia are over. It says a little something of the lightning speed at which fame is made these days.

Mr. Brolsma, a pudgy guy from Saddle Brook, made a video of himself this fall performing a lip-synced version of "Dragostea Din Tei," a Romanian pop tune, which roughly translates to "Love From the Linden Trees." He not only mouthed the words, he bounced along in what he called the "Numa Numa Dance" - an arm-flailing, eyebrow-cocked performance executed without ever once leaving the chair.

Love Makes A Family:Civil Unions are okay, now

2005-03-01T16:42:00.000-05:00

And now for something completely different....After taking a strong stand for Gay Marraige and against Civil Unions Love Makes a Family (LMF) now says civil unions are okay.

A few weeks ago, LMF launched a campaign for gay marraige over civil unions saying that civil unions were unfair and discriminatory. They orgainzed a campaign supporting their position and were over excited that the Hartford Courant agreed with them. Funny thing was, civil unions have a good chance of happening in Connecticut this year and if LMF continued protesting, they would have found themselves fighting on the side of anti-gay groups.

"This is a civil rights issue, and we just don't feel like we can compromise on fairness and equality," said Anne Stanback, President of Love Makes a Family.

I guess LMF can comprise on fairness and equality - thank god! I would have been really pissed off if civil unions failed because of them.

Change Of Heart On Civil Unions Gay Rights Group Softens Its Stand
By DANIELA ALTIMARI Courant Staff Writer March 1 2005

In a sharp reversal of political strategy, the state's leading gay rights group is dropping its opposition to civil unions. Love Makes a Family's "marriage or nothing" stance had sparked criticism and dissension within the gay and lesbian community. But in an e-mail to its members, the group now says it will not lobby against civil unions even as it continues to push for same-sex marriage.

"Clearly the civil union bill has momentum," Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family, said Monday. "We are not going to be working to kill this bill, but we will keep talking to legislators about our hope that they will stand up and speak up for marriage." Last week, the legislature's judiciary committee endorsed civil unions by a nearly 2-1 ratio. If the measure is approved by the full House and Senate, and signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Connecticut would become one of only a few states granting same-sex couples legal recognition.

Civil unions offer gay couples most of the rights and responsibilities of marriage, but are not recognized by most other states or the federal government. California permits gays and lesbians to register as domestic partners and Vermont allows civil unions. Only Massachusetts recognizes same-sex marriage. During a legislative hearing on the matter, Stanback and other gay activists branded civil unions "separate and unequal." They also expressed the belief that once such a system was adopted, the debate over same-sex marriage would essentially end.

The group's opposition, roundly criticized by some of its legislative allies, would have put Love Makes a Family in the awkward position of lobbying - alongside its longtime political adversaries - against a bill that would greatly expand the rights of gay and lesbian couples. On Monday, Stanback amended her view. While she said she still believes civil unions are inherently unequal, she no longer views them as a political dead end. "Would we have liked to get marriage this session and not have a temporary stopover with civil unions? Yes," she said. "But to have a whole group of new legislative leaders who have taken this on as their own struggle is [encouraging.]" She said she was especially encouraged by the judiciary committee's resounding defeat of a pair of proposals that would have expressly barred gays from marrying. The committee's co-chairmen both applauded the group's change of heart. "All-or-nothing strategies are always a bad idea," said Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven. "This is the right way to go."

Sen. Andrew McDonald said he, too, was pleased that the group has given up the fight against civil unions. "I'm gratified that the leadership of LMF is going to be a more active participant in the next stage of our legislative efforts," said McDonald, a Stamford Democrat. Opponents of the proposal, led by the Connecticut Catholic Conference and the Family Institute of Connecticut, are expected to lead the fight against civil unions. Both supporters and opponents are expected to launch high-profile campaigns to sway legislative opinions.

The debate split the gay community, with many applauding what they saw as Love Makes a Family's principled stance. Others chided the group for turning its back on what they viewed as important civil rights legislation. Ultimately, Love Makes a Family's argument failed to win support from the judiciary committee - only one member, Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, voted against civil unions because they do not go far enough.

Meanwhile, several legislative observers said they expect the civil union proposal to win broad support from the full House and Senate. Rell has expressed support for the general idea of expanding the rights of gay couples, but has not weighed in on the bill's specifics. "I'm sure that there are going to be members who disagree with our use of resources going forward ... but we won't work to kill [the] bill, which has a lot of momentum," Stanback said. "We're never going to make a decision that pleases everybody. ... this is the right decision going forward".

The Matrix starring Condi Rice

2005-03-01T14:49:00.000-05:00

Condi Rice Matrix style outfit reviewing troops in Germany Febuary 2005

SteynOnline

2005-03-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

I saw Steyn on Washington Journal the other day and I'm hooked. Another guy from the left who's life changed after 9/11. He makes me feel good because because he admits to watching Washington Journal (CSPAN).

Gay Group Blocks Civil Unions in Connecticut

2005-02-10T23:03:00.000-05:00

Imagine my surprise when I read that Connecticut is very close to approving civil unions. WOW!!! But wait, our leaders in the gay community have decided to push for same-sex marriage jepordizing civil unions. If civil unions give us the same rights as marriage, who cares what they call it? When a het couple gets married, they get a marriage license from the state, basically they have entered into a civil contract. with license in hand (or not as per Brittany Spears) they can partake in the religious ceremony of marriage. When they want to divorce they go back to the state to end the contract.

Tactic May Stall Bid For Civil Unions by MARK PAZNIOKAS Hartford Courant 1/27/2005

Connecticut appeared poised this year to become the first state to approve civil unions for same-sex couples without the threat of court intervention. But now the chances of passage have greatly dimmed as the result of a controversial decision by an influential gay rights group. Love Makes A Family began telling legislative allies Wednesday it is launching an all-or-nothing campaign for a same-sex marriage law. It is a decision that puts the group at odds with legislative supporters, some of whom see Connecticut on the threshold of extending an important civil right.

"We have an opportunity to provide significant rights and responsibilities to same-sex couples this session," said Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the judiciary committee. "Whatever form that takes, we should seize upon it." Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, said civil unions have picked up significant bipartisan support in the last two years, including an unexpected endorsement from one of the legislature's leading conservatives, House Minority Leader Robert Ward, R-North Branford. "We have a real opportunity to pass a civil union bill this year with all the rights of marriage. The position taken by Love Makes a Family puts that at risk," Staples said. "I was disappointed."

Love Makes a Family, a coalition of groups backing equal marriage rights for same-sex couples,always set marriage as its goal. What's new, legislators said, is the all-or-nothing strategy articulated in e-mails a few days ago and in conversations Wednesday. Anne Stanback, the president of Love Makes a Family, said the group feels that Connecticut has a special place in the debate today: Polls show the state is open to the idea of same-sex marriage. "We are one of only a few states that can get marriage," she said. "It is very important that we not take this second-class citizenship [of civil unions]. It's not a stepping stone to marriage, it is a dead end."

A University of Connecticut poll in April found 49 percent of residents supporting gay marriage and 46 percent opposed. By contrast, an overwhelming 74 percent support same-sex civil unions. Stanback said the organization was influenced by a court decision leading to same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. "Massachusetts is a huge factor why we feel that this year we have to stand strong for marriage," she said. Stanback said she understands that her legislative allies may be surprised that Love Makes a Family would reject civil unions, which she acknowledged would offer significant new rights and protections to gay couples. "Up here we understand that compromise is what happens on so many issues. But this is a civil rights issue, and we just don't feel like we can compromise on fairness and equality," Stanback said.

A same-sex marriage bill faces seemingly insurmountable hurdles: The legislation would originate in the judiciary committee, where it probably would be defeated, and Gov. M. Jodi Rell is strongly opposed to gay marriage. Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, a same-sex marriage supporter and the co-chairman of the judiciary committee, said he would not rule out offering a civil-union bill. But Ward and Staples each questioned if a civil union bill could pass if Love Makes a Family lobbied its supporters to vote with gay rights opponents and kill the measure. Lawlor estimates that one-third of the legislature is highly supportive of gay rights, one-third is strongly opposed and the remainder is open to new rights such as civil unions. "They are the swing voters," Lawlor said. The swing voters are personified by legislators such as Rep. Pamela Z. Sawyer, R-Bolton. "I am very comfortable with civil unions," Sawyer said. Sawyer said a civil union law would eliminate inequities now faced by gay couples. She described a gay constituent whose partner of 30 years died, leaving the survivor with a sizable estate tax
bill to pay on the joint property they had accumulated. If the couple had legal status of a civil union, the survivor would not owe the tax, she said. Asked about same-sex marriage, Sawyer hesitated and said, "I don't know."

LakeChamplainAngler.com - An angler's guide to fishing Lake Champlain and its tributaries

2005-02-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

technorati link

2004-12-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

Technorati Profile

Jonah Goldberg: Time to face facts: Gays gain victory

2004-11-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

I'm moving to Canada! They'll be rounding up the homosexuals like they rounded up the Jews!

OK. I'm not moving to Canada. I like the USA. There I said it. Oh course it's not in public, or at the lesbian potluck and nobody reads this except for my girlfriend (and she doesn't read it either). Canada is way too cold.

Canada wants people to move there. However they just want the professional homos with lots of skills, no children and big savings account. Welfare applicants, the unskilled, low skilled, lots of children, no savings accounts homos can stay home. They probably don't want anyone who's going to put more strain on their hurting healthcare system so no HIV+/AIDS homos and no trans-whatevers who want a free sex change.

The linked article is written by Jonah Goldberg, whose mother is a publisher and friend of Linda Tripp. According to Goldberg THE GAYS HAVE WON because we have made it into the mainstream media as good characters (Will & Grace) and not villians (Basic Instinct).

Tom's Hardware Guide Game & Entertainment

2004-11-07T01:18:00.000-05:00

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD GAMING SYSTEM FOR UNDER $1,000.
Using Tom's to Build a Sub-$1,000 Gaming Machine - The Mission: $1,000 Or Bust
Tom's Hardware Guide Games & Entertainment: Using Tom's to Build a Sub-$1,000 Gaming Machine - The Mission: $1,000 Or Bust

Revolutionary Online Stapler

2004-11-06T15:35:00.000-05:00

Why can I never find my stapler when I need it?
Where the f*ck are the staples?
That's it!!! I'm never buying or using a stapler again!! If it doesn't fit on one page, I don't want it!
Ahh a solution.....
VirtualStapler.com : Revolutionary Online Stapler Simulation

Flyover your house & Google and Yahoo shortcuts

2004-11-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

When CNN shows you a flyover in Iraq, this is the program they use. You can view some free flyovers or you can buy the program for $29.95 after a 7 day free trial. Keyhole

Can I see my house??? It depends where you live and the resolution available. Connecticut has a resolution of 1 meter or 3.28 feet. New York City is .7 meters or 2.3 feet while other parts of NY are 1 foot. That's not bad, considering is a photo from outerspace.

FYI: If you need to convert meters to feet there are several easy ways to do it without having to learn the metric system.
1)GOOGLE search bar type ".7 meter to foot" press enter and you get the answer 2.3 feet. Type "meter to foot" and the answer is 3.28 feet.
For other google shortcuts
2) yahoo: "convert .7 meter to foot". For other Yahoo shortcuts

cool tech links: engadget and hack a day

2004-11-02T23:13:00.000-05:00

Recently discovered websites:
engadget.com Make sure to check out their once a week "How To's"
hack-a-day (newly discovered, does not carry the sandy seal of approval yet).

The President's High Growth Job Training Initiative

2004-10-30T14:59:00.000-04:00

The President's High Growth Job Training Initiative

Learn a new high tech career on Uncle Sam's dollar.

Free business magazines while fulfilling your wildest career aspirations

2004-10-30T14:28:00.000-04:00

FreeBizMag.com qualifies you for free subscriptions to such exciting trade publications as "Concrete Concepts", "Beverage Aisle", and "Clean Rooms" which is not about bathrooms. If you look hard you may find some magazines that actually seem interesting: Geospatial Solutions, Marine Log, and Mulit Housing News.

The catch, is you have to work in a specific industry to qualify for one of these high quality, in-demand magazines. This is where you fulfill your wildest career aspirations and express your creativity. Interested in Mass Tansit magazine? No problem, you just became a Mass Transit Mogul.

By clicking on the Customer Service Link, and then Contact Publisher Directly link you will be able to see all the magazines. This will allow you to make sure you qualify for the magazine

2004-10-26T18:42:00.000-04:00

Cat Litter Box Cake for Halloween. Do you dare to eat it?

Woot and Wooting

2004-10-26T18:14:00.000-04:00

It's all a lie. It's a regular company that created a tale(WOOT!) so they could sell products without a return policy (even if it's defective). There's no bored employees looking for fun, just a company looking for easy money.

WOOT! An odd site indeed. Woot sells one product a day in limited quantities. When it sells out WOOT! They calm that they work for some electronic odd jobber who lets them sell some items for fun - for profit - out of boredom - because they can - because they have no life. There's also a message board for each product where wooters wait until a new product is posted (at 11:59am CST) and try to post first. It's like an clearance bin - you never know what you might find.