Monday, January 31, 2005
HOLD THE MANICOTTI, MONSIGNOR
The Rev. Jerome F. Gillespie resigned yesterday as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Swampscott after he was accused of asking a 12-year-old girl and her mother to perform a sex act at an Italian restaurant in Chelsea Tuesday night.
link
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The Rev. Jerome F. Gillespie resigned yesterday as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Swampscott after he was accused of asking a 12-year-old girl and her mother to perform a sex act at an Italian restaurant in Chelsea Tuesday night.
link
Thursday, January 27, 2005
NEWS FROM CHEESE COUNTRY
PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) - A teenager put mouse poison into his family's food for five weeks before his stepfather discovered the pellets in some coffee grounds, according to a criminal complaint.
the rest
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PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) - A teenager put mouse poison into his family's food for five weeks before his stepfather discovered the pellets in some coffee grounds, according to a criminal complaint.
the rest
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
TGIAA PART 2
He was adored by his parishioners, revered in the Boston area, a prosecutor acknowledged yesterday. But to a 6-year-old Newton Sunday school student in 1983, the Rev. Paul R. Shanley represented a dark and terrible threat: a man who would pull him from class and rape him in the rectory or bathroom or confessional, admonishing him that "if you tell, no one will believe you."
Beantown troubles
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He was adored by his parishioners, revered in the Boston area, a prosecutor acknowledged yesterday. But to a 6-year-old Newton Sunday school student in 1983, the Rev. Paul R. Shanley represented a dark and terrible threat: a man who would pull him from class and rape him in the rectory or bathroom or confessional, admonishing him that "if you tell, no one will believe you."
Beantown troubles
I THANK GOD I'M AN ATHIEST, YET AGAIN
WAI, India (AP) -- Thousands of sobbing relatives struggled to identify the blackened and bruised bodies of loved ones in a hospital Wednesday, a day after a stampede during a religious procession to a hilltop temple killed at least 258 people and injured 200 in western India.
The chain-reaction tragedy began when several Hindu pilgrims inside the temple fell on a slippery floor and were crushed to death by the crowd. Word of the accident then trickled out to some of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims climbing toward the hilltop on a narrow walkway.
Angered over the deaths, some pilgrims began setting the shops lining the path on fire, sparking a stampede that killed at least 258 people, including 156 women, Subha Rao, the top district administrator, told The Associated Press.
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WAI, India (AP) -- Thousands of sobbing relatives struggled to identify the blackened and bruised bodies of loved ones in a hospital Wednesday, a day after a stampede during a religious procession to a hilltop temple killed at least 258 people and injured 200 in western India.
The chain-reaction tragedy began when several Hindu pilgrims inside the temple fell on a slippery floor and were crushed to death by the crowd. Word of the accident then trickled out to some of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims climbing toward the hilltop on a narrow walkway.
Angered over the deaths, some pilgrims began setting the shops lining the path on fire, sparking a stampede that killed at least 258 people, including 156 women, Subha Rao, the top district administrator, told The Associated Press.
link
COMING SOON TO A RED STATE NEAR YOU
For women in poor Cairo neighborhoods or along the upper reaches of the Nile, out-of-wedlock pregnancies often end in death: the girl killed by her father or brother to end the public shame and cleanse the family honor.
nyt
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For women in poor Cairo neighborhoods or along the upper reaches of the Nile, out-of-wedlock pregnancies often end in death: the girl killed by her father or brother to end the public shame and cleanse the family honor.
nyt
Monday, January 24, 2005
I'D LIKE TO IMAGINE MYSELF SAYING THIS, BUT CAN'T SEE AS I'D EVER GET THE OPPORTUNITY
"Look, fuckhead, I didn't come here to buy shoes."
Gust Avrakotos
page 196
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"Look, fuckhead, I didn't come here to buy shoes."
Gust Avrakotos
page 196
GOD, I BET IT'S HILARIOUS. HOW WILL I BE ABLE TO WAIT 2 WEEKS?
From a Super Bowl ad discussion. link
Visa spokesman Michael Rolnick was equally tightlipped about their spot, which will extoll the security features of Visa's check card. Will the ad be funny?
"It is, and that's all I can tell you right now," Rolnick said.
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From a Super Bowl ad discussion. link
Visa spokesman Michael Rolnick was equally tightlipped about their spot, which will extoll the security features of Visa's check card. Will the ad be funny?
"It is, and that's all I can tell you right now," Rolnick said.
Friday, January 21, 2005
I HEAR HE'S GETTING HIS OWN SHOW ON SATELLITE RADIO
WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell, who opposed tight regulation of telecommunications but backed unprecedented fines against broadcast indecency, announced Friday he is resigning.
blah,blah,blah
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WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell, who opposed tight regulation of telecommunications but backed unprecedented fines against broadcast indecency, announced Friday he is resigning.
blah,blah,blah
Thursday, January 20, 2005
SINCE WHEN DID THAT STOP US?
"The possibility of a U.S. attack against Iran is very low. We think America is not in a position to take a lunatic action of attacking Iran."
Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.
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"The possibility of a U.S. attack against Iran is very low. We think America is not in a position to take a lunatic action of attacking Iran."
Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.
PANGLOSS IN CAMBRIDGE
The FBI launched a massive manhunt across the region yesterday for six people, four Chinese scientists and two Iraqis, said to be planning to detonate a "dirty bomb" in Boston, local public safety officials briefed on the threat said.
"The good news is that the most accessible radioactive material and the most bombs that you would imagine somebody using to disperse will have only modest impacts on human life."
Dr. Graham Allison, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and an assistant secretary of defense under President Clinton.
link
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The FBI launched a massive manhunt across the region yesterday for six people, four Chinese scientists and two Iraqis, said to be planning to detonate a "dirty bomb" in Boston, local public safety officials briefed on the threat said.
"The good news is that the most accessible radioactive material and the most bombs that you would imagine somebody using to disperse will have only modest impacts on human life."
Dr. Graham Allison, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and an assistant secretary of defense under President Clinton.
link
SPONGE BOB, PATRICK, OUTED
On the heels of electoral victories barring same-sex marriage, some influential conservative Christian groups are turning their attention to a new target: the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.
"Does anybody here know SpongeBob?" Dr. James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, asked.....
register, read the rest
"Have no sympathy for the mentally ill. It is a bottomless pit." William Burroughs
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On the heels of electoral victories barring same-sex marriage, some influential conservative Christian groups are turning their attention to a new target: the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.
"Does anybody here know SpongeBob?" Dr. James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, asked.....
register, read the rest
"Have no sympathy for the mentally ill. It is a bottomless pit." William Burroughs
AS LONG AS HE HAD NO IDEA IT WAS OFFENSIVE, LET'S GIVE HIM A PASS
EWING - The 82-year-old man who was charged with a bias crime after leaving racial slurs on three answering machines at area black churches Monday is a pastor himself, a fact that came as a surprise to ministers as they held a news conference yesterday to denounce the man's actions.
The Rev. Paul Shafran, pastor emeritus of St. Vladimir Orthodox Church on Grant Street in Trenton, attended the news conference and apologized for the messages he left referring to Martin Luther King Jr. Day as the "N-----" holiday.
extraneous material/link
"What kind of N----- holiday do we have today?" he says on the message. "What are you doing, frying chicken and pork chops?"
Shafran said he was reading newspapers, drinking wine and listening to radio shows about the holiday when he decided to call black churches to see what people think of the holiday.
"I used the `n' word," he said. "I didn't know it was offensive. I've heard blacks use it themselves.
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EWING - The 82-year-old man who was charged with a bias crime after leaving racial slurs on three answering machines at area black churches Monday is a pastor himself, a fact that came as a surprise to ministers as they held a news conference yesterday to denounce the man's actions.
The Rev. Paul Shafran, pastor emeritus of St. Vladimir Orthodox Church on Grant Street in Trenton, attended the news conference and apologized for the messages he left referring to Martin Luther King Jr. Day as the "N-----" holiday.
extraneous material/link
"What kind of N----- holiday do we have today?" he says on the message. "What are you doing, frying chicken and pork chops?"
Shafran said he was reading newspapers, drinking wine and listening to radio shows about the holiday when he decided to call black churches to see what people think of the holiday.
"I used the `n' word," he said. "I didn't know it was offensive. I've heard blacks use it themselves.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YANKEE INGENUITY?
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2 Charged In Scheme To Recruit Prostitutes
Police said they discovered the Salem scheme on Sunday, when three girls, ages 14, 15, and 16, came to the police department with their mothers, telling stories of being instructed to perform sex in showers, video instructions, and botched attempts to work the streets of Boston.
They led police to an apartment in Loring Towers, a large brick building atop a Salem hillside, where police said they found pornographic magazines, financial records, videos, and a paperback book called "The Pimp's Bible."
link
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2 Charged In Scheme To Recruit Prostitutes
Police said they discovered the Salem scheme on Sunday, when three girls, ages 14, 15, and 16, came to the police department with their mothers, telling stories of being instructed to perform sex in showers, video instructions, and botched attempts to work the streets of Boston.
They led police to an apartment in Loring Towers, a large brick building atop a Salem hillside, where police said they found pornographic magazines, financial records, videos, and a paperback book called "The Pimp's Bible."
link
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
KEN JENNINGS, CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Richard Hatch, a Newport resident who became a millionaire when he won the first-ever "Survivor'' series, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion, for filing false tax returns.
Federal prosecutors charged that Hatch, 43, failed to report his $1.01 million winnings from the CBS show, and did not report another $321,000 he was paid by a Boston radio station.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Richard Hatch, a Newport resident who became a millionaire when he won the first-ever "Survivor'' series, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion, for filing false tax returns.
Federal prosecutors charged that Hatch, 43, failed to report his $1.01 million winnings from the CBS show, and did not report another $321,000 he was paid by a Boston radio station.
ALFRED WAS NIMBLE, ALFRED WAS QUICK, BUT IF THAT WAS A PLASMA TV, HE COULD NEVER HAVE DONE THAT TRICK
A man allegedly on the run from Florida authorities since September was found curled up inside a television in Bainbridge, Ga.
After receiving a tip that Alfred Blane, 45, of Ponce de Leon might be in Decatur County, police on Friday went to a mobile home near Bainbridge College, where a woman told police he was hiding under a mattress inside.
Lending the department's police dog, Thomasville officers accompanied the Florida authorities inside the residence. The officers searched the house thoroughly, even checking a freezer and washing machine, said Lt. Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff's Office.Meanwhile, the dog kept poking around a television, an older floor model, Watkins said.
When officers unscrewed the back of the television, they found a balled-up Blane inside, he said, adding that Blane is between 5-foot-10 and 6-feet tall.
link
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A man allegedly on the run from Florida authorities since September was found curled up inside a television in Bainbridge, Ga.
After receiving a tip that Alfred Blane, 45, of Ponce de Leon might be in Decatur County, police on Friday went to a mobile home near Bainbridge College, where a woman told police he was hiding under a mattress inside.
Lending the department's police dog, Thomasville officers accompanied the Florida authorities inside the residence. The officers searched the house thoroughly, even checking a freezer and washing machine, said Lt. Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff's Office.Meanwhile, the dog kept poking around a television, an older floor model, Watkins said.
When officers unscrewed the back of the television, they found a balled-up Blane inside, he said, adding that Blane is between 5-foot-10 and 6-feet tall.
link
Thursday, January 13, 2005
HE WANTED TO GO AS SPONGE BOB, BUT THE COSTUME STORE WAS ALL OUT
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PRINCE Harry stunned partygoers by attending a pal’s birthday bash dressed as a Nazi soldier.Harry, 20, wore the swastika and desert uniform of Rommel’s hated German Afrika Korps to the party in West Littleton, Wilts.
link
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PRINCE Harry stunned partygoers by attending a pal’s birthday bash dressed as a Nazi soldier.Harry, 20, wore the swastika and desert uniform of Rommel’s hated German Afrika Korps to the party in West Littleton, Wilts.
link
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
NOT EXACTLY THE PUBLISHERS' CLEARINGHOUSE
"Congratulations," says Helen from Administration, as she deposits a lurid, hideously overgrown pointsettia on my desk.
"And what is this?" I ask.
"You won 2nd prize in the office Christmas raffle," she replies.
"Funny, I don't remember entering any raffle," I say.
"Everyone at the luncheon was automatically entered," she says. "We used the lunch tickets for the raffle."
"Oh, so that was my mistake," I counter.
She just stares at me. I guess you're not supposed to make fun of tragedy during the holiday season.
I have to think fast. I know LZ won't appreciate me bringing a mutant Christmas plant home.
"I'd like to accept this, but I really shouldn't," I say. "I have cats, and I've heard that pointsettia berries are toxic to them."
"No problem," JC yells from his desk. "Cats won't touch them. I fill the house with pointsettias every year, can't get a nibble."
"You know what you should do," Helen says, "tell your wife you stopped and got it special for her. She'll really appreciate the thought."
"Good idea," I say. "I guess I'll take it then."
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"Congratulations," says Helen from Administration, as she deposits a lurid, hideously overgrown pointsettia on my desk.
"And what is this?" I ask.
"You won 2nd prize in the office Christmas raffle," she replies.
"Funny, I don't remember entering any raffle," I say.
"Everyone at the luncheon was automatically entered," she says. "We used the lunch tickets for the raffle."
"Oh, so that was my mistake," I counter.
She just stares at me. I guess you're not supposed to make fun of tragedy during the holiday season.
I have to think fast. I know LZ won't appreciate me bringing a mutant Christmas plant home.
"I'd like to accept this, but I really shouldn't," I say. "I have cats, and I've heard that pointsettia berries are toxic to them."
"No problem," JC yells from his desk. "Cats won't touch them. I fill the house with pointsettias every year, can't get a nibble."
"You know what you should do," Helen says, "tell your wife you stopped and got it special for her. She'll really appreciate the thought."
"Good idea," I say. "I guess I'll take it then."
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
1. Government issues warning that terrorists may use lasers to target planes.
2. News media gets hold of warning. Runs hysterical alarmist stories for the better part of the day.
3. The standard backoff from all concerned. "No specific information." "No evidence terrorists actually doing this, etc."
4. Every jackass in the country who owns a laser (apparently a larger subset than one would imagine) runs into the backyard and shine their lasers at planes, helicopters, and geese.
5. A Jackass king merges:
David Banach, a Parsippany, NJ, resident lasered a chartered Cessna three times on Wednesday, December 29. The greater New York, New Jersey area is densely populated.
You would think it would be relatively easy to get away with doing something like this. (As also evidenced by the rash of other laserings of planes that have yielded no perpetrators.)
How did David Banach, Jackass King, get caught?
"On Friday, a helicopter carrying Port Authority detectives was hit by a laser beam as its crew surveyed the area to try to pinpoint the origin of the original beam." link
That's correct. Two days after the original incident, Mr. Banach, Jackass King, took out his laser and painted the very helicopter that was investigating his first attack.
On top of that, when confronted by authorities Mr. Banach did the honorable, manly thing and tried to blame his young daughter for his actions.
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1. Government issues warning that terrorists may use lasers to target planes.
2. News media gets hold of warning. Runs hysterical alarmist stories for the better part of the day.
3. The standard backoff from all concerned. "No specific information." "No evidence terrorists actually doing this, etc."
4. Every jackass in the country who owns a laser (apparently a larger subset than one would imagine) runs into the backyard and shine their lasers at planes, helicopters, and geese.
5. A Jackass king merges:
David Banach, a Parsippany, NJ, resident lasered a chartered Cessna three times on Wednesday, December 29. The greater New York, New Jersey area is densely populated.
You would think it would be relatively easy to get away with doing something like this. (As also evidenced by the rash of other laserings of planes that have yielded no perpetrators.)
How did David Banach, Jackass King, get caught?
"On Friday, a helicopter carrying Port Authority detectives was hit by a laser beam as its crew surveyed the area to try to pinpoint the origin of the original beam." link
That's correct. Two days after the original incident, Mr. Banach, Jackass King, took out his laser and painted the very helicopter that was investigating his first attack.
On top of that, when confronted by authorities Mr. Banach did the honorable, manly thing and tried to blame his young daughter for his actions.
Monday, January 03, 2005
ONE OF THOSE GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS EVENTS
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"The story is, blogs are catching on," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & Amercian Life Project, "Not just on the creator side, but also on the demand side. Blog readership took off in 2004."
"The election year drew awareness to political blogs, which then spilled over into other areas," Rainey said. Blogs related to the tsunami disaster have probably stirred new interest.
link
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"The story is, blogs are catching on," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & Amercian Life Project, "Not just on the creator side, but also on the demand side. Blog readership took off in 2004."
"The election year drew awareness to political blogs, which then spilled over into other areas," Rainey said. Blogs related to the tsunami disaster have probably stirred new interest.
link
