Okay I have been reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly busy lately and haven't posted. Sue me.
Anyway..I found these 2 amusing little stories and they made me smile. Hopefully they will make you smile too.
I am off to a sunny vacation for the next 2 weeks..so don't get your nickers in a twist if I don't post!
Woman Accused of Attacking Snoring Husband Thu Jun 16, 8:19 PM ET
FARGO, N.D. - A woman upset about her husband's snoring is accused of stabbing him with a pen and hitting him with a dumbbell to wake him up. DeAnn Miller-Boschert, 45, was charged Thursday with simple assault, a misdemeanor.
Police Sgt. Jeff Skuza said the woman first poured water on her husband early Thursday morning, but that did not wake him up. "She then stabbed him with a pen in the arm twice," Skuza said. "After he went back to sleep after the pen thing, she woke him up again with a workout weight." Skuza said the man called police from a convenience store at around 4 a.m. Thursday. He was not seriously hurt and did not seek medical attention, Skuza said. Skuza said the man had "two fresh puncture marks" from the pen but showed no signs of being hit with the 3-pound dumbbell. "He did have some scratches on his shoulders and arms that he said were from previous attacks," Skuza said. Officers said Miller-Boschert told them she wanted her husband to sleep on his side, to prevent him from snoring. She was taken to the Cass County Jail pending a court appearance Friday.
Skuza said the man returned to his home.
"I assume he went back to sleep," Skuza said.
"Adopted" Italian granddad skips town, leaves debt Thu Jun 16, 2:01 PM ET
ROME (Reuters) - A lonely Italian pensioner who was "adopted" by a family last year after his pleas for company in classified ads, has absconded leaving behind a big dentist's bill and bounced cheques. Giorgio Angelozzi, 80, skipped out on the family in Bergamo, northern Italy, before a dentist's bill for 2,360 euros arrived. Two cheques Angelozzi sent to cover the costs turned out to have been stolen from another family that took him in. "He wasn't the granddad we wanted. He got on well with mom, but when we talked to him about our stuff, he got bored," said Dagmara Riva of the retired classics teacher her parents gave a home to. Angelozzi was inundated with offers from as far away as New Zealand, Brazil and the United States before he opted to live with the Riva family. Police are now hunting for the man who used to live alone with seven cats. The pensioner's story has also caught the eye of a movie producers who have been in touch with the Rivas.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Monday, June 13, 2005
And all is right with the world..making up for a few days of not posting:)
A survey recently conducted by GMAC aimed at seeing how well drivers know the rules of the road has revealed that out of 50 states, only Rhode Island is worse than my beloved home state of Massachusetts! Yes ladies and gents we are horrible drivers. What amazes me is that GMAC needed a survey for this.
How can one NOT predict that MA would have bad drivers? The entire road system in the city of Boston was originally designed as COW paths! Seriously! It is one of the most hellish cities in the US to find your way around. Add the Big Dig to that and you don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of making your way from Dorchester to Haymarket without taking at least 4 wrong turns, going the wrong way down a 1 way street, getting flipped off, sworn at and have your blood pressure skyrocket to the point of apoplexy.
Some rules for you:
BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN BOSTON
(subject to change at any time):
1. When on a one way street, stay to the right to allow oncoming traffic to pass.
2. Never, ever, stop for a pedestrian unless he flings himself under the wheels of your car.
3. The first parking space you see will be the last parking space you see. Grab it.
4. Double park in the North End of Boston, unless triple parking is available.
5. Learn to swerve abruptly. Boston is the home of slalom driving, thanks to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
6. Never get in the way of a car that needs extensive bodywork.
7. Always look both ways when running a red light.
8. Honk your horn the instant the light changes.
9. Breakdown lanes are not for breaking down, but for speeding, especially during rush hour. Breakdown lanes may also end without warning causing traffic jams as people merge back in.
10. Never use directional signals when changing lanes. They only warn other drivers to speed up and not let you in.
11. Making eye contact revokes your right of way.
12. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right.
13. Whenever possible, stop in the middle of a crosswalk to ensure inconveniencing as many pedestrians as possible. And if a pedestrian ahead of you steps in the road, speed up loudly and chase him back up on the curb. Peds have no rights.
And the always fun:
YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM BOSTON WHEN...
You think of Philadelphia as the Midwest.
You think it's your God-given right to cut someone off in traffic.
You think there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's).
You think three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heatwave.
All your pets are named after Celtics or Bruins.
You refer to 6 inches of snow as a "dusting."
Just hearing the words "New York" puts you in an angry mood.
You don't think you have an attitude.
You always 'bang a left' as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.
Everything in town is "a five minute walk."
When out of town, you think the natives of the area are all whacked.
You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
You have no idea what the word compromise means.
You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
You don't realize that you walk and talk twice as fast as everyone else.
You're anal, neurotic, pessimistic and stubborn.
You think if someone is nice to you, they must want something or are from out of town.
Your favorite adjective is "wicked."
You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.
You think the Kennedy's are misunderstood.
WHEN WE SAY ________ WE MEAN...
Bizah - odd
Flahwiz - roses, etc.
Hahpahst - minutes after the hour
Hahwahya? - how are you?
Khakis - what we staht the cah with
Pissah - superb
Retahded - silly
Shewah - of course
Wikkid - extremely
Yiz - you, plural
Popcahn - popular snack
HOW WE'LL KNOW YOU WEREN'T BON HEAH:
You wear a Harvard sweatshirt.
You ask directions to "Cheers."
You order a grinder and a soda.
You follow soccer.
You eat at Durgin Park.
You pronounce it "Worchester" or Glouchester."
You call it "COPELY" square.
DEFINITIONS:
Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don't.
If it's fizzy and flavored, it's tonic. Soda is club soda. Pop is dad. When we mean tonic WATER, we say tonic WATER.
The smallest beer is a pint.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish.
If you paid more than $6 a pound, you got scrod.
It's not a water fountain, it's a bubblah.
It's not a trash can, it's a barrel.
It's not a shopping cart, it's a carriage.
It's not a purse, it's a pockabook.
Brown bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it and eat it with baked beans.
They're not franks, they're haht dahgs. Franks usded to be money in France.
THINGS NOT TO DO:
Don't call it Beantown.
Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd. They'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Slumaville (Sommerville).
Don't swim in the Charles, no matter what Manino tells you.
Don't sleep in the Common.
Don't wear orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses and two Hancock buildings (one old, one new).
Route 128 is also I-95. It is also I-93.
It's the Sox, The Pats (or Patsies if they're losing), the Seltz, the Broons.
The underground train is not the subway. It's the T and it doesn't run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).
GETTING AROUND:
Pay no attention to the street names. There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical odda. Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D.
If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets you're in Wellesley.
All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass Ave., Dot Ave.
Dot is Dorchester, Rozzie Roslindale, JP is Jamaica Plain. Readville doesn't exist.
THE NORTH-EAST-SOUTH-WEST THING:
Southie is South Boston. The South End is the South End. Eastie is East Boston. The North End is east of the West End.
The West End and Scollay Square are no more-a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.
The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South Boston, which lies directly east from the South End. North of the South End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End. Backbay was filled in years ago.
How can one NOT predict that MA would have bad drivers? The entire road system in the city of Boston was originally designed as COW paths! Seriously! It is one of the most hellish cities in the US to find your way around. Add the Big Dig to that and you don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of making your way from Dorchester to Haymarket without taking at least 4 wrong turns, going the wrong way down a 1 way street, getting flipped off, sworn at and have your blood pressure skyrocket to the point of apoplexy.
Some rules for you:
BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN BOSTON
(subject to change at any time):
1. When on a one way street, stay to the right to allow oncoming traffic to pass.
2. Never, ever, stop for a pedestrian unless he flings himself under the wheels of your car.
3. The first parking space you see will be the last parking space you see. Grab it.
4. Double park in the North End of Boston, unless triple parking is available.
5. Learn to swerve abruptly. Boston is the home of slalom driving, thanks to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
6. Never get in the way of a car that needs extensive bodywork.
7. Always look both ways when running a red light.
8. Honk your horn the instant the light changes.
9. Breakdown lanes are not for breaking down, but for speeding, especially during rush hour. Breakdown lanes may also end without warning causing traffic jams as people merge back in.
10. Never use directional signals when changing lanes. They only warn other drivers to speed up and not let you in.
11. Making eye contact revokes your right of way.
12. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right.
13. Whenever possible, stop in the middle of a crosswalk to ensure inconveniencing as many pedestrians as possible. And if a pedestrian ahead of you steps in the road, speed up loudly and chase him back up on the curb. Peds have no rights.
And the always fun:
YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM BOSTON WHEN...
You think of Philadelphia as the Midwest.
You think it's your God-given right to cut someone off in traffic.
You think there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's).
You think three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heatwave.
All your pets are named after Celtics or Bruins.
You refer to 6 inches of snow as a "dusting."
Just hearing the words "New York" puts you in an angry mood.
You don't think you have an attitude.
You always 'bang a left' as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.
Everything in town is "a five minute walk."
When out of town, you think the natives of the area are all whacked.
You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
You have no idea what the word compromise means.
You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
You don't realize that you walk and talk twice as fast as everyone else.
You're anal, neurotic, pessimistic and stubborn.
You think if someone is nice to you, they must want something or are from out of town.
Your favorite adjective is "wicked."
You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.
You think the Kennedy's are misunderstood.
WHEN WE SAY ________ WE MEAN...
Bizah - odd
Flahwiz - roses, etc.
Hahpahst - minutes after the hour
Hahwahya? - how are you?
Khakis - what we staht the cah with
Pissah - superb
Retahded - silly
Shewah - of course
Wikkid - extremely
Yiz - you, plural
Popcahn - popular snack
HOW WE'LL KNOW YOU WEREN'T BON HEAH:
You wear a Harvard sweatshirt.
You ask directions to "Cheers."
You order a grinder and a soda.
You follow soccer.
You eat at Durgin Park.
You pronounce it "Worchester" or Glouchester."
You call it "COPELY" square.
DEFINITIONS:
Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don't.
If it's fizzy and flavored, it's tonic. Soda is club soda. Pop is dad. When we mean tonic WATER, we say tonic WATER.
The smallest beer is a pint.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish.
If you paid more than $6 a pound, you got scrod.
It's not a water fountain, it's a bubblah.
It's not a trash can, it's a barrel.
It's not a shopping cart, it's a carriage.
It's not a purse, it's a pockabook.
Brown bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it and eat it with baked beans.
They're not franks, they're haht dahgs. Franks usded to be money in France.
THINGS NOT TO DO:
Don't call it Beantown.
Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd. They'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Slumaville (Sommerville).
Don't swim in the Charles, no matter what Manino tells you.
Don't sleep in the Common.
Don't wear orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses and two Hancock buildings (one old, one new).
Route 128 is also I-95. It is also I-93.
It's the Sox, The Pats (or Patsies if they're losing), the Seltz, the Broons.
The underground train is not the subway. It's the T and it doesn't run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).
GETTING AROUND:
Pay no attention to the street names. There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical odda. Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D.
If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets you're in Wellesley.
All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass Ave., Dot Ave.
Dot is Dorchester, Rozzie Roslindale, JP is Jamaica Plain. Readville doesn't exist.
THE NORTH-EAST-SOUTH-WEST THING:
Southie is South Boston. The South End is the South End. Eastie is East Boston. The North End is east of the West End.
The West End and Scollay Square are no more-a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.
The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South Boston, which lies directly east from the South End. North of the South End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End. Backbay was filled in years ago.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Too Far?
"Spanking Illegal In Massachusetts?
Proposed Bill Would Outlaw Corporal Punishment For Children
POSTED: 6:58 am EDT June 8, 2005
UPDATED: 8:32 am EDT June 8, 2005
BOSTON -- Should parents be allowed to spank their children? Massachusetts lawmakers will be debating that question following the filing of a bill that would ban corporal punishment in the commonwealth.
NewsCenter 5's Kelly Tuthill reported that state Rep. James Marzilli, Jr., of Arlington, Mass., is one of the sponsors of the bill, which prohibits everything from spanking to "hot saucing," which involves putting undiluted Tabasco sauce in a child's mouth.
In April, a Plymouth, Mass., father landed on the front page of local papers and behind bars after he used a belt to spank his son Josh, 12.
"He forgot his book. I went upstairs, I got my belt. I came downstairs. I gave him three swats on the rear end, with his pants on, like any concerned parent would do, and scared him, of course, you know. Hopefully I got the point across," Charles Enloe said.
But now, lawmakers are considering making "the willfull infliction of physical pain on children under 18," illegal. The measure would prohibit corporal punishment including whipping, spanking and pinching. Also forbidden would be washing a child's mouth out with soap and administering electric shocks.
The bill comes two weeks after Brookline, Mass., Town Meeting passed a non-binding resolution encouraging parents not to spank. The Supreme Judicial Court addressed the issue after a Woburn, Mass., minister used a belt to spank his 9-year-old son. In 1999, he was cleared when the SJC ruled that parents have a right to spank their children if it does not cause substantial risk of injury.
The bill appears to be unprecedented. Supporters said it's all about preventing abuse, not prosecuting parents."
Hmmm...so now the government can tell you not to spank your kid or wash their mouth out with soap...
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
And scientific papers are dangerous????
Man With Stained Chain Saw Let in to U.S.
"Tue Jun 7,10:54 PM ET
BOSTON - On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.
The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres' hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on Fulton's kitchen floor. His head was in a pillowcase under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.
Despres, 22, immediately became a suspect because of a history of violence between him and his neighbors, and he was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway in a sweat shirt with red and brown stains. He is now in jail in Massachusetts on murder charges, awaiting an extradition hearing next month.
At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?..."
Okay...tell me that this guy wouldn't set YOUR "crazy guy" radar off:
"Tue Jun 7,10:54 PM ET
BOSTON - On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.
The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres' hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on Fulton's kitchen floor. His head was in a pillowcase under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.
Despres, 22, immediately became a suspect because of a history of violence between him and his neighbors, and he was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway in a sweat shirt with red and brown stains. He is now in jail in Massachusetts on murder charges, awaiting an extradition hearing next month.
At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?..."
Okay...tell me that this guy wouldn't set YOUR "crazy guy" radar off:
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Constitution?! We don't need no stinking Constitution!!
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
...otherwise known as the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States...
Now, I am a bleeding heart liberal. And as being such I expect a fair amount of bashing from the more conservative sides. It is a healthy difference of opinion. I respect their right to believe differently than I do. With that being said, the Constitution is something that most every American values and believes in. The first 10 Amendments (The Bill of Rights) are pretty much known by most Americans who took a US History class. The most famous are the 1st and the 5th. Not that the 4th and 6th aren't right up there, it is just that most people who aren't political or law junkies remember statments like: "I refuse to answer on the grounds that I many incriminate myself..Senator"...or "I must assert my 5th amendment right not to answer Congressman"....
The 1st Amendment is the one that EVERYONE knows. The freedom to speak, report news, write books(blogs these days too) and practice your religion without fear of persecution or being thrown in a pit of ravenous lions because you called GW a Monkeyboy. With the Patriot Act, that has changed though. Many people will agree that giving up a few liberties to protect the nation from the atrocities that happened on 9/11 occuring again is okay. I tend to disagree. One of the things that made America great was the freedoms which were won by blood and sacrifice by our forefathers and successive generations. I was and still am grateful to those who put themselves in harms way so that my 11 year old self could fall out of a tree and go to school to learn that in the US you can say the government sucks without having to worry about being thrown in a prison for 50 years.
I really am getting to my point. I promise. I was reading today on CNN's website
about how the HHS (Heath and Human Services Department)is seeking to halt the publication of a research paper by a professor and his graduate student from Stanford because they think it is a "roadmap for terrorists" on how to contaminate the nation's milk supply. It is a research paper on biological terrorism on how terrorist might want to poison the moo juice and also on how to better protect it.
"The paper "is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the interests of the United States," HHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Simonson wrote in a letter to the science academy chief Dr. Bruce Alberts."
Okay..since when does what someone publishes or writes have to be in the "interests" of the United States? I am not advocating for the US milk supply to go all bad and icky here. I am just curious. IF you stop the publication of a scientific work because it could make bad people do bad things, what is next? Do we halt the publication of the comic strip Dilbert (very funny btw) because it may promote dissatisfaction in the work force and lead to lower productivity which then has a negative effect on the US economy thus causing harm to the "interests" of the United States?... Or better yet..No you can't call GW an "insipid moron who's only discernable simian trait is that he has opposable thumbs!"...printing that would not be in the "interests" of the US...although most of the world believes it anyway.
Dealing with scientific openens and still taking into account national security is a very important thing, but where do you draw the line? The paper was submitted to the NAS (National Academy of Sciences), vetted and approved..then the HHS and FDA stepped in and said "oh no no no..you can't publish this." Just so you know, the NAS is actually chartered by Congress to advise the US Government on science and technology stuff (god knows GW doesn't know the difference between a computer and a power saw).
...slippery slope folks....
...otherwise known as the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States...
Now, I am a bleeding heart liberal. And as being such I expect a fair amount of bashing from the more conservative sides. It is a healthy difference of opinion. I respect their right to believe differently than I do. With that being said, the Constitution is something that most every American values and believes in. The first 10 Amendments (The Bill of Rights) are pretty much known by most Americans who took a US History class. The most famous are the 1st and the 5th. Not that the 4th and 6th aren't right up there, it is just that most people who aren't political or law junkies remember statments like: "I refuse to answer on the grounds that I many incriminate myself..Senator"...or "I must assert my 5th amendment right not to answer Congressman"....
The 1st Amendment is the one that EVERYONE knows. The freedom to speak, report news, write books(blogs these days too) and practice your religion without fear of persecution or being thrown in a pit of ravenous lions because you called GW a Monkeyboy. With the Patriot Act, that has changed though. Many people will agree that giving up a few liberties to protect the nation from the atrocities that happened on 9/11 occuring again is okay. I tend to disagree. One of the things that made America great was the freedoms which were won by blood and sacrifice by our forefathers and successive generations. I was and still am grateful to those who put themselves in harms way so that my 11 year old self could fall out of a tree and go to school to learn that in the US you can say the government sucks without having to worry about being thrown in a prison for 50 years.
I really am getting to my point. I promise. I was reading today on CNN's website
about how the HHS (Heath and Human Services Department)is seeking to halt the publication of a research paper by a professor and his graduate student from Stanford because they think it is a "roadmap for terrorists" on how to contaminate the nation's milk supply. It is a research paper on biological terrorism on how terrorist might want to poison the moo juice and also on how to better protect it.
"The paper "is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the interests of the United States," HHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Simonson wrote in a letter to the science academy chief Dr. Bruce Alberts."
Okay..since when does what someone publishes or writes have to be in the "interests" of the United States? I am not advocating for the US milk supply to go all bad and icky here. I am just curious. IF you stop the publication of a scientific work because it could make bad people do bad things, what is next? Do we halt the publication of the comic strip Dilbert (very funny btw) because it may promote dissatisfaction in the work force and lead to lower productivity which then has a negative effect on the US economy thus causing harm to the "interests" of the United States?... Or better yet..No you can't call GW an "insipid moron who's only discernable simian trait is that he has opposable thumbs!"...printing that would not be in the "interests" of the US...although most of the world believes it anyway.
Dealing with scientific openens and still taking into account national security is a very important thing, but where do you draw the line? The paper was submitted to the NAS (National Academy of Sciences), vetted and approved..then the HHS and FDA stepped in and said "oh no no no..you can't publish this." Just so you know, the NAS is actually chartered by Congress to advise the US Government on science and technology stuff (god knows GW doesn't know the difference between a computer and a power saw).
...slippery slope folks....
Monday, June 06, 2005
Retirement
It is no secret the US Social Security System is in deep doo-doo. The idea of the Social Security system is a good one. I really believe society should revere and care for its elderly.
Face it, at some point we all are going to be one of those old people you see walking/rolling very slowly down the sidewalk on the way to Bingo or the store to buy more bargain toilet paper or to the local coffee shop to have a cup of jav/tea with the other old farts in the neighborhood where we will bitch and moan about how kids today don't respect their elders, the music they listen to is too loud, they have no respect for their teachers, they don't know what it was like to only have a laptop and 2 cell phones..yadda yadda yadda...
Unfortunately, the SS system is not doing what it is supposed to. Seniors have to go to Canada for medications because there is no national healthcare system in the States where you can get treatment for low cost and the healthcare plan they had with their employer (if they can even still afford the premiums) doesn't cover the medications they need to survive. Senior citizens perish from malnutrition, freezing to death because they can't afford to pay the heating bills or get oil delivered, die from the flu because they can't afford to see a doctor..and the list goes on.
And as a result of a system and society which is in love with youth and beauty and bigger/better/faster/NOW our elderly are forced to do what they need to do to survive:
"Police say granny, 80, ran prostitution ring
Claims she needed to supplement Social Security checks
Monday, June 6, 2005 Posted: 3:26 AM EDT (0726 GMT)
LINDENWOLD, New Jersey (AP) -- Police made a surprising discovery when they busted the alleged madam of a prostitution ring called "August Playmates": The woman running the show was an 80-year-old grandmother.
Authorities arrested Vera Tursi last month during a sting operation to crack down on prostitution rings posing as legal escort services. Police say Tursi ran the business from her two-bedroom apartment, taking $60 of every $160 she charged clients for one hour with a call girl.
Law enforcement officials say Tursi admitted her role in the business, saying she took it over a few years ago from her daughter, who had died. Police say Tursi told them she needed money to subsidize her Social Security checks...."
Face it, at some point we all are going to be one of those old people you see walking/rolling very slowly down the sidewalk on the way to Bingo or the store to buy more bargain toilet paper or to the local coffee shop to have a cup of jav/tea with the other old farts in the neighborhood where we will bitch and moan about how kids today don't respect their elders, the music they listen to is too loud, they have no respect for their teachers, they don't know what it was like to only have a laptop and 2 cell phones..yadda yadda yadda...
Unfortunately, the SS system is not doing what it is supposed to. Seniors have to go to Canada for medications because there is no national healthcare system in the States where you can get treatment for low cost and the healthcare plan they had with their employer (if they can even still afford the premiums) doesn't cover the medications they need to survive. Senior citizens perish from malnutrition, freezing to death because they can't afford to pay the heating bills or get oil delivered, die from the flu because they can't afford to see a doctor..and the list goes on.
And as a result of a system and society which is in love with youth and beauty and bigger/better/faster/NOW our elderly are forced to do what they need to do to survive:
"Police say granny, 80, ran prostitution ring
Claims she needed to supplement Social Security checks
Monday, June 6, 2005 Posted: 3:26 AM EDT (0726 GMT)
LINDENWOLD, New Jersey (AP) -- Police made a surprising discovery when they busted the alleged madam of a prostitution ring called "August Playmates": The woman running the show was an 80-year-old grandmother.
Authorities arrested Vera Tursi last month during a sting operation to crack down on prostitution rings posing as legal escort services. Police say Tursi ran the business from her two-bedroom apartment, taking $60 of every $160 she charged clients for one hour with a call girl.
Law enforcement officials say Tursi admitted her role in the business, saying she took it over a few years ago from her daughter, who had died. Police say Tursi told them she needed money to subsidize her Social Security checks...."
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Grasshopper..You' re OUT!!
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Five Thai Buddhist monks have been defrocked and fined after a brawl with monks from a nearby temple, police and newspapers said Tuesday.
The street fight was the culmination of years of antagonism between monks from the two temples who had often exchanged curses, insults and rude gestures as they collected alms on different sides of a road, the Manager newspaper said.
"When an ordinary person is given a middle-finger sign, he will be mad. So am I," it quoted one of the defrocked monks, Boonlert Boonpan, as saying after the brawl in the northeastern state of Nong Khai Monday.
Boonlert said he usually carried a knuckle-duster in his shoulder bag during the morning collection of alms on which Bhuddist monks depend, it said.
Boonlert and the four other monks, all aged between 15 and 28, were each fined 1,000 baht ($25) by police for public brawling and were defrocked by senior monks, Wut Pomraksa, head of Nong Khai police station, told Reuters.
But Boonlert was unrepentant.
"If senators can fight in parliament, why can't monks?" he said.
...and just so you know what one is....
The street fight was the culmination of years of antagonism between monks from the two temples who had often exchanged curses, insults and rude gestures as they collected alms on different sides of a road, the Manager newspaper said.
"When an ordinary person is given a middle-finger sign, he will be mad. So am I," it quoted one of the defrocked monks, Boonlert Boonpan, as saying after the brawl in the northeastern state of Nong Khai Monday.
Boonlert said he usually carried a knuckle-duster in his shoulder bag during the morning collection of alms on which Bhuddist monks depend, it said.
Boonlert and the four other monks, all aged between 15 and 28, were each fined 1,000 baht ($25) by police for public brawling and were defrocked by senior monks, Wut Pomraksa, head of Nong Khai police station, told Reuters.
But Boonlert was unrepentant.
"If senators can fight in parliament, why can't monks?" he said.
...and just so you know what one is....
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Unabashed return to Childhood
WOW I am so juvenile. I watch this lovely little clip and I get all giggly and I can't stop. It cracks me up!!! I know I know..what am I 12!?!?!?!
turn up the sound folks!: http://www.student.ltu.se/~perlin-2/prylar/svt.rude.se.swf
turn up the sound folks!: http://www.student.ltu.se/~perlin-2/prylar/svt.rude.se.swf
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