imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Saturday, February 26, 2005
THE SAGA CONTINUES ...
 | Episode II: Trace in SON OF A WHORE "Fuck me," Trace hissed to himself, "Its the Lyndon La Rouche mob." In case you missed Episode I: Trace and the leggy Lisa in POOR SONOFABITCH Her long, slender legs were entwined in the soft brown bed sheets like orphaned tree limbs littering the desert floor. |
Friday, February 25, 2005
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MONEY MONEY MONEY
 | Dare we say fraud? ANOTHER BIZARRE TWIST IN THE WARD CHURCHILL SAGA |
 | Local news for me: The odds of winning a Kangaroo Kash $1 million jackpot are one in 4,032,000, according to the New York Lottery Web site. |
 | Corning to pay $21M in bonuses [T]he average bonus for an employee making $30,000 per year would be about $2,163. An employee making $50,000 per year would see an average bonus of $3,605. |
YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW
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This story reminds me of the 1986 movie The Color of Money. It was a sequel to the 1961 movie The Hustler. Paul Newman returns as Fast Eddie Felson who finds the young pool player Vince, played by Tom Cruise, and grooms him for the big time. Cruise is an arcade game addict who loves the games which put him in control of flying bombers. When Newman asks him about the games, Cruise offers a chilling answer. He said that wars will be fought with young guys whose surgical bombing skills were learned on such video games. I’ve been trying to locate the dialogue online but have had no luck, but I’ve always remembered that because he was right.
I do NOT believe in censorship, but I am appalled by what parents allow they children to see and do. Teenagers are especially susceptible to the violence and/or sex laden games. Simply because they know about something does not make it wise or appropriate for their age. Devin Thompson should bear the full brunt of the law for the evil he committed. The unfortunate victims’ families should be ashamed of trying to profit from their loss. The fault lies with Devin Thompson, not the deep-pocketed companies which produced the games.
Game Blame
When 16-year-old Devin Thompson shot down two Alabama police officers and a dispatcher in cold blood in 2003, local journalists, teachers, and coffee-shop commentators began the usual round of soul searching. Some wanted to fix point the figure at the boy's negligent parents. Some wanted to blame a wayward society that had in so many ways failed the boy-killer. A few even wanted to blame the boy himself. But the victims' families had other ideas
It turns out the real guilty party was a software manufacturer. Also complicit in the homicides were corporations like Wal-Mart and Sony. According to a civil suit filed on behalf of relatives of two of the deceased, Take Two Interactive Software's crime-action game Grand Theft Auto "trained and motivated" Devon Thompson to steal a car, and, once apprehended by Fayette police officers, snatch a service revolver from one of cops and open fire, finally making off in a stolen police car. During the melee officers Arnold Strickland, James Crump, and dispatcher Leslie Mealer were killed. Apprehended a second time Thompson, according to the AP, told the cops that, "Life is a video game. You got to die sometimes."
TWO GREAT FINDS, JUST FOR FUN
 | If you have never watched Jennifer Shimaan's 30-Second Bunnies Theater recreate the classics, you're in for a hilarious treat! My personal fave is The Shining. |
 | Trust me, you'll love this short-short story with a surprising twist by Write Winger: Terror At the Mini-Mart |
EUROPE TAKES NOTICE
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| US President George W. Bush (L) and Slovak Republic President Ivan Gasparovic (C) look on as Russian President Vladimir Putin waves at Bratislava Castle(AFP/Paul J. Richards) |
BEHIND THE PREZ'S WINNING ROAD TRIP
By Dick Morris
Nobody [in Europe] expected Bush to be re-elected. Subjected to 24/7 of liberal propaganda, the European man in the street felt that Bush was going to crash and burn in the U.S. election. Western Europe was happy about it. Eastern Europe, unhappy. But nobody felt the he would pull it out. That he did — and expanded his control of both houses of Congress — without compromising on Iraq or withdrawing our troops, sent a message that the American people are behind their president.
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His trip to Europe highlights Bush's new appeal. His name and photo dominate all the front pages and his speeches — newly eloquent and increasingly idealistic — are being heard by all. He is going over the heads of the leftist European media and speaking directly to eastern and western Europe.
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Bush and Condi Rice are cutting a swath through the Continent. No doubt about it.
It's the same in the United States. The Democrats are in disarray with their putative candidate, Hillary, moving to the center, while the party elects leftist Howard Dean as its chairman. More and more, the Democrats are not merely inconsistent, wrong and/or misguided — they are the worst of all possible things you can be in Washington: irrelevant.
And Europe has noticed.
THERE IS A GOD AFTER ALL!
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French Women Do Too Get Fat
Today, thanks to globalization, the French are starting to eat, and look, more like us: According to a recent article in the Times of London, the traditional French meal is eaten by only 20 percent of the population. Instead, they increasingly favor the abbreviated, on-the-go meals of Americans. The national rate of obesity is rising fast. While only 6 percent of the population was obese in 1990, today the proportion is 11.3 percent. That is still well behind the same figure for the United States (22 percent) but on track to match our levels by 2020. The French are not happy about it. In a parliamentary report last spring highlighting the dramatic increase in obesity, legislators proposed launching a new government agency to fight weight gain, to be funded by a tax on high-calorie or high-fat foods.
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It is another interesting paradox: The French ability to take pleasure in food, and to choose food based on taste rather than dietary dogma, begins with a child's lack of choice, and a degree of parental and state authoritarianism.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
PRAY FOR TERRI SCHIAVO
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Like Lorie, I have a difficult time with the story of Terri Schiavo. I simply can not imagine my son-in-law wanting to pull the feeding tubes out of my daughter which would slowly starve her to death. Lorie linked to this excellent post, full of links, and I am following suit.
SCHIAVO'S CEREBRAL CORTEX A "GIANT BLACK HOLE"
George J. Felos, the lead attorney for Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, and a long-standing right-to-die and euthanasia proponent, has declared Terri Schiavo's cerebral cortex a giant black hole, according to a "Washington Post" story by Manuel Roig-Franzia, published in this morning's edition. I'll leave it to my readers to decide if this crass comment tops the one purportedly made by Terri's loving, two-timing hubby (and verified by nurses who heard it) -- namely, When is that bitch going to die? Quite a pair, aren't they?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOANCAT!
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From the entire cast and crew of her favorite show.
And, for your additional Charlie-Sheen-is-one-hot-throbbing-hunk pleasure:
Charlie Harper Sucks!
Have a fabulous birthday, LoanCat, and thanks for being a great friend!
Kitty
JUSTA LOSER
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SORRY $5M LOSER
A compulsive gambler who fed her habit by siphoning $5 million from the elevator-repair company where she was a bookkeeper apologized to a Queens judge yesterday for her sticky fingers.
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Prosecutors said Villa stole the money between November 2000 and June 2002 by creating a false employee — then diverting between $500 and $23,000 a week — into the "employee's" bank account, which she set up and controlled.
She was busted in February 2003, when officials with P.S. Marcato Elevator Co. of Long Island City found glaring irregularities in the books as they were preparing for a bankruptcy filing.
Hmmmm, could she have indirectly been responsible for the unfortunate elevator incident involving Mandy Patinkin? Justa thought :)
POISON PEN LETTERS ANTIDOTE
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A FIELD TRIP FOR POISON PENS
By Arnold Ahlert
I HAVE a suggestion for those letter-writing Park Slope students: It's time for a class trip — to the city medical examiner's office.
That office has come to an end in its effort to identify any more remains of the World Trade Center victims. The excruciating 39-month effort ground to a halt after 1,588 victims of the attack on the World Trade Center had been identified. Another 1,161 victims never will be, denying their families that closure.
Maybe the kids could view the 10,000 bone and tissue fragments that remain unidentified — each a piece of some unfortunate New Yorker who got a "death sentence" for the "crime" of showing up to work on time. Perhaps some of the self-righteousness that permeates much of Park Slope — so near to where the towers once stood — might be tempered by the flesh-and-bone of reality.
Perhaps the smugness that assumes our effort to change the Middle East is completely misguided might be chastened by the sight of so much death, so close at hand. Perhaps history — especially the in-your-face kind — is the best teacher.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
MEMO TO DICK TRACEY [sic]
| Don't tell me; |
DIFFERENT POV ON THOSE LETTERS
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Lorie, at Polipundits:
I have posted a somewhat different take on the story of the sixth grade class that sent letters to the soldier, with many of the letters including anti-war statements. My concern, even greater than that of the children possibly being indoctrinated, is that they have not even been taught the basics about the role of the military. If they had been, they never would have included those statements in letters to a soldier, but would have written a separate letter to the President or Secretary of Defense or to their local Congressman.
As I said, our tax dollars at work. And our very own Gayle couldn't have said it better:
I do not believe this teacher's tardy protests of innocence. He figured he was getting away with some sly "dissing" of our military via a bunch of kids and then he got nailed. He ought to be fired and tried for what should be a crime - vicious stupidity!
ENVIRO-WACKO'S WET DREAM
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| A delivery truck attempts to cross floodwaters covering the Hollywood Freeway after a severe thunderstorm closed the roadway in both directions Monday, Feb. 21, 2005, in Los Angeles. The wild weather came from a series of storms that began battering the state on Thursday, dumping 6.5 inches of rain in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian) |
Calif. Braces for Storms; Death Toll Up
In Ventura County, officials closed the small Santa Paula airport Tuesday after more than 155 feet of runway collapsed into the rushing Santa Clara River. Chunks of concrete crumbled into the water throughout the day. "We've lost nearly the entire west third of the airport," said Rowena Mason, president of the Santa Paula Airport Association. "This is millions and millions of dollars worth of damage."
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Authorities said dozens of homes were evacuated or red-tagged - marked as uninhabitable - because they threatened to collapse from sliding hillsides.
Mudslides forced Amtrak officials to suspend train service north of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara at least through Thursday.
The wild weather came from a series of storms that began battering the state on Thursday, dumping 8.15 inches of rain on downtown Los Angeles.
 | Rodger, Rodger, wherefore art thou, Rodger? Have you been washed away? |
QUEEN TO SKIP CHUCK NUPS*
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| Lucianne has the best photo with a priceless caption. |
Queen 'does not approve or does not care' about royal big day
"The Queen will not be attending the civil ceremony because she is aware that the prince and Mrs Parker Bowles wanted to keep the occasion low key. The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family will, of course, be going to the service of dedication at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. She is very pleased to be giving the wedding reception at the castle." - BUCKINGHAM PALACE SPOKESPERSON
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Asked if the Queen’s decision was a snub, the spokeswoman replied: "The Queen is attending the service of dedication and paying for the reception - this is not a snub."
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"You would have to be an absolutely dedicated monarchist not to see this as a snub.
"She is his mother. What mother would stay away from her son’s wedding other than a mother who isn’t happy about that wedding? That would be the basic assumption by anybody."
*Ripped that title from the NY POST.
OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
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| Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey received scathing letters from Brooklyn sixth-grader. |
This is a follow-up of a story I posted on yesterday, that of Pfc. Jacobs, who is serving in Iraq, who received some disturbing mail from sixth graders.
The first story: SOLDIER STUNNED BY LETTER KIDS' RANTS
The second: WRITING A WRONG
'SLUR' TEACH 'SORRY'
The Brooklyn teacher who sent an American soldier demoralizing letters written by sixth-graders apologized yesterday and admitted blame.
In a statement issued by the Department of Education, social studies teacher Alex Kunhardt said he regretted offending Pfc. Rob Jacobs.
His statement, however, did not address whether he either coached the students or read their missives — which accused soldiers of committing atrocities in Iraq — before mailing them.
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"It was never my intention to demean or insult anyone," said Kunhardt, who was spotted tossing a snowboard in his car outside his Park Slope home before driving off yesterday morning.
"I never meant for the words of my students to hurt any of our troops. The responsibility for this action is mine alone, and I apologize."
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
MEOW!
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Oh, what a day this has been! Day? Did I say day? Hell, it's been several lousy computer sick with 16 f'n Trojan viruses days. Nothing that y'all had to fear catching from my computer, and they weren't posing problems for me as yet.
I first noticed them when I ran a periodic scan a few days ago. At that time there were 6. But my anti-virus software didn't offer a solution. We tried crawling inside and yank 'em out manually, but that didn't work, either. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I tried find a number for the anti-virus software company, but just talking with them would cost $50! I just wanted to know how I could fix the problem, using their software, and it was going to cost me $50! So I called the only number I had which had a human being on the other end via a long, twisted road through computer menu hell. I called Microsoft.
After several HOURS with two different young techies, the only thing they could offer was to bump my case upstairs to a higher techie brain. Today the brainiac called and, after several more HOURS, we were finally able to eliminate the problem. However, in the process, we lost our e-mail accounts, so I set them up again, and we lost our settings and favorite online haunts. I had saved quite a few e-mails in folders and lost all of them. We didn't lose any of our stuff we had saved in our document files. What a nightmare.
I've posted a few things at LifelikePundits, where I co-blog along with Pat and Aaron and Prof.
And I found this incredible story yesterday:
SOLDIER STUNNED BY LETTER KIDS' RANTS
An American soldier overseas is fuming over letters he received from Brooklyn middle-school children accusing GIs of destroying mosques and killing civilians in Iraq.
Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey said he was initially ecstatic to get a package of letters from sixth-graders at JHS 51 in Park Slope last month at his base 10 miles from the North Korea border.
That changed when he opened the envelope and found missives strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave the Iraq war alive.
"It's hard enough for soldiers to deal with being away from their families, they don't need to be getting letters like this," Jacobs, 20, said in a phone interview from his base at Camp Casey.
"If they don't have anything nice to say, they might as well not say anything at all."
With a followuop today:
WRITING A WRONG
The city Department of Education, red-faced over Brooklyn sixth-graders who slammed a GI with demoralizing anti-Iraq-war letters as part of a school assignment, will send the 20-year-old private a letter of apology today.
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The GI got the ranting missives last month from pint-sized pen pals at JHS 51 in Park Slope.
Filled with political diatribes, the letters — excerpts of which were printed in yesterday's Post — predicted GIs would die by the tens of thousands, accused soldiers of killing Iraqi civilians and bashed President Bush.
Teacher Alex Kunhardt had his students write Jacobs as part of a social-studies assignment.
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One girl wrote that she believes Jacobs is "being forced to kill innocent people" and challenged him to name an Iraqi terrorist, concluding, "I know I can't."
Another girl wrote, "I strongly feel this war is pointless," while a classmate predicted that because Bush was re-elected, "only 50 or 100 [soldiers] will survive."
A boy accused soldiers of "destroying holy places like mosques."
Sunday, February 20, 2005
MISS ME?
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That spectacular picture was taken in Thailand. Where I live it’s damned cold. Nothing out of the ordinary, mind you … we’re talking 20s, which isn’t bad … but I’m feeling it much more these days because of the humidity. Dry cold, like dry heat, is more tolerable. Our dry cold weather is now history; that was winter. Our eventual slide into spring has begun, which means higher humidity levels, which means feeling colder now than when it was colder but drier. So, I’ve been layered up like I’m preparing for an artic expedition.
Miss me? I’ve been busy figuring out how to blog a book. Last year one of my stories was chosen for an anthology, which was to be published later this year in time for the holiday season. Last week I got word from the editor that publication will most likely be pushed into 2006. I understand from another writer that our editor is swamped with work, which is good news, really, just not for me. I’m desperate to see my fiction in print. I’ve always had the option to market my story elsewhere; the editor even encouraged it, believing that exposure can only enhance the anthology. However, as Bill Croke and Rodger Jacobs will tell you, the print markets are becoming a dying breed. I have always envisioned a book of my stories, and I’ve even had the title. So, I decided to blog them. What the hell, right? I spent the better part of Friday learning the process and ironing out some bugs, and I finally did it: I’ve begun blogging my book of stories, Briefs and Other Unmentionables. As the muse moves me, I’ll be adding more to the “book.” By the way, what do you call a blogged book, bloog? Blook? Blog-bo?
