May 03, 2006
A Philippine judge who claimed he could see into the future and admitted consulting imaginary mystic dwarfs has asked for his job back after being sacked by the country's Supreme Court."They should not have dismissed me for what I believed," Florentino Floro, a trial judge in the capital's Malabon northern suburb, told reporters after filing his appeal.
Floro was sacked last month and fined 40 000 pesos ($780) after a three-year investigation found he was incompetent, had shown bias in a case he was trying and had criticised court procedure, a ruling showed.
He told investigators that three mystic dwarfs - Armand, Luis and Angel - helped him carry out healing sessions during breaks in his chambers.
The Supreme Court said it was not within its expertise to conclude that Floro was insane, but agreed with the court clinic's finding that he was suffering from psychosis.
And if we count the dwarves, perhaps we could make Senators Boxer and Feinstein happy about the number of California judges on the court, provided Judge Florio and his companions decide to live in the land of fruits and nuts. After all, sounds like they would fit right in.
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German Catholic leaders launched legal steps on Tuesday to prevent youth music channel MTV from broadcasting a controversial cartoon series which depicts the Pope as a pogo-stick-riding maniac.Outraged bishops from Pope Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria filed a legal injunction against the broadcaster, which plans to show the first episode of the satirical series "Popetown" on Wednesday evening.
The injunction says "Popetown" -- which was dropped in Britain after a wave of protest -- is insulting to Catholics since it shows the Pope bouncing through St. Peter's in Rome on a cross-like pogo stick and satirizes religious ceremonies.
"In this way the Catholic faith and the Catholic church are exposed to ridicule, which is justified neither by the freedom of opinion, of art, of the press nor of broadcasting," the archdiocese of Munich and Freising said in a statement.
The youth music channel said it plans to show one episode and will then gauge viewers' appetite for more.
"We will initially broadcast this first episode and then will make a decision based on the feedback of the viewers," said Mats Wappmann, a spokesman for MTV in Berlin.
The bishops also attacked the television channel for an advertising campaign which showed Jesus apparently getting down from the cross to sit in an armchair and watch the program.
The advert's tagline read: Have a laugh instead of hanging around.
Christianity has survived much worse hits than this and survived quite nicely. Given that it is based on divine truth and not Satanic falsehood, the Church will not be harmed by this trash. Allow free will to be exercised by the German people, and allow the free market to take its toll on the despicable folks who decided to run the series.
Oh, and by the way – quit acting like a bunch of Muslims.
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German Catholic leaders launched legal steps on Tuesday to prevent youth music channel MTV from broadcasting a controversial cartoon series which depicts the Pope as a pogo-stick-riding maniac.Outraged bishops from Pope Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria filed a legal injunction against the broadcaster, which plans to show the first episode of the satirical series "Popetown" on Wednesday evening.
The injunction says "Popetown" -- which was dropped in Britain after a wave of protest -- is insulting to Catholics since it shows the Pope bouncing through St. Peter's in Rome on a cross-like pogo stick and satirizes religious ceremonies.
"In this way the Catholic faith and the Catholic church are exposed to ridicule, which is justified neither by the freedom of opinion, of art, of the press nor of broadcasting," the archdiocese of Munich and Freising said in a statement.
The youth music channel said it plans to show one episode and will then gauge viewers' appetite for more.
"We will initially broadcast this first episode and then will make a decision based on the feedback of the viewers," said Mats Wappmann, a spokesman for MTV in Berlin.
The bishops also attacked the television channel for an advertising campaign which showed Jesus apparently getting down from the cross to sit in an armchair and watch the program.
The advert's tagline read: Have a laugh instead of hanging around.
Christianity has survived much worse hits than this and survived quite nicely. Given that it is based on divine truth and not Satanic falsehood, the Church will not be harmed by this trash. Allow free will to be exercised by the German people, and allow the free market to take its toll on the despicable folks who decided to run the series.
Oh, and by the way – quit acting like a bunch of Muslims.
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A bloc representing the world's Islamic nations is marking World Press Freedom Day Wednesday by calling for urgent action to establish international law or a code of conduct aimed at preventing media from defaming religion.The Saudi-based secretariat of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said in a statement it was committed to press freedom, but that journalists should be deterred from premeditatedly vilifying, defaming and violating the rights of others."
Citing the controversy earlier this year over the printing of cartoons depicting Mohammed, the OIC said the publication of the sketches and its ramifications provided "absolute evidence of the consequences of non-abidance with these regulations."
It said the caricatures had insulted "a faith embraced and revered by over one-fifth of the world population, and a religion that advocates peace, tolerance and moral virtues."
I’d like to remind them that their faith is rejected and reviled by at least three-fifths of the world population. But they think Islam is special, and entitled to more respect than any other faith. As if to emphasize that fact, consider some events “coincidentally” scheduled on the day which is designated to celebrate press freedom.
In Yemen, the editor of the Yemen Observer will mark World Press Freedom Day Wednesday by appearing in court, where prosecutors earlier called for the death sentence for insulting Islam.Muhammad al-Asadi was arrested last February after his English-language weekly published the cartoons -- in thumbnail size and obscured with a thick, black cross -- to illustrate its news reports on the controversy.
Editors of two Arabic-language papers in Yemen are also on trial, and are due to appear in court later in May. Print editions of all three papers have been frozen for the past three months, although the government this week agreed to allow printing to resume.
Such an example shows quite clearly why we in the West must actively resist the imposition of Muslim values upon our civilization – and why kid-glove treatment of Islam and Islamic cultures must be rejected as an obstacle to freedom around the world.
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The left-wing Center for American Progress (CAP) Tuesday enlisted the help of clergy members to argue that "global warming" is not just an environmental issue. "At its core, it's an ethical, moral and religious issue," said John Podesta, president of CAP and a former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.Podesta added that it is our duty to "protect the environment, to protect God's earth, and to protect the poorest people."
CAP plans to try to raise public awareness to the allegedly drastic climate change. It will attempt to place liberal climatologists on popular television programs and sponsor public service announcements. Partnering in that effort are religious leaders.
John Carr, secretary of social development and world peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that as a result of climate change, the world's poorest people are suffering from famine and drought.
"John Paul II said it was a moral and ethical challenge. When the pope says something is a priority, you do something about it," said Carr.
Who do they think they are, trying to impose their religious values on me?
After all, liberals have been telling us for years that legislating morality is un-American and a violation of the rights of those whose faith and values tell them something different. Could it be that such rhetoric – usually trotted out to oppose conservative Christians who seek to protect unborn human life or oppose sexual immorality
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The left-wing Center for American Progress (CAP) Tuesday enlisted the help of clergy members to argue that "global warming" is not just an environmental issue. "At its core, it's an ethical, moral and religious issue," said John Podesta, president of CAP and a former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.Podesta added that it is our duty to "protect the environment, to protect God's earth, and to protect the poorest people."
CAP plans to try to raise public awareness to the allegedly drastic climate change. It will attempt to place liberal climatologists on popular television programs and sponsor public service announcements. Partnering in that effort are religious leaders.
John Carr, secretary of social development and world peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that as a result of climate change, the world's poorest people are suffering from famine and drought.
"John Paul II said it was a moral and ethical challenge. When the pope says something is a priority, you do something about it," said Carr.
Who do they think they are, trying to impose their religious values on me?
After all, liberals have been telling us for years that legislating morality is un-American and a violation of the rights of those whose faith and values tell them something different. Could it be that such rhetoric – usually trotted out to oppose conservative Christians who seek to protect unborn human life or oppose sexual immorality
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A Kentucky businessman pleaded guilty in federal court this morning to giving Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) more than $400,000 in bribes to promote his high-tech business ventures in Africa.Vernon L. Jackson, owner of Louisville-based iGate Inc., declined to comment after his appearance in the Washington courtroom of U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. He pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery.
Jackson is the second person to plead guilty in theinquiry of the New Orleans congressman. In January, Brett M. Pfeffer, 37, a former Jefferson aide, pleaded guilty to bribing his ex-boss. Pfeffer worked for a wealthy Northern Virginia woman who invested in Jackson's company, iGate, which was trying to sell Internet and cable television service to Nigeria and Ghana. Pfeffer told a federal judge that Jefferson demanded a stake in the business in exchange for using his influence in Africa to promote iGate's technology.
Jefferson, 58, has not been charged and has denied wrongdoing.
Michael S. Nachmanoff, a federal public defender who is representing Jackson, declined to comment last night, as did Jefferson's press secretary, Melanie Roussell.
As you may recall, Jefferson is the corrupt Democrat who commandeered a rescue craft to remove personal possessions – including materials that could be related to this case – from his home in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina.
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Was 'U' instructor's speech free - or racist?
This ignores the very real possibility that, as would appear to be the case in this instance, that speech may be both.
Comments a University of Minnesota instructor made at an immigration rally are causing controversy about what is and is not considered racist.Susana De Leon, an activist and part-time instructor of Mexican-American studies, was involved in a verbal confrontation at the rally in Owatonna.
"Yes, people from Europe are wet backs man... their backs so wet because they had to cross an ocean to get here,” De Leon said at the rally.
De Leon is also an immigration attorney who led the rally in Owatonna.
She added that it is not possible for minorities to be racist against white people.
Nathan Smit, of the Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction, says he felt her comments were racist toward white people.“It actually almost hurt my feelings,” Smit said.
De Leon said the confrontation escalated because members of the immigration group were being intimidating.
"Eventually they came and shove a sign in my face, and they're murmuring under their breathe the most terrible racist things,” De Leon said. “So there's a point, yes, I take the sign and I take it away."
Another member of the immigration reduction group said it was De Leon who escalated the confrontation – with her words.
"I would never say those things to anybody, even if I didn't like them,” said Paul Westrum. “But the thing is, because she's a minority she thinks she can get by with it."
Vivian Jenkins Nelson, a diversity expert from the Inter-race Institute and author of the ‘Diversity Dictionary’, would not condemn De Leon’s language, but did say it was not helpful.
"There are much bigger conversations that need our attention and effort than name calling at a rally somewhere,” Jenkins Nelson said.
Westrum and Smit said her language would be considered racist if a white person had used those terms.
But Westrum is more angry that she is paid by the public.
"I'd like to see her services terminated,” he said.
University officials declined 5 EYEWITNESS NEWSÂ’s request for an interview, but they said state employees have the same freedoms of speech and have the right to participate in political and social protests.
This speech is not classroom speech or speech made in any kind of official capacity. Rather, it is speech made as a private citizen. As such, the University has no basis upon which to take action against DeLeon. Paul Westrum’s call for her termination is really a call for the university to abrogate her rights as an American citizen – something no true patriot can support.
Which is not to say that I believe DeLeon’s words are appropriate or accurate – they are not. But the First Amendment generally protects reprehensible speech as well as praiseworthy speech.
Oh, and by the way, i have no problem with the word "wetback". It is a perfectly acceptable term for those who violate our laws, one that treats them with the contempt they so richly deserve. It is completely appropriate to use it for them, to distinguish them from citizens of the United States and welcome guests who have followed our laws to come here. It is a reference to status, not race, and therefore its use cannot be regarded as racist by any thinking person (which lets out most liberals and open-border advocates).
MORE AT Michelle Malkin, Ogre, Gringoman, Hot Air, Harisdrop, American Mind, ryanVOX, Commentary Page, Landgazing, Anchor Rising
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But now, in Chicago, they are discovering that students accepted at the elite college-prep magnet schools are trending 2-1 in favor of female applicants. There are discussions about how to make the ratio more balanced.
Judy Kleinfeld of the Boys Project, a not-for-profit group that deals with the male gender-gap, had this to say about the prospect of “gender weighting”.
"It will just do what affirmative action generally does. It will make everyone suspicious of the achievement of the group," Kleinfeld said. "What we need to do is teach boys better so they actually learn more."
An amazing concept – act to bring members of the underrepresented group up to the standard rather than lowering the standard. I applaud Kleinfeld for acknowledging that acting any other way hams not just those admitted under special programs, but every member of the favored group.
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Politically correct feminists claim false rape accusations are rare and account for only 2 percent of all reports. Men's rights sites point to research that places the rate as high as 41 percent. These are wildly disparate figures that cannot be reconciled.This week I stumbled over a passage in a 1996 study published by the U.S. Department of Justice: Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence After Trial.
The study documents 28 cases which, "with the exception of one young man of limited mental capacity who pleaded guilty," consist of individuals who were convicted by juries and, then, later exonerated by DNA tests.
At the time of release, they had each served an average of 7 years in prison.
The passage that riveted my attention was a quote from Peter Neufeld and Barry C. Scheck, prominent criminal attorneys and co-founders of the Innocence Project that seeks to release those falsely imprisoned.They stated, "Every year since 1989, in about 25 percent of the sexual assault cases referred to the FBI where results could be obtained, the primary suspect has been excluded by forensic DNA testing. Specifically, FBI officials report that out of roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases since 1989, about 2,000 tests have been inconclusive, about 2,000 tests have excluded the primary suspect, and about 6,000 have "matched" or included the primary suspect."
The authors continued, "these percentages have remained constant for 7 years, and the National Institute of Justice's informal survey of private laboratories reveals a strikingly similar 26 percent exclusion rate."
If the foregoing results can be extrapolated, then the rate of false reports is roughly between 20 (if DNA excludes an accused) to 40 percent (if inconclusive DNA is added). The relatively low estimate of 25 to 26 percent is probably accurate, especially since it is supported by other sources.
We need to consider this as we look at prominent rape cases like the one at Duke, as well as other cases that are less prominent. So many protections are placed upon the accusers, but so few are available to the accused – despite the fact that so many cases appear to be questionable. I think statistics like those above raise the possibility that we need to rethink the way in which we deal with such accusations.
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Suit turns Voting Rights Act on its head
The argument being made is that using the law to protect the voting rights of white citizens is somehow illegitimate.
Why the suit, brought by the US Department of Justice?
Ike Brown is a legend in Mississippi politics, a fast-talking operative both loved and hated for his ability to turn out black voters and get his candidates into office.That success has also landed him at the heart of a federal lawsuit that's about to turn the Voting Rights Act on its end.
For the first time, the U.S. Justice Department is using the 1965 law to allege racial discrimination against whites.
Brown, head of the Democratic Party in Mississippi's rural Noxubee County, is accused of waging a campaign to defeat white voters and candidates with tactics including intimidation and coercion. Also named in the lawsuit is Circuit Clerk Carl Mickens, who has agreed to refrain from rejecting white voters' absentee ballots considered defective while accepting similar ballots from black voters.
Such tactics are illegitimate when used against blacks, Hispanics, or other minorities. They are also illegitimate when used against whites where minorities are the majority.
Unless, of course, the notion that we are a country in which equal protection of the laws is colorblind is a false one.
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May 02, 2006
"Living With War," however, seems to be a couple of years behind the curve, coming across like a series of stale, somewhat superficial lefty blog posts set to fuzzy rock as Young attacks (and mocks) the Bush administration while declaring war on war.
No wonder the KOSsaks and DUmmies think this is the most important musical release since some caveman named Og beat a couple of rhytmically beat a couple of rocks together while Ug blew air through a hollow-ed out bone.
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The Senate voted 16-14 Tuesday to send a business tax bill to the governor, after a Houston-area senator jeopardized passage of the bill with last-minute opposition.Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, ended up casting the key vote that allowed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to bring the bill up for a final vote. Four hours earlier he had stalled action by voting against bringing the bill to the floor.
At issue was a Senate rule requiring two-thirds of senators present to allow a bill to be debated. The rule is designed to get bipartisan consensus on legislation being brought before the Senate.
Jackson said he has had hundreds of calls from his district and decided to vote against bringing up the tax bill for debate because he thought it would have little permanent impact on reducing property taxes while raising new taxes on businesses.
"I started looking at calculating how little people would receive from the first stage of this property tax cut," Jackson said. "If school districts were able to raise their property tax rate 6 cents without a vote and then we have appraisal creep ... you come out with a wash in the first year."
Jackson said he used his ability to block the bill to gain "concessions" from Gov. Rick Perry and Dewhurst on having language to limit growth in school district spending put into another bill.
He said the restriction should limit the growth in property taxes unless a school district holds a vote of the people.
Jackson voted against final passage of the bill.
Passage means that the state's Republican leadership may finally have come to a school finance agreement that has eluded them in four attempts over the past two years.
Unfortunately, neither Mike nor the Houston Chronicle are all that clear about the "concessions" he got out of the bill's supporters. That concerns me deeply.
And i'll be honest -- Mike Jackson probably just shot himself in the foot if he was ever serious about getting the nimination to succeed Tom DeLay. Most GOP activists found this tax plan unacceptable, and his decision to support bringing it to a vote will not please any of us.
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After all, one type of seed is becoming popular again in the never-endig quest by foliks to get a buzz on.
They have such whimsical names as heavenly blue, crimson rambler and pearly gates, and delicate blooms that crawl quickly up trellises.But when morning glory seeds aren't planted -- when they are instead ingested -- whimsical thoughts can crawl through altered minds with kaleidoscope-like visions.
And teenagers know this.
Once popular in the hippie era of the 1960s, morning glory seeds as a hallucinogen seem to have sprouted once again. Local gardening shops have noticed their seed stocks depleted by adolescent hands, and poison control centers in the District and its suburbs have received calls from hospitals with patients experiencing adverse reactions, or bad trips, from the seeds.
"They are certainly being used," said Chris Holstege, a doctor who runs Virginia's Blue Ridge Poison Center. "Kids are getting brighter. Between the Internet and magazines like High Times, they are learning about this."
Just a few weeks ago, he said, a mother called the center after finding seed packets in her teenage son's bedroom. She wanted to know what they were used for, Holstege said. A more serious call came from hospital emergency officials who needed to know how to treat an 18-year-old who had taken the seeds along with an antidepressant and cough syrup. His heart rate spiked to 150, his body went rigid and his mind reeled with hallucinations.
"These kids have a misconception that it's natural, that it's more safe" than other drugs, Holstege said. "They are not. It alters your perception, and that puts you at risk."
The seeds have an effect similar to LSD,according to the article.
I guess this also means that I have one more thing to look for as a teacher -- and that anyone wanting to start a gardening club is now a suspected drug user.
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Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum on the turbulent national issue of illegal immigration.Residents replaced the incumbents with challengers who immediately called for significant changes at the center. Some want to bar public funds from being spent on the facility or restrict it to workers living in the country legally. Others want it moved to an industrial site away from the residential neighborhood where it is located.
The labor center forced the western Fairfax County town into the national spotlight last summer as the immigration debate grew deeply contentious. Even though fewer than 3,000 people voted yesterday, advocates on both sides of the issue looked at the Herndon election as a test of public sentiment. Outside groups such as the Minuteman Project, which opposes illegal immigration, intervened in the debate, and Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, is suing the town over the establishment of the center.
The council voted 5 to 2 last August to establish the center, but yesterday's vote created an apparent 6 to 1 majority in opposition. Steve J. DeBenedittis, 38, a health club operator and political newcomer, defeated Mayor Michael L. O'Reilly with 52 percent of the vote. Council members Carol A. Bruce and Steven D. Mitchell, who voted for the center, also were turned out of office. Jorge Rochac, a Salvadoran businessman who supported the center and was seeking to become the town's first Hispanic council member, also was defeated.
Elected to the council were challengers William B. Tirrell, Charlie D. Waddell, Connie Haines Hutchinson and David A. Kirby, all opponents of the facility, which was created to help immigrants connect with employers each day.
Two incumbents were reelected. Dennis D. Husch, who was one of the two council members to vote against the center, received more votes than any of the eight other council candidates. J. Harlon Reece was the lone supporter who was reelected. He received the fewest number of votes among the six winners.
I would urge national leaders to consider these results very carefully -- Americans don't want amnesty, we want border control, business sanctions, and the removal of law-breaking border-jumpers.
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Guess not -- it appears that "extraordinary circumstances" are not htat extraordinary after all.
After months of relative quiet, senators raised the prospect yesterday of a return to bitter battles and a possible filibuster over judicial nominations, as the White House urged confirmation of two conservative nominees who have sought approval for years.Democratic leaders said they certainly would filibuster one of the nominees, Terrence W. Boyle, and might filibuster the second, Brett Kavanaugh, if Republicans refuse to call him back for a second hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The partisan rhetoric was the strongest signal yet that the Senate might revisit the brinkmanship that brought the chamber to the edge of crisis a year ago, when a bipartisan group of 14 members crafted a temporary cease-fire.
The "Gang of 14" pact cleared the path for confirmation of several appellate court nominees whom Democrats had filibustered in President Bush's first term, and it doomed the chances of a few others. It also narrowed the Democrats' tactical options for opposing Bush's two appointees to the Supreme Court last year. But the Kavanaugh and Boyle nominations may test its resiliency.
Seems to me that we are back where we started -- and that the nuclear option will likely have to be invoked to overcome demand by Democrats for an extra-constitutuional super-majority to confirm judges.
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But when you have horrendous events involving teachers, and online statements that do send warning signs about possible inappropriate or unprofessional behavior, there will be suggestions that the online conduct of teachers be monitored as a condition of employment.
Until now, schools have been mostly concerned with policing computer usage on campus.But a veteran educator said Monday that the episode could jar schools to sleuth more into online behavior of teachers.
"I wouldn't hire him," said William Rebore, chairman of the department of educational leadership at St. Louis University and a former superintendent for the Francis Howell and Valley Park school districts.
"If the person said, 'Oh, that's nothing, it's just a joke,' well, professional people don't joke in that manner, especially when it comes to children."
Rebore said he thinks schools will more commonly ask employees to disclose what they are posting on the Internet.
A job application could ask, "Do you have a Web site? Are you featured in any Web site?" Rebore said. "Certainly, if someone were not honest about that, it could be grounds for termination. It wouldn't surprise me if districts started putting that on an application."
I can understand wanting to make sure that teachers are not giving off warning signes of nascent pedophilia. I accept that schools might not want to have a teacher who has her own internet porn site. But do we really want teachers – who are, after all, protected by the First Amendment – to be judged by their public employers based upon what they write online? Would blogging – or at least blogging that doesn’t conform to a supervisor or school board member’s point of view -- become grounds for termination. Would edublogging be a thing of the past? Indeed, would our underage students have greater rights to online freedom of speech than their adult teachers?
How do we strike the balance between civil liberties and student safety?
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A trip to Italy to see the famous frescoes of the 13th-century Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi could cost a person a couple of thousand dollars. This summer, St. Louis University's Institute of Digital Theology can give you the same experience on a $50 compact disc.Well, almost the same experience. Of course you won't get the smell of the Umbrian countryside, the sound of St. Francis' beloved birds or - most important - the taste of olive oil-soaked bread and prosciutto crudo with a glass of Orvieto. But if it's architectural and artistic detail you're after, two young professors from SLU's Theological Studies department will get you as close as you can get without visiting the real thing.
The duo is using the same technology that video game creators use "to get things to explode" to better illuminate the detail in the basilica's stained glass or ceiling crevices. "It's the minor details that make this a real experience," said Jay M. Hammond.
Hammond and James R. Ginther, the other half of the team, have used 5,000 digital images to map the basilica's upper church. Just as in any modern video game, users will be able to explore the space by controlling their own three-dimensional point of view. Hammond and Ginther also have added a feature that will allow a user to "fly" around the basilica to see details higher up in the church that wouldn't be visible to an actual visitor.
Money raised from the CD sales will allow the duo to do the same for the lower church, crypt and the entire outside of the basilica. "This is version 1.0.," said Ginther. Version 2.0 will allow users to travel between levels and through the actual hallways and byways of the basilica. The St. Francis project is a pilot program and is being used to launch the Institute of Digital Theology.
I stand amazed and awed at the use of the profane to preserve the sacred.
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The Rams have gone Hollywood.Not only is new coach Scott Linehan the brother-in-law of actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the movie "The Passion of the Christ," but now the team has signed the son of Academy Award winner Denzel Washington.
Running back John David Washington, the leading career rusher at NCAA Division II Morehouse College, is among 10 undrafted free agents the Rams have added in the wake of the weekend's NFL draft.
* * *
John David Washington, 5 feet 10 and 200 pounds, said his success in football had nothing to do with his father's success in films.
"This is my thing," he told the Los Angeles Daily News. "My father supports me 100 percent, but there's nothing he did as far as his star influence to get me here."
In the same interview, Denzel Washington said: "For a kid to have that dream and be this close, and for a dad who had the same dream and didn't make it, needless to say I'm very proud and happy for him. . . . Nothing would make me happier than to be known as John David Washington's dad."
John David holds Morehouse records for rushing yards in a game (242), season (1,198) and career (3,699). He was the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's offensive player of the week six times and an all-conference selection after his senior year.
Having taught a number of kids who went on to play Division I and Division II ball, I know what work it takes to get to that level. Having coached one who plays in the NFL now, I know how much more it takes to go to the next level.
Congratulations, John David Washington – and proud poppa Denzel, too. Good luck.
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The Rams have gone Hollywood.Not only is new coach Scott Linehan the brother-in-law of actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the movie "The Passion of the Christ," but now the team has signed the son of Academy Award winner Denzel Washington.
Running back John David Washington, the leading career rusher at NCAA Division II Morehouse College, is among 10 undrafted free agents the Rams have added in the wake of the weekend's NFL draft.
* * *
John David Washington, 5 feet 10 and 200 pounds, said his success in football had nothing to do with his father's success in films.
"This is my thing," he told the Los Angeles Daily News. "My father supports me 100 percent, but there's nothing he did as far as his star influence to get me here."
In the same interview, Denzel Washington said: "For a kid to have that dream and be this close, and for a dad who had the same dream and didn't make it, needless to say I'm very proud and happy for him. . . . Nothing would make me happier than to be known as John David Washington's dad."
John David holds Morehouse records for rushing yards in a game (242), season (1,19
and career (3,699). He was the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's offensive player of the week six times and an all-conference selection after his senior year.
Having taught a number of kids who went on to play Division I and Division II ball, I know what work it takes to get to that level. Having coached one who plays in the NFL now, I know how much more it takes to go to the next level.
Congratulations, John David Washington – and proud poppa Denzel, too. Good luck.
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No company has attracted children more successfully than McDonald's."They tout their environment as being safe and kid friendly."
It's a message delivered through its commercials, its products, even its kid-friendly spokesman.
"You always think of Happy Meals, the playground, the golden arch, Ronald McDonald."
By some estimates, 96 percent of all American children recognize Ronald McDonald -- second only to Santa Claus.
And the company boasts that Ronald's Play Places make it the world's largest operator of children's playgrounds.
"And it's a mecca, it's a magnet apparently for child molesters."
Customer Thomas Wesley says, "The last thing you expect is somebody who's a monster working behind the counter."
But when Wesley visited a McDonald's in Franklin, Tennessee, that's just what he says he discovered: a sex offender -- convicted of soliciting sex from a minor -- who'd also approached him for sex in a public park.
"Right when I saw him, I thought, 'Oh, God that's the same guy that told me he worked at a McDonald's and I knew was a pedophile," Wesley recalls.
Probation officers had rated Nicolas Aloyo as a "high-risk" to commit new sex crimes -- and the judge released him on condition that he accept "no employment ... in contact with minors."
McDonald’s has a corporate policy to do background checks – but it may not always be followed by all stores owned by the company. And franchise units are not required to run background checks at all.
Doesn’t corporate responsibility require background checks? And what about state monitoring of perverts – are they not enforcing “no contact with children” policies?
How many more kids will be abused because of such failures?
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12:38 PM
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Here is where you find a link to the full results of the vote.
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12:33 PM
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May 01, 2006
The 17-year-old Spring boy who was savagely beaten and sodomized with a pipe more than a week ago still can't speak or squeeze his mother's hand. But his face — once swollen almost beyond recognition — has started to heal and friends are sure he can hear their prayers, his older brother said Monday.In the family's first public statement since the attack, the boy's 21-year-old brother said the family's attention remains focused solely on the teen's health, which is still too poor to undergo operations on his internal organs.
Details on the attackers are even worse, if you can imagine that.
Authorities are still investigating whether either of the suspects has any gang affiliations, Trent said.However, he said, "It appears at least one of them may be tied to some extremist groups."
Tuck has tattoos of swastikas and other such markings favored by skinheads, sheriff's Lt. John Denholm has said.
Present and past neighbors also have reported that swastika flags were sometimes displayed at Tuck's home in the 3400 block of Nutwood and that people at the residence exchanged Nazi salutes and cries of "Heil!" when visitors with shaved heads arrived.
Neighbors on Nutwood Lane said the teen once marched down the street waiving a Nazi flag on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"I have lived here 11 years and you just knew this is the corner where you don't send your kids around," said Robin Storrs, 35.
Given what they did, I have to agree with the assessment of the victim's brother.
The victim's older brother said he believes Tuck and Turner could be treated harshly by other inmates if they are convicted and go to prison — and he said he has no problem with that."What goes around comes around," the brother said. "I'm a big believer in Karma."
I suspect these boys are going to get a little bit of justice of the type we are forbidden to impose.
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Unfortunately, one family member was not present, Kasal's father.
An Iowa Marine being decorated today for combat heroism in Iraq is suffering his own family loss.First Sgt. Brad Kasal, 39, is to receive the Navy Cross, one of the nation's highest military awards, at Camp Pendleton in California. One of his father's final wishes was to live long enough to see his son honored.
Gerald Kasal died Sunday after a battle with liver cancer. He was 69. The retired Afton-area farmer recently moved to Creston. Because of his health, volunteers set up a live video conference hookup at Southwestern Community College in Creston so Kasal could watch the ceremony.
Despite his death, the event is to go on as planned.
Brad Kasal was wounded in November 2004 while leading a mission to rescue three fellow Marines trapped under heavy fire in Fallujah. Kasal, who's being promoted to sergeant major, is transferring to Des Moines.
Let us all salute the actions of Brad Kasal in the service of his country.
And let us also offer our prayers and condolences for him and his family as this time of honor has been tansformed into a time of mourning. May God bless them all.
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10:28 PM
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The Post has been diligently tracking the progeny of Donor 401, a man of German extraction who tans well and whose sperm is in great demand. The number of 401's children is at least 14, which would have been an impressive number to me had I not just completed Nicholas Wade's book "Before the Dawn" and learned that the late Genghis Khan had about 500 wives and concubines, producing enough children so that now, if you do the math, they have generated 16 million males alone -- or "about 0.5 percent of the world's total." Donor 401, you have a ways to go.But on account of Wade's book, I strongly suspect that Donor 401 and Genghis Khan operated out of the same imperative -- to pass on their genes to the next generation. This, after all, is our genetic obligation, and in Wade's view -- or at least in his observation -- it is why some men go into politics. He quotes former French president Francois Mitterrand, who said, "I don't know of a single head of state who hasn't yielded to some kind of carnal temptation, small or large. That in itself is a reason to govern." Better than narrowing the deficit, I would volunteer.
In fact, from what Wade suggests, Donor 401 is a sly fellow, pulling off what in evolution is the ultimate triumph: getting others, particularly men, to raise his progeny. Those who have no biological children of their own are evolution's total losers. Their genes end with them and that, as we all know, is just a pity -- a fate truly worse than death: extinction.
For some time now, I have been excitedly inflicting this book on my friends. It is rich in scientific cynicism, the unsparing pragmatism of our cold and calculating genes. For instance, they have ensured that newborns in general are not only cute but look alike -- so the charmed but possibly cuckolded male will accept them as his own. It traces the history of mankind from the time, around 50,000 years ago, when human beings left Africa and started to spread throughout the world.
This is our prehistory. It lacks archeological or written records, but much of what happened can be discerned from our DNA. This is all relatively new to us, but by peering into our most basic living material, snoopy scientists are beginning to see how we evolved -- and why. For instance, the gene that permits us to digest lactose as adults is a relatively new development -- linked, no doubt, to the advent of agriculture. Genetically speaking, we are still on the move.
On some level, love and sex come down to a competition to spread our genes and become the dominant male. Seems to me that Donor 40was the big winner of his day.
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10:20 PM
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We are talking about illegal aliens, not mere “immigrants.” If legal immigrants stopped working for a day, we would miss the services of physicians, nurses, computer programmers, writers, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs of all stripes, and some airline pilots…as well as the CEO of Google. That would be more than an inconvenience, but it won’t happen because legal immigrants are not out marching angrily for rights that are already protected by our courts.But if illegal aliens all took the day off and were truly invisible for one day, there would be some plusses along with the mild inconveniences.
Hospital emergency rooms across the southwest would have about 20-percent fewer patients, and there would be 183,000 fewer people in Colorado without health insurance.
OBGYN wards in Denver would have 24-percent fewer deliveries and Los AngelesÂ’s maternity-ward deliveries would drop by 40 percent and maternity billings to Medi-Cal would drop by 66 percent.
Youth gangs would see their membership drop by 50 percent in many states, and in Phoenix, child-molestation cases would drop by 34 percent and auto theft by 40 percent.
In Durango, Colorado, and the Four Corners area and the surrounding Indian reservations, the methamphetamine epidemic would slow for one day, as the 90 percent of that drug now being brought in from Mexico was held in Albuquerque and Farmington a few hours longer. According to the sheriff of La Plata County, Colorado, meth is now being brought in by ordinary illegal aliens as well as professional drug dealers.
You know – that sounds pretty good to me. Decreased crime, decreased drug use, and decreased stress on medical, educational and social services.
What’s not to like – if you love America?
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1. Is Defense Secretary Heller dead?Chances are Audrey Raines' father went over the cliff in his car. But it's also possible that he rolled out at the last minute, because people on shows like 24 are born knowing how to do such things. (I can't change lanes and the CD at the same time.) I'd guess the writers want us to wonder about his fate — but then again, the show often races over its plot holes, which sometimes causes fans to invent mysteries that don't exist.
Speaking of unanswered questions, Bianco even asks about my favorite one from last season – What happened to Behrooz?
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Madonna radically altered her music to attack US President George W Bush during her appearance at California music festival Coachella, yesterday.The Hung Up singer thrilled fans with a six-song set in the Sahara Dance Tent, and took a cheeky swipe at the US leader by changing her song lyrics.
During an energetic rendition of her song I Love New York, Madonna roared, "Just go to Texas and suck George Bush's d**k."
What a class act she is!
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11:58 AM
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Harold Cerda had just left an outhouse on a southern Colorado ranch when a bear swatted him to the ground and chased him to his car, where he discovered the animal had also eaten his lunch."He sent me a good 10 or 15 feet," Cerda told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday. "I'm used to hard falls because I used to ride bulls a lot. It's pretty much the hardest I've been hit."
He guessed the cinnamon-colored black bear was anywhere from 150 to 500 pounds and nearly 6½ feet tall when standing.
I'm betting it was the chicken salad sitting in the car -- that'll get you every time, hman or bear.
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11:43 AM
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