Maker Of Program For Spying On Lovers Indicted

Online Greeting Card Hides Snooping Software

SAN DIEGO -- Tracking online lovers is landing some people in trouble with the law.

The government is charging the creator of a computer program that's designed to help jealous lovers snoop on their sweethearts' online activities with violating federal computer privacy laws.

Several people who bought the program are also facing federal indictments.

The Loverspy program is disguised as an electronic greeting card that shows images of puppies and flowers.

When the person who receives it opens the card, it starts recording the victims' e-mail messages and the Web sites they visit.

Authorities say that information is sent to computers operated by the creator of Loverspy. Then he sends it on to his customers.

The man faces 35 counts of manufacturing, sending and advertising the covert spy tool and unauthorized access to protected computers.

If he's convicted, he could get up to 175 years in prison. Four people who bought the program are facing charges of illegal computer hacking.

Katrina Kills 50

Katrina's Full Wrath Still Being Felt As Body Count Rises

Homeland Security Official: Dying Is Hard Way To Learn Lesson

NEW ORLEANS -- Mississippi's governor says reports that Hurricane Katrina has killed 50 to 80 people in one coastal county "likely are accurate."

Officially, the state has confirmed only a handful of deaths. But an emergency official in Harrison County said Monday night at least 50 had been killed, including 30 at one apartment complex near the beach in Biloxi.

Gov. Haley Barbour said the storm surge from Katrina apparently wiped out the apartment complex. It was in area that did not flood during Hurricane Camille, which struck the same area with deadly force in 1969.

Barbour said damage to casinos deals an enormous blow to the state's pocketbook, but he vowed, " We're going to rebuild, whatever it costs."

Lame Survey

Body:
01. Last alcoholic drink: heineken
02. Last Cry: now
03. Last Library Book Checked Out: something about Easter Island
04. Last kiss: an hour or so ago
05. Last Movie Seen In a Theatre: sky high..yeah, i know..
06. Last Book Read: Pyramids - terry pratchett
07. Last Cuss Word Uttered: fuck
08. Last Beverage Drank: see first question
09. Last Food Consumed: tofu jerky
11. Last TV Show Watched: 2 1/2 men
12. Last Time Showered: 3 hours ago
13. Last Shoes Worn: flippy flops
14. Last CD Played: don't have a cd player
15. Last Soda Drank: not sure..some pepsi product for sure
16. Last Thing Written: this blog
17. Last Words Spoken: go to bed
18. Last Sleep: last nite, if you can call it sleep
21. Last Ice Cream Eaten: peanut butter ice cream
22. Last Time Wanting to Die: anytime, please
24. Last Time Dancing: no clue
26. Last Big Car Ride: if grass valley counts, saturday
27. Last Crush: matt
28. Last Annoyance: work
29. Last Disappointment: my paycheck
30. Last Time Scolded: a few hours ago
32. Last Web Site Visited: blogger.com?

NUMBER OF
01. piercings = 4 total i guess
02. tattoos = 2
03. height = 5'4"
04. shoe size = 6.5
05. hair color = vomit. er...brownred
06. siblings = 1 brother, 1 1/2 sister, 1 step brother, 2 step sisters

LAST
01. movie you rented = futurama
02. movie you bought = dunno
03. song you listened to = dunno, but now layla is going to be in my head
04. song that was stuck in your head = see above
05. cd you bought = dunno
06. cd you listened to- didn't i just answer this?
07. person you've called = matt
08. person that's called you = matt
10. person you were thinking of = my landlord and how to explain paying rent this month..
11. friend you made = none

DO
01. you have a crush on some one? yes
02. you wish you could live somewhere else? yes
03. you think about suicide? yes
04. you believe in online dating? no
05. others find you attractive? dunno
06. you want more piercings? nipples would be cool
07. you drink? yes
08. you do drugs? no
09. you smoke? sometimes
10. you like cleaning? when im feeling a bit manic
11. you like roller coasters? yes
12. you write in cursive or print: print

Frustrated

I am so fucking frustrated! Something is wrong with my car and there is a smell of burning rubber or plastic and I can't even look because there are 20 stupid drunk assholes sitting outside of my house leering at me and making stupid fucking comments. Even if I could look to see what the problem is I probably wouldn't know it anyway and if I did I don't have a single dime to fix anything anyway because my ATM card was damaged by some stupid ATM machine.

FUCK!

Lame video, but I really like this band...and they're twins!

Music Video Codes By VideoCodeZone
Tegan and Sara
Walking With A Ghost

Comments

This is directed at all the stupid advertising comments people have been putting on my blog lately...

Just stop it already you mulletwearingfreaks!

Pay for advertising you cheap assholes!

Take it somewhere else. No one reading this is interested in your latest sex pill or weight loss cream, I promise!

Book Review - Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Pyramids - By Terry Pratchett

Another fabulous Discworld novel.
Back cover synopsis:
Unlike most teenage boys, Teppic isn't chasing girls and working at the mall. Instead he's just inherited the throne of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi -- a job that's come a bit earlier than he expected (a turn of fate his recently departed father wasn't too happy about either.)
It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun. First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal -- not to mention a headstrong handmaiden -- at the heart of his realm.

I can't say enough good things about Terry Pratchett books so I won't even bother. Just read them all.

There goes the nice weather...

It's 2:30 and already my house feels like it is over 100 degrees inside. I considered by a thermometer once because I don't think the antique one that controls my wall heater is probably very accurate but I figured that knowing how hot it really is in my house would be a little disconcerting. I no doubt would be suddenly plagued with many new and exotic heat related ailments. So I'm saving myself the melodramatic illnesses and saving my friends from having to listen to me complain.

One of my downstairs neighbors moved out a few days ago and I just overheard the other one (who was the guy that moved outs roommate) talking about moving. I don't know how she can afford to live down there by herself since I think the rent is about $900 bucks for the three bedroom and as far as I can tell she doesn't have a job. She may get social security or something, but I don't see how even with that anyone can afford to live down there alone. It's probably not a nice thing to say but I do wish she would move because then I would feel ok letting the kids play in the backyard (which is currently how she enters and exits her house) and then maybe all the garbage crap on the side of the house (my entrance and exit) will be cleaned up. On the other hand, she completely takes care of the yard (mowing, gardening) and takes out the trash bins on garbage day. If I could get people I actually know to move in downstairs then that would be a huge plus but I don't think I know three people total and I definitely don't know anyone who is looking to move -- especially to the ghetto that I live in.

Well, it's Saturday...

Only 11 o'clock a.m. and I am already so bored that it hurts. I suppose I will spend the day cleaning the house again. Last weekend I even cleaned the baseboards just for kicks. My daughter is supposed to go to a birthday party but it is all the way in Elk Grove and I have no gas to take her there. (Well that and I have no idea what time or exactly where it is...)

All night long this annoying sound that was like a cross between a vacuum cleaner and a chain saw was buzzing through my house. I think it was the neighbors but every time I tried to peek out the windows to see, there was no one around. I woke up to this annoying sound and it has just now finally stopped. Now all I can hear is kids fighting with each other so I'm not sure which sound I would rather hear.

Have a drink...

Cocktail


?? Which Alcoholic Drink Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh My God

Look what I found while perusing Futurama pictures on Google! Is this real? How did I miss out on this?!

Oops

I have a copious amount of homework to do but am I?

No. Why?

Futurama Marathon!

Kiss

"Which famous movie kiss are you?"

Breakfast At Tiffany's
You are the Breakfast At Tiffany's kiss!

8.25.05 (6 Days until Payday)

Horoscopes For Today: 8/25/2005
Consistency is a virtue, especially when it comes to cold, hard cash. In fact, it would be very virtuous of you to take a look at any consistently unhealthy ways you have of dealing with money. It would be even more edifying for you and your checkbook if you started to plan ways that you could deal with your money on a consistently healthy and functional basis rather than some patterns that may have recently come into play.

HAHAHAHAhahahaa...er...what? I know how to ask for spare change...

Who? Me?

After a few concerned messages and phone calls from various people who either read my blog here or on myspace I've decided that I need a disclaimer. And here it is...a little about me.

To start with, I'm pretty much crazy. Not like 'oo boy that girls crazeee'. Think darker thoughts. My entire life is a series of HUGE ups and downs. It's -almost- like a roller coaster ride. You wait and wait and wait in line all the while getting more and more nervous the closer you get. Then you're up next and you put on that brave face and strap yourself in and the roller coast car lurches away and zooms you around then speeds up and flips around and does stuff to make you vomit your corn dog all over yourself? Well, the only difference is that a roller coaster ride, if you bothered to time it, is over really quickly. Just a few minutes if that. For me, it just keeps on going.

So here is me:

I look pretty darn happy, eh?

I am a single parent of two beautiful children of two different fathers. The oldest visits her 'new family' (read: dad and new wife + new kids) in San Jose during school vacations. The youngest pretty much never sees hers although he says he is working on it. I've taught them, correctly I hope, that the only people that the three of us are ever going to be able to rely on are each other. No one else. I also am still hoping that despite Lhiannan's (age 9) crush on the Sprouse twins and Aislin's (age 4) recent attachment to 'makeup' and her new boyfriend Nathan Brenner (never just Nathan mind you, always Nathan Brenner) that they will grow up to be happy lesbians so I don't have to worry about 'accidentally' becoming a grandmother too soon.



I have a boyfriend. I won't lie to you and tell you that it is all roses and sweetness and light because you all already know better based on previous posts, comments, and whatever. I would say that on average we have 'broken up' about once a week during the (almost) two years that we have been dating. I will OFTEN vent my frustrations about this relationship everywhere I can to whoever will listen. The best thing you can do is ignore it like the passive passerby that you probably are. I do still love him and despite everything there is clearly some fated reason that I am still with him even if I forget what it is and demand a reminder every now and then. Shit happens I guess? So for those of you asking about recent events...just ignore it like everything else; I'm trying to. We are going through some stage...I don't know what it is. If we were married I would say it is that point where you need marriage counseling; the point where your friends won't hang out with you together and your kids start getting concerned.. But we are just dating and marriage won't be in our future (another topic I will occasionally rant about -- just deal with it...) so it is an akward (is that really how you spell that?!) topic for most of my friends to discuss with me, let alone strangers as they think it is a really wierd relationship. In any event -- just leave me alone about it. Support me for what I do to try to be happy and I will consider you the best of friends.



I think that is probably all you need to know for now....

Woman Files Complaint After Doctor Tells Her She's Obese

ROCHESTER, N.H. -- The New Hampshire attorney general is investigating a Rochester doctor because a patient complained that he bluntly told her she needed to lose weight.

Dr. Terry Bennett said that he's outraged by what he calls a baseless complaint. A patient was apparently insulted when Bennett told her that she was obese and could only get healthier by losing weight.

"It's an epidemic in the United States, and it's croaking us," Bennett said.

Bennett said that it's a lecture he gives to many of his overweight patients.

"It's your weight, ... and there's dozens of programs," Bennett said. "You don't have to come in here. You can join Jenny Craig. You can go see Weight Watchers."

Bennett said he tells obese patients that their weight is bad for their health and their love lives. But the lecture drove one patient to write a letter to the Board of Medicine, which has passed on the complaint to the Attorney General's Office.

"Did I sleep with somebody? Did I give somebody drugs? Was I careless? No. End of story," Bennett said. "That should have been the end of it."

Now, other overweight patients are coming to Bennett's defense.

"What really makes me angry is he told the truth," patient Mindy Haney said. "How can you punish somebody for that?"

Haney said that Bennett has helped her lose more than 150 pounds, but, at first, she didn't want to listen.

"I have been in this lady's shoes. I've been angry and left his practice. I mean, in-my-car-taking-off angry," Haney said. "But once you think about it, you're angry at yourself, not Dr. Bennett. He's the messenger. He's telling you what you already know."

Haney is so upset at the complaint that she has started a petition demanding that the attorney general be fired. So far, she's gathered 100 signatures.

Bennett said that the Attorney General's Office tried to get him to settle the matter by agreeing to attend a medical education course, which he refused.

"I'm sorry," Bennett said. "If she's watching, I'm devoutly sorry to have offended you. I didn't mean to offend you. I meant to tell you the truth. And that's what I tried to do."

The Board of Medicine would not comment on the case, but Vice President Kevin Costin said, "Physicians have to be professional with patients and remember everyone is an individual. You should not be inflammatory or degrading to anyone."

Bennett said that he thinks his apology should be enough.

8.24.05

Horoscopes For Today: 8/24/2005
Put your money where your mouth is -- unless, of course, you've just realized that you don't have two nickels to rub together. Financial concerns tap you on the shoulder today and demand your close attention. Make sure you address these issues now, or the next time they try and alert you to some necessary information, they won't just politely tap you -- they might use a baseball bat.

Yeah, I’m broke.

I hate pretty much everything about my life

Thanks for asking.

Is it over yet?

8.23.2005

Horoscopes For Today: 8/23/2005
You've got a way of cutting to the chase that few other signs in the zodiac can match, and that sincere desire to tell (and hear) the truth helps you out in more ways than one right now. A moment of insight on your part might just lead to clearing the way for a whole new path that you and a few others didn't think was possible. Go ahead and lead the way. In this aspect, you're a trailblazer.

I keep seeing and hearing everywhere that I’m going to have all this insight and I will see everything so clearly. Well, I have to tell you that it is all lies. I’m more and more confused everyday.

Aislin has a new black eye...

She's only 4 years old and she's already on her second black eye...I don't know what I'm going to do with this kid.

Man Plants Personal Ad In Corn

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. -- A western New York farmer was looking for love. So he wrote a personals ad -- in his cow pasture.

Pieter DeHond, 41, planted his message in leftover corn seed. In 50-foot letters, the message says, "Single White Female, got to love farming." In the shorthand of personals, of course.

Underneath is a 1,000-foot arrow pointing to his Canandaigua home.

The divorced father of two says he wouldn't stoop so low as to use the classifieds. Besides, the message only took an hour to plant.
The 900-by-600-foot love note is easily seen from the air, where airplanes frequently pass over between Rochester and New York City.

Neighbor Bob Mincer has taken DeHond up for a bird's-eye view.

Mincer said DeHond has a great sense of humor and a steady hand at the wheel.

Mincer said, "I've seen some crop spellings before, and this is very precise."

Cable Company Calls Woman Nasty Name On Bill

ELGIN, Ill. -- Philadelphia-based Comcast is apologizing for an insulting epithet on a bill.

LaChania Govan made dozens of phone calls to the cable company to complain about service, but she said she was never rude.

So the Elgin, Ill., woman was shocked when her bill came and had the insult printed where her name should be.

Instead of her name, the bill had the "b" word printed on it.

Wednesday, Comcast said it fired two employees for the incident and also issued an apology to Govan.

"We are appalled by this treatment of our customer and want to extend our sincerest apologies" to LaChania Govan, the company said Wednesday in a statement. "This is not the way Comcast does business."

Comcast officials offered Govan two months of free cable to try to make amends.

But she's canceled her Comcast account, anyway.

Another book review - American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Back Cover Synopsis:
Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident.

Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible.

He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever be the same...

What the back cover didn't say:
The back cover explanation really says absolutely nothing. This book is about what happens when immigrants come to American, a basically godless country and what happens to their own gods when people stop believing in them. New gods come to being: the TV, the Media, Technology.

What I didn't like: Shadow is just a stupid name for a man. Also, the dead wife/walking corpse just seemed a bit pointless although she did take care of all the dirty business for Shadow.

Belated Book Review - A Secret History: The Book Of Ash #1 by Mary Gentle

Back Cover Synopsis: In the mid-fifteenth century there was Burgandy, the jewel of Europe - opulent and powerful, the undisputed center of an uncivilized world.

In an epoch of war and madness there was Ash. A girl born in mud and dung, she slew her first men while only eight. Scarred and ravaged but still beautiful, she rose up to lead a great mercenary army before the age of twenty - and followed a sacred voice wise in the bloody ways of battle to a pinnacle unattainable to even the most potent of legends.

In a time when empires and alliances shifted like sand-when Mithras the bull was worshipped freely alongside the Christ - a great cloud arose out of Africa to darken the sun. The Visigoths came with their terrible machines - powered by magic or a science unknown to this day - and aimed their irrisistable might toward the rich Burgundian prize, wrenching the wheel of civilization in an unknown and unexpected direction. And with their coming, one incomparable warrior raised on Destiny's ash heap became more than anyone thought one woman could ever be.

Some cool stuff: I don't think that before this that I have ever read any alternate history. I think it would probably have been very confusing if I actually knew anything about the Burgandian and Visigoth people. I liked that the portrayed Ash as a very hard woman. She swears almost as much as I do and it first it was sort of difficult since you don't read that type of female character often.

What kind of sucked: Overall, the book is boring. It is an epic with several books but I don't know yet if I will bother to get the next in the series.

The start of another long day

My daughter is really, really sick and I have no idea what is wrong with her. Originally she woke up from her nap at the YMCA with a 103 degree fever on Wednesday. I was able to keep her fever down for the most part but it kept coming back all day Wednesday and most of Thursday. By Friday the fever was gone but she kept insisting that she was sick. I had already missed so much work that I made her go to preschool anyway. She threw a huge tantrum and said that she didn't want to go to school ever again and I ended up having to have the staff hold her so I could leave. Yesterday evening she kept complaining of headaches and so I gave her some kids pain reliever but this morning she has been screaming all morning long that her head hurts and that there is nothing that will make it go away. I just finally got her (after trying for 30 minutes) to get in the bathtub so I could clean her up and take her to the doctors. She seems to be calming down in the tub...maybe the warm water is doing her good.

We were going to go to the fair today, but I think that with her being sick that we should probably wait another week or so...

Damn I hope this is true

Horoscopes For Today: 8/19/2005
Ever been on the verge of finishing a jigsaw puzzle only to discover the last
piece has gone missing? And remember how frustrating it feels to not find it
after hours of searching, only to discover it a day later hiding under the
sofa's dust ruffle? A small but possibly life-changing piece of your own
personal puzzle will fall into place, but only when you're not hunting for it.
Don't try and force this; it'll happen quite nicely on its own.

Never in my entire life have I been so betrayed..

Today I got the final confirmation that my (ex) boyfriend had completely fucked with my computer, installed a keylogger, and has been logging into my myspace account to check all my messages. I'm pretty sure that I can't think of anything more fucked up to do to a person who you claim to love and who has only shown you love and patience. Well, the patience had definitely worn out. I am torn between calling the police or making sure every single person he has ever met knows what he has done and what he is capable of doing to people he 'cares about'.

The worst part of it is -- he had nothing to worry about. I never cheated on him. I recognize that I probably should have because then I'd at least have something to fall back on, but no I was good and faithful like a stupid fucking dog. All the messages he has read were completely harmless (or in one case totally planted to see if it would get a reaction out of him so that I would KNOW once and for all it was him.)

I certainly got a reaction.

Our relationship, if you want to call it that, was over anyway. I don't feel loss at all, I just feel completely betrayed and violated.

I will admit that for the last six months or so I have made absolutely no effort whatsoever in making him feel better for all his insane accusations and stupid jealousies. In fact it may have been longer. Our "relationship" was temporary (his words) and when I asked why we were together in that case all he could answer was that we were 'together while we are happy'. What the fuck is that? I want to spend my life with someone, not just 'together while we are happy'. I've done that before -- it's called a one night stand. i will not allow someone to put limits on a relationship that I am in. What happened to happily-ever-after? You can't just rob a person of that.

I know that everyone lectures me because I keep going back to him or letting him back in my life and in all honesty the only reason I did it was just to stop the drama and because of some small hope in the back of my brain that he would make all this up to me someday. That one morning he would just wake up and apologize and that from then on he would be good to me. I think I deserve that. he apparently does not.
Now I'm just going to go on with my life. I've tried to create 'situations' that will keep my mind totally preoccupied so that I won't have the opportunity to second guess my decisions. (I guess is sort of me admitting that I've been planning on leaving anyway...)

Hopefully my life, my mood, my sleep, my never eating, my self-esteem will all improve. I will have more time for my kids -- the only ones that truly love me and the ones who have really suffered because of this relationship.

Anyhow, hopefully a positive change.

Homeless Woman Found Asleep At Store With $60K In Purse

JANESVILLE, Wis. -- She had $60,000 in cash -- and no roof over her head.

Police in Janesville, Wis., report an elderly woman found snoozing in a discount store had $60,000 in in her purse. The woman was fast asleep in a recliner at the store.

Officers looked in her purse for ID. Lt. Keith Lawver said he's never seen that much money before. The money was in six stacks of $100 bills.

Lawver said the woman had no permanent address and had been staying in hotels and apartments. Lawver adds that he hopes a social services case worker will help the woman find a place to live and set up a bank account.

Woman Dies While Trying To Rescue Cat From Fire

PEWEE VALLEY, Ky. -- A Kentucky woman trying to save her cat from inside her burning home near Louisville has died.

Authorities said she died of smoke inhalation after being taken to a hospital.

Iris Kay Call and her husband had escaped from the house, but she went back inside looking for the cat and didn't reappear. Firefighters later removed her from the house.

Neighbor Sandy Bonds said that at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, her neighbor knocked on her door, asking her to call 911 because his house was on fire. That's when the real panic set in because the man realized his wife had gone back inside.
"There was flames coming up the side and just thick smoke," Bonds said.

Bonds said Dennis Call and his wife, Iris, were able to escape their burning home, but when Dennis ran to the Bonds' house for help, Bonds said his wife ran back in to try to save the cat.

"He thought she was out, but when he got back she was gone again," said Bonds, who added that Dennis Call then began trying to fight the fire himself. "He was trying to spray the hose through the window and hollering for her. There was no answer, though."

That's when Bonds' husband, Morris Bonds, tried to go in to look for Iris, but he didn't get far.

"I got about 6 feet into the kitchen, and it was so smoky that I had to come back out," he said. "I couldn't breathe."

Morris Bonds added that the roof began to fall in, and that's when he realized their only option was to wait for firefighters to arrive.

"There's nothing you can do," he said. "It's just awful."

Added Sandy Bonds: "We were just helpless, waiting for help. I wish we could have gotten in."
When firefighters arrived, they had the fire out within minutes, and were able to find Iris alive on the second floor at the top of the stairs.

"I didn't think she was alive," Sandy Bonds said at the time. "Just looking at her, she was just limp."

Iris Call, 42, died later at University Hospital from smoke inhalation. Firefighters said it never should have happened.

"You should never reenter a burning building for an animal," Pewee Valley Fire Department spokesman Kevin Parker said. "There's never a reason for that, and we certainly don't want to have lessons like we had."

It's a lesson that the Bondses wish they never had to learn.

"You (ask yourself), 'What could I have done different to maybe change things?' but I don't think there was nothing that could be done," Sandy Bonds said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The cat she was trying to rescue also died in the blaze.

8.11.05

Horoscopes For Today: 8/11/2005
Some heavy feelings might be weighing you down, but the sooner you address them, the better. You don't have to solve or get rid of them -- in fact, just acknowledging that they're there might be enough to give you a little breathing room for now. Afterward, think about going for a long walk, run or finding some other physical way of gaining release. Once you've done that, you'll feel like a burden's been lifted off your shoulders.

Man Dies After Playing Computer Games For 49 Hours

SEOUL, South Korea -- For some people, playing video games can be addictive, and police in South Korea said that may have cost a man his life.

Police said a 28-year-old man collapsed at an Internet cafe and died after playing the battle simulation game Starcraft non-stop for 49 hours. They said he'd barely eaten anything while he was glued to the keyboard.

Doctors think the man might have had a heart attack.

Police said he was fired from his job last month because he kept missing work to play computer games.

8.10.05

Horoscopes For Today: 8/10/2005
The stars are gently reminding you that there's more than one point of view, and you need to take a certain party's perspective into account before you move ahead. You're moving with brisk progress toward what you desire -- and you're about to get it, too -- but it's important that you don't trample or shove anyone out of the way, especially if you want them to stick around for the next phase of the journey. So stop and inquire about someone's feelings.

I'm trying already...

Police: Man's Testicles Locked In Padlock

BRENTWOOD, N.H. -- Emergency workers helped a Brentwood man out of a difficult situation over the weekend after a friend apparently locked a padlock around his testicles.

According to the Portsmouth Herald, police reported that the 39-year-old man was intoxicated when they arrived at the scene on July 30 at about 3:40 a.m. The man, who was not identified, told them that he had the padlock around his testicles for two weeks.

The man said that a friend put the lock on while he was drunk and passed out. When he woke up, the friend was gone.

"Never in my 13 years have I seen anything like this," Cpl. H.D. Wood told the Herald.

The man told police that he tried to remove the lock with a hacksaw because the key had broken off in the lock.

He was taken to Exeter Hospital, where a locksmith removed the padlock. He was treated and released, and the hospital said he had no lasting injury.

Police said that they did not know the motive for the incident.

TV News Anchor Peter Jennings Dies Of Lung Cancer

NEW YORK -- Peter Jennings, the suave, Canadian-born broadcaster who delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades, has died. He was 67.

Jennings announced April 5 that he had lung cancer. Fellow ABC News anchor Charles Gibson said Jennings died Sunday at his apartment.

Jennings' announcement four months ago that he would begin treatment for lung cancer came as a shock.

In a taped message, his voice husky, Jennings said: "I will continue to do the broadcast ... On good days, my voice will not always be like this."

But although Jennings occasionally went to the office, he never again appeared on the air.

With Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, Jennings was part of a triumvirate that dominated network news for more than two decades. His smooth delivery and years of international reporting experience made Jennings particularly popular among urban dwellers.

Jennings was the face of ABC News whenever a big story broke. He logged more than 60 hours on the air during the week of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, offering a soothing sense of continuity during a troubled time.

ABC reported that in announcing Jennings' death to his colleagues, ABC News President David Westin wrote:

"For four decades, Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him.

"As you all know, Peter learned only this spring that the health problem he'd been struggling with was lung cancer. With Kayce, he moved straight into an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. He knew that it was an uphill struggle. But he faced it with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones. In the end, he was not.

"We will have many opportunities in the coming hours and days to remember Peter for all that he meant to us all. It cannot be overstated or captured in words alone. But for the moment, the finest tribute we can give is to continue to do the work he loved so much and inspired us to do."

Jennings is survived by his wife, Kayce Freed, and his two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23.

Bakers Celebrate Atkins Diet Decline (YAY!!)

NEW YORK -- The news this week that the Atkins food company has filed for bankruptcy has at least one group cheering: bakers.

Breadmakers across the country reported sales drops as the ultra-low-carb Atkins diet took hold. But as the craze ebbed, bakers said their business has picked up.

Alison MacDaniel sells bread for a New Jersey baker at a farmers market in New York City. She said she had a feeling tastes would shift. As she put it, it seems like we're often "changing our minds about the healthiest things to eat or put in our bodies."

Atkins Nutritionals filed for Chapter 11 Monday, in part because of the weakening of low-carb diets.

8.5.05

Horoscopes For Today: 8/5/2005
Truth, dare or double dare? Well, if it were up to you, you'd say yes to all
three. There's no challenge that can stump you -- in fact, you say bring it on to any and all tasks, puzzles or games that might leave a lesser mortal
scratching his or her head in bewilderment. You're absolutely fearless when it comes to tackling any requirement, and more than willing to go above and beyond the call of duty -- especially if it allows you to exercise a new part of your brain or body. There's almost no keeping up with you!

'Corporate Merger' Ends Lemonade Stand Fracas

SALEM, Mass. -- A lemonade merger has settled a dispute between two boys hawking the beverage and a rival vendor in Salem.

The boys, who are 9 and 11, will now sell their refreshing ade as subcontractors under the vendor's license.

The dispute started after the vendor's employee reported the boys to police last weekend, saying the stand was affecting their sausage stand business, which also sells lemonade. Police then shut down the boys' stand because they didn't have a vendor's license.

The sausage stand employee said he's endured his share of icy stares since the incident.

The deal was brokered by the mayor, who calls the arrangement "a corporate merger." The arrangement expires when school starts

Kids' Lemonade Stand Closed After Competitor Complains

SALEM, Mass. -- A sausage vendor has given two Massachusetts boys a lesson in cutthroat business techniques.

Police shut down the boys' lemonade stand in Salem after the sausage man complained that they didn't have a permit and were taking customers away from him.

Lt. Scott Englehart said police had no choice but to enforce the rules. But he said it's "ridiculous that little kids can't sell lemonade."

Jarrod Clowery is the sausage man. He said he regrets ever calling police because now all he gets are icy stares from people around town who heard about the story.

Dominic Serino, 9, said after he and 11-year-old Ryan Decker were thrown off the Common, they relocated to a spot near Serino's home. But their business dropped off.

The saddest email ever in the history of email

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: I miss you (it's Lhiannan)
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 16:33:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: *******************
To: lelia5150@yahoo.com



Hi Mommy

I miss you so much. But I'll be home soon.

Love you

Bye

Plant Killer

I'm irritated. There is an ivy plant that sits on the top of my cubicle wall. It is pretty and provides color to my otherwise drab, tan, padded walls. I do not have to care for it. The water-boy-gardener-whatever-guy comes by every week to water and care for it. I have learned that if you are actually sitting at your desk when he comes to water it that he is too afraid to step into your cubicle to cut back the branches. I have made it my personal mission to always be there to prevent him from hacking away at the only bit of greenery around my desk.

I have been successful at this since at least June. I know this because the tendrils had reached down and were covering a calendar that sits on the shelf right under the plant. I was considering training the tendrils so that they would grow in certain directions -- like across the top of the wall, etc.

I had to go down to Human Resources to sort out yet another problem in my life and when I came back I found this: (ok, except the calendar said June and it was very, very dusty):



That fucker hacked away my plant!!!

8.3.2005

Horoscopes For Today: 8/3/2005
Remember what those cheerleaders used to chant during high school football games? You know, that one about being a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e? Well, the stars are practically turning cartwheels and spelling out the letters to get you in motion. Now is a fantastic time to start a project, especially one that involves improving your living surroundings. After all, a person's home is his or her castle, and you're the first to admit that everything could do with a little sprucing up. Make sure you clear your ideas with any and all concerned
parties, then get moving.


Well I did clean my bathroom last night...I’ve been toying with the idea of borrowing my mum’s carpet cleaner since the mulberry tree outside my door ended up killing my carpet in the entryway despite my no shoe rule. Sounds like way too much effort is required though.

10th Planet Found

MISSION NEWS
NASA-Funded Scientists Discover Tenth Planet

07.29.05

A planet larger than Pluto has been discovered in the outlying regions of the solar system.

The planet was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. The discovery was announced today by planetary scientist Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., whose research is partly funded by NASA.




Image above: These time-lapse images of a newfound planet in our solar system, called 2003UB313, were taken on Oct. 21, 2003, using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. The planet, circled in white, is seen moving across a field of stars. The three images were taken about 90 minutes apart. Scientists did not discover that the object in these pictures was a planet until Jan. 8, 2005. Image credit: Samuel Oschin Telescope, Palomar Observatory

The planet is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet, Brown said. Currently about 97 times further from the sun than the Earth, the planet is the farthest-known object in the solar system, and the third brightest of the Kuiper belt objects.

"It will be visible with a telescope over the next six months and is currently almost directly overhead in the early-morning eastern sky, in the constellation Cetus," said Brown, who made the discovery with colleagues Chad Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz, of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., on January 8.

Brown, Trujillo and Rabinowitz first photographed the new planet with the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope on October 31, 2003. However, the object was so far away that its motion was not detected until they reanalyzed the data in January of this year. In the last seven months, the scientists have been studying the planet to better estimate its size and its motions.

"It's definitely bigger than Pluto," said Brown, who is a professor of planetary astronomy.

Scientists can infer the size of a solar system object by its brightness, just as one can infer the size of a faraway light bulb if one knows its wattage. The reflectance of the planet is not yet known. Scientists can not yet tell how much light from the sun is reflected away, but the amount of light the planet reflects puts a lower limit on its size.

"Even if it reflected 100 percent of the light reaching it, it would still be as big as Pluto," says Brown. "I'd say it's probably one and a half times the size of Pluto, but we're not sure yet of the final size.

"We are 100 percent confident that this is the first object bigger than Pluto ever found in the outer solar system," Brown added.

The size of the planet is limited by observations using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which has already proved its mettle in studying the heat of dim, faint, faraway objects such as the Kuiper-belt bodies. Because Spitzer is unable to detect the new planet, the overall diameter must be less than 2,000 miles, said Brown.

A name for the new planet has been proposed by the discoverers to the International Astronomical Union, and they are awaiting the decision of this body before announcing the name.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information and images see:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/newplanet-072905-images.html or

http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomarnew/sot.html

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index .

(Only in Texas...) Texas Municipal Worker Ordered Stray Dogs Drowned

JOURDANTON, Texas -- Some city officials in Jourdanton, Texas, are outraged that a public works supervisor ordered employees to drown six stray dogs at the city sewer plant, rather than having the animals properly euthanized.

For punishment, the supervisor was ordered to attend classes with animal control officers.

City councilman Darrell Richter said the workers took the dogs from the pound to the sewer plant and dropped their cages into the water.

A child saw the drownings and told his mother, who complained.

Richter told the San Antonio Express-News that he's disgusted by the incident and upset with the supervisor getting "a little slap on the hand." He said a crime has been committed and should be dealt with in a more serious manner.

A Jourdanton city councilman wants an outside agency to investigate the drownings.

"I believe that an outside agency could do an investigation that would not be biased," Councilman Darrell Richter said.

The investigation would determine if several city employees are responsible for the drownings of the dogs three weeks ago.

A city employee who allegedly ordered the drownings has received a written reprimand.

But Councilman Joe de la Rosa indicated Sunday that harsher measures may need to be taken.

"Whatever action needs to be taken, we're going to do it," he said. "That is definitely my promise to everybody. It's going to happen. That is a cruel, coward way of doing things to poor animals."

A City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.

Richter said he plans to question the city manager about the incident.

Jourdanton typically uses injections to put stray animals to death, but the veterinarian who administers the injections was on vacation when the incident occurred.

8.2.2005

Horoscopes For Today: 8/2/2005
Your normally impetuous and go-for-it self might meet up with a couple of detours today -- not physical ones, but ones of the emotional variety. Anything -- especially something from the past -- might be tugging at your sleeve, trying to get your attention. So when you get a chance, why not examine what's been going on in your life in the recent or not so recent past? You could get some answers that start you moving in the right direction, especially if you find someone you can talk to about your findings.

Erm....I don't know about this....

Love is like....

This keyboard...

For Photoshop


For Quake

8.1.2005

Horoscopes For Today: 8/1/2005
Are you eating that because you're hungry, or are you noshing simply because it's a good way to distract yourself from what's really going on? Food should be appreciated, but it shouldn't be used as a way to avoid emotions or to deal with feelings you'd rather not be having. Rather than picking up a doughnut, why not ask yourself what it is you're scared of facing? Not only will you feel much better, but your physical and emotional health will benefit at the same time.

So what this is saying is...I guess it was a bad idea to go out and buy the biggest bag of tortilla chips, the biggest bag of cheese and the economy size bottle of salsa last night for dinner washed down with a big bottle of wine?

I'm depressed, I think I deserved some junk food...