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Empty Nest
It's quiet around here.
We helped son #2 with his big move to Wichita KS. And we all survived!
I passed the time taking pictures out the window.
I shared a lot of these on Facebook so if you follow me there, sorry.
We went through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
1040 miles.
Through tunnels,
over bridges,
We even went through Transylvania.
I was really happy to finally see some fall colors.
It was so very windy. I found bits of cotton that had blown from the fields to the rest area.
Did I mention the wind?
I'm missing my boy.
No more "What's for dinner?" every day at 5:00.
No more empty milk carton.
No more smelly boy funk in my sewing room.
I think I'll be okay.
He found a great little apartment in the historic downtown.
Lots of great antique stores nearby. I'll be back for a visit!
9 comments:
did this 10 yrs ago isn't eazy especially if its the baby.......he is still in Kansas /Missouri area married now will be hard all over again when children start coming.....i may have to just move!! anyways its hard for awhile seemed forever but at some point it doesn't hurt so much but u never stop missing them.
ReplyDeleteI'm still missing my kids although they are all doing
wonderful in their lives... they all live much too far
and it's not fun visiting only once a year now. My grandkids
seem to grow a foot each year. But, that is what it's all
about.. we raise them, then send them on their way!
I'd like to tell you 'it gets better' but it does not!
Happy Thanksgiving Anita
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Get "Redi"! Red Roof® to Register its One Millionth RediCard® Reward Program Member by Year End |
10/24/2013 |
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Michel Van Rijn was once wanted by authorities all over the world for sneaking valuable pieces of art across sea and land. He had planes, harems of babes, and millions in the bank. Then he flipped and began working with the cops to expose the slimy...
Having turned the craft of international art smuggling into an art in its own right, Michel Van Rijn was once wanted by authorities all over the world for sneaking valuable pieces of art across sea and land. With millions in the bank, Michel lived the life of a playboy. He owned private planes, enjoyed a harem of beautiful women, and did business with some of the world's most dangerous criminals-many of whom were members of various governments (and probably still are).
Art smuggling has been his racket since he was 20 years old. Dealing with upper class gangsters and supposedly legitimate art dealers, he's been shot, extradited, jailed, hunted by MI6 and Interpol, and received photos of his children in the mail by way of a very unsettling threat from his enemies.
He hasn't given many interviews over the past six years, but I managed to track him down for a chat. After learning I did a bit of unlicensed boxing before becoming a journalist, Michel took a liking to me, as he is a fighter himself. He once had so many contracts on his head that Scotland Yard detectives allegedly placed bets on how long he had left to live before he was murdered by a hitman.
Well built, bearded and rugged, Michel greeted me, took a drag of his cigarette, and agreed to speak about the lucrative world of art smuggling and how he became the kingpin of it.
VICE: Art smuggling doesn't seem like a very easy thing to get into. How did you first get involved?
Michel: Well, by the time I was 15 I had been kicked out of seven schools. I must have been ADHD or whatever, because I fucking hated school and was always looking to start something for myself. So I began importing cheap hippie coats from Istanbul. They were basically sheepskins turned inside out with some sleeves on them. I began selling them in this hashish bar in Holland. They sold like fucking hotcakes. So I was going up and down between Istanbul and Holland quite a lot. Business was going well, and I was eventually approached in Istanbul by a man named E.
E was established in the international art market, as well as the black market at the time. He must have seen some potential in me. Obviously you had to take risks in the art smuggling world, and he probably saw me as somebody who would take them, which was indeed true. I had a Dutch passport as well, which I'm sure didn't hurt. So E wanted me to take these stolen antique byzantine oil lamps and crucifixes back with me to Holland. I did, and sold them for top dollar to private collectors in Europe.
Happy with my work, the next time he took me to Armenia. He was smuggling of course, and when we got there we had drinks with the chief of police. There was a big organization bringing in lots of pieces from Moscow and Leningrad. The Russians and the Armenians were like mafia clans. They were very well-organized and working together. From there we took a bunch of art and flew to Beirut-the customs there were in on the game. We paid them off. That was basically the first time I smuggled on a large scale.
What were you smuggling?
Fabergé icons. There were crates and crates and crates of them. I saw them being loaded onto the plane as I was sitting inside, only half believing that it was happening like this. You see your own luggage going onto the plane, followed by three tremendous crates filled with stolen art.
Some have called you the world's most successful art smuggler. That's a big title. What does it take to get to that level?
It is a very pretentious title, but yeah I was a big-time smuggler. I was very ambitious. It all started to get serious when I went to Russia after Beirut. In Russia the art smugglers all worked together so that they could have their claws in many different countries overseas. So if you were "in the game" and a promising prospect like I probably was and had contacts with one clan, you could have contacts with all the clans. I was involved in a big way because I knew all the people and could reach out to them. I could get to the countries behind the iron curtain. I was also dealing with VIPs. Don't think this was some kind of scumbag organization-we were dealing with people who were very high up on the political ladder. All you had to do was make sure everybody had his cut.
I remember having dinners with VIPs and there'd be a hooker under the table. You'd have to try to keep your face straight while she crawled around giving all the blokes blowjobs. If you couldn't keep your face straight while she was sucking you off you had to pay the bill. [laughs]
I also learned to drink in Russia, because if you didn't drink with them they didn't trust you. So I learned to buy the icons like this [holds a hand over one of his eyes to show how drunk he was]. I really learned the basics there. The Russians are very educated. I had a great time, which made me forget that this was my university. This was the first time I learned about big smuggling. There was a black market and I became an outlet who had the possibilities to market everything in the West.
Who were you selling the smuggled art to?
Well, you would plant things at auctions. I had a gallery and there were straightforward buyers in the market who you could be a middleman to. The profit was tremendous.
Were the people you sold to aware that it was smuggled art they were dealing with?
Oh fuck yes! Look, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the art market is a billion-dollar industry. If it [smuggling] is not tolerated on certain levels, the banks would never reach their peaks. I had people on my payroll at customs... it was barely even necessary to smuggle because you could bring it in almost officially so long as you pay a little bit to the right people.
What's the most expensive piece you ever smuggled?
I'm not going to bullshit you. Single shipments from Russia were between one and three million, which in the 60s was a lot of money. And these were regular trips-twice a month. It was raining money so I made my base in Beirut. Moneywise Beirut was a free banking market, so you could exchange a million dollars completely open on the square and no one would ask any questions. Of course you had to play the cat and mouse game with Interpol.
How did you manage to get away from them so many times?
You always have to be a step ahead of them. Most of them you could pay off, but some you couldn't. I was cocky. I would show off in their faces sometimes. It was stupidity, but I saw the news of my smuggling in the papers and I liked it, it showed them I could still do it even though they were after me. Also I'd travel on fake passports and change my appearance. Instead of blue eyes I'd change them to brown with contacts, I'd dye my hair blonde... all those corny tricks. At that time they worked.
Eventually you began working with the police though. What made you flip?
Well, I'd been on the run and was eventually arrested at my villa in Marbella.I knew one of the Italian godfathers of the mafia who also has a villa there. We are great friends. So within ten minutes of being arrested, his counsellor was in my cell. He said, "Felice cannot come but he sent you his kind regards," so then I was sent to Madrid where I dined with a very important member of the police. He arranged for me to go to prison there instead of being extradited to France where they were really after me. I had the best time of my life in jail [in Madrid]. I had the guarantee I was coming out in a year and I bought a cell phone from one of the ETA boys in there. It was like that movie Goodfellas. I had my own kitchen, my own shower, and every day I could bribe one of the guards to go to the market-it was fantastic.
Sounds like a blast.
It was, but things changed later when I went to the Jos Plateau in Nigeria. I saw these incredible Nok terracotta heads that they bury in the graves for their ancestors. They were potentially million-dollar pieces and I was there to buy them. But then I met the people-the Jos Plateau is very cold at night so we sat around campfires-and they hardly had anything to eat, yet they sit up all night to protect their ancestor's culture from vultures who want to come and dig and steal and kill to get the terracottas. That touches your heart. You can't deal with those things. You don't want to have people dying for art. It was all just a game, but then I was on top of that hill and suddenly confronted with reality. If that doesn't change you, you aren't a human being.
After that I knew there were a lot of stolen Nok pieces that were going to be exhibited at a gallery in London-all worth around $400,000-sold to some of the wealthiest people in the world. I could've easily made a lot of money for myself by approaching the dealer and saying, "Give me 100 grand to keep my mouth shut about where they came from," and I would've gotten it in a nanosecond. But instead I went to the Nigerian embassy and convinced the ambassador there about these stolen Nok pieces.
We went with the police and about 20 Nigerians into the gallery the day before the opening. There were all of these fucking posh people sipping champagne, and in we came to shut it down. You should've seen their fucking jaws! I made a statement: "Don't touch the heritage of these people!" And it's not that I was a white knight-not at all. But I began to come across certain things that I just couldn't step over.
When you flipped several contracts were put on your head. How did you survive with a bunch of hitmen after you?
I always faced my problems. You have to show some balls. Funnily enough, a lot of these hitmen, if they are cut from the right cloth, will come to you with a certain respect if you don't hide. When the Yugoslavian mafia were going to kidnap my father and brother for trying to set a sting operation against them, I had to come back to Amsterdam to face it. I said, "OK, come along. If you're going to kill me, kill me. If you want my money, go fuck yourself." That's the language they speak. I was standing with my bodyguards on the terrace in Amsterdam and this car flew past and they started shooting at me. A bullet went straight through my leg.
Ouch, what was that like?
Just a scratch. [laughs]
To be honest, I'm surprised you're still alive.
Look, I've been shot at on three separate occasions, I've had guns on my head, I've had police chasing me... To survive I have been a chameleon. As you know, I speak many languages. Also, I'm not attached to anything. It's like living near a fault line-if you hear a noise, pack your things and get the fuck out of there. Don't become too accustomed to anything. I can sleep like a baby on a little field bed.
A movie of Michel's life, written and directed by sub-culture specialist King Adz and co-produced by ex-CIA agent Bob Baer is now in the works. Called The Iconoclast, it will be like Gomorra set in the Louvre, with a bearded Tom Hardy playing Michel Van Rijn (or so rumor has it).
Want more true stories from people with balls bigger than yours?
How I Pulled Off a $300 Million Drug Deal
The (ex) Biggest Heroin Dealer in the Whole Wide World
Follow Jake on Twitter @OiJake


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Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 can scan network traffic for viruses using the SSL protocol.
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Mitch Hurwitz Says 'Arrested Development' Movie Finally Happening This Year
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After charming its way into America's jaded hearts with three years of classic comedic television, Arrested Development was sent to the place where all shows too good for television go: Cancellation-town. Ever since then (five years and counting), there has been relentless talk of a feature film follow-up, but little else.
But then, two days ago, Peter Serafinowicz, who co-starred in Mitch Hurwitz's now-canceled Running Wilde, said that Hurwitz was busy writing the Arrested Development screenplay with plans to put him in it.
Arrested Development creator Hurwitz himself said he not only wants the movie to be filmed this year, but also released this year.
Serafinowicz, who appeared in Shaun of the Dead, spoke to Split Sider about the movie and his involvement, saying:
" […]Mitch told me is that he's writing me into the Arrested Development movie, which I'm super excited about. […] It's all properly happening. I don't know anything about it other than that he's writing it and it's happening and I'm going to be in it, apparently."
Then, as if by clockwork, Mitch Hurwitz spoke to Digital Spy about the film the very next day:
"We've started [the pre-production] process and it is our sincere hope to shoot it this year and get it out this year. That's what we're hoping, but a lot of things have to fall into place for that to happen."
When asked about plot details, Hurwitz was tight-lipped:
"I want to keep whatever it is we end up with as a surprise, which kind of betrays the fact that we might not have the whole thing worked out!"
And why is Hurwitz being so tight-lipped if he wants the movie to come out later this year?
"I don't like to toy with the affections of our fans. They've been so supportive and we're so grateful, so I kind of hate to answer [the story] question until I can say, 'Yep, we've shot it, it opens next week'. Otherwise it feels like we're toying with people and we do not mean to do that. It has just taken a while to get it going."
Last month, Ron Howard, who would likely narrate the movie and could even appear as himself (a la the final episode), talked about why it has taken Hurwitz so long to get going on the project:
"[H]e's been very involved in his television company and I think it's reached a point where he now has a window to really focus on Arrested Development and give it the time and attention that it really needs."
Arrested Development, in my humble opinion, is one of the greatest television shows of all time, and it's primarily responsible for the current stylistic movement of sitcoms (Community, Modern Family, even The US Office and 30 Rock). I'm the sort of fan that has held out hope for a feature film – for better or worse, through thick and thin – since the very moment it was canceled.
In fact, just last week I literally had a dream about what the movie might entail. Michael worked at Sitwell. Lucille was in prison. George Senior was free, happy, on his own. George Michael was in college. Buster got his hand back. GOB was still being GOB. Lindsay was exploring her new life as a non-Bluth. Tobias was still denying his own homosexuality. And, in a very self-referential development, Maeby was filming the movie version of the Bluths' tumultuous lives. Needless to say, it was awesome.
The Arrested Development movie — which will star Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Tony Hale, and Alia Shawkat, if all goes well — may or may not start filming this year. Let's cross our fingers that it does.
Sources: Split Sider & Digital Spy


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2016 U.S. Open Beer Championship Winners Follow Google+
Looking for your favorite Beer
This Top Ten Bohemian Pilseners List is from America's Best and from the results of the 2009 US Open Beer Championship. 1. Noble Pils Boston Beer Company - Massachusetts 2. Pau Hana Pils Maui Brewing - Hawaii 3. American Pils Grand Canyon Brewing - Arizona 4. Pilsner Urquel - Plzensky Prazdroj 5. Lagunitas PILS - Lagunitas Brewing 6. Budweiser Budvar - Brewery Budweiser Budvar 7. Sierra Nevada Summerfest - Sierra Nevada Brewing 8. Otter Creek Vermont Lager - Otter Creek Brewing 9. Full Sail LTD, Full Sail Brewing 10. Staropramen Lager - Pivovar Staropramen
Bohemian Pilsner / PilsenerBohemian pilseners are medium bodied, and they can be as dark as a light amber color. This style balances moderate bitterness and noble-type hop aroma and flavor with a malty, slightly sweet, medium body. Extremely low levels of diacetyl and low levels of sweet corn-like dimethylsulfide (DMS) character, if perceived, are characteristic of this style and both may accent malt aroma. A toasted-, biscuit-like, bready malt character along with low levels of sulfur compounds may be evident. There should be no chill haze. Its head should be dense and rich.OG: 1.044-1.056FG: 1.014-1.020Alcohol by Weight: 3.2-4%IBU: 30-45Color SRM: 3-7
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The Arts at St. Mark's is pleased to present Hatsumi Miura in recital. Hatsumi is the Resident Organist at Minato Mirai Concert Hall in...
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Integrate moodle Learning system and develop an educational website
This project was awarded to ashokbirru for $1400 USD.
Get free quotes for a project like thisProject Budget
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text: Man Builds Mustang Out Of Lamborghini, World Goes "Huh?"Sam Smith2/08/10 12:30pmFiled to: custom carsFord MustangLamborghini GallardoStangallardoFordaghiniMustangallaroGallardoMustangFordLamborghiniTop3092EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink So get this: Guy likes Lamborghinis. Guy likes Fords. Guy takes a 2007 Mustang and shoves a massive V-10 and transaxle into its middle. We can't look away. Advertisement Building this monstrosity took one Mustang shell, one Mustang parts car, one Lamborghini Gallardo parts car, and several thousand hours of labor. Everything from the transmission to the all-wheel-drive system is claimed to work. And we'll be damned if we know what to do with it. What we have here depends entirely on how you view the universe. A few things are undeniable: The fabrication is impressive, the attention to detail staggering. It is like that time you saw that gorgeous, six-foot-tall blonde in line at the grocery, heard her surprisingly deep voice, and then noticed she had an Adam's apple. You want to look away, but you can't. And whether or not you like the end product, you cannot help but admire the effort that produced it. Advertisement The only details we have come from the folks who put it up for sale on Jameslist:The crown jewel of our private collection: The Tractorri. The short version? This is a body-in-white '07 Mustang shell with the mechanicals from a Lamborghini Gallardo underneath. From the ABS to the AWD to the E-gear transmission everything works. The long version adds two more Mustangs for parts, thousands of hours of labor and enough one-off parts to make most show cars blush. Oh, and our president drives it around—he put over 1500 miles on it this summer alone! Built and maintained by our own Rick Roush this is a werewolf in wolf's clothing! Check out the pictures for now and we'll have a full description of the build and show history up shortly! Admit it: Much like the Alfabeast, this is appealing. And you can't explain why. Neither can we. (Also, "Tractorri," the official name for this project, ain't cuttin' it. What would you call this thing? Stangallardo? Lambostang? Disgusting Ball of Horrible Greatness?) Advertisement Sponsored (Hat tip to Love!)Reply309 repliesLeave a reply


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this is a discussion within the College Community Forum; LSU Coach Arrested Strength coach hooked up agent with student athletes: Tuesday October 24, 2006 BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- An assistant strength coach for LSU was arrested and accused of violating state law by inviting student athletes to his ...
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LSU Coach Arrested
LSU Coach Arrested
Strength coach hooked up agent with student athletes: Tuesday October 24, 2006 BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- An assistant strength coach for LSU was arrested and accused of violating state law by inviting student athletes to his home to meet a sports agent and suggesting the agent should represent the athletes, LSU police said Tuesday. Travelle Ernest Gaines, 26, of Port Allen, surrendered to university police and was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish prison, the university said in a statement. It was the second arrest in two weeks connected to the school about violations of the law regulating sports agents in Louisiana, the university said. Gaines had been employed with the athletic department since July. LSU said the student athletes invited to Gaines' home didn't realize an agent would be there, and the university said there was no evidence that the student athletes violated the law. University police arrested sports agent Charles Taplin, of Houston, earlier this month for attempting to contact student athletes. LSU said notes and a cell phone gathered during Taplin's arrest, combined with interviews with several student athletes, pointed to Gaines as assisting Taplin. "At LSU, we will not tolerate this predatory behavior, and in particular we will not abide those who seek to infiltrate our athletic department. Our student athletes and coaches provided authorities with the information they needed to make this arrest," LSU chancellor Sean O'Keefe said in a statement released by the school. LSU athletic director Skip Bertman said he was pleased university police acted on the information so quickly. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html |
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About Kolkata (CCU)
Kolkata is one of the oldest cities in India which is known for its deep rooted culture and rich historical backdrops. Placed on the banks of Hooghly River, this ancient city was earlier called as 'Calcutta'. Due to its historical past, the city is awarded as 'Cultural Capital of India', 'the City of Processions' and 'City of Joy'. Kolkata is the capital city of Indian state of West Bengal and has also served as the capital of the country until 1911. The metropolis is known for two major things, one is 'Communist stronghold' and other is the madness for cricket. Kolkata is famous as the birthplace of many famous personalities like Rabindranath Tagore (the noblest) and Satyajit Ray (the Bharat Ratan). The city also has deep values for Catholics and other communities as Mother Teresa took her last breath here. Moving in and around the city, you will get a glimpse of India's past and present through its architectural buildings. To add more memorable moments in your life, Kolkata has many beautiful and breathtaking places in the way of Fort William, Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens (Stadium), Birla Planetarium, Howrah Bridge, Marble Palace, Writer's Building, Nicco Park, Saheed Minar and National Library. Beside its attractions, Kolkata is also famous for its variety of lip smacking foods and warm hospitality. If you are a shopping freak, then, you can find number of markets to buy some traditional things. The fish market near the beautiful Hooghly River is quite famous not just in India but also throughout the world. A visit to the city during Durga Puja will enhance your enjoyment. The months from October to March are considered as the best period to visit the city as during this time, the climate remains pleasant. Being one of the largest cities in India, Kolkata is well connected to different parts of world. You can book your flight tickets to Kolkata from any corner of the world via MakeMyTrip.com which is a leading travel portal. Here on this dedicated portal, you can also enjoy some heavy discounts on your bookings.
Kolkata Airport Address
Dum Dum
Tel: +91 33 5119944 | Fax: +91 33 5118873
Q: How many flights fly from abu dhabi to kolkata everyday?
A: There are 39 flights flying from abu dhabi to kolkata every day.
Q: Which is the earliest flight to take from abu dhabi to kolkata?
A: Want to reach your destination early? The earliest flight from abu dhabi to kolkata is at 00:05:00
Q: What time does the last flight leave from abu dhabi to kolkata?
A: The last flight from abu dhabi to kolkata leaves at 23:30:00
Q: How long is the flight from abu dhabi to kolkata?
A:The flight from abu dhabi to kolkata is usually 6h 25m long.
Q: Which airlines fly from abu dhabi to kolkata?
A: Top Airlines like Jet Airways, American Airlines, Air Canada from abu dhabi to kolkata


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Too cute. Pair it with skinny black cropped pants and a gorgeous blouse to the office.
Added 5 Years Ago from Endless -
Report Signature Does it Again! Hot, New Boots
Tags: shoes, peep toe, fashion, leopard print, glam, peep toe boots, Report Signature, leopard peep toe, report bootiesAdded 8 Years Ago from Endless


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Eighty minutes of regulation play wasn't enough to determine a winner in Saturday night's contest between the Gainesville girls and visiting Carrollton.
Previews of today's matchups in the second round of the state playoffs.
Georgia Tech linebacker and Flowery Branch High School graduate Daniel Drummond pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of boating under the influence and will be suspended for the first 1.5 games of the upcoming season.
With last year's historic collapse still fresh in the minds of fans, the Braves push forward into a new season marked by uncertainty.
For the final four minutes of Tuesday night's game, North Hall watched anxiously as its hard-earned lead started to slip away.
Even when the momentum seemed to swing against her team, North Hall girls coach Kristi House said she never lost faith.
Even when their shots aren't falling, shooters shoot.
SpeedFest, a longtime annual event at Lanier National Speedway, has been moved nearly 200 miles south to a similar asphalt track in Crisp County.
The West Hall boys aren't yet where coach Warren Sellers wants them to be. But with a record above .500 after losing the vast majority of last year's contributors, Sellers is at least pleased with the direction in which the Spartans are heading.
For North Hall girls basketball coach Kristi House, the benefits of a senior-laden team are twofold. Not only does she have a wealth of game-hardened experience at her beckon call, she also has a group of role models laying the groundwork for future Lady Trojan successes.
East Hall guard J.C. Hampton is a known commodity by this point. The 6-foot-1 senior earned All-State honors last year and has a reputation as one of the area's best shooters.
By benefit of a coin flip, Gainesville will be back in City Park Stadium for another Friday night.
For teams in subdivided regions, including all local teams other than those in Region 8-A and 8-AAAA, this is, for all intents and purposes, the final week of the regular season.
Each time a North Hall running back has had a big game this season, the credit has gone to the offensive line.
Matt Askounis, according to his coach, is a playmaker, plain and simple. The Lakeview Academy senior began the season as the quarterback in the Lions' triple-option offense, but in an effort to put one of his most dangerous offensive threats in a better position to succeed, coach Matthew Gruhn moved Askounis to tailback.
Page 4 of 15
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Sep 6, 2006
Special Delivery
There is a fun website called, The Envelope Collective. People are asked to send them a letter or package but to think of the envelope as a canvas. You can draw, paint or collage anything you want onto it. When it gets to them they post them online. Here is my silly envelope art. I wanted to do something fun and cartoony. I had saved up a bunch of old stamps that came in handy. You can check out the site here.
I was very sad to see that one of the greatest websites of all time, Art Dorks is no longer in business. It was run by Brendan Danielsson, a genius illustrator if there ever was one.
3 comments:
- PeterPen said...
it's kind of surprising, seeing you, doing comic style
"good to see you" ;-)
P.S. ... and thanks for coming along, too! - 3:57 PM
- Edward Kinsella III said...
great work... and a lot of it. lovin the table setting sketchbook page.
- Kim said...
FYI, Art Dorks is back in business. Same time, same place
http://www.artdorks.com - 1:59 PM
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text: Ziggler's BodyguardAs noted by our live report we posted this past weekend, Dolph Ziggler debuted his new bodyguard. During WWE live events this past weekend, Mason Ryan was with Dolph Ziggler after Ziggler said he wants Ryan to be watching his back from now on. Mason Ryan got involved in Ziggler's matches. FCW Talent's New GimmickHusky Harris wrestled as Bray Wyatt this past weekend at WWE live events. He lost to Zack Ryder. The Bray Wyatt character is described by fans as a redneck disturbed hillbilly. |


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Monday, June 29, 2009
Drinks At Shanghi Red's Leads To Judge's Resignation
WGRZ.com reports on a judicial misconduct matter:
Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita says State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Makowski and local attorney Anne Adams conspired to try and make a DWI case against Adams go away. Last September, Makowski and Adams met for drinks at Shanghai Red's on the Buffalo waterfront. Afterwards, Adams was driving home through Hamburg, with Makowski following behind her, when Adams was spotted driving erratically and was pulled over by police. A breathalyzer test showed her blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. Despite that, Makowski in attempt to cover up the case, submitted a sworn statement to a judge saying that Adams' driving had been fine. He also stated that she had had only two drinks. The following day, Adams, in her attempt to have the case against her dismissed, had her blood drawn. By then, it showed just a trace amount of alcohol in her system, but Adams then claimed in a statement to the court that the blood had been drawn the night of her arrest. Late Friday afternoon, Adams pled guilty to the DWI charge, as well another two charges related to her tampering with evidence (the blood test).
"Her conduct was disgraceful and she is now being held accountable for that conduct," said Sedita.
Makowski recanted his statement and resigned from the bench.
He will not face any criminal charges.
Scott Brown: "Knowing that Judge Makowski lied in his sworn statement, why not prosecute him?"
Sedita: "Under the law, if Judge Makowski chose to come before the grand jury and recant, there would be no criminal charges against him, so we fashioned a result where he recanted before the grand jury met, he must resign from the bench, and that means his reputation is disgraced."
Adams is scheduled to be sentenced in April, that sentence can range from probation, to two years in prison.
There's a chance that both Adams and Makowski could lose their licenses to practice law.
The bottom line says Sedita, "They tried to fix a case Scott, and they got caught."
This situation isn't sitting well with the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization.
Elizabeth Obad, The president of the Erie County M.A.D.D. chapter, calls this situation a disgrace and wants to see a stiff penalty for Adams when she is sentenced in April.
"We look up to our attorneys and our judges and expect them to enforce the law and I think it's horrible when someone who could have possibly been sitting on the bench and someone who was on the bench to do something like this," said Obad. "I think it's absolutely horrible and I would like to see some still penalties in this matter."
The proceedings before the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct leading to the judge's resignation from the bench are linked here and here. WIBV.com reports that the attorney was a former prosecutor and was sentenced to imprisonment for the driving incident. (Mike Frisch)


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Danville Police responded to an alarm just after 5 a.m. When they arrived at the shop they found the front door pried open and the sliding rollup security door breached. Inside, several of the display cases were also pried open.
"There was obviously an apparent loss of jewelry from the location," said Sgt. Dan Hoffman.
The owner confirmed the loss, but police are not able to disclose a list of missing items or a value amount at this time. Hoffman did say the store's larger-value items are kept in safes that were not broken into.
The surveillance cameras showed two subjects wearing masks and gloves enter through the front door, force their way into a couple of display cases and put jewelry into bags they were carrying. They exited through the front door shortly before the officers arrived at the scene.
The investigation is ongoing; anyone who noticed suspicious activity near Smith Jewelers around 5 a.m. Tuesday should contact Sgt. Dan Hoffman at 314-3703.
--Meghan Neal
Illegal fireworks reported
The Danville Police Department received more than two dozen calls from residents reporting the use of illegal fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend.
The first call was at 6:30 p.m. and they kept coming in until about 11 o'clock that night, according to last week's police report.
"The noise is definitely a part of it but I think a lot of concern comes from the dangers that fireworks pose, especially given this weather and how dry it is outside," said Lt. Mark Williams. Fireworks are illegal in Contra Costa County for safety reasons.
The perpetrators were mostly kids, but some adults did partake in setting off fireworks, he said.
"It's a tradition," conceded the lieutenant.
The police department and San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District made an effort to educate residents this year on the dangers of using illegal fireworks, particularly given current drought conditions.
Williams said compared to past years, last weekend wasn't so bad. Police didn't issue any citations and no fires were started in relation to the fireworks.
--Meghan Neal


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Panel: "Niche Masters Who Can Kill You"
The Internet Paradoxby Randy Cassingham, Author, This is TruePresented to The Online News Summit II* Washington, D.C., May 19, 1998 Copyright 1998 by Randy Cassingham, All Rights Reserved. Megatrends author John Naisbitt coined the phrase "Global Paradox", which he says is, "The bigger the world economy, the more powerful its smallest players". In Online Media, the Global Paradox becomes what I call the "Internet Paradox": "The bigger the competitor, the easier it is for small players to compete." I'm here today to give you a real world example. The Wall Street Journal is one of the top 10 news destinations online. It has attracted a huge clientele to its paid online offering. A six-figure audience paying a minimum of $29 per year to read perhaps one of the best offerings in online news at the moment. But the bottom line of the news business is business: how much money are they making? Not a penny. Weekly Weird News To be fair, the net is a young medium. It's not unreasonable to expect some growing pains and a slow ramp-up to profitability. But let's contrast virtually all of the large, well funded news sites with a tiny company funded with petty cash. Let's picture ...say... me. I came up with a niche publication, designed from the beginning to not only take advantage of the new medium of the Internet, but also, as the New York Times noted in 1995, one designed to use the "Spring Chicken" medium of the Net as a springboard into the so-called "dinosaur" medium (their word): newspapers. I started This is True mid-year 1994 and I too lost money that half-year. That loss bothered me so little I had to look it up: I lost $3000 on sales of $3000. Sales in 1995 were five times that, and in 1996 were enough that I quit my $50,000 a year aerospace job and went full time online. As of right now there are three This is True book compilations selling several thousand copies per year -- direct online so that there is no middlemen to absorb profits. My online popularity caught the eye of newspaper editors and publishers, and now This is True runs in print publications in four countries as a syndicated feature column. So what is This is True? Go figure: it's news commentary! Well, better than that, actually: humorous news commentary. And despite the fact I've never sent out a press release, the concept has been so outrageous that it's received worldwide coverage in publications from the Los Angeles Times to Newsweek to the Nikkei to the New Straights Times. Here's just a sample of some of the press This is True and I have received in the last few years, again without my ever sending out press releases. Maybe I should give you a sample of what it is I'm writing. This is True is a weekly column which summarizes seven to nine bizarre-but-true news stories from the legitimate printed news media, mostly newspapers. By "legitimate", I mean no "Weekly World Star Enquirer" tabloids, only real newspaper stories, or most often, an interesting portion of a larger story, and I retell them stories in my own style and condense them to about 50 words, and then I make commentary on them. For example, here's a story I slugged "Space Docking Maneuver": A panel discussing extended space flight at Virginia Tech suggested that a private place be maintained for astronauts to socialize. Panelist Dwight Holland said, "No doubt about it, if we do go to Mars, it's going to be a mixed crew." A trip to Mars and back would take several years. Former astronaut Jon McBride agreed: "It's going to be the most complicated thing we'll ever do in space flight," presumably he was talking about the length of the mission, rather than how the crew would spend their off hours. Another panelist, who spent two years sealed in the "Biosphere II" experiment, agrees that privacy is essential. "Especially," he said, "acoustical privacy." Online readers are eating it up. Four months after I launched I had 10,000 subscribers, and this was 1994, the dark ages of the Internet. Today, This is True is sent to subscribers in 143 countries every week. I give it away for free, and not on the web. And that brings me to the first of my three big points for today. Point one: I said people subscribe. That is exactly right: they sign up to get it by e-mail. This is True is not published on the World Wide Web. You cannot read it on the web. I subscribe to Newsweek. I do not have to call Newsweek every week and say "Would you please send me my issue?" Instead, it shows up in my mailbox whether I think of it or not, whether I'm in town or not. In the same way, This is True shows up in subscriber e-mailboxes every week whether my readers think about it or not. The subscriber model is essentially the same. On the other hand, Web sites are asking people to think of coming back week after week, or perhaps day after day. Some people will, if the information is important enough to them. But Newsweek wouldn't make money asking people to call every week, even if it were fully automated. And guess what: web sites generally don't make money either.
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Contained Places
Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in Epping Forest District in the southwest of the county of Essex, NNE of London on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. Waltham Abbey takes its name from the Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross, a scheduled ancient monument that was prominent in the town's early history. The town is within the large civil parish of Waltham Abbey which was known as Waltham Holy Cross until 1974. The parish has a town council and is twinned with the German town of Hörstel. [edit] Early history
[edit] Later history
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NCCOS Funded-Partners Demonstrate Sustained Offshore HAB Observation Capabilities in Gulf of Maine
An NCCOS-funded research team led by Dr. Donald Anderson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has deployed an autonomous ocean sensor, called the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) in the Atlantic Ocean off Portsmouth, New Hampshire for monitoring and prediction of New England Red Tides. A key project goal this year is to maintain ESP coverage in the Western Gulf of Maine spanning the 2013 Alexandrium bloom season for the first time ever. The team will replace the ESP it just deployed with another instrument in late May. The second ESP will remain in place through early July or until bloom activity ends. ESPs will also feature a new toxin sensor developed in a complementary internal NCCOS effort to measure PSP toxin levels. This capability adds to the ESPs function for measuring Alexandrium cell concentrations demonstrated successfully during a short 2012 test deployment. A nitrate sensor deployed with the ESP will help document nutrient levels before and during blooms.
This year the team will use ESP cell and toxin data to regularly update over 150 state and federal managers and scientists who work to respond to toxic Alexandrium blooms. Data summaries will be added to the Current Status page of the WHOI Northeast PSP website.
The team is demonstrating how ESPs, as part of an observing network, can measure offshore levels of algae and toxin to give a real-time picture of rapidly changing populations and their toxicity. Previously that was available only by going to sea in ships. The effort has real potential to transform oceanography, enhance the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing System, and enable NOAA to make accurate operational HAB forecasts. This project is funded by the NOAA Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) project.
For more information, contact MERHAB program manager, email@example.com.
Related NCCOS Center(s): CSCOR
Related Region(s): Gulf of Maine, Maine, Massachusetts, New England, New Hampshire
Shorter web link for sharing: https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/?p=9331


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Badman Is Back With A Vita And PlayStation Mobile Puzzle Game
By Spencer . May 24, 2013 . 3:28pmEveryone's favorite Lord of Destruction is back with a new PlayStation Vita game from Sony's Japan studio. Yu-Nama: The Puzzle is different from other Badman games since it's a match three puzzle game.


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Several old college buddies reunite for a wedding, setting off an awkward chain of confrontations in Matthew Cole Weiss' "Standing Still." Teeming with beautiful faces set against a ritzy H'wood backdrop, ensembler plays like a younger, shallower gloss on "The Big Chill." Opening commercially 10 months after its CineVegas premiere, pic will be hard-pressed to eke out more than a modest showing among young-adult auds.
Several old college buddies reunite for a wedding, setting off an awkward chain of confrontations and random hookups in Matthew Cole Weiss' debut feature, "Standing Still." Teeming with beautiful faces set against a ritzy Hollywood backdrop, slick ensembler plays like a younger, shallower gloss on "The Big Chill," putting an attractive cast through some not especially original motions. Opening commercially 10 months after its CineVegas premiere, pic will be hard-pressed to eke out more than a modest showing among young-adult auds.
Beginning montage recaps characters' college days in faded video clips set to Dave Matthews Band. Pic then zips ahead four years to the day before the nuptials of Michael and Elise (Adam Garcia, Amy Adams), who are hosting a reunion of sorts at their lavishly appointed Los Angeles estate. Among the guests are Michael's best man, Rich (Aaron Stanford), who's having commitment issues with girlfriend Samantha (Melissa Sagemiller); Lana (Mena Suvari), a sarcastic blond with a history of rotten relationships; and Pockets (an endearing Jon Abrahams), so named for his amusing pack-rat tendencies, though it could also refer to his emotional baggage involving Lana and their mysterious past. "We all have our secrets," one character comments rather obviously, as there's barely anyone here who isn't hiding a painful truth, feeding an illicit lust or nursing a long-held grudge. Screenwriters Matthew Perniciaro and Timm Sharp get their biggest dramatic clunker out of the way early on, when Michael receives a visit from his long-absent junkie dad (Xander Berkeley). Elise turns out to be concealing a shady past of her own, as she's reminded when Jennifer (Lauren German), her sullen ex-roommate and one-time lover, waltzes into the house with an obvious desire to rekindle their relationship. Initially one of the film's more offensive creations, Jennifer gets a tough, sympathetic reading from the strikingly talented German, who lets the character thaw in all kinds of rewarding ways, divesting herself of her heavy mascara not the least of them. Functioning as comic relief — and lending the film its glamorous inside-Hollywood sheen — are motormouth talent agent Quentin (Colin Hanks); hunky cowboy actor Simon Blake (James Van Der Beek) and director Franklin Brauner ("Rules of Attraction" writer-helmer Roger Avary), who are collaborating on a "metaphysical Western"; and Donovan (Ethan Embry), the goofy/creepy star of a series of children's exercise videos. Surfing the crowd in Altman-lite style, pic skims the surface entertainingly but goes limp in its stabs at seriousness, especially in the final scenes, which all but drown in emotional confrontations and hasty happy endings. Garcia and Adams manage to rise above the material in their big pre-wedding climax, almost making the scene work in spite of its emotional contrivances. Otherwise, thesping is uneven, with Suvari once again showcasing her gift for nonstop eye-rolling, while Van Der Beek slyly sends up the macho movie-star stereotypes that he has so far done a fine job of avoiding. Pic's parallel bachelor/bachelorette parties (the guys jet off to Vegas, the girls make do with a stripper) constitute its liveliest sequence. These young'uns may have their secrets, but they — as well as the movie they're in — are far better at having shallow fun. Tech aspects are quite polished, particularly Robert Brinkmann's bright, cheery lensing.Standing Still
A Freestyle Releasing and Insomnia Entertainment release of a Trent Othick production in association with Rice/Walter Prods. Produced by Othick, Jeff Rice, Matthew Perniciaro. Executive producers, David Snedeker, Gary Michael Walters, Lorenzo Fertitta, John Gaughan, Tim Poster, Bruce Wayne Gillies, Tom Breitling. Co-producer, Karen Meisels. Directed by Matthew Cole Weiss. Screenplay, Matthew Perniciaro, Timm Sharp.
Camera (color), Robert Brinkmann; editor, Andy Blumenthal; music, BC Smith; production designer, Daniel Bradford; set decorator, Beth Wooke; costume designer, Alina Panova; sound (Dolby Digital), James Dehr; stunt coordinator, Chris Doyle; associate producer, John Arnold; assistant director, David Cluck; casting, Karen Meisels. Reviewed at CineVegas Film Festival, Las Vegas, June 17, 2005. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 90 MIN.
Michael - Adam Garcia
Elise - Amy Adams
Rich - Aaron Stanford
Samantha - Melissa Sagemiller
Lana - Mena Suvari
Pockets - Jon Abrahams
Jonathan - Xander Berkeley
Jennifer - Lauren German
Quentin - Colin Hanks
Franklin - Roger Avary
Donovan - Ethan Embry
Simon - James Van Der Beek


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Mustangs girls earn national recognition
A true cheerleader's excitement can be felt even through text message.
"This title is the BEST title!!!"
The title that Costa Mesa cheer coach Kori Johnson is referring to is the American School Spirit Award, which was awarded to the Mustangs' cheer squad this month.
The American School Spirit Award is a national honor given to one high school cheer team based on its school spirit, cheer skills, academics, cheer accolades and its role in the community.
Teams are required to submit a 30-page report to the award committee on their success during the year, which Johnson did near Thanksgiving.
She found out the Mustangs won the award on Dec. 20. It's the second time the team has won, having brought the award home in 2009 as well.
"Winning once was the highlight of my career, but never did I think we would win it twice," Johnson said. "But I just kept submitting, just more as culmination of what we did each year. It helps us put it together. This year, I wasn't going to submit it for us because we just had a tough year, with the loss of Sue Ross and some other things. When I did submit it, I knew we wouldn't win. I was hoping we could get top 10, just to get a plaque."
Ross, a huge supporter of the team, was the mother of two Costa Mesa cheer team members, Allie and Andrea Ross. She died in October after a battle with breast cancer.
The American School Spirit Award began in 2003, and since Johnson's arrival at Costa Mesa in 2007, the Mustangs have finished in the top 10 every year.
Costa Mesa is also the only school to have won the award twice.
"When they called me, I was taken aback," Johnson said.
Winning the award has earned the Mustangs a trip to the National High School Cheerleading Championship at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 8-9.
There, the Mustangs will receive their award onstage and do feature stories with ESPN and American Cheerleader magazine.
As far as the national tournament goes, more than 500 teams will compete.
It will be Costa Mesa's third trip to the tournament – in 2012, the Mustangs finished sixth.
"The experience in itself is what's amazing," Johnson said. "Being there with the best of the best, you just sit and watch other teams in awe. The teams from the South and Texas are amazing. It's great for us to be in their company.
"We'll do our routine three or four times and still have time to hang at Disney World, too," Johnson added. "That's the main reason girls want to go."
Contact the writer: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Soldiers 20th Anniversary Rally - USA
About this blog
A trip to celebrate the Soldiers for Jesus Motorcycle Club 20th Anniversary national rally. We will ride from LA to Durango, Co. We will also do a roadtrip from LA to Aspen via the arches national park in Utah.
Trip Start
Aug 27, 2010
Trip End
Sep 18, 2010


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About GardenGrrl
Gardengrrl likes being outside and watching "Sky-TV"
By: GardenGrrl, 7:33 AM GMT on October 25, 2010
Sears is now in the business of marketing clothing and appliances to the Undead. Hopefully they don't take the site down as it was for Halloween, but here is the link. One word of caution; It Is Graphic!
The Zombies are gross and disgusting but because this is Sears, the whole thing is really really FUNNY!!!
Here it is almost Halloween so how about a tour dedicated to funerals. Admit it, we are all curious about death. Even with hands covering our eyes we peep through our fingers to get a look.
Death has been big business since humans could speculate on an after life. We spend our entire lives figuring out how to avoid death and in the end, most cultures look for ways to keep avoiding it. Preserve the corpse, build monuments, offer sacrifices to "Gods", all ways to cheat death and embrace immortality. Still, death happens to the best of us. That's what makes Halloween fun. We can thumb our collective noses at our primal fears.
So, enter if you dare....The National Funeral Museum tour
Bwaaaa Ha ha!
Even Presidents die. They have a whole exhibit dedicated to all the Preisidents. There is a black silver studded replica of Lincolns Casket. President Reagans casket weighed over 600lbs.
The museum has a great collection of hearses. This one is my favorite, it's a 1920 Rock Falls Sterling hearse. The exterior is made up of six different types of beautifully hand-carved wood. I do have to apologize for the quality of my pictures. The adjustment knob broke off my camera and I forgot to bring the tweezers I use to turn the dial to the settings I want.
Here is a magnificent Old English hearse with coffin inside.
Here is the back of a 1920's standard hearse with common casket.
They also had an area dedicated to funerals of famous people with memorabilia collected at the actual funeral. Here is the service sheet from Anna Nichol Smith, a famous Texas gal.
Here is a wicker basket that you don't want to put your laundry in. This brings us to funerals in the 1800's.
A collection of fine Victorian mourning garb.
Ever wonder what an embalming room looks like? This is one from the turn of the century, although modern tables have not changed much.
Whats an embalming room without embalming fluid?
After preserving a cadaver we of course need a casket. This Glass Casket from the 1930's was designed to be hermetically sealed to keep the body fresh while it is interred underground or in a mausoleum. The Glass Casket, however, was discontinued because one, it was very heavy, and two, it tended to crack...when handled. Oops.
Who says you can't take it with you? This casket has money in both coin and dollars molded into the outside. The denominations range from pennies to hundred dollar bills. Several of these caskets have been sold and buried.
This three person casket has a creepy story. Back in the 1930's a young couple had lost their child and in their grief they planned on joining their child in the afterlife. The local undertaker agreed to have a custom built three person casket made so the husband could kill his wife then commit suicide and the whole family could be buried together with the child between mom and dad. (The child was on ice awaiting the custom casket) Well, the family changed their minds when the casket showed up and fled the area after the undertaker refused to give them a refund.
So this concludes the American part of our tour. How do people take care of their dead around world? Let's go to Japan where the average funeral costs about $37,000 US dollars. Cremation is the body disposal method of choice in Japan which should make funerals economical. The Japanese like very elaborate funerals. Here are some not really great pictures of a Japanese hearse.
Exterior of hearse
In the African country of Ghana they like caskets that represent what a person did in their life. If they farmed or fished they had cows, fish, outboard motor replicas for caskets. Tigers and such indicated power. These caskets tended to cost a family a whole years income, but it is felt that such burials help someone get a leg up in their new life after death in this world.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great today, tomorrow and afterlife.Link
Updated: 8:42 AM GMT on November 01, 2010
By: GardenGrrl, 8:48 AM GMT on October 12, 2010
Just returned from a road trip to the Houston Pinball Convention. The weather was perfect so on the way home we did some sight seeing. In an older neighborhood not far from downtown Houston is a house that has been completely decorated with beer cans. All the cans used were drank on the property over many years by a very happy creative home owner and his guests.
The owners have long since passed away, but the house is being preserved by a Houston arts group.
This is the street view. (top photo) below is the mail box.
Here's a side view of the house.
You can sort of tell when parts of the house were done by the type of can used. Remember the old pop-top cans?
So that was one of the sights we saw on the way home after playing a whole lot of pinball for two days :-)
Updated: 9:03 AM GMT on October 12, 2010
By: GardenGrrl, 4:40 AM GMT on October 06, 2010
Back in August someone wrote in one of their blogs, "Nature abhors a vacuum." Suddenly my mind produced a very clear picture of the middle room in my house with the words written across it, "Hoarding, because nature abhors a vacuum."
It once was the craft and project room with a few shelves to store things before we built a shed. Over the years it became the, "Oh just throw it in the middle room we will get to it later place". I really should have taken a before picture. I am almost done with cleaning out and organizing the room. You can see the carpet now.
Yes, a lot of stuff went to the dumpster. Yes the neighborhood scurried off with lots of things set on the curb that could have been sold in a yard sale. Then again, I'm not the haul eveything out in the yard and sit around all day trying to sell it type.
Sorting went like this; Is it worth less than $30 dollars?
Have I used it in the last 3 years?
Do I plan on using it in the next year?
If the answer is yes, no and no...out it go.
Or, if one of us says, "I didn't know we had one of those"...out it goes.
The only exception being tools. Maybe in another 10 or 20 years I'll sell mine cheap to someone getting their Journeyman card.
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.
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One of the unaccounted-for expenditures from the city's general fund this year was a lump sum payment to a police captain who retired and cashed in 2,240 hours of unused sick leave for $115,900. The benefit, which allows staff to convert unused sick leave into an annuity, was originally instituted to discourage employees from taking unnecessary time off. It caps at one year for the rank and file but is unlimited for managers and supervisors. "These are big numbers that are kind of hidden," said Councilmember Bendy White.
Retired Police Captain Cashes Unused Sick Leave for $115,900
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Independent Discussion Guidelines
Now I believe that this is a perk. I've heard of these types of muddied perks before and even in the private sector. But "incentives" are a corporate inspired perk and in the case of improperly used 'sick time' abuses can be ferreted out and backed up with disciplinary action. The SBPD deserves the wages and benefits negotiated in good faith for the compensation for the work performed and to compensate for the cost of living but this is compensation for work not performed.
DonMcDermott (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 7:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the "one year" cap had applied to this guy, it still wouldn't have changed the total payout much.
Botany (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 7:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
........ the captain just got what the union negotiated for it's members in their contract with the city .... city leadership caving into the unrealistic demands of a union
iwasbornherethankyouverymuch (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 7:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is absolutely outrageous. Sick leave should be actually that and it should not be able to be converted into dollars when the employee or former employee is not sick! Don McD is absolutely right: this is payment for work not received.
Sure, these numbers are hidden, but, Bendy White, what are you going to do about it? You're up for re-election and if ever there were a time to stand up for the voters in this city, this is your time.
(Why is this former public employee receiving public monies not named? If he stopped a thief, he'd be named; to some this is taking from the public treasury and he should be named.)
at_large (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The caving was perhaps following the conservative mantra that government should act like a business, i.e. perks or compensation for doing nothing. That golf club and cocktail corporate model has been transplanted into the worldwide American psyche. Just look at Botany as an example.
DonMcDermott (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This manipulation of the system has absolutely got to stop. Someone has got to stand up to the unions that are responsible foir this type of abuse to happen in the first place. ENOUGH!
RexOfSB (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Way to go JOEY!
rukidding (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
bimboteskie (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:58 a.m.
Don't blame the retiree. He used a benefit to which he was entitled. Usually sick leave is not a vested benefit in the corporate work world i.e. you are not entitled to the money if you don't use the time. But some companies do pay out as dollars to encourage employees to NOT use sick leave. That is other risk: employees taking the time so as not to "lose it". The union environment is a very difficult one in which to manage. Disciplining union employees for what may appear to be unwarranted use of sick time can be very difficult. Most companies have combined sick/vacation time. That way if the employee wants time off, it doesn't matter the reason. And every company I've seen has a cap on the number of time off hours one can bank. But again, in a government union environment...
prjaco (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Don, our watchdog against union excess and waste. Now that's funny stuff!
Scooter (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't see anything wrong with what he did.
Byrd (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks, Don. Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment. At least I don't depend on the government to take care of me. I'm one of those productive people that actually funds the government, but Don thinks I'm the enemy.
Botany (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 11:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't like this. Then the city should not agree for such unlimited cash-out provisions to be in the contract for managers bargaining unit, which is up for approval any week now.
At the same time, recognize that employees close to retirement may be "sick" quite a lot in order to expend the hours not subject to the cash-out limit. Pay then or pay later.
John_Adams (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 11:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Awesome, I got a comment removed! Is this the work of the POA I wonder? Well now lets see, doesn't he get half his salary or all of it for the rest of his life too? I am sure none of us would have turned it down, but isn't that close to a teachers salary that we are laying off for two years? LAME!!!
bimboteskie (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 11:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Anti-Union folks get your facts straight first. This guy is not part of an actual Public Employee's union. He is part of a Police Management group that is very similar to the other Management group in the City, and that if you read their contracts, you would find that they give themselves very generous perks. The actual Unions that do exist at the City have much more modest terms. The management groups are often overlooked (and they like it that way.) At the end of the game though...it's all being paid out from CalPers
LocalOne (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 1:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think most people are anti-union. Unions have done great things for the American worker. I do think most Americans are anti Public Employee Union. Public Employee unions goals are against the interest of the public in general. The conflict of interest between those elected by the public and unions representing those employed by the public can't possibly be resolved.
Botany (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 2:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Almost exactly a year ago a similar story was written about our Elected County officials and some members of the D. A.'s office and their accumulated vacation hours. Are you aware that the City had already addressed the issue of accumulated vacations hours over twenty years ago? As usual the adjustments only affected the rank and file. Back then rank and file workers would extend their years of service by comingling their vacation hours to reduce their 40 hour work week. An employee who had 2000 hours vacation time work could work 20 hours then use 20 hours from vacation for a full two years and still receive full time income. And that is exactly what the senior workers were doing. The City soon found that even with all their employment positions filled they had a huge coverage issue. Just a little FYI for you concerned citizens. I have included the link to last years Daily Sound story and my blog .
Vacation pay raises questions Santa Barbara Elected Officials cash out $100,000 under county program
http://www.thedailysound.com/vacation pay
Vacation pay raises questions
Elected cash out $100,000 under county program
By COLBY FRAZIER — Jan. 12, 2010
Whether they went on vacation or not, five elected officials in Santa Barbara County government accepted more than $100,000 combined in vacation payouts over the last four years, raising questions about how such benefits accumulate and are subsequently deducted from elected leaders who answer to no time clock.
Since 2006, the district attorney, clerk-recorder and assessor, auditor-controller, sheriff and treasurer-tax collector have been allowed to accumulate and be paid for 80 hours of vacation each year.
But unlike all other county employees, chief executive included, who are supposed make note of the vacation they take so it can be docked from the amount they've accumulated, elected leaders have no such obligation. They receive payment for 80 hours of unused vacation regardless of how much they actually used.
During each of the last four years, county documents show that Auditor-Controller Bob Geis, Clerk-Recorder and Assessor Joe Holland and Treasure-Tax Collector Bernice James each accepted a cash payment of $6,919 for 80 hours of vacation time — the maximum amount that can be paid out each year to managers.
Sheriff Bill Brown, who was elected in 2006, received $7,254 checks during the last two years, and District Attorney Christie Stanley has accepted three annual payments of $6,895 for her vacation.
County officials said the vacation payouts are made in order to give elected department heads "equivalent" benefits to their appointed counterparts, who have long been paid for unused vacation time.
S.B.C.C.C. A place where COMMON SENSE never goes out of style!
You can view the original story in it's entirety @
pazzingtime (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Continuation of Daily Sound article;
However, elected officials, who answer to no boss except an electorate that typically has little idea how benefits packages are paid out, or if they even exist at all for salaried politicians, are exempted from keeping track of their vacation time.
The payouts, though linked on paper to vacation, appear to be nothing more than several thousand dollars worth of bonuses at the end of each year.
Regardless of what they're called, the payments appear to be legal, and were authorized by the Board of Supervisors.
But in the midst of an economic recession that has forced county leaders to carve tens of millions of dollars from its operating budget, the payments stand out.
And because the elected officials receiving the payments all draw annual salaries that hover near $200,000, which they appear to receive regardless of how much time they take off, the 80-hour vacation payouts create a possible situation in which the recipients are being doubly compensated.
Revelation of the payouts sparked one member of the Board of Supervisors to say that at the very least, the practice needs to be called what it is: An extra chunk of cash. And at the most, should be rolled back.
"It's just not right," said 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal in a telephone interview. He added later, "You can't have your cake and eat it to. If it's salary, then let's call it salary. It's either vacation or it's not."
For years, appointed department heads, like the director of public health or probation, have been allowed to receive annual cash payments for up to 80 hours of unused vacation time. Lower-level employees can be paid out for 40 unused hours.
Meanwhile, elected department heads, who aside from having campaigns operate very similar to their appointed counterparts, were left out of the payment scheme.
pazzingtime (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have only shared 50% of the Daily Sound story but again here is the links to the original Daily Sound story @
In 2006, as county CEO Mike Brown put the finishing touches on what's known as the "Leadership Project," an ambitious undertaking that aimed to streamline and modernize the county's human resources system by connecting employee performance to pay, it seemed the elected leaders would once again be left out in the cold.
Auditor-Controller Geis, the only elected official except for Sheriff Brown who commented for this story, said because the performances of elected leaders aren't reviewed by the CEO's office, he and his colleagues wouldn't be eligible under the new program to receive raises in the same manner as appointed department heads.
Geis summed up the negotiations between the elected officials and the CEO's office this way: "We'll buy into the leadership thing if you make our benefits package equivalent [to appointed department heads]."
Geis, whose job it is to ensure that the county's finances are in tip-top shape, defended the payouts as an "equivalency" benefit. He said the whole issue boiled down to fairness. "We had an issue with what our peers were making," he said. "Really, what we were doing is leveling the field between appointed and elected."
During an interview in his third-floor office in the county administration building, Geis spoke frankly about the payouts. He pointed out that by law, elected officials aren't granted vacation, and that's why he and other elected department heads don't dock themselves vacation time.
S.B.C.C.C. A place where COMMON SENSE never goes out of style!
pazzingtime (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 8:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This story leaves a lot to be desired, so lets start at the beginning and try to fully understand the issue at hand.
AGENDA DATE: December 14, 2010
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: City Administrator's Office
2010-2012 Police Management Memorandum Of Understanding
pazzingtime (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 10:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LocalOne has good points...let's not confuse the OTHER 95% in unions, or city union, with this travesty. I can say that at UCSB their union doesn't allow sick time to accumulate like this and get paid out at retirement. Come on, Bendy and Helene, stand up and fight this insanity IN THE NAME of the other union folks who get nothing like it. Dang.
DrDan (anonymous profile)
August 9, 2012 at 11:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The most offensive aspect of this for the taxpayers is that, actually, we are paying this employee twice for the same time for which he has already been properly compensated. The other problem is, I don't believe for a minute that anyone can go long enough to accumulate that amount of unused sick leave without having been sick at some time. So, this means either he came to work while sick and probably infected co-workers and the public -- or never recorded the days he was off sick. Or, maybe the same woman who collected (and embezzled) the parking ticket money at SBPD was also in charge of recording sick leave -- a quid pro quo?
scoop9324 (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Best job in America for the past several decades has been in the fire departments. This is unfortunately not that unusual. In this case it is a "management" benefit but the rank and file have their own good deals. Retire around 50 with full pay, often given disability pay which reduces taxes, and then get another nice job to add to their government pension. Reform is needed--start with raising the retirement age for ALL employees and capping the benefit at a generous amount that wont allow the $400-500K pensions some have been claiming. Also prohibit double dipping. No retired government employee should be allowed to go to work for any government agency unless s/he forgoes any new retirement claim.
RHS (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Cap all pensions at $100K for a start.
Scooter (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, some of you people are really short-sighted.
I'd have to look more into the details of how many years and days worth of sick time this was, but generally speaking, if he is supposed to get paid $X/hour and is offered additional sick and vacation leave to which he is not required to work, and he instead provides a service to the police department by working so they don't have to pay another officer to take over his shift, then he has SAVED them that much money over the years and he should be entitled to it. I don't blame the officer at all, and that's probably the first time I've ever not blamed an officer for anything.
loonpt (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 10:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Don, our watchdog against union excess and waste. Now that's funny stuff!" -Scooter
lol, indeed..
loonpt (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How is it Bendy see the error of our ways, yet he votes for even more union money every time.
BBOY (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 3:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Scoop 9324 - a work year at the government agency I worked for (not city or county) was 2080 hours. Don't know how many hours of sick leave this person got a year - but 20 years without using SL at 104 hours of sick leave given a year (what we got) is 2080 hours. I knew MANY people, including myself, who retired after 30 years with over 2080 hours of Sick Leave. However, our agency did not give you cash, only counted it as time worked. So their retirement would be paid as if they worked 31 years instead of 30.
onthecoast (anonymous profile)
August 10, 2012 at 5:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm struggling to see the significance of this. The person accrued sick leave as part of his compensation. He didn't use it, and was able to cash it out. A whole lotta people do this all the time. It's only sensational 'cause he got a big lump sum. Otherwise we would never have seen the headline, "Police Captain retires; used up sick leave during career".
People are only upset because 1) they believe in some sort of compensation reform for public servants, or 2) they don't understand how these systems work, or 3) um... [something snide involving dolphins?].
Sothep (anonymous profile)
August 12, 2012 at 1 a.m. (Suggest removal)
@Sothep: why are you struggling to see the significance of this story? It's an important story and we ought to be grateful to the Indie and B. Fastman for this story.
I'm not upset [see my earlier post in this thread], and you are completely correct stating "1) they believe in some sort of compensation reform for public servants" BUT THIS AMOUNT IS OBSCENE as well as heavily damaging the prospects of others in that line of work/City of SB personnel/union to ever get their paid-in monies. As others n this thread have stated [e.g. Scooter et al.] in order to save these public pensioners we need to reform their pensions, cap them, and CUT AT THE TOP.
Where is Bendy White and H. Schneider and Cathy Murillo on this scandal?? I voted for them yet they play along; Schneider recently RETRACTED her important reform idea for the City! Let's have some leadership, eh?
DrDan (anonymous profile)
August 12, 2012 at 2:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm struggling because while pensions are a hot topic right now (and I'm not saying they shouldn't be), THIS IS NOT A PENSION. He simply cashed out unused sick leave. This was a total of $115k paid into an annuity, and people are acting like it's an annual payment of $115k. It only seems dramatic because he had saved up a lot of it over decades of employment.
As loonpt stated, if this person had USED his alloted sick leave, it would have required bringing in another person to cover (usually at a higher, overtime rate). By not using his sick leave, he actually saved the city money. That is why companies allow cash-out programs, otherwise employees are encouraged to call out -a lot- in order to not lose the benefit.
Most of the comments here are citing this as evidence for the need for apple reform. Again, I'm not arguing against apple reform; I'm simply pointing out that this is an orange.
Sothep (anonymous profile)
August 12, 2012 at 10:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
@sothep, guess I need some education...you write, "THIS IS NOT A PENSION", yet doesn't the $115K come out of City funds and negotiated for the officer by his union?? Your point feels like a sort of obfuscation and hair-splitting: apples and oranges are both fruit, no?
@loonpt, when you write the employee was "offered additional sick and vacation leave to which he is not required to work" and so on, my argument is that the City shouldn't have allowed the sick pay to be paid out as extra salary: like many union contracts, it could have been added as however many months onto his years served. It's specious to make the point about someone had to do it, maybe it didn't have to be a captain, and so on. As a captain this gentleman was near the top: why give him this additional bonus sum? YOU are a bit short-sighted on this one.
DrDan (anonymous profile)
August 13, 2012 at 12:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Even F.D. Roosevelt was against public unions.
These discussions have no relationship to unions that work in the private sector and I am unaware of private sector businesses routinely allowing employees to convert unused sick leave into cash.
And there is no point in blaming individual members of public unions for taking the perks that the elected officials sold away for the support of their organization.
italiansurg (anonymous profile)
August 13, 2012 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. italiansurg:
It's not correct to say FDR was "against public unions." He is more properly described as wary, and he thought they are a special case.
:: "The desire of Government employees for fair and adequate pay, reasonable hours of work, safe and suitable working conditions, development of opportunities for advancement, facilities for fair and impartial consideration and review of grievances, and other objectives of a proper employee relations policy, is basically no different from that of employees in private industry. Organization on their part to present their views on such matters is both natural and logical, but meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the Government."
I suggest interested readers see the entire (short) letter from which this was taken: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ind...
And I know at least four Santa Barbara businesses -- who have employed family members -- who convert sick and vacation time to money upon retirement or termination.
I like this fair and real-world assessment you made here:
"And there is no point in blaming individual members of public unions for taking the perks that the elected officials sold away for the support of their organization."
binky (anonymous profile)
August 13, 2012 at 12:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Binky, I'm glad you brought this up. FDR also said All "Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service". He realized that what a conflict of interest it is for public employees to do this. It's so easy for a politician to sell out the public for a few union votes. And that's exactly what many politicians have done.
Do I blame the public employee unions for doing what they do? No more than I blame the Koch bros. for doing what they do. Both want to promote their special interests above those of the public. It's the politicians that pander to these special interests that deserve all the blame along with the system that allows it to happen.
Botany (anonymous profile)
August 13, 2012 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)


text: The pared-back aluminium chassis doesn't mean that there has been a compromise on the features either. With a seat that is suitable from birth, large shopping basket, one-hand fold and all round suspension, to name but a few, taking your precious little one to places will be a breeze in the Aire. Why Buy Me? Suitable from birth with flat reclining seat Light weight aluminium chassis 2 position leg rest Fully removable bumper bar Large shopping basket Adjustable, removable hood One hand fold Automatic fold lock Stands when folded Front swivel wheels with swivel locks All round suspension Single step, ShoeSaver brake Raincover included


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You know everyone ends up eating five or six tarts anyway, so why not just make individual pies? A double crust pastry recipe gave me enough for four, which if you're doing the maths is 1/4 of a pie. What the hell, enjoy Christmas. Have some eggnog.
I bought the small, square ceramic dishes at last year's after holiday sales. I think they cost .25 cents. They were cute enough to serve in, but I find unmoulding tarts (or pies, if you will) and cooling on a rack keeps the crust nicer. They could easily be slipped back into the dishes to serve.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
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Author:Carl August Julius Milde
From Wikisource
←Author Index: Mi | Carl August Julius Milde (1824–1871) |
German bryologist and pteridologist. |
- Die höheren Sporenpflanzen Deutschland's und der Schweiz, (The Higher Spore Plants of Germany and Switzerland) (1865)
- Bryologia silesiaca, (Silesian Bryology) (1869)
- Botrychiorum Monographia (1876)
- "Botrychium boreale" in Botanische Zeitung, 15: 880 (Berlin, 1857)
Works by this author published before January 1, 1923 are in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted. Posthumous works may be copyrighted based on how long they have been published in certain countries and areas.