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ESSAY- Not so 'fine': Suspending licenses hurts the poor
Do you believe that someone driving on a suspended license is dangerous? He or she may be, but chances are he's just a person who hasn't paid a fine for something as simple as a speeding ticket or failure to stop at a stop sign.
Virginia law provides that if people do not pay traffic fines by the due date, their license is automatically suspended. For most middle-class people, such a ticket is an inconvenience and a minor hit to the wallet.
Most tickets are at least $90. For an indigent person or a member of the working poor, this can be a major hit. Often the choice for them is paying rent or other essentials, or paying the ticket. If they don't pay the ticket and they're caught driving, it's a class-one misdemeanor punishable by jail and/or a fine.
For a first offense, the penalty is usually a fine and perhaps a suspended jail sentence. But if they're caught a second time, they're probably going to be looking at some active jail time– maybe a couple of days, maybe more, depending on the judge. The third time triggers a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 days in jail.
Remember this applies merely to driving while their license is suspended.
Almost invariably, the only people subjected to jail time for this type of offense are the indigent. Middle class people may grumble, but they get their license back and are not at risk of going to jail. An Army colonel recently was caught driving on I-95 with a suspended license. He had several outstanding unpaid tickets amounting to several hundred dollars. By the time he came to court, the tickets had been paid and his driver's license was in pristine condition. Indigent people without that kind of disposable income don't have that option.
"Distracting Miss Daisy"
A thought-provoking article, in the July/August issue of Atlantic Monthly, "Why stop signs and speed limits endanger Americans," explains why punishing the late Justice Lewis Powell (and countless thousands of other Americans) for rolling stops and dry-pavement "speeding" might actually make U.S. roads less safe than those in the U.K.
If you're thinking these people shouldn't have been ticketed in the first place, you're right, but remember human beings are an imperfect species, and a lot of people get traffic tickets. Late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell was the personification of rectitude. He failed to come to a complete stop one day while driving in Richmond and was given a ticket for a "rolling stop." He paid up. Who among us can say he's never been guilty of a rolling stop?
Obviously the purpose of suspending someone's license (in this context) is to insure that people do pay their fines. A middle class friend of mine confessed that, having experienced having his license suspended, if it weren't for the threat of another suspension, he might not pay his tickets.
Indeed, the threat has been so successful that it has undergone "mission creep." Licenses are now suspended for failing to pay fines and costs on regular criminal cases that have nothing to do with driving. Suspension has also been expanded to include non-payment of child support. The problem is, if you take away someone's driver's license for not paying child support, it can be a problem for him or her to get to work. This is obviously counterproductive; if parents can't work, they're probably not going to pay child support.
Virginia's late infamous Civil Remedial Fees (a.k.a. "abusive driver fees") exacerbated the situation of suspended licenses. Those fees, which could amount to $1,000 or more, began to affect the middle class, and so extreme was the ensuing public outcry that the General Assembly quickly repealed them
An organization has been formed to help people get their license back so they can work. It's a bipartisan group whose board includes a former Republican Attorney General and the Democratic leader in the House of Delegates. The name of the group is "Drive to Work" and its stated purpose is "...to assist low income and previously incarcerated persons to restore their driving privileges so they can drive to work and hold a job."
This group can help low-income people get a restricted license so they can drive to work, and can help them navigate the court system so they can eventually have their full driving privileges restored. The organization cites Virginia DMV statistics that more that 1 million drivers in Virginia had a suspended license in 2007.
The website for the organization is drivetowork.org, and the telephone number is 804-358-6727. Everyone who has a friend or loved one with a suspended license should contact this group and try to have their license restored, so they can indeed drive to work.
The author is a former Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney. He studied and taught Criminal Justice at Florida State University and currently serves as an assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Emporia and Greensville County.
9 comments
"...but chances are he's just a person who hasn't paid a fine for something as simple as a speeding ticket or failure to stop at a stop sign" "Do you believe that someone driving on a suspended license is dangerous?" Yes, he's very dangerous.
"Indigent people without that kind of disposable income don't have that option" They also don't have the option of spending the week at a resort and not paying for it. If people can not afford something, they should be a responsible adult and not consume it, including that officer's time in giving them a ticket and listening to their cursing them out. Let's stop advocating for enabling irresponsible behavior on our overcrowded roadways by anybody.
"This is obviously counterproductive; if parents can't work, they're probably not going to pay child support." If they were paying child support, they wouldn't be losing their license. Is the child supposed to starve or go on welfare because his parent is an irresponsible adult, enabled by a "caring" society?
"The organization cites Virginia DMV statistics that more that 1 million drivers in Virginia had a suspended license in 2007." Disgusting!
"An organization has been formed to help people get their license back so they can work." Add to that, "...and pay all child support owed."
People on fixed incomes need this kind of help too but I guess if they don't work they can't get it. What about folks on dialsis and a fixed income who have to choose between paying a fine and medication? Folks who have to drive to and from dialysis treatments? Virginia needs to find a fairer way to raise money and enforce its laws for everyone. Progressive income tax for real anyone? (For the record, I've never even gotten a parking ticket, so this isn't personal). http://hymes.wordpress.com
i think everyone is missing the point.....don't do something stupid that requires you paying a fine! follow the law...its that simple!
If you accept the premise that speeding tickets are simply to make the streets safer than go ahead and blame the speeders.
If you think however that the Government has found a way to make lots and lots of money by creating traffic problems through poor planning and then using there own incompetence to fill their coffers, then you need to rexamine the issue.
How can a 250 dollar fine be anything close to equitable when for one person it is an hours pay and for another it is what is left over if they scrimp and save for two months?
The answer should be mandatory community service for a second offense, doled out by a judge based on its probable impact on YOUR future driving habits.This would slow down the ahole lawyer types who think "just put it on my tab" is an acceptable response. It woulds also help keep the lower end people employed so they can pay child support.
This shocks me that the Assistant Commonwealth Attorney is calling for laws to be based on income. That sounds really constitutional. The fact that the states prosecutor is not willing to uphold it's laws is very disturbing. He needs to reread what his sworn duty is. http://www.oag.state.va.us/OUR_OFFICE/Role.html
It sounds to me like he is looking to run for office and is pandering to criminals. Last I read driving with a suspended license was a crime. Perhaps he doesn't get it. Laws are for everyone. Laws are in place to protect the public, to keep civility, to keep order in a society. Sounds like he is calling for anarchy. I guess Mr. Deaton thinks running stops signs and speeding is ok, say that to the parents of Sydney Aichs, it's ok, the driver was just speeding ran a stop light, so he kiled someone. its ok the driver was poor. Mr. Deaton you are dangerous. Does the Attorney General know you feel this way? Well he does now. There needs to be an investigation into all his cases. He is obviously not doing his job.
Woody, just pray this man never runs for commonwealth attorney in Charlottesville again.
Considering that I know people who's child support payments have been set at 105% of their take home pay, and that the last 20 years of DCSE's orders that they've gotten for child support in Virginia's courts are unenforceable, child support is the last reason a person's license should be suspended.
DCSE can't even follow the law when suspending a non-custodial parent's (read: father's) driver's license.
Ive been living the great life of having a suspended drivers liceanse.I can honestly say that its been very difficult to not get angry.To me driving to see my son in the hospital an hour away is more important to me then the disasterous justice system and gov.Taking away the liceanse just causes society more problems when its over money.Take away privledges from accident prone people.Theres thousands of dangerous drivers out there with all the money in the world and they will never need to find a ride
Hello, my name is Melissa. I am a 27 year old low income mother of 4. I had got a 600 traffic ticket and could not pay the fine so my license got suspended. I live in a small town where there are no jobs. I have to drive an hour away to work, but I can't since my license is suspended. To top it off is that the same police officer keeps pulling me over and impounded my vehicle because I don't have a license. Is there any help out there that will help me get my license back and so I can drive to work.


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Beatrice Straight
Classic Film Review: 'Poltergeist (1982)' (*****)
Poltergeist (1982) ***** (out of 5)
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Richard Lawson, Martin Casella, James Karen, Heather O'Rourke, and Zelda Rubenstein
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
As a species, we odd beings known as humans mark the passage of time in a variety of odd ways. Some keep pictures, whereas others may travel to specific locations on an anniversary. Me? I watch certain films each year at particular times, for they either remind me of that time of year, were released at that time originally, or give me a general 'feeling' that can only come from being wrapped up in them. The original Poltergeist belongs in that category. It puts me in the mindset of a fall evening, when the howling, cool wind carries a bite that only a thin-skinned child can feel. It also calls back to a time when the nuances of a house frightened me, when I assumed that things going bump in the night were after me, and when the fear of being lost was tantamount to death itself. Directed by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre veteran Tobe Hooper, but crafted by Steven Spielberg (we can argue about that later), Poltergeist is a film that has affected me deeply in different ways at different points in my life. It remains one of the best films of the genre, darned near a masterpiece of spiritual and familial terror.
I was near the tender age of 5 when I first saw the film, as it aired on broadcast TV for the first time. For some unknown reason, my parents felt I was up for the experience. After all, it was rated PG; a rating that was clearly inaccurate for the terrors and occasional gore on-screen. However, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the furor surrounding its' gore was still two years away, and thus the MPAA had yet to develop the PG-13 rating. I remember feigning my bravest face after it was over, wanting my parents to continue bestowing those special privileges upon me. Inside, my stomach churned. Like any child that dealt with a menacing-looking tree, static on an analog television, or a creepy stuffed animal their family thrust upon them, it was clear that Poltergeist spoke directly to me.
As I learned later in life, that may have been close to Spielberg's intention. Like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, released a week later in 1982, he framed this story through the lens of a child's experience. Children can be easily frightened by stuffed animals, or thunderstorms, dark closets, or even a misshapen tree. Parents generally try to assuage them, and over time they overcome those irrational fears. Poltergeist is intimately aware of those fears, and they're all systematically brought to life in the film. The scary tree will eat you, clowns are evil, and the closet literally will come after you. In this film, the cozy comforts of a friendly neighborhood and a cookie-cutter home cannot save you. From a parent's perspective, all the safeguards we build up around our children, all the rules about talking to strangers, the fears we allay in our kids- this film boots them to the side, praying on our "parent" brain as well. The film begins with that innocent, sweet tone, slowly lurking in the shadows to take everything precious and stomp on it.
Spielberg and crew made a smart, timely film that tore into the very fabric of baby boomers' suburban dreams. Representing the now aging demographic is Steven Freeling (Nelson). He's the consummate post-hippie salesman father, passively parenting his children, selling carbon copy real estate like an old pro, escaping in aggressive Sunday football parties and beers with the exuberance of a frat boy. His wife Diane (Williams), still riding that wave of hippie bliss, has yet to encounter her primal, maternal self at the beginning of the film. Perhaps it's the pot residue, but the most trying thing she seems to encounter are misplaced clothes and the death of the family bird. They're living the dream, or at least the Reaganomics version of the dream. Even their kids are cute and relatively well-behaved, if not also blissfully unaware. The dynamic can be summed up in a scene where Carol Anne (O'Rourke) is gently chided for staring at static on the screen for it will "hurt her eyes"; Diane changes the channel, apparently fine with the war film now on the tube instead. Oh, the irony!
Then it starts to happen. Carol Anne is caught talking to the 'TV people' in the dead of the night, the house appears to quake, and household objects move themselves. At first, Steven and Diane think it neat, like a trippy magic trick; then comes the menace of the trippy magic trick, the snatching of the 'WASP' dream. Carol Anne is taken somewhere, Robbie (Robins) is nearly devoured, and Dana (Dunne) is hysterical. Steven, against his beliefs, consults a parapsychology team at the local college. This motley crew, led by Dr. Lesh (Straight) and the odd, diminutive Tangina (Rubenstein), quickly learn that the Freeling's predicament far exceeds the excitement of a time-lapse video. In the span of fifteen minutes in the film, we go from seeing this relatively normal family deal with a standard, nighttime thunderstorm to being completely strung out in immeasurable grief, pleading with pseudo-science for assistance. This paranormal spirit that envelops the Freeling house succeeds in luring the family into a false sense of security, then it viscerally "breaks on through to the other side". What follows is a series of unexpected, thrilling, deeply moving scenes that play with the notions of life, death, instinct, and fear.
Of course the audience knows that something wicked cometh their way, for Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant and sinister musical composition wonderfully telegraphs it. The innocent chants of a children's chorus, coupled with precocious flutes, played against the backdrop of the Cuesta Verde neighborhood, slowly give way to shrill, treacherous brasses that signal the forthcoming evil. I remember this score more than most; perhaps because, like Spielberg, Goldsmith created something that might exist in the mind of a child. Just as the film covers a checklist of my childhood fears, the score is the soundtrack of my childhood dreams, full of light and dark.
It's also important to focus on the film's outstanding performances. For all of the sadness and punch lines that surrounded this cast over time, everyone is superb here. Both of the younger actors, especially O'Rourke, perfectly depict the innocence and real, palpable fright essential to their roles. Nelson, as recognizable as he and his booming voice are, works well as the spaced-out dad forced into action. Williams breathes life and guts into Diane, lending an honesty to a character that we weren't entirely sure could handle the stress at first. As a parent now, it tears me apart to hear her lament "she went through my soul", syrupy words aside. Beatrice Straight, the veteran stage actor, grounds the film in the middle of the chaos by patiently delivering a touching monologue about life and death. It's simple, sure, but it doesn't pander. Zelda Rubenstein's most recognized role was Tangina Barrons, and for good reason; her odd, stern way of squeaking out lines drew ever so close to camp without crossing that line.
Tangent to the film itself is the much-publicized aura surrounding it, including the deaths of Dominique Dunne, Heather O'Rourke, and others involved with the original trilogy. The idea that the films were 'cursed' became something of a Hollywood legend, as did the story that real skeletons were used in the original's pool scenes. To boot, the notion that Spielberg literally directed the film has been debated for some time. Despite Hooper's credit as director, this movie does walk and talk like a Spielberg film, to the point where the Director's Guild of America actually investigated the matter, leading to an open letter decrying the rumor by Spielberg himself. We also know that Poltergeist exists in the pop culture ether with a select group of films; be it "they're here", "go into the light", or "this house is clean", many of the film's moments and lines have been spoofed, hinted at, or quoted; few are those who cannot point out a Poltergeist tidbit.
The critical mass when this film arrived on the scene was generally positive, but still underwhelming. As strongly as I have praised it here, I'm left with the feeling that Poltergeist is remembered well, yet may actually be underrated as a film. That horror films tend to suffer from an aversion to praise may be in part to blame, but it seems as though the film's influence on pop culture may have distracted some from seeing the film's quality. Those that see this today for the first time may not agree with my assessment of this film. That could be based on comparisons to today's thrillers combined with pre-existing ideas, but that is not an indication that the film aged poorly. It genuinely seems to be a film that many look back on fondly, without the need to lament its' age. In addition, I find Poltergeist to be more of a "spiritual social commentary thriller" than a horror film anyway. It bothers to challenge our ideas on a possible ethereal plane of existence, it asks what lengths a family might go to in order to save one of their own, and it threatens the dreams of the baby boomer generation.
Every child of the 80's can see a little bit of themselves in a film like this, which lends to the film sticking in our minds. Robbie's side of the bedroom looked exactly like, well, my room. That gnarly tree looked strikingly similar to a gnarly tree in my yard, right behind my bedroom window. His fears were my fears. Heck, I couldn't sleep with the door closed for years, for every time I saw light through the door frame, I was convinced a spook awaited me. Consequently, Steven and Diane's realized fears as parents ended up mirroring my fears as well. It touches at the very core of our parental instincts, like the desire to protect our children at any cost, even if it means confronting the 'Beast', or how mad we'll dash to them when we sense danger (and how long that journey seems, no matter the distance). Poltergeist is a film that seems to have crawled out of my childhood dreams and onto the screen- then back into my head as a parent, solidifying my opinion of it as a timeless classic. Is it possible that I'm putting too much on the film, and the actual result is weaker that I give it credit? Sure. It's also possible that Spielberg, Hooper, and crew simply captured lightning in a bottle, making a film that exceeded even their own expectations. Time has been kind to Poltergeist, which has grown into an eminently watchable, smart, visceral thriller that aged far better than this writer.
This entry was posted in Main and tagged 1982, 80's, Academy Awards, ancient Indian burial grounds, baby boomer, Beatrice Straight, Carol Anne Freeling, clowns, Craig T. Nelson, Cuesta Verde, cursed, Dana Freeling, David Linsday-Abaire, Diane Freeling, Dominique Dunne, E! True Hollywood Story, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Evil Dead, Exorcism, Family Guy, Frank Marshall, Ghost House Pictures, ghost hunters, ghosts, Gil Kernan, go into the light, Heather O'Rourke, Holiday Inn, housing developments, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, James Karen, Jerry Goldsmith, JoBeth Williams, Juliet Snowden, Kane, Kathleen Kennedy, Martin Casella, mediums, MGM, MPAA, Oliver Robins, Paranormal Activity, parapsychology, Petergeist, Poltergeist, Poltergeist 1982, Poltergeist 2015, Poltergeist II, Poltergeist III, poltergeists, Reaganomics, Richard Lawson, Robbie Freeling, Sam Raimi, Steve Freeling, Steven Spielberg, Stiles White, Tangina Barrons, The Star-Spangled Banner, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe Hooper, WASP, Zelda Rubenstein.

subset: commoncrawl


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The coffee in this recipe may be replaced with a sweet fruit liqueur or with orange juice.
For cake
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted margarine, cut into pieces
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped coarse
6 large eggs
1/3 cup strong brewed coffee
2 tablespoons dark rum if desired
½ teaspoon cinnamon
For cream
1 cup pareve whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Make cake:
Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan (about 2 inches deep) and line bottom with a round of parchment paper or foil.
In a medium saucepan bring water and sugar to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Add margarine and simmer, stirring occasionally, until melted., Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, swirling pan to submerge chocolate in hot syrup. Let chocolate stand in syrup 3 minutes and whisk until smooth.
In a large bowl whisk together eggs, coffee, rum, and cinnamon. Add chocolate mixture, whisking until well combined, and pour into cake pan.
Put cake pan in a larger baking pan and add enough water to larger pan to reach halfway up side of cake pan. Bake cake in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool cake completely in cake pan on rack.
Cake may be kept in pan, wrapped in plastic wrap, and chilled 1 week or frozen 1 month. Thaw cake completely before proceeding.
Run a thin knife around edge of pan to loosen cake and put pan on a hot stove burner 3 to 4 seconds. Invert cake onto a plate and remove parchment or foil. Bring cake to room temperature.
Make cream:
In a bowl with an electric mixer or a whisk, beat cream with sugar and cinnamon until it just holds stiff peaks.
Just before serving, spread cream over top of cake or spoon onto plates alongside individual pieces.


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Nikon D5200 DSLR Review
The D5200 follows Nikon's D5100 and offers a new sensor with higher resolution (24MP instead of 16MP in the D5100). The new camera has an APS-C-sized CMOS sensor and uses a fast and reliable AF system with 39 focus sensors, including nine cross-type sensors. The photographer can toggle between different AF modes with nine, 21, or 39 points with dynamic-area mode and use predictive focus tracking for moving subjects.
The camera is very fast: start-up time and shutter delay are on very low levels. The fast AF system shows very quick response even when shooting fast-moving subjects. The camera offers two continuous shooting modes with up to 3 (L) or 5 (H) frames per second. It will take 5 images per second when additional imaging features (anti-noise filtering, lens correction mode) are disabled in the menu.
The basic design of the new Nikon follows common SLR standards. The camera offers a large and handy grip on the right-hand side, an optical viewfinder with the typical penta-prism design, a large mode dial on the top, and an additional shutter release button for video recording. Just like an entry-level SLR, the D5200 uses only one setup dial on the back. When the photographer wants to change aperture size and shutter speed in M mode he or she has to use the "+/-" button on the top and toggle between both settings to change only one parameter at a time.
The camera design offers a very handy switch to change between the optical viewfinder and electronic live view on the screen. This "Lv" switch is directly located near the mode dial and is readily accessible.
The camera offers a large swivel LCD monitor on the back. Due to its pivot joint on the left-hand side of the body it can be flipped up- and downward and to the front. This helps the user shoot images near the ground and self-portraits, and comes in quite handy when recording video. The LCD screen has 921,000 RGB dots and shows images and information very clearly.
The menu offers entry-level SLR icons for aperture size, for example, plus additional image information. The "i" button on the back opens a quick menu, which helps the user change the most important image parameters very quickly and efficiently. The Fn button on the left-hand side of the lens mount can be used for user-defined functions—for direct access to ISO speed settings, for example.
The Nikon D5200 is able to record Full HD video with up to 60/50 interlaced frames (60i/50i), 30/25 progressive frames (30p/25p). When recording in HD mode (1280x720 pixels) it allows the user to shoot up to 60/50 frames in progressive mode (60p/50p). It also allows use of manual exposure settings and manual setting of the sound level. A 3.5mm jack enables the use of additional microphones for better sound quality.
Image Quality
Color: The Automatic White Balance (AWB) system showed an ambivalent performance in our tests: the portrait shot showed an intense yellowish and greenish touch. The fluorescent light (used for all our portrait test shots with all cameras) seemed to confuse the AWB system; it showed a good performance in the shot of the test chart using the same source. The GretagMacbeth chart was reproduced with a slight shift toward darker gray nuances in the blue area while only the brightest gray pattern showed the shift into the yellow and green direction. Just like in images taken with nearly all Nikon cameras, the blue colors showed an extremely high saturation and very high magenta rate. The skin tone patterns on the test chart are reproduced correctly and red nuances gained only a slightly high yellow rate.
Sharpness: The camera showed excellent performance in the resolution tests. The ISO 12,233 chart was reproduced with 3738 of 4000 lines in picture height and only an average overshot effect (based on sharpness filtering). Nevertheless, the standard test box shot shows slightly softer characteristics. The softer touch can be avoided by using higher sharpness settings in the Picture Style mode, which offers a slightly lower setting than the Standard, but also helps to avoid problems like moirés or anti-aliasing effects on hard contrast lines.
Noise: Even though the luminance noise level is very high even at lower ISO speed settings, the camera showed good performance in our noise tests. The luminance noise is nearly invisible due to a very intelligent anti-noise filtering. Even images taken with ISO 3200 are crisp and clear. In images taken with ISO 6400 we noticed some color clouds in homogeneously colored areas. When using additional high modes up to 25,600 we saw clearly noticeable color clouds and anti-noise filtering effects.
The dynamic range is very high. The Nikon D5200 showed a maximum of 11.9 f/stops, which is on a professional level and characteristic of high-end cameras. The dynamic range declines in higher ISO speed settings but is still very high. It didn't drop below 10 f/stops until we reached the ISO 6400 setting.
+ High-resolution images with high dynamic range
+ Compact body; easy handling
+ Swivel LCD for comfortable photo and video shooting
+ Full HD video with manual settings
- Missing WLAN and GPS system
- Only one setup dial and an eight-way cursor field to set up image parameters
The Nikon D5200 with the 18-55mm VR kit lens has a list price of $899. For more information, visit www.nikonusa.com.
Note: For comparison, we offer a field test of the Nikon D5100 done in 2012 on our website. Type Nikon D5100 into the Search box on the homepage at www.shutterbug.com.
Lab results and test images by BetterNet, our TIPA-affiliated testing lab. Edited by George Schaub.
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I posted this in another place and I don't think I hit the right place.
After the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma which killed many people including children, one of the statements made by someone being interviewed was that the lord giveth and the lord taketh away.
How could anyone want to believe in such a monster?
What is the group's take on such statements as this?
Views: 1234
Believing in such a monster is one thing - being expected to love him/her/it is quite another.
Why would a god actually bother to giveth, only to taketh awayeth againeth? Anybody who does that (used to be called an "indian giver" in less aware times) is, to be honest, a bit of a b'stard, not worthy of praise, much less respect or love.
No, the whole "the lord giveth and the lord taketh away" and "the lord moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform" schtick is merely a cover up for the "I haven't got a clue what just happened or why - must be god" school of "thought". Yes, it's a total cop-out.
The quote is from the Book of Job. "Naked I came into this world, and naked I will leave it. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord"
It is a touchstone for those in tragedy and despair, like Job. A reminder that all things in this life are transient - possessions will be lost, family members will die. Sometimes we are blessed with the gift of another's friendship for many years; other times we benefit from their friendship for only a shorter time before life, or death, separates us.
Whether friendship lasts for a long time or only for a short while, it is still a gift, still a blessing.
My thoughts and prayers to those families, and to those community members and rescue workers who are there for them in their time of need.
We have enough reminders in real life of the transience of things, and in most respects transience is essential for the continuity of life and/or our environment. It's just the nature of things, and it isn't necessary to assign it to a higher being.
Atheists understand this, too, and probably value it more than the religious, as we appreciate that we only have one life, and we aren't going to be rewarded (or punished) in another place when it's over. So we understand the need to make the best of the one life that we have.
My thoughts and sympathies are with those families too, and my appreciation to those community members and rescue workers who are there for them in their time of need, when god wasn't. No need for prayers though, as it's utterly pointless. What's done is done, and if a god was responsible for the devastation in the first place, praying to it is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
No need for prayers though, as it's utterly pointless.
I wonder... do you think there's a purpose for the ceremonial burying of the dead? Readings, prayers, eulogies, gatherings of friends and family? Isn't it utterly pointless? After all, the person is dead. He or she doesn't care.
The point of prayer is not that it changes God, or changes the world.
The point is that it changes you.
Yes, I can see that it would - it would make me feel stupid. Children write letters to Santa because they believe he's real and that he really gets the letters. In the case of your god, ain't nobody home, so why pretend to believe there is?
Happy to clarify, GM - thanks for passing the baton back!
"The point of prayer is not that it changes God, or changes the world.
The point is that it changes you."
If it's not supposed to change a god, why do it in the form of requests or thanks, addressed to that god? You could interpret the whole thing as talking to yourself, in that case. You could, I guess extend the idea to the point where, if it's yourself you're praying to, you consider yourself to be god. Perhaps that explains the voices in some people's heads?
What possible good will such self-conversation do, if it's ALL that you do? The only change it will induce in yourself is bringing on a feeling of some small self-satisfaction, when it's not actually made one iota of difference to those on whose behalf you're praying. Utterly pointless self-gratification.
The people who will make a real difference are those with shovels and machinery at the site of the disaster, and those who assist by making donations to organisations that will assist the survivors and their families directly.
All this is just shooting the breeze, though. If it makes someone feel good about themselves by praying, fine - it's their problem. What really boils my blood, though, is when they claim credit for the success of their prayers after something or someone else resolves a crisis by direct or indirect action.
This happened to me after I nearly lost my son to leukaemia 8 years, when an acquaintance turned up unannounced saying that her church group had held "powerful prayers" for his recovery, and she was sure it had made all the difference. How I kept my cool I still don't know. Under the circumstances, my deflection to the praise of the excellent medical staff who'd brought him back from the very brink (he's completely clear of the cancer now) was a triumph of self-control.
Wow! Clear of Leukemia? That's awesome! My mother died of leukemia, as did my childhood friend Cliff. I remember praying hard for Cliff, and it did no good at all. Didn't make me cry any less, either, I still felt like shit
I think that's one of the things that started me down the path to reality. I was eight.
I'm very happy for you and yours.
Thank you, Hank - very much appreciated.
He was 19 when he was diagnosed, and it seems that the younger you are the better the odds are. Huge progress has been made in tackling the filthy disease in recent years (by SCIENCE, not praying harder), and the survival rate in young people is as high as 90%. In the 60s, it was virtually a death sentence.
It was a traumatic treatment regime, though. He had months of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, pneumonia which had him in intensive care for two weeks and two days from losing the fight. Plus two bone marrow transplants, as the first one failed.
Out of many negatives come positives, though. Survival made him a much stronger individual, and it brought my wife and I even closer together than we already were.
Sadly, only 2 years later, I lost her to a brain tumour, so cancer won in the end, I guess.
I'm so glad to hear that Graham, no one should have to lose a child.
Thank you, archaeopteryx, you're very kind.
You're right - no one should have to lose a child. While my son was ill, we made contact with a Florida family, whose daughter, slightly younger than my son, also had leukaemia. She wasn't so fortunate, and some 5 years after being diagnosed, passed away at just 21. But not before she married, and experienced real love and a degree of happiness, despite her bleak outlook.
The small positive here is that both families have made a real, lasting, if distant, friendship based on shared experience which, I hope, will result in a meeting one day.
When that meeting happens, tears will flow, I'm sure.
Isn't it utterly pointless? After all, the person is dead. He or she doesn't care.
It gives some sense of closure to the people in attendance.... as you said, the dead person doesn't care. Why do you assign this effect to prayer without any evidence that it is prayer doing the work?


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I think we found out where Jaxson acquired his singing voice.
September 29, 2020, Chapel Between 4th and 5th
12 hours ago
Jax, get back in your chair and listen to the teacher.
Looks like Jaxson is casting an evil spell on Cody....
Finally, this semi-computer illiterate virtual author has figured out how to post a video clip to the blog. It has been right in front of me the whole time, but I just now saw the posting tab.
So, everyone can now sit back and relax and listen to the soothing tones of Jaxson.
Copyright © 2008 Crayons and Keyboards
Design by Styleshout | Blogger template by Blog and Web


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Thursday night we headed up to Pinetop to attend Ashley's graduation. We were late. . . but not late enough to miss the speeches. We didn't have time to drop Itzy off so she joined in on the graduation festivities. I wrapped her up in a blanky and snuck her in like a sweet baby. (It was 30 degrees out so I believe that's justified.) And if I do say so myself, she was the most well behaved baby in the whole gymnasium.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Pinetop Grad Fun
Posted by Unknown at 9:53 AM
3 comments:
- LaDawn Lingard said...
Just like old times at home.......My little pet shop, my little pony, etc, except live animals!
- May 25, 2008 at 6:42 PM
- Brad and Marissa said...
JohnnaWanna a dog at graduation. Ha ha. I bet it was the best behaved in there. It doesn't look like the most vocal of dogs. Congrats to Ashley from the Hughetts!
Brad and Marissa and John and Unborn baby
- May 27, 2008 at 11:04 AM
- JoHanna said...
Hey please send me your e-mail if you want to keep seeing my blog
- May 29, 2008 at 4:26 PM
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Julia Alvidrez, Gawker Media's operations manager, is an unabashed fan of Bill Simmons and everything Grantland. She is also an occasional reader of Deadspin. Every week, she will recap Simmons's podcast, The B.S. Report, for us.
It's about to happen. On Sunday night, I'm going to watch the final minutes of the Super Bowl. I'll definitely cry when the winners storm the field. Then it will be over. I'll go home, fall asleep on top of the covers, lights on, and when I wake on Monday morning, football will be gone. I know it will come back. I know this. But I can't think that far ahead. All I can think about is next Sunday. It's winter. What else am I supposed to do on a Sunday, indoors, for six-plus hours? I guess I could go to church. That's the only other thing that I know happens on a Sunday. HELP! I'm open to suggestions and I'm free every Sunday from now until… Well, you know. Let's sit back and savor these last few bits of football while we still can.
On Monday's podcast, Sean Grande and Zach Lowe join Sports Guy to make get well soon cards for Rajon Rondo, on a special all-Celtics-panic edition of the B.S. Report. They aren't as sad as I expected, though. I was ready to hear Bill sob for an hour and pull out his hair over hypothetical trade scenarios, and, to be honest, I was looking forward to it. I don't have anything against the Celtics, Boston, or Bill—there's just something satisfying in knowing that everyone else is sad while you're perfectly fine. So, confused and disappointed, I turned to another Celtics fan for insight. He immediately told me that he didn't want to talk about it, and that he felt like he just got dumped. Ah, that's much better! Later in the hour, Bill crowns Barbosa and Jason Terry the worst defensive guards in the league and rubs it in by saying that even he could score against them. Can someone set that up?
Enough basketball: the Super Bowl is finally here. It's here! Bill's down south with Cousin Sal and Rembert Browne to cover all the happenings. Part one of this podcast is a solid 40 minutes of chatter, but be warned that there is a remarkable amount of background noise. Not good for headphones. There's beeping, muffled megaphone talking, and a low-flying plane. Aside from that, there's loads of laughs. First, BIll has food poisoning. He ate a lobster that had a lot of poop inside. Second, Sal is for once in the same place as Bill and so his voice is his in-person voice, and not his over-the-phone voice. And, boy, is it weird! I kept forgetting who I was listening to. Next Rembert says he was named after his dad's doctor, and he doesn't like being called Bert. Bill thinks the name "Sal" will make a comeback in 2013 for baby names. Seems unlikely to me.
In part two, special guest Tracy Morgan says stuff Tracy Morgan says like "Buford," "ut oh," and "I'm the only man on the planet who booed Michael Jackson." Sports Guy Moment of the week is this entire podcast. You are an idiot if you don't listen to this.
Still reading, idiot?


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1st and Pike
LEED® Gold certification.
This corner store is at the gateway to Seattle's historic Pike Place Market – a location of rich history and vital importance to both Starbucks and the Emerald City. It was, after all, in the Market that the original Starbucks opened in 1971.
The design of our 1st & Pike coffeehouse evokes the warm heritage of that first store through its hardwoods, furniture and lighting. The store is LEED® Gold certified. During construction, we made sure to recycle as much of the construction waste as possible.
Notable Store Elements
- The leather on bar's outer facing was scrap obtained from shoe and automobile factories.
- The walnut used in the tables, doors and bar top was salvaged from a nearby farm.
- The signage on the bar uses recycled slate from a local high school.
- The community table is twice reused; it was previously located at a Seattle restaurant and before that, in a home.
- The restroom partitions are made from recycled laundry detergent bottles.
- The wall tapestry is made of repurposed burlap coffee bags from our local roasting plant.


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Drinks & Cocktails With Egg White
Hundreds of drink recipes contain egg white. However, many bars don't want to use the real deal, since eggs might get old or even be unhealthy in some countries. That's why there is synthetic egg-white, that can be bought in a bar store. Both versions are used to make the cocktails frothed.


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Posts Tagged 'R.I.P.'
R.I.P. Muhammad Ali ( January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)
Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., was an American professional boxer, generally regarded as the most significant heavyweight in the history of the sport. Early in his career, Ali was known for being an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the boxing ring. He is one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC
R.I.P. Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016)
You lived that POP LIFE and I simply ADORE you. When I first heard your song KISS in my LITTLE RED CORVETTE it made me want to throw on my RASBERRY BERET. Now your gone and all your fans are DELIRIOUS and say TAKE ME WITH U or screaming LET'S GO CRAZY. Some even say no I WOULD DIE 4 U, but instead I chose to party like it is 1999 in the PURPLE RAIN. But the CONTROVERSY will die down and THE MORNING PAPERS will stop writing stories about youu, I know you have moved on up those MOUNTAINS cause U GOT THE LOOK and AMERICA will GET OFF this and move onto something else. But we all know this was the day WHEN DOVES CRY!
Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and developed an interest in music at an early age, writing his first song at age seven. After recording songs with his cousin's band 94 East, 19-year-old Prince recorded several unsuccessful demo tapes before releasing his debut album For You in 1978, under the guidance of manager Owen Husney. His 1979 album Prince went platinum due to the success of the singles "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover". His next three records—Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982)—continued his success, showcasing Prince's trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance, and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as The Revolution and released Purple Rain, which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name. A prolific songwriter, Prince in the 1980s wrote songs for and produced work by many other acts, often under pseudonyms.
R.I.P. Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014)
Maya Angelou born Marguerite Ann Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American author and poet. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than fifty years. She received dozens of awards and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of seventeen, and brought her international recognition and acclaim.


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Multi-Language (ML) Working Group
To create a standard and functional reference for interoperability of multi-language verification environments and components.
Chair: Warren Stapleton, AMD
The working group will be responsible for gathering requirements and developing an open source proof-of-concept ready for the purpose of creating a standards-based approach to combining verification environments that have been developed in different languages/frameworks.
A standard in this area is important to enable the introduction of the Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) concepts in other sophisticated environments and languages that either come from legacy projects or have been developed with other frameworks for beneficial reasons.
Join this Working Group
If you are an employee of a member company and would like to join this working group, click here (requires login) and select Join Group.


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(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)
Carrie Underwood is only on the tire swing for six seconds, but I can spend about 10 times that making observations about the cute little Vine video she posted Monday night (Aug. 26) on Twitter . All she did was tweet, "Fun at Paisley Manor," and she attached a six-second video of herself (and a little bit of Brad Paisley) hanging out at what looks like his Nashville-area home. She is on a tire swing. Like a cool old-school tire hanging by a rope from a tree. First Underwood is sitting in it, then standing on it, then kind of laying down in it. And from the sound of her "wheeeee" during the whole video, she sure seems like she's having a fabulous time. Even though Paisley is in some kind of all-black outfit for his little role in the video, Underwood is dressed like an All-American Girl, in a red T-shirt, jean capris and flip-flops. Could the video have just been a day of R&R for the busy country singers? Or is it part of an eventual promo video for their upcoming gig as CMA Awards hosts? All Paisley had to say about Underwood's tweet is, "This is so random."


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Posts Tagged 'Andrew of Crete'
That's the upshot of these words of the late Fr. Alexander Schmemann (OCA). (Link may break after this year; I don't know if it's tied to today's date, as Clean Monday or Pure Monday, the first day of the Great Fast this year, or not.)
An important liturgical and devotional tradition of Byzantine Christianity during the first week of the Fast is the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, a big Orthodox hymnwriter. Here's OrthodoxWiki's briefer discussion, and at bottom of OrthodoxWiki's article are links to the four portions of this great reflective hymn, sung in sequence Monday through Thursday nights during Great Compline, normally a Night Prayer service (links to service texts at bottom again). There are also links to the Canon's portions here.


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It's also next to Brooklyn Flea, a larger, well-established bazaar that rents space at the Williamsburg Savings Bank building. (The market runs out of Bishop Laughlin High School's playground - and now a satellite Williamsburg location - during its summer season.)
To stay competitive, the Downtown Flea is offering cheaper prices on quality goods from vendors like Nick Thomas, who runs an arts and fashion boutique.
His business sells colorful leather bags designed by his cousin, hats made by the designer Yuko Ogawa, and a variety of Caribbean-themed art and jewelry.
"We're self-taught," said Thomas, who moved from Jamaica to Brooklyn when he was seven and spent years learning to sew and design bags alongside his cousin.
The pair had a store on DeKalb Avenue that closed ten years ago.
Since then, they've sold their stuff at area flea markets. When real estate broker Marat Shvartsman opened the Downtown Flea in March, Thomas said he couldn't resist a steady market gig in a bustling neighborhood.
The market has taken over a gravel-lined lot opposite the Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building. It has space for up to 50 small vendors, who pay less in stall fees than those who rent space from Brooklyn Flea.
Thomas said so far the gamble is paying off.
"It's a really great neighborhood," he said. "There's a lot of traffic."
In the summer business will pick up, he said. And like other area merchants, Thomas is banking on the Barclays Center. The basketball arena being built down the block at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues will draw up to 19,000 fans for games and concerts.
"The basketball arena is going to bring a lot of people," he said.
Business from Nets fans could even help finance another storefront for Thomas and his cousin. "Our goal is to see if we can get another location," he said.


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Global Trends and Implications for British Security Conference
The Global Trends conference explored a number of global trends that were likely to affect security and defence policy in the UK over the coming years. These included pandemics, the rise of extremist ideologies, possibility of great power conflict, demographic changes and urbanisation and climate change.
Climatic Factors Driving Invasion of the Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) into New Areas of Trentino, Northern ItalyArchived
The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), vector of several emerging diseases, is expanding into more northerly latitudes as well as into higher altitudes in northern Italy. Changes in the pattern of distribution of the tiger mosquito may affect the potential spread of infectious diseases transmitted by this species in Europe.
Mathematical modelling of the impact of climatic conditions in France on Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick activity and density since 1960Archived
Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the brown dog tick, has a worldwide distribution in areas with a relatively warm climate, including mild winters.
New tool is launched for infectious disease modelling linked to environmental changes
Environmental change, land-use, globalisation, and socio-economic contexts are all widely recognised to affect the transmission patterns of infectious diseases. ECDC has developed a tool - the E3 Geoportal - in order to promote and facilitate geospatial infectious disease modelling in Europe.
Adjusting surveillance of emerging infectious disease threat due to climate change in the EUArchived
Adjustments to surveillance practices in the EU will enhance preparedness and public health response to emerging infectious diseases, thereby helping to contain human and economic costs. These are the conclusions of an article published this week in Science magazine, describing a study co-authored by ECDC.
Climate change's impact on human health: new reportArchived
ECDC co-authored the Human Health chapter in the European Environment Agency report, 'Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2012' launched on 21 November, alongside EEA and WHO experts.


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Arizona Woman Runs Over Husband For Not Voting Against Obama!
'An Arizona woman, in despair at the re-election of Democratic President Barack Obama, ran down her husband with the family car in suburban Phoenix." s/o @Shescali
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


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What is Stand Up Paddleboarding?
Have you seen the newest trend in water sports? People are standing on oversized surfboards and paddling through the water on lakes and rivers everywhere. Most water sports have typically been limited to those with superior balance because of the difficulty to stand and move atop a board on moving water.
Stand up paddleboards (SUPs) are a great way for new and experienced water sport athletes to get out on the water with little to no experience. The skills needed to stand up paddleboard can be learned by anyone of just about any age in less than ten minutes. Newer paddleboards are designed to be stable enough to support an average sized adult and child without moving through the water, unlike what you need to do in surfing.
Stand up paddleboarding is also a great way to exercise considering it can burn 500-700 calories an hour. It is a great all-around workout that helps to improve your balance and allows you to gain core strength every time out. Besides standing, you can sit, kneel or lay on a paddleboard. Houseboat, pontoon and boat owners can enjoy many other benefits from stand up paddleboards. SUPs are a great way to get around your boat, a marina's harbor, your secluded cove or any no wake zone.
Without the need for gas, SUPs are an inexpensive solution to maneuver around houseboats for cleaning, maintenance and tie-ups. It is also something that can easily be tied to the side of a pontoon or houseboat while traveling. When you reach your destination, you can put it in the water and take it to shore without beating up the bottom of your boat. It can be taken in all kinds of water including smooth or choppy with waves and boat wakes, or calm back waters of creeks. It also allows people of all ages who prefer not to drive motorized boats to get out on the water by themselves.
Now anyone can take a leisure morning paddle, a brief afternoon workout, or use a paddleboard to fish from just about anywhere there is water over 12 inches deep. SUPs are an excellent addition to add to your water toys at the lake.
More marinas and resorts are renting SUPs because it is easy to learn, it is great for all ages, and it is rapidly increasing in popularity. Bros Boards is bringing SUPs to inland lakes and rivers across the country. They offer quality Body Glove stand up paddleboards that are perfect for rentals or personal use. They are made of a blow molded hard plastic that can withstand a beating so they will last a long time.
Their thickness and wider body creates more stability, which is ideal for anyone to experience on lakes and rivers. Body Glove paddles convert to Kayak paddles in seconds by attaching a second paddle on one end.


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Supermodel Anne Vyalitsyna is nursing a broken heart once more after splitting from her most recent celebrity beau.
The Russian beauty has dated a string of famous men, including Adam Levine, Calvin Harris and Alexander Skarsgard, but after the romances failed, she moved on to start a relationship with New York Mets baseball pitcher Matt Harvey last May (13).
However, reports suggest the pair has now gone its separate ways after just eight months.
A source tells Us Weekly magazine, "The split was amicable, and they remain good friends. Their relationship has been on the rocks for a few weeks and they officially decided to end it recently".
The break-up comes just weeks after the couple rang in the New Year (14) together in Thailand.
tagged in Adam Levine Calvin Harris Harvey Alexander Skarsgard


text: Adobe® Flash® Builder® 4.7 software is a development environment for building games and applications using the ActionScript® language and the open source Flex framework. Flash Builder Premium includes professional testing tools such as profilers, network monitoring, and unit testing support.Develop games with ActionScriptGet the latest game development tools in Flash Builder 4.7, including support for ActionScript workers and improved mobile device workflows.Build high-performance apps and gamesEasily create content using ActionScript workers and the ActionScript Compiler (version 2.0). Flash Builder 4.7 also includes built-in support for Adobe Scout (available separately).Easily debug and testDebug and test applications on locally connected mobile devices or a mobile emulator, including direct deployment of ad-hoc apps to iOS devices.Code fasterSpeed coding through syntax coloring, statement completion, code collapse, refactoring support, live highlighting of invalid references, and interactive step-through debugging.


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DECAL GRIP/GRUPO MERCARI Springfield Grips
Decal Grip Enhancer For Springfield XD 45 ACP
The decal grip was designed to be practical and effective in providing a perfect gripping surface. The unique non-slip textured surface is less than 1/32" thick, it is exceedingly durable, it stays put and won't shift or slip, it won't tear or split and it resists solvents and oils. The decal grip is simple and economical just peel and stick the pre-cut strips to your XD Springfield according to the enclosed diagram.
SPECIFICATIONS:Mfg Item Num: XD45ACPR Category: GRIPS/RECOIL PADS Type :Grip EnhancerModel :DecalFinish :Rubber/BlackMaterial :Pre-Cut Strips


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Apparently the University of North Dakota thinks that you should spend four years in flight school and then never actually get off the ground. That's because they're offering a new degree in flying UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles.
The four-year undergraduate program already enrolled its first 12 students and there's even talk of a graduate program being started up. Whatever happened to plain ol' regular pilot school? [Discovery via Pop Sci]


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There are no Upcoming Shows listed for this artist.
Rudyard's British Pub
2010 Waugh Dr
Houston, TX 77006
Food, Beer, Music, Comedy, Darts. We have it all.
Shawn Banks
Shawn Banks was born in Alton, IL, a small city 20 minutes from St. Louis across the Mississippi River. Known for witty observations and dead-on impersonations of many, comedian Shawn Banks has been exploding in comedy clubs and theatres across Florida and can often be seen performing at HOLLYWOOD'S LAUGH FACTORY, COMEDY STORE and COMEDY UNION.
Shawn's most recognizable asset when he takes the stage is his presence. At 6'3" and 300+ pounds, you can definitely tell that the ELEPHANT IS IN THE ROOM. In the Fall of 2005 & 2006, Shawn took his Family-Fun humor and auditioned and landed a Stand-Up spot on the TOM JOYNER SKY SHOW at the WALT-DISNEY Milk-House in front of 4000+ people live and aired on TVOne. The show is also heard by over 10-million listeners across the country daily.
Shawn was also a Finalist for COMEDY CENTRAL'S 2007 SOUTH BEACH COMEDY FESTIVAL. In the same month Shawn won $1000 and a first place bid in NESTLE-PURINA'S 2007 PET COMEDY CHALLENGE and competed and WON 2nd place & $5000 CASH in St. Louis, MO. Shawn can also be seen on the 2nd Season of Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes.
Shawn Banks has performed with many comics in today's market such as: SINBAD, Earthquake, Bruce-Bruce, Sommore, Bill Bellamy, Rickey Smiley and more. Shawn enjoys and has great pride in his versatility of being able to perform both mainstream and urban audiences, as well as clean corporate humor.


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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Just over ten percent of women in the military said in 2008 they'd had an unintended pregnancy in the last year - a figure significantly higher than rates in the general public, according to a new study.
The findings come amid news that the Pentagon will lift the ban on women in front-line combat jobs starting in 2016.
"It does definitely have implications for troop readiness, ability to deploy (and) troops in combat missions if they are potentially at high risk for unintended pregnancy and pregnant women can't be deployed," said Dr. Vinita Goyal, who has studied unintended pregnancy in female veterans at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Access to birth control can be a problem for troops deployed for long periods of time - and if women do become pregnant, abortion is legally restricted on U.S. military bases. Women who get pregnant while overseas must be evacuated.
Dr. Daniel Grossman from the University of California, San Francisco, who worked on the study, called the rates of unintended pregnancy "really shocking."
"Women in the military certainly deserve more than that. This needs to be addressed across all branches of the military," he said.
The Pentagon could not provide a comment by deadline.
Grossman's results are based on surveys of more than 7,000 active-duty women, between 18 and 44 years old, conducted in 2008, the last such available survey. About 800 of the women said they'd had an unintended pregnancy in the previous year - including a similar proportion of deployed and non-deployed women.
In total, about 900 women had been unable to deploy in the past year due to a pregnancy, whether intentional or unintended, according to findings published in February's Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The rate of unintended pregnancy - 105 for every 1,000 women - was a small increase over the rate in 2005 of 97 per 1,000 servicewomen. That figure is also 50 percent higher than rates of unintended pregnancy among similarly aged women the general, non-military public.
"Clearly unintended pregnancy is an important public health problem for everyone. It seems particularly important for the military population because obviously it can disrupt a woman's career," Grossman said.
He said confusion and concern over military policies on sexual activity may affect women's access to contraception.
Consensual sex among members of the same rank is legal. But women may be afraid to ask for condoms, for example, for fear people will think they are violating policy, Goyal, who wasn't involved in the new research, told Reuters Health.
Sexual assault in the military may be another contributor to high rates of unintended pregnancy, the researchers noted.
"There are studies showing anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of servicewomen (experience) rape or attempted rape during their military career, and the vast majority don't report it," Grossman, who is also the vice president for research at Ibis Reproductive Health, told Reuters Health.
According to data from the Department of Defense, there were between two and three sexual assaults for every 1,000 active duty soldiers, men and women, reported in 2011.
Earlier this month, laws were amended to allow the military health care program TRICARE to cover abortions for victims of rape or incest. Abortion remains illegal at military bases for reasons other than rape, incest and when a woman's life is in danger.
Grossman said contraception should be discussed with military women before they deploy - as is now policy in the Navy - and those women should at least be allowed to pay out of pocket for abortion while on U.S. bases.
"These women should have access to the same services that they could access if they were here in the U.S.," he said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/V82WWC Obstetrics & Gynecology, February 2013.
(This story was refiled to clarify paragraph 17 to reflect that new law changes when military insurance covers abortion, not when abortions may be performed at military bases)


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Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 1046
Location: La Confederation Abenaquaise
Posted: Sat 07 May 2011, 11:10
Post subject:
Amen and Halleluia to the last two of you, sickgut and Chris, for very well-made statements!! I salute you each! ( Why can't we have a salute smiley? LOL! )
I'm being totally serious here. I can't remember if I posted earlier here in this thread ( hey, I've got a bad memory and I post a lot
) but in over 25+ years as root in both Windows, BeOS, and Linux the worse I've done is accidently delete my email directory. But that didn't matter because I make often AND frequent backups ( which I believe Sickgut said we should be teaching people to do more of, right? ) and I'd lost only a few emails - none of any import really.
And as stated above about the firewall on Linux? I have to laugh at that one! I've gone to more of these "hacker sites" ( Not just the common one of "GMR" is it? He was a top hacker who turned to work for the Feds? ) and all they get is a "ping" reply that I'm here. But able to actually HACK my ports? They have to be
for that to happen! And these "cracks" you hear about? - bingo! - those are "opened ports". DUH!
Sorry... I shouldn't allow myself to sit here and get upset over what has become my "Biggest Pet Peeve" as one day Mrs. Eyes-Only will find me slumped over the keyboard...
Oh, and by the way: The one here who had written that truly great essay about "Running in Root" ( I believe you had mentioned that Chris? ), the person who wrote that was Nathan of "GrafPup" fame. Someone around here - ruddy toothpick if I can recall just who now of course! - has a nice link to that essay in their sigfile. Really a brilliant exposition done by Nathan who is truly numbered as one of the "Linux Greats" in my book - even if I never could get along with the gentleman ( our personalities seemed to have clashed ), I much admired the man as I did learn oodles about Linux off from him as he had extreme patience with me!
And I guess this is far more than enough of my ramblings for today! Thanks everyone for enduring this "frothing-at-the-mouth".
"L'Peau-Rouge d'Acadie"
Proud user of LXpup
3-Headed Dog.
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Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 94
Posted: Sat 07 May 2011, 16:11
Post subject:
hello, thanks for sharing
yes puppy users have full beards. I have tried ubuntu, and found it a big annoyance to type in sudo, and after sudo be prompted with a user password completion. On everything, from updates, to deleting some files, to making slight changes in configuration files. I agree with sickgut, i mean, can you accidentally type in -rf /*? or any other destructive command? Anyone who knows bash does not just "accidentally" type in some bad code. Was there ever such a case?
And did anyone else notice 01micko on the list? I think he is supposed to be one of the puppy developers, anywho, i did the same. I have not been in linux for the longest time, but on windows there was never any reason not to be an administrator. If the teletubies ran as root, i run in root.
Eyes-Only wrote:
I'm being totally serious here. I can't remember if I posted earlier here in this thread
you might one to check page 1
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Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 1046
Location: La Confederation Abenaquaise
Posted: Sun 08 May 2011, 11:34
Post subject:
Thanks oodles SimpleWater for pointing out my oversight! LOL!! ( Or would that be "undersight" since I missed so much? Whatever!
) And in the process you gave me several postings to read which I'd missed that were simply awesome!
Anyway, yeah... I've been so busy between emails, reading, and posting @ various topics here - unusual for me where I
rarely ever
venture outside of "Derivatives/Software" - that I often forget where I've posted and what I've said. lol. Oh well, as they say in English, "The mind is the first to go!"
It's true.
Proud user of LXpup
3-Headed Dog.
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Posts: 6815
Location: Chatham, Kent, UK
Posted: Sun 08 May 2011, 14:21
Post subject:
If you 'accidentally' type rm rf /
You're a DORK!!
Throw your computer away, you are a waste of space, and a danger to everyone
Puppy [as root] Rules!
Eyes-Only [quote me for link]
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Posts: 3217
Posted: Sun 08 May 2011, 20:02
Post subject:
I'd agree Puppy works just fine in root, and eliminates the whole sudo hassle. That said, I don't run in root and use sudo, not really for security but just because I'm used to it, and for me it adds colors...another step away from Windows that is unique to Linux. For example, running running a browser with sudo uses the config in /root, and without it uses a config in my designated home directory. There are many possibilities for those who like to fiddle with various permissions, write their own software, have other users on the machine, etc, etc. Linux provides an abundance of possibilities at the cost of some additional learning and complexity. As mentioned, some programs won't compile in /root, and common apps like cups need "nobody" to work.
BTW/ I once DID wipe out an entire partition with rm -r * accidentally. I think it was very late, and I thought I was inside a directory. It happens fairly quickly. It can also happen from within a script if something screws up. In that case, not being in root could really be a blessing.
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Posts: 357
Posted: Sun 08 May 2011, 20:39
Post subject:
Subject description: Root isn't always the best
Well I'm going to stick my neck out here to point out a couple of things. As a preface I'll say this "I run as root with Puppy", in a business network environment, 5 days a week all day long. Puppy 4.12 with wine even. I have been doing this since 2006 without one security event or system crash. Not one. It's my home system too and is even used to remotely access or administer our Debian server when need be. By the way, all browsing is done as spot.
That being said I want a Puppy that can run as a non-root user with a user and group of my choosing and it looks like 'Fido' is not going to get the job done. So yeah I'll try to make one myself.
Now why in the world would I want to do this? The answer is simple and has nothing to do with being protected from the baddies on the internet. For my own reasons I want more Puppy based computers on my work network and for business privacy they need to have limited access to their allowed folders on the company server. The average office worker has no business looking at company financial information or other employees personal data and even income. Some employees do need access to it. This requires a distinct login identity for each person and limited use of the computer. This isn't a fortune 500 company, it's a small mom & pop and even a part time IT manager is out of the question. We can't even afford the latest and greatest hardware.
So there you have it, and let me sum up with this. If Puppy were to be changed so that I could not be root when need be or I had to sudo everything I wouldn't give it the time of day.
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Posts: 3217
Posted: Sun 08 May 2011, 23:01
Post subject:
Subject description: Root isn't always the best
2byte wrote:
So there you have it, and let me sum up with this. If Puppy were to be changed so that I could not be root when need be or I had to sudo everything I wouldn't give it the time of day.
It's very simple to set up access to whatever you need with permissions. Then sudo gets used mainly when you're changing or removing things. My vim editor, for example, runs in read-only without sudo, which in an added feature, since there is no chance of accidentally changing code when I'm scrolling around or copying things.
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Posts: 357
Posted: Mon 09 May 2011, 09:23
Post subject:
jpeps wrote:
It's very simple to set up access to whatever you need with permissions
Hi jpeps,
Are you talking about Puppy here? Which version? Sudo doesn't exist on 4.12 nor does pam.
If you could tells us how to easily (even not so easily) get Puppy to boot as a user other than root or spot with a specified user group, run Open Office and various other programs, log in to the server and read, create and edit files only in permitted directories then I am all ears. BTW having more than one user per machine isn't a requirement for our needs, if that makes any difference.
Seriously, can this be done? And if so are you willing to tell us how, or point us in the right direction?
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Posts: 1046
Location: La Confederation Abenaquaise
Posted: Mon 09 May 2011, 10:56
Post subject:
Hi 2byte!
Actually, if you take and change the last 2 numbers of your current version around ( 4.1.2 ) to make "4.2.1" and then search for "Pizzasgood's 4.2.1 multiuser puppy", you'll have
what you're looking for me thinks!
Reason being: Back when 4.2.1 came out there was such a clamour for a multiuser Puppy, much like Nathan's "Grafpup-2.0.1" ( I believe it was? ) as he too had made a multiuser Puppy, that Pizzasgood decided to try the same - to please those that wanted one - plus to see how difficult it would be to take on such a project. He detailed a lot of his work in the thread he'd made ( sorry I can't recall it off the top of my head hence why I've said you'll need to do a search... ). Such work is
for the faint-hearted, trust me. Both Nathan AND Pizzasgood have stated so each time. If I recall correctly it's because the programmes now in Puppy have been compiled for single-user use and had to be completely recompiled...
I hope this has helped?
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3-Headed Dog.
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Posts: 10548
Location: SwedenEurope
Posted: Mon 09 May 2011, 11:24
Post subject:
Pizzasgood has told his story somewhere and it was real hard works for weeks upon weeks him having to forsaken family and all and it was very tiring too. So I doubt it ever will happen again that somebody take upon them to try. It is too tedious to do even if one are good at it.
But that is my poor memory. Search can find the original text
But that version is not using the later drivers so it fails to get internet on some modern computers so one would need to add good drivers to it.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though
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Posts: 329
Posted: Mon 09 May 2011, 11:32
Post subject:
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Posts: 357
Posted: Mon 09 May 2011, 11:53
Post subject:
Hi eyes-only, nooby, bernie
Thanks for taking the time to offer advice. I have tried PG's multiuser 4.21 and it almost fits the bill. Problems with 4.21 unrelated to his work make it undesirable for us. The Xorg for one thing, plus a no longer supported and unfamiliar build system. I suppose it could be remastered, and maybe that will be the route taken. However, I am attempting to apply some of the things I am learning from his instructions to a 5.25 remake via EZ-Woof. Slow going.... My thinking for taking this route is that it's already pretty compatible with 10.04 LTS and the Linux apps we need could be obtained from 10.04 or directly from the developers, thus already multiuser friendly. Most of what needs changing in Puppy are the scripts and gtkdialog apps that use hard coded references to /root. Anyone who is a programmer knows that hard coded paths are a major mistake in any software. Anyway, my desire for a minimal Puppy with multiuser is for a work environment, and a good number of the built in Puppy specific apps are not needed nor desired.
I realize it may be an exercise in futility, but something in me always seems to say "take the road less traveled"
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Posts: 3217
Posted: Mon 09 May 2011, 11:56
Post subject:
2byte wrote:
jpeps wrote:
It's very simple to set up access to whatever you need with permissions
Hi jpeps,
Are you talking about Puppy here? Which version? Sudo doesn't exist on 4.12 nor does pam.
Seriously, can this be done? And if so are you willing to tell us how, or point us in the right direction?
I posted a build script in utilities a while back:
It's simple to add additional groups or users; there's "adduser" and "addgroup". Spot, of course, is already set up.
Home directories are in /etc/passwd, and permissions set with chown.
If you want passwords, use "passwd [user]"
EDIT: I have an easy way of password protecting exiting back into root shell from user, if you need it.
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Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 94
Posted: Tue 10 May 2011, 08:00
Post subject:
jpeps wrote:
BTW/ I once DID wipe out an entire partition with rm -r * accidentally. I think it was very late, and I thought I was inside a directory. It happens fairly quickly. It can also happen from within a script if something screws up. In that case, not being in root could really be a blessing.
If using pwd or ls is too much for you, you should consider editing your .bashrc to include your current working directory, I am very careful anyways, but i can see how software can blow up in your face. When i was experimenting with distros, i enabled compiz only to find out my graphics card could not handle it. My screen was filled with black and it restarts with compiz enabled. So looong distro! I think a regular account could not save you thereof. At least in my own situation.
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 15588
Location: Paradox Realm
Posted: Tue 10 May 2011, 09:13
Post subject:
If using pwd or ls is too much for you
Do not underestimate the unreasonable capacities of some users . . .
Puppy Raspup 8.2
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So Taylor Swift's been doing a bit of house hunting in the UK at the moment, but it seems she got to spend some time away from measuring door frames and eyeing up bedrooms and head off on a date with Douglas Booth.
But not just any date, no. A super romantic secret date up in London, which only makes us about ten thousand times more jealous.
Yup, apparently T. Swift and Douglas met up this week and clearly TayTay is really into that whole Romeo thing, because as if it wasn't enough to write a song about him, now she gets to date a cute boy who plays him in a movie!
The two were spotted looking 'very friendly' with each other, with a sneaky witness saying: "They hired out a section of the pub out of sight, tucked away around the corner. A member of staff was sitting outside stopping customers from going near them."
"When they did come out they were laughing and joking. They seemed like they were getting on brilliantly—they seemed very close. They were in the pub a few hours."
Taylor's rep, however, has denied the wholething saying, "they're friends." Oh, the drama!
Well, this is quite the odd celeb pairing, don'tcha think? Could Taylor and Douglas really be 'secretly dating' or are they just pals?
Let us know what you think of the new maybe couple in the comments below!
Originally posted on Sugarscape.com
From: Sugarscape


text:
Camp Gordon Men from Berrien County, GA
During WWI, Berrien County sent its contingent of black soldiers to join the United States Army. While the Jim Crow Army would relegate many black soldiers to support roles, a few Berrien County men would fight in all-black combat units like the 370th Infantry "Black Devils" and the 367th Infantry "Buffalo Infantry."
Nationwide, more than 2.2 million black men were registered over the course of four draft registration calls, of which nearly 370,000 were drafted for induction into the Army. The draft was a lottery in which numbers written on pieces of paper (in red ink) were pulled from a bowl by the U.S. Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker. Every number represented one registrant from each local board who would be called in for examination and if accepted, would be inducted into service.
In March of 1918, 86 black men in Berrien County received their orders of induction. The orders instructed the men to report to the local draft board in Nashville, GA on April 2, 1918 for examination.
Along with the Order of Induction the men received written instructions on what to wear and what to pack. They were informed of the consequences of failing to report – a court-martial and possibly the death penalty. Dire warnings notwithstanding, some twenty of the Berrien County men failed to report on April 2, 1918 as ordered. According to WWI Historian Jennifer D. Keene, illiteracy prevented some men from complying with written induction orders. "In many rural southern regions, the control that white landowners maintained over their black workforce influenced the workings of local draft boards. Some land owners withheld draft notices that arrived in the mail or refused to read them to their workers. When these workers failed to report, the government listed them as deserters. White planters subsequently gained both the advantage of their continued labor and the chance to collect a $50 reward from the government whenever they felt inclined to turn in these so-called deserters." A scandal over the reward for capture of deserters led to the dismissal of one Berrien County draft board member.
Important Notice to all Men Selected for Military Service and Ordered to
Report to a Local Board for Military Duty.
The day and hour specified on the Classification List of this Local Board, and on the order and notice of induction into military service which accompanies this notice for you to report to this Local Board for military duty, is the time that marks your actual obligation as a soldier of the United States.
Failure to report promptly at the hour and on the day named is a grave military offense, for which you may be court-martialed. Willful failure to report, with an intent to evade military service, constitutes desertion from the Army "of the United States, which in time of war is a capital offense.
Upon reporting to your Local Board, you will not need, and you should not bring with you, anything except hand baggage. You will not be permitted to take trunks or boxes with you on the train. You should take only the following articles: A pair of strong, comfortable shoes to relieve your feet from your new regulation marching shoes; not to exceed four extra suits of underclothing; not to exceed six extra pairs of socks; four face and two bath towels; a comb, a brush, a toothbrush, soap, tooth powder, razor, and shaving soap. It will add to your comfort to bring one woolen blanket, preferably of dark or neutral color. This blanket should be tightly rolled, the ends of the roll should be securely bound together, and the loop of the blanket thus formed slung from your left shoulder to your right hip.
You should wear rough, strong clothing and a flannel shirt, preferably an olive-drab shirt of the kind issued to soldiers.
Note.—Local Boards may have prepared, in the form of a rubber stamp, and stamp in below or on the back hereof any special instructions, such as a direction to request permission to eat and spend the last night at home, as it may desire to give.
On April 2, 1918 sixty-six African-American men from Berrien County, GA reported to the draft board as ordered. After passing examination, it appears the men were given permission to spend their last night at home. On April 3, at Nashville, GA they boarded the Georgia & Florida train bound for Camp Gordon, near Atlanta. The local draft board at Nashville, GA used Form 1029 PMGO, issued by the Provost Marshall General's Office, to document the entrainment of newly enlisted soldiers (images below). The forms include the draftee's name, serial number, order number, date ordered to report, draft board, name of the mobilization camp, and the draftee's occupation.
Statements from the Local Draft Board, Nashville, Berrien County, GA document African-American soldiers selected for the draft and entrained on April 3, 1918.
- Homer Lee Fordham, Alapaha, GA
- Dock Moore, Milltown, GA
- Wesley Myers, Bannockburn, GA
- John W. Faison, Ray City, GA
- Alexander Werkerson, Alapaha, GA
- Titus Griffin, Milltown, GA
- Willie Mullins, Alapaha, GA
- Joe Roberson, Ray City, GA
- Ben Cooper, Nashville, GA
- Collie Simons [Charlie Simmons?], Tifton, GA
- King Cooper, Nashville, GA
- Henry Mitchell Vaughn, Nashville, GA
- John Cleveland, Adel, GA
- Frank Mills, Milltown, GA
- Major Wilson, Adel, GA
- Charles J. Boggs, Ray City, GA
- Mack Leroy Cusack, Nashville, GA
- William Clarence, Sparks, GA
- Leroy McKinney, Milltow, GA
- Hilliard Brock, Nashville, GA
- Sam Gaines, Milltown, GA
- Marvin McArdle, Milltown, GA
- Tarba Bennett, Milltown, GA
- Elihu Hooker, Milltown, GA
- Joseph Williams, Adel, GA
- Garfield Baker, Ray City, GA
- Rommie Adams, Alapaha, GA
- Will Bell, Alapaha, GA
- Tom Sanders, Nashville, GA
- Thomas Howard, Ray City, GA
- Noah Schofield, Adel, GA
- Phane Jackson, Milltown, GA
- Elijah Walker, Hahira, GA
- Sam Bob, Alapaha, GA
- David Genrette, Ray City, GA
- Caleb Cooper, Nashville, GA
- Ethie Melvin, Milltown, GA
- Robert Jones, Ray City, GA
- Benjamin Greer, Lenox, GA
- Jerry Sheppard, Adel, GA
- Beamon Seymore, Adel, GA
- Dock Gunn, Nashville, GA
- Cleveland Sutton, Enigma, GA
- Willie Hutchinson, Adel, GA
- James Fullard, Alapaha, GA
- Arthur Bradshaw, Milltown, GA
- Charles Richerson, Cecil, GA
- Frank Jones, Bannockburn, GA
- Mose Flournoy, Adel, GA
- William Eddie Scruggs, Adel, GA
- Charley Stanford, Alapaha, GA
- Yancey Cowart, Enigma, GA
- Lazarus Burgess, Nashville, GA
- John Henry Williams, Alapaha, GA
- Grover Cleveland, Cecil, GA
- John Morris, Cecil, GA
- Isaac Flemming, Alapaha, GA
- David Pigford, Adel, GA
- Elzie Cooper, Nashville, GA
- Ezekiel Lavind, Adel, GA
- Snow Williams, Nashville, GA
- Peter Jones, Alapaha, GA
- Sidney Todd, Milltown, GA
- Ed Dupree, Milltown, GA
- James Givens, Alapaha, GA
- Nathaniel McClinton, Alapaha, GA
Camp Gordon was named in honor of Confederate General John Brown Gordon. After the war, he was a strong opponent of Reconstruction during the late 1860s. He served as a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1873 to 1880, and again from 1891 to 1897. He also served as the 53rd Governor of Georgia from 1886 to 1890. Gordon is cited as a prominent member of the Georgia Ku Klux Klan.
Like all southern military camps, those in Georgia operated under the segregation laws of Jim Crow. Federal prohibitions on black troops in combat meant that African American recruits trained and served in engineer service or labor battalions under white officers. -New Georgia Encyclopedia
Of the African American men who were drafted, 89 percent served in labor battalions or as dockworkers. The 42,000 men who did serve in combat were limited to the only two all-black combat regiments, the Ninety-Second and Ninety-Third Divisions. The camps were also segregated, as were most of the YMCA "Y-huts," which served as places for leisure activities and often had camp libraries, stocked with the help of the ALA's Library War Service – American Library Association
Camp Gordon, near Atlanta, was one of the largest training centers for Negro troops in the South, housing over 9,000 Georgia blacks by late 1917…Black troops there suffered the indignities common elsewhere, and the absence of any black commissioned officers increased their problems. Most black recruits were assigned to engineer or labor service battalions, where they were to perform tedious, often back-breaking tasks, loading and unloading cargo on both sides of the Atlantic. Since these battalions would have no black officer above the rank of corporal, Camp Gordon officials recruited a number of white sergeants, "specially and carefully selected as having had actual experience in charge of gangs of colored laborers." -John Dittmer, Historian
Segregation at the camp extended to recreational facilities, YMCA, library, hostess houses, and the soldiers clubs. The War Camp Community Service Colored Soldiers' Club of Atlanta, GA worked to bring books to African-American soldiers. The organization's Secretary, Mr. Edward K. Nichols, writing to the American Library Association observed, "You are doubtless aware that throughout the South the public libraries are closed to the colored people. Hence every organization having in its power to extend library facilities to the colored people at large or any group of them has the opportunity of rendering a very needed and much appreciated service."
Related Posts:
Carlos J. Boggs and the Buffalo Infantry of WWI
Charlie Parker was a Splendid Soldier


text:
STRANGE BUT TRUE- Cat-egories: Why felines just aren't into you
A. Cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent perhaps 10,000 years ago, with the development of agriculture. Cats hung around settlements looking for food scraps and in return dispatched bothersome mice and snakes, says Carlos Driscoll in Scientific American. Plus, cats are cute, with their big eyes, snub face, and high round forehead. Thus while dogs were bred for guarding, hunting and herding, cats were under no such selective breeding pressures. "To enter our homes, they had only to evolve a people-friendly disposition."
Still, cats are far from truly domesticated, not relying on people to feed them or find them mates. The average domestic cat today is not greatly different from its wild ancestors, although with shorter legs, a smaller brain and, as Charles Darwin noted, a longer intestine, perhaps an adaptation from scavenging so many kitchen scraps. Cat breeders currently are creating exotic new breeds such as the Bengal and the Caracat (house cat crossed with the Asian leopard cat and the caracal).
"The domestic cat may thus be on the verge of an unprecedented and radical evolution whose future can only be imagined," says Driscoll.
Q. It's an exaggeration to say that Eskimos have 20 different words for "snow," but you can't hold a good Scotsman back when he wants to get bevvied, blootered, buckled, fou, guttered, legless, moroculous, mortal, pie-eyed, pished, plastered, rat-arsed, scuppered, smashed, smeekit, steaming, stocious or wrecked. That's an alphabetical listing, which for this guy may also be a bit of an exaggeration. Why? –R. Burns
A. Because the words are popular Scottish synonyms for "getting drunk," which would likely leave him in no mind or mood for alphabetizing anything, says Mark Denny in Froth! The Science of Beer.
Q. Any chance Mom or Dad caught your very first smile on camera? Dream on. –E. Kodak
A. Embryologists have spotted eye movements in fetuses only 20 weeks old, suggesting a REM-like state (the rapid eye movements of dreaming sleep) before they're born, says Harvard's J. Allan Hobson in Dreaming as Delirium.
A fascinating possibility is these fetal dreams are trial runs for behaviors to come, as brain circuits are laid out and blueprinted in utero. So it's likely your first smiles were fetal smiles, or if not there, while you were REMing away in your bassinet, unseen by loving eyes.
The human fetus spends most of its last uterine days in a REM-like state, mentally rehearsing for the world ahead. Not only smiles of happiness, but frowns of displeasure, grimaces of pain, and thumb-suckings to fine-tune the act of swallowing are among the many instinctual acts "preprogrammed by the self-activated brain, in REM, long before they are put to the service of survival," Hobson says.
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at firstname.lastname@example.com.