Go Hedgehog! W00T! W00T!

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- In its 183-year history, the august Oxford Union debating society has heard the wisdom of Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Mother Teresa.

But until now, its members have yet to hear from anyone with quite the same resume as Ron Jeremy, star of 1,700 adult films, including "Bang Along With Ron."

"As far as I know it is the first porn star to address the Oxford Union. I'm 99 percent sure of that," Peter Cardwell, spokesman for one of the English-speaking world's most respected debating societies, told Reuters.

Jeremy, who claims to have slept with more than 4,000 women, will address the union on Wednesday, joining countless British prime ministers, three U.S. presidents and political figures from the Dalai Lama to Malcolm X in its archival guest list.

"Ron is the biggest and apparently the best in the business, so I'm sure he'll have some fascinating stories to tell," said Oxford Union librarian Vladimir Bermant, who organized the event.

Porn star to debate at Oxford

I came really close to subscribing to VOOM. Looked like an awesome package but the cost of entry was just too high. Too bad they couldn't pull it off.

Cablevision announced last night it is pulling the plug on its Voom satellite TV service and on chairman Charles Dolan's quixotic plan to take the failed venture off the company's hands a nd resuscitate it.

The company, which had signed a letter of intent on February 10 to give Voom to a private firm being formed by Dolan, said discussions with him had ended without reaching a definitive agreement by yesterday's deadline set by the board. "As a result, Cablevision will close down the Voom business," the company said.
...
In an amended regulatory filing last week, Cablevision, which had said it was slashing its estimated value of Voom by $355 million, added that there may be additional "impairment charges," especially if it could not close a deal with Dolan.

Dolan has blamed the board's defiance on the post-Enron era, in which directors are afraid that they could be held personally liable if they back risky ventures and maneuvers that may backfire. The Cablevision board discussed Voom at a special meeting yesterday.

Bethpage-based Cablevision said yesterday that remaining Voom customers will be given a transition period of at least 30 days before service is cut off and that its employees will be encouraged to seek other jobs at Cablevision.

Cablevision's Voom goes boom

I'm losing count on this guy but I'd guess this TN state senator's 15 minutes (30 yrs) of fame (aka abuse of power) are almost up.

On May 1, 2001, state Sen. John Ford expressed deep reservations about the idea of the state hiring a company just to provide dental services for TennCare, saying it ''doesn't make sense to me.''

A year later, Ford did an about-face, saying the idea would save the state health program millions of dollars, according to tapes of legislative hearings reviewed by The Tennessean.

''My vision on this might be a little bit keener than a lot of folks','' he said at the later hearing

What happened in between?

Ford isn't talking. But documents released last week show that in between the two statements, on Dec. 1, 2001, a consulting firm with ties to Ford began representing a dental services company that wanted to win business from TennCare.

The consulting firm has paid Ford, D-Memphis, at least $237,000. And the dental company, Doral Dental, has an $18 million contract with TennCare, the state's health insurance program for the poor, uninsured and uninsurable.

The payments have sparked a Senate ethics investigation and a review by the Tennessee attorney general.

---------------

The Tennessean was nice enuf to post his public servant contact info. I really hope the spambots don't see it.

State Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis
Mail: 7 Legislative Plaza, Nashville, Tenn. 37243-0029
Phone: 615-741-3304
E-mail: sen.john.ford@legislature.state.tn.us

Ford did a 180 after consultant deal

What chapter are we on?

By Skip Cauthorn
February 25, 2005

TennCare officials said Thursday its dental administrator should not have held a contract with a company tied to state Sen. John Ford, whose relationship with the company is now being examined by the state Attorney General.

Doral Dental USA, which contracts with TennCare in operating the program’s dental component, shouldn’t have contracted with consultant Managed Care Services Group at a cost of more than $1.1 million since October of 2002, said TennCare spokesperson Michael Drescher.

Managed Care failed to disclose its ties to Ford, as required under the contract between Doral and TennCare, Drescher said.

“This was not a contract that anyone in state government was aware even existed,” Gov. Phil Bredesen said. “But what was going on there was not a good thing and it’s not consistent with good contracting on the part of TennCare.”

Ford (D-Memphis) reportedly received $237,000 in fees through Managed Care between 2002 and 2003.

Ford chairs the influential Senate General Welfare Committee, which plays a large role in setting TennCare policy.

Doral, which terminated its agreement with Managed Care earlier this month after learning of its alleged ties with Ford, appears to have drafted the contract with ties to an unnamed legislator in mind.

Included in valid reasons for termination of the contract by Doral was the phrase, “the death of the principal legislator affiliated with [Managed Care],” according to documents released by TennCare Thursday.

Attorney General investigating Ford

WTF?!?!?

Alex Crionas will not receive a new kidney because he solicited for donors on the Internet.

By Associated Press
Published February 24, 2005

ORANGE CITY - A Tampa organ donor institute has denied giving a kidney transplant to a man because he had a Web site seeking a donor.

Alex Crionas had planned to receive a kidney from Patrick Garrity after they became friends last year. They went through blood and tissue testing last month at LifeLink HealthCare Institute, which coordinates the transplant program for Tampa General Hospital. They were declared physically compatible for the operation.

Then Crionas, 28, got a letter this month from LifeLink, a nonprofit that links patients and donors, telling him his request for surgery was rejected because of his Web site.

"I was dumbfounded," Crionas said. "We didn't even meet through the Web site."

Though it is common for patients to find donors among family members, the organizations that head the nation's organ procurement program try to make sure people are not illegally buying or selling organs.

The United Network for Organ Sharing and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons both released statements last fall opposing solicitation of organs through Web sites, billboards or media outlets.

"There is an order and hierarchy established for transplants," said Danny Hawke, senior vice president of LifeLink. "There are a lot more people needing organs than donating them."

Man denied transplant because of his Web site

Probably not much chance of getting much pond hockey ice time here in Nashville...

Boston team wins pond hockey crown for 2nd year
WebPosted Sun, 20 Feb 2005 19:16:35 EST
CBC News

PLASTER ROCK, N.B. - Four Canadian expatriates from the Boston area braved blowing winds and a temperature of –24 C to win the World Pond Hockey Championship, becoming the first team to bag the tournament twice.

The Boston Danglers beat the Stately Elms Fallen Leafs 14 to 8 in the final game Sunday afternoon in Plaster Rock, in northwestern New Brunswick.
It marked the second-straight victory for the team – Rob Atkinson, 35, formerly of Moncton, N.B., Mark Goble, 32, formerly of Ottawa, Cooper Naylor, 34, formerly of Pictou, N.S., and Mark Cornforth, 32, formerly of Montreal.

All of the men now live in or near Boston, Mass.

Ninety-six teams of four travelled from all over North America and beyond to compete this weekend at the four-year-old event.

The winners will take home a wooden award modeled after the Stanley Cup.

Screw the NHL. I want pond hockey!

Sometimes, justice does prevail, even if this jerk got off very easy for a wreckless killing of an innocent motorcyclist.

[¶51.] Janklow argues that the cumulative effect of the alleged errors in this case deprived him of a fair trial. “[T]he cumulative effect of errors by the trial court may support a finding by the reviewing court of a denial of the constitutional right to a fair trial.” State v. Perovich, 2001 SD 96, ¶30, 632 NW2d 12, 18 (citations omitted). In light of our determinations on the foregoing issues and from our review of the entire record, we believe that Janklow did receive a fair trial.

[¶52.] Affirmed.

Janklow conviction upheld on appeal

mmmmmmkay...

CHICAGO (AP) A woman accused of using her lover's sperm to impregnate herself without his knowledge can be held liable for the unwitting father's emotional pain, the Illinois Appellate Court has ruled.

In the ruling released Wednesday, a three-judge panel reinstated part of a lawsuit against Sharon Irons, a doctor from Olympia Fields. The ruling sends the case back to Cook County Circuit Court.

Irons was sued by her former lover, Chicago family physician Richard O. Phillips, who accused her of a "calculated, profound personal betrayal" of him after a brief affair they had six years ago.

Phillips alleges that he and Irons, who practices internal medicine, never had intercourse during their four-month affair, although they did have oral sex three times.

His suit contends that Irons, without his knowledge, kept some of his semen and used it to impregnate herself.

Man Can Sue Woman For Sperm Theft Distress

The site also provides two downloadable documents with blanks left for names -- one a curt business-style letter, the other a scathing poem -- to end relationships in writing.

You Wear Extra-Large Panties, Right Honey?

Palindrome wrote:
] ] The eloquence of a few lines of verse can be a powerful
] ] thing. Poetry can cause you to pause and think about
] ] life. It can incite feelings of rage. A good poem can
] ] even bring you to tears. We're not sure where this one
] ] lies in the spectrum of emotional reactions, but we're
] ] thinking somewhere between a chuckle and a look of
] ] heartfelt confusion.
]
] I found this awhile back but don't think I got around to
] posting it.

Sure could have used that last week (Val Day)... :-)

RE: Geek Love Poem