If there really had been a Mercutio, and if there really were a Paradise, Mercutio might be hanging out with teenage Vietnam draftee casualties now, talking about what it felt like to die for other people's vanity and foolishness.
--Kurt Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus p151
RE: j|turn » More pictures of Iranian Censorship
Topic: Miscellaneous
4:36 pm EDT, Oct 19, 2006
Decius wrote:
National Geographic often shows dual standards in the way it portrays women from different cultures. While they would never print a full-page picture of a topless 19 year-old Californian girl, they have no problems doing to with a native African woman. This practice has been called colonial and is, in a way, also censorship – although not made with black ink.
Pictures of western magazines censored by the Iranian government. I wonder how many copies of these come into the country and how many people they employ blacking out flesh?
The blogger points out that flesh is all they black out (with the exception of the words "Playboy"). Whole stories critical of Iran make it through, and no pages are torn out. Censorship, yes, but not necessarily suppression.
Indictment: Wesley Snipes a $12M tax cheat - CNN.com
Topic: Miscellaneous
12:41 pm EDT, Oct 17, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Movie actor Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud accusing him of trying to cheat the government of $12 million in false refund claims.
Blade: "There are worse things than vampires out there." Karen: "Like what?" Blade: (pumping his shotgun) "Like tax returns."
CNN.com - Cher auction fetches double pre-sale estimates - Oct 5, 2006
Topic: Miscellaneous
9:54 pm EDT, Oct 5, 2006
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- An auction of more than 700 items belonging to singer and actress Cher raised over $3.5 million -- more than double pre-sale estimates -- as celebrity collectors snapped up her possessions.
The top-selling costume was a Bob Mackie-designed rock 'n' roll outfit that was sold for $60,000, up to 20 times its estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.
Seventeen hundred pounds dropped in 68 minutes — a little more than one of the eight hours I’d allowed for. All that would be required of me in the future was 10 seconds nightly to shut off two power strip switches and five to 10 minutes, every now and then, of pleasant dishwashing.
Super-cool article on quicking dropping 5% of your annual carbon emissions.
Carol Hunstein was forced to learn the values of hard work, discipline and dedication from an early age. The first in her family to ever attend college, she has built a distinguished record during her more than 22 years as a judge. Unaffiliated with any political party, she has wide support among both Democrats and Republicans who admire her skill, independence and fairness.
Born into humble circumstances, Carol contracted polio when she was two, survived her first bout of bone cancer at age four, and lost her mother at age 11. Her adolescent years were marked by frequent hospitalizations for cancer. Carol’s father discouraged his six children from pursuing an education beyond high school. She married at 17, became a mother at 19, and was abandoned by her husband by age 22. That same year, Carol lost a leg to cancer and was told by doctors she had only a year to live.
Struggling to find work to support herself and her son, Carol soon realized the value of an education. She went to college on a state vocational rehabilitation scholarship and to law school on the Social Security benefits she received after her former husband died. There were times when Carol could not afford to eat. Remarrying before graduating from law school, Carol soon had two daughters.
She opened a private law practice in Decatur in 1976, helping ordinary people and trying all kinds of cases – civil, criminal and domestic. Spurred on by a county judge who repeatedly called her “little lady” in open court, Carol decided to run for the bench. She defeated four men and in 1984 became the first woman elected to the DeKalb County Superior Court. She was reelected four years later.
While Carol was on the trial bench, she was selected by her colleagues to serve as President of the Georgia Council of Superior Court Judges. She also chaired the Georgia Commission on Gender Bias in the Judicial System, which, among things, instigated the creation of local domestic violence task forces and triggered a change in the law so that rape complainants no longer faced the indignity of having to pay for their own rape evidence kit.
Governor Zell Miller appointed Carol Hunstein to the Georgia Supreme Court in 1992.
Oh my God, this woman's a-MAZ-ing. And, she's the supreme court incumbent...in GEORGIA!!!
House Republicans just voted to slash funding for NPR and PBS this year--and eliminate funding altogether in two years. We stopped them last year. We can stop them again. Sign our petition to Congress opposing these massive cuts to public broadcasting.
The Republicans are trying to kill Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. They must be STOPPED!!!
Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living - New York Times
Topic: Miscellaneous
12:29 pm EDT, Oct 3, 2006
With the window shade drawn, I was relaxing in my leather seat aboard a $25 million corporate jet that was flying 37,000 feet above the vast Amazon rainforest. The 7 of us on board the 13-passenger jet were keeping to ourselves.
Without warning, I felt a terrific jolt and heard a loud bang, followed by an eerie silence, save for the hum of the engines.
And then the three words I will never forget. “We’ve been hit,” said Henry Yandle, a fellow passenger standing in the aisle near the cockpit of the Embraer Legacy 600 jet.
“Hit? By what?” I wondered. I lifted the shade. The sky was clear; the sun low in the sky. The rainforest went on forever. But there, at the end of the wing, was a jagged ridge, perhaps a foot high, where the five-foot-tall winglet was supposed to be.
And so began the most harrowing 30 minutes of my life. I would be told time and again in the next few days that nobody ever survives a midair collision. I was lucky to be alive — and only later would I learn that the 155 people aboard the Boeing 737 on a domestic flight that seems to have clipped us were not.
Investigators are still trying to sort out what happened, and how — our smaller jet managed to stay aloft while a 737 that is longer, wider and more than three times as heavy, fell from the sky nose first.
But at 3:59 last Friday afternoon, all I could see, all I knew, was that part of the wing was gone. And it was clear that the situation was worsening in a hurry. The leading edge of the wing was losing rivets, and starting to peel back.
Coach sues Target for $1M for allegedly selling fake bag - Oct. 3, 2006
Topic: Miscellaneous
10:48 am EDT, Oct 3, 2006
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Luxury handbag maker Coach is suing Target Corp., alleging that the discounter sold what it believes is a counterfeit Coach bag in at least one of its stores.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan on Friday, said the bag imitated the the signature "C" logo of a genuine Coach bag and copied other features such as the "Coach" tag.
The phony Coach bag sold in a Target store bears the signature "C" logo and other characteristics found in the authentic version. Coach no longer carries the bag for sale, according to a published report.
The suit claims the bag in question was bought from a Target store in Largo, Fla., and appears to be an "exact replica of a genuine Coach handbag."
Target, the No. 2 discounter after Wal-Mart, responded in the filing that it believed the bag was a genuine Coach product.
According to court documents, Coach is seeking $1 million in compensation from Target for alleged trademark infringement.
Coach and Target could not immediately be reached for comment.
Coach's lawsuit comes a few months after another luxury handbag maker, Fendi, sued Wal-Mart of selling knock-offs of its pricey handbags at its Sam's Club warehouse stores.
The suit claims Wal-Mart does not have a purchasing agreement with Fendi or anyone affiliated with the company. Fendi also claimed that Wal-Mart never sought trademark identification.
Wal-Mart has denied the allegation and said the items are authentic.
"You mean that $500 handbag that we're selling for $9.99 isn't authentic? Inconceivable!"
