LOS ANGELES – Pay no attention to that eerie silence in the nation's most populous county this week; it will simply be the sound of 10 million people not cussing.
At least that's the result McKay Hatch is hoping for once his campaign to clear the air is recognized by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
On Tuesday, the board is scheduled to issue a proclamation by Supervisor Michael Antonovich making the first week in March No Cussing Week.
That would mean no blue language from the Mojave desert, where it gets hot as $&# in the summer, to the Pacific Ocean, where on a winter's day it can get colder and nastier than %$#!
Not that 15-year-old Hatch expects complete compliance. When his No Cussing Club meets at South Pasadena High School on Wednesdays it's not unusual for a nonmember to throw open the door and fire off a torrent of four-letter words. He's also been the target of organized harassment by pro-cussers.
And Antonovich's county motion carries no penalties.
"But it's a good reminder for all of us, not just young people but everybody, to be respectful to one another and watch the words we use," said the supervisor's spokesman, Tony Bell.
The county isn't the first entity to try to put the lid on swearing. Hatch's hometown of South Pasadena declared itself a cuss-free zone for a week last March, and two years ago a high school in Canada threatened to suspend repeat cussers.
Hatch has lofty goals.
"Next year I want to try to get California to have a cuss-free week. And then, who knows, maybe worldwide," said the 10th grader, who believes if people treat each other with more civility they can better work together to solve bigger problems.
He said his campaign began to form about the time he hit seventh grade when he noticed his friends beginning to swear, something his family didn't allow.
He formed the No Cussing Club and invited others to join. Soon the group had a Web site, bright orange T-shirts, a hip hop theme song and inquiries from all over from people interested in joining. He estimates 20,000 people have formed similar clubs.
"It's not about forcing anyone to stop, just to bring awareness," he says of the movement. "If you can do a week without cussing, maybe you can do two weeks. And then maybe a month."
Source
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
US woman with 2 wombs delivers twin daughters
MARQUETTE, Michigan — A Michigan woman with two wombs has given birth to twin daughters — one from each uterus.
The Mining Journal and WLUC-TV report that Sarah Reinfelder's two healthy babies were delivered seven weeks premature Thursday by Caesarean section at Marquette General Hospital in the Upper Peninsula.
The 21-year-old Sault Ste. Marie woman has a condition known as uterus didelphys, and doctors say such twin births are rare. The uteri are different sizes, with the larger twin born from the larger uterus.
Dr. Connie Hedmark and Dr. Breanna Pond first delivered Kaylin Joy, then Valerie Marie, the larger twin by one pound (450 grams). Kaylin Joy weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces (1.78 kilograms).
Neonatologist Julie Frei says she expects that the twins, who do not have fully developed lung function, likely will be hospitalized for three or four weeks.
Source
The Mining Journal and WLUC-TV report that Sarah Reinfelder's two healthy babies were delivered seven weeks premature Thursday by Caesarean section at Marquette General Hospital in the Upper Peninsula.
The 21-year-old Sault Ste. Marie woman has a condition known as uterus didelphys, and doctors say such twin births are rare. The uteri are different sizes, with the larger twin born from the larger uterus.
Dr. Connie Hedmark and Dr. Breanna Pond first delivered Kaylin Joy, then Valerie Marie, the larger twin by one pound (450 grams). Kaylin Joy weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces (1.78 kilograms).
Neonatologist Julie Frei says she expects that the twins, who do not have fully developed lung function, likely will be hospitalized for three or four weeks.
Source
Friday, March 13, 2009
Ferdinand Marcos has more 'friends' than Nixon, Evita in Facebook
NEW YORK — The ghost of Marcos past is back and is haunting Filipinos all over the world in a very in-your-face way: Facebook.
“My hero," gushes Facebook user May.
Everything about the profile of Ferdinand E. Marcos is factual. But nowhere on his wall is anything he had written. Instead, the posts – now in the hundreds -- praise his greatness as president. There are some stray comments that are critical and some downright profane, but they are outnumbered by the superlatives.
The way it works is that Marcos appears to be another Facebook user. His profile identifies his status as being married to Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romualdez-Marcos, his birthday as September 11, 1917, his hometown as Ilocos Norte, and his education as the University of the Philippines College of law ‘39.
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s (sic) gone," writes Rhea. Luke, whose friends include Aiza Seguerra, writes: “No one can beat what this great man did to improve the country."
And from Abigail: “Despite the dictatorship, one of the best presidents in the Philippines. His brilliance created an impact not just in our country but in the international arena. Most of the republic acts are still under his regime... :) Love the brain of this guy!"
No surprises there. The Palo Alto, California, social networking website counts the most powerful men in the world, such as Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, among its more than 175 million users – dead or alive.
An average user has 120 friends, but not Marcos who has 4,152; a drop in the bucket compared with Obama’s 5,548,940.
In fact, Jose Rizal is only slightly popular with 6,808 supporters. But at least FEM has more followers than Lenin (3,579), Richard Nixon (3,687), and Evita (1,557).
That Marcos loyalists are regrouping via the Internet is not the news. Anyone can be on Facebook and for whatever reason, including peeking at young boys in skivvies or sharing recipes for homemade bombs.
Any Facebook user can host pages for anyone, including famous dead people, like FEM. And he has two pages of photographs, including one with Ninoy Aquino of their younger selves captioned: “Marcos ‘37 and Aquino’50/ Resilient and deep-rooted brotherhood that transcends beliefs and ideologies/ Men of Unimpeachable character/ Upsilonians."
File that under: Hmm.
If social media guru Jesse Stay is correct, Facebook allows a user to “track social demographics." That’s what the Marcos fansite appears to be doing.
Many of the supporters are in their 20s and 30s – too young to have lived through the horrors of the Marcos Dictatorship – and they’re from all over the world. Not one of the recent posts recounts the crushing poverty, the military tortures, the crony corruption, and the Imeldific extravagance. Let’s take shoes.
The Marcos dictatorship came crashing down in 1986 when a people power uprising chased the family and their cronies out of Malacañang.
In fairness, the Marvos Wall is not all praises. Negative comments make their way every once in a while.
One of them, Theterm, writes: “I will say he was fine at first until greed got the best of him. Viva Ninoy Aquino!"
Raymund says it short and raw: “This guy is an a--hole."
Disagree with them? Why don’t you sign up for Facebook to connect with Ferdinand E. Marcos?
Source
“My hero," gushes Facebook user May.
Everything about the profile of Ferdinand E. Marcos is factual. But nowhere on his wall is anything he had written. Instead, the posts – now in the hundreds -- praise his greatness as president. There are some stray comments that are critical and some downright profane, but they are outnumbered by the superlatives.
The way it works is that Marcos appears to be another Facebook user. His profile identifies his status as being married to Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romualdez-Marcos, his birthday as September 11, 1917, his hometown as Ilocos Norte, and his education as the University of the Philippines College of law ‘39.
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s (sic) gone," writes Rhea. Luke, whose friends include Aiza Seguerra, writes: “No one can beat what this great man did to improve the country."
And from Abigail: “Despite the dictatorship, one of the best presidents in the Philippines. His brilliance created an impact not just in our country but in the international arena. Most of the republic acts are still under his regime... :) Love the brain of this guy!"
No surprises there. The Palo Alto, California, social networking website counts the most powerful men in the world, such as Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, among its more than 175 million users – dead or alive.
An average user has 120 friends, but not Marcos who has 4,152; a drop in the bucket compared with Obama’s 5,548,940.
In fact, Jose Rizal is only slightly popular with 6,808 supporters. But at least FEM has more followers than Lenin (3,579), Richard Nixon (3,687), and Evita (1,557).
That Marcos loyalists are regrouping via the Internet is not the news. Anyone can be on Facebook and for whatever reason, including peeking at young boys in skivvies or sharing recipes for homemade bombs.
Any Facebook user can host pages for anyone, including famous dead people, like FEM. And he has two pages of photographs, including one with Ninoy Aquino of their younger selves captioned: “Marcos ‘37 and Aquino’50/ Resilient and deep-rooted brotherhood that transcends beliefs and ideologies/ Men of Unimpeachable character/ Upsilonians."
File that under: Hmm.
If social media guru Jesse Stay is correct, Facebook allows a user to “track social demographics." That’s what the Marcos fansite appears to be doing.
Many of the supporters are in their 20s and 30s – too young to have lived through the horrors of the Marcos Dictatorship – and they’re from all over the world. Not one of the recent posts recounts the crushing poverty, the military tortures, the crony corruption, and the Imeldific extravagance. Let’s take shoes.
The Marcos dictatorship came crashing down in 1986 when a people power uprising chased the family and their cronies out of Malacañang.
In fairness, the Marvos Wall is not all praises. Negative comments make their way every once in a while.
One of them, Theterm, writes: “I will say he was fine at first until greed got the best of him. Viva Ninoy Aquino!"
Raymund says it short and raw: “This guy is an a--hole."
Disagree with them? Why don’t you sign up for Facebook to connect with Ferdinand E. Marcos?
Source
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
SoCal robbery suspect tries to become a cop
CHULA VISTA, Calif. – Authorities in California say a man wanted for a store robbery was arrested when he showed up to take a test to become a police officer.
Chula Vista police spokesman Bernard Gonzales said investigators had identified Romeo Montillano as a suspect in a Dec. 8 robbery at a Kmart.
Gonzales says investigators learned that Montillano had signed up for the February Police Department entrance exam.
The 40-year-old man was arrested Wednesday when he arrived to take the test.
Gonzales said that when Montillano was taken into custody he asked if he would still be able to take the exam.
Police said Montillano was arrested for investigation of robbery, making criminal threats and grand theft. He remained in jail Saturday in lieu of $110,000 bail.
Source
Chula Vista police spokesman Bernard Gonzales said investigators had identified Romeo Montillano as a suspect in a Dec. 8 robbery at a Kmart.
Gonzales says investigators learned that Montillano had signed up for the February Police Department entrance exam.
The 40-year-old man was arrested Wednesday when he arrived to take the test.
Gonzales said that when Montillano was taken into custody he asked if he would still be able to take the exam.
Police said Montillano was arrested for investigation of robbery, making criminal threats and grand theft. He remained in jail Saturday in lieu of $110,000 bail.
Source
Monday, March 9, 2009
Florida woman calls 911 3 times over McNuggets
FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Authorities say a Florida woman called 911 three times after McDonald's employees told her they were out of McNuggets. A police report said 27-year-old Fort Pierce resident Latreasa L. Goodman told authorities she paid for a 10-piece last week but was later informed the restaurant had run out.
She says she was refused a refund and told all sales were final. A cashier told police she offered Goodman a larger portion of different food for the same price, but Goodman became irate.
Police say Goodman was cited on a misuse of 911 charge. A current phone listing for Goodman couldn't be found.
A McDonald's spokesman says Goodman should have been given a refund, and she's being sent a gift card for a free meal.
Source
She says she was refused a refund and told all sales were final. A cashier told police she offered Goodman a larger portion of different food for the same price, but Goodman became irate.
Police say Goodman was cited on a misuse of 911 charge. A current phone listing for Goodman couldn't be found.
A McDonald's spokesman says Goodman should have been given a refund, and she's being sent a gift card for a free meal.
Source
Saturday, March 7, 2009
US man who put cat in bong says it calmed cat
OMAHA, Nebraska — A Nebraska man says he stuffed his girlfriend's cat into a makeshift marijuana pipe because he was trying to calm the cat down and it seemed to work previously.
Acea Schomaker said Tuesday that he never intended to hurt the cat, Shadow.
He says he didn't want to discipline the cat by swatting or squirting water at it, and didn't want to take it to an animal shelter because he feared it would be euthanized.
Schomaker says he put the cat in the pipe three times over the last week and it made the cat "act like a stoned person."
He says he knows now that what he did was wrong.
The unemployed 20-year-old and his girlfriend were each ticketed for misdemeanor animal cruelty.
Source
Acea Schomaker said Tuesday that he never intended to hurt the cat, Shadow.
He says he didn't want to discipline the cat by swatting or squirting water at it, and didn't want to take it to an animal shelter because he feared it would be euthanized.
Schomaker says he put the cat in the pipe three times over the last week and it made the cat "act like a stoned person."
He says he knows now that what he did was wrong.
The unemployed 20-year-old and his girlfriend were each ticketed for misdemeanor animal cruelty.
Source
Thursday, March 5, 2009
US man stuffs cat in marijuana pipe
OMAHA, Nebraska — A man who tried to calm down his cat by stuffing her into a homemade marijuana pipe faces cruelty charges — and catcalls from animal lovers.
Sheriff's deputies responding to a domestic disturbance call Sunday alleged they saw 20-year-old Acea Schomaker smoking marijuana through a piece of garden hose attached to a duct-taped, plastic glass box in which the cat had been stuffed.
"This cat was just dazed," Sgt. Andy Stebbing said. "She was on the front seat of the cop car, wrapped in a blanket, and never moved all the way to the humane society."
Schomaker told deputies 6-month-old Shadow was hyper and he was trying to calm her down. The contraption she had been stuffed inside was 12 inches (30 centimeters) by 6 inches (15 centimeters). Shadow was timid but in good condition Monday at the Capital Humane Society, executive director Bob Downey said.
"What the human mind doesn't invent, huh?" Downey said.
Schomaker, who was released from jail after paying a $400 fine on the arrest warrant, faces drug and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. He did not immediately respond to phone messages left Monday seeking comment.
Source
Sheriff's deputies responding to a domestic disturbance call Sunday alleged they saw 20-year-old Acea Schomaker smoking marijuana through a piece of garden hose attached to a duct-taped, plastic glass box in which the cat had been stuffed.
"This cat was just dazed," Sgt. Andy Stebbing said. "She was on the front seat of the cop car, wrapped in a blanket, and never moved all the way to the humane society."
Schomaker told deputies 6-month-old Shadow was hyper and he was trying to calm her down. The contraption she had been stuffed inside was 12 inches (30 centimeters) by 6 inches (15 centimeters). Shadow was timid but in good condition Monday at the Capital Humane Society, executive director Bob Downey said.
"What the human mind doesn't invent, huh?" Downey said.
Schomaker, who was released from jail after paying a $400 fine on the arrest warrant, faces drug and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. He did not immediately respond to phone messages left Monday seeking comment.
Source
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
3/3/09: Math fans to observe Square Root Day
REDWOOD CITY, California — Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Square Root Day is upon us.
The math-buffs' holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).
"These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they're gone," said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event.
The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event.
Gordon's daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.
The last such day was five years ago, Feb. 2, 2004, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on April 4, 2016.
Source
The math-buffs' holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).
"These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they're gone," said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event.
The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event.
Gordon's daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.
The last such day was five years ago, Feb. 2, 2004, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on April 4, 2016.
Source
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