Wednesday, September 14, 2005

evening

Disappointing Things (reality tv spoilers ahead)

That people stole our best and most popular websites, copied them thousands of times and got OUR SITES knocked out of Google

That some people suck

That I thought they were tearing down our neighbor’s eyesore of a half-finished garage in his back yard, but instead, it just looks like they’re tearing down the roof to redo it or something.  Gee, it’s not as though nine months was enough time to finish the thing.

That Suzie was kicked off Rock Star: INXS tonight. :( Marty’s Trees song sucks.

That Ryan was kicked off “So You Think You Can Dance?”

That NHL Center Ice still doesn’t have an availability date

Oh, there’s more, but I don’t feel like writing them here…

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

mid-afternoon

Blech

Blech, feel like crap today.  It’s the week out of the month that I wish to be male.  Look, Mr/Mrs Ruler of the Universe, I’m not going to have kids.  Must I suffer for this anyway?  Is that necessary?  There is no medication or heating pad or anything that fixes it.

But I’m not ready for the new tv season to start.  Gah!  Okay, yes, I’m sorta ready for Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Lost and Nip/Tuck, but give me some extra months for new shows.  I don’t have enough time to watch what I want, so I guess I’ll give a shot to Everybody Hates Chris, Bones (even though I’m unhappy that they’re changing the lead character from French Canadian oui oui, to working out of D.C. zzzz), I loved the Kathy Reichs books, so they’ll get one shot at me.  Plus, I’ll watch the Alyson Hannigan/Doogie Howser show once.  Otherwise, I’m pretty happy with my current playlist.  Survivor, The Amazing Race (those kids had better not ruin it!), Lost, Gilmore Girls, Weeds, Veronica Mars, Nip/Tuck, and Arrested Development.  But ack, too much tv and not enough time, that’s even using a TiVo.  I guess I should count in playing one fantasy baseball league (being creamed by my brother), two fantasy football leagues (first week, so far so good) and a fantasy hockey league, where I’m picking up Tie Domi (or Voldemort) even if he does get some penalty points.

Okay, back to the heating pad.  Oh, and ESL Nancy, I have an email I’ve been mulling in my head for the past week or so for you.  Have you read Irshad Manji’s book?  Give me a couple of days to become myself again.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

late evening

October Giveaway Time! -

I’ll pick something I like, hoping you like it too.  If you don’t, it’ll be new, so you can regift...and I won’t tell.  I’ll pick a winner on October 7th.

So, ENTER HERE!

If you don’t enter, ALL of you who read this blog, I’m shutting down the giveaway, at least until the holidays.  Because, giveaways, with 3 people versus 28 people the first month, not all that fun for me.  And yeah, it IS all about me.  So, anyway, you have until the evening of the 6th to enter.  That’s Thursday night!

Update 10/3 - that’s a little better.  7 is better than 3.  But, it’s still not as good as 28.  Hmmm, 28.

Update 10/4 - getting better.  But, you don’t need to enter if you don’t really want to win.  Numbers are just a state of mind...or something.  We’re now at 15.

Last month I gave away Yiddish With Dick and Jane and Bad Cats.  This month it’ll be just one thing probably, unless I can find two cheapie things. 

Saturday, September 10, 2005

late at night

Hockey Is Coming, Hockey Is Coming, Hockey Is Coming!

Friday, September 09, 2005

early evening

Idiot of the Day - Sgt. Mike Minton, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office

Updated 4/16/07 (and probably the last time, until the bastard is convicted) - Pasado Safe Haven is updating about the case constantly, so if you go to this link, there’s no need to go anywhere else for your information, I wouldn’t think.

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Do NOT watch this video if you can’t handle seeing a cop shoot two innocent dogs.  It’s truly awful.  Also, in the video, the dog killer is interviewed.  Truly a HUGE ass!  Please send letters, make phone calls, send the link...to whomever you can think of to get this inhumane behavior to stop.

http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/photography/2005/katrina_video/straydogs.html

Sgt. Minton: “Really, its (to) benefit a dog, really, because, you know, where’s he gonna find food, where’s he gonna find water, you know, so I just looked at it as it more humane...doing it to protect myself...but its more humane for the dog, you know.”

Video of dogs barking

Minton: “They’re trying to eat us...4 days into it, he almost got eat up by a pit bull.” (gestures with head to the side.)

Reporter: “So, how many dogs......”

Minton: “Enough...” Laughs.

Reporter: “Must be a tough job?”

Minton: “Huh?”

Reporter: “Must be a tough job...?”

Minton: “This job? No, I been doin’ this job for 22 years.”

Reporter: “I mean, shooting dogs?”

Minton: moves his hand in what looks to be a dismissive gesture.

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Updated December 2006 - Mike Minton Indicted for Felony Cruelty

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1165479585162360.xml&coll=1

Deputies indicted in dog shootings
Felony cruelty case based on videotape
Thursday, December 07, 2006
By Karen Turni Bazile
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

A state grand jury has indicted two St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies for allegedly shooting dogs to death during the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina.

The grand jury in Chalmette indicted Michael Minton and Clifford “Chip” Englande on the felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. The indictments say the deputies “intentionally tortured and maimed numerous dogs, which were wandering the streets of St. Bernard Parish after Hurricane Katrina,” and that their “actions resulted in the deaths of these animals.”

Kris Wartelle, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Charles Foti, whose office investigated the case and will prosecute it, said the indictments are based in part on a videotape shot by a member of the Dallas media that shows deputies shooting dogs in the streets.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens said Minton, 43, a sergeant who was hired in the spring of 1991, left the department in February.

Englande, 34, a sergeant who also joined the department in the spring of 1991, has been assigned to administrative duties since the indictment, Stephens said.

Efforts to contact Englande and Minton on Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

“The allegations and the charges were disturbing from the onset,” Stephens said. “We didn’t want anyone to think we were covering up, so we formally referred the investigation over to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the state attorney general.”

Stephens said he has not seen the video.

“We stand behind our deputies,” Stephens said. “Their actions during and after the storm were heroic.”

Stephens said sheriff’s deputies and parish firefighters forced residents to leave their pets behind when they were evacuating people to safety.

“We are over a whole year from the event now,” Stephens said. “Unless you were here, it’s difficult to understand the dire circumstances we faced here.”

After the indictments were handed down, Minton and Englande surrendered to authorities, and they were booked and released, said Col. Richard Baumy, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. They were released to their wives on $10,000 personal surety bonds.

The indictments do not address reports that dogs were shot and killed in three schools after authorities forced the pets’ owners to leave them behind during evacuations, Wartelle said. She said she couldn’t comment further because the case is ongoing.

The owners of some of the dogs have filed suit in federal court in New Orleans against St. Bernard Parish government, Parish President Henry “Junior” Rodriguez, the Parish Council, Stephens and numerous deputies.

Susan Michaels, co-founder of Pasado’s Safe Haven, a national animal welfare organization that helped pet owners file the suit, said her group paid for necropsies on 33 dead dog gathered at three schools.

“They weren’t shot directly in the head where they would have been put out of their misery. The way they were shot indicated prolonged suffering,” Michaels said of the dogs in the schools. “These people scrawled messages on the walls, ‘Please don’t shoot my dogs.’ They had plenty of food and water for the animals.”

. . . . . . .

Karen Turni Bazile can be reached at or (504) 826-3321.