Since I haven't posted anything interesting in AGES...

I fully intend to write a really LONG posting on work soon. (Covering cast of characters, stories, etc.) However, work day is busy, etc.

But it is DEFINATELY on the To-Do list, so nobody :cough cough MAGGIE: panic!

Was an absolute ZOO at work today. Also, I was yelled at by a lady on the phone because the person who took her order (Bernie? I never was sure) didn't write down that the order was to be delivered. Here I was, being all friendly and apologetically telling the woman this, and she freaks and is all "I don't have time to screw around, I'll just come pick it up myself!"

In a very bitchy way, mind you. (Since this was all my fault, and all. Serves me right for answering the phone, I'll never do it again! ...Until I'm the only one with a free hand open tomorrow, in which case I will, of course, lol.)

I now agree with Katie, Jo-ann's sucks. :P

Owen, you read on here again and don't comment (and then let me know!) I won't be joking about electronically kicking your butt to the curb. ;) And yes, I have no issues with Jenn reading my blog, provided she COMMENTS. (For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, Irish ex-bf Owen was trying to apparently explain my blog on the phone to his "flatmate" Jenn the other night and it wasn't working so much, so he wanted to show her the real thing, lol.)

Oh, and an political comment you can comment on, Owen- IRA sucks. The fact that they say they're totally disarming is bullshit. They had picked the Catholic and Methodist priests that are supposedly watching them do it! They may burn in Hell for it later, but of course they're going to lie!

Tip for everyone: The turkey salad is AMAZING with the Gorgonzolla sause instead of mayo with lettuce on the Asiago Foccica!!! Yummy! :)

...I really don't get it.

My grandparents have gotten a cat.

As in, my grandmother, who can't stand animals EVER for the most part, voluntarily dragged my grandfather to the adoption center to pick one out!

And now they're looking into kitty-friendly hotels in LA for my aunt's wedding Thanksgiving weekend!! (Which, btw, did I tell you I'd be gone then yet? I'll miss Maggie when she's *hopefully* home! :sobs:)

...The world officially has stopped making sense.

Food for thought... But I hope you brought your tums!

If THIS is what they want next year's proposed levy to be for... :shakes fist:

Hudson Admin Salary Increase
		2004-05	2005-06	% raise
Elementary Assistant Principal	Lee Ann Biegacki	$ 81,067.00	$ 84,260.00	-3.79%
Middle School Assistant Principal	Kim Cockley	$ 74,556.00	$ 78,457.00	-4.97%
Middle School Principal	Chuck DiLauro	$ 85,000.00	$ 89,225.00	-4.74%
Athletic Director	Ray Ebersole	$ 80,000.00	$ 83,698.00	-4.42%
Elementary Principal	Ted Embacher	$ 87,530.00	$ 91,694.00	-4.54%
Elementary Assistant Principal	Betsy Finley	$ 75,637.00	$ 79,830.00	-5.25%
HCER Director	Mike Fritz	$ 93,456.00	$ 96,727.00	-3.38%
High School Unit Principal	Dave Harris	$ 84,672.00	$ 87,635.00	-3.38%
Director of Human Resources	Phil Herman	$ 95,900.00	$ 96,667.00	-0.79%
Middle School Assistant Principal	Lisa Hunt	$ 74,556.00	$ 78,457.00	-4.97%
Facilities Supervisor	Rick Ilcisko	$ 46,800.00	$ 48,607.00	-3.72%
Director of Pupil Personnel Services	Linda Keller	$ 97,000.00	$ 98,455.00	-1.48%
Elementary Principal	Mark Leventhal	$ 80,454.00	$ 86,028.00	-6.48%
High School Unit Principal	Eugene Lolli	$ 78,439.00	$ 80,103.00	-2.08%
Elementary Principal	Doreen Osmun	$ 81,600.00	$ 85,379.00	-4.43%
Director of Curriculum and Instruction	Patty Picard	$ 95,961.00	$ 102,032.00	-5.95%
Food Services Supervisor	Jenifer Roland	$ 51,350.00	$ 53,477.00	-3.98%
Maintenance Supervisor	Chuck Shilling	$ 74,155.00	$ 76,782.00	-3.42%
Elementary Principal	Harry Selner	$ 84,000.00	$ 85,379.00	-1.62%
Communications Specialist	Sheryl Sheatzley	$ 50,000.00	$ 52,843.00	-5.38%
Business Manager	Paul Smith	$ 99,440.00	$ 102,920.00	-3.38%
Supervisor Payroll and budget accounting	Elaine Speakman	$ 48,000.00	$ 50,000.00	-4.00%
High School Principal	Jay Tyree	$ 97,000.00	$ 98,455.00	-1.48%
High School Unit Principal	Lynn Villa	$ 78,439.00	$ 81,968.00	-4.31%
Middle School Principal	Karen Weber	$ 83,665.00	$ 86,594.00	-3.38%
Superintendent	Maryann Wolowiec	$ 114,900.00	$ 120,645.00	-4.76%
Treasurer	Scott Snyder	$ 85,789.00	$ 90,936.00	-5.66%
TOTALS		$2,179,366.00	$2,267,253.00	-3.88%

As always, check Recall the Board for more recent updates!

Stop talking, I'm out of asprin...

:headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk:

This isn't working....

:headwall headwall headwall....:

Music Recs... Twice the Speed of Life - Sugarland

Twice the Speed of Life - Sugarland

Definately the best debut CD I've heard in a good long while... But as I'm not the type to run out and buy music as soon as it comes out, I may not be the best judge, lol. (I honestly don't buy music often- that's what the library's for right? You get sick of music, you can always get it again, and you're not down $17 bucks.)

Vocal's are great, music is original sounding, and all the tracks manage to have variety while still sounding like the same band/type of music. If I were roadtrippin' right now, I would INSIST on bringing this CD. (And, it's country, so it drives my brothers nuts whenever they heard it on, so it's aaaaaaaaaaaaaall good, lol!)

1.Something More Been a big hit on the radio, and definately a great opening track
2. Baby Girl Great debut single, one of my favorite tracks on the cd
3. Hello One of my favorite slower songs on the cd, seems like it would be a good relationship type "our" song deal... But what would I know about that? Lol! ;) ;)
4. Tennessee Favorite track/easiest to sing along to! Cute little storyline, too- but that's the thing about country music, it's not just scrambled words to intraments, there's actually a story/point!
5. Just Might (Make Me Believe) Another good potential relationship type song- or just on with a positive message for thos days when you need it...
6. Down In Mississippi (Up To No Good) Trust me, it's funny... But with a title like that, it was pretty much bound to be, lol!
7. Fly Away
8. Speed Of Life Title track, fully expect this one to be the next one to hit the radio waves. Another good car/sing along song
9. Small Town Jericho Good song about good ol' Smalltown, USA
10. Time, Time, Time Another good song, but didn't stand out for me quite as much as the others- but 10/11 stellar ain't at 'tal bad!
11. Stand Back Up Nice ending song, had a good positive message (another great thing about country v./over mainstream pop/rap music

Far be it from me to post forwards on my blog... But I am anyways! ;) ;)

How often the simple solution eludes us...

Shocked by the widespread suffering of those displaced from their homes by the flooding in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) offered to plug one of the holes in the Lake Pontchartrain levee with his own ample body.

"The Bush Administration has failed to stem the tide of this cataclysm," said Kennedy. "I have had some experience with aquatic mishaps. This experience will bolster me in this hour of desperation as I plug one of the leaks myself."

Kennedy has arranged to have the Air Force transport him by helicopter and lower him into the easternmost breach in the levee. The hope is that the senator's doughy frame will be pliable enough to conform to the hole's dimensions and halt or, at least slow, the flow of water from the lake into the city. President Bush praised Senator Kennedy's decision. "I think it's mighty big of him to offer so much for the good of the country," said Bush. "There aren't many who could fill such a large role in this disaster."

Rules for Work, Part One

Rules for Work, Part One:

Rule # 1. Never interrupt Karrie with questions/requests when she is fixing the bakery display, as it will cause her to become testy, spastic, and to forget BOTH what you asked her and what she was doing. (This also applies to when she is counting something,

Rule # 2. If Katherine tells you to do lobby, but then Karrie tells you to help Donna with phone-in orders, politely finish up what Katherine asked you to do ASAP before running to do before Karrie asks you again. (When Katherine notices you are not on lobby, be as close to Karrie as possible so Karrie can tell Katherine to have someone else do lobby.)

Rule # 3. If any dishes, etc, need to be done before 9 (and when Mike gets to work) do them yourself (as no one else apparently cares to run the dishwasher), but do it FAST so neither Katherine or Karrie catch you at it-as both of them will want you staffing bakery even if Lauren, Kristi, and Bernie are all working up there and there are no costumers.

Rule # 4. When/if you run out of soup bowls on line, get someone to cover you (or jump in and do this anyways as Rob will not take the initiative and no one else on line has time) and run around the lobby where you smile and ask people with bowls (and their lunch group, if one exists) if you can take their trays. Once several have been collected, hightail it to the dishwasher and proceed to follow Rule # 3.

:fumes:

"The next edition of the Explorer, the Hudson High School student run newspaper, will contain no ads.  While these ads support the process of the publication of this newspaper the Superintendent advised that all adds be pulled, after she found out that two candidates had paid for advertising supporting their campaigns against the incumbent BoE."

Oh. No. She. Didn't!!!!!

:screams:

That's it, MaW messed with my old paper, she's going down!!!

More BoE corruption coverage...

Hudson group alleges fraud
Coalition says petition for school board member was circulated improperly
By Lisa A. Abraham
Beacon Journal staff writer

Members of Hudson's Save Our Schools Coalition are saying fraud took place with the nominating petitions of Hudson Board of Education member James Hackney.

The Summit County Board of Elections listened to allegations by coalition member Stanley Ritter on Tuesday, and agreed to hold a hearing Monday.

Ritter told board members that one petition for Hackney was passed around by Patricia Picard, director of curriculum and instruction for the district, but Picard's secretary Donna Walling actually signed the petition as its circulator.

Ritter said he has evidence to support his claim -- a statement from Hudson High School math teacher David Spohn, who maintains that the petition he signed -- one bearing Walling's name as circulator -- was actually given to him by Picard.

Each petition contains a sworn statement, in which the circulator attests that he or she passed the petition around and witnessed each signature.

When contacted Tuesday, Walling said she had no comment. Picard did not return a phone call seeking comment. Hackney, who is seeking a second term, also could not be reached.

``We view this as an election issue and it will be handled as an election issue. We'll trust that the Board of Elections reviews this and makes the right decision,'' said Sheryl Sheatzley, communications manager for Hudson City Schools.

The elections board will ask all circulators of Hackney's petitions to attend the hearing. ``If we have a question on one, we need to check them all,'' board member Alex Arshinkoff said.

Spohn did not return a phone call seeking comment. Ritter submitted a copy of a letter from Spohn that detailed his account of the petition issue.

Spohn, president of the Hudson Education Association, sent the letter via e-mail to association members to explain the situation. In the letter, Spohn states that he was approached by Picard to sign the petition and did -- the same petition that Walling later signed as circulator.

Spohn states in the letter that he was asked by members of the community to sign an affidavit about the matter, but refused.

If the elections board finds fraud with Hackney's petitions, it can refer the matter to the county prosecutor and sheriff. Election petition falsification is a felony.

The board also could choose to reject the petition that Walling circulated and its 12 signatures. That could mean Hackney would not have the 75 valid signatures needed to be on the ballot.

Hackney submitted 107 signatures, 83 of which the board found to be valid.

Ritter also maintains there is an issue of school employees being involved in political matters on school district time.

The S.O.S. Coalition, a watchdog group, formed last spring in reaction to the district's decision to oust high school Principal Roger Howard. Ritter described himself as a concerned parent of a Hudson student.

School district policy states, ``Employees are not permitted to use district time, moneys, facilities, equipment or supplies to campaign nor are the employees to actively campaign while on duty.''

Schools Superintendent Maryann Wolowiec said she would examine district policy whether there were any violations.

``If we determine that there was a violation, there would be corrective action,'' she said.

Wolowiec said the district's policy typically is invoked to guard against students being used as a captive audience for political purposes, or someone using school equipment -- such as copy machines -- for campaign work. She was not sure that passing around petitions would rise to the level of violating that policy.

In his e-mail to the HEA, Spohn said he met with Wolowiec to discuss the situation.

``I have expressed to (Wolowiec) my concern that employees could have felt intimidated or coerced into signing to maintain good favor with their supervisors,'' he wrote.

Wolowiec said no employees have complained to her about feeling coerced.

Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com

© 2005 Beacon Journal and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.ohio.com

Elections board to check charge that school worker fudged petition

Sooooooooooooo happy! I love Mr. Spohn! He's my favorite teacher I never had! :)

Elections board to check charge that school worker fudged petition

April McClellan-Copeland
Plain Dealer Reporter
Wednesday, September 21, 2005

-- The Summit County Board of Elections will hold a hearing next week to determine whether a Hudson school district employee falsified a nominating petition for a school board candidate.

The elections board decided Tuesday to hear testimony from people who signed nominating petitions for incumbent James Hackney. The goal is to learn whether school district employee Donna Walling circulated one of the petitions, as she attested by signing the bottom of the document.

A residents group called Save Our Schools asked elections officials to investigate whether the petition was circulated by Walling's supervisor, Patricia Picard, the district's director of teaching and learning.

If the board of elections finds that the petition was falsified, the matter could be turned over to the Summit County prosecutor's office, said elections board Director Bryan Williams.

People who misrepresent themselves as circulators of nominating petitions can be charged with felonies.

If the petition has been falsified, the board must determine if Hackney has valid signatures of 75 registered voters, which he must have to stay on the ballot. Hackney submitted 120 signatures. The board determined that 83 are valid, Williams said.

"There is the possibility that if any of the signatures are invalidated, Mr. Hackney could be decertified from the ballot," Williams said.

Board officials will subpoena eight circulators of petitions, Williams said. Two signers of the petition challenged by Save Our Schools -- Hudson School Superintendent Maryann Wolowiec and Hudson Education Association President David Spohn -- are among the 12 to be subpoenaed.

Wolowiec, whose signature is first on the petition, said she could not remember if Walling or Picard circulated it.

"I signed several petitions for board members at the same time before a board meeting," Wolowiec said. "I didn't look to see whose signature was at the bottom and I was not paying attention to who handed it to me."

Spohn could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Save Our Schools asked the elections board to investigate several accusations, including whether some school employees felt intimidated through being asked to sign incumbents' petitions on district property during working hours.

Wolowiec said the board will review its policy on staff participation in political activities, which does not address circulating petitions during work hours.

Plain Dealer reporter Steve Luttner contributed to this story.

© 2005 The Plain Dealer

© 2005 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.

Me by another name = ?

I forgot my name tag today, and there's this rule you ALWAYS must have a name tag on.

So I dug through the bin, found on with a color scheme I liked, and was "Christy" all day.

Needless to day, all the people who know me who came in were confused, lol. ;) ;)

Emotional Rather blasts 'new journalism order'

Everybody sing the "It's the End of the World as They Know It" song with me! All together now! :cue music:

Oooooooh, Rather "was emotional several times"- and we are all justifiably shocked... That there were no confusingly worded analogies flung in for kicks. ;) ;)

(Yeah, right-the guy's just jealous the new "tarted up" journalist helped boot him out of a job! Bwah ha ha ha ha ha! :insert lightning to go with evil laughter:)

Click here: BREITBART.COM - Just The News

A lesson in percentage

Ewwwwwwwwwwww, story problems! Yuck!

...But it's interesting, though. Couldn't make the meeting, but I'll pass on the smack on what went down.

^!^!^!^!^!^!^

The BoE has used percentage as a justification of salary raises.  They have stated that the raises granted to the administrators as reported in the press, have averaged 1% to 3.5% as was stated in a meeting.

Yet our Director of Curriculum and Instruction received a 5.9% raise.  It was also stated in the minutes of the BoE that we paid an advisory group $20.000.00 for a report to the public as to the need of a new school building that will house 2nd graders only.

If the school system is comprised of grade K-12 and that 75% of the school system’s population is in grades 3-12, and we have a growth in the school system of 1% - 1.5%, that means we potentially are going to spend __________ million dollars for a new building that will only serve 25% of the schools population.

Should we have spent the $20,000.00 to this group or should we have spent more? Should we have spent less?  It’s only a percentage of your income!!!  Please come with your questions, it will only be a small percentage of your time!!



THEREFORE: 

The Charles R. Parsons Group will be holding meetings on the following nights to hold meetings on the new school and additions

Wednesday, September 21, beginning at 7 p.m. in the High School media center.

Monday, September 26, beginning at 7 p.m. in the High School media center.

Well, they certainly didn't do this back in the day... Four years ago...

They dipped Cheeto's intentionally in liquid nitrogen (which evidently boils/shatters things at room temperature) in my brother's chemistry class today... And then ATE THEM.

Shockingly, no one died, and the teacher led the experiment.

...I'm waiting for all this class's future offspring to be born with extra limbs, etc... That just CAN'T be safe.

~*~

I got to do line all by myself for a while today! Grant it, it was during a pretty dead layover period, but still... I got to do everything!

Honestly, if no one wants to hear about this, just let me know, I'll shut up, lol. ;) ;)

Owwwwwwwwwww... But yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! :)

Well, my legs hurt.

Learned line today, which is incredibly useful/stressful/fast paced/messy. Donna and Steph were awesome teachers. (And Karrie said I was "awesome" at line this afternoon!)

However, I am now nearly fully sandwich/salad/soup capable.

= Which means all I don't know how to do in the whole store is everything boss/paper related, pastry assembly and getting dough from freezer to proofer to oven for correct amount of time. Sounds like a lot when it's all written out like that, but it's not that much considering all the other things I've already been trained to do.

= Reminds me, Saturday towards the end of my shift Karrie asked me if I had ever considered being an assistant manager! :looks stunned, since I haven't been at work a full month yet: Apparently she feel I would train up pretty well. I'm all ... Wow.

Don't want to jinx it by talking about it, but that would be really great. (Provided it didn't bother any of the other people I work with-especially Lauren and Kristi, since we started at about the same time.)

Maybe I'm good enough I can broach asking for a raise toward the end of the next pay period? Hmm... ;) ;)


...Oh, and the first sandwich I officially made EVER was for Mr. Zartman. My mom says I should have "accidentally" gotten it wrong, lol. ;) ;) :P

Quote's "borrowed" from my brother's yearbook...

"It's not broken-it just need duct tape."

'I feel very manly in my hot pink polo shirt."

"Kent has the best squirrels!" (Note: This one is actually a TRUE statement.)

"If I give you a Twinkie, will you go away?"

"No face sucking in the halls." (Nationwide epidemic, do you think? Most annoying when found in stairwells...)

"Mr. Eagan told me he was going to take me outside after school and beat me with a bike." (Seeing how the guy told me not to eat breakfast in the hallway before class every single day senior year, I can see this happening...)

"I was running through the hall and I slipped into a locker!" (If it weren't for the height thing, I probably would have done this at some point-especially seeing how I figured out how to fall UP the stairs on more then one occasion, lol!)

"I tripped up the stairs and knocked everybody down while I fell down the stairs!" (Well, at least my experiences were never THIS bad... Since I think this defies physics-is it even possible to fall up and down the stairs at the same time? ...Girl who said this one is VERY blonde, if that explains anything, lol.)

"My favorite event was watching Mr. Chorian act ghetto." (Now THIS woulda been worth seeing, lol!)

"You misspelled your name?"

"All I want to do is move to Translyvannia and raise vampires."

"I am not sleeping... I am just looking at my paper VERY closely."

"He's at the delicate age when boys kinda look like girls and girls kinda look like boys." (Lol, darn, I wish I had had class with Mr. Yanko!)

"I purposely set me alarm clock for last night to miss math today." (Why didn't I ever try this??)

"Is Canada a separate country?" (...)

"I am Mr. Yanko's long lost love child."

"A lot of people think I'm an Eskimo because I was born in Alaska." (Another blonde girl... Man, people are dumb, lol!)

"That girl is dirtier in than the commons floor."

"It's a major character flaw if you don't know the electric slide." (I have a semi-major character flaw!)

"What day do the play Saturday hoops?" (Doh!)

"I zested my finger."

"A mink is a cat, right?"

"You know as much about politics as Ferriot knows about hair gel."

"At least I didn't spell "zebra" with an x!"

"Canada... It's a lot like an apartment above a really great party." (Oddly true. But I never woulda thought to phrase it this way, lol.)

"I think about my hair everyday, not my ethnicity." (Hey, me too!)

"I'm not your normal Asian- I have a B in this class."

"You have a black highlighter?" (Hmmm, where can I get one? ;) ;) :P)

"It's like when you light a match and an earthquake erupts in Africa."

"Sheetz is like Heaven, minus the whole God thing." (So... It's really not, lol.)

"So, Vietnam is in Africa, right?" (Doh! :smacks head: Who flunked geography? Oh, that's right-this person did!)

"Oh, your in stupid calculus." (The only kind of Calc I can ever pray to get into...)

"That would be like putting a bacon factory in Jerusalem."

Naw, poor Betsy!

...Who left a message on my cell phone voice mail earlier saying she was "surrounded by things with more then four legs [spiders, daddy long legs, etc] and there is no air conditioning" in the back woods of upper Virginia earlier.

Poor dear.

Hopefully, she brought plenty of bug spray, and no one will accidentally drop her/the token conservative during "trust building exercises" this weekend!

BoE Events.................

"The next Board of Education meeting is tomorrow, Monday, September 12th and 19th at 7:30 p.m. in the High School media center.



Prior to the BoE meeting there will be a groundbreaking ceremony at the High School



The SOS Coalition will be putting together a calendar for your convenience to steer us through the upcoming months. Be advised that there are a number of civic meetings that will have a bearing on how your tax dollars will be spent forth the next few years. For and example here are two



On September 15th Marianne Wolowiec and Scott Snyder will be holding a meeting at 7:00PM at the High School media center concerning funding issues for the new construction.



The Charles R. Parsons Group will be holding meetings on the following nights to hold meetings on the new school and additions

Wednesday, September 21, beginning at 7 p.m. in the High School media center.

Monday, September 26, beginning at 7 p.m. in the High School media center."

Ducks...

I read somewhere yesterday that it is illegal to cross the Iowa state border carrying a duck.

No research has been done since to verify whether or not this is simply BS or just one of those strange laws that meant something back in the day-but I found it amusing.

...Just so you know, and Maggie can't complain I haven't updated in an inordinate amount of time. ;) ;) (And as I have been too busy the last few days to read/have an opinion on REAL news, this'll have to do for now.)

Bush on Rehnquist...

President George W. Bush issued the following statement on the passing of Chief Justice William Rehnquist:

PRESIDENT BUSH: Our nation is saddened today by the news that Chief Justice William Rehnquist passed away last night.

Laura and I send our respect and deepest sympathy to this good man's children, Jim, Janet and Nancy. We send our respect to all the members of the Rehnquist family.

William H. Rehnquist was born and raised in Wisconsin. He was the grandson of Swedish immigrants. Like so many of his generation, he served in the Army during World War II. He went on to college with the help of the G.I. Bill.

He studied law at Stanford University. He graduated first in his class. That included his future colleague Sandra Day O'Connor.

Judge Rehnquist and his late wife, Nan, raised their family in Phoenix, where he built a career as one of Arizona's leading attorneys.

He went on to even greater distinction in public service: as an assistant U.S. attorney general, associate justice of the Supreme Court and, for the past 19 years, chief justice of the United States.

He was extremely well-respected for his powerful intellect. He was respected for his deep commitment to the rule of law and his profound devotion to duty.

He provided superb leadership for the federal court system, improving the delivery of justice for the American people and earning the admiration of his colleagues throughout the judiciary.

Even during a period of illness, Chief Justice Rehnquist stayed on the job to complete the work of his final Supreme Court term.

I was honored and I was deeply touched when he came to the Capitol for the swearing-in last January.

He was a man of character and dedication. His departure represents a great loss for the court and for our country.

There are now two vacancies on the Supreme Court. And it will serve the best interests of the nation to fill those vacancies promptly. I will choose in a timely manner a highly qualified nominee to succeed Chief Justice Rehnquist.
As we look to the future of the Supreme Court, citizens of this nation can also look with pride and appreciation on the career of our late chief justice. More than half a century has passed since William H. Rehnquist first came to the Supreme Court as a young law clerk.

All of those years, William Rehnquist revered the Constitution and the laws of the United States. He led the judicial branch of government with tremendous wisdom and skill.

He honored America with a lifetime of service, and America will honor his memory.

May God bless the Rehnquist family.

Thank you all very much.

And, to cap off a bad week for our nation...

Click here: FOXNews.com - Politics - Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at 80

Rest in peace.

New Orleans Mayor Issues 'Desperate SOS'

Before we actually get into the article below, here's a random rant:

WHERE THE HECK IS THE FOREIGN AID FOR AMERICAN IN THE TIME OF THIS HUGE NATIONAL DISASTER???

As I remember it, America followed only Australia (and this could be wrong, don't have a fact sheet in front of me) in aid to Asia after the huge tsunami many months back.

And many, many talking heads bitched that America needed to give more, MORE, MORE.

And we did.

So, now we have America with a HUGE national disaster.

And who the hell is going to send aid to us??

Notice no one else out there appears to feel much obligated to help us.

The people with power who should be responsible in other countries are a very long list of mostly four letter words. Plain and simple.

***

And now... The rest of the story...

...But across the flooded-out city, the rescuers themselves came under attack from storm victims.

"Hospitals are trying to evacuate," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan, spokesman at the city emergency operations center. "At every one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are shooting at them. There are people just taking potshots at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family.'"

Some Federal Emergency Management rescue operations were suspended in areas where gunfire has broken out, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said in Washington.

OK, I understand people feeling desperate/panicked, but who the heck shoots at rescue people?? It just doesn't figure AT ALL that this would up your chances of being rescued...

"In areas where our employees have been determined to potentially be in danger, we have pulled back," he said.

A National Guard military policeman was shot in the leg as the two scuffled for the MP's rifle, police Capt. Ernie Demmo said. The man was arrested.

"These are good people. These are just scared people," Demmo said.

At the risk of sounding honest, no, these are not necessarily good people. A large percentage of the people who were left in the city when Katrina hit were there because they could not afford personal transport to leave the city. Many of them have most likely been on welfare and used to handouts-so they expect the gov't to be bending over backwards to care for them now instead of having initiative to save themselves = all these terrible looting/violence stories we're hearing.

Outside the Convention Center, the sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement. Thousands of storm refugees had been assembling outside for days, waiting for buses that did not come.

And how are the buses going to get in, again?

At least seven bodies were scattered outside, and hungry people broke through the steel doors to a food service entrance and began pushing out pallets of water and juice and whatever else they could find.

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered with a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair. "I buried my dog." He added: "You can do everything for other countries but you can't do nothing for your own people. You can go overseas with the military but you can't get them down here."

Ooooooooooooooook. First off, NO ONE has gotten in to any great extent then. Not military, not medical personal, not the large amounts of volunteers bearing the good will of the rest of the country that will most likely show up as soon as it's safe/possible to get in.

When America entered Iraq/etc, it was not done over night. Also, Iraq was NOT a response to a natural disaster.

Besides, WHERE on earth is there room to BURY people if most of the city (let alone ground/cemetaries) is underwater?

I get that people want to blame someone for this (even though this is a NATURAL DISASTER and not caused by human influence in ANY sense) but this is just ridiculous.

The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine and feces, and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.

"They've been teasing us with buses for four days," Edwards said.

TEASING??? Maybe those in charge (poor, brave souls that they are) have been hoping and praying for relief just as hard as the rest of the people trapped in N.O.-- but the buses STILL CAN'T GET IN. Bus v. flooded road = flooded road wins.

People chanted, "Help, help!" as reporters and photographers walked through. The crowd got angry when journalists tried to photograph one of the bodies, and covered it over with a blanket. A woman, screaming, went on the front steps of the convention center and led the crowd in reciting the 23rd Psalm.

John Murray, 52, said: "It's like they're punishing us."

"They" who?

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