By-Tor.com

I'm sure we'll get the details soon.

Keep one thing in mind. We (the US government) give cash to Iraqi families when a member of theirs gets caught in the crossfire. I think that's a good policy, but it does create an incentive among some to lie in order to cash in.

And since they are grunts, they don't have the cash to get O.J's lawyers to get them aqquitals(sp). It is gruesome whatever did really happened.

Watermelon Spill Clogs I-5 for Hours

By Christi Anne Corpus
Signal Staff Writer
Thursday October 4, 2007

A big rig overturned and scattered its load of watermelons on Interstate 5 in Wednesday's early morning hours, clogging local roadways and delaying morning commuters until almost noon, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The freight truck was driving south on I-5 around 2:20 a.m. and tipped over after swerving to the right shoulder, hitting a raised asphalt curb near the Roxford Street offramp in Sylmar, said Officer Michelle Esposito, spokeswoman for the CHP Newhall area station.

LOL! At least the driver was not injured. Can you imagine telling your boss you were late because of watermelon?

I used that excuse after a front-row-seat Gallagher concert

LOL! BBO I think he probably bought it coming from you!

In contrast to my status quo, today I'm glad for the words or Murtha...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 ? Support for a House resolution condemning as genocide the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 continued to weaken today as Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who only days ago vowed to bring the measure to the floor of the House, signaled that she may be changing her mind.

?Whether it will come up or not, what the action will be, remains to be seen,? Ms. Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill today. Her uncertainty stood in sharp contrast to her earlier pledge to bring the measure to the floor if it emerged from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which it did a week ago by 27 to 21.

Worried about antagonizing Turkish leaders, House members from both parties have been withdrawing their support from the resolution, which had been backed by the Democratic leadership.

The measure?s prospects were weakened further today when Representative John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who heads the Appropriations subcommittee on military matters, spoke out against it.

?What happened nearly 100 years ago was terrible,? said Mr. Murtha, who has urged the speaker not to bring up the resolution for a vote. ?I don?t know whether it was a massacre or a genocide, but that is beside the point. The point is, we have to deal with today?s world.?

And dealing with today?s world means dealing with Turkey, said Mr. Murtha, long a Democratic leader on national security issues. ?Until we can stop the war in Iraq, I believe it is imperative to ensure continued access to military installations in Turkey, which serve U.S. operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan,? he said.

?Turkey is a strong ally of the United States, and I believe that this resolution could harm our relations with Turkey and therefore our strategic interests in the region,? Mr. Murtha said.Ms. Pelosi?s new hesitation and Mr. Murtha?s new statement of opposition seemed to accelerate a trend that became obvious Tuesday, as nearly a dozen lawmakers shifted their positions in a matter of hours.

I can't see how making a statement one way or the other about what happened there is relavant to our nation anyway.

Now, if this was something our nation had done, that would be different. But to make a statement about what someone else had done.....what is the point? What does it solve? How does it do anything for anyone?

Pr. William Passes Resolution Targeting Illegal Immigration
Stricter Aspects of Original Plan Are Softened

By Nick Miroff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 11, 2007; Page A01

Prince William County supervisors voted unanimously last night
to approve a resolution that targets illegal immigrants by
attempting to curb their access to public services and increasing immigration
enforcement by local police.

But the resolution approved last night significantly weakens a
previous proposal, removing or altering several of its toughest
measures but asking county employees to look for ways to lawfully
deny services to illegal immigrants.

The largest board meeting crowd in 20 years showed up for the
vote at the county government complex, turning Prince William
into a microcosm of a debate playing out in communities across
the country in the wake of Congress's failure to reform immigration
laws.

"How are we supposed to survive here?" asked Gregorio Calder?n,
a legal U.S. resident from El Salvador who said he worries that
police will harass him because of his ethnicity. "They're going to pull
me over just for being Hispanic."

The previous resolution would have required officers to check the residency
status of anyone who breaks a law, no matter how minor.
The measure approved yesterday directs officers to check the status
of anyone in police custody who they suspect is an illegal immigrant.

The changes were made after county attorneys, police and supervisors expressed concerns
about the legality of some of the measures. The new resolution
would not deny access to schools and other legally mandated
services. Another measure that would have allowed residents to
sue the county for providing services to illegal immigrants was also stripped out.

But the measures still place Prince William at the forefront of
Virginia jurisdictions that are trying to check illegal immigration.

"This resolution does have teeth and changes county policy
immediately," said board Chairman Corey A. Stewart
(R-Occoquan).

Protests before and after the vote and the unusually large
crowd outside the board chambers created a charged
atmosphere. More than 100 people addressed board members,
delaying the vote. Hundreds of others watched on big-screen
TVs in the lobby and were reminded to refrain from applauding
or booing. One speaker was removed.

When Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr. (R-Gainesville) introduced
the resolution last month, he said its goal was to deny all
public services to illegal immigrants and order local police to
check the residency status of anyone caught breaking the law.

The altered version charts a more cautious course.

Stirrup's resolution had said that illegal immigration is causing
"economic hardship and lawlessness" in Prince William and
that county agencies may be encouraging illegal immigration
by failing to verify immigration status as a condition of providing
public services.

The measure "is the first step towards taking back our community,"
he said.

The new version gives county workers 60 days to help board
members determine which public services can be lawfully denied
to illegal immigrants. Unlike the previous resolution, it specifies
that services such as emergency medical care and other
benefits mandated by law cannot be restricted. At the request of
the county's attorneys, language was added to several sections
to avoid violating federal and state laws.

A roughly equal number of speakers appeared to support and
oppose the resolution. One was removed after berating Stirrup
for a joke he made to Stewart at a previous meeting in which
Stirrup suggested a "Hispanic flag" could be flown in Woodbridge,
which has a relatively large Hispanic community.

Many speakers said they were Hispanic immigrants.

Immigrants "have built our homes; they have built our roads,"
said Hank Azais, who owns a tax preparation service catering to
Hispanics in Manassas.

Others said they were worried about damage to the county's
reputation. "Prince William County does not have to become
the racist capital of America," said Harry Wiggins, a Lake Ridge
resident.

Many Stirrup supporters told the board they applauded the
measures and saw the effort as a last stand against rising
crime, overcrowding and the failure of Hispanic newcomers to
adapt to American culture.

"If we turn our heads and permit illegal entry into our county
without making any effort or identification, we are saying our
language, our culture, our Constitution, our neighborhoods
and our flag are inconsequential," said Sue Fleming, a member
of the group Help Save Manassas. "It is a price I do not care
to pay."

Others decried rapid cultural changes in their communities.
"I'm tired of pressing '1' for English" on the phone, Woodbridge
resident Chris King said.

One element of Stirrup's resolution was noticeably absent from
the amended version. It would have given residents the ability
to sue county agencies if they suspected them of providing
services to illegal immigrants. County staffers and supervisors
expressed concern about the time and expense the county would potentially
spend to fend off litigation.

Privately, though, several supervisors had expressed doubts
about the implications of denying public services to immigrants.
But given the political climate surrounding the issue, they said
they felt compelled to back Stirrup.

"It's a start, and Mr. Stirrup was very gutsy," Supervisor Maureen
S. Caddigan (R-Dumfries) said.

We've got to do something.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria



* Virginia School District Closes - Entire School Disinfected
*
"I can confirm that there was a Prince William County high school student, within the last two weeks, that had MRSA," said Lucy Caldwell, Northern Virginia regional spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Health

Warning letters sent home to parents in Weston, CT, Rome, NY

About the MRSA Bug...finding its way into the school system Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a type of staph that is resistant to certain antibiotics. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Staph infections, including MRSA, occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems but is now making its way into the nation's school system. Staph or MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people.

Hygiene steps to help prevent infection...Practice good hygiene:

1. Keep hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

2. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed.

3. Avoid contact with other people's wounds or bandages.

4. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.

Research Update - U.S. researchers have estimated that nearly 19,000 people in the United States died in 2005 after being infected with a drug-resistant bacteria.

The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led the study. Researchers looked at nearly 9,000 cases of the infection and 1,600 in-hospital deaths among patients infected with the bacteria called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. They estimate that more than 94,000 people in the United States were infected with the bacteria in 2005, and that those infections were associated with 18,650 deaths. They say most of the infections were related to health care treatment facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes. But the researchers say they surveyed largely urban areas and that the number of cases of invasive MRSA may be overestimated. They also caution that it is possible that the bacteria may not have caused or contributed to some of the deaths.

Meanwhile on TV...

ABC's Charlie Gibson: "The news is (pause) that there is no news. The police told us that, to their knowledge, there were no major acts of violence. Attacks are down in Baghdad and today no bombings or roadside explosions were reported."

That's our media: good news is no news.

Is that for real, Elf? He said that?

Here's some news he could have reported:

Dr. James Watson (if that name sounds familiar it is because he is one of the co-discoverers of the DNA-helix) believes blacks are not as intelligent as whites.

In the newspaper interview, he said there was no reason to think that races which had grown up in separate geographical locations should have evolved identically. He went on to say that although he hoped everyone was equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true".

You can read the full story here if you want:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10 ... index.html

awip2062 wrote:I can't see how making a statement one way or the other about what happened there is relavant to our nation anyway.

Now, if this was something our nation had done, that would be different. But to make a statement about what someone else had done.....what is the point? What does it solve? How does it do anything for anyone?

You have succinctly summed up my thoughts on our country's tendency (nay, compulsion) to act as the planet police. When so many things need attending to at home, why go out and find obscure, or even topical/popular issues to solve for everybody else. Charity and common sense should begin at home.

I can see your point, BBO.

awip2062 wrote:I can see your point, BBO.

What?!? No! Oh, man how embarrassing! *Zzzzzzzzzip* I am truly sorry, not to say, mortified.
Please excuse me.