Okay, I don't have a link but this did happen. A couple and thier 2 year old son changed lanes south of Denver the other day. Apparently the driver of another car was pissed and cut them off....pulled them over and the guy gets out and draws a GUN! Turns out he was an off-duty cop!! The wife called 911 and the officer was reprimanded for pulling someone over while off-duty...the couple recieved a ticket for unlawful lane change yet it was alright that he pulled a loaded gun ::)

Celebrity B'Day: Ashley Tisdale turns 20!!!  :D  :)

http://www.ashleytisdale.com/cmn_images/suite_life-madie.jpg

Just when you thought New Zealand couldn't get any weirder:

This article is reproduced from The New Zealand Herald

The Black Cocks. That's the name Badminton New Zealand is considering taking as a quirky, marketing-friendly moniker for its representative team.

Now don't laugh, this is serious. The Black Cocks is the most popular suggestion so far in a competition being run by the organisation.

Despite what you might be thinking, the Black Cocks is actually derived - innocently - from the shuttlecock used to play the game.

And it follows the general trend for naming New Zealand sports teams, such as the Black Sticks for hockey and softball's Black Sox.

But will it get the feathers flying?

I don't know, but some of the leading players don't seem to mind," Badminton New Zealand chief executive Peter Dunne laughed.

Why not? leading New Zealand player Dan Shirley said.

New Zealand internationals Sara Runesten-Petersen and Rebecca Bellingham have said they don't mind the name either.

Badminton NZ may be playing along with Black Cocks at present as it is attracting much-needed publicity after the national team beat Australia 5-0 in the first test of the Whyte Trophy series.

But Dunne can envisage the headline "Black Cocks win Whyte Trophy" in the future if the national body adopts the most popular name suggested so far. "I know some people won't like it, I guess there will be players who will mind as the sport is being played by a lot of Asians and Polynesians or Maori as well as white players. There will be some who will be offended - maybe.

"We haven't decided yet, though we have been thinking about a name for a few years.

"We're quite happy with the Black Cocks if everyone thinks it's a good name."

Badminton is undoubtedly testing the waters and the name has marketing appeal.

Dunne is aware it could be attractive to big sponsors such as condom companies or even impotence drugs, one of which was an America's Cup sponsor in Auckland.

A sport such as badminton is struggling at the bottom of the sponsorship chain in New Zealand, where rugby dominates.

There were a few chuckles and raised eyebrows when New Zealand Hockey announced their men's team would adopt the same name as their women's team - Black Sticks.

Dunne doesn't doubt Black Cocks will attract publicity. It already has.

"You wouldn't be ringing me if it wasn't for the name, would you?" he said.

- NZPA

Luther Vandross, who died yesterday at 54, was the defining soul music voice of his generation, the successor to Marvin and Smokey and Aretha as an artist who needed only one name - and whose singular talent was a given in any discussion.
"As soon as you heard that voice, you knew it was Luther," said fellow Grammy winner James Mtume last night on WRKS. "That's the highest quality you can achieve as an artist. And he kept the bar high."

From the time he went solo in 1981 through the four-handkerchief, four-Grammy "Dance With My Father" in 2004, Vandross set a standard for silky, romantic vocals.

Just last Sunday on Imhotep Gary Byrd's WBLS radio show, a caller made the oft-heard argument that there are no more great soul singers. Byrd countered with Luther, and they quickly agreed that whatever the merits of the argument, Luther was an exception.

No contemporary singer was more loved by his fans, to whom his music personified soul. Many of those fans spent last evening calling WRKS, WBLS and WBAI, all of which aired with tributes.

Music was Vandross' life the way it was Duke Ellington's life. By the time he was a teenager, he had studied Aretha Franklin records so closely that he could pick out the individual voices of members of her backup group, the Sweet Inspirations.

When he went solo, he said he had a wish list that included working with Aretha, Dionne Warwick and the other goddesses of his youth. By decade's end, he had checked off every item, and even as he became a major star, he never lost his love for the subtlest nuances of vocal music.

"Very few people will ever achieve what he achieved," said Mtume. "He left us enough music to last 100 years."

Vaughn Harper of WBLS noted that the last two years, after Vandross' April 2003 stroke, were hard.

"So this is how we remember him," said Harper, and cued up "Dance With My Father."

:\'(

Sir Paul McCartney spent a day busking in London in disguise. .

The Beatles legend, who opened Live 8 with U2, donned a fake beard and dark glasses and took his guitar to central London - and, amazingly, his true identity was never discovered.

He revealed: "It was for a film thing and it was something I'd always wanted to do So I scruffed myself up a bit, put on a false beard and shades, and went down to Leicester Square tube station It was really cool.
"A couple of people came up and said, 'Is it you?' but I just said, 'Oh, no'.

"But I got a few shillings and I thought, 'This doesn't feel right' So I gave it to charity" . Sir Paul also claims he rarely gets noticed when he goes out and about .

He told Britain's BBC Radio One: "Nobody recognises me much, particularly when on the Tube and you're sitting there like a zombie, and people go, 'No, it can't be?'

"I know a lot of stars who won't go to the supermarket or the cinema, but I do The worst thing that can happen is someone will ask you for an autograph and if that happens I just go, 'Sorry, I'm shopping' But I'll shake their hand and say hello"

Hall of Fame coach Stram passes away
2005-07-04 19:10:00

Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Former Kansas City Chiefs head football coach Hank Stram has died at the age of 82. According to Monday's edition of the Kansas City Star, the legendary coach passed away due to complications from his long fight with diabetes and a congestive heart problem.

Stram, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003, ended his career with an overall regular-season record of 131-97-10, which included a 15-year stint with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs franchise.

The man known as "The Mentor" by his players, Stram served as the Texans/Chiefs coach between 1960-1974 and is the winningest coach in club history.

Stram, who is the only coach in AFL history to guide his team to a pair of Super Bowls, complied a 126-76-10 regular-season mark with the franchise, including a 5-3 record in the playoffs.

He led the Chiefs to their only two Super Bowl appearances as Kansas City lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I, but the Chiefs were able to knock off the Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, in convincing fashion to capture Super Bowl IV.

"Hank was the most important coach in the history of the American Football League," Chiefs founder and owner Lamar Hunt told the paper.

Hunt hired Stram as the club's original coach when the AFL franchise began play as the Dallas Texans back in 1960.

During the AFL's 10-year history, Stram's squads captured more wins than any other team and he won more championships than any other coach in the league (1962, 1966 and 1969).

The upstart Chiefs also strung together nine straight winning seasons from 1965-1973, including the 1971 AFC Western Division Championship, under Stram.

Stram, who was elected into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1986, then concluded his final two coaching campaigns with the New Orleans Saints (1976-1977).

He was a pioneer of the game and is often credited for implementing such tactics as the "moving pocket," which utilized the strength of Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, who flourished under Stram's tutelage. Stram also devised the two-tight end offense that provided an extra blocker to slow down an oncoming pass rush.

Defensively, Stram created the famed "stack defense," which saw linebackers positioned behind lineman, a device that was used to slow down the explosive Vikings' offense in Super Bowl IV.

Stram, though, is perhaps best known as the first coach to wear a microphone during a Super Bowl. His charismatic behavior on the sideline was routinely captured during the Chiefs' lopsided win, which led the league into the video age

I'm NOT a Kansas City fan but I always had HUGE respect for him :\'(

Trapped in a nightmare she can't escape, a Long Island mother struggled yesterday to tell the world about the horrific death of her 7-year-old daughter - killed, cops say, by a drunk in a pickup truck.
"I don't want people to think this was just a car accident. Kate was stolen from us," said a weeping Jennifer Flynn, 36, whose daughter was killed hours after serving as a smiling, adorable flower girl at a family wedding.

"Her life was cut terribly short," the heartbroken mother added, her voice wrenched with emotion. "I want everybody to know our pain and to know our sadness.

"Drunk driving did this to us. It's been horrendous."

She and her family were heading home from her sister's wedding early Saturday when a wrong-way driver slammed into their rented limousine on the Meadowbrook Parkway in Freeport.

"We drove home from my sister's wedding, a beautiful, beautiful day," Flynn said haltingly. "And we were hit head-on by someone going 70 miles an hour on the wrong side of the road."

With her newlywed sister sobbing beside her and other relatives clutching one another's arms for support, Flynn said the impact felt like a bomb going off.

"It was like an explosion," said. "My mother landed straight at us. My father landed straight at us."

Grasping for words, Flynn described how her parents, husband and daughters were scattered in the wreckage in their suits and dresses - and how Kate, still wearing her white flower-girl dress, died instantly before her eyes.

"I crawled out of the car," Flynn said. "I sat on the side of the Meadowbrook and watched the horrendousness going on around me."

Other relatives following the limousine stopped and tried tohelp, and rescuers who soon arrived at the gruesome scene - including one of Kate's uncles, Michael Tangney, a police lieutenant in Long Beach, L.I. - were traumatized by what they saw.

"I sat there for about an hour with her as they cut my entire family out of this crushed tin can," Flynn wept.

Limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, of Farmingdale, L.I., also died in the 2 a.m. crash as he drove the family home from the Crescent Beach Club in Bayville, L.I.

The driver who struck their car, Martin Heidgen, 24, suffered a broken ankle and was held without bond in a prison hospital, charged with drunken driving and two counts of manslaughter.

Flynn suffered minor injuries in the crash. Her husband, Neil, also 36; their 5-year-old daughter, Grace, and Flynn's parents, Chris and Denise Tangney, remained hospitalized yesterday.

As relatives visited them in hospitals across Long Island, they were haunted by memories of Kate, a sweet-natured girl who finished second grade at Long Beach Regional Catholic School and had just received her First Communion.

"I know that she's in a place that is far better than it ever was here, and I'm happy that her life will never know any sadness or tragedy or anything," Jennifer Flynn said. "She only knew beauty and we're so grateful for that."

She was accompanied at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, L.I., by her sister and new husband, Lisa and David Mascolo, as well as her brother, Thomas Tangney.

"A drunken driver has taken our beautiful, smiling Kate from us," Thomas Tangney said. "It is essential that this crime be punished to the fullest extent of the law to ensure proper retribution and deterrence."

that choir was from my school!

A little street pool? Kids in Brooklyn take the plunge yesterday. 


Twins Destiny (left) and Francesca Santana get soaked with bucket of water as they try to stay cool in spray of fire hydrant at W. 151st St. and Broadway yesterday. 

As power use soared to a record level, New Yorkers braved another day of stifling heat with perseverance and perspiration.
The thermometer hit 93 degrees yesterday, but it felt like 102 with humidity factored in.

The good news is the worst may be over - although that was little consolation yesterday.

"The humidity is killing me," said Johnny Saddiq, 40, as he labored at a halal food stand near Madison Square Garden. "Everything's sticky. But what are you going to do? You have to feed your kids."

The National Weather Service issued its second severe-weather alert in two days yesterday, urging people to stay indoors with the air conditioning humming.

Con Edison's 3 million customers took the advice to heart as power use at 4 p.m. surged to a record 12,361 megawatts, topping the previous mark of 12,207 megawatts set Aug. 9, 2001, the utility said.

Con Ed said its beefed-up E. 14th St. power plant has helped meet the increased demand.

"I'm not usually one for air conditioning, but on days like today I'm thankful for it," said John Green, 36, who makes 15 to 20 trips a day working for a messenger service. "I haven't been running out of the offices too quickly. I'm in no hurry."

Doug Lisante, 23, who was doling out ice cream from a Mister Softee truck in Union Square, noted, "People don't seem to be in such a good mood. They just want to get out of the heat."

The weather service predicted "relief" today, with temperatures in the 90s but lower humidity.

A kid who went to and ran on the same team as my son Paul, won the Pikes Peak Ascent race yesterday...just before snow and hail hit the mountain. In the city we had flash floods while 30 miles south at Pikes Peak International Raceway, Danica Patrick qualified 5th for today's auto race. I played basketball from 9:30 until noon and then the rain hit :D

http://www.gazette.com/

This is just messed up!  >:(

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3390311a11,00.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3388322a11,00.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3389606a11,00.html

Should we bring back mandatory "punishment by stoning" for these people?

A local runner, Matt Carpenter, won the "Leadville Trail 100" Marothon finishing in 15 hours 42 minutes 59 seconds, smashing the old record by 1 hour 33 minutes and beating the second place runner by over 3 hours :o I like to run but seriously doubt I could ever run 100 miles all at once :D

The Carnival in my area started today, 1000000 people are expected over the two days.

http://www.thisisthelife.com/photos/experiences/notting-hill-carnival.jpg

http://www.fly.co.uk/fly/archives/nhcv2.jpg

The Carnival in my area started today, 1000000 people are expected over the two days.

http://www.thisisthelife.com/photos/experiences/notting-hill-carnival.jpg

http://www.fly.co.uk/fly/archives/nhcv2.jpg
I have to wonder if they'll all look as good as her! :)

Two shot dead in Harevey Nichols, an exclusive department store in London

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4244212.stm

Police are trying to find out why a man apparently walked into an exclusive London department store and shot a shop assistant, before killing himself.
There have been reports the gunman was an ex-boyfriend of the woman, both in their 30s, although police have not confirmed any relationship

Both the suspected gunman and victim, thought to be a beauty counter assistant, were pronounced dead at the scene. Neither have been formally identified.




Further down in the report it goes to show that it might be an 'exclusive' department store but the assistants are no more coherent than your average one.

A 26-year-old employee said: "I was looking at my watch, ready to go home, then bang, bang, bang - four gunshots downstairs.

"A girl got shot. There were shoppers still walking around totally unaware.

"It was really scary. There was no announcement. We just heard people screaming and ran.

"We were all terrified. We thought maybe it was a bomb."


So, that's "bang, bang, bang"  = four shots?

and the leap is then made from gunshots to "we thought maybe it was a bomb"  What?

HOUSTON
Five students were arrested after a fight between a group of displaced students from New Orleans and their new classmates at a high school in Houston.
A school district spokesman says the fight yesterday at Jones High School started after a student from Houston threw a soft drink can into a group of New Orleans students. Twenty to 25 students got involved.

Three students, one from New Orleans and two from Houston, were treated for minor injuries.

A school spokesman says the fighting won't be tolerated.

Two New Orleans students and three Houston students have been charged with misdemeanors and will be placed at disciplinary alternative schools.

:( Some people can be such arses  >:(

Here in Colorado an arrest warrant was issued for....Dennis Rodman ::)

::)
Some Evacuees Spend Relief Money At Strip Clubs
On the same day that the Houston Police Department announced the formation of a task force to find people abusing or scamming the FEMA and Red Cross debit cards, KPRC Local 2 discovered that some of the money has been spent at local strip clubs.

The cards were given to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina to help them relocate and start their lives anew after losing everything they own. There are no rules on how the money should be spent, but most spend it on the necessities -- food, clothing and shelter.

A manager at Caligula XXI Gentlemen's Club on Westheimer Road told KPRC Local 2 that he has seen at least one debit card used at his club.

A woman known only as "Abby" is a bartender at Baby Dolls, another adult entertainment club across the street.

"A lot of customers have been coming in from Louisiana and they've been real happy about the $1.75 beers and they're really nice," she said.

Abby could not say for sure which type of card her patrons have been using, but said she doesn't blame them for using federal dollars.

"You lost your whole house, then, why not? You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that," she said.

The wife of the manager of another strip club told KPRC that her husband has seen patrons from Louisiana offering Red Cross and FEMA debit cards, but she declined to reveal the club's name.

Other strip clubs contacted by KPRC Local 2 would not confirm or deny that they are seeing the debit cards used by customers.

The FEMA and Red Cross cards have few restrictions, but some evacuees have gotten into trouble when they tried to get additional cards.

Police are going undercover as evacuees to keep their eyes on those who get in line more than once.

"There may be some individuals who use some false identifications or providing false information on the forms, so we're targeting those persons also," said Lt. Robert Manzo, with the Houston Police Department.

Officers handed out a warning that falsifying government documents could result in a 20-year prison sentence.
;D ;D

;D http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3515717a11,00.html ;D

Three 'Santas' arrested in Auckland
18 December 2005 

The arrest of just three people from a group of 40 who dressed as Santas and caused mayhem in downtown Auckland yesterday has upset the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

The three were arrested on drunk and disorderly charges.

Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett said today that he was disappointed that a stronger signal wasn't sent out about public disorder.

"It's a bit disappointing that the law is not being enforced that sends a strong signal to the rest of them and to anyone else who thinks this is humorous," he said. Oh, come on! Lighten up!

"There's a group of people obviously organised and going into shopping areas and just intimidating shop owners and operators."

Members of the group were alleged to have knocked over rubbish bins, thrown bottles, stolen from shops and vandalised a Christmas tree at the Skycity casino.

They were taking part in what organisers said was "Santanarchy", a phenomenon that started overseas.

One website says the aim of Santanarchy, which began in the United States a decade ago, is to celebrate Christmas in anti-commercial manner by mixing pranks and public drunkenness.

This was in today's paper.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051218/ap_on_re_us/vermont_fire

It is so sad. I almost cried when I read it. BTW, the article quotes the mayor who used to be my ecomonics professor.



Cat