Did anyone see Gilmore Girls on Tuesday 2/13? I did, and was so happy... Lorelai and Christopher finally broke up.. It has been along season for me waiting for this to happen. Now the question is will Luke take her back or will it just go back to the sexual tension from the first 5 seasons? Rory seems to have a crush on her T.A. taking over for her Grandfathers class what could this mean for her and Logan? I have gotten to actually like them together, not as much as her and Jess but since he has his own show Heroes we will not be seeing a reunion there any time soon. Maybe cute Dean could come back the is at least on the same network.

Last night, I watched the season finale for "Beauty and the Geek" season 3, loved the twist, Cece got exactly what she deserved, she lost out the most, she never opened herself up for the experience of a lifetime. She was only there for the money, yes it is nice to win $$ but she could of changed her perspective on life but she choose to do all the wrong things. She seriously, thinks she is better than everyone else, I was glad when they brought back the other players who were ousted throughout the season to vote it was just rewards. Especially after Nate went around telling everyone not to vote for his team to teach Cece a lesson. He is way to sweet, she will never realize what she missed out on, it would of been more fun if she had actually learned from the experience instead of treating everyone as if they were enemies. The guys all pulled together and understood when they were put in the elimination round no hard feelings. They actually worked to make sure all the guys got something incredible out of this experiement.
The only thing better would be if Ashton came on an told Cece off for being such a b***h an kicked her off for basically not getting the point,she really is dumb...

Well, I was on another site reading and researching Key West, there is a Hilton, Hyatt down there an I am hoping within 2 years to make the move. It is so hard looking now and knowing it is a few years away, but you never know what life will throw at me before that 2 years it up. Until then, I will dream of my sunny home, with the boats, water and especially the people.

Today I did work a whole day, finally. Worked out this morning to 45 minutes of Cardio, and when I got home from work I did 40 minutes of Turbo Sculpt which is all work with weights. That was at 6:30pm and now I am still wide awake, probably best to stick to morning workouts. You would think I had about 5 cups of coffee with how energized I am right now and 3 glasses of wine so not on my diet can not calm me down. The husband is in bed for about 5 minutes which means most likely asleep, very exciting Valentine's day. Which actually is ok, how funny, when I was single this and New Years Eve were like the worse holidays, now I could care less.

We are celebrating on Saturday, with either a matinee movie or a nice dinner at home an then out for drinks depending on if he is working or not. My job is boring me, but I keep thinking once he is settled into a new job then I can look for a new position for me. Sad thing is what do I want to be when I grow up? I know I am "42" but I still feel as if I am in my 20's an will find my way, when does it become this is my lot in life? I still can not settle into a job unless I love it. I did love being a wedding planner but after 15 years, it gets old and brides get younger and more b***hy, as if you have no idea what you are doing. Then they read the wedding magazines that do not have any new ideas just old ones revitizled for this season.

I loved our wedding and it was different for our friends due to it was a themed wedding, but every bride is different, but put your own spin on it or it is just like the bride the week before or even the day before. For me OUT FOR BRIDES: Tiffany theme, Doves or Butterfly's let go, besides most of time the butterflies have died already not a good sign. Guest books out be creative, the keys for the best man toast. Martha Stewart OUT, Preston Bailey IN.

Just a little bit of information do with it what you must.

I am very excited today, I have reconnected to an old friend from high school. We were friends years ago and now we are starting to reconnect, I contacted her after she had a little trouble. I wanted her to know I still consider her a friend and want only the best for her. We do now live 900 miles apart but sometimes you need to know someone is out there even if not physically.

Why do we lose friendships? Is it inconvient? Timing? Etc.? There are other people I have reached out to, who have not responded but that does not mean I will stop trying. My husband an I are on our 5th week of working out, I didn't yesterday due to being sick, but pushed myself today, I am determined for the first time in a long time to lose the weight before summer. He has lost 23lbs, and I have lost 9lbs and inches off my waist, thighs and hips YEAH! I am still very excited, mostly to go shopping an buying new clothes for Spring/Summer.

Anyone have big changes in their lives?

REALITY CHECK: Today, Anna Nicole Smith was found dead in a Florida Hotel room, what happened? I feel so bad for her new born daughter, I am sure it will take forever to find out what happen if at all, but this poor woman what happened in her life to end up there?

Reality TV: Last night, watched Beauty and the Geek, and the girl I can not stand Cecile as now in the final 2 teams. I love her team mate Nate, but can not stand her, if she wins she will state that see, beauty always wins and why should I be smart? She got absolutely nothing out of the experiment and I am so upset, I will watch next week and hope that Megan and Scooter can kick butt to pull out the win. What does everyone else think of Cecile? When Jenny Lee and Niels lost last night, she made some stupid inapproiate comment and I felt for Nate and Jenny Lee. It will be interesting to see what happens with those two when the show is over. I love this show, good for Ashton Kutcher, I hope the twist for this season is the other cast memebers get to come back and vote who wins, which would bring (HOPEFULLY) down a peg or two.

What is up with ILOVE NY? One of the worst shows on tv, I can not watch her without getting ill, how desperate are the rating guru's to put someone so horrible on tv as if she is something special?

My gilmore girls was so good the other night, except all that Luke did and Loreli let Christopher talk so mean to Luke, why did she not speak up? I hope Luke does not take her back without making her fight for him.. Where was Paris this week? Emily was in top form YEAH!! She should be a bit nicer to Luke but that would be stretching it wouldn't it, love the track suit on Emily.

It was 14' this morning here in North Carolina, so I can imagine what it is out in the Midwest. A friend of ours has moved back to Wisconsin for awhile, and he went out on Friday. I am sure he was in a bit of shock when he got out there and all the snow, an freezing. I hope they are staying warm, to me it feels like New England so for me its fine.

We are starting week 4 of the diet, people have commented on how great my husband looks, since I had more fat to begin with it is not as noticeable yet, I have lost now 9lbs and 2 inches, YEAH! I am still not trying to look to far ahead but would love to have non-flabby arms and a flat stomach for summer.

I am a TV holic, no matter what the TV has to be on in my house. My husband hates it, so on this Sunday morning I watched "Grand Hotels" with Samatha Brown from 9am-10am an then turned it off, I think my husband thinks I must be sick or something. He is finally putting up the shelves in order to put our books out, and get them out of the boxes that they have been in since we moved in September 19, 2006, why the rush you ask? His parents are coming to visit the first weekend in March. We do love company and my dad an his wife visited back in October, this just feels different, they are visiting us, not on their way back from Hilton Head and stopping for 24 hours.

According to my mother in law they have been on "Nutri System", since my husband's dad retired back in September. We are on Turbo Jam, which I know I have mentioned so it will be nice to see what progress all of us has made. His parents are such wonderful, down to earth people, who love to travel, they went to Hawaii in October, and after us going to Raleigh and on to Florida. I hope when we are able to retire we will travel too. We so enjoy exploring new places, we are hoping to make a big trip either at the end of this year or beginning of 2008 to England.

For me it will be 20 years since I have seen it and for him 10 years, an we both know so much has changed. It is a good day, just the two of us working around the house and me trying not to veg in front of the Television, I am thinking a walk in the afternoon will do us good, because looking at 4 walls for two days is on my last nerve. Last night, we went to the Grocery store so I could get out of the house excited aren't you? Our life right now is limit our spending to get compeletly out of debt... It is a noble effort, an if we had more friends we would invite them over, just to break up the boredom. We want to buy a house in 2 years so this is very necessary, especially since we are not quite sure where we want to buy, still on the search for our Starrs Hollow, to me the midwest is our best bet, but he is very wary of that. If by some chance we won alot of money it would be Key West, Fl all the way, in order to live there you need money. Of all the places I have visited in my lifetime, the two before Key West I want to live no way could I ever afford, San Francisco, CA or London, England.. Maybe a little condo or apartment in each to visit. I love to dream, what are your dreams?

Ok, so Spring will be here early, YEAH!! That is what the Groundhog stated yesterday on " Groundhog Day", in Pennsylvania.

Here are the Orgins:

Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

Funny thing is, we really did not seem to have a winter this year did we? It did snow here in Carolina the other day but nothing else. I hear this is unusally, we had a few 70' degrees days in January. What has happened? I hate to say this but here goes: "When I was younger?"

Storytime, ( I know how much you love these):
My story begins when I was 11 years old in 6th grade. My homeroom teacher was Mrs. Russ, my sisters had both had her as their teacher and she was Miss Hyde then, I don't think anyone thought she would get married, she did the year before I had her as a teacher. To me she was a tall woman, her room was the last one in the building and had a little cubby with books and if you have been bad you must sit there by yourself. Due to my "talking" I was there on more than one occassion.
Snow days is what we lived for, because we could stay in our pj's longer, mom got to stay home too, how cool. We lived on a hill, with many houses and many kids so much fun... Melissa my best friend and I would have snowball fights with the neighbor boys, Jack and Thom Brayman. There was a yard in between which was a Realty office run by "Ruth Scott", so we would use her yard and house there to fight the boys. If that got old or we got too hurt we would sled, there was a little hill at the Park down the street, or if really snow use the road because no one was on it. Then go in the house after hours, drink hot chocolate and watch whatever was on tv, mom would sometimes make popcorn (jiffy) over our fireplace, it was so much fun. We were lucky my mom's parents lived next door, so if mom had to work Grandma was there, she retired from teaching art a few years earlier.
Do kids still have snow days or do they play video games and time on the computer? Where was the fun with friends and neighboorhoods?"

When my husband and I decide to move, we really want our Starrs Hollow which makes me remember my neighborhood growing up, there was always people to play with, and being little girls jealously and drama... Everything touched us up on that Hill. Not to be confused with the Hills on MTV. This was a middle class neighborhood. Do you have any great stories from your past?

I read my home paper today the New London Day and they did two wonderful articles on Wayne LeCardo and John Geise. It was nice to see them both honored, and believe me I have so much sorrow for the parents of Cameron Lee too. As, I posted a few days ago, about the article that he should not have been driving at 1:30am, well WTNH says that law, according to their experts does not really exist, so why did "the Day", put it out there as if he is to blame?

I am sorry, if I offended anyone, I am not blaming Cameron, I was venting and hurt by Wayne's death. It really does not matter or should it matter who is to blame, it was a tragedy that 3 people lost their lives in such a awful way. Myself an the other people who wrote into the day editorial department were also upset by how the Day handled the who thing. My heart goes out to all the families involved.

I can see why Cameron's friends felt when the article came out that they in good conscience participated in, and to have your words turned around or taken out of context. It will take awhile for everyone involved to get past this tragedy.

3 weeks into the exercise program.. Still hard to get up in the morning, but once up I am ready to go. This morning in North Carolina it is snowing...so pretty but people down here do NOT know how to drive in this weather, but seriously, they really were not taught or brought up with a lot of snow. I do admit, black ice no matter what scares me, I realize if you start to spin you are suppose to go into the spin and hit the gas, but most people myself included hit or want to hit the brake.

Went to a Baby Shower last night for a girl in my office who is becoming my friend. I will call her "Jersey" since she is from Trenton, NJ. She married a sweet guy from a rural town here in North Carolina and he will never leave so she is living down here with him. She is quite the splash in her town, she has a Louis Vitton purse and of course, Kate Spade diaper bag. The church they go to, have asked her after a few weeks if she is visiting? No, she lives here.

I am so excited about her baby, I am projecting due to my family is so far away and I miss my sisters so very much. Jersey and I are not that close but becoming closer due to the fact both from the north, we are in the process of bonding. It will be interesting if I am still here to hear what accent the child will have.

I was just reading my home paper in CT, the New London Day. The front story on the Region section was about the car accident that my friend Wayne LeCardo was killed in, this is the First line..."" THE DRIVER SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DRIVING" . In CT you are not allowed to drive after 11pm if you are 16 years old and have had your licensce less than a year. Well Cameron Lee the driver received his license on Nov. 21, 2006. Why was he out at 1:30am? Where were his parents? My parents had a strict curfew when I was that age 11pm, and when I turned 17 midnight, and believe me, even without cellphones my mother was able to track me down at any time.

I am sad for all the families loss but what the H**L, why was he out with another 16 year old in his car an not a parent, guardian or anyone over the age of 16? I am also appalled by the day's handling of the story it is all about the 16year old, there were (2) other people killed in that accident, John Griese 52 years old and Wayne 33 years old, why is no one talking about them? Why is it, about Cameron's friends? Father? EXCUSE ME, John had two children an a wife, Wayne was married in 2005 to Katie, they were the perfect couple, they complimented each other. He was still really a newlywed, and I keep thinking what I would do, I have no idea no one does when something so unexpected happens.

I just want everyone to know not 1 person died in that accident 3 people died and everyone should get the same respect. I do not know if after the investigation if there will be blame but right now Eastern Connecticut needs some healing, everyone wants to believe their life means something so why not make sure all of their lives are celebrated?

Update, this is week 3 of the diet/exercise routine. Last night, I slipped and ate a whole box of macroni and cheese, so bad for me. My husband worked late and since I do not cook this was my dinner. No excuse!! Anyway, this morning woke up and did 45 minutes of cardio.. by the 30 minute mark I could not move or feel my arms. I kept going though it is good for you right? I would much rather have pancakes and bacon, read the paper an not exercise but that is me. I do finish and we decide to weigh ourselves. It seems he has lost 4 pounds and myself 7 pounds, but do be honest I have alot more weight to lose than he does. After my shower and I get dressed my pants feel a bit loose, I am convinced it my imagination or hope. I tell my husband and he gets out the meauring tape and it seems I have lost 2 inches from my waist. YEAH!! I am now so excited, and more motivated (until morning), wouldn't it be nice when I go to a store to buy summer clothes not to have to go up a size but down?

I am still only taking it one day at a time, but I admit I am picturing myself thinner and in cute clothes this spring/summer 5 more months for summer, we will see.

KEEP WATCHING..

Do you ever feel as if the older you get, the more you realize how quick life goes by? In the last 18 months, I have lost a friend I knew for well over 20 years to a house fire, an ex-boyfriend to liver disease due to alcoholism and on Sunday a 33 year old friend of mine in a senseless car accident. My friend who passed away Sunday, was a sweet, charming man who had moved back home 10 years ago from San Diego, and we became friends. He met his wife at the restaurant we all worked at an they had gotten married in 2005. When I heard the news, my first thought was for her, an then complete sadness.

He and his wife were basically just starting out, even though they had been together so long, they were creating a life together, bought a house an she is in school and work part time. It overwhelms me when I hear of another person I know dying, I am only 42 years old, why do people have to die so young? I know there is no answer, but it makes you think of what you have. My husband and I were married in 2005, what would I do or he do if something happened to the other? Life is so very short, please remember to tell your loved ones how much you care for them, because you just never know.

I am not bashing anyone here, he actually stands out as a good candidate, my problem an yes I may watch way too many movies and read too many books on terroist, but what if?? What if he is from a Terroist cell? They have proven they can wait forever to destroy the USA and go after us in the juggler and when we least expect it.. WHAT IF??

Do you think Barack Obama will run for president? (“Obama zeroes in on White House bid,” Jan. 17.) I don't think it's a matter of if, but when. The Illinois legislator has already spent a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire and is giving his best presidential poses for the camera.

My friend Bombadee's Garden mentioned the CoCo Key West Resort party she and her husband went to last week, well I am reading my Hotel Business Magazine and the 2nd page has a huge article about the CoCo Key West Resorts, there will be 20- business class hotels to add this signature element in the next two years. The first one was in Columbus, Ohio at the Cherry Valley Lodge. In Illnois there will be (2) the one in Rockford and Sheraton Arlington Heights also in Illnois.

GOOD FOR ROCKFORD it looks like so much fun..

Day 7, lost 3 pounds so far, today was 45 minutes of Cardio. Luckily, it is just my husband and I because I am so uncoordinated, I am sure if anyone is looking into our windows in the morning they feel bad for him, I look like someone having a fit or something.

My arms and abs hurt so bad, I know once I can actually see the difference I will feel more motivated and excited, it is getting easier to wake up in the morning especially with not drinking a glass of wine every night. My mind is clearer and it is no problem, but I have been more hungry, I am very careful about what I eat these days.

GILMORE GIRLS:
Who watched the new one last night? It was really good, I can not wait until next week did you see the preview and Lorelai's face when he asked if she still loved Luke. YEAH!! It is about time they worked the Triangle into play again. Where was Paris this episode? Boy Lane is huge TWINS !! Zack has been so great to her, I love this show. I hate that they take so long to bring a new episode on, definately worth it. QUESTION do you think Chris told Lorelai about the fight with Luke? That was not even mentioned and she wrote that letter which I can not wait to hear what it says.

Tonight is Beauty and the Geek another one of my favorite shows. I will admit unfortunately, I have been sneaking around watching, "I LOVE NY" on VH1 it is a train wreck waiting to happen.

Today reading the paper, I saw something that was interesting. There is a blog called eater.com and it is from two gentlemen who blog about restaurants closing, gossiping and firing in New York City and now LA, they have nothing in the south as of yet. There is also Chowderhead.com, and Thunderhead.com also New York, do they realize there are other places besides New York and LA?

I have been in the restaurant business for well over 15 years, and love it. I love going to new places and finding out for myself good, bad indifferent etc. I also love to travel to Chicago, Charlotte, NC, Key West FL, but my favorite is the little places in out of the way of the "BIG CITY", those are the places that are usually the most interesting.

I can tell you the gossip from Mystic, CT restaurants or at least give you a good/bad review. There is a restaurant called "Zack's" under the bridge in Stonington CT, ( is you saw Mystic Pizza it was the exterior used for the bar scene). Great comfort food, everyone knows everyone and loves tourist. In Mystic "Harp n' Hound" Irish Pub, trivia night on Tuesday's and the owners are from Ireland and love to talk of their home land. The newest restaurant in Mystic is AZU ( a zoo out there, something servers say on a very busy night) owner also owns Bravo Bravo across the bridge, food excellent and creative crowd late 30's early 40's.

Seahorse in a boatyard in Noank, CT ( a few minutes from Mystic) eat on the bar side to get the local atmosphere. Chef Bobby was the Chef who opened Bravo Bravo, he bought it from John Hughes the restaurant owner everyone knows has the touch to know what people like and how to present it. Tourist restaurants like "Go Fish" and " Steak Loft" owned by Jon Kodoma the man with the golden touch, he has at least 10 restaurants all in Tourist areas but people will pay the prices and wait in line unless someone lets them know so many more choices..

I now live in Winston Salem, NC, the restaurant scene is somewhat lacking but what we do have is incredible. I believe in the next few years Winston Salem will rival Charlotte for great restaurants that everyone wants to travel to..

My husband and I have found a few favorites in the short time we have been here, " 6th & Vine", couches, wine racks because they sell it too, a great big bar and music. Food is so good, and always crowded, and a mix crowd not just young, we are not that young anymore so when we spend our money it has to be worth it and this place definately is. Diamondback Grille american flare, good service and food is anything but basic.

Where do you live and eat, that you would reccommend. Our favorite restaurant is a chain, called "Capital Grille", it does not seem like a chain, every city we have eaten at in one, is excellent, service impectable and food indescrible it is an event to go there, so we save up and make sure we enjoy it.

Day 6 of working out. This program is good, because it does keep you motivated, but the last two mornings have been a struggle to get out of the bed in the dark and work out and then go to work. I have had to be at work early the last 2 mornings but was not going to miss my workout.
I am trying to keep myself motivated, and the biggest factor vain as it is, SUMMERTIME!! Bathing suit season.. would it be nice to not feel compeletly like a beached whale when I go to the beach? Anyone else have a motivator? I also believe until you are ready to lose the weight you are not going to get off the couch, those infommericals think if they keep pounding it into your head you will buy their product. Everyone has their own pace and you will know when it is time.

Right now, for me I get so embarrassed seeing my sisters so thin, older than myself and have had 2 children each. So every morning I have a picture of myself thin and on the beach, hopefully it will substain me for awhile, 6am comes way to early some mornings....

Work always seems to get in the way of my life. This weekend was my husbands (1) weekend off a month, and I had to go to work for at least 2 hours, which would be fine except for the phone calls from work, because my clients have changed their minds or are mad that a competitor is in the hotel too...

I am just ranting because yesterday, we drove up to Blowing Rock and Boone, NC the mountain area we love, when I got back my phone had missed calls from work. I am not that vital of a person to run an event, I do the details meet/greet client and make sure they have the person to contact in case they need something.. I realize if it is a really detailed event with sponsors, vendors etc, I should be there for awhile or of course a wedding, but a small meeting, why?

I do apoligze for my ranting, but please meeting planner/clients realize we trust our staff to take care of you, not hold your hand...

My husband was ranting today (SHOCKER!), beware he is blunt, so if you dare, look at this:
Work today for some reason was very busy and awful. I do not get many days like that but it seems when I have more than 2 groups in the same week, it gets hairy... My clients are very needy, tonight changed all the set up and time at the last possible moment. We had staff to fix it but we do not always have that. My other group, just wanted me to hold their hand until Monday and if it is not correct, I will hear H**L, dont you just loving working with the public>??

To be honest, I do most of the time but it is like the worse ones find me. When I was doing weddings, I was very lucky only a few "Bridezillas", some turn on you at the last minute, and the other ones torture you for the whole12 months until their wedding. I have said it before, sorry if you saw it on another post, the worse was a MOTHER OF BRIDE awful woman, an was so lucky he wedding was planned in 9 weeks, too long for me to deal with "MOB", even her ex-husband was avoiding her at all cost especially when it came to$$, which they were loaded...

Funny, the bride on this one was a little sister of friends of mine from high school..Sweet child but I can see her turning into her mother, ( I guess poor groom)

I hope everyone has a nice weekend, I am working this weekend so we will see what I write next week.

This was an article written by Ann Coulter on the DUKE RAPE CASE and the NY TIMES:

It is a great article and I am passing it into the world to people who may not usually read Ann Coulter and only what Main stream Media want you to think of her.


Stuart Taylor Jr., the liberal but brilliant legal reporter for the National Journal, described The New York Times' coverage of the Duke lacrosse rape case as "(w)orse, perhaps, than the other recent Times embarrassments." For a newspaper that carries Maureen Dowd's column, that's saying something.

As the Times' most loyal reader, this came as welcome news. I had briefly suspected the Times was engaging in fair reporting of the alleged rape case at Duke University. Taylor's article documenting the Times' massive misrepresentations restored order and coherence to my world. The first part of the story — the lie part — was angrily reported in the Times. B

ut as the accuser's story began to unravel, the Times gave only a selective account of the facts, using its famed lie-by-omission technique. Among the many gigantic omissions from the Times' pretend-balanced article ("Files From Duke Rape Case Give Details but No Answers") is the fact that the only remaining particulars about the case that are not completely exculpatory come from a memo by Sgt. Mark Gottlieb — written four months after the alleged incident.

Gottlieb, the lead investigator on the alleged rape case, took no contemporaneous notes when he interviewed the accuser, but rather waited for the facts to come in — and his case to be falling apart — to write a memo recalling her statements during that initial investigation. The statements he recalled were surprisingly favorable to the prosecution! The only problem with his memo, besides being preposterous on its face, is that it is contradicted by the contemporaneous notes taken by other people involved in the investigation.

Indeed, the only thing Gottlieb's memo was consistent with were the facts as the prosecution was then alleging them. Of course, it was hard to keep straight what facts the prosecution was alleging. The accuser made up so many stories about the incident that the Times was forced to offer her Jayson Blair's old position.

The Times "No Answers" article gave no indication that Gottlieb's memo was written four months after the alleged rape, but rather refers to it as the policeman's "case notes," falsely suggesting the notes were taken during the investigation and not after the frame-up.

Beginning with the strongest invented evidence from Gottlieb's "case notes," the Times reported that the nurse who examined the alleged rape victim told Gottlieb that the "blunt force trauma" seen in the examination "was consistent with the sexual assault that was alleged by the victim."

Or at least that's what Gottlieb wrote four months after talking to the nurse. It's not what the nurse wrote the night she examined the accuser. To the contrary, the only sign of physical trauma the nurse noted in her written report immediately after examining the accuser were some superficial scratches on the woman's knee and heel.

Indeed, in all 24 pages of the report prepared by doctors and nurses who examined the accuser the night of the alleged rape, there is no mention of any "blunt force trauma" or any injuries other than the scratches.

Also contradicting Gottlieb's hindsight memo were the notes taken by another policeman during their interview with the accuser — not four months later — saying she described her assailants as "chubby," with a "chubby face" and weighing "260-270" pounds.

That description fit none of the eventual defendants — whom she repeatedly failed to pick out of photo lineups until Gottlieb finally gave up and presented her with a photo lineup of only Duke lacrosse players, to ensure that she couldn't guess wrong.

But according to Gottlieb's hindsight memo, the accuser described one of her rapists as "baby-faced, tall, lean" — just like one of the actual defendants!

In repeatedly citing Gottlieb's after-the-fact memo as if it were the Rosetta stone of the case, the Times also neglected to mention Gottlieb's dark history with Duke students.

Gottlieb repeatedly jailed Duke students charged with minor infractions such as carrying an open beer or playing loud music, often throwing them in cells with violent criminals. He was not so tough on nonstudents, releasing one caught with marijuana and a concealed .45-caliber handgun.

A review of Gottlieb's record published in the Raleigh News & Observer showed that, in the previous year, when he patrolled an area that included both a "crime-ridden" public housing project and Duke off-campus housing, he arrested 20 Duke students and only eight nonstudents. During that same period, the three other officers in that district arrested two Duke students and 61 nonstudents.

At this point, Gottlieb's memo is the linchpin of the prosecution's case, and every single other fact in the case exonerates the defendants.

I mention all this to point out the Alice-in-Wonderland quality of the Times Jan. 15 editorial titled "Politicizing Prosecutors." The editorial had nothing to do with lunatic Southern prosecutors like Mike Nifong, Barry Krischer and Ronnie Earle threatening to put innocent people in prison for being Republican or "privileged white males."

No, the Times was upset because the law allows President Bush to fill vacant U.S. attorney slots with temporary replacements. The Times is enraged that Bush may be choosing prosecutors he likes, rather than prosecutors Sen. Dianne Feinstein likes, for these interim appointments.

If Bush were choosing the most hack, unprincipled, out-of-control Republican party operatives for these temporary U.S. attorney positions, they could not match the partisan witch-hunts of the prosecutors and policemen the Times lies to defend.

COPYRIGHT 2007 ANN COULTER

If you have lived where snow is a everyday thing or feels it some winters this should make you chuckle. Today, in Winston-Salem, NC it snowed, not blizzard conditions just a nice light snow. Unfortunately, here people think an act like it is going to strand them for days on end. The grocery stores last night were full of people stocking up on basics. Are you kidding me? This morning I got up to exercise at 6am, ( 4 days ) and no snow nothing at all. About 7am the snow started light flakes at first, I took a picture besides going up into the mountains it is our first snow in North Carolina.

Pretty actually, as I got on the highway people were going 5 miles an hour and there were 2 accidents on Highway 40 that I was on, I believe due to going so slow. Then I turned on a Charlotte radio station and hear this: 485 and 77N are closed due to a 12 car pile up. Independence and 77S 10 car pile up, an accidents all over town. Charlotte people drive crazy to begin with add snow an it is asking for trouble. Driving in snow is not hard, just be cautious but not too slow!!

I realize they were not brought up with snow, like I was but give me a break!! I will admit if it turns to rain and becomes Icy I will be worried, black ice is the worse. I barely had "snow days" at home, here they have closed some schools and have 2 hours delays for nothing... It made me chuckle this morning coming to work seeing people driving and being so careful, an then to hear all the accidents on the radio makes me laugh. I actually was enjoying the snow it was so pretty and made the city look so like a movie as I drove toward the downtown area. I have come to realize I miss the snow, I miss the b**** about shoveling it, the hot chocolate the fireplace, snuggling up for a huge Nor'easter and not leaving the house for days... I want to move back to New England not CT more like Maine... If anyone hears of a good job in the Hospitality Industry in Maine please give a shout out!!

In the meantime enjoy the Snow, and if you are lucky enough to have snow day have a snowball fight and drink hot chocolate..

I forgot this one is a rant on our judicial system in Maine...

In Fairfield Maine, a woman was getting a protective order from her husband, she had moved out of their family home at Christmas time with her two sons and moved into her mother's house. Now she is in court, explaining why she needs a protective order and the JUDGE, ordered her in front of her estranged husband to state where she is living with her sons.

She did so with apprehension, but really did not think he would hurt her. Well, two days later after her brother went to work, her "husband" came to the house and shot her in front of their sons then took the boys to his older son's fiance's house. Did the JUDGE not realize that a protective order is for her to feel safe? Or just a word in a case not an actually person? I am very appalled by this action and call all women to write to the State of Maine Judicial system an get some justice for this poor woman.

You will notice they do not name the Judge, why? You made her air her business and it cost her, her life, why not let us know what stupid incompetent Judge did this to her?

Here is the story from the Portland Herald Paper:

FAIRFIELD - Rhonda Reynolds knew that her husband was angry about her decision to leave him, but she never imagined he might resort to violence, her family members said Monday, two days after Reynolds died from gunshot wounds.

Police say Richard Reynolds, 40, shot his estranged wife on Friday, the day after she was forced to say in court where she was moving with their two children.
"She thought he was too much of a coward to do anything," Kempton Wakefield Jr. said of his sister on Monday. "That was a crucial mistake."

Police say Rhonda Reynolds, 37, was shot Friday morning at the home on Bunker Avenue that Wakefield shares with his wife, Debra. She died Saturday morning at a Bangor hospital.
Rhonda Reynolds had moved in with the Wakefields on Thursday with her two sons, Jacob, 6, and Matthew, 4, and planned to file for divorce on Friday, her brother said.
"She was going to stay here a few months until she got back on her feet," he said.

On Friday morning, after the Wakefields left for work, Richard Reynolds went to the house with a gun and shot his wife in the presence of their sons, according to police.
He then drove the children to Waterville and dropped them off at his older son's fiancÈe's house, not a day-care center, as previously reported, according to the Wakefields.
The Wakefields, interviewed at their home on Monday night, said Rhonda Reynolds filed for a protection-from-abuse order against her husband of seven years after he allegedly assaulted her before Christmas.

She left their home at 18 Nelson St. in Waterville after the incident, stayed at a Family Violence Project location and then moved in with her grandmother in Fairfield.
She and the children stayed there until they went to the Wakefields' home on Thursday.
When they saw her on Thursday night, she was happy, Kempton Wakefield said.
"Her life was her children," he said. "You never saw her not smiling when she was around her children. She absolutely adored them."

The couple said that what bothers them most is that the protection-from-abuse order did not protect Rhonda Reynolds. In fact, they said, she was told to say out loud in court where she was going to be living -- Bunker Avenue. The next morning, her husband allegedly went there and shot her.

"I think that's something that should be looked into," Kempton Wakefield said.
"Rhonda was upset that it was revealed in court where she was going to be living,' he said, "even though she tried to comfort herself and us by saying she didn't think he would hurt her."
Some time before Christmas, police went to the Reynolds' home and took Richard Reynolds out in handcuffs, according to neighbors, who said guns were removed from the house. Waterville police would not discuss details of that incident on Monday.

Richard Reynolds turned himself in to Waterville police on Friday. He was charged with aggravated attempted murder, a charge that is expected to be upgraded to murder as he makes his first court appearance, today in Skowhegan.

"I don't want to be there," Kempton Wakefield said. "I wouldn't want to look at the guy."
He said he does not know his brother-in-law very well at all. "We tolerated him because he was Rhonda's husband."
Wakefield said his father, Kempton Wakefield Sr., a former Waterville police dispatcher, plans to be in court.
"He is just devastated by this," he said. "They were like best friends, Rhonda and my dad."

The Wakefields had a picture of Jacob and Matthew on their computer Monday. The photo, taken after the children and their mother arrived at the house on Thursday night, shows the boys lying on the living room floor, laughing and playing with stuffed animals.
Kempton Wakefield said his sister was the youngest of three children. He is 38 and their brother, Michael, of Skowhegan, is 40.
"We were close, growing up," he said.

The three siblings attended Waterville High School, where Rhonda Reynolds graduated in 1988. She went to Nevada after that, working as a blackjack dealer there and at a casino on a riverboat in Mississippi before returning to Maine, he said.

She had an 11-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. The girl lives with her father in Winslow, he said.
Rhonda Reynolds was a waitress for several years, with her longest stint being at Friendly's in Waterville.
She had planned to return to work there but put that on hold recently while she sorted out her domestic troubles, her brother said.

"She was pretty physically fit. She worked out every day, practically," he said.
He and Debra Wakefield, 39, said their nephews are temporarily in state custody and staying with people who specialize in caring for children who have been traumatized.
They said the boys were watching television in the living room when their mother was shot a few feet away, in the doorway to an exercise room the Wakefields had converted into a bedroom for the children and their mother.

Ok, today was the third day of getting up at 6am and working out, I have come to realize that I am the most uncoordinated person in the world. If I was in a gym, I would quit due to embarrassment but since it is in my home and my husband (not much better) and I are it, I am fine. I am hurting, and keep telling myself it is worth it. I am working on my health and self image because for us women, it is not how we feel about ourselves it is how the outside world perceives us, me anyway. I know I feel sexier if I go to work with my cute little bra and pantie set, even though no one will know I do and it makes me feel sexier and more powerful. Same if I have a big meeting, I wear my black suit, I feel in control especially if I wear a colorful shirt underneath it. What makes you feel this way?

I am working out because you come to a point where you hate being "fat" or in my case known as the heavy sister, my two sisters are both crazy about working out and are thin, lean an in shape they can wear anything an look good. In the summer I feel like a blob because the shorts look horrible, so I wear sun dresses and then my thighs rub together so not attractive...

I have made it 3 days so far, one day at a time, hopefully after a few weeks it will become routine and I will not have to force myself out of the bed in the morning.

First let me say, I am so happy that those (2) boys were found in Missouri, the parents must be so relieved to have these boys back. I hope Mr. Devlin realizes what h** he put these parents through especially Shaun's he has been gone for 4 years. I hope he rots in Jail..

Enough said about that, for now..

Today, January 15, 2007 my husband and I have started working out to "Turbo Jam", I am not the most coordinated person, but I am getting up and off the couch, my body is hurting, and it is only the first day, but again, it has been a very long time since I have worked out. I realized at Christmas how big I have gotten over the last 5 years an especially in the 18 months I have been married. We have decided to do this as a joint effort, if he does it with me, then it will motivate me, I realize he will most likely lose faster than me, an I will try not to get discouraged by this fact. I want to feel better about myself, be healthier and not to be too vain, get into cute sun dresses this summer an maybe even a bikini ( lets not push it)...

My family has a history of physical problems due to being overweight, and at "42' years old, now is the time to think do it, and not wait any longer. I know that the next two weeks will be the test, if I can get through that an make this a routine, I will be fine (hopefully), I am just going to think of the next day getting up and exercising and not plan any further than that, it is definately baby steps.

So, bear with me for the next few weeks to see how my progress goes, and if I can actually keep it up...

The other night as I was watching LMN it was a True story about Hazing in Fraternity's. My husband sat down and started saying, " This movie is 12 years old and this does not happen anymore." I want to prove a point to him and I found this on FOX NEWS..

HOUSTON — As Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath lay dying of alcohol poisoning, members of the club he was trying to join defaced his body with anti-gay epithets and obscene drawings, according to a medical examiner's report.
"It was disgusting and despicable behavior," said Houston attorney Randy Sorrels, who represents Phoummarath's family.
Sorrels said Phoummarath was not gay. The 18-year-old freshman from Houston, who wanted to join the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Texas at Austin, died Dec. 10, 2005, after ingesting large amounts of alcohol at a party at the fraternity house. The medical examiner reported his blood-alcohol content was more than five times higher than the level needed to prove intoxication in Texas.
Phoumarrath was found dead the day after the party in the bedroom where he passed out the night before.
Party-goers had used green and black markers to write "FAG," "I'm gay" and "I AM FAT" on Phoummarath's head, face, torso, legs and feet. Someone added several drawings of naked men and women, Dr. Roberto Bayardo of the medical examiner's office reported.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Phoummarath died after a heavy night of drinking in which fraternity members chanted for him and six other pledges to finish as many as eight bottles of vodka, whiskey, rum and other drinks being passed around.
A grand jury indicted three members of the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity last month on charges of hazing, or abusing new members, following a yearlong investigation into Phoummarath's death.
The university suspended Lambda Phi Epsilon's status as a registered student organization until 2011.
Phoumarrath's family also is suing the fraternity.

My heart goes out to the Phoumarrath's family, most states have anti-hazing laws does Texas? Also, Lambda Phi Epsilon should be responsible, I am glad they are up on charges maybe then someone will take notice. These young men go to college and experience life not to lose their life.

Last night, on my way home from work, I heard this story on the radio and it made me think do we realize what we teach our children without saying anything?

Story:
A husband and wife and their 4 year old took in the husbands dad, who had the shakes very badly and at dinner would drop things and knock over his milk etc. Husband and wife were mean an degrading to the man, they even put him at his own table and would make him eat with a wooden bowl to not break anything. Never a nice word to the man, only fault and nastiness, one day the 4 year old saw a tear out of her grandfather. The next night the 4 year old was on the floor with their building blocks and was building something the Husband asked, " What are you building? " the 4 year old's response was, " A wooden bowl so when you and mom are old I can take care of you." Nothing was said, but the Husband and wife the next night had the grandfather back at the table, with real dishes where he stayed to the remainder of his life.

It really is amazing what we teach our children, we laugh when a child swears for the first time, but they learned it somewhere. There is a country song out now about a child doing things and everytime the father asks, "Where did you learn that? ", The Child's response, " I have been watching you dad, and want to be just like you when I grow up."

Question: What are we teaching our children? Both of these stories get to me each time, even the country song last year about a child wanting to see their dad more and breaks into his piggy bank thinking dad will only come to me if I pay him..

OK, I will admit it, I am addicted to Reality Television, usually when people ask I say, "Oh, no, I only watch 1 or 2, wrong. My new addiction is " Bad Girls Club" on Oxygen Network, I do not actually understand the point of it, except to see what a bunch of "bad girls" do to annoy the other ones. I started yesterday it was a Marathon, an a few days into the "experiment", one girl is so drunk she is beating other girls up, at 90 lbs, how I do not know, an gets kicked out of the house. What did the producers think would happen putting a few 22 years old with girls 29-30 years old? My other one is "Beauty and the Geek", I admit every new version I love, it is amazing to me how stupid the girls pretend to be or are, which is sad. I think this season went all out looking for Geeks, LEAD SINGER OF A STAR WARS TRIBUTE BAND, give me a break... not to be outdone a TREKKIE, who actually has the outfit...

I did catch the sneak peak of " I Love NY" on VH1, the most interesting beside NY herself is her mother, I feel bad for these men she will destroy you at every opportunity because for some reason mom thinks NY "Tiffany" is worth the best man possible, does she not know her daughter? Or is her daughter acting out because her mother is "CRAZY???', I guess now that Flav has a woman he couldn't do the show again so the next best thing is NY...When is Flav coming on to do the lie detector or join the cast?

Why do I watch such stupid things? I have no idea, an wish I could stop is there a Support group yet for people who can not stop watching reality television? My favorite used to be Big Brother but I hated the Allstar version so I am not sure I will watch next summer if it comes back. I do love Top Chef and Project Runway at least we know that goal, but the other ones are very murky but definately enjoyable to watch, like a train wreck you see it coming but can't stop yourself from watching it in horror.

Well, it is official we are old... It is 10:45pm on a Saturday night, and my husband is in bed asleep already and I am now on the computer, what has life come to? Believe me, I am not actually upset by this just in bewilderment of when it came about. Tonight, we had dinner, watched the last 3 episodes of "Sex an the City", and then played the game of "LIFE", which I actually won, which is rare in itself. Had a few glasses of wine and then put my husband to bed.

At "42" most of the time I feel better then when I was in my 30's but it still is strange not to be doing something even out for an elegant dinner or something with friends.

When did it stop?

Tonight is my company Holiday Gala, yes in January but since we are a Hotel, we have to do it after the Christmas Parties, which actually works out fine for us, something to look forward to in January. It will be my first real party since we have moved to North Carolina in September 2005, looking forward to seeing how it flows. Luckily, we are having it here, so we will not be judging another hotel because being in the business seems to make us more critical of other venues and how we do compared to them.

I of course am way to heavy to wear my cute clothes so I will wear black pants, cute shoes and I low cut shirt to throw people away from my hips and a**. I heard one of the 25 years old in my office the other day, saying if you can get a size 5 over your thighs no matter how tight anywhere else and a boob shirt will make you feel better about yourself. First off, I have not seen a size 5 since my 1st year of college many moons ago, an even then if they were tight I would not wear them. Have times changed that much or just people's sense of what constitutes cute, sexy and down right bad taste? I find myself remembering the 80's ( my heyday) an how everything was big shoulders, bulky and supposely flattering. Do you remember?

Dakota Fanning, does anyone not know who this amazing little girl is? She is 12 years old you can tell by looking at her, but if you watch her on screen it is hard to believe she is so young. I first saw her in, "I am Sam", she was amazing, even in the stupid film "Uptown Girls", she was the stand out performer.

The little lesson in who she is, is an article I just read on line about the movie "Hound Dog" it is going to the Sundance Film Festival, which can mean we may never see it in mainstream movie theatres, which stinks, I wish there was an independent movie theatre around here to give these great films a chance for mainstream america to see. " Hound Dog" is about a 12 year old "RAPE" victim who loses herself in Elvis Music. Now, I am only reading what people have written about it, but please go to the website and make your own decision, there is a petition on both sides of the issue.

Personally, I am not sure any 12 year old can handle it even if it is acting, but she is not the first to be put in these types of film, remember Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby" and she seems fine, Or the litte girl from "Bastard out of Carolina", she is in college now. If her parents think she can handle it and know the difference why not?

I admit I am addicted to getting indie films when renting and my husband does put up with some interesting films, like "Pieces of April" Katie Holmes (pre Tom Cruise), "Tiptoes", Gary Oldman, Mathew McCaonaughey as twins except Gary Oldman is a Dwarf, "Happy Accidents", Vincent D'Orfonio and Marisa Tomei he is an alien who falls in love with Marisa (who wouldn't really), Or Kate Beckinsale in "Laurel Canyon and Last Days of Disco", all great Indie films people should see.

Dakota Fanning is just beginning it will be amazing to see where her career takes her, good for her to be willing to take on roles that people may or may not agree with an give such an amazing depth to it for a child of 12 years old...

It is 2007, how did you celebrate? We had a wonderful dinner, laughing, and playing games and especially talking it was a great way to ring in the New Year. It is a time to reflect for everyone, I miss my family more an more everyday, but realize this is my life for now in North Carolina. I am trying to get us to Maine so I can be close to my mom, she is my best friend in the world and I miss her more than anyone else. Funny, I left CT because of the Cold and snow and now I am trying to go even further north, but sometimes we do things for our family, which is more important then warm weather family...

I have no idea what 2007 will bring but I am praying and working for something better.

It is New Years Eve, my husband is cooking up a storm, we have a couple of friends over, and he is worried we will not have enough food, believe me we do. We have Foundue Appetizer, Deviled egges, escargot, and now cresnuts wrapped in bacon an for dinner, Caesar Salad, Leg of Lamb and Foundue dessert. (3) bottles of red wine, reisling for the Hors D'oeuvres hour an of course, champagne. We are planning on eating, drinking and playing board games to ring in the new year. We are in a new city, new friends in our new house getting ready for the New Year. It is amazing to me that it is 2007, 25 years after I have graduated from High School, which just seems sometimes that it was just yesterday. I know it is a time to reflect on the past, but I am really looking toward what the new year will bring. Will it bring me the new career path, I am so longing for, or will I still be in the same job not working toward anything next year at this time?

What (10) things would you like to accomplish in the next year? Losing weight is always on the list stretch your imagination an think of fun things that you never thought possible. Always fun to dream, my biggest dream for 2007 is to travel to London with my husband, an experience it with him, he was there in 1998 and myself in 1987, so together seeing it through each others eyes would be heaven to me. We love to explore new cities together, but seeing one we both have seen at other times in our lives will be quite interesting.

I hope everyone has a safe an fun New Years Eve. Don't forget to watch the ball drop with Dick Clark because really is there anyone else than can count down from 10 more eloquently.

Well, we got back about 2am on December 26 from our jaunt up North. No snow, I did not have a white christmas except about 4pm in Pennsylvania somewhere it started to snow and did for the next 200 miles then turned to rain, so I did get a little of white christmas. We had a wonderful trip, full with family, friends, guilt, move back and basic family stuff. My oldest sister hosted Christmas Eve this year, for our family on my mom's side, it was packed everyone showed up this year, the first time in many years. We suspect it is because my Aunt is very sick and we are not so sure how much longer she will last.

It was wonderful seeing all of the family, there was about 60 people there, and it is funny to look around an see all the little children, and remember when we were all that small an loved these Christmas Eve gatherings. My cousins in my generation are as follows:

Me No children as of yet
Cousin Tommy - 3 children, 2 boys and a girl
Cousin Paul - No Children
Cousin Debbie- 2 boys
Cousin Dawn - No Children as of yet
Cousin Nancy- 3 Children, 2 boys and a girl ( sister of Tommy)
Cousin Greg- 4 children, 2 boys, and 2 girls
Cousin Susan- No children
Brother Jon- 2 girls
Add in Older sisters with 2 children each, it was quite the full household.

My cousins and I used to hang out in another room, we were way too cool, it was Tommy, Paul and Debbie and I everyone else was younger and not as cool. We would sit in a dark room an tell stories it was so much fun. Paul is a college professor of history now so he always had the best stories to tell. We are now in our 40's, but it seems to me sometimes that is was just a little bit ago when it was actually about 25 years ago. It was a wonderful Christmas, I saw my friends and family.

We did have a bit of an accident in our Sonata car:

" Our Sonata got run over by a Reindeer, going to Thomas's house on Christmas Eve"
" Left the windshield damaged and the front end, we did get some reindeer skin in the hood",
Our poor Sonata got runover by a Reindeer"..

Not busy today, so I thought I would post again. Rosie O'Donnell has been very busy lately bashing everyone and now Donald Trump is coming back at her, for her remarks yesterday on "The View". The fact is nothing Rosie said was untrue was it Donald? I am not saying she has any right, but she has a microphone in her face and people actually listen so what are you upset about? Rosie O'Donnell is a big mouth, who thinks she represents the "Common Folk", well when I speak people don't listen around the world. I was a big fan of Rosie when she did VH1 an her stand up routines, even her show was great, then she lost me when she invited Tom Selleck on the show and she ambushed him, after that I realized she is a huge liberal who thinks people want to hear what she says. Donald Trump is correct in saying, " The View, will go down hill from now because of her, do not forget Joy Behr, she is not great either but at least she is funny about it.

I have never liked the VIEW because of Starr Jones, I think Barbara Walters is not sure who to fill that seat with, who do you think is worse Rosie or Starr? I was planning my wedding at the same time Starr was planning her DIVA wedding, being in the business yes I got a few deals but nothing like hers, why would sponsors do that? She is not a huge star even though she thinks so and she has so much money why be so cheap? My husband and I had to pay for it ourselves on a very limited budget, she on the other hand, has so much money you know being a Lawyer and on TV, what does she make a year 1 million dollars oh my call the poor house, poor Starr can't afford to have a wedding of $3 million dollars, at least Donald Trump on his 3rd marriage paid for his estravagants he did not ask for hand outs, who does Starr Jones think she is?

Neither Rosie or Starr represents the real people in the world who have to work for what we have.

We leave today to go back to Connecticut for the holidays, I was hoping for a "White Christmas", but according to the weather it is going to be in the 50's up there so not this year. My husband thinks it is funny, I want snow when we lived there I hated snow. Yes and no, I love a good Christmas Snow, but not the January/February snow when you are digging out your car every day before work. I want a Christmas movie christmas, I know that will not happen, but one can always dream.

My Christmas Movie, would start with us leaving home, and singing christmas carols an through the ride, as we go farther north, it will start to snow and be just beautiful and we will laugh and think how wonderful this time of year is, the reality Stephen will sleep for the first few hours, we will stop at a truck stop an eat crappy an then he will begin driving and I will sleep then around 3am, we will both be so giddy and stupid from lack of sleep we will either start fighting or have tension in the car until we get into CT. Don't you just love long road trips? One of our long trips we made up a song to the theme of Frosty the Snowman an it was not Christmas time, by the time we got to the hotel at 5am, we were so exhausted everything was funny to us, not to the hotel staff.

Movie: We would arrive take a nap and be up an ready to go visiting. Reality, I will be moody as hell and try to be cheery meeting an seeing everyone. Movies are nice because you can cut and rest, in reality it will be world wind of activities for the next 4 days. To be honest I would not have it any other way.

Merry Christmas, have a safe time wherever you may travel.

This article is from The New London Day, in regards to an emminent domain case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. This woman wanted to stay in her little pink house for the rest of her life and was told "NO". We as the government can take your house to better the economy. The unfortunate thing is nothing has been done to develop that area as of yet. What do you think?


New London — Fort Trumbull diehard Susette Kelo has sent out a heartfelt holiday greeting card to some 30 or so current and former members of the City Council and New London Development Corp., among others, wishing them, in essence, hell on Earth for the rest of their lives.
The text, accompanying a sparkling, snowy image of Kelo's iconic pink house in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, reads, in its entirety:
Here is my house that you did takeFrom me to you, this spell I makeYour houses, your homesYour family, your friendsMay they live in miseryThat never ends.I curse you allMay you rot in hellTo each of youI send this spellFor the rest of your livesI wish you illI send this nowBy the power of will
The cards — conceived and produced by Kathleen Mitchell, a friend of Kelo and city gadfly, and bearing Kelo's name — were received Tuesday by NLDC members David Goebel (the agency's former executive director), George Milne and Reid Burdick, and by Alan Mayer and his wife, Gail Schwenker-Mayer, supporters of the Fort Trumbull development project and one-time assistants to Claire Gaudiani, former president of both the NLDC and Connecticut College. State Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, also got one.
Kelo said this week that she mailed two cards to Gaudiani.
Kelo confirmed others on her list for the Christmas curse, including Mayor Peg Curtin and Beth Sabilia, Ernie Hewitt, Ron Nossek, Jane Glover, Kevin Cavanaugh, Rob Pero, Tim West, all current or former city councilors involved with Fort Trumbull. NLDC President Michael Joplin and members John Johnson, Carl Stoner, Steve Percy, Karl Sternlof, John Brooks and Pam Akins also are to receive the cards.
Kelo said she was considering sending the cards to the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who, in 2005, sided, as a majority, with the city and NLDC against the Fort Trumbull homeowners who fought the city's right to take the properties by eminent domain.
Kelo, among six Fort Trumbull property owners who contested the city's and agency's right to seize their homes and businesses, was the lead plaintiff in the case. She ultimately accepted a settlement offer from the city totaling $442,155 for her house at 8 East St., more than $319,000 above the appraised value in 2000.
“It's amazing anyone could be so vindictive when they've made so much money,” said Schwenker-Mayer on Tuesday, after receiving her card.
Milne, a former top executive at Pfizer Inc. here, called the card “immensely childish.”
“It's sort of sad she elected to do this,” said Milne. “We were trying to do things for the city. It was nothing personal.”
Burdick said he put the card on his mantel with all his other Christmas greetings. “I think the poor woman has gone around the bend,” he said. “I haven't gotten any mail from her in years. I still feel bad for Susette. The sorry part of this is that the things she's angry about were not done to be mean-spirited toward her personally.”
To Glover, a former mayor, the card's rendering of the Kelo house was cute. But the curse didn't cut it. “Being a Christian, I don't believe in curses,” she said. “It was really childish. I didn't think Susette Kelo believed in curses and black magic. If she did, she would have tried it on the Supreme Court.”
Goebel, the former NLDC executive director, said, “Children will be children.” But Goebel was the only recipient, thus far, to suggest that the card might not be from Kelo.
“You shouldn't take the signature at the bottom as that of the one who sent it,” Goebel said. “It's not something Susette would have done, in my view. It's unfortunate children have to do this.”
He did not speculate on who else might have been behind the mailing.
Kelo said the card was her idea. “I'm very upset with what these people did to me,” said Kelo, who works for the City of New London as a nurse dealing with lead paint and lead poisoning cases.
“This all could have been solved and ended many years ago,” she said. “They didn't have to do what they did to us, and I will never forget. These people can think what they want of me. I will never, ever forget what they did.”

I was very upset when I read this today in my hometown paper, how could any person go to a funeral and protest their beliefs during such an awful time for a family? I find it disrespectful, and mean spirited. I am all for free speach, but there is something a common courtesy, and understanding when someone is hurting where was that?

The New London Day Article:
The memorial service Saturday in East Lyme for Army Capt. Jason Hamill was remarkable in many ways, not the least of which was the love and respect shown the fallen soldier and his family by drama students from Waterford High School and from a parade of motorcyclists. Both groups were there to shield the Hamill family and friends from the vituperative and sick attitude expressed by a protest group from Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas. Its message was full of hate for human beings. God, they said, is killing American soldiers as a punishment for the tolerance of homosexuals in the United States.
There were at least three remarkable parts to this sad, solemn day. First was the respect demonstrated by many people who did not know Capt. Hamill. Among them were the high school drama students who just a week earlier had performed “The Laramie Project.” This play depicts the murder in 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a gay man. One character in the play is Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Church.
The second remarkable event was the fact that Westboro church members would be so mean-spirited as to travel across the country to a funeral for a soldier and spread their hostile theories about gay people. We ask ourselves: How could people be so unkind as to invade the family's privacy and to speak with no understanding or sympathy?
The difficult part in the face of such outrageous action is to acknowledge vulgarity and rancor are as much protected in our laws as the right to assemble to praise others for their goodness. The defense of liberty is not simple in nature. It requires great patience. It even makes necessary the suffering of indignities that may cut deeply into the human spirit.
The third and most striking part about this extraordinary day was the affirmation of the right to free speech. Americans have a remarkable tolerance for allowing others to speak their beliefs, no matter how distorted, hateful and distasteful their ideas may be. It was this respect for free speech, terrible though the words were, that created this dramatic scene in East Lyme.
Yet on noting this painful occasion, Americans can feel good about the values that protect this form of freedom. It's easy to listen to arguments with which one agrees. Permitting others to speak with most venomous statements requires great character. Such discipline and dedication to constitutional freedom in all its forms has made the United States a respected nation among the countries of the world. In a dramatic way, the character of Americans showed in the funeral on Saturday.
Democracy and freedom get tested every day in this country. The memorial Saturday gave a graphic and even grim display of how this nation endures even the most vile of individuals in order to defend the liberties of all. Capt. Hamill died trying to help give access to freedom for the Iraqis. His memorial service, with protesters and supporters on hand, reminded this region of the many kinds of sacrifices required to keep a nation free.

We leave about 8pm on Thursday night to start back to Connecticut for the Holiday Season. I am so excited to see my family and friends. I know I am building it up more so then it will actually be, the most important to me is to spend time with my family. We are so close so this last 15 months being away from them has been so hard. I have two new nieces one born in Feb 2006, and I didn't actually see her until July and now she has grown so much. When we left Lizzie was just coming up on her 1st birthday in November 2005, she has grown so big. I hate not being able to see them all the time. My neice Sarah who is 10 is now taller than me, and will be taller than her mother soon enough (she also just got her 1st period). They grow up so fast, I know when we have children, it will be a challenge to see where we will live.

I really am leaning toward Maine, because my mom is there and I do love Maine on the coast. It will be at least another 2 years before we move again.

Looking toward seeing my family this holiday season, my heart goes out to the hikers families on MT. HOOD, I know they found (1) body and area hoping the other (2) have survived. I want to wish them the best and will keep praying for the safe return of the other 2 and am so sorry for the loss of Kelly James. It is terrible to lose a family memeber and at the holidays it seems even more profound. I am praying for Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, I hope they are found soon. Everyone please remember life is so quick, tell the people you care about how much everyday because you really never know what will happen.

Do you read your horoscope everyday? I do, for no reason except I always have. This week has been all negative about my family and problems etc... I asked my husband this morning if we were ok, his response was, "don't read your horoscope, if it is negative it could be self prophesy?" What do you think?

Why do we read them? I even fooled myself into believing I would read them at the end of the day and see if it was correct, and if it was a bit off the mark, I would skew it to be what I wanted it to be, so it was right.

This morning I received an email from my 2nd oldest sister, and she was so excited she had called into a radio show and won 4 ski passes. The question was, "On the show Family Affair, what was the little girls' dolls name?" She was so excited because she remembered when we were little and I wanted the doll, her an my mom searched stores for weeks to find it. Back then it was like the Cabbage Patch dolls were in the 80's. It was a "MRS. BEASLEY" doll, I loved that doll, I do remember opening my present that Christmas morning and screaming I was so happy. Mrs. Beasley went everywhere with me, she just was the best. I had a buffy doll too, much smaller and did not really play with that.

Do you remember those old shows? Family affair twins Jody an Buffy and older sister Cissy, Mr. French the butler and Uncle Bill the bachleor? or Courtship of Eddies Father? Or my other personal favorite, " The Brady Bunch or The Partidge Family?" There was no divorce only death, you were either a widow or widower or like Family Affair both parents are killed and now an Uncle they do not really know is their guardian. It made it even more special to watch things unfold with not having to deal with ex's.

My parents were divorced when I was 6 years old, and it felt we were the only ones. Then another family moved across the street when I was "8" and it was a single mom with 3 kids, and her and my mom had gone to High School together. They had a little girl Melissa who was 7 and we became best friends. We learned how to ride bikes together, when it rained in the summer we would be out there jumping in the puddles, in the fall into the leaves, riding our bikes around the neighborhood, dressing up on Halloween, sleepovers and of course our 1st ciggarettes, which we both got grounded for a week, which to a child of 12 seemed forever. We would stand at the edge of our yards and talk because no phone and could not leave the yard. On Friday, nights we would sit down in whoever house was sleepover night and watch the Brady Bunch and pretend we were the sisters (short one) and sing and dance an be silly..

I loved those times, I spent so much time at her house and her at mine. When I got married in 2005, I did invite Melissa even though I had only seen her twice in about 15 years, she did not come but she will always been in my heart. My family moved when I was 14, we went to different schools so we drifted apart, quite sad. I love to think of those times.

As Christmas is approaching and I look at all the commericalism in the world, I like to remember the simpler times. I am only "42" but so much has changed in my life time, can you just image what your parents and grandparents have seen change in their life time?

Let us start with TV, growing up we had (1) and the whole family had to agree what to watch, our only choices were ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. The remote was worthless because you only had 4 channels and to get 1 in completely you had to use the box to move the antennea around and it took a good 5 minutes to get it right. Sunday evenings I can tell you for my family was 60 minutes and the Wonderful World of Disney, if I stayed at my grandparents it was Lawrence Welk hour and then Disney. Do you remember when Walt Disney would come on and introduce the movie?

Video Games - Atari the tennis game two sticks going up an down and lobbing a ball? Not the games of today, which seem so real it is freaky..

No one had a computer in their home and the ones in the office were huge and you would have 1 for the whole office not one on each person's desk. Today the computer programs went down at work, and email oh my what will we do to survive?

Christmas when I was growing up was all about family, on Christmas Eve my whole family cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents on my mom's side get together and celebrate. We had so much fun an bad pictures in front of the Christmas Tree, each family would take a turn to host the annual event. We still do this but over the last few years, my sisters and one cousin have stepped up to host the event. I now live in North Carolina and when in CT did not have a house, I have always wanted to host this event, someday.. Now though there are in-laws to deal with so not all my cousins come and our grandparents are gone, and a few Uncles and Aunts are no longer. Family was so part of it Christmas for me, and I wish I could get that feeling back that I had as a little girl.

This year, my husband and I are traveling to CT to celebrate with my family, last year we surprised his mom, it was our first Christmas as a married couple and thought she would like that, but it was so hard for me not to be with my family. Including last year, I had only missed 3 christmas's with my family, 1987 when I was in London England, 1991 when I was stupid in my 20's and thought I could do without my family and be selfish.

I do think back on growing up and how much has changed over the years, and I can't wait to see what the next 42 years bring. I am still old enough to remember the summer of Watergate, watching President Nixon leave the white house, President Ford pardoning him soon afterwards. The Hostage Crisis, a few of the Vietman vets coming back in body bags, the news coverage of the whole thing, the first time a war was in our living rooms to better keep us informed. Jim McKay talking about the killed Olympians in 1972 Munich, 1972 Mexico Olympics when Mark Spitz took 7 metals ( making me want to reach that level of swimming). Watching the Olympics was amazing who can forget Nadia getting the first "10" in Olympic history? Or my favorite 1980 USA Hockey team winning, they were the under dogs !! Watch the movie miracle if you want to relive that time.

We will never forget 9/11/2001, ask anyone where were they? It is like for the generation before us asking where were you when Kennedy was shot? Things you will never forget.

This Christmas try to remember what made it so special for youself.

I only have a minute, but for all who read my blog, please go to this webpage and contact anyone who can help these employees

www.madatfoxwoods.com, It is a group of employees who are disgruntled and have every reason to be, especially since Foxwoods rakes in the money. I have had (3) relatives who have been treatly extremely poorly, and one is my mentally challenged cousin who cleaned bathrooms.

This weekend, ever time I left work I felt like skipping down the hill, have you ever felt that way? I had a great week at work productive and I actually am beginning to understand what my job is and what the expectations are, finally after almost 3 months in this new position. My home life is in a good upswing, Stephen and I have finally agreed to start excerising (which to be honest, he never had a problem with, it was me dragging), I have seen way too many pictures of myself fat to not realize I need to lose weight. Especially, after my mom thinking she was helping told me I need gastric bypass surgery, I may be heavy but not ready for that, but if I keep at my rate I am going oh yeah!!

So, when I was thinking of skipping this weekend, I tried to think what people would think when they drove by and saw me, oh look at that fat woman does she think she is exercising? Or that old woman should really act her age.. I did skip and I didn't care, my mood hard to describe was up to skipping. I hope everyone has a day, they feel like skipping, throw caution to the wind and do it. You will feel like you were little all over again, I laughed so hard at myself and enjoyed it throughly.. So, if you feel skip, or yell, or whatever makes you happy, who cares what the world thinks because in my heart and mind I will always be that little girl who loves to skip....

This Christmas Season with so much turmoil in the world, too bad we can't all go back to when we were a child an remember it as such a special time of year, where all we cared about is family, sledding, and the big guy himself Santa Claus, writing our letters an getting our picture taken and trying so hard to be good, so we don't get coal in our stockings. I want everyone to think back to your life at that time, when you were 6 or 7 and thought Christmas was the greatest time of year.

When I was 6 years old my brother was born Dec. 9 of that year, and it snowed for a week, I would not let anyone walk on our front lawn, I wanted my baby brother to see his first Christmas snow perfect. It worked, when he came home from the hospital in our Station Wagon my mom held him up to see the snow. Even to this day my brother is a winter freak the colder the better. I woke up that Christmas at 5am, and picked up my brother (almost dropped him), and he an I sat under the Tree watching the lights waiting for my sisters and mom and dad get up and open presents. About what seemed an hour, most likely 5 minutes I started yelling for everyone to get up "SANTA HAD BEEN HERE!!" It was the last Christmas my parents were married, but I clearly remember everyone getting up and stumbling from their beds, because Jon and I needed to open presents. Granted Jon had no muscle control at that time, but in my memory he was as excited as I was that 1st Christmas.

In my family we open our stockings first and to me then and now it is so important to me, and usually the most special. I held Jon and opened our stockings together, to me it was magically, I got a baby brother and Christmas all at once, for a 6 year old it is amazing how Santa works. My sisters are a year apart and very close, now I had someone for me to be close to and guide. The years have changed us but my brother and I have always had a connection and I believe it was because Santa brought him right before Christmas, he was a month over due, so I believe Santa had a plan. I have found this wonderful editorial , please read it an remember your Christmas when nothing in the world could go wrong.

This is a letter to the editor of the The New York Sun in 1897.


Dear Editor—
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

As I turned on the Fox News this morning, I saw that a Tornado has hit North London, how is that possible there are no trailer parks there. Oh, it must be President Bush and Karl Rove's miracle weather machine the same one that brought Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans.

These are sad natural instances but the Democrats will turn it around somehow and blame President Bush. It must be nice to own a Weather Machine what do you think?


A tornado has hit a North London street, injuring six people and severely damaging houses, cars and street furniture.
One man was taken to hospital with a head injury and five people were treated at the scene for minor injuries and shock.
Eyewitnesses said the tornado lasted only a few seconds, but it ripped off entire roofs and tore down the walls of houses.
Emergency services were sent to the scene at Chamberlayne Road in Kensal Rise after reports came in at 11am.
Resident James Miles told Sky News the experience had been "very, very frightening".
"I was talking outside with a friend when all of a sudden there was a flash of lightning and a huge big bang, then two minutes later this horrendous tornado shot right across," he said.
Tornado struck in seconds
"Slates were flying everywhere onto people's houses and cars.
"It's really nasty. A lot of people are shaken up. It's not the sort of thing that happens in central London."
Sky News weather forecaster Francis Wilson explained that tornadoes were caused by storm clouds, and could generate winds in excess of 100mph.
"Warm air at the bottom and cold at the top is a recipe for unstable weather, which is what's happened here," he said.
Hail and thunderstorms were reported elsewhere across London.
If you've been caught up in an extreme weather event and have taken pictures on your mobile you can send them to us by dialling 07738 501501. Alternatively, if you've used a camera, email the pictures to us at newsonline@bskyb.com.

My new job is so boring, and sometimes I wonder what is next for me career wise? I have done so much in hospitality and wonder what is my next step and when should I start thinking about it? Yesterday, I took a seminar on Time Management, and while sitting there listening I realized now is the time to think what I want to do in the next 5 years, 10 years.

Do you remember when you first start interviewing for a position that question usually comes up? I myself usually answer with what I think the interviewer is looking for that I am going to stay with this company and just keep moving up. When usually in my head I am going, I have no idea I just need a job.

Well, I realized this week that I am 42 years old not 20 and if I am going to make a change I need to do it NOW. Otherwise, I will be sitting at a desk detailing events for the next 20 years of my life and do I really want to do that? I realized about a year ago that after 15 years of helping brides do their weddings, I did not want to do that anymore but felt I needed to stay in a hotel enviroment, so I moved to the corporate end of things. A little better than brides in the detail portion but day of, brides are usually so happy and bursting with love. On the corporate end which I refer to as "MZ (meetingzillas) the people who plan the event and if (1) little thing is wrong that you can not control the meeting is ruined and you are stuck with them for the next 2 days kissing butt.

I really just want to shake them and say, is it that important that Mr. so and so forgot his laptop and we do not have one on sight to rent to him? Is it our fault Mrs. so and so forgot her presentation and all her print outs, can we just use your computer for the next 4 hours to fix that it is only 11pm? I realize it is important but if it is nothing I can control do not blame me. I will fix what I can. I can fix room set up, tempature, food choices, Audio Visual and evening parking if need be. I am not a miracle worker if a participant forgets his presentation in Milwaukee unless you want to buy me a plane ticket pretty much I can't fix that. We are there to service your group, even we have our limatations.

I am sorry for my venting but I am amazed that at 42 years old, I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up, when do you think that will be?

I saw this today in the New London Day. I think Mr. Russell should keep his mouth shut... This is a little town, who takes pride in its traditions and it is not just Christmas music other things bother him too, does a church in the town bother him too, or just the fact they are promoting themselves? You may be an Atheists but the rest of us love the music and the home town feel of the town.

State your opinion.


by Sean Elliot
• The Jewett City Baptist Church on Main Street is the target of a complaint by American Atheists Inc. that contends the music broadcast from the church's belfry is a violation of the separation of church and state. Borough Warden Cynthia Kata, however, says the music will not be stopped, setting the stage for a possible legal confrontation
Griswold — About this time each year, a town employee unlocks the closet in the front hall of the Jewett City Baptist Church.
With the push of a button, the music that's heard from a large speaker hidden inside the church's steeple changes each hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., from selections that range from “America the Beautiful” to “Away in a Manger.”
It's been a tradition in the borough for more than a decade.
The Connecticut chapter of American Atheists Inc. thinks it's time that the tradition either ends or is altered.
The organization has filed a complaint with the town and the borough governments claiming the music is too loud. After contacting the resident state trooper, the organization was “shocked” to learn that the borough owns the system that is housed at the church.
“This is clearly a violation of the separation of church and state,” said Dennis Paul Himes, director of the state chapter.
Borough Warden Cynthia Kata doesn't see it that way.
“If there is one of the songs that they find offensive, I'll take it off,” Kata said. “But I'm not going to get rid of 'Jingle Bells' or 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' because some nut doesn't like it.”
•••••Unsure what to do with some grant money a decade ago, the warden and burgesses at the time decided it would be nice to have church bells ringing along Main Street. They bought a sound system to play recordings of church bells.
They asked the Jewett City Baptist Church if they could install a large speaker in the church's belfry and a CD player in a downstairs closet. The church is centrally located and the steeple is the highest point in the borough.
The congregation agreed, with conditions. The church would not be responsible for the equipment, any complaints or the music selection. Secular music could be played, but “no Elvis.”
Bells are supposed to chime at 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour, although the timing is about 10 minutes off. On the hour, a selected song plays.
More than 400 tunes, most of which are not religious, are available for selection. During the spring and summer, the repertoire includes “Danny Boy,” “Over the Rainbow” and “God Bless America.” In the fall and winter, in honor of Christmas, it includes “Ave Maria,” “Joy to the World” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
At 9 each morning during the non-holiday season, “Onward, Christian Soldiers” plays. It's a special request of borough Treasurer and former Selectwoman Virginia Hoddy. That's when she makes the quarter-mile walk from her Ashland Street house to her office at Town Hall.
Norwich resident William Russell, an atheist who alerted the state organization to the chimes, visits the borough a couple times a month to see a relative and help her with her banking. The first notes of “Onward, Christian Soldiers” make him cringe.
“It's against the Constitution,” he said. “It needs to be silenced.”
•••••On Friday, Russell said he can hear the bells when he drives by in his car despite having the windows rolled up and rock music blaring. But to Himes, the director of the state chapter of the atheists organization, the sound level is not the biggest problem.
“The town operating the equipment in the church is a more serious issue than the volume,” he said. “It's offensive. The town is allowing the church to benefit from the music — free advertising.”
American Atheists Inc. has formally asked the borough to divest itself of the chimes by selling the equipment to the church for a fair-market price. Then, Himes said, the borough must monitor the volume.
Pastor David Honeychurch said he was not surprised that someone would complain, but was surprised to hear that the complainant was from out of town.
Honeychurch said he sympathizes if the people who live around the church are disturbed by the chimes, but added that no one has come to the church to complain.
He said the church is not interested in purchasing the equipment or assuming the responsibilities associated with it. “We're satisfied with remaining in the middle,” he said.
Himes has notified the national atheists organization of the situation and will report once the borough responds to his letter.
Kata, the borough warden, said she and the burgesses will consider the letter at their next meeting, possibly this month.
“It's not a church thing. We don't pay them and they don't ask for money,” she said.
Kata said she understood that the volume of the music and chimes could be annoying to neighbors but that she's never before received a formal complaint. She also said she would remove any songs that people find offensive.
While Russell said that would help, he wants the borough to give up its equipment. He also wants the system turned down to the point that, if he drives by the church with his car windows rolled up, he cannot hear the chimes.
“If I played rap, rock and heavy metal, the music I listen to, from a speaker on top of a roof, I'd be told to turn it down or off,” he said. “Why should the church be able to do it?”
If the issue is not resolved, Russell said, it will most likely end up in court.
m.bard@theday.com

Today, I was reading my home paper the New London Day, and was amazed that there was no mention of the fact PFIZER's has decided not to continue with one of their drugs? It was all over the Fox News and CNN channel why then is the hometown paper of where the Pfizer plant is not mentioning this fact? Just a thought... Oh, as I look back on the paper at 430pm, it did pop up about Pfizer but not the morning paper..WHY??

On the other hand there was this:

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A sailor accused of stealing a Navy laptop and peddling its classified contents to an undisclosed foreign government pleaded guilty today to espionage, desertion and other charges.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann, 22, of Salem, Ore., faces a sentence of life in prison without parole, a dishonorable discharge from the Navy and forfeiture of all pay.
Under a plea agreement, Weinmann pleaded guilty to one count each of espionage, desertion, failing to properly safeguard and store classified information, copying classified information, communicating classified information to a person not entitled to receive it, and stealing and destroying a government computer.
The fire control technician was stationed aboard the Groton-based submarine USS Albuquerque.

Can you believe after 9/11 someone from our own country is so greedy they would sell our secrets? Can you explain to me why he joined the navy in the first place? Was this his plan all along? I am so appalled by this, I can't think straight or keep writing at this time.

Well, today is my husbands birthday, I gave him a card this morning and will be picking up his gift during work. Do you ever notice that when you are dating or engaged your gifts during a birthday/Christmas are very extravangant? Then when you are settled and married they are not as lavish, and more practical. Why? It is not as if they are not still very important dates it just seems that life has gotten in the way..

To me birthdays are a bigger celebration than Christmas because it is so personnel. I have taken different people places for their birthday. My friend Thomas on his 30th I took him to Savannah Georgia, for an ex, who's birthday is in February, I took him to Florida and New Yorkand gave him a surprise 25th birthday blow out ! For myself, on my 38th I took myself to Chicago, I love to travel and I love to celebrate, so it is a great combination. If I can't go away, then I make that day as special as possible, sending gifts throughout the day, doing a scavenger hunt, everyone should be made to feel very special on the day God introduced you to the world.

This year, we are celebrating his birthday with friends at a Sushi restaurant tomorrow night, but tonight is just us, and I have something special up my sleeve for my husband. I will post about it later, I do not want him to know just yet. So if anyone else has a birthday today HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!