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589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | if this is the sniper that was caught today, then he (they) were extremely disappointing. i was anticipating a white, mid-30's, ex-militia or military, having a big gun battle with the police, never giving up ground, killing several officers before finally turning himself in and finally telling us his motive for doing all of this like ' i believe we shouldn't go to war with iraq because it killed my best friend' or 'i want custody of my kids', but instead we have some guy hiding in a van in richmond, va meekly giving up to local police. what a wuss. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | ben is lying - he said he would be fine going to pasta luna. beware his fiendish mood swings. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Either one, as long as it's not at a Ponderosa steakhouse... No comments on the national news, today, people? Why, who'd have ever thought that Mechanicsville, of all places, would make it onto Yahoo News? Guess that puts it on the map, urlLink literally . More damning conservsations from my weekend: Me (at Sephora in Regency Square): Hey, did you notice that Jennifer Lopez has her own perfume now? (Holds up a white box that says 'Glow' with the infamous 'J.Lo' logo below it). Wonder what it smells like... Sara (my other half): My guess is Crystal, sweat, and pinto beans. Guess I won't be riding that train alone. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | it's urlLink k'raja or bust for this guy |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | the places to go for the dinner have been narrowed down to india k'raja and pasta luna. vote for your favorite! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | what's up with the blog - it's all blue. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i sing the body electric |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Ample choruses of song ye shall receive. Looking very much forward to meeting you...'cause, you know, looking BACKWARD to meeting you would be silly. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Looking forward to big dinner. Hereby RSVP in the positive. As I am coming all the way down from Queens for this ... where are we eating? And don't forget, it's my birthday. Only ample choruses of song accepted. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | if i hold my breath long enough, i see the face of god and He says to me boogie, my son lay down the groove and boogie unfortunately right about that time i pass out |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | don't forget, big blog dinner taking place sunday, october 27th at 6:30! for details ask me on the blog! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | what warbot had to say about me Gatekeepers in paradise by R. Robot 'There could be some unwelcome consequences,' said Mir this week in a dream I recently had. This is why I could no longer write for Z Magazine, not with a clear conscience. Now that's just bizarrely ad-hominem moral equivalence. After all, this is a man who has amassed a deadly guitarsenal. Like Yasser Arafat, Mir believes in a contemptuously duplicitous philosophy of appeasement. The only word for it is deceitful -- and cynical. Cunning pundits like Robert Scheer and others apparently believe the best way to confront the sniper is to give him a big, sloppy kiss. When President Bush tries to protect us from deceitful brown men, Mir and her fellow leftoids cry out, 'racial profiling!' God forbid the public be able to vote for moral reform. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | try it out urlLink http://www.inksyndicate.com/warbot/ |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Interestingly enough, I sometimes believe in the world moreso than myself... I'm working on it. Thanks for the kind words, mir. :) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | angie, your last posting on deeply breathing made me cry. you are not alone. many of us harbor 'secret demons' that make us want to just give up and die. that make us feel like we're a burden to everyone and everything around us - including ourselves. hang in there - believe in yourself and the world. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Intresting urlLink Space Race . So who wants to start our own development? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Mir - In my opinion yes one can sacrifice one's mood for the happiness of another. However if one is always having to do this then that relationship is not really a happy one. There has to be some time for oneself for their happiness. In thoses time someone else mood may have to be sacrificed for the happiness to come about. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | can one sacrifice one's own mood for another's happiness? are some of us connected in some type of stronger way than others? or is it something we just tell ourselves in order to feel more significant - less ephemeral? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | hope you feel better soon ben! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | group: i apologize for using the blog in this way, but i just wanted to let you know that i'm home sick for those of you who email me. i'll delete this post when i (hopefully) return tomorrow. i won't be checking my home email until perhaps later this evening. happy blogging... |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | I would counter that there is now a precedent for federal court intervention in federal elections and that there is a constitutional basis for it. the supreme court did not choose bush over gore as much as it made florida clearly define what their election process is and whether the process itself violated federal law. from bush vs. gore urlLink http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=531&invol=98 The petition presents the following questions: whether the Florida Supreme Court established new standards for resolving Presidential election contests, thereby violating Art. II, 1, cl. 2, of the United States Constitution and failing to comply with 3 U. S. C. 5, and whether the use of standardless manual recounts violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. With respect to the equal protection question, we find a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The Florida Supreme Court has ordered that the intent of the voter be discerned from such ballots. For purposes of resolving the equal protection challenge, it is not necessary to decide whether the Florida Supreme Court had the authority under the legislative scheme for resolving election disputes to define what a legal vote is and to mandate a manual recount implementing that definition. The recount mechanisms implemented in response to the decisions of the Florida Supreme Court do not satisfy the minimum requirement for non-arbitrary treatment of voters necessary to secure the fundamental right. Florida's basic command forthe count of legally cast votes is to consider the 'intent of the voter.' Gore v. Harris, ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op., at 39). This is unobjectionable as an abstract proposition and a starting principle. The problem inheres in the absence of specific standards to ensure its equal application. The formulation of uniform rules to determine intent based on these recurring circumstances is practicable and, we conclude, necessary. While I understand Ted Rall's frustration with having Bush as president, I do not agree that the election was a judicial coup d'etat. What it was though is an example, notedin the supreme court ruling itself, that the vote counting systems in this country are antiquated and need to be changed and standardized so everyone's vote can be counted. Florida was having different counties determine what was and was not a 'hanging chad'. how can this be considered equal protection for all state voters wheneach district has it's own standards about what constitutes a vote? and jimi, this case in front of the supreme court was brought by bush not by gore. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Let's get the record straight about the 2000 Election. After each recount Bush still won in Florida. I believe there were 3 recounts: a machine recount, and 2 hand recounts. At the conclusion of each one, the Gore team (not Bush) cried foul and appealed to the higher courts. It was the Gore team that tried and succeded in a lot of cases to have military absentee votes invalidated because of technicalities. And they cheered when the decision by the court was returned in their favor! Can you believe that?! A candidate who consistently said he wanted 'to be sure that each vote was counted' had his attourneys in court cheering when they discredited the validity of the votes of men and women serving their country! What a 'man' Gore is! Next, there is federal election law provided in the Constitution. The Constitution provides the boundaries for electing the President by the electors of the Electoral College. Check out this web site for more info: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/refarticle.aspx?refid=761576768 'The electoral system was devised by the drafters of the Constitution of the United States, who hoped thereby to entrust the responsibility to people whose choice would be unaffected by partisan politics. In Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution, the method of selecting electors is delegated to the separate state legislatures, and the voting procedure to be followed by the electors is carefully defined. According to the electoral procedure originally specified in the Constitution, the electors were to vote for the two most qualified persons without specifying which was preferred for president and which for vice president. The candidate receiving the greatest number of electoral votes, provided the votes of a majority of the electors were received, would be president, and the candidate winning the second largest number of votes would be vice president. A serious flaw in this procedure was revealed in the election of 1800, when Thomas Jefferson was the presidential candidate of the Democratic-Republican Party (the forerunner of todays Democratic Party) and Aaron Burr was the candidate for vice president. The electors, by voting strictly for candidates of their party, gave Burr and Jefferson the same number of votes. As the Constitution provided, the election was referred to the House of Representatives, where a protracted struggle took place, requiring 36 ballots before Jefferson was chosen president and Burr vice president. Therefore, in 1804 Congress enacted and the states ratified the 12th Amendment, providing for separate electoral votes for president and for vice president.' As you see in the article, the selecting of electors is left to the states' legislatures, but the election of a President is outlined in the Constitution. Ben, the author of your article didn't do his homework. The election of Bush to office according to the Constitution is fully legit. Sorry, Democrats! As far as the Toricelli case, Representatives and Senators are elected according to individual laws of the states. So I can understand why the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | A stay would be 'the only means of protecting the integrity of the federal election process,' Republicans argued. But that's exactly the point: there is no 'federal election process.' Elections, even for national office, are governed by state law and administered by state bureaucrats. The highest arbiter of election disputes is each state's supreme court. The 2000 Florida dispute resulted in Republicans--historically the great champions of states' rights--obtaining the help of the federal court system to subvert the states' constitutionally-protected control of elections. An appeal of the Florida Supreme Court's decision, no matter how flawed that decision may have been, violated the Constitution. The fact that Renhquist et al. agreed to hear Bush v. Gore is what makes Bush's regime illegal. Had the court installed Gore rather than Bush, Gore would be the usurper. Recounts, hanging chads, choosing Bush over Gore--those details are mere footnotes to a brazenly extrajurisdictional judicial coup d'tat. A Republican-controlled U.S. Supreme Court broke the law on behalf of George W. Bush. Would they do it for Douglas Forrester? 'The elites beat up on the Supreme Court very severely for Bush v. Gore,' commented conservative George Mason University professor Dan Polsby. 'I'm sure they don't relish being beat up by those elites again.' On Oct. 7 the Supremes did what they ought to have done two years ago in the Florida case--they refused to hear the case, without comment. Election disputes, after all, are resolved by each state's supreme court. urlLink - Ted Rall, The Ironic Implication of the New Jersey Imbroglio |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | from the secret city - what does 'ad-free my fellow traveler' mean? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i love the language and voice - i wish i had written it In a true universe, there would be a place where love and marriages go to die, rapture's own version of the elephant's graveyard. They should not be allowed to dissipate on their own, to float away on some random moment, irrevocable as seed from a dandelion. There ought to be a body you can bury. urlLink http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2002/10/15/divorce/index.html |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | When You are Old W. B. Yeats When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | The Second Coming Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre will not hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight; somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with a lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, it's hour come round at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? William Butler Yeats |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | 'In August, the historic Shugborough Home (Staffordshire, England) announced a job opening for a hermit to live temporarily in a cave on the grounds (running water not available) and scare away trespassers; an administrator was said to be astonished at the large number of applications. Also in August, the Landmark Trust, which manages the remote Lundy Island off the southwest coast of England, announced a job opening for a shepherd for the island's 600 sheep and various rare wildlife; the island receives birdwatchers but has no nighttime electricity.' urlLink - news of the weird |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The other crusade would outplace venerable urlLink Smokey ('Only you can prevent forest fires') Bear and hire -- get ready for this -- a squirrel named Reddy chattering his motto: 'No one can prevent wildfires. Be ready!' |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | my job is so incredibly boring - there's nothing to do. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i think we should put this man's blog on our site 'To function as non-homeless, a person must be able to establish and maintain a certain level of community -- the anxieties prevent me from doing this,' Barbieux writes. 'I took [the anti-depressant] Paxil for a few months and it helped. [But] I was dropped from the state insurance plan because they could not locate me (homeless people can be hard to find), so I no longer have the means to obtain the medicine.' urlLink http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/10/14/homeless/index.html |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | urlLink urlLink jellystone stuff.. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/10/12/draper.museum.ap/index.html |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | fish and chips fish and chips fish and chips |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | The drool can be a bit overbearing at times. But I can deal with it because I'm in love love love love crazy love. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | excellent. johnathan has lost his mind. the plan may now proceed to the next level. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | candy bar candy bar candy bar |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | ben, where did you find that wacko homestar site? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | urlLink http://www.angryflower.com/apath.gif |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | just had thanksgiving dinner with my family. oh how i hate them. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | if i don't cut it out i'm gonna kick my ass i mean it |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Bad Poetry I want to write bad poetry The kind that makes you cringe. I dont give a fuck about rhyme Or meter or rhythm Iambic pentameter, maybe. But thats as far as Ill go. I want to write bad poetry About pain and sorrow and loss. Maya and teenagers havent cornered the market On being downtrodden. After all, What about the white, college-educated, middle-class male? We got our gripes, too. But I wont put any effort into it Unless Im drunk Or sentimental. Which might actually make it worse. I want my poetry To be the literary version of a Baz Lurmann movie. If Moulin Rouge can win an Oscar Who says I cant be Poet Laureate? I want to go on Oprah And have her kiss my ass. Id act pretentious and sullen And lecture about my triumph over adversity. Ill make Jonathan Franzen look like her best friend. And If Im really lucky, Dr. Phil will come on And Ill kick his ass. Its about time I got recognized As the writer of my generation. Coupland can collect plastic bottles and design furniture, And Ethan Hawkes novel will wipe my ass. Fuck Damon and Affleck Screenplays are for pussies. I want to be Kerouac the traveler Fitzgerald the Hollywood-abused Thompson the twisted And Hemingway the suicidal drunk. Pounded into one person From a 4 AM bar fight in Queens. With a side of Joyce for good measure. I already drink Guinness. I promise to use vile, filthy words. Stuff I couldnt say on the Today show. Things like smack, crack, crank, and blow. Shit, fuck, suck a duck. Prick, dick, sniggedy-wick. Give the dog a bone. I feel better already. Now give me my NEA grant. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Happy Thanksgiving everyone! eat lots of toast and popcorn! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i am driving myself to drink nag nag nag nag NAG all day long i wish i'd just shut up but no i just keep on and on and on one day i'll let me have it and then i'll know who's boss oh yeah |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | luke is a former employee of wachovia (he worked with ben and neal), a christian, and an all-around nice guy. he is currently training to be a baggage handler with american airlines. also, he is, i think, 21 years old. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | who's luke? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | a tax urlLink for the urlLink masses http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/12/rauch.htm urlLink |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i don't know why people drink, my fellow traveler. but at least i know now why you didn't return my phone call last night. :) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | had a dream about luke last night. he was living with a woman (a former beauty queen) and he was actually 42. i think i have seen his future. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | why drink and drive when you can toke and fly |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i just got ben's christmas present through an auction! yay! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | I misunderstood. It seemed you were blowing past my words and on to presenting a thesis I did not intend. All is well. I must say I am pleased that you have chosen to change the spelling of Franzen's name to match mine. Soon I will conquer the literary world...one name at a time... |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | urlLink He is not a masochist, he is a shrewd passive-aggressive (aren't they all?), courting sympathy by constantly telling us where he hurts and fastening reader interest on himself, regardless of the issue or controversy. interesting urlLink article for those of you who enjoy johnathan franzen's novels |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | thanks for the clarification johnathan. sorry that the way i rephrased my question (i wrote a response then went back and edited it - that was what i meant by rephrasing - not rephrasing you but myself -perhaps i should have made that clear) annoyed you. i was just stating my opinion - wasn't trying to offend. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Ben - I did not answer the questions because the rephrasing seemed to suggest that the words weren't read at all, which annoyed me because I was in a mood conducive to such. Mir - I answered the first question in my previous post. In an ideal world, I would answer affirmatively to the second question. This is not an ideal world, and proactive goodwill is not inherent to our species, so some socially-agreed upon governmental action is necessary to ensure temporary aid is provided for those who cannot help themselves. I suggest 'governmental action' because my initial assumption, that proactive goodwill is not inherent to our species, precludes the private sector doing anything unless profit is possible or even guaranteed. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | just read angie's site - you go jamie lee curtis! and let's hear it for soft, fatty little tummys and back fat! i have honestly thought at times that i was the only woman with back fat. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i miss emailing stupid comments and questions to ben at his workplace. sigh (insert muppet song) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | I actually have been hearing about this for a while, since the guitar player for my band works there at the SPCA...he said he wished that he were treated as well as the animals were, so apparently they're livin' pretty swanky. :) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | the new 'state-of-the-arf' shelter - this makes me proud to be a richmonder The Cat's Pajamas Richmond SPCA Opens Its Deluxe Animal Shelter By Don Oldenburg Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, November 26, 2002; Page C01 RICHMOND When you walk into the Richmond SPCA's Robins-Starr Humane Center -- an animal shelter -- instead of hearing pained howls and barks, you get soothing strains of Mozart or New Age music. Instead of the stench of hapless animals, the air smells outdoor fresh. Instead of depressed dogs and cats killing time in cramped cages, these potential pets are bright-eyed and ready to go in their 'living rooms.' With its stylish interior painted bold yellows, blue-violets and mauves, the new 'state-of-the-arf' shelter, which opened last month, looks more like a fancy hotel. Natural light pours down from huge skylights. Bronze sculptures and paintings lend the feel of an art gallery. And the canine living rooms and cat cotillions are unmistakenly homelike. 'Oh, my gosh!' says first-time visitor Katherine Gregory, from South Riding in Loudoun County. In Richmond visiting her mother, Gregory stopped by the center with her sons, Andrew, 10, and Matthew, 7, in search of a kitten. 'I'm amazed. I recently went to the Loudoun shelter and the Fairfax shelter, and they aren't anything like this!' Pound for pound, this 64,000-square-foot center -- currently housing about two-thirds of its capacity, which is 150 dogs and 150 cats -- is not like any animal shelter you've ever seen. The facility, located in a warehouse district off the Boulevard exit from Interstate 95, is among the largest nationwide. But size isn't everything: The center was designed to defy preconceptions, the theory being that a cheery environment will foster a higher rate of adoption. That's critical, since the motive for this $7.2 million shelter was the Richmond SPCA's decision to 'go no-kill.' The group is also committed to making the whole city no-kill by 2008. 'What keeps people from walking in the door of a shelter? It's noisy, it's depressing, it's scary, it's smelly,' says Denise Deisler, the Richmond SPCA's associate executive director. 'This place is bright and friendly.' The building is a 78-year-old red-brick tobacco warehouse with a verdigris seamed roof. Beyond the lobby are 11 glass-doored 'dog living rooms.' About the size of a small bedroom, each is furnished with a stylish blue metal bench and chairs and a puffy dog bed. A large Labrador-mix named Old Bay sits eagerly at the door of one. On his windowsill is this personal publicity: a can of Old Bay Seasoning and a note, 'I like lots of love and need to take long walks on the beach.' 'They will allow you to go in these rooms and actually sit with the dog, and play with the dog, get to know the dog, walk the dog outside,' says Tony Zimmer, the contractor who oversaw the renovation but kept returning after it was done. A 'lifelong dog person,' Zimmer says he kept coming back because the people, the place and the pets left him feeling good. 'It's not like looking at dogs in cages. You actually get to know the dog.' A couple weeks ago, he took home a 4-month-old red chow. The public can also visit dogs in the less flashy kennel rooms. The 22 'kennel runs,' each four feet wide and 14 feet long, are significantly larger than standard shelter cages. At the opposite end of the shelter are the individual cat 'condos' and three cat 'cotillions' -- large rooms with open drawers, cubbyholes and climbing poles, where as many as 10 cats live and people can visit. All details are designed to bring out the best in the animals. The floors are soft, waterproof epoxy-finished surfaces and the ceilings are sound-absorbent. The cacophony typical of kennels not only is unpleasant for people but also hurts the animals (dogs can hear frequencies more than 20 kHz higher than humans; cats, more than 45 kHz higher). 'When a dog is in pain from the sound, that elevates the stress level,' says Emerson Hughes, owner of Holiday Barn Pet Resorts and former chairman of the Richmond SPCA board, who oversaw the project. Although the creature comforts are as much for visitors, Deisler says Mozart really does soothe the savage beast -- or confused puppy. In a study conducted at Queen's University in Belfast, psychologists found that heavy-metal music increased anxiety in dogs and caused barking, while classical music alleviated stress and quieted barking. The shelter's classical music is digitally altered to put a damper on the ultrahigh and low frequencies. 'If they are too stressed out, that reduces their immune system and that leads to them being sick, and if they are sick we can't adopt them,' says Deisler. But what an adoring public sees and hears in the adoption area is just a small part of the center. Only about a quarter of the animals are available for adoption at any one time. The rest are being rehabbed. Behind the scenes, every animal gets a physical and behavioral checkup. Dogs with contagious diseases -- like Raspie, a 4-year-old Sheltie with kennel cough -- are confined to the Physical Rehab Room for treatment. Staff experts work with personality problems in the Behavioral Rehab Room. Even healthy animals get a three-day adjustment period to acclimate to shelter life. Zephia Scarborough adopted a black-and-white kitten she named Steinway a few weeks ago. Because he had been trapped inside a wall for several days before being rescued, the kitten was traumatized. Before taking Steinway home, she had to wait for him to come out of rehab. 'Ten days later, he was fat and happy and purring,' the Richmond resident says. Also hidden are the shelter's command centers for its centrally controlled, high-pressure hydro-cleaning system that borrows from car wash technology, and its advanced air-exchange system that sends fresh air throughout the building every six minutes. 'It's good for reducing the spread of disease and the odors in the building, and it has the side benefit of not collecting as much dust and hairballs,' says Deisler. Near the entrance is the spay-neuter clinic. Each year, 18,000 'companion animals' end up here or in one of the city or county shelters in the greater Richmond area; in the past, half of those animals were euthanized. Now the center spays or neuters every animal when it arrives and offers those services at low cost to the public. Pet overpopulation is a nationwide problem, of course. Accurate numbers aren't available, but the Humane Society of the United States estimates that 8 million to 10 million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters each year and that half are euthanized. Locally, the Montgomery County Humane Society shelter, the only one in the county, took in 6,650 dogs and cats in the year that ended in July and euthanized about 2,600. The D.C. Animal Shelter took in 9,284 and euthanized 65 percent of them. Deisler mentions a statistic. How many dogs and cats would every person in the United States have to own to empty all of the shelters? 'It just blew my mind,' she says. 'Six cats and two dogs.' On the second floor is a 'humane library,' a large auditorium that seats 300 people for educational programs and benefit events, and a spectacular rubber-padded jogging track and training arena where all dogs are exercised and obedience classes are held. 'Part of making this community no-kill is you've got to provide good educational programs for people to understand how to do it,' says Robin Robertson Starr, executive director of the facility, who expects the center to help 6,000 to 8,000 animals get adopted annually -- twice as many as the old shelter. At the forefront of a revolution in the pet care industry, the Richmond center is attracting international attention. Since opening, it has received 250 job and volunteer applications. (Besides 150 volunteers, it employs 50 kennel workers and staffers whose annual salaries range from $20,000 to $36,000.) People from other SPCAs nationwide call for tours. Starr has participated in an 'international chat' online and a conference in Atlanta. The Mayor's Alliance for Animals in New York has contacted the Richmond SPCA about how it is working with the city to solve the animal overpopulation problem. The center's no-kill policy means it does not kill animals due to overpopulation. It takes in only animals that it can physically and behaviorally rehabilitate to an adoptable condition. All animals at the shelter stay there until they are adopted. 'We control admissions so as never to exceed our capacity,' says Starr. Even private kennels are upgrading facilities in what the American Pet Products and Manufacturing Association calls a $31 billion industry: This month, Olde Towne Pet Resort opened in Springfield. Billing itself as 'The Ultimate Pet Care Facility,' it offers services such as an indoor hydrotherapy pool and an indoor walking track and agility course. 'It's more than just the building, it's the no-kill policy. No-kill is the real trend toward significant change,' says Starr, after whom the center was named, along with patron E. Claiborne Robins Jr. In the first 10 months of this year, 1,200 fewer animals were euthanized by the Richmond SPCA than in the same period the year before. Some of the interest is in how the Richmond SPCA raised $14.2 million in three years during an economic downturn. Half of that went to build and half to operate; the operating budget, derived from donations, is $2.5 million a year, twice that of the old shelter. 'You work really hard,' says Starr, an attorney who worked full time those three years raising donations -- nearly all of them coming from the Richmond community. Outside her second-floor office, playing with her own 3-year-old shaggy mutt named Nibblet, one of the four dogs and two cats she has adopted, Starr says people 'care a lot about the humane cause, but people don't care a lot about continuing to throw their money at something that never changes.' What worked in Richmond, she explains, 'was presenting them with a problem that can be licked, telling them how it can be licked.' But whenever an animal shelter upgrades beyond concrete floors and clanky cages, Starr says, someone always questions treating animals so well when homeless people are sleeping on the streets. 'I have trouble with that comparison,' she says. 'If we wanted to say that human homelessness is the cause that matters the most, then that could also be said of the money that goes to art museums, or the money that goes to botanical gardens, or the performing arts. 'All of those are valuable things that improve the quality of our lives. So do pets. They enormously improve the quality of our lives.' |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | interesting how you criticized her questions. curious as to why you didn't just answer them. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | ah, but do Ayatollah Chex stay crunchy in milk? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | from this modern world Your mind bender for today This definitely qualifies for the, 'Are they out of their frickin minds?' category. The geniuses in the Bush admin are wooing Iraqi Ayatollah Muhammad Bakir al-Hakim, based in Iran, as part of their attempt to go after Saddam Hussein. Let's get this straight. They are backing an Ayatollah, backed by the Ayatollahs they consider part of an Axis of Evil for overthrowing the secular dictator they put and kept in power, in order to help overthrow another part of the Axis of Evil led by a secular dictator they put and kept in power. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | mir's movie reviews 8-mile - good film. surprised by the acting abilities of eminiem. latest bond film - okay. not a really big fan of the bond films but i have definitely seen worse. halle berry looks good.madonna couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. trailer for the two towers - awesome. trailer for daredevil - mixed. i like these types of films but i'm having a hard time dealing with the idea that ben affleck will be playing daredevil. and the chic playing elektra seems kinda lame. trailer for bad ass monk movie - a must see. has chow young fat or whatever his name is in it. dude -action, kung fu, and something of a storyline. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | did i happen to mention my lack of a halloween bear? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | - My thoughts and actions may or may not be the result of societal influence. - Interesting that you read 'societal mores are irrelevant to (me)'. Curious as to where that appears in the text. - Interesting that you read '(I) think that each individual should determine their own responsibilities...' Curious as to where that appears in the text. - Interesting that you refer to '...a governmental body or a group of individuals.' Curious as to where that appears in the text. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | let me rephrase: are you stating that societal mores are irrevelant to you and that you think each individual should determine their own responsibilities as opposed to having it dictated to them by a governmental body or group of individuals? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | In my opinion, these are questions that a society asks for itself. The universe pre-, during, and post-Human doesn't care. The answers will vary from society to society, as well as from individual to individual. All I ask is that you do not attempt to direct my responsibilities. I can manage them myself, on my own terms. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | you know the more i think about this, the more it just infuriates me. what's that, asks zee bear. that some people believe that not everyone has the right to decent housing, food, clothes, and health care. these are just fundamental rights. how could you deny someone these things? could you honestly go up to a woman who is ill and can't work and tell her,it's just tough shit for her? don't we as a society have a responsibility for each other? now, how that's going to be done can be debated and realistic solutions should be created. but to think that those things are wrong to begin with? i just don't get that. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | observe the folly of man urlLink Hidden island off Sicily may reappear |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Back from Oblivion! Hi guys, I won't be able to make the dinner on the 14th, but Sara and I are throwing a Christmas Party that evening, so please feel free to come by after dinner. Email invites have been sent out, so check yer inbox! John, I'm sorry to hear about the complications. I hope you and your wife are well. My thoughts are with you both. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | hello? i'm working at home here - need some entertainment! where are all the blogger folk? (and yes, that is a cat stevens song) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i still don't have a goddamn halloween bear. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | celine dion, please get out of my head!!!! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | You and yours will be in my thoughts, John...I hope everything turns out okay! Fennie will miss being antagonized by Burne, but you need to stay at home with the wifey! :) Good luck! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | good luck with everything john. and give julie our love and support. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Hey all. Julie was admitted to the hospital yesterday. We went in for a routine check, and the doctor saw something she did not like and sent Julie down for observation. Come to find out, she was having contractions and did not even notice them. She is only 26 weeks, so no one wants to see these babies born yet. They gave Julie some medicine that did not stop the contractions. They then tried a different, stronger, medicine, and it did not work either. By 5 o'clock, her very reserved doctor, was visibly concerned about the situation. Finally, around 7, the contractions slowed. and have, as of an hour ago, stopped. Julie will be in the hospital through at least tomorrow, depending on how she reacts to being weened off the medication. After that though, she will be on mandatory bedrest. So, that means my availability for any of the group stuff (Road to Glory, dinner parties, movies) are highly suspect for the immediate future. I will let you know what changes. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Johnathan, you are so sick. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | The Virgin Mary's got good bush Holy bush Sacred bush God's bush |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | is madness the only path left to utopia? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | done and done. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | question: effect or affect - The invention of the laser beam took out the (effect/affect) of environmental variables? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Oh yeah, hair pie...I first heard that one in 'Revenge Of The Nerds' at the tender young age of 7...I didn't really get it. I was more amused by what Booger called it, which was simply 'bush.' |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | me want yogi cave! |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | where i will be going tonight after my dinner with angie (seriously, i will be there - i'll be the one in the fish nets) urlLink http://www.sexworkersartshow.com/ |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | a nomination for the most disturbing euphemism describing the female genitalia: hair pie |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | I have thunder in my pants. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | several questions here ben. is this a direct quote from garfield? there was a movie called 'thunderpants' and it wasn't a porn film? and finally, people still read garfield? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | we need to find the people responsible for this sort of foolishness and kill them Garfield: The Hollywood Reporter indicates Director Peter Hewitt ('Thunderpants') will helm the live-action version of the comic which will involve fights between a CG Garfield and Odie. urlLink - Dark Horizons |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | AH, the days of Star Trek are slowly becoming reality: urlLink Smart Displays |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | It depends upon the tempo of the music and my mood. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Hrmm I wonder what fight scene you are imagining. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Yes. But it's okay, 'cause I do it in the shower. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | yet another goddamn reason to become a vegan urlLink http://www.salon.com/politics/comics/2002/11/21/meat/index.html?x |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | does the fact that i imagine d&d fight scenes while listening to rush in my car make me a geek? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | yeah, i knew the posts didn't look appropriate juxtaposed but damn that vs fashion show joke was good! :) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | That post was in reference to your comment about the VS fashion show, btw. In case that was unclear. Yeah. |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | Mir...*lmao*... Too funny. :) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | as you read this section of the article and perhaps the rest of the article, keep in mind that these soldiers were trained with U.S. money and support: But in the middle of Dianna Ortiz's torture, something distinctly inimical to torture happens. While her tormentors take a break, she finds herself alone in a room with a figure curled under a bloodstained sheet. When Dianna pulls back the sheet, there is a woman who 'opens her eyes, and they are light brown in the black and blue of her face. Her teeth appear in the crack of her swollen lips. She is trying to smile. I catch a sob in my throat and gently take her hand. Her breasts have been cut, and maggots are crawling in them.' The woman asks Dianna's name, and says 'Dianna, be strong.' They hold hands. 'For what seems like hours, we hold on to each other.' urlLink http://www.salon.com/books/review/2002/11/19/ortiz/index.html |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | i guess the same could have been asked about the victoria's secret 'fashion show' tonight. :) |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | For the PC gamers out there: urlLink Is it live or is it silicon? |
589,736 | male | 35 | Technology | Aries | 05,August,2004 | WTF. urlLink Michael Jackson dangles baby out window |
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