Quote:MCALLEN - Hidalgo County prosecutors are moving forward with their case against an 800-pound woman charged with capital murder. Attorneys met for another hearing this morning.

Twenty-nine-year-old Mayra Rosales is accused of crushing her nephew to death in March 2008. She claims she fell on the toddler while she was babysitting. Prosecutors say the boy was beaten, and his skull was crushed.

Defense attorneys are trying to come up with a way of getting the obese woman to court. A district judge ordered both sides to come back to court for a pre-trial hearing February 16.

(01-27-2010, 10:54 AM)arch_angel Wrote: sadly, the grim reality of it is most parents that are on the same batch as ours, are really like that. they're terribly narrow minded and conservative, also really resistant to change. its like trying to move an entire cliff (fedor can do it btw)

Quote:I haven’t donated to the Haitian relief effort for the same reason that I don’t give money to homeless men on the street. Based on past experiences, I don’t think the guy with the sign that reads “Need You’re Help” is going to do anything constructive with the dollar I might give him. If I use history as my guide, I don’t think the people of Haiti will do much with my money either.

In this belief I am, evidently, alone. It seems that everyone has jumped on the “Save Haiti” bandwagon. To question the impulse to donate, then, will probably be viewed as analogous with rooting for Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, or the Spice Girls.

My wariness has much to do with the fact that the sympathy deployed to Haiti has been done so unconditionally. Very few have said, written, or even intimated the slightest admonishment of Haiti, the country, for putting itself into a position where so many would be killed by an earthquake....

...Dear Haitians –

First of all, kudos on developing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Your commitment to human rights, infrastructure, and birth control should be applauded.

As we prepare to assist you in this difficult time, a polite request: If it’s possible, could you not re-build your island home in the image of its predecessor? Could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty- and shack-towns? And could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?

Sincerely,

The Rest of the World...

(01-28-2010, 11:56 AM)Grim Wrote: While he does bring up some logical points, how you deliver the message is equally as important.

(01-28-2010, 12:06 PM)NiX Wrote: If we were the ones hit by such a calamity, would the rest of the world have noticed as much?

I know that in terms of scale, the floods that hit us weren't as bad as their double earthquakes... but still.

Quote: Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer, a Tuskegee Airman considered to be the only black ace pilot who also broke racial barriers as an executive at a major U.S. company and founder of a venture capital firm, died Wednesday in New York City. He was 90. His son, Roy Archer, said his father died at Cornell University Medical Center in Manhattan. A cause of death was not immediately determined.

The Tuskegee Airmen were America's first black fighter pilot group in World War II.

"It is generally conceded that Lee Archer was the first and only black ace pilot," credited with shooting down five enemy planes, Dr. Roscoe Brown Jr., a fellow Tuskegee Airman and friend, said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Archer was acknowledged to have shot down four planes, and he and another pilot both claimed victory for shooting down a fifth plane. An investigation revealed Archer had inflicted the damage that destroyed the plane, said Brown, and the Air Force eventually proclaimed him an ace pilot. Archer, a resident of New Rochelle, N.Y., "lived a full life," said his son. "His last two or three years were amazing for him."

Archer was among the group of Tuskegee Airmen invited to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. The airmen, who escorted bomber planes during the war fought with distinction, only to face bigotry and segregation when they returned home, were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their service in 2007 by President George W. Bush.