Posted on 09/11/2004 3:55:36 AM PDT by BigWaveBetty
Timeout..you are so intelligent and informed, I know you will make the right decision of if and when to leave...Will be thinking of you and your kitty.
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the first major gay rights legislation to reach his desk yesterday when he approved a bill that would require insurance companies to offer coverage to registered domestic partners.
The governor's office announced his approval late yesterday without any fanfare or even a signing message explaining his decision.
AB 2208, sponsored by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, would require companies that offer health, life, homeowners and auto insurance to offer policies that cover domestic partners in the same way they cover spouses.
Nice work, guv.
Woman stabs cousin to death over french fries
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | Sept, 13, 2004 | BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter
Posted on 09/14/2004 9:26:59 AM CDT by petconservative
They'd known each other all their lives, but Antoinette Jenkins stabbed her cousin in the heart Sunday in an argument over french fries, Chicago Police said.
Antoine Jenkins, 19, "died for a dollar,'' a police source said. "They got into an argument over a 99-cent box of White Castle french fries.''
Antoinette Jenkins, also 19, fled after the stabbing and was found later Sunday in a hotel, said Austin District Lt. Wade Ingram.
"She had all the White Castle stuff all over the hotel room,'' Ingram said
Antoine's mother, Joyce Jenkins, said her heart goes out to her sister, Antoinette's mother.
"It's my sister's daughter,'' she said quietly. "She's tore up, too.''
And despite her grief, Joyce Jenkins made a public plea Sunday for people to be kind to one another.
"They need to control it, think first, before they react,'' she said.
The fight was "stupid, that's what it was,'' Joyce Jenkins said.
She said she thinks her niece was intoxicated at the time of the stabbing outside 17 S. Leamington, next-door to where both cousins lived.
"Antoine, he's not a violent child,'' his mother said, still speaking of him in the present tense. "He gets along with everybody.''
The cousins had visited the White Castle at Madison and Pulaski, Joyce Jenkins said. Oddly, she is the manager of a White Castle at North and Central.
"This morning, my sister called me and said they got to fightin,' '' Joyce Jenkins said. "They got to fightin,' arguin' about something, and Antoinette just got a knife and stabbed him. . . . over a hamburger or something.''
Antoine attended Austin High School, his mother said.
"My family is here with me, comforting me,'' Joyce Jenkins said. "Got to hold on.''
Antoinette Jenkins was being held at the police department's Area 5 facility, Ingram said.
GETTING READY FOR HURRICANE IVAN!
Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person
pointing to some radar blob out in the Atlantic Ocean and making two basic
meteorological points:
(1) There is no need to panic.
(2) We could all be killed.
Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:
STEP 1.
Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days
STEP 2.
Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3.
Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween. Unfortunately,
statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:
HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:
If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this
insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:
(1) It is reasonably well-built, and
(2) It is located in Nebraska.
Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to
pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane Georges, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys.
SHUTTERS:
Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:
Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they will fall off.
Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.
Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them.
Hurricane-proof windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane
protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand
hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska.
Hurricane Proofing Your Property:
As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like
barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc.. You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.
EVACUATION ROUTE:
If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned
out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your
driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area).
The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.
HURRICANE SUPPLIES:
If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM.
In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies:
*23 flashlights At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.
*Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!) A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant.
*A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a
hurricane, but it looks cool.)
*A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Camille; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)
*$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.
Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.
Good luck, and remember:
It's great living in Paradise!!!
Funny stuff - thanks.
#86 is very funny...is that a Dave Barry column?
At the end of Alec's talk with Tina he tells her "they've got to go", as he ran his finger across his throat. He was referring to Bush and Cheney. Tina giggled.
Thanks, B. We've been very conflicted here, all truly knowing we could NOT wish it to go to florida. We'll be OK. Thanks for your prayers. T.
Fatin Hafid Al-Rawadly, of the Sultanate of Oman, left, and Aseel Almutareb, of Yemen, leave the students hall to listen to Diana Kerry, John Kerry (news - web sites)'s younger sister, delivering her speech at the US students of the John Cabot University, in Rome, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004. Diana Kerry is on a 100-city world tour to register US citizens abroad to vote for the upcoming Presidential elections. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
FYI, I think Ft. Morgan has been evacuated. My mom said that they've cut the power to the island already, so I'm hoping everyone is out. They couldn't find the wood for the windows to the condo, but they did tape them (like that's going to do any good!).
FWIW, I really think it's going to be around Pascagola/ Biloxi and that stretch from Mississippi to the Alabama border. =( That of course, means that you get the dirty side. Are you on the east or west side of the Bay?
I'm about 12 miles west of the bay. My house is on probably the highest hill in town...it's not very high, but flooding won't be a problem here. Tornadoes would be my biggest concern.
The entire area around Gulf Shores/Orange Beach has been evacuated...I'm glad they're out.
How are you with regards to trees? I worry about those pines snapping and becoming missiles.
Alec Baldwin certainly talks like a real macho man, doesn't he? He threatens the lives of members of Congress, the president, the vice-president - and yet he's a pathetic fat man with no career and a wife-abuser. Thanks for your input, Alec, now go back under your rock.
Dual use jammies... good for blogging, protesting Kerry or CBS, relaxing...
Schools have got so many dumbed-down nitwits out there who believe that folks like Baldwin have something worth hearing, just because they are seen on movies screens or the tellie.
Wake up! people.
Here's what James Lileks put on his blog (The Bleat) yesterday:
Trees...not good. I've cleared the pines around my house, but my neighbor has about 10 huge ones. 3 of them are already leaning perilously toward my house (probably 15-20 degrees) after past hurricanes. We have huge lots---about an acre---but those 3 pines happen to be close to my line.
I've tried to hint to them that they are threats to my property, but to no avail. If they fall on my property, it's my problem...sheesh! My other neighbor owns an insurance company....I'm going to tell him they ought to pay for "preventive tree cutting". :)
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