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Join me, Matt, for
The Week In Review
9:00pm Eastern in the Town Meeting chat room.
Click HERE for your audio invitation.
Look for entertaining discussions with a touch of debate in a friendly yet spirited atmosphere with all (reasonable) opinions respected.
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Ernesto Reyes is accused of beating to death Melanie Goodwin, a 19 year old sophomore at the University of North Texas, and dumping her burned body behind some office buildings. After allegedly committing the crime and of hearing that police in Texas were after him, Reyes fled to Mexico where he has citizenship.
Mexican authorities have arrested Reyes and agreed to extradite him to the US since the US has agreed to honor the 1978 agreement to waive the death penalty against anyone accused of a capital crime who is a Mexican citizen who has fled to Mexico.
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Media regulator Ofcom has handed down a record £5.68m (approx. $13.36m) fine to ITV for the abuse of premium rate competition lines.
Shows such as Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Soapstar Superstar and Gameshow Marathon were found to have "serious editorial issues" in that viewers had spent millions by calling into the competition lines which were unfair, and in some cases decided before phonelines closed.
Ofcom said that the fine was so high due to the "seriousness and repeated nature of the offences".
In a related incident, it has transpired The Catherine Tate Show was "robbed" of the People's Choice Award at the British Comedy Awards. A report shows that the show received by far the most votes in the poll, however the award was given to Ant and Dec.
This latest report and fine will do serious damage to Ant and Dec (Anthony McFarlan and Declan Donnelly), as both are listed as executive producers on Saturday Night Takeaway and Gameshow Marathon. However, both deny knowing about the fraudulant nature of the phone-ins.
Check the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/5gjk48
I don't think this fine is big enough, and I hope that it will lead to compensation claims from people who had been ripped off. I also do not see how Ant and Dec had not known about what had gone on if they were really executive producers.
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Magic trick costs teacher job
Well, another Pasco County substitute teacher's job is on the line, but this time it's because of a magic trick.
The charge from the school district — Wizardry!
Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.
But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.
"I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue. You can't take any more assignments. You need to come in right away,'" he said.
When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he'd hoped.
"I said, 'Well Pat, can you explain this to me?' 'You've been accused of wizardry,' [he said]. Wizardry?" he asked.
Apparently, "wizardry" is a fireable offense in Florida. Piculas says some other charges were trumped up after the firing to make it stick, such as allowing students to play on unapproved computers and "not following lesson plans", but he says nothing had ever been said to him about such things beforehand, so he believes these are embelleshments created to cover up the fact that he is, in fact, being fired for his magic trick of causing a toothpick to disappear and reappear.
Do you think that sleight-of-hand qualifies as "wizardry", and performing such "wizardry" in front of schoolchildren is a firable offense? Jim Piculas is unable to get work as a substitute teacher now because of this firing. Is it fair? Is Florida..... sane?
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I have been buying all kinds of electric can openers, and they just don't last and do not work well.
I have 2 right now that I discarded in the basement. I keep resorting to the inexpensive manual openers -- I had one that lasted for years, and I know they're reliable.
The first can I opened with the last electric opener I bought fell and spilled all over, so I made sure I held all the cans carefully after that. Tomato paste cans will not open unless I keep playing with it. The last time I used it was to open a can of tuna, and it spilled all over the counter again.
Does any one have an electric can opener they like that really works and will last more then a month?
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Would the people of America elect an openly gay man or woman to the White House?
In the upcoming election, we'll see if America is ready for a female or a black President. (And yes, I understand that a vote for McCain is not necessarily a vote against a woman or black) If either Hillary or Obama is elected, the question above becomes more important.
What's your opinion? Do you think your own view differs from, or is in accord with, that of the majority of Americans?
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Some of you may have read a thread about Balil Hussein, an Iraqi photographer working with a Pulitzer-prize winning team from the Associated Press. He was held by the US military, without charge, but with suspicion of collusion with the enemy. After two years of retention within Iraq, he's finally been 'turned over' to the AP after the military declared he was no longer 'a threat'--and after the Iraqi government granted him amnesty.
In the meantime, a photographer and journalist, Sami al-Haj, from al-Jazeera News, was released after six years of detention in Gitmo after 'we' decided 'our' case against him was 'baseless.'
Balil Hussein was 'turned over' to the AP. Sami al-Haj was carried out of Gitmo on a stretcher.
As American citizens, we claim our 'constitutional rights.' Should we deny those same rights to citizen's of other countries who're practicing one of our basic rights--freedom of the press?
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I was accidentally carrying a kitchen knife in my hand baggage. In the airport they scanned and confiscated it. They also took my passport number and boarding pass details.
I am afraid what they are to do with these details. Would I be allowed to board the flight again for any other destinations. It happened in a Swiss Airport. I am afraid what its going to do to my future.
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As part of my ongoing investigation into the true Hillary Clinton or simply as another thread only this one hopefully about good things that would come from a Clinton presidency....
I asked the following question in another thread.
"Chocolategenii,
This is probably not the time or place to ask this but what do you think of the Clinton proposal to eliminate the federal gas tax for three months of the summer?"
In an effort for full closure: I asked the question of Chocolategenii in response to a post in which she had mentioned how it's hard to talk with people with blinders on. I have the idea some politicos tend to fit this category of people so I was testing my idea with an obvious gaff by Clinton.
It's a ridiculous proposal at best is my position.
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