Soxy

Germans give $522M World - AFP AFP German private donations to tsunami victims at record 400 million euros BERLIN (AFP) - In just three weeks, the German public has donated a record 400 million euros (522 million dollars) in aid for victims of the Asian tsunamis, making Germany the most generous country worldwide in helping the Indian Ocean region recover from the disaster.ctims at record 400 million euros "Four hundred million euros in private donations have been collected. I am happy that German people have shown themselves to be so generous, sensitive and willing to help," Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a news conference of foreign journalists. "This shows that Germany's international responsibility is not only being taken seriously by the politicians, but also by civil society," he added. The record vaults Germany, with an additional government pledge of 500 million euros in aid, to the top of the global list of those responding to last month's catastrophic earthquake and floods. One of the biggest individual contributions came from Michael Schumacher, motor racing's Formula One world champion, who donated 7.5 million euros. The chancellor said the generosity was in part perhaps because the December 26 earthquake off Indonesia and the resulting tidal waves -- which have killed more than 168,000 people across 11 countries -- evoked memories among older Germans of the destruction and tens of thousands of civilian deaths during World War II. In addition, he said the record was because Germans "empathized" with the Asians, the majority of them poor and many of them children, affected by the disaster. The fact that so many Germans travel to southern Asia, particularly the worst-hit countries of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, likely also played a role encouraging Germans to dig deep. The previous record stood at 350 million euros in the summer of 2002, when massive flooding hit large parts of eastern and southern Germany. The Asian disaster has claimed at least 60 German lives, and left 678 officially missing. Donors in other countries -- such as Sweden, Australia, the United States, Canada, France, Britain and Italy -- have also offered tens, sometimes more than a hundreds millions dollars in private donations. Only in the richest nation, the United States did the public, along with top stars of Hollywood and the music industry help US private donations reach 350 million dollars. The Australians have also been generous, contributing at least 118 million dollars through various events, including a telethon and an international cricket match. The British public has given 190 million dollars so far and more money is likely to flow in, with British pop and rock stars to play a concert later this month in aid of victims. In all, private donations from all the world's countries add up to close to 2.3 billion dollars, according to an AFP tally.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 17, 2005 -> 07:58 PM) I stopped him in the hall the next day and said to him " You ever do something like that again & I'm gonna throw you right out of that f***ing window ( we were on the 2nd floor ). He got the message. I wish I had the presence to make that threat and have people act up...Must work on being threatening...

Baby it's cold outside!!! Minnesota Town Hits 54 Below Zero By The Associated Press Temperatures plummeted across the eastern half of the nation Monday, approaching an all-time record in northern Minnesota and freezing the Gulf Coast as a river of Arctic air pushed southward. Thermometers registered a low of 54 degrees below zero at Embarrass, Minn. "You keep living, but it gets old after a while," said Christine Mackai, the town clerk for the community of 691 people in northeast Minnesota. Minnesota's record is 60 below, set on Feb. 2, 1996, in Tower, about 10 miles north of Embarrass. The cold at Embarrass didn't stop the regular customers from getting their morning coffee at Four Corners, a cafe and gas station. "Everybody left their cars running," waitress Trish Roggenbuck said. "It was pretty much breathtaking when you walked outside." While below-zero readings stayed in the upper Midwest, thermometers dropped below the freezing mark all the way to the Gulf of Mexico coast. The morning low was 28, with wind chills in the upper teens, at Mobile, Ala., Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., and Pensacola, Fla. A hard freeze warning was in effect overnight into Tuesday morning for parts of Mississippi, the weather service said. Mackai said Embarrass had been prepared for bitter cold as early as last Thursday. "It only got down to 28 below, and that's nothing. That's no big deal," she said. Elsewhere in northern Minnesota on Monday, Babbitt chilled to 51 below, and International Falls — which calls itself the Nation's Icebox — dropped to 44 below, the national Weather Service said. Farther south, Minneapolis-St. Paul bottomed out at a mere 11 below. The arctic blast followed several days of subzero temperatures. Weather service meteorologist Greg Frosig in Duluth said Monday's high would still be below zero in northern Minnesota.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Jan 17, 2005 -> 12:05 PM) You know there are some teenagers who are going to read this and start chugging mouthwash... :headshake Jeckle, give the kids on this site some credit! I'm sure they've already thought of it.

I just read the toll is above 175,000 and that there are "imminent" terror threats against aid workers in Indonesia.... Yahoo! Link

Who drinks 3 glasses of Listerine??? Listerine drinker arrested for DUI By Associated Press Published January 17, 2005 ADRIAN, Mich. -- A woman who admitted drinking three glasses of Listerine mouthwash had a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit when she was arrested for drunken driving, police said Friday. The woman, identified by police Sgt. Mike Shadbolt as 50-year-old Carol A. Ries, was arrested Sunday night and released on personal bond the next day. She was to be arraigned late next week on a misdemeanor charge of operating under the influence of liquor, Shadbolt said. Police also found an open bottle of Listerine in Ries' car, and asked Lenawee County prosecutors Friday to authorize a warrant charging her with having an open intoxicant in a motor vehicle, Shadbolt said. Calls to the prosecutor's office were not answered after business hours. Ries showed signs of intoxication after her car rear-ended another vehicle Sunday, Shadbolt said. She told police she had not consumed any alcohol and also passed a Breathalyzer test, but "there was something not quite right about her," Shadbolt said. She failed a second test using different equipment and, under further questioning, admitted to drinking three glasses of Listerine earlier in the day, Shadbolt said. According to Listerine manufacturer Pfizer Inc.'s Web site, original formula Listerine contains 26.9 percent alcohol, more than four times that of many malt liquors. Other varieties contain 21.6 percent alcohol. No telephone listings for a Carol Ries could be found.

Who says nice boys don't exist? Boy's moral compass set on honesty By Ted Gregory Tribune staff reporter Published January 17, 2005 He is a model airplane and tank builder, Boy Scout and Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiast. Now, Andrew Gieseler is something else: a role model. While walking to the door of a Super Target store in Warrenville on Saturday, Andrew, 12, found a plastic bag stuffed with $9,000 on a deserted stretch of sidewalk. A routine trip to buy sneakers to accommodate his growing feet suddenly became exciting and mysterious. He picked up the bag and read the two white stickers on it, one specifying the amount; the other stating the bill denominations. "We could see it was money and I said, `What do you think we should do?' " his mother, Mary Gieseler, said of their surprise. "He said, `We should bring it inside.' " They brought it to the customer service desk. The employee there said the money didn't belong to Target and called the security guard, who thanked Andrew. "It's not like I was going to keep it, and live the rest of my life with $9,000 knowing I took it from someone else," said Andrew, a wiry, precocious 6th grader from Naperville. "I didn't want something like that on my conscience." After he, his little brother, Peter, and his mother each took turns holding the money, the family went about its business. His mother bought his sneakers while Andrew and Peter browsed in the toy department. They left and went to a 10 a.m. meeting at their church, St. Thomas the Apostle, in Naperville. But word got out, thanks to Mary Gieseler's boyfriend, who contacted local media outlets. Soon, Andrew, who acknowledges that he isn't one of the most popular kids at Hill Middle School in Naperville, was a media celebrity. By Sunday afternoon, he was yawning after being interviewed by three or four newspapers, two television stations and a radio station. "It was kind of fun," he said, "for a little while." It remains unclear exactly to whom the money belongs. A truck from United Armored had made a pickup minutes before the Gieselers parked their van at Target about 9:30 a.m. But the cash in the bag was not from the retailer's receipts, a Target spokeswoman said. Andrew said he thought he saw a Glen Ellyn address on the bag. Efforts to reach United Armored officials Sunday were unsuccessful. Target isn't concerned with that detail. It is more impressed with "his sense of right," corporate spokeswoman Paula Thornton-Greear said. The retailer is going to call Andrew and "thank him in some appropriate manner," Thornton-Greear said. "What a wonderful little boy," she said. "He did a fantastic thing. Suffice it to say that we will not let this good deed go unnoticed." The timing was particularly interesting to Gieseler. Earlier Saturday morning, they had closed a $61 bank account for Andrew and then tried to make a deposit at another bank, which was closed. While driving to Target, Gieseler and her sons discussed irresponsible parents who take their children's gift money and open credit cards using their children's name only to wrack up maximum debt on the cards. "We're talking about this. We park and then, bang, this whole thing happens," Gieseler said. "It's just very weird and very nice. Andrew has done a good thing, and it's a good lesson to learn. I thought he made an excellent choice, and without prodding from me. That made me very proud." Andrew's moral compass had been tested under similar circumstances about three years ago, when he found $10 in a public pool. He gave it to a manager, who told him that the money would be his if no one claimed it after several days. That good deed paid off. "I got $10 for being honest," Andrew said, adding that he and his mother do not expect a reward for their efforts. "Does he deserve something?" Gieseler said. "He doesn't need anything. He did the right thing--and that's enough."

QUOTE(3E8 @ Jan 16, 2005 -> 09:35 PM) Why do girls always cheat? I never have. Some girls cheat. Some guys cheat.

When they are cheating on husband and expect you to cover for them. But never cleaning up in the kitchen is a close second.

From: insiderinfo 3:43 pm To: flsoxwoman (21 of 34) 36237.21 in reply to 36237.19 For real, Ozzie came over to me when I was crying and wet and told me to "hang in there. Its gonna be a good season". He'll probably remember me if you asked him. Im sure you could just call Comiskey and they'll transfer you through to him. I'm not even that mean but BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Just saw Spinal Tap for the first time. Soooooo funny.

Um, I don't know. But it's wireless.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 16, 2005 -> 09:48 AM) You know what people? ... The American people picked the person they thought was the best man for the job of POTUS. Get over it. So, the above comments don't bother you at all? If my guy won and said stuff like that I would be PISSED. That kind of arrogance is an unbecoming representation of our country.

To ratify don't you need 2/3 of the vote not a simple majority? Anyway, I am honestly speechless at that. 51% of the vote is NOT overwhelming...

Almost 32,000 when I signed.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 11:09 PM) That'd look good in my living room. That would BE my living room!

The future of our great nation. Just for the record, I live in the town where this was done. Note to self: check salad dressing.... Sheep's Brain Placed in Salad Dressing Fri Jan 14, 9:26 PM ET VESTAL, N.Y. - Talk about gross. Someone took a piece of sheep's brain from an anatomy class at a Binghamton-area school and placed it in the salad dressing in the school cafeteria. Police are investigating Wednesday's food-tampering incident at Vestal High School, where officials say a student found the piece of brain at the bottom of a container of dressing at the salad bar. Students used some of the dressing before the material was discovered, but officials say there's no evidence anyone ate any of the preserved brain matter, and no one has reported getting sick. Parents were sent a letter informing them about the incident. Local health department officials say there wasn't enough preservative in the brain matter to cause health problems.

Why does he speak English?

QUOTE(CubKilla @ Jan 14, 2005 -> 07:20 PM) That's cutting edge. No one has ever done that before. I expected so much more if it was Ali G. Some of his skits are downright hilarious. Why would he tap this well? But it is pretty Borat like. But I noticed that his really inflammatory Borat at some picnic thing last year wasn't actually aired, but it was in the extra s*** section of the dvd...

Wow, and I really thought they were going to have peace this time...

Queen, I agree with what you're saying. But I think it falls into the greater category of profiling, be it racial, gender based, age based or economic. It's unfortunate that it happens at all, but I think that as a middle class white girl I get much less of it than my younger, non-white counter parts. At least I know I can always dress-up to not be discriminated against.

QUOTE(winodj @ Jan 14, 2005 -> 01:07 PM) No, they don't have the funding for that. They use wood chippers instead. And I guess that's, uh, your accomplice in the wood chipper... They totally are WMD!

I was really grateful to this film because it was something that I could watch with my whole family and not feel awkward or embarressed. I also really loved it because it was funny (actually it was HI-larious) without resorting to lowest common denominator humor (i.e. sex, violence, swearing, etc). It was just an overall great film...

Why, yes. I have seen every scene in this movie. And I love it.

Mommy, guess what I learned in school today? Hm, imagine that take your daughter to work day.... Speaker Touts Stripping to 8th Graders By BILEN MESFIN, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - The principal of a Palo Alto middle school may not invite a popular speaker back to an annual career day after he told girls they could earn a good living as strippers. Management consultant William Fried told eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School on Tuesday that stripping and exotic dancing can pay $250,000 or more per year, depending on their bust size. "It's sick, but it's true," Fried said in an interview later. "The truth of the matter is you can earn a tremendous amount of money as an exotic dancer, if that's your desire." Fried has given a popular 55-minute presentation, "The Secret of a Happy Life," at the school's career day the past three years. He counsels students to experiment with a variety of interests until they discover something they love and excel in. But school principal Joseph Di Salvo said Fried may not be back next year. The principal said Fried's comments to the class came after some of them asked him to expand on why he included "exotic dancing" on his list of 140 potential careers. Fried spent about a minute answering questions, defining strippers and exotic dancers synonymously. According to Jason Garcia, 14, he told students: "For every 2 inches up there, you should get another $50,000 on your salary." "A couple of students egged him and he took it hook, line and sinker," said Di Salvo, who also said the students took advantage of a substitute teacher overseeing the session. "It's totally inappropriate," Di Salvo said. "It's not OK by me. I would want my presenters to kind of understand that they are coming into a career day for eighth-graders." That stripping advice wasn't the only thing that riled parents. Di Salvo said one mother said she was outraged when her son announced that he was forgoing college for a field he loves: fishing. "He really focused on finding what you really love to do," said Mariah Cannon, 13. Fried, 64, said he does not think he offended any of the students: "Eighth-grade kids are not dumb," he said. "They are pretty worldly."