Soxy

My only question is: if the Red Sox win it tonight how much of Boston will be burned/looted/etc. by tomorrow?

To be honest, I was never great at designing them. But I think that the nose you've put on it is good--and it seems like a pretty good design. Too bad you have such a mismatch of weight though--that might cause some problems. But it looks as good as anything my teams have put in water. So, good luck with it!

Rosemary, that's for remembrance. Anyway, good luck with that--I've done a few cardboard boat races--and was usually most successful when the littlest person did the navigation and stuff. Good luck!

Such a great point. Does it really matter what color he, or Muhammad, or Abraham or Buddha or Plato or any great thinker was? Would their contribution be any less if there were one color instead of another?

Here's another nomination. If he did this, what a sick, sick, sick f***. I hope there is an especially horrible place in hell for people who do this. Evil Dad Father arrested in Riley Fox slaying Tribune staff reports Published October 27, 2004, 3:59 PM CDT WILMINGTON -- The father of a 3-year-old Will County girl who was found drowned in a rural creek has been arrested in connection wtih the child's murder, authorities said. Prosecutors said they would decide by Thursday afternoon whether to seek the death penalty against Kevin Fox, father of Riley Fox. The child's disappearance the morning of June 6 from her Wilmington home led to a massive search by emergency personnel and volunteers. Her body was found later that day in a section of Forked Creek, a stream that runs through the Forsythe Woods forest preserve about four miles from the Fox home. At a news conference this afternoon, Will County State's Atty. Jeff Tomczak said Kevin Fox faces first-degree murder charges for having "bound, gagged and drowned" his child, a crime the prosecutor described as "exceptionally brutal and heinous." The child's body showed signs of having been sexually assaulted and bound with duct tape, officials disclosed today. "Last night, sheriff's detectives interviewed Mr. Fox with regard to the disappearance and murder of his daughter," Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas said. "Mr. Fox gave a statement that led detectives to believe he killed his daughter after placing her in a nearby creek." Police would not disclose what led them to suspect the father and to bring him back in for questioning Tuesday. He allegedly made a statement incriminating himself during a 12-hour interrogation. He is in police custody pending a bond hearing Thursday afternoon in Will County Criminal Court. "We're very relieved there's been an arrest in this case," said Wilmington Mayor Tony McGann. "This is a tragedy that brought the town together, and we're glad there's been some closure." Kevin Fox previously had told police he left Riley and her brother, Tyler, now 7, sleeping on the living room couch in their Wilmington home early on June 6, then was awakened by Tyler at 8 a.m. saying Riley was gone. At today's news conference, Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said an autopsy found Riley's body showed signs of sexual assault and non-lethal head injuries. Duct tape had been placed over her month, and a substance believed to have been duct tape was found on her forearms, O'Neil said. The Will County Sheriff's Department was the lead agency in the investigation, working with the Wilmington Police Department and Will County Forest Preserve police.

And are they giving a discount on bypass surgeries as well?

Lol, sorry, no idea where that came from.

I agree completely, I was watching the news over the weekend and they had some pollsters on defending the samples they collected for the polls. And the lady said she had no reason to believe that just using landlines would miss out on people that were substantially different from the general public. Well, obviously, I think it's a flaw if you're missing an entire group of people. All of my friends from college and here in grad school only have cell phones (many in the swing state MN)--and I would argue we're a slightly different breed. Ah, the joys of getting a sample that is representative of your population. So, between sampling problems and the stats stuff I would say that polls are good enough to use and kleenex, but not much more than that.

Ahhh, good, I was just coming here to lambast the polls and how, with the margin of error, they mean next to nothing. Glad to see we have some other stats people keeping up the pace.

There were some kids in my elementary schools that weren't allowed to partake in the parties. Maybe they were Jehovah's Witness and Greek Orthodox. Trying to stretch my brain all the way back....

I really like her. I think that if I would have voted Green in the last election it would have been because she's such a cool headed person and intelligent. I saw her speak a few times and was soooo impressed.

Hm, I got Loretta.

Beer's good as long as it's quality beer. My first was a warm Pabst Blue Ribbon--not surprisingly I didn't drink beer again until I was in Europe (I had a bad experience with Foster's, ewwwwwwwww, but once I got into the Belgian groove I forgot all about that). Now, I'm looove it. When I go to new cities I like to try and find out if there are microbreweries around that I can try some of the local flavor. But I'm definitely a beer snob--the worst I'll drink is usually Killian's red.

Gross, gross, gross. I don't care if he's 21 now. Gross Letourneau Wants to Marry Former Student By Associated Press Published October 12, 2004, 1:16 PM CDT SEATTLE -- Mary Kay Letourneau, who spent 7 1/2 years in federal prison for child rape, told CNN's Larry King she is planning to marry the former elementary school student she had sex with. Letourneau, 42, said no date had been set for the wedding to Vili Fualaau, who was 12 when their relationship began. She told CNN she and Fualaau, now 21, share "a deep spiritual oneness," "a compatible sense of humor" and a "perspective on life." Letourneau was a 34-year-old elementary school teacher in suburban Des Moines, Wash., and an unhappily married mother of four in 1996, when she began having sex with Fualaau. When Letourneau was arrested in 1997, she was already pregnant with Fualaau's daughter. Though Letourneau professed her love for the boy, a judge sentenced her to six months in jail for second-degree child rape, and ordered her to stay away from him. A month after Letourneau was released, she was caught having sex with Fualaau in her car. She gave birth to Fualaau's second daughter behind bars. She was released Aug. 5. A judge last month granted Fualaau's request to lift an order barring Letourneau from contacting him. He has also said they were planning to marry. Original story

Interesting story--the family is from my hometown. Lots of warm thoughts and prayers go out to the whole family Wounded Marine is now dad of quintuplets Wife gives birth in Naperville while sergeant recovers from Iraqi grenade attack By James Kimberly Tribune staff reporter Published October 12, 2004 Update: A trust fund to benefit the family of U.S. Marine Sgt. Joshua Horton and family has been established at Harris Bank. Contributions can be made to The Horton Five c/o Harris Bank, P.O. Box 6201, Carol Stream IL 60197-6201. When his reserve unit was activated June 1, Marine Sgt. Joshua Horton faced a difficult decision: go and serve his country or stay and care for his two young children and his wife who was pregnant with five more. Horton, 28, of Oswego went. He arrived in Iraq a month ago and was seriously wounded Thursday during intense fighting south of Baghdad between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi forces. While Horton recuperated under heavy sedation from his injuries at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, his wife, Taunacy, delivered the quintuplets Monday in Edward Hospital in Naperville. Neither the hospital nor military officials could say for certain whether Horton knew his babies had been born. The three girls and two boys weigh between 1 pound, 9 ounces and 1 pound, 15 ounces, and are in critical but stable condition in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. "We're pretty anxious," said Anne Watts of Blackfoot, Idaho, Taunacy's stepmother, "anxious and concerned...and waiting" for more news. Horton was well aware that his wife was expecting quints when he deployed to Iraq. But he felt duty-bound to honor his commitment, according to those who know him. "Can you just imagine the decision they had to come to and how tough that must have been? You have these conflicting loyalties and `What's the right thing to do?' "In their mind the right thing was to deploy and go and serve our country," said Marine Maj. Rick Coates, the information officer for Horton's unit, the 2nd Battalion 24th Marine Regiment. Coates said Horton could have decided to stay home and take care of his family. "Nobody would've looked twice at that," Coates said. Horton is an Aurora police officer. His partner, Liz Robinson, called him gregarious and "a great guy. He's there for anyone who asks for help. He's just the type of guy who doesn't say no." Robinson said Horton confided in her his reason for going to Iraq. "He wanted to give some of the other fathers a chance to come home and serve their families," she said. The military is central to Joshua and Taunacy's relationship. Joshua, who grew up in the Oswego area, met his wife, who is from Idaho, while both were enlisted: he in the Marines; she in the Navy. They had completed their service, moved to Oswego, and Joshua took a job with the Aurora Police Department seven years ago. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania changed their priorities, family members said. The couple talked and decided that one of them needed to re-enlist after the attacks, said Watts. The couple decided it should be Joshua. "They felt patriotic enough that they needed to do it, and they decided it should be him," she said. Joshua enlisted in the Marine Reserves. When the call came informing him that his unit was going to be activated June 1, Horton faced a quandary. "I need to go. I need to be there for my men. They depend on me," Watts recalled Horton saying. Horton deployed for three months of training before shipping out to Iraq in September. In Oswego, he left his wife and two children: Sean, 7, and Shaleigh, 5. The Hortons were deeply committed to their family, Robinson said. They had tried for years to conceive a third child. They were successful after Taunacy started fertility drugs. At first, the obstetrician told the family they were having twins. The count jumped to triplets in a subsequent visit. Then to five babies during a third visit, Robinson said. "Josh said, `That's it! You're not going back to that doctor!'" Robinson said. The pregnancy was difficult. Taunacy was admitted to Edward Hospital a month ago and put on bed rest. The babies were delivered at 26 weeks. One of the babies is breathing without a respirator, Watts said. Horton was injured during combat operations in the Babil province south of Baghdad. Coates said Horton suffered either bullet or shrapnel wounds in the right side of his torso and leg. Watts said the family heard that Horton was on a mission going house-to-house with at least three other Marines when someone lobbed a grenade at them and shrapnel tore into him. His leg and arm were shattered, Watts said, and for a time there was a concern that amputation might be necessary. Coates said Horton has improved and amputation is no longer a concern. Taunacy has been unable to speak to her husband, and it is unclear whether he is aware he is a father five times over. From the battlefield, Horton was taken to a hospital in Baghdad and then flown to Landstuhl where he underwent surgery. Taunacy spoke to an attending nurse in Germany to learn her husband's condition sometime over the weekend but could not speak directly to him. Horton is due to be flown back to the Bethesda Medical Center in Maryland any day now, Coates said. After his wounds heal, he should be able to hold his family again, Coates said. "You can say the Lord works in mysterious ways or whatever, but he's going to see his family much sooner than those other guys are going to see their families," Coates said. "Obviously, everybody wishes the circumstances were different." Trib's story

St. Olaf 2004 But I'm now doing grad work at Binghamton University--class of 2009 if all goes well.

It does look like a woman, but: MOST mainstream theological, biblical historians and Jesus scholars think that the Da Vinci Code is crap.

I've got an apartment that I share--although we have separate rooms so I don't like to call her my roommate, but, for lack of a better word...

I was just curious to see what our demographic on this one is.

Anyone got the final tally on Ross? I guess I would just like to say that Ross has been a bright spot the season for me. And hopefully he'll be back with us in the Spring.

Hi guys, I'm going to be taking the train Amtrak, home for Thanksgiving and Christmas (about 200 bucks cheaper than flying)--I've never traveled distances by train in the States and I was wondering if any of you have and if so what your opinion of it is. Thanks bunches.

I feel so empty now that it's over. *sigh*

Gload extends the streak to the very last bit of the season. Oh, please can we keep him Kenny?

Um, that article spelled "distract" wrong. I don't think I will be taking my news from them.

But ideally, wouldn't it be better to have a centrist party as well? Mostly I have just been thinking this because the election this year has become so polarizing. You're either conservative or you're liberal. There seems to be no room for political moderation anymore. I think that at first there would be a "log-jam" in the capital, but after a few elections passed there would be a much better flow and dialogue. If there were 3 parties then the politicians would learn (by necessity) to work together. Sounds idealistic, but I feel like the current political path is so polarizing in a few elections there will be absolutely no middle or common ground and people won't be able to talk in a civilized way about elections.