Steff

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/14/hot.summer.ap/index.html Thursday, July 14, 2005; Posted: 8:26 a.m. EDT (12:26 GMT) Cook: "I could have filled every pool in southern Illinois and still not used that much water." MASCOUTAH, Illinois (AP) -- It has been a hot, dry summer in this St. Louis suburb, but Rose Mary Cook knew there was no way she could have used $74,000 worth of water. The city's utility department claimed Cook used 10 million gallons of water last month, charging her $29,787 for water, $43,581 for sewer, plus $893 for municipal tax. "Luckily, when I opened the bill, I was sitting down," Cook said. "I could have filled every pool in southern Illinois and still not used that much water." Cook presented the bill to a public works employee at City Hall. Officials quickly determined the whopping fee was the result of a broken meter and issued a corrected bill for $32.66 -- waiving Cook's monthly water and sewer charges for her troubles. "My daughter asked me if I was hoarding water during the drought," Cook said. "I told her I would, but I don't know where I would find 10 million gallon jugs."

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/259...p-9026498c.html By RUTH SHEEHAN, Staff Writer Carrie Seck and her 3-year-old daughter were splashing around in the Ridge Road public pool in Raleigh when she first noticed the guy sitting alone at the edge of the lawn, near the deep end. Soon she and a few other mothers, whose stranger radars had also been activated, began watching him and chatting. He had something next to him on the ground, partially covered with a canvas bag. Every now and then he'd adjust the angle. "He's taping the kids!" one of the mothers said. When he noticed he was being observed, he shoved the camera into his bag and headed over to his chair and towel on the other side of the pool. One of the mothers, more brazen than I, hopped out of the pool and followed. She asked why he was surreptitiously filming the kids. He replied that he liked to film children in their natural environment, especially little boys. Yikes. The mother turned away and headed back to talk with her husband and to find the pool manager. Meanwhile, Seck saw the man jump up, snatch his bag and hightail it out of the pool. "He wasn't running, but he was definitely walking fast," she said. Seck said the man left his chair and towel where they were and never looked back. Now, let's be clear, this man was not doing anything illegal per se. "Honestly, if he'd been filming the kids out in the open, we probably wouldn't have thought much about it," Seck said. So many parents film so many moments of their kids' lives, and at a crowded pool on a warm summer Saturday, it's often hard to tell which kids are with which grown-ups. But, as Seck put it, kids playing in a pool are "as near to naked as children can be in public." And here's the kicker: Seck later looked through the state's sex offenders registry (http://sbi.jus.state.nc.us/ DOJHAHT/SOR/Default.htm) and found the guy's photo among the Raleigh listings. "I felt a chill go up my spine," Seck said. He'd been convicted of two counts of sexual exploitation for having photos of minors engaged in sexual activity on his computer. At first, Seck wasn't quite sure what to do. Then she decided that if another parent had had this experience, she'd want them to do something. So Seck called the police. Officers came out, investigated and urged her to file a report. Seck also printed the man's information and asked the folks at Ridge Road and other local pools to be on the lookout. I am not naming him here because he has not been charged with a crime in relation to this incident, which occurred in June. Apparently, however, he knew what I was talking about when I left phone messages at his home. In an e-mail message to me, the man said he had never been to "Ridgewood pool." In a world where, recently, several children have been abducted by sexual predators, Seck and the other parents won high praise from the Raleigh police for a) being alert, B) checking the registry and c) calling them. Bottom line: Creeps won't be filming our kids at local pools if they know we're watching them, too.

http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode....wsNodeId=137002 WICKED More News | Back to home page 12:00 - 09 July 2005 An Exeter woman has been jailed for three years for a campaign of harassment against a young girl, which a judge said was the most wicked crime he had ever seen. The young girl and her mother are now trying to rebuild their lives after an 18-month campaign of harassment by Kathryn Skinner, the woman they thought was a trusted family friend. Skinner, now 40, spiked children's drinks at birthday parties and put razor blades in school bags and lockers so her friend's daughter would get the blame. She stole money and planted it in the young girl's bedroom, slashed the family's clothes and even faked hate mail from the youngster claiming she was being mistreated by her mother. She did it in such a way that the youngster would be wrongly blamed - and she watched as the distressed girl was excluded from school, put into therapy and came close to being taken away from her distraught parents. The campaign of terror began when the girl was only six years old. Her worried mother, who sought help from the school, therapists and social services, confided in Skinner throughout the ordeal and was devastated to learn that her friend had plotted it all. Judge Graham Cottle told Skinner, at Exeter Crown Court yesterday: "The story of this case almost defies belief. I do not believe I have previously dealt with a case which matched this for wickedness. "The principal victim was a poor, helpless child. Yours were the actions of a warped and twisted mind." Skinner had pleaded guilty to two charges of harassing the girl and her mother for more than a year. She also pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the young girl between February 2003 and June last year. And she admitted stealing £60 from the girl's mother and another charge of stealing £170 from the woman in 2003. Detective Constable Nicci Bailey, the officer in the case, told the Echo: "These were calculated and callous acts intended to have an innocent young girl blamed and labelled as a vindictive and evil person." Skinner eventually confessed once police were closing in, after an investigation revealed the crimes were too sophisticated to have been committed by a child. The girl's mother is still trying to understand why her friend betrayed the family so badly. She has spoken to the Echo to thank her family, friends and DC Bailey for their support through the ordeal. She said: "Kathryn Skinner was a close friend and I had known her for 14 years. I thought she was helping our family through it and supporting us but all the time she was twisting the knife." The mother said: "A £20 note which had gone missing turned up in my daughter's bedroom and I found blank cheques ripped up at my home. "It became worse when I discovered the curtains had been slashed in my daughter's room. Every pair of curtains except one in the house were then ripped and slashed." Over the next 18 months, more than 100 items of clothing were slashed - including Skinner's when she visited the house - and even the mother's pillow was targeted. "I found some clothes badly damaged that we had only just bought and were still in the shop bag," said the mother. "A fork had been used and was still sticking out of the clothes." Keys, mobile phones, remote control handsets and Sky TV satellite cards were damaged and disappeared. A knife was found sticking into the wires of a vacuum cleaner, blowing electrical fuses in the house. The girl's father even discovered his new equipment had been wrecked when he went out fishing. "Both my husband and I started locking knives and scissors away. We put a lock on our bedroom door. We even had to padlock the kitchen knives," said the woman. Damage was then done with tweezers, forks and nail clippers instead. The girl was referred to the county's Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services for therapy. The spotlight then turned on the family and whether the parents' behaviour was somehow to blame. "Our marriage was under extreme pressure," said the woman. "It was completely destructive for the family, we were suspicious of each other. Our daughter had always been a child who had hated upsetting or hurting people. "She was still loving but became very tearful, moody and wasn't sleeping." She added: "Kathryn would be nice to my daughter and sit there watching, while I was telling my daughter off. "I remember thinking she was better with my daughter than I was. "At the time I thought I couldn't have got through it without Kathryn's support. I even said to her 'it's so great you're still my friend after everything you have been through with my daughter.' "There wasn't anything to show that she was responsible." The harassment took a turn for the worse when it moved beyond the home. Tablets were discovered in another child's bag at the girl's school and another bag had been slashed. Knife blades were found in the girl's locker and her mother discovered empty blister packs of tablets in the youngster's bedroom bin. "I was so concerned about the danger to other children that I told the school about it," said the mother. "My daughter then had to be searched daily before she left home and when she got to school by a classroom assistant. "I would check her shoes and clothes but the blades still turned up. I asked social services for help but they said it was beyond their remit." The girl was excluded from school after drinks were spiked again at a child's birthday party. The mother said: "The school said she was not allowed back there and must stay home for a month. She could then only go back part-time - and this continued for five months." The family were on the verge of breakdown and decided to go on holiday abroad - but the father was unable to go because his passport had been ripped up. "Kathryn even offered to lend us clothes because so many had been damaged," said the woman. The distraught mother was now taking anti-depressants and sleeping pills to cope. Some of the anti-depressants disappeared from her handbag and were found in a drink at another child's birthday party. Tablets and razor blades were found in one girl's pockets and three anti-depressants in another's. "All the kids were terrified and crying at school the next day," said the mother. "My daughter told me that she thought she must be doing these things in her sleep." Skinner even wrote letters pretending to be the girl. On a visit to a city supermarket, she showed the mother one that she claimed to have found in the toilet. It said the girl had being badly treated by her mother. "Social services were about to take my daughter away but by now the police were involved," said the woman. The woman said that Skinner told her that she had a secret to share, once the police began investigating the case, but decided against confessing at the last minute. Instead, her husband told the girl's mother when she was giving him a lift home - and Skinner burst into tears when they arrived. "It all made sense," said the woman. "I was shocked but I had begun to realise it wasn't my daughter and now I knew why. I thought I had the child from hell and to know someone else who I had trusted was responsible made it even worse." Now the family are trying to move on. The girl's mother says she wishes there had been more support from the social services and education authority rather than her daughter being blamed. "We've got a lot of work to do," said the mother. "My daughter is left with a feeling of not trusting people and she is angry at me. She is behind with her education, finds it difficult to make friends and has stomach aches and headaches. "Kathryn Skinner spent 18 months destroying a little girl's trust." DC Bailey praised the family for sticking together. "They have been under enormous pressure," she said. "They have shown great resilience. The young girl has shown great courage and is now having to work hard to gain back the trust of all the people who doubted her. "It is impossible to measure the long-term effects on her. The police hope she and her family can start to rebuild their lives."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050713/od_nm/...DRpBHNlYwM3NTc- CHICAGO (Reuters) A bank robber behind the wheel of his car on Tuesday sent a note through a vacuum tube to the teller at the drive-through window at a branch of Chicago's LaSalle Bank and the teller obliged, returning an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. The exchange was completed through the bank's pneumatic tube communications system, in which canisters are passed back and forth between motorist and teller. The FBI said it was investigating the drive-through theft.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 07:16 PM) Write something funnier Something funnier

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 06:06 AM) Borchard sympathizer... YAS is old and set in his ways.. gotta give him a bit of slack.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 04:56 PM) Were these comments personal, or during a broadcast? Personal, thank God. To a fellow member of the media no less.

JR had nothing to do with it. Tom quit because of ignorant comments made by Hawk regarding Tom's sexual abuse as a child.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/13/choking.game.ap/index.html Boy dies playing 'passing out game,' officials believe Wednesday, July 13, 2005; Posted: 10:29 a.m. EDT (14:29 GMT) Younger kids don't know that they can die from this, that it's a very dangerous activity. BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A 10-year-old boy was found dead, hanging from a tree, apparently killed while trying to get high by playing the "pass-out game," authorities said. Dalton Eby may be the second Idaho child killed in recent months while playing a choking game, trying to cut off the oxygen supply to the brain to achieve a type of "high." Dalton's mother reported him missing last Thursday when he failed to return home after visiting a friend. Search and rescue crews found his body Friday in a tree near his Island Park home, the Fremont County sheriff's office said in a statement. There was nothing at the scene suggesting that anyone else was involved, the sheriff's office said. "During the course of the investigation it was learned that there is a game that is common knowledge to many of our youth. A game known as the 'pass-out game,' the 'fainting game,' the 'tingling game,' or the 'something dreaming game' -- to name a few," the statement added. Dalton's parents had never heard of the game, and neither had the parents of his friends, the sheriff's office said. That was also the case three months ago in Nampa, where 13-year-old Chelsea Dunn was found dead after apparently hanging herself in her closet. An investigation was inconclusive, but Dunn's family believes she died accidentally while playing the game, which was popular with a group of girls at her school. Six girls at the school were suspended for a day after a security camera videotape showed the seventh-graders choking each other in a hallway. Though the so-called game is new to many adults, it's likely something that children have been doing for a long time, said Connecticut-based child psychologist Dr. Lawrence Shapiro, author of "The Secret Language of Children: How to Understand What Your Kids are Really Saying." "That's scary," Shapiro said. In addition to talking to kids about drugs and alcohol, parents should discuss other risky behavior, like the pass-out game, Shapiro said. "Younger kids don't know that they can die from this, that it's a very dangerous activity," Shapiro said. Nathan Hoiosen, a school resource officer with the Nampa Police Department, said youngsters think the choking game offers a safe buzz compared with drinking or doing drugs. "You wish you could just take the kids and shake them and say, 'What are you thinking?"' Hoiosen said.

QUOTE(CubKilla @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 04:28 PM) If the bachelor isn't sitting up in front of a pool of his own vomit and the best man isn't cleaning it up at the end of the party (like I was w/my bro when he got hitched), then you DIDN'T PARTY HARD ENOUGH!!!!! Oh killa.. if I didn't know ya I'd think you were an ass.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 04:18 PM) What a numb-nut. LMAO at all the possible sexual inuendo's in this thread..

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/uglydog.asp

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 11:40 AM) That would be pretty cool God, i just want college football to start. All day saturday, just lay there in front of 2 tv's and watch games all morning, day, and night. I just love it. LMAO... I'm betting there wont be much of that with the addition of a missus to your life.

I just don't get it... with all the places to drop unwanted children off - with NO QUESTIONS asked - these stupid ass parents leave an infant in an alley...? In an alley...?? http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/4718067/detail.html# Baby Found Abandoned Inside Used Tire In Chicago UPDATED: 2:28 pm EDT July 13, 2005 CHICAGO -- A Good Samaritan found a baby abandoned among old tires on Chicago's South Side early Wednesday morning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Images: Baby Found In Alley -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The baby boy, who police estimate is about 3 months old, was found in the tire pile. Rafael Cunningham said he thought he heard a cat meow, but looking further, he found a baby lying inside a car tire on the ground in an alley. The child was wearing nothing but a shirt, socks and a diaper. A baby bottle was found inside the tire with the child. Cunningham scooped up the child and called authorities, who took the baby to a nearby hospital The child is in good condition.

My opinion. You don't have to understand it.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...nningbulls.html July 11, 2005—Putting a whole new twist on the term "bum steer," a calf rear-ends a reveler at Pamplona's running of the bulls yesterday. (No word was available as to whether the man was injured.) Since at least the 14th century the northeastern Spanish city has celebrated the Festival of San Fermín, which each year runs from July 6 to 14. The revels kick off at 8 a.m. daily, when bulls are released from their pens and charge down the fenced, half-mile (800-meter) route to the city's bullring—along with hundreds of adrenaline junkies from around the world. With a grand total of four gorings, today's run was the longest (five and a half minutes versus the usual two) and most dangerous in the festival's history. The carnage came about when a few of the animals decided to go their own way. Bulls, if not humans, are less dangerous when they run in packs. See link for photo.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 02:47 PM) side note: My wife just got back from a bachelorette party this weekend, and told me that her friend made 200 bucks doing "Buck for a Suck"(tape blowpops all over your body and make people remove them with their mouth). I was like "Why the hell didnt you do that when you had your bachelorette party? We could have used an extra 200 bucks! I did this with life savers. Bought a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes with the proceeds

In the car.. 2004 Grammy Nominees CD Matchbox20 Rob Thomas Fountians of Wayne Blackeyed Peas And one other I can't remember...

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 12:48 PM) Speaking of bags of moldy balls... Have they sent Willie down yet? Wow.. you two got close at Soxfest..

Umm.. I'm faaaaarrr from a prude but posting that pic is out of line.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 01:41 PM) Who knew, we're gay! Actually, I think the whole stripper thing is about age. When i was in my early 20's I loved it...now, its not as big a deal. Jim and I took a client to Scores.. had to drag Jim there. I thought it was gonna be this old fart buying lap dance after lap dance getting wasted off his arse... and I was right. The chicks were laughing their asses off. They would come over one by one and he'd pay them. Half of them didn't even dance. I found it hysterical, Jim said he felt dirty. Those gals.. at least they are not screwing the guys.. trying to make an.. ehem.. "honest living".. but those ones that come to your houses.. oye ve.. ick, ick, ick..

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 01:34 PM) LOL! Considering I had to force him to go to his buddy's bachelor party that was at a strip club, I think he is being fairly honest (there is several things that have happened as a reason that I am not getting into that figure into why he doesn't like strip clubs or strippers). Jim's the same way. He went to one and the pictures and stories (which I'm sure I didn't get all of) were pretty nasty. How on earth could you guys touch those females (a stretch of a description to might I add)... They go from guy to guy doing any and everything sometimes.. ewwuuu... it's like you all are effin yourselves. :puke

Gene Honda Civic says... Giving your email to John Kerry is worse than giving your email to MLB I think I just bought a customized Karl Rove All-Star jersey. Tex responds.. It will not be good in the rain, it leaks . . .

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 11:50 AM) It will not be good in the rain, it leaks . . . OMG Tex.. I'm in tears here!!

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2005 -> 11:20 AM) A little editing to help you out there... Oh.. so there were penis' involved at both venues..