Steff

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 12:35 PM) The only thing I can say is didn't they own a collar and a leash or chain? If she was that worried about the kid being around the dogs and didn't want them in the basement, why not chain them up to a tree or something outside??? That action would indicate she had some common sense.. from her quotes.. I think she's a few cards short of a full deck.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:58 AM) Aren't there laws to make owners accountable for these attacks? Police are still investigating charges against the mother.

I don't think I followed up on the duck that laid her eggs in front of our house.. but she laid 2 and then never came back.. turns out she went to the neighbors.. laid 22 eggs and 19 hatched last Saturday. Anyway.. we put down new mulch and along comes a different duck.. sat down in the mulch right next to the front walkway and started doing her business. She's been there every day and even sits there while the sprinklers hit her in the head. She's got 10 in there as of this morning.. so.. I think these ones will hatch. Pretty cool watching her out there. I leave her bread every morning but she doesn't budge. And she stays there while we walk right by her. Pretty neat. I can't wait till they hatch..

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:48 AM) I think a lot of it is how you treat a dog too. Raise a dog and be mean and that won't be a nice dog--even if it looks like Lassie. My grandparents always owned german shephards--and they were always so sweet around me and my cousins. And protective of my grandfather after his stroke. Didn't Ontario outlaw pitbulls or some breed like that recently? Agree with that 100%. I know several counties in Florida have a ban on Pitts.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:45 AM) I can't even believe this woman would say this...personally, there are several types of dogs I would never own...pitbulls, dobermans, g. sheperds and rottweilers...not for me. I wouldn't either.. personal preferance.. but I have to say I have known some very sweet and mild tempered PB's, Sheps, and Rotts. My uncle had a rott that saved a litter if kittens from freezing by moving them with his mouth from outside to inside his garage. Sadly there are a lot of irresponsible pet owners out there.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:39 AM) Isn't a 12 year old kinda big to have all of that happen to him?? Adults get attacked, mauled, and killed by dogs..

Another article with some more weird quotes from her.. Mother shut boy in basement to protect him from pit bull 12-year-old was killed by family dog; owner sees loss as tragic accident but defends breed as making good pets C.W. Nevius and Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writers Sunday, June 12, 2005 Fatal S.F. Mauling Mother: It was a 'freak accident' Hours before being mauled to death by the family pit bull, 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish had been told to stay in the basement separated from the dogs, said his distraught mother, Maureen Faibish, who called The Chronicle on Saturday, trying to make sense of what she called a "freak accident.'' "I put him down there, with a shovel on the door,'' said Faibish, who had left the boy alone with the dogs on June 3 to run some errands. "He had a bunch of food. And I told him, 'Stay down there until I come back.' Typical Nicky, he wouldn't listen to me.'' Faibish said she was concerned that the male pit bull, Rex, was acting possessive because the female, Ella, was in heat. Apparently, Nicholas found a way to get the door open and come upstairs. At that point Faibish believes he walked in while the dogs were mating and was attacked by Rex. "It was Rex, I know it in my heart,'' Faibish said. "My younger dog (Ella) was in heat and anyone who came near her, Rex saw as a threat. He may have been trying to mate. It was a freak accident. It was just the heat of the moment.'' Faibish felt compelled to call The Chronicle, she said, because she was upset by comments in a Saturday column that disparaged family members who own pit bulls. In the column an Oakland surgeon who often treats bites by pit bulls said, "when you have an animal like that in your house you are recklessly endangering your family.'' "They made it sound like we put our kids in a war zone,'' Faibish said in a phone conversation. "That's not true. My kids got along great with (the dogs). We were never seeing any kind of violent tendencies.'' Authorities on Saturday said they had no indication that the dogs had bitten Nicholas prior to the attack, but may have menaced him previously. On the day of the attack, Maureen Faibish arrived at the family home at 711 Lincoln Way about 3:15 p.m. to discover her son's lifeless body in a front bedroom. His face had been mauled, and he was covered with bite wounds and had a hole in his scalp from the attack. She hasn't been allowed back into the home because of the police investigation, she said. She has been staying with her father, who lives a few blocks away. She talked to The Chronicle by telephone and later at her father's home where, sitting on a couch and wrapped in a blanket, Faibish held back tears as she spoke about her son and the day he died. "It's Nicky's time to go," she said. "When you're born you're destined to go and this was his time." After police were called to the family's home the day of the attack, an officer shot and killed Ella when the dog prevented him from entering the apartment. Rex was captured in the backyard and taken to the animal shelter. The family had been packing for a move, and her husband, Steve Faibish, was out of town. Their two other children were also not home. Maureen Faibish said she put Nicholas rather than the dogs in the basement because the room, which also served as a playroom for the children, was filled with plastic bags in preparation of their move. She figured the dogs would have destroyed the bags filled with clothes. Before she left the house, Faibish sent her 9-year-old son to the store to buy Nicholas a soda, bagel and chips. He also had video games to keep him busy. "Nicky was happy down there," she said. Faibish declined to say what triggered such concern that she insisted her son stay in the basement, away from the dogs. "I don't want to go into any of that detail," she said. "That's between me and the detectives." Clearly struggling with her emotions, Faibish said the death of her son had become "a media frenzy.'' On one hand, she continued to defend pit bulls and her dogs. "Even after the whole thing,'' she said, "I'm not mad at my dogs. I just love them to death.'' Nicky had not known life without pit bulls, she said. When he was a baby, the family had Rex 1. Ella and Rex II were "family dogs," Faibish said. They spent most of their time inside the house, slept in bed with the children every night and woke Maureen Faibish up every morning by licking her face. Ella was trained to lick her makeup off and kiss her ear. "The police killed the wrong dog if you ask me," Faibish said. She would never want Rex back in their house. "Absolutely not,'' Faibish said. "I told them I wanted him put down. I think of Rex as someone who molested my child, murdered my child.'' Faibish's comments captured the confusion and mixed feelings pit bulls can bring out in their owners. She spoke of Rex waking Nicholas and her up in the morning by licking their faces. "He's the most loving and giving dog in the world,'' she insisted. "There were no violent tendencies in him at all.'' Nor, she said, would she caution families who have pit bulls as pets. In the wake of this tragedy, some parents are wondering if they should keep their pit bulls. "Oh, they should keep their pit bulls,'' Faibish said. "Even though my son has been killed in a tragic accident, I don't think they should be banned. You've just got to worry about them when they are in heat. I didn't know Rex was going to be so possessive.'' Faibish said she and her husband decided not to spay or neuter their dogs because they wanted their puppies. She said Rex had been eager to mate with Ella, but the female dog was resisting his advances. "I used to say to Ella, just go ahead and let him do it," Faibish said. "Get it over with.'' Deeply remorseful, Faibish says she continues to think of what she might have done differently. For one, she wishes she'd persuaded Nicholas to go to a picnic with his younger sister, Ashley. But she insists, "I have no regrets about that day," Faibish said. She's also fed up with the second-guessing from public figures who, she feels, do not understand the situation. She says San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who made strong comments about restricting pit bulls, got an earful when he called. "Just for the record, I yelled at Gavin Newsom,'' she said. "I told him off. How dare him say anything about my family?" Newsom spokesman Peter Ragone said Saturday the mayor is deeply remorseful over her loss. "Certainly, she's going through a very difficult time, and we extend our deepest sympathy to her for her loss," said Ragone. Ragone said the mayor must also consider what policies should be taken regarding the wider issue of public safety. "There's no question about the fact that the mayor, like most in the city, believe actions must be taken to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future," Ragone said. While the public debate about pit bulls rages on, Faibish is left with the memories of her son, a popular and good-natured sixth-grader at Roosevelt Middle School. "This isn't about a dog,'' she said. "This is about my boy. My precious little boy.'' The dog was never violent.. but she was concerned enough to lock her kid in the basement..??

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:34 AM) Maybe the dog knocked him down and he hit his head. I've fallen down from our border collie jumping--and she's not even that big. Agree, which is why I stated that as a possibility.. "The article claims he had a severe wound to the head.. like he hit it against something.. or was hit with something " Ginger in playing with me has enough strength to knock me over so I can only imagine what a dog that strong in heat could do. I can't keep from wondering why she didn't take him with her...

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:22 AM) That comment kinda makes me wonder if he was dead when she put him down there... But then the dogs would have to have pulled him upstairs.. they haven't said much about the scene. Interesting thought though. The article claims he had a severe wound to the head.. like he hit it against something.. or was hit with something

QUOTE(mreye @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:14 AM) I think the people accepting these trips and gufts are worse. What kind of a person accepts all these trips from someone they know has a problem? Sounds like she put up a good front of acting happy.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:09 AM) It's excessive and it's sad, but she admits she's got a serious problem, is guilt-ridden, and at least she is buying a lot of things for other people. Mostly, I can only feel sorry for her, since none of the insane spending is making her happy and she's probably going to lose it all very soon anyway. But the bottom line is that the settlement money didn't come with any string attached as to how to spend it so I'm not going to pass any kind of judgement. I hope she gets it together. Anyone know if the Pentagon families got settlements..? Or the Okalahoma City families?

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:08 AM) Oh, yeah, this lady sucks. But the money was given to her, unfortunately she's ridiculous. And unless there was some kind of stipulation saying how she needed to spend the money the government gave her she's not doing anything wrong. Except numbing her grief with worthless possessions. And it's not like it made her very happy at all. Actually, it's kind of like a Shakespearean tragedy (or it will be when the money runs out)... Sorry bout that.. I misunderstood your shot at the NYP.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:02 AM) It does show that money cannot replace a person. It also shows that the money will not heal, or buy happiness. I disagree that she was "lucky enough to have her husband die" :headshake I think that was a bit of sarcasm on the part of the author.. as well as describing it as "heartwarming".

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:02 AM) It does show that money cannot replace a person. It also shows that the money will not heal, or buy happiness. Hopefully her and her kids stay close.

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 11:02 AM) New York Post. Yellow journalism at its best. Hard to ignore the quotes straight from her mouth.. Poor her.. only $500K left from nearly $5 million. :headshake

Poor child. http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/12/fataldog....g.ap/index.html Mother of mauling victim feared family dog Shut boy in basement while she ran errands Monday, June 13, 2005 Posted: 2:43 AM EDT (0643 GMT) Nicholas Scott Faibish, 12, was mauled to death by his family's two pit bulls on June 3. SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The mother of a 12-year-old boy killed in his own home by one of the family's two pit bulls says she had been so concerned about one of the dogs that she shut her son in the basement to protect him. Maureen Faibish said she ordered Nicholas to stay in the basement while she did errands on June 3, the day he was attacked by one or both of the dogs. She said she was worried about the male dog, Rex, who was acting possessive because the female, Ella, was in heat. "I put him down there, with a shovel on the door," Faibish said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. "And I told him: 'Stay down there until I come back.' Typical Nicky, he wouldn't listen to me." Nicholas apparently found a way to open the basement door. Despite her concerns about Rex that day, Faibish told the newspaper: "My kids got along great with (the dogs). We were never seeing any kind of violent tendencies." Faibish found her son's body in a bedroom. He was covered in blood from several wounds, including a major head injury. No charges have been filed. "It's Nicky's time to go," she said in the interview. "When you're born you're destined to go and this was his time." Ella was shot to death by a police officer the day of the attack. Rex was taken to a shelter, but Faibish said she wanted him put down. And, IMO, that mother needs to be investigated by child services.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.tr...4c13912ba008c14 Below is the "heartwarming" story of how a 9/11 widow is spending your tax money - most all of it from the federal compensation fund you were forced to give her for her being lucky enough to have her decidedly-middle-class husband die in that one location at that one time and not in a wreck on the way to work the same hour. Remember, it's only YOUR tax money - screwed out of you by Washington - that's allowing her to live this well. Can YOU afford to live this well? Are YOU now down to "only" your "last $500,000?" >From today's New York Post, below: ==============================­==============================­=================== June 12, 2005 -- Sept. 11 widow Kathy Trant has turned her Long Island home into a $2 million showcase, traveled from the Vatican to Las Vegas, blown $500,000 on shoes, and bought breast jobs for pals and even strangers. In the 31/2 years since her husband, Dan, died in the World Trade Center attacks, she has burned through nearly all the more than $5 million she received in compensation and donations. She says she treated the millions "like Monopoly money." The mother of three has become a self-described "shopoholic" - and her compulsive buying has left her with intense guilt, shame and sadness. After the plane hit the north tower on Sept. 11, Dan called Kathy from the 104th floor, where the 40-year-old worked as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. He said the smoke was unbearable. "I love you, and I love the kids," were his last words. His remains were never found. Following the funeral, Kathy's weight zigzagged from 90 pounds to 170 pounds and down again. She numbed herself with booze and antidepressants. Then she began spending. With a seemingly bottomless bank account, she threw herself into expanding and renovating her 1,800-square-foot Northport, L.I., home, a project she and Dan, her "soul mate" of 15 years, had discussed doing together. She didn't stop until she nearly tripled the square footage, and spared no expense in decorating and furnishing her dream house. "That's what kept me alive," she said. "Staying up late ordering chandeliers from catalogs." She spent $350,000 installing a full basketball court, also equipped for volleyball, tennis and Rollerblading, and a heated pool and hot tub in the back yard. The kitchen has white marble countertops lined with gleaming appliances she rarely uses. The floors are rich Brazilian walnut. A red-white-and-blue den, which includes a shrine of Dan's mementos, features four Peter Max paintings of the Statue of Liberty, which ran her $15,000. There are seven flat-screen TVs around the house. In the finished basement stands a $20,000 cherry-wood pool table. The walls are decorated with sports memorabilia, including a Boston Celtics ball autographed by players on the team that once drafted her husband, who played professionally in Ireland. In her master bedroom, she added a glass-enclosed fireplace that also serves the bathroom, with its claw-foot tub. With the house makeover done, she really started to splurge. Opening her walk-in closet, Trant said, "This is my addiction." A floor-to-ceiling shoe rack is filled with $400 to $1,200 pairs: Prada, Marc Jacobs, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Emilio Pucci, Vera Wang. Handbags include Fendi and Judith Leiber, designs priced at $5,000 each. The gowns have labels like Versace, Christian Dior and Roberto Cavalli - each costing her thousands. "It's disgusting. I'm ashamed of it," she said, adding she hopes that telling her story will help others with the same problem. "This is my misery. This does not make me happy. When I come home with it, I have guilt, horrible guilt. You know how many starving people I could feed with all these shoes?" She wears 10 percent of the clothes, she said, and gives armloads away to friends. But she keeps buying more. "I feel if I look pretty, I'm going to find someone like Danny," she said. "I want him to come home." Trant's pet Yorkie, Mollie, cost $3,500; her daughter has three others. She paid $60,000 cash for a Chevy Tahoe SUV, and also bought a BMW. She has traveled to Italy, Jamaica, Asia and Europe; taken friends and relatives on four Caribbean cruises for $50,000; taken 20 to the Bahamas for $30,000; 10 to Las Vegas for $15,000; and six to the Super Bowl for $70,000. The last couple of summers, she's paid $13,000 to rent a 10-room North Carolina beach house for a week for her kids and all their pals. Trant has showered those around her with obsessive generosity. She gave one friend $20,000 to pay her bills. She gave her former housecleaner $15,000 to buy a home in El Salvador. She's sent $1,000 checks to a friendly clerk at Bergdorf Goodman, and treated salesgirls at Saks to shoes. After getting a facial in Las Vegas, she gave the beautician, a single mom, $4,000 for breast implants. She gave a friend $7,000 for a boob job because, Trant said, the woman "hated her breasts and didn't want to spend her son's college tuition money." She buys wrinkle-reducing Botox injections for girlfriends. A plastic surgeon gives her a discount - $600 for three at a time. Trant tattooed an American flag and "9/11" on her back and got a permanent black stripe of "eyeliner" tattooed around her eyes, which never runs when she cries. She gave one friend a $3,000 watch. "She didn't take it, and I just threw it at her," Trant said. "My friends say, 'Stop, Kathy, you've got to stop.'" Soon after her husband was killed, Trant said, some $3 million in donations flowed in from his admirers and fund-raisers. Dan was beloved as an athlete and coach of youth soccer and basketball teams. Then, in 2003, the federal Victim Compensation Fund awarded the Trants more than $4.2 million. The sum was based, in part, on Dan's future earning potential. Before 9/11, the family had lived modestly, but his career at Cantor was skyrocketing. He earned about $130,000 his last year, plus tens of thousands in bonuses. Kathy, who got half the government payout as her share, gave $100,000 to her mother-in-law, who wasn't legally entitled to any money. The other half was split among her three kids - each gets $800,000 when they reach age 18. The money has opened some family rifts. While never close to her father, who left Kathy's mother when she was 6, their relationship worsened. She believes he overcharged her for doing some brickwork and installing sprinklers in her yard after she lent him $100,000 to buy a house in the Hamptons. Also, Kathy lavishes possessions on her sons, Daniel, 16, and Alex, 14, and hosts parties for their friends, trying to compensate for the fact that they've lost their father. But the money seems to have the same effect on them. Her daughter Jessica was 19 when Dan died and immediately got her $800,000 share. She's already spent most of it on clothes, vacations and friends, she said. Spending problems are "not uncommon" among 9/11 families who received big cash payments, said psychologist Paula Madrid, director of Columbia University's disaster-related Resiliency Program, which serves many 9/11 families and victims. "I've seen it very often," Madrid said. "Some spend the money right away on luxuries like cars and furs. They also give it away, out of survivor's guilt and a desire to help others in need." The compulsion to shop, she believes, stems from anxiety. Spending is a pleasurable "distraction" from unresolved grief, she said. "People are trying to fill a void which will never be filled by money," Madrid said. A stay-at-home mom for the past 20 years, Trant is down to her last $500,000 and worried about her future. She has partnered with her best friend, a laser technician, to open a hair-removal and cosmetic tattoo shop in East Norwich, The Dutchess of Dermis. She agrees she needs counseling. "I really don't have the will to live," she said.

QUOTE(sayitanitso @ Jun 13, 2005 -> 09:38 AM) It looks very nice on TV. But the hill and that flagpole are very distracting. The dimensions in that park just seem weird to me. It is weird.. but compared to the dome, it's a palace. I liked it, but thought it looked "squished".

Wow... I almost went nuts just looking at the pictures. I would go insane living with 0.0000001% of that clutter.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 12, 2005 -> 02:09 PM) lol. How about African-Arubans? :headshake

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 09:14 PM) Yes, I am planning my vacation around the Sox. LOL.. We planned our wedding around the Sox.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Jun 11, 2005 -> 03:43 PM) Just talked to one of the U of L players I know about Broadway and here is what he said about him. Good curve, good slider, decent change, all pitches look the same coming out of his hand. Said he is the best pitcher he has faced in college so far. We had dinner with a scout last night and he had great things to say about him as well. One thing specifically he did say was that his change-up was "very sneaky" out of his glove.

They showed him on the bench in the 6th (iirc) and I swear he looked like he was praying to God "paaaallleeaaaseee God.. please help them score a few more runs..." Poor guy..

QUOTE(sox-r-us @ Jun 11, 2005 -> 11:55 PM) Oh please do elaborate this response...

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jun 11, 2005 -> 02:41 PM) Um, she got boinked by 3 Arubians. None of them look black and one of them looked really white. Good point in bringing this up.. Sidney is Aruban and is far from dark skined. Until you hear him speak he looks American as any other American's I know. I'm struggling to recall seeing many African American's when I visited there.