Really Good Quotes

Groaner
[Thanks Sied]

A long time ago, there was a beehive in the middle of a forest. Every day, as worker bees do, they would go out into their fields, gather pollen from the flowers, and bring it back to make honey.

The bees had a problem, though, because every so often an intruder would come around, such as a bear who wanted the honey, or kids who thought it’d be fun to throw rocks at the hive. Finally, the bees got tired of it.

Being the intelligent bees that they are, they built an alarm system for the hive. They built it such that one bee pulls a lever, which triggers the alarm that the bees will hear from the fields, and then the bees can come back to protect their home.

There was one bee who was exclusively assigned that job, and he was aptly named the “Lever Bee.” His job was to watch for potential adversaries, and pull the lever to raise the alarm.

Now obviously, the security of the hive depends on this one Lever Bee. So he has to be constantly ready and on the alert to be able to do his job.

And that, friends, is why people say, “I’m as ready as a Lever Bee.”

Bad Place Names
[Thanks Tesser]

Email Kirsten

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Tracy Latimer. Her mom and dad loved her very much and wanted the best for her. They worked hard to provide for her and her siblings. She had a roof over her head, warm clothing, and the security of a loving family. Just like millions of other little girls, right?

Wrong.

You see, Tracy had a lot of problems. She was born with cerebral palsy, and was completely unable to fend for herself. While other little girls were taking their first steps and saying their first words, Tracy was lying in a bed, hardly able to move because of a permanently dislocated hip, with no means of meaningful communication. She never said that first word, never took that first step, never fed or bathed herself.

By the time she was twelve, she had the developmental abilities of a three-month-old. She weighed a mere 40 pounds, and she had undergone countless operations for her bad hip. Her father, Robert Latimer, died a little each day as he saw his daughter suffering, and he reached the point where he did not think he could endure seeing her go through yet another operation that wouldn’t work. He loved his daughter very much, and seeing her so helpless, with no hope of ever getting better, broke his heart.

And so he did what he thought was the only thing he could do. While the rest of his family were at church one day, he wrapped his sleeping daughter in a blanket and laid her in his car. He kissed her goodbye, and pumped exhaust fumes into the car.

Robert pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison. This week, after seven years behind bars, he was denied day parole. According to the parole board, he had not developed sufficient insight into his actions. For the last two days, Canadians have been voicing their opinions both for and against Robert.

I can see the point of Robert’s opponents. After all, the law is the law, and he knowingly broke it. You cannot just kill someone because you think it’s the right thing to do, even if that person is in pain.

On the other hand, though, is the good of society really being served by keeping this man in prison? It seems clear to me that he’s not going to kill anyone else. He is not a hardened criminal. He is someone who was driven by desparation to do something very extreme. He does not feel remorse for what he did, because he believes that he did the right thing. But he is certainly not happy about what he did either.

There are some who believe that murder is murder, no matter what. But murder is not just murder. Every fibre of my being screams out that it is wrong to paint Robert with the same brush as some madman who goes to shopping malls or schools and shoots people because he’s angry.

Do I believe that Robert Latimer should have gone to prison? Yes.

Do I believe that keeping him there for the rest of his life is the right thing to do? No.

I think the authorities should give Robert back what’s left of his life. No prison in the world could punish him as much as the prison of his own mind. He is going to be tortured for the rest of his days by what he felt he had to do.

Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten

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Miscellaneous Tips

Steak Sauce With A Kick: Deglaze your frying pan (after searing your New York steaks) with brandy. Add two tablespoons of butter, a little white wine and a splash of Grand Marnier. Serve over steaks - you’ll never use steak sauce again.

Re: Taser Use

I think I’ve heard much worse stories about Taser use and abuse. As in most instances, its proper function seems to be something that could be done far more safely with a net. - Bob of the North



I think the bloody mother should be tasered as well. If the father had been there and given the go ahead my response would have been the same.

Yes, there can be problems dealing with an extrermely belligerent child (I know), but was it really worth resorting to calling the law just because her daughter wouldn’t have a shower.

FFS, let the little madam go to bed dirty and deal with it in the morning. It’s not the time to run up the flag and make a death or glory stand.

To me this sounds like one of those cases where a small incident blows up out of all proportion, possibly after a whole day of minor hassles, and the adult - who is supposedly more mature - ends up seeing the final confrontation as a challenge to their authority and loses all common sense and reason. (Been there, done that, and still too ashamed to wear the damned t-shirt. Except I learned from it. ‘Taser Mum’ clearly isn’t going to learn anything if all she does is reach for the phone and call the cops. Can you imagine what that child’s life would be like if Mum had a taser of her own?.)

I feel the officer should not have used the taser unless the girl was a serious threat to others. If she’d been waving a knife around, putting her hand through a glass window, or similar then maybe yes.

As for the manufacturers saying it is a safer option… Well they would, wouldn’t they? They sell the bloody things.

Rather like Zero Tolerance policies sometimes the much touted non-lethal aternative is used as an alternative to actually thinking. - Gyppo



I THINK that we can not say not being there..You would not believe the ten years olds of today’s age.They are out shooting each other ..Carrying guns and everything. Running in gangs.But if this was not the case yes the cop may have tried something else. - dEE



As a former member of law enforcement, I feel that this officers actions were fair and appropriate. I have personally been through the training course for use of the taser and have myself been tased as part of my training. It is very unfortunate that parents have neglecteded their parental duties and allowed their childeren to escalate to this kind of behavior. Maybe if the kid had known the meaning of a spanking on the rear end and taught to respect their parents and law enforcement this situation would have never happened. Kudos to the officer for doing his job! - Anita Mills



Re: Unusual Animals

Thanks, Cliff, but how can I resist? I once rode my bike through town parallel to the track of a Coyote, trying to identify the black fur it was carrying. A year ago, a friend of mine shot a black wolf, the product of interbreeding with dogs. There have been a couple of wolf attacks on people that have somehow not made it onto the official records of North America, but we need them to keep the deer population down. We also have foxes, bears, moose, Bison, elk, geese, woodpeckers, muskrats, beavers and fireflies, among others, but you asked about unusual animals. Those would be the castrated bulls and other bovines, the llamas, sheep, and goats, mostly. Sometimes the white people look out of place, too. Our ladybugs seem to have been replaced by the seven-spotted variety, as in much of North America. - Bob of the North



This starts out funny, but ends up tragically. For several years I had a squirrel friend who had a tail like a rabbit and she hopped (sort of) when she ran. I called her my squabbit. She lived in a tall oak tree outside my kitchen window and I watched her raise a lot of babies over the years. She made peace with Emma, my golden re-tweeter (so named because she ate the bird’s food)and she would walk right past Emma to get a drink out of the dog’s water bowl. She would also sun herself on the deck rail and had little fear of me. But one day, as I walked past the window, I saw a goshawk busily finishing up the remains of my squabbit. I had never seen a bird that large and I have never seen the murderer again, but I guess I have to be thankful that I had the pleasure of a unique animal for so long, huh? Funny, my squabbit is gone and now we have a squirrel with a tail at the end of her tail. It’s almost like she’s the replacement times two, huh? Marian in Ellicott City



Re: Books

Four six foot tall shelves in the living room are full, and so are a couple in the den and another one in the bedroom. Love books? Ever since Mom took me to the local Library and let me get my own card ( age five). But we glean them occasionally to make room for newer things. Our method is to take a trip to Half Price Books. While they’re calculating how much our books are worth, we browse the stacks and pick up new treasures. We refer to the long-term "keepers" as "Reference" - the books one turns to for ideas, art examples, answers to questions that come up in conversation, and dictionaries. I love dictionaries! For those not acquainted with the concept, there are dictionaries OF a bunch of things - phrases, myths, bios of people, history, and, of course, words and word origins. One entire shelf holds nothing but books containing Lists of stuff. For those who like American History, I have a suggestion to look for when browsing real or on-line sellers- Encyclopedia Brittanica produced a set of 24 books called "The Annuls of America". The set came out about 1977, and consists of published materials by people who lived that part of our history. The first one is a letter from Christopher Columbus to Queen Isabella. The last ones are items pertaining to the Preisdency of Richard Nixon. (I wish there was an update!) Items include the entire texts of things like the Virginia compact that was the basis for our national Constitution’s "Bill of Rights". When some news item comes up about a "Right", I can read the entire passage, and usually a couple published items by people who debated that item before the final wording was approved. One gets a much better idea about what our founding fathers intended, and how badly warped some of them have become. Fuzzy about the Depression? The entire period of years and what happened when is there - plus some photos. But when my eyes began disliking small print and my hands were busy sewing, I found the wonderful world of Audiobooks, and I sop up a good half dozen a week from the library. They’re wonderful company! And one gets accurate pronunciations of names and places. I browse the stacks for a couple good mysteries, a biography, a history told well, and lately (since I’ve almost gone through all the fiction I care to hear), I’ve been picking up one from three different collections of college lectures on various subjects. There’s an old song that says it well - I know a little bit about a lot of things - thanks to books! Two subjects that fascinate me a lot, though, never seem to sink in! I cannot recall the names of stars and galaxies, rivers all over the world, or the pantheons of Greek and Roman Gods. I’d flunk out on Jeopardy! - Nancy L in Ohio



Well, have to say I’m a book collector too. My books even live in two states now, Oklahoma (in storage) and here in Washington where I had to start all over again. This was not something to make my cry, you understand, just wish I had them all together! I’m all for the short and sweet reviews too. Frankly, when I start a book and it’s doubtful as to whether or not I want to finish it I go read the last page or so to see how it ends. If it doesn’t have a good ending I don’t waste my time reading any more of it. Life’s too short for boring books!! - Ruth in WA



I too am addicted to words in a row. I can’t sleep without a fix. If necessary I’ll read the labels off a medicine bottle. The thought of selling a book is acutely uncomfortable. I tried it once, and still regret it. Even though the series were the absolute worst schlock imaginable, specifically the Perry Rhodan science fiction series. Sometimes we just feel like reading brainless mindless schlock.

Now electronic books are becoming available. There are thousands of books available free on the internet, including some that I’d otherwise actually pay money for. I save a truckload by buying electronic books, because an $8.00 book in the US costs $20.00 or more here, and an electronic version is even cheaper. The Baen Website has scores of free, plus thousands more cheap. I’m up to about 1500 electronic books. I’ve largely switched from using paper to fully electronic books.

Has anybody tried out the ‘Opera Unite’ feature of the new opera Web Browser? Do yourself a favour if you don’t already have it. I can use that to use my entire electronic book collection as well as my music collection anywhere while travelling. The only thing I miss from the transition to electronic books is the ability to read in the bath. - John_in_Oz