nice

Elderly Woman Attacked by Alligator in Florida  

COPELAND, Fla. (AP) — Officials say an alligator attacked and severely injured an elderly woman in southwest Florida.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that 90-year-old Margaret Webb was walking near her Copeland home Wednesday when the 8-foot alligator lunged out of a canal.Officials say the animal tried to drag the woman into the water, but she was able to hang on long enough for a man driving by to stop and help her.Officials say the woman, who lost part of her leg in the attack, was airlifted to a Fort Myers trauma center.

The agency says a trapper was sent to the area to find the alligator. If found, the reptile will be cut open in an attempt to retrieve and reattach the leg.

ex-girlfriends

gay for a day

Celebrating the passage of gay marriage by the New York State legislature!

i'm a supplier

Were I to stop drinking, how would the designer daughter get her recycled materials?

nice town

Mid-Atlantic Dreads Bad Summer of Foul, Hungry Stink Bugs“We hope your day,” it says, “is stink bug free.”

Ask people around Pittsburgh and much of the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region and they are likely to say there have been far too few stink-bug-free days of late, a harbinger of what promises to be another challenging summer, a year after tens of millions of the inchlong pests wreaked havoc on crops and homes.
As the temperatures rise and stink bugs emerge from their winter quarters, entomologists say, the infestation could prove even worse this year, with the bugs making their way into new areas of the country.
The brown marmorated stink bug is believed to have arrived here from Asia in the 1990s. It has made its way from Pennsylvania to at least 33 states, and has been spotted as far west as California and Washington. A continuing advance is inexorable, scientists say, because the bugs have no natural predators and can travel long distances — not by flying, but via a more convenient method: covertly hitching rides in vehicles.
The insect has caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, munching apples, peppers, corn and soybeans, and has proved to be a general irritant — in no small part because of its foul odor, which the bug secretes as a defense mechanism.
“The feeling in the bug world is this is the worst bug we’ve seen in 40 years,” said Michael J. Raupp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland. “It eats peaches and grapes and soybeans. It’s annihilated organic growers who can’t use pesticides. And guess what? After it eats your crops, it comes inside your home. I’ve never seen another bug do that.”
  James McCoy, owner of SBS Pest Control, short for Stinkbugspecialist.com, said Pittsburgh was so rife with the insect that he did not bother with calls seeking help for termites, ants or roaches — the bread-and-butter triple play of pests that extermination companies typically go after. “Everybody has stink bugs,” Mr. McCoy said. “We get one call out of 100 for the other stuff. No one here cares about the other stuff. It’s the stink bugs, and its getting worse every year here.”

why i can't stop

Photo by CBA

. . .um—smoking! It's hard to stop smoking when the Smoking Gun bbq is smokin' up a big batch of dead animal flesh for your delictation, putting the wood into the chamber.

what would become of the brewmeisters?

photograph by CBA

. . .not to mention bottle manufacturers, glass recyclers, bodega operators and etc. Just think what would happen to the jobless rate if I stopped drinking!

bear, bearing posies

First it was hyacinths. Then it was daffodils. He's always hanging around. He quit drinking and lost weight. Does he have hopes? Give me another beer. . .

st pats

I have the corned beef and cabbage. I have the beer—though my tastes in alcohol are catholic.
Alas, my background is Orange Irish. . .

fat tuesday

Actually, this is the reason I couldn't stop drinking yesterday:
Solidarity with my Brazilian friends at Carnival.

blond at the apollo

Appolling.

politically incorrect

This funny link showing classic photographs doctored to remove evidence of tobacco shows just how unacceptable smoking has become.
Next up: Dash that drink from your lips. Cheers!

nice town

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio science teacher accused of burning the image of a cross on students' arms has officially been fired.

The Mount Vernon school board voted 4-1 Monday night to accept a state hearing officer's recommendation to terminate John Freshwater. The Columbus Dispatch reports the firing took effect a few hours later, at midnight. Freshwater had appealed his earlier firing by the board. An internal investigation found he had preached Christian beliefs in class. He also was accused of using a scientific device to mark several students with a cross and of keeping a Bible on his desk. The hearing officer's report issued Friday said Freshwater sowed doubt and confusion in the minds of impressionable students.

nice town

Police: Pa. Man Stole Video Game From Boy's Casket

PITTSBURGH (AP) — State police are trying to find a Pennsylvania man who they say stole a hand-held video game system and accessories from the casket of a teen who had been killed in an SUV crash on Christmas Day. In the release, police say 38-year-old Jody Lynn Bennett, of Mentcle, grabbed the items from the casket of 17-year-old Bradley McCombs during a viewing Monday night at a Montgomery Township funeral home, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The funeral home director and McCombs' mother aren't commenting. The suspect's aunt, Dianna Bennett, says her family is friends with the McCombs and are mortified by the theft. She tells The Associated Press she hopes police catch Bennett soon.

the holidays

open bar season

nice town

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman who police say shot a relative to death amid a dispute over a skimpy Easter outfit has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. Forty-two-year-old Evelyn Burgess pleaded guilty in Columbus to murder in the April 4 death of 19-year-old Danielle Pickens, a cousin. Apologizing to family members, Burgess said saying "I'm sorry" could never fully express how she feels. Pickens wore jeans shorts to Burgess' home for Easter dinner. Prosecutors say Burgess became upset thinking the shorts were too short and that her husband was looking at them.

wah wah little GTO

Pontiac is no more, nor are those days of chugging beer and drag racing down 9A in my boyfriend's GTO.

all hallows

Five years ago on Halloween, the Wiccan New Year, I stopped smoking.
Boom.
Gone.
Done.
And this year?

no comments

So what am I doing this for, my health?
Oh, right. . .