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There is just nuthin’ going on today.

Listening to this defense attorney (on Fox) for child-beater Madelyne Toogood, I find myself feeling somewhat sorry for the lady. But only from the standpoint that she apparently doesn’t have the independence or brains to say “this Irish Traveller bullshit stops with me and mine; I am going to make something of myself in this world and give my children hope for a different future.”
Rocket Rosen? What a name. [I guess his first name is actually “Steven”.] And don’t insult Indiana jurisprudence, asshole. Just because we convicted Mike Tyson and our judges set punishment rather than our juries doesn’t mean we have shitty courts.
Claiming that growing up in this “Irish Traveller culture” means that “you don’t go to high school, you don’t go to college” is likewise a load of bullshit. They don’t do those things because it’s easier to fleece unknowing victims and live on their ill-gotten gains than it is to get an education and become productive members of society. If this young lady had really wanted to break the cycle and make something of herself, I’m sure she could have done so.
And this tearful BS of hers last night, saying the child shouldn’t be punished for her (the mother’s) mistake, got it exactly wrong. The child was hardly being punished by being assigned to a foster family by CPS. The mother was being told that, until further evaluation, she was being deemed an unfit mother. Any punishment therein was strictly directed at the mother — not at the child.
Watch this whole thing get spun into intolerance of a different culture.
LATER: I just looked at the Fox News website and read the following in this story on the case:

Authorities said the mother had left the store angry because she was refused a cash refund for goods. The woman is then seen putting her daughter in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle, then pummeling, slapping and shaking her for nearly a half-minute.

This woman is seriously fucked up in the head. She does not need to get her daughter back, and her other two children need to be taken from her as well.
The idiot attorney added:

Rosen also criticized the girl’s temporary placement with another family, saying the Toogood family was tight-knit and traumatized by the decision.
“To me, this is very detrimental, very psychologically detrimental, bordering on abusive,” Rosen said.

Um, counselor…abusive to whom? The family isn’t the victim here. A little girl who had no way to defend herself from her enraged mother is the victim here.
MORE UPDATE: I see Rachel has weighed in on this 🙂

Girls, McDonalds isn’t responsible for your obesity. YOU ARE.
Take some fucking responsibility for your own actions.
We’re turning in to a nation of sissy-miris, for crying out loud. The judge should laugh this out of court and fine the lawyer for bringing a frivolous lawsuit.

Good thing tomorrow is Sunday and not Monday.

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Twin sisters of different mothers, in my opinion. That’s my wife Sally on the right. On the left is our friend Christine, who is a waitress at Mel’s Diner in Naples. We met Christine and her cohort Jackie when we were here in September 2000 for our honeymoon, which you can read about starting here.

Much has changed in the year and a half since we were last here.
For one thing, Michelbob’s is closed until next month. Bastards. Sally wanted ribs for her anniversary dinner.
For another, Bill’s on Fifth is now Pier 41. The food is just as good or better, though. I had filet mignon and Sally had shrimp scampi…both amazingly tasty. The chef came out and made the rounds and was very happy to hear us wax poetic about the food.
For another, we went down to Marco and Mustang Sally’s appears to have closed the door. Which is a shame, they had good food, too. Not to mention the karaoke vocal stylings of Myles Loud. His Elvis and Tom Jones (complete with torn-open shirt) are spot-on. Apparently he hangs at the La Casita restaurant in Marco now.
On the plus side, the beach is still there. Down the street, the Tides Inn has finally been torn down to make way for condominiums…starting at $2.5 MILLION. Yet here we are on the south end of Loudermilk Park, 300 feet from the beach…and Sally’s parents aren’t rich.
On the minus side, we only seem to come here when tropical storms are heading right for us…
I’m beginning to wonder if the north side of Naples has changed as much as the south. Scares me.

What is it about this town…you drive and drive and drive and never seem to get anywhere.
And residents, get a clue…lane changes are best signalled with that funny little lever on the left side of your steering wheel.
Otherwise, it’s that second wedding anniversary kind of thing. Posts will be light this week since I’m limited to 48kbps via AOL. Echh. At least Sally’s parents got cable at the condo this year, and at least they get Fox News 🙂
Beach? What beach?

…terrorism is still terrorism.
And PETA is about to find out what a terrorism investigation is all about. Giving money to the ELF is a no-no, morons. Especially under a “get tough on terror” administration.
Your salad days (hee hee) under Clinton are over.

…who shall live, and who shall die.
The jury finally came through. Amazing.

At this hour the whole House of Israel stands before its God, the God of Justice and the God of Mercy. We shall examine our ways before Him. We shall examine what we have done and what we have failed to do; we shall examine where we have gone and where we have failed to go. Wherever we have sinned we will confess it: We will say “we have sinned” and will pray with the will to repentance before the Lord and we will pray: “Lord forgive us!”
We stand before our God and with the same courage with which we have acknowledged our sins, the sins of the individual and the sins of the community, shall we express our abhorrence of the lie directed against us, and the slander of our faith and its expressions: this slander is far below us. We believe in our faith and our future. Who brought the world the secret of the Lord Everlasting, of the Lord Who is One? Who brought the world understanding for a life of purity, for the purity of the family? Who brought the world respect for Man made in the image of God? Who brought the world the commandment of justice, of social thought? In all these the spirit of the Prophets of Israel, the Revelation of God to the Jewish People had a part. It sprang from our Judaism, and continues to grow in it. All the slander drops away when it is cast against these facts.
We stand before our God: Our strength is in Him. In Him is the truth and the dignity of our history. In Him is the source of our survival through every change, our firm stand in all our trials. Our history is the history of spiritual greatness, spiritual dignity. We turn to it when attack and insult are directed against us, when need and suffering press in upon us. The Lord led our fathers from generation to generation. He will continue to lead us and our children through our days.
We stand before our God; we draw strength from His Commandments, which we obey. We bow down before Him, and we stand upright before Men. Him we serve, and remain steadfast in all the changes around us. We put our faith in Him in humility and our way ahead is clear, we see our future.
The whole House of Israel stands before its God at this hour. Our prayer, our faith, and our belief is that of all the Jews on earth. We look upon each other and know ourselves, we raise our eyes to the Lord and know what is eternal.
“Behold, He that guardeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
“He who maketh peace in His high places, may He make peace for us and for all Israel and say ye, Amen.”
We are filled with sorrow and pain. In silence will we give expression to all that which is in our hearts, in moments of silence before our God. This silent worship will be more emphatic than any words could be.
PRAYER COMPOSED BY RABBI LEO BAECK FOR ALL JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN GERMANY FOR THE EVE OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT, OCTOBER 10, 1935