welcome to my world. i'll be honest here. i'll tell u mundane things about my day and maybe some exciting things too. enjoy!!!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
'Wife Beater' carved into Fla. man's chest
JACKSONVILLE --
(AP) -- Authorities say someone knocked a Jacksonville man unconscious and carved the words ''Wife Beater'' into his chest.
According to a police report, the 22-year-old naval officer was attacked after he left a bar. When the man woke up in a haze, he lifted his bloody shirt and found the phrase scrawled on his stomach.
The man, who was arrested in March on a domestic battery charge, filed a police complaint Monday on the advice of his naval commander.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/592370.html#recent_comm
Monday, June 30, 2008
and so i'm back...
ok peoples gotta run!
loves ya!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
another issue i have with the catholic church
ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The Vatican announced Thursday in a general decree that it will excommunicate anyone who would attempt to ordain a woman as a priest and the woman herself.
According to the decree, the excommunications would take place with immediate effect.
The decree was signed by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith.
It was not persuasive to Regina Nicolosi, a program coordinator for Roman Catholic Womenpriests (sic), who was ordained two years ago.
"We have come not to take that too seriously," said Nicolosi, a 66-year-old married mother and grandmother who lives in Red Wing, Minnesota, and said her group is composed of 40 to 50 women priests, none of whom are recognized by the church hierarchy.
"It's one of the very last patriarchal hierarchies in the western world, and I don't know when they will be ready to let go of that."
Though she said she wants to reform the church from within, she will continue her work as a volunteer in a nursing home who celebrates mass in small groups even if she is excommunicated, she said.
She predicted that the church's resistance will backfire. "This is bringing more and more women into our group, and I think we're getting more support from Catholics who are saying this is getting ridiculous," she said.
wow really? ugh.
i didnt know they still existed
Rare uncontacted tribe photographed in Amazon
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Amazon Indians from one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air, with striking images released on Thursday showing them painted bright red and brandishing bows and arrows.
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The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.
"What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilized' ones, treat the world," Jose Carlos Meirelles was quoted as saying in a statement by the Survival International group.
One of the pictures, which can be seen on Survival International's Web site (http://www.survival-international.org), shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.
Another photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts, some of them also preparing to fire arrows at the aircraft.
"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, which supports tribal people around the world.
Of more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says. It says all are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and ravaged by new diseases.
More pics of amazon tribe
discuss
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
see it's not just Miami...
TAMPA --
(AP) -- A nude maid cleaned up good at a Florida man's home.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the maid stole more than $40,000 from a Cheval home despite not wearing any clothes.
The 50-year-old man hired the maid through the Internet on Friday to clean his suburban Tampa home.
Authorities said the woman arrived at the home in a one-piece, light colored dress. She took off the dress and cleaned the house for $100 per hour.
Sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said the man told deputies he left the maid alone in the bedroom to clean.
When the man's wife came home from vacation, she discovered $40,000 in jewelry missing from their bedroom.
Police are investigating.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
farewell my doggie...
we had her for 12 years. we got her when she was 2 weeks old. i had to bottle feed her every morning. i'm so sad. she stayed with my parents after i got married, and she was like another daughter for my parents. she started throwing up about a week ago, but we were in honduras. when we got back we thought she was doing better. but no. and yesterday afternoon she couldnt hold down water. so my parents took her to an emergency vet place. they put her on an IV and ran blood work. this morning, they were in the process of getting her ready to do an abdominal u/s when she went into cardiac arrest. they did cpr on her, but she still died. the dr called my dad but he didnt understand what they were saying so i had to call them back. my heart broke, i honestly thought she was going to be ok and that it was just a virus she had. and worst of all, i had to call my parents and tell them the bad news.
we got to the vets and my parents we not doing well. they brought her in so we can see her, and i lost it at that point. she was MY dog. she was always with me. so it hurts. bad. but my dad is taking the worst. i've never seen him cry so much. my dad was her b!tch lol everywhere he would go, she would follow. i'm worried he's gonna start drinking again over this. he's truly devastated.
the dr called us later today for permission to do an autopsy. she was still trying to figure out what suzy had. and we wanted to know too. why she stopped eating, was depressed, nothing made her happy, and was throwing up. so a couple of hours later she called back and said it was pancreatic cancer. and bc of it, her liver was inflamed, something else was wrong with her intestines, and something else was enlarged. basically her organs were shutting down and her heart was working overtime, and her heart no longer could keep up.
i miss her terribly. i couldn't sleep last nite. i kept crying, thinking about her. she was so scared of thunderstorms, hated them. she would run to the bathtub when she saw the weather turning gray. she hated bananas and bread. i guess they didn't taste good to her. she loved coffee in the mornings and ice cream in the evenings. she loved going out for walks and rides in cars. she would always give me kisses on my nose. ugh. im so sad. i'll have to scan pics later.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
ummmm WHAT??
how about she kicks his ass and run the risk. lol
http://www.viralthis.com/64/7-year-old-steals-grandmothers-car.html
Saturday, May 24, 2008
"i'll apologize but i aint taking off my glasses"
classic south florida
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/542412.html
you'll get a good laugh with all the comments on the Herald. ENJOY!
MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
Hospital worker: I performed oral sex on patient
A Mount Sinai Medical Center employee surrendered Wednesday after police say he performed oral sex on a male patient who was just waking up from anesthesia following surgery.
Pedro J. Gonzalez, 27, of Hialeah, confessed and was charged with sexual battery, Miami Beach police said.
Gonzalez, whose job is to transport patients within the hospital, was immediately fired after the April 30 incident.
The 31-year-old patient had gone to Mount Sinai, 4300 Alton Rd., on April 30 for surgery. Gonzalez wheeled the patient from a recovery room to a standard room and helped him onto the bed.
According to a police report, ''he began to perform oral sex'' on the patient, who pushed him away. The patient later told detectives ``even though he was coming off the effects of the anesthesia, he can ID [the suspect] and was aware of the act.''
The police report said Gonzalez came back to the room twice to ''check on'' him. After a nurse ignored his complaint, the patient called Miami Beach police, according to a report.
''Even an isolated incident is unacceptable. We worked very closely with the Miami Beach police on this matter, and will continue to assist the authorities until a proper resolution is achieved,'' spokeswoman Pamela Gadinsky said in a statement.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
just thought this was interesting...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
for my Abuelo
In spanish:
Monday, May 5, 2008
Ladies VS Real Women
i'd like to thanks Stinky, aka kdpie, for this. i can totally relate to all of them. thanks babe!
Ladies VS Real Women (This made me giggle)
LadiesIf you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix-me-up."
Real Women
If you over-salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too damn bad. Please recite with me, The Real Women's motto: "I made it and you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes."
Ladies
Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.
Real Women
Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink. You might still have the headache, but who cares?
Ladies
Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.
Real Women
Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake. You are probably lying on the couch, with your feet up, eating it anyway.
Ladies
To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
Real Women
Buy boxed mashed potato mix and keep it in the pantry for up to a year.
Ladies
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the inside of the cake.
Real Women
Go to the bakery - they'll even decorate it for you.
Ladies
Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.
Real Women
Sara Lee frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I just don't do it.
Ladies
If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dish washing gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
Real Women
Go ask the very cute neighbor guy to do it.
And finally the most important tip!.....
Ladies
Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
Real Women
Leftover wine??
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
Friday, May 2, 2008
this is what my office would be like...
thanks erica!!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Torticollis...
Wednesday, April 23rd 1:06am
so this evening isa was playing...pushing her baby stroller when all of the sudden she grabs the back of her head and starts screaming. she comes over to me in tears and i start checking her to see if there is anything. and nothing. i take her to greg and we're watching her, and she's still crying and screaming, and he says "get her dressed, we're leaving". well when i lay her down to change her diaper, she starts screaming again..i sit her up and again she's screaming in pain. at this point i know something is def wrong. so we get to the hosptial around 940. 945 the triage nurse sees her and says its prolly an ear infection but wont put drops in her ear bc she says that since she's not really pulling on her ear, it could be something else. we finally see the dr at friggin MIDNIGHT!!! it wasnt even busy but it took that long to see the dr. so dr comes in and already has a sh!t face on bc isa is scared of him. gee i wonder why?? he comes in all mean looking, not even trying to gain her trust and he thinks she's just gonna run to him?? ugh a-hole. so he calls a male nurse in to help him hold her down, which really pissed me off. she's 2 yo, she's not fighting, she's just scared and crying bc we're laying her down, and as i had told him, it hurts her to lay down!! but the nurse was really nice with her, and the dr cleans out a little bit of wax in both ears and says it's an infection. he says that it's worse on her left side, but she keeps grabbing the back of her head on her right side. he insist it's an infection. so he rx her drops and no antibotics, which is fine with me. and send us on our marry way. and from the moment he left the room til the time someone was in there getting payment was, no lie, 3 minutes!
ok im so sorry this is sooo long. i'll print it out and save it with her hospital bracelet for prosperity.
Wednesday, April 23 733pm
well my motherly instinct kicked in last night when i KNEW isa didn't have an ear infection. took her to the pedi today and told him the story. he started giggling when i said that "i'm not convinced it's an ear infection, i dont believe the er dr, but if u tell me she has one, then i'll believe you" and he checked her ears and he laughed again, and i said "dang it is an ear infection!" and he "NO!, her ears are perfect!!"
so the sucky er dr was completely WRONG! thank god for my pedi!!! i'm gonna write a nasty little letter to the hospital. the more i think about it the more upset i get.
thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. it really meant a lot see everyone sending them.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
are u effing kidding me???
Girl dies after being beaten with video game controller
YORK, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A 2-year-old girl died after being beaten with a video game controller by her mother's boyfriend, police said Tuesday.
Darisabel Baez died Monday. Her mother's boyfriend said he beat the 2-year-old but didn't explain why, police said.
Darisabel Baez's mother overheard the beating Sunday but did nothing until she realized the girl was unconscious, police said. The girl was pronounced dead late Monday at Hershey Medical Center, police Lt. Ron Camacho said.
Homicide was added to the list of charges against Harve L. Johnson on Tuesday; he was already in jail on counts including aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
The girl's mother, Neida E. Baez, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
It was clear from the bruises and other injuries on the little girl's body that Sunday was not the first time she had been abused, Dauphin County coroner Graham Hetrick told WGAL-TV. He said it was one of the worst cases of child abuse he has ever seen.
Baez, 19, called for an ambulance Sunday and said Johnson had brought the unconscious child to her, limp and wet from an attempt to revive her in a bathtub, a police affidavit said.
Johnson, 26, acknowledged beating the girl with a video game controller but did not say why, police said. Baez said that Johnson had abused the girl in the past and that she heard the girl scream after Johnson beat her Sunday, according to the affidavit.
Detective Dana Ward said Baez was charged because she did not intervene or try to get help for Darisabel.
Johnson and Baez remained in custody Tuesday. His bail was set at $200,000; hers was $25,000.
Through police, family members declined requests for interviews Tuesday. Court officials said they did not know whether Johnson and Baez had lawyers to speak for them.Monday, April 7, 2008
Picasso has been reincarnated as an elephant
i've missed a few days..
Saturday, March 29, 2008
this is hondurans speak part 1
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Obama related to Pitt, Hillary Clinton to Jolie
Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates -- Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain.
Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is also a distant cousin of singers Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette. Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, his cousins. McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.
Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.
''It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn't necessarily expect,'' Child said.
Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.
''His kinships are across the political spectrum,'' Child said.
Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates' genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, ``Ancestors of American Presidents.''
Clinton's distant cousins include beatnik author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles of England.
McCain's ancestry was more difficult to trace because records on his relatives were not as complete as records for the families of Obama and Clinton, Child said.
Obama and President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.
Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769. Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment on the senator's ancestry.
Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, is the oldest and largest nonprofit genealogical organization in the country.
Honduran president defends melons by eating one
(CNN) -- He's no Julia Child, but Honduran President Manuel Zelaya showed Tuesday he can attack a cantaloupe and U.S. government claims in a single motion.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya wants to assure the world there is no problem with his country's fruit.
"It's not in our fruit," he said about last week's report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that some Honduran cantaloupes may be contaminated with salmonella. "It's not true what they are saying. Logically, we believe it is an error."
Then, the 55-year-old father of four asked his viewers to indulge him as he engaged in a show-and-tell demonstration. "Permit me a second," he said as he stretched his left arm across the tabletop and outside the view of the camera, then pulled into view a box of fruit.
"Here I have the box of melons that we are exporting to the United States; here are the protective bags," he said.
Zelaya lifted a cantaloupe from the box, placed it in front of him, then grabbed a knife and a fork.
"Permit me to make a demonstration," he said, then cut open the fruit, sliced off a chunk, put it in his mouth and chewed vigorously.
"I eat this fruit without any fear," he said with his mouth full. "It's a delicious fruit. Nothing happens to me!"
Though the symptoms of salmonella infection -- nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps -- typically do not occur for several hours after eating tainted food, the point was made.
The demonstration came three days after the FDA said it had linked 50 cases of salmonella in 16 states and nine in Canada to melons from Agropecuaria Montelibana, a grower and packer in San Lorenzo, Honduras.
Though there have been no reports of fatalities, 14 people have been hospitalized in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, the FDA said.
While the company has continued exporting to Europe and Central America and has received no reports of illness, the daily export of 45 containers of melon to the United States has halted, a company official said Monday.
As a result, some 1,500 workers have been laid off, most of them single mothers, and company losses have exceeded $3 million, company officials said.
The FDA alert advised U.S. grocers, food-service operators and produce processors to remove from their stock any cantaloupes from the company.
The agency also recommended consumers throw away any cantaloupes determined to be from the company.Apparently i am a "happy, uncomplicated lady"
Monday, March 24, 2008
gotta love the streakers
hahaha she's awesome. but if i had that body, i would be running out there butt nekkid.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
i guess i really am a latina...
1. 8:45am is too early for us to be up.
2. We are always late, we would have missed all 4 flights.
3. Pretty people on the plane distract us.
4. We would talk loudly and bring attention to ourselves.
5. With food and drinks on the plane, we would forget why we're there.
6. We talk with our hands, therefore we would have to put our weapons down.
7. We would ALL want to fly the plane.
8. We would argue and start a fight in the plane.
9. We can't keep a secret, we would have told everyone a week before doing it.
AND MY FAVORITE.....
10. We would have put our country's flag on the windshield.
ARE YOU A LATINO? HOW CAN YOU TELL FOR SURE?
1) If you have ever been hit by a "Chancla"
2) If you grew up scared by something called "El Cucuy"
3) If others tell you to stop screaming when you are really just talking.
4) If you light a candle to Virgin Mary on the night before your big test.
5) If you use your chin to point something out.
6) If you constantly refer to cereal as "con fleys".
7) If your mother yells at the top of her lungs to call you for dinner, even if it's a one bedroom apartment.
8) If you can dance merengue, cumbia, or salsa without music.
9) If you use "manteca" instead of olive oil and can't figure out why your nalgas are getting bigger.
10) If you are in a five passenger car with seven people in it and a person is shouting "subanse, todavia caben mas!"
11) If whenever you feel under the weather, you compulsively dab on some "Vick's vapor rub" all over your pecho and inside your nostrils.
12) Your mom packs your "lonche" every day even though you've just turned thirty-two.
13) If you call the North Americans "gringos", including Canadians, and call all Asian people "chinos" or "chinitos" and you call the corner store "the chinito's store".
LOL thanks prima for the forward. i have been guilty of pretty much ALL mentioned above.
Friday, March 21, 2008
feeling sad? need a pick-me-up??
again love this song
New Shoes
Artist(Band):Paolo Nutini
for my friends
my hubby would be so proud of me for posting this lol enjoy!!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
he doesn't seem to understand
update on the church fire
Teens arrested in church fire to stay in jail
Damages from an afternoon arson fire set inside St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church last week likely will exceed $1 million, a church spokeswoman said, but parishioners of the Kendall church intend to celebrate Holy Week at the site and then rebuild.
Miami-Dade Police have arrested two teenage boys over the blaze, and, at hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, both youths were ordered to be detained at the Miami juvenile lockup for 21 days. The boys, who are not being named because they are juveniles, both have been charged with first-degree arson, police say.
Susan Spruce, a lawyer with the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office, declined to discuss the case on behalf of one of the boys, whom the office represents.
Both boys, aged 14 and 15, live near the church, but parishioners of St. Catherine say they do not worship there, said Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami.
''We just got off the phone with the building inspectors; it's badly damaged,'' Ross Agosta said.
''There's a lot of sorrow here, certainly within the church and the community,'' she said. ``But we can't lose sight that these are kids who are 14 and 15 years old.''
Ross Agosta said no services will be canceled, and church leaders likely will celebrate Easter Sunday either in areas inside the church not affected by the blaze, or outside in a plaza.
''We will be rejoicing on Easter Sunday at St. Catherine of Siena,'' she said.
The Miami-Dade Police Department's arson unit is investigating the fire. Police say a surveillance video inside the church showed two youths enter. As they left, ''a fire ignited inside,'' according to a prepared statement.
Police investigators have not said yet why the boys would have set the blaze, said Roy Rutland, a police spokesman.
Friday's fire started in a small chapel at the church at Southwest 107th Avenue and 93rd Street.
A church parishioner driving past the building saw smoke and called 911. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze before it spread to the whole building.
No one was injured in the fire, which came just before Holy Week, the most important week on the Catholic calender, which runs from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.
''That something so profound would occur just before Palm Sunday leads into Holy Week brings into focus what this week is all about,'' Ross Agosta said. ``The parishioners of St. Catherine will move forward; they know they will be able to rebuild the building.
''It brings to mind what Christ taught us about forgiveness,'' she added. ``It reminds us that you don't need a building to be a parish.''
Interesting how they said that their names are not being released but their names and pics were plastered all over the news today. two little thug wanna-be's. if that were my son, i'd be him silly, he'd be begging for God himself to come down and save him. One of the kids grandma goes to that church, not anymore though i'm sure. i think they should be put to work on the restoration of the church, that'll be a good lesson for them. but then again, idk if the archdiocese would trust them, i wouldn't.so i'm watching the price is right the other day..
Monday, March 17, 2008
check out my shamrocks!!
HAPPY ST PATS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so i'm no where near being irish. but yet some how on this day i find my self drinking like one. i really think st pats should be a national holiday lol i'll post pics of us partying later today or tomorrow. or whenever i decide to finally upload my pics. what are u doing today to celebrate your irish side?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
i heart leonard pitts
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004283211_pitts16.html
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist
So you think you're qualified to occupy the Oval Office
Hillary Clinton is right. Barack Obama does not have the experience to be president of the United States.
But then, neither does she. Neither does John McCain.
We Americans have spent a lot of time in recent weeks debating experience, which candidate will be ready "from day one" to answer the 3 a.m. phone call in the White House (what, the White House doesn't have a switchboard?). When the campaign began a hundred years ago, that seemed a sensible debate to have, especially given Obama's short term in the Senate and upon the national stage.
I've since reconsidered. Sensible as it may superficially seem, the whole "experience" debate strikes me now as a phony issue in a campaign full of same.
In the first place: As Obama has noted, if he's too inexperienced to be president, why do Clinton and her surrogates keep telling us what a great running mate he would make?
In the second place: As Chris Rock has observed, being married to the president does not qualify one to be president, any more than being married to a comedian qualifies one to tell jokes.
In the third place: Obama would hardly be the first president to come to office with little experience in national politics. Abraham Lincoln, like Obama, had eight years in Illinois state government and a few more in Congress. Dwight Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant had never held elective office. Then there's Chester Arthur. He was a lawyer before running for vice president under James Garfield. When Garfield was killed, six months into his term, the lawyer found himself president.
This debate, I think, proceeds from a false premise: that there's a body of learning which, once absorbed, qualifies a person for the presidency.
Consider James Buchanan, who brought to office a college degree and 31 years of experience as a senator, representative, diplomat and state lawmaker. He sat idle while the Union disintegrated around him. His successor, the aforementioned Lincoln, was a rough-hewed, self-taught frontier lawyer with a fraction of Buchanan's experience. He acted boldly to save the Union and, in the process, became arguably the greatest president of all.
The moral of the story is not that experience is irrelevant. No, the moral is that experience is not the only barometer, that the presidency also requires reasoning, knowledge, maturity, leadership and some sense of how the world works. There is no president school, no certificate that says you're ready. The presidency is an entity unto itself, its responsibilities and burdens unique beyond anyone's ability to prepare for them. Small wonder.
The president of the United States governs 303 million people, presides over a $14 trillion annual economy — the largest on Earth — commands the world's most formidable military, sets the agenda for the planet's only superpower, stands answerable to history on a daily basis. Do you really think Bill Clinton's 12 years as governor of Arkansas prepared him for that? How about George W. Bush's six years as governor of Texas?
Richard Nixon, of all people, once said character was the most important qualification for being president. Lyndon Johnson said, "The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands." And John Kennedy once groused to Barry Goldwater, "So, you want this (expletive) job."
Which brings to mind an iconic picture of Kennedy, standing at a White House window. He is alone, head bowed, his thoughts unknowable, his isolation and burden palpable. It drives home the absurdity of debating what prepares one for the presidency. To me, it's obvious:
Nothing does.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
i'm not a church person but....
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/458273.html
A fire damaged the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church at Southwest 107th Avenue and 93rd Street Friday afternoon.
While flames and smoke left parts of the church unusable, firefighters were able to contain the blaze before it consumed the entire building, according to Miami-Dade Fire rescue. No injuries were reported.
Firefighters determined the fire started in a small chapel, but the cause is still under investigation.
A church parishioner driving past the church noticed smoke coming from the building and called 911.
Friday, March 14, 2008
day 4 of my "cold"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
this is so south florida
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/453595.html#recent_comm
Cops: Shooting victim's buddies took his pants
BY TIM CHAPMAN
tchapman@MiamiHerald.com
Miami police are looking for the trousers of a man who was shot Wednesday morning in Overtown.
They're also looking for the man who shot him.
Officers at the scene said that three men were standing at the corner of Northwest Second Avenue and 12th Street about 8 a.m. when a gunman with dreadlocks walked up and shot one of the men in the stomach and the leg and walked off.
The wounded man's friends immediately took his pants off and fled the scene, police were told by witnesses.
Fire-rescue workers found the man bleeding in the street in his underwear and a shirt.
Police don't know why the victim's friends might have made off with his pants before rescuers could arrive. Anyone with information should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS or Miami homicide at 305-579-6530.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
here's the other one
here's one video
feeling like crap
so the zoo was great today. went with some of isa's girlfriends. she sees her girlfriends more than i see mine lol. we bought the annual pass a couple of weeks ago and i'm milking it. i'm gonna get my $49 worth. she loved the fruit salad i bought her. that's a good sign. and she loved the pineapple. though i was weary of giving it to her since she had broken out with a rash last time i did. but isa did great with it today. so i'm def gonna buy more knowing that she'll eat it with no complaints.
let's see how im doing manana. i need to find a couple of videos that i saw recently that really made me LMAO. i'll find them and post it.
peace out
Monday, March 10, 2008
so i'm a little bummed
Friday, March 7, 2008
This is the kind of mother we should strive to be like
Mom who cared for comatose daughter for 38 years dies
Posted on Fri, Mar. 07, 2008
BY TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE
tfigueras@MiamiHerald.com
She never broke her promise.
Kaye O'Bara, who pledged to never leave her then-teenage daughter's side as the girl slipped into a diabetic coma 38 years ago, died at her Miami Gardens home this week -- in the same room she shared with her child, Edwarda, since 1970.
O'Bara, 80, died in her sleep. She had suffered for years from a cardiac illness that dated back to a heart attack in the early 1980s, said her niece Pamela Burdgick.
''We thought she'd outlive us all. The woman was so strong,'' Burdgick said.
The story of O'Bara's steadfast devotion to her child, and her belief that Edwarda's life was not a burden but a blessing, inspired countless visitors who passed by the small one-story O'Bara home over the decades. Well-wishers traveled from as far away as Japan to take part in the annual celebration of Edwarda's birthday -- as did fellow Catholics and others who believed Kaye O'Bara had seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary and sought to pray at the bedside of her sleeping daughter.
Her story also inspired bestselling author Dr. Wayne Dyer to write the book ``A Promise Is A Promise: An Almost Unbelievable Story of a Mother's UnconditionalLove and What It Can Teach Us.''
The title of the book came from the last exchange O'Bara had with her daughter. Edwarda, a diabetic, had come down with the flu shortly before Christmas 1969. Her condition worsened over the next few days, and her parents -- Kaye and husband Joe -- took her to the hospital.
As the frightened girl began to lose consciousness, she turned to her mother and asked: ``Promise you won't leave me, will you, Mommy?''
Kaye O'Bara promised her she wouldn't, and those final words to her daughter became the blueprint for her life: turning her every two hours so her daughter wouldn't develop bedsores, feeding her a mixture of baby food and powdered milk through a tube, administering insulin, playing music, reading books to Edwarda, who was once an avid reader, and keeping a watchful vigil by her bedside in the hope that one day her daughter would come to.
''To me, she's almost awake. Sometimes I think I hear her speak,'' O'Bara once told The Miami Herald. 'She says, `Mom, I'm fine.' Maybe she's not saying anything at all, but I think she's speaking to me.''
Edwarda's younger sister, Colleen O'Bara, says the family will continue to care for her in the family home.
''We never thought of it as a hardship. It just didn't seem out of the ordinary,'' said Colleen, who said she shared in her parents' hope that her sister would ``one day just wake up.''
Colleen O'Bara said she plans on moving from her Pembroke Pines home to help care for Edwarda, a decision she says her mother had hoped to spare her from having to make.
''I always told her I would [care for Edwarda],'' said Colleen, whose son, Richard, is also helping to care for his aunt. ``But it's a hard life, and she didn't want that.''
Government aid would have paid to have Edwarda institutionalized, but there was no question in Joe and Kaye O'Bara's minds that their girl would live out her days at home. The couple shared the duties of caring for her, quickly falling into debt.
Joe O'Bara, then a physical education teacher at Scott Lake Elementary in Northwest Miami-Dade, took up a second job painting houses on weekends and fixing boat motors in his garage. In 1972, he suffered a heart attack and died four years later, leaving his wife the primary caretaker.
Kaye O'Bara -- born Kathryn McCloskey in Johnstown, Pa. -- was herself a schoolteacher who taught at St. Rose of Lima and Notre Dame Academy in North Miami-Dade. She retired the year after Edwarda became comatose, and did her best to survive on Social Security and her husband's pension -- and the generosity of others.
Over the years, the modest O'Bara home attracted visitors from across the world. And each March, without fail, Kaye O'Bara would celebrate her daughter's birthday with a party, often attracting hundreds.
''Everyone who visited the O'Bara home could not help but come away with a deeper faith and understanding of what it is to truly love,'' said Joan Crown, director of the Respect Life ministry for the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. ``Kaye was a shining example of what it means to be a mother, a teacher and a faithful Catholic. She embraced the teachings of her church and never gave in to the calls of many to end the life of her daughter through euthanasia.''
The story of the O'Bara family generated dozens of headlines and news stories, and was, in recent years juxtaposed with that of the family battle over the fate of another Florida woman, Terri Schiavo.
O'Bara often said she never once considered letting her daughter go, but refrained from judging others who differed.
''What we've tried to do here is create a place of love,'' O'Bara told the Herald in 2005. 'That means more than saying `yes' to the feeding tube or 'no' to the feeding tube.''
She was careful to draw distinction between her daughter and cases such as Schiavo's, saying had Edwarda been a married adult when she slipped into a coma, ``I would have honored her husband's right to make decisions, as next of kin -- just as my parents would have done with my husband, had the same thing happened to me.''
Several years earlier, in a letter to the Herald's editorial page, O'Bara gently expressed her belief that euthanasia was a personal decision, but called Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the physician who advocated doctor-assisted suicide, ``misguided.''
''I know I pray for him every night,'' she wrote.
In 2000, O'Bara received a papal medal from the Roman Catholic Church, an honor bestowed upon her by Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora.
A devout Catholic, O'Bara said she had felt the presence of the Virgin Mary in Edwarda's bedroom, and believed her daughter was not simply sleeping but ''a spiritual being having a human experience.'' It was a belief echoed by others, including the self-help author Dwyer, who penned his book after getting to know the O'Baras.
At least one couple arranged to be married by Edwarda's bedside, a worldwide prayer group devoted to Edwarda now numbers in the thousands. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, wary travelers would stop by the O'Bara home, asking to pray there before boarding a plane.
Kaye O'Bara often posted updates about her family on a website maintained by a longtime family friend.
Her last entry, dated February 2008, read:
``I know a lot of you are waiting for your quarterly letter but I have been ill and really can't afford the stamps.''
Her family and friends said that in recent days she had appeared in relatively fine health, and say that despite her age and illness they were shocked by O'Bara's death.
When the nurse who helps out with Edwarda knocked on the O'Bara door Friday morning, she was alarmed when her knock went unanswered. She summoned the help of neighbors, including Elsie Ferguson, who has lived next door for more than 30 years.
They found O'Bara in the room she shared with Edwarda, snatching brief naps on a small cot in between feedings and other duties.
Ferguson's son, Chaka Ferguson -- who wasn't even born when Edwarda took ill -- grew up with a deep admiration for his next-door-neighbor.
''I always wondered why she kept it up, and one time I asked her that question,'' said Ferguson, a sports copy editor at The Miami Herald.
''She told me she saw this as a sacrifice that was worth it, and that she would always be there for Edwarda,'' he said. ``She kept her promise to the end.''
A funeral Mass for Kaye O'Bara will take place at 10 a.m., Thursday, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Miami Shores. A Wednesday night viewing will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. at Cofer Kolski Combs Funeral Home, 10931 NE Sixth St.
Instead of flowers the family is asking for donations to defray the cost of Edwarda's care. For information on donating, visit www.edwardaobara.com. Profits from Dyer's book also go to her care.
I cried when i read this. i wonder to myself, could i REALLY do this? do i have that kind of strength to see my daughter in that state day in and day out? idk. but i tell u what, i truly admire mrs. o'bara. she's what angels are made of.