Finally, a year to regroup! In 2006, wrongs will be righted, the underdog will become an "overdog" and the idle rich may just become the idle poor. Watch and see. From January 29, 2006 until February 17, 2007 the disquiet, just, fair, loyal, suspicious, critical and sometimes pessimistic RED FIRE DOG will reign supreme, creating an overall positive influence.
Find out what the Fire Dog year has in store for your Chinese sign.
Get your personalized forecast now.
Fortunately, we need not BEWARE of this particular dog. Fire Dogs are generally benign, resilient, and compassionate characters--perhaps with a penchant for lust and fierce loyalty to kin and causes. They gripe often, growl when they're angry and whine when they're lonely or hungry. Bottom line? Fire Dogs are a cindery mix of moody combustion and passionate, benevolent concern for their fellow man.
This fiery watchdog will inspire us all in 2006. You'll feel compelled to emulate the playful, loyal aptitude of this great canine pal. Almost instinctually, you'll want to engender the flock's highest mission and work to save the world. You will be obliged to pitch in and give 110%. And you will be rewarded for your labors with a huge cosmic cuddle around hearth and home by the end of this fiery but positive year.
Money
The money picture in 2006? Just okay. Don't expect to break the bank at your favorite casino, win the lottery or receive a surprise inheritance. This is not one of those windfall years. You see, a Dog is not the type to easily part with hard-earned cash. It's not that he's stingy. The Fire Dog is a cautious soul. He will definitely inspire you to think a dozen times before impulse-buying anything that you don't actually need.
On top of that, the Dog will beg us all to double our charitable contributions and jingle change into every open hand. Dogs are fervent believers in helping the unfortunate. With so many reasons to give—and there will be tons—try not to give in to too many handouts. You may end up donating all that money you saved.
Love and Lust
This year, we will all fall in and out of impassioned love at least once...and many people—more than in a long time—will get married, settle down and make a normal life for themselves and their offspring. But beware, although dogs are oddly loyal in most areas of life, dogs are rarely faithful in the matters of sex, and this year may be proof positive. Dogs don't prevaricate often if they can help it. But where sex is concerned, they fib prolifically.
Loyalty
Dogs are notoriously faithful to causes, beliefs and institutions, and almost obsessively loyal to family and friends—in fact, they give a warning growl the way a real dog does. The loyalty level this fiery Dog year will reach heights of zeal.
In general, the Dog year 2006 will be a time of rebuilding, renaissance, safety and security. It will bring about massive restructuring of everything from bridges and dams to houses and causes. Closer attention will be paid to environmental issues, reducing global warming, quelling warlike behavior, and improving our planet's longevity. Passions will advance and then retreat. We will embrace new commitments and discover new routes to realize our dreams. It'll be up to each of us – the members of the Red Fire Dog's flock – to manifest our deepest desires for peace and prosperity.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
happy new year
# When is the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2006?
January 29, 2006 is the first day of the Chinese new year.
There are three ways to name a Chinese year:
1. By an animal (like a mscot).
This year is known as the Year of the Dog.
There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years. More.
2. By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch).
The new year is the year of bingxu.
In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.
2006 is the 7th year in the current 60-year cycle.
3. It is Year 4703 by the Chinese calendar.
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them:
* Lotus seed - signify having many male offspring
* Ginkgo nut - represents silver ingots
* Black moss seaweed - is a homonym for exceeding in wealth
* Dried bean curd is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness
* Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"
* Fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the color signifies death and misfortune.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
House Cleaning
The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.
Bringing In the New Year and
Expelling the Old
Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New Year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out.
New Year Activities Set Precendent
All debts had to paid by this time. Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year. Back when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day or give a light to others.
Everyone should refrain from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the word "four" (Ssu), which sounds like the word for death, are not to be uttered. Death and dying are never mentioned and ghost stories are totally taboo. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned toward the New Year and a new beginning.
If you cry on New Year's day, you will cry all through the year. Therefore, children are tolerated and are not spanked, even though they are mischievous.
Personal Appearance and Cleanliness
On New Year's Day, we are not suppose to wash our hair because it would mean we would have washed away good luck for the New Year. Red clothing is preferred during this festive occasion. Red is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring the wearer a sunny and bright future. It is believed that appearance and attitude during New Year's sets the tone for the rest of the year. Children and unmarried friends, as well as close relatives are given lai see, little red envelopes with crisp one dollar bills inserted, for good fortune.
More New Year Superstitions
For those most superstitious, before leaving the house to call on others, the Almanac should be consulted to find the best time to leave the home and the direction which is most auspicious to head out.
The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year. It is a lucky sign to see or hear songbirds or red-colored birds or swallows.
It is considered unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room.
Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day as this may cut off fortune.
While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.
The Year Of The Rat
1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996
People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.
Link for chinese calendar and zodiac
Web Page designed by students in the
Chinese Culture Center's Children Web Class
January 29, 2006 is the first day of the Chinese new year.
There are three ways to name a Chinese year:
1. By an animal (like a mscot).
This year is known as the Year of the Dog.
There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years. More.
2. By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch).
The new year is the year of bingxu.
In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.
2006 is the 7th year in the current 60-year cycle.
3. It is Year 4703 by the Chinese calendar.
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them:
* Lotus seed - signify having many male offspring
* Ginkgo nut - represents silver ingots
* Black moss seaweed - is a homonym for exceeding in wealth
* Dried bean curd is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness
* Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"
* Fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the color signifies death and misfortune.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
House Cleaning
The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.
Bringing In the New Year and
Expelling the Old
Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New Year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out.
New Year Activities Set Precendent
All debts had to paid by this time. Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year. Back when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day or give a light to others.
Everyone should refrain from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the word "four" (Ssu), which sounds like the word for death, are not to be uttered. Death and dying are never mentioned and ghost stories are totally taboo. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned toward the New Year and a new beginning.
If you cry on New Year's day, you will cry all through the year. Therefore, children are tolerated and are not spanked, even though they are mischievous.
Personal Appearance and Cleanliness
On New Year's Day, we are not suppose to wash our hair because it would mean we would have washed away good luck for the New Year. Red clothing is preferred during this festive occasion. Red is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring the wearer a sunny and bright future. It is believed that appearance and attitude during New Year's sets the tone for the rest of the year. Children and unmarried friends, as well as close relatives are given lai see, little red envelopes with crisp one dollar bills inserted, for good fortune.
More New Year Superstitions
For those most superstitious, before leaving the house to call on others, the Almanac should be consulted to find the best time to leave the home and the direction which is most auspicious to head out.
The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year. It is a lucky sign to see or hear songbirds or red-colored birds or swallows.
It is considered unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room.
Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day as this may cut off fortune.
While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.
The Year Of The Rat
1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996
People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.
Link for chinese calendar and zodiac
Web Page designed by students in the
Chinese Culture Center's Children Web Class
Thursday, January 26, 2006
whats on my table
i left my house this morning and saw what was on my table....
A bowl with tangerines, oranges, apples and grapefruit -all fresh
2 NY magazines , 2 TIme out NY, vegatarian magazine, good housekeeping
tax statement from bank, flyer from uptown coffeehouse, a statement from AIM mutual fund, renewal for donation to mercy corp and North shore animal league, mailing with coupons for chockful of nuts coffee
a weightwatchers points finder, the metro section of the new york times.
a plastic bag with spoons, napkins and oatmeal packages with splenda packages.
a plastic bag from XPN with assorted cd related stuff in it
Ellen Foster by kaye Gibbons, the Three hour diet by JOrges Cruise, a spiritual comfort book from Vincent from the darlist
boo klets from ACS, the parents guide to child abuse and neglect, elevated risk conference and critical case conferences
rent statement, a letter from my landlord about window guards, the NYP newsletter,
empty bank envelopes for deposit at the ATM and a rejection letter from brooklyn college
flyer from shoprite and a bath and beautyworks cardboard flyer with coupons,
the calendar and book suzi sent me
nico's cd chelsea girl
A bowl with tangerines, oranges, apples and grapefruit -all fresh
2 NY magazines , 2 TIme out NY, vegatarian magazine, good housekeeping
tax statement from bank, flyer from uptown coffeehouse, a statement from AIM mutual fund, renewal for donation to mercy corp and North shore animal league, mailing with coupons for chockful of nuts coffee
a weightwatchers points finder, the metro section of the new york times.
a plastic bag with spoons, napkins and oatmeal packages with splenda packages.
a plastic bag from XPN with assorted cd related stuff in it
Ellen Foster by kaye Gibbons, the Three hour diet by JOrges Cruise, a spiritual comfort book from Vincent from the darlist
boo klets from ACS, the parents guide to child abuse and neglect, elevated risk conference and critical case conferences
rent statement, a letter from my landlord about window guards, the NYP newsletter,
empty bank envelopes for deposit at the ATM and a rejection letter from brooklyn college
flyer from shoprite and a bath and beautyworks cardboard flyer with coupons,
the calendar and book suzi sent me
nico's cd chelsea girl
Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 26, 2006
Capricorn Horoscope for week of January 26, 2006
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Right before Christmas, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that slashed funding for student loans, child care, and health benefits for the elderly and poor. Vice-President Dick Cheney aborted his trip abroad in order to race home and cast the tie-breaking vote. I suggest that you regard the 51 Scrooges who committed this sin as your anti-role models in the coming days, Capricorn. You can't afford to be anything but generous to the deprived and disadvantaged--including the underprivileged parts of your own psyche that you sometimes neglect.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Right before Christmas, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that slashed funding for student loans, child care, and health benefits for the elderly and poor. Vice-President Dick Cheney aborted his trip abroad in order to race home and cast the tie-breaking vote. I suggest that you regard the 51 Scrooges who committed this sin as your anti-role models in the coming days, Capricorn. You can't afford to be anything but generous to the deprived and disadvantaged--including the underprivileged parts of your own psyche that you sometimes neglect.
dreams
yesterday was a killer of a crisis day ....
i came home late and ate and went to bed...
i dreamed
I was in a room and sometimes i was outdoors. Lisa From Vector formerly Lisa from AGF handed a ticket to a private shawn colvin show that was happening at 60 Lafayette street. THere was discussion in the dream about Lafayette street in manhattan or Lafayette street in Brooklyn. 60 lafayette in manhattan is family court but the show was happening at 60 lafayette in brooklyn near BAM. I think bought a ticket for 46 dollars for another shawn colvin show through ticketmaster for 46 dollars. I saw myself getting a single seat on the aisle mid orchestra. THe show was to happen a few hours after the private show near BAM. Somehow my brother also got a ticket to that show on the side with limited view.
the next scene i was at an auditorium like a gym with chairs and there was a stage. I was handed a Slurpee and looked up and on the stage was mary chapin carpenter. I knew the slurpee was from her. i raised my slurpee glass to her, thanking her for the treat and she nodded back
I started skipping around happy with my slurpee. I stopped in my tracks and hoped it was a diet slurpee not a regular one.
it was huge like a barrel of popcorn you get at the movies. so i went to top off my slurpee and check if it was a diet one...
my alarm clock rang..
i came home late and ate and went to bed...
i dreamed
I was in a room and sometimes i was outdoors. Lisa From Vector formerly Lisa from AGF handed a ticket to a private shawn colvin show that was happening at 60 Lafayette street. THere was discussion in the dream about Lafayette street in manhattan or Lafayette street in Brooklyn. 60 lafayette in manhattan is family court but the show was happening at 60 lafayette in brooklyn near BAM. I think bought a ticket for 46 dollars for another shawn colvin show through ticketmaster for 46 dollars. I saw myself getting a single seat on the aisle mid orchestra. THe show was to happen a few hours after the private show near BAM. Somehow my brother also got a ticket to that show on the side with limited view.
the next scene i was at an auditorium like a gym with chairs and there was a stage. I was handed a Slurpee and looked up and on the stage was mary chapin carpenter. I knew the slurpee was from her. i raised my slurpee glass to her, thanking her for the treat and she nodded back
I started skipping around happy with my slurpee. I stopped in my tracks and hoped it was a diet slurpee not a regular one.
it was huge like a barrel of popcorn you get at the movies. so i went to top off my slurpee and check if it was a diet one...
my alarm clock rang..
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
barbara boxer opposes Alito
Today, I am announcing my opposition to the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States.
According to Article II of the Constitution, justices of the Supreme Court may not be appointed by the president without the advice and consent of the United States Senate. So it is our solemn duty to consider each nomination carefully, keeping in mind the interests of the American people. And this nomination is particularly crucial because the stakes have rarely been so high.
First, consider the context in which this nomination comes before us. The seat that Judge Alito has been nominated for is now held by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who came to the Court in 1981.
For years, Justice O'Connor has provided the tie-breaking vote and a commonsense voice of reason in some of the most important cases to come before the Court, including a woman's right to choose, civil rights, and freedom of religion.
Second, consider the tumultuous political climate in our nation. President Bush understood that in 2000 when he promised to govern from the center, and be "a uniter, not a divider." Sadly, this nomination shows that he has forgotten that promise because it is notnfrom the center and it is not uniting the nation.
The right thing to do would have been to give us a justice in the mold of Justice O'Connor, and that is what the president should have done.
Let me be clear: I do not deny Judge Alito's judicial qualifications. He has been a government lawyer and judge for more than 20 years and the American Bar Association rated him well qualified. He is an intelligent and capable person. His family should be proud of him and all Americans should be proud that the American dream was there for the Alito family.
But after reviewing the hearing record and the record of his statements, writings and rulings over the past 24 years, I am convinced that Judge Alito is the wrong person for this job.
I am deeply concerned about how Justice Alito will impact the ability of other families to live the American dream -- to be assured of privacy in their homes and their personal lives, to be secure in their neighborhoods, to have fair treatment in the workplace, and to have confidence that the power of the executive branch will be checked.
As I reviewed Judge Alito's record, I asked whether he will vote to preserve fundamental American liberties and values --
Will Justice Alito vote to uphold Congress' constitutional power to pass laws to protect Americans' health, safety, and welfare? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In the 1996 Rybar case, Judge Alito voted to strike down the federal ban on the transfer or possession of machine guns because he believed it exceeded Congress' power under the Commerce Clause. His Third Circuit colleagues sharply criticized his dissent and said that it ran counter to "a basic tenet of the constitutional separation of powers." And Judge Alito's extremist view has been rejected by six other circuit courts and the Supreme Court. Judge Alito stood alone and failed to protect our families.
In a case concerning worker protection, Judge Alito was again in the minority when he said that federal mine health and safety standards did not apply to a coal processing site. He tried to explain it as just a "technical issue of interpretation." I fear for the safety of our workers if Judge Alito's narrow, technical reading of the law should ever prevail.
Will Justice Alito vote to protect the right to privacy, especially a woman's reproductive freedom? Judge Alito's record says NO.
We have all heard about Judge Alito's 1985 job application, in which he wrote that the constitution does not protect the right of a woman to choose. He was given the chance to disavow that position during the hearings -- and he refused to do so. He had the chance to say, as Judge Roberts did, that Roe v. Wade is settled law, and he refused.
He had the chance to explain his dissent in the Casey decision, in which he argued that the Pennsylvania spousal notification requirement was not an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion because it would affect only a small number of women, but he refused to back away from his position. The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, found the provision to be unconstitutional, and Justice O'Connor, co-writing for the Court, criticized the faulty analysis supported by Judge Alito, saying that "the analysis does not end with the one percent of women" affected... "it begins there."
To my mind, Judge Alito's ominous statements and narrow-minded reasoning clearly signal a hostility to women's rights, and portend a move back toward the dark days when abortion was illegal in many states, and many women died as a result. In the 21st century, it is astounding that a Supreme Court nominee would not view Roe v. Wade as settled law when its fundamental principle -- a woman's right to choose -- has been reaffirmed many times since it was decided.
Will Justice Alito vote to protect Americans from unconstitutional searches? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In Doe v. Groody in 2004, he said a police strip search of a 10-year-old girl was lawful, even though their search warrant didn't name her. Judge Alito said that even if the warrant did not actually authorize the search of the girl, "a reasonable police officer could certainly have read the warrant as doing so..." This casual attitude toward one of our most basic constitutional guarantees -- the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches -- is almost shocking. As Judge Alito's own Third Circuit Court said regarding warrants, "a particular description is the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment." We certainly do not need Supreme Court justices who do not understand this fundamental constitutional protection.
Will Justice Alito vote to let citizens stop companies from polluting their communities? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In the Magnesium Elektron case, Judge Alito voted to make it harder for citizens to sue for toxic emissions that violate the Clean Water Act. Fortunately, in another case several years later, the Supreme Court rejected the Third Circuit and Alito's narrow reading of the law. Judge Alito doesn't seem to care about a landmark environmental law.
Will Justice Alito vote to let working women and men have their day in court against employers who discriminate against them? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In 1997, in the Bray case, Judge Alito was the only judge on the Third Circuit to say that a hotel employee claiming racial discrimination could not take her case to a jury.
In the Sheridan case, a female employee sued for discrimination, alleging that after she complained about incidents of sexual harassment, she was demoted and marginalized to the point that she was forced to quit. By a vote of 10 to 1, the Third Circuit found for the plaintiff.
Guess who was the one? Only Judge Alito thought the employee should have to show that discrimination was the "determinative cause" of the employer's action. Using his standard would make it almost impossible for a woman claiming discrimination in the workplace to get to trial.
Finally, will Justice Alito be independent from the executive branch that appointed him, and be a vote against power grabs by the president? Judge Alito's record says NO.
As a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, he authored a memo suggesting a new way for the president to encroach on Congress' lawmaking powers. He said that when the president signs a law, he should make a statement about the law, giving it his own interpretation, whether it was consistent with what Congress had written or not. He wrote that this would "get in the last word on questions of interpretation" of the law. In the hearings, Judge Alito refused to back away from this memo.
When asked whether he believed the president could invade another country, in the absence of an imminent threat, without first getting the approval of the American people, of Congress, Judge Alito refused to rule it out.
When asked if the president had the power to authorize someone to engage in torture, Alito refused to answer.
The Administration is now asserting vast powers, including spying on American citizens without seeking warrants -- in clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- violating international treaties, and ignoring laws that ban torture. We need justices who will put a check on such overreaching by the executive, not rubberstamp it. Judge Alito's record and his answers at the hearings raise very serious doubts about his commitment to being a strong check on an 'imperial president.'
In addition to these substantive matters, I remain concerned about Judge Alito's answers regarding his membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton and his failure to recuse himself from the Vanguard case, which he had promised to do.
During the hearings, we all felt great compassion for Mrs. Alito when she became emotional in reaction to the tough questions her husband faced in the Judiciary Committee. Everyone in politics knows how hard it is for families when a loved one is asked tough questions. It is part of a difficult process, and whoever said politics is not for the faint of heart was right.
Emotions have run high during this process. That's understandable. But I wish the press have focused more on the tears of those who will be affected if Judge Alito becomes Justice Alito and his out-of-the mainstream views prevail.
I worry about the tears of a worker who, having failed to get a promotion because of discrimination, is denied the opportunity to pursue her claim in court.
I worry about the tears of a mentally ill woman who is forced by law to tell her husband that she wants to terminate her pregnancy and is afraid that he will leave her or stop supporting her.
I worry about the tears of a young girl who is strip searched in her own home by police who have no valid warrant.
I worry about the tears of a mentally retarded man, who has been brutally assaulted in his workplace, when his claim of workplace harassment is dismissed by the court simply because his lawyer failed to file a well written brief on his behalf.
These are real cases in which Judge Alito has spoken.
Fortunately, he did not prevail in these cases. But if he goes to the Supreme Court, he will have a much more powerful voice -- a radical voice that will replace a voice of moderation and balance.
Perhaps the most important statement Judge Alito made during the entire hearing process was when he told the Judiciary Committee that he expects to be the same kind of justice on the Supreme Court as he has been a judge on the Circuit Court.
That is precisely the problem. As a judge, Samuel Alito seemed to approach his cases with an analytical coldness that reflected no concern for the human consequences of his reasoning.
Listen to what he said about a case involving an African-American man convicted of murder by an all white jury in a courtroom where the prosecutors had eliminated all African-American jurors in many previous murder trials as well.
Judge Alito dismissed this evidence of racial bias and said that the jury makeup was no more relevant than the fact that left-handers have won five of the last six presidential elections. When asked about this analogy during the hearings, he said it "went to the issue of statistics... (which) is a branch of mathematics, and there are ways to analyze statistics so that you draw sound conclusions from them..."
That response would have been appropriate for a college math professor, but it is deeply troubling from a potential Supreme Court justice.
As the great jurist and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote in 1881, "The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience... The law embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics."
What Holmes meant is that the law is a living thing, that those who interpret it must do so with wisdom and humanity, and with an understanding of the consequences of their judgments for the lives of the people they affect.
It is with deep regret that I conclude that Judge Alito's judicial philosophy lacks this wisdom, humanity and moderation. He is simply too far out of the mainstream in his thinking. His opinions demonstrate neither the independence of mind nor the depth of heart that I believe we need in our Supreme Court justices, particularly at this crucial time in our nation's history.
That is why I will oppose this nomination
According to Article II of the Constitution, justices of the Supreme Court may not be appointed by the president without the advice and consent of the United States Senate. So it is our solemn duty to consider each nomination carefully, keeping in mind the interests of the American people. And this nomination is particularly crucial because the stakes have rarely been so high.
First, consider the context in which this nomination comes before us. The seat that Judge Alito has been nominated for is now held by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who came to the Court in 1981.
For years, Justice O'Connor has provided the tie-breaking vote and a commonsense voice of reason in some of the most important cases to come before the Court, including a woman's right to choose, civil rights, and freedom of religion.
Second, consider the tumultuous political climate in our nation. President Bush understood that in 2000 when he promised to govern from the center, and be "a uniter, not a divider." Sadly, this nomination shows that he has forgotten that promise because it is notnfrom the center and it is not uniting the nation.
The right thing to do would have been to give us a justice in the mold of Justice O'Connor, and that is what the president should have done.
Let me be clear: I do not deny Judge Alito's judicial qualifications. He has been a government lawyer and judge for more than 20 years and the American Bar Association rated him well qualified. He is an intelligent and capable person. His family should be proud of him and all Americans should be proud that the American dream was there for the Alito family.
But after reviewing the hearing record and the record of his statements, writings and rulings over the past 24 years, I am convinced that Judge Alito is the wrong person for this job.
I am deeply concerned about how Justice Alito will impact the ability of other families to live the American dream -- to be assured of privacy in their homes and their personal lives, to be secure in their neighborhoods, to have fair treatment in the workplace, and to have confidence that the power of the executive branch will be checked.
As I reviewed Judge Alito's record, I asked whether he will vote to preserve fundamental American liberties and values --
Will Justice Alito vote to uphold Congress' constitutional power to pass laws to protect Americans' health, safety, and welfare? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In the 1996 Rybar case, Judge Alito voted to strike down the federal ban on the transfer or possession of machine guns because he believed it exceeded Congress' power under the Commerce Clause. His Third Circuit colleagues sharply criticized his dissent and said that it ran counter to "a basic tenet of the constitutional separation of powers." And Judge Alito's extremist view has been rejected by six other circuit courts and the Supreme Court. Judge Alito stood alone and failed to protect our families.
In a case concerning worker protection, Judge Alito was again in the minority when he said that federal mine health and safety standards did not apply to a coal processing site. He tried to explain it as just a "technical issue of interpretation." I fear for the safety of our workers if Judge Alito's narrow, technical reading of the law should ever prevail.
Will Justice Alito vote to protect the right to privacy, especially a woman's reproductive freedom? Judge Alito's record says NO.
We have all heard about Judge Alito's 1985 job application, in which he wrote that the constitution does not protect the right of a woman to choose. He was given the chance to disavow that position during the hearings -- and he refused to do so. He had the chance to say, as Judge Roberts did, that Roe v. Wade is settled law, and he refused.
He had the chance to explain his dissent in the Casey decision, in which he argued that the Pennsylvania spousal notification requirement was not an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion because it would affect only a small number of women, but he refused to back away from his position. The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, found the provision to be unconstitutional, and Justice O'Connor, co-writing for the Court, criticized the faulty analysis supported by Judge Alito, saying that "the analysis does not end with the one percent of women" affected... "it begins there."
To my mind, Judge Alito's ominous statements and narrow-minded reasoning clearly signal a hostility to women's rights, and portend a move back toward the dark days when abortion was illegal in many states, and many women died as a result. In the 21st century, it is astounding that a Supreme Court nominee would not view Roe v. Wade as settled law when its fundamental principle -- a woman's right to choose -- has been reaffirmed many times since it was decided.
Will Justice Alito vote to protect Americans from unconstitutional searches? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In Doe v. Groody in 2004, he said a police strip search of a 10-year-old girl was lawful, even though their search warrant didn't name her. Judge Alito said that even if the warrant did not actually authorize the search of the girl, "a reasonable police officer could certainly have read the warrant as doing so..." This casual attitude toward one of our most basic constitutional guarantees -- the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches -- is almost shocking. As Judge Alito's own Third Circuit Court said regarding warrants, "a particular description is the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment." We certainly do not need Supreme Court justices who do not understand this fundamental constitutional protection.
Will Justice Alito vote to let citizens stop companies from polluting their communities? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In the Magnesium Elektron case, Judge Alito voted to make it harder for citizens to sue for toxic emissions that violate the Clean Water Act. Fortunately, in another case several years later, the Supreme Court rejected the Third Circuit and Alito's narrow reading of the law. Judge Alito doesn't seem to care about a landmark environmental law.
Will Justice Alito vote to let working women and men have their day in court against employers who discriminate against them? Judge Alito's record says NO.
In 1997, in the Bray case, Judge Alito was the only judge on the Third Circuit to say that a hotel employee claiming racial discrimination could not take her case to a jury.
In the Sheridan case, a female employee sued for discrimination, alleging that after she complained about incidents of sexual harassment, she was demoted and marginalized to the point that she was forced to quit. By a vote of 10 to 1, the Third Circuit found for the plaintiff.
Guess who was the one? Only Judge Alito thought the employee should have to show that discrimination was the "determinative cause" of the employer's action. Using his standard would make it almost impossible for a woman claiming discrimination in the workplace to get to trial.
Finally, will Justice Alito be independent from the executive branch that appointed him, and be a vote against power grabs by the president? Judge Alito's record says NO.
As a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, he authored a memo suggesting a new way for the president to encroach on Congress' lawmaking powers. He said that when the president signs a law, he should make a statement about the law, giving it his own interpretation, whether it was consistent with what Congress had written or not. He wrote that this would "get in the last word on questions of interpretation" of the law. In the hearings, Judge Alito refused to back away from this memo.
When asked whether he believed the president could invade another country, in the absence of an imminent threat, without first getting the approval of the American people, of Congress, Judge Alito refused to rule it out.
When asked if the president had the power to authorize someone to engage in torture, Alito refused to answer.
The Administration is now asserting vast powers, including spying on American citizens without seeking warrants -- in clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- violating international treaties, and ignoring laws that ban torture. We need justices who will put a check on such overreaching by the executive, not rubberstamp it. Judge Alito's record and his answers at the hearings raise very serious doubts about his commitment to being a strong check on an 'imperial president.'
In addition to these substantive matters, I remain concerned about Judge Alito's answers regarding his membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton and his failure to recuse himself from the Vanguard case, which he had promised to do.
During the hearings, we all felt great compassion for Mrs. Alito when she became emotional in reaction to the tough questions her husband faced in the Judiciary Committee. Everyone in politics knows how hard it is for families when a loved one is asked tough questions. It is part of a difficult process, and whoever said politics is not for the faint of heart was right.
Emotions have run high during this process. That's understandable. But I wish the press have focused more on the tears of those who will be affected if Judge Alito becomes Justice Alito and his out-of-the mainstream views prevail.
I worry about the tears of a worker who, having failed to get a promotion because of discrimination, is denied the opportunity to pursue her claim in court.
I worry about the tears of a mentally ill woman who is forced by law to tell her husband that she wants to terminate her pregnancy and is afraid that he will leave her or stop supporting her.
I worry about the tears of a young girl who is strip searched in her own home by police who have no valid warrant.
I worry about the tears of a mentally retarded man, who has been brutally assaulted in his workplace, when his claim of workplace harassment is dismissed by the court simply because his lawyer failed to file a well written brief on his behalf.
These are real cases in which Judge Alito has spoken.
Fortunately, he did not prevail in these cases. But if he goes to the Supreme Court, he will have a much more powerful voice -- a radical voice that will replace a voice of moderation and balance.
Perhaps the most important statement Judge Alito made during the entire hearing process was when he told the Judiciary Committee that he expects to be the same kind of justice on the Supreme Court as he has been a judge on the Circuit Court.
That is precisely the problem. As a judge, Samuel Alito seemed to approach his cases with an analytical coldness that reflected no concern for the human consequences of his reasoning.
Listen to what he said about a case involving an African-American man convicted of murder by an all white jury in a courtroom where the prosecutors had eliminated all African-American jurors in many previous murder trials as well.
Judge Alito dismissed this evidence of racial bias and said that the jury makeup was no more relevant than the fact that left-handers have won five of the last six presidential elections. When asked about this analogy during the hearings, he said it "went to the issue of statistics... (which) is a branch of mathematics, and there are ways to analyze statistics so that you draw sound conclusions from them..."
That response would have been appropriate for a college math professor, but it is deeply troubling from a potential Supreme Court justice.
As the great jurist and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote in 1881, "The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience... The law embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics."
What Holmes meant is that the law is a living thing, that those who interpret it must do so with wisdom and humanity, and with an understanding of the consequences of their judgments for the lives of the people they affect.
It is with deep regret that I conclude that Judge Alito's judicial philosophy lacks this wisdom, humanity and moderation. He is simply too far out of the mainstream in his thinking. His opinions demonstrate neither the independence of mind nor the depth of heart that I believe we need in our Supreme Court justices, particularly at this crucial time in our nation's history.
That is why I will oppose this nomination
Furry will have a meeting today, again...again
i woke up a few times last night with the Title of this song in my head. I heard it on my way home and i think that it applies to a job situation that i am involved in ....
Furry may be singing the blues
Furry Sings The Blues
by Joni Mitchell
Old Beale Street is coming down
Sweeties' Snack Bar boarded up now
And Egles the Tailor and the Shine Boy's gone
Faded out with ragtime blues
Handy's cast in bronze
And he's standing in a little park
With a trumpet in his hand
Like he's listening back to the good old bands
And the click of high heeled shoes
Old Furry sings the blues
Propped up in his bed
With his dentures and his leg removed
And Ginny's there
For her kindness and Furry's beer
She's the old man's angel overseer
Pawn shops glitter like gold tooth caps
In the grey decay
They chew the last few dollars off
Old Beale Street's carcass
Carrion and mercy
Blue and silver sparkling drums
Cheap guitars eye shades and guns
Aimed at the hot blood of being no one
Down and out in Memphis Tennessee
Old Furry sings the blues
You bring him smoke and drink and he'll play for you
lt's mostly muttering now and sideshow spiel
But there was one song he played
I could really feel
There's a double bill murder at the New Daisy
The old girl's silent across the street
She's silent waiting for the wrecker's beat
Silent staring ar her stolen name
Diamond boys and satin dolls
Bourbon laughter ghosts history falls
To parking lots and shopping malls
As they tear down old Beale Street
Old Furry sings the blues
He points a bony finger at you and says
"I don't like you"
Everybody laughs as if it's the old man's standard joke
But it's true
We're only welcome for our drink and smoke
W. C. Handy I'm rich and I'm fay
And I'm not familiar with what you played
But I get such strong impressions of your hey day
Looking up and down old Beale Street
Ghosts of the darktown society
Come right out of the bricks at me
Like it's a Saturday night
They're in their finery
Dancing it up and making deals
Furry sings the blues
Why should I expect that old guy to give it to me true
Fallen to hard luck
And time and other thieves
While our limo is shining on his shanty street
Old Furry sings the blues
Furry may be singing the blues
Furry Sings The Blues
by Joni Mitchell
Old Beale Street is coming down
Sweeties' Snack Bar boarded up now
And Egles the Tailor and the Shine Boy's gone
Faded out with ragtime blues
Handy's cast in bronze
And he's standing in a little park
With a trumpet in his hand
Like he's listening back to the good old bands
And the click of high heeled shoes
Old Furry sings the blues
Propped up in his bed
With his dentures and his leg removed
And Ginny's there
For her kindness and Furry's beer
She's the old man's angel overseer
Pawn shops glitter like gold tooth caps
In the grey decay
They chew the last few dollars off
Old Beale Street's carcass
Carrion and mercy
Blue and silver sparkling drums
Cheap guitars eye shades and guns
Aimed at the hot blood of being no one
Down and out in Memphis Tennessee
Old Furry sings the blues
You bring him smoke and drink and he'll play for you
lt's mostly muttering now and sideshow spiel
But there was one song he played
I could really feel
There's a double bill murder at the New Daisy
The old girl's silent across the street
She's silent waiting for the wrecker's beat
Silent staring ar her stolen name
Diamond boys and satin dolls
Bourbon laughter ghosts history falls
To parking lots and shopping malls
As they tear down old Beale Street
Old Furry sings the blues
He points a bony finger at you and says
"I don't like you"
Everybody laughs as if it's the old man's standard joke
But it's true
We're only welcome for our drink and smoke
W. C. Handy I'm rich and I'm fay
And I'm not familiar with what you played
But I get such strong impressions of your hey day
Looking up and down old Beale Street
Ghosts of the darktown society
Come right out of the bricks at me
Like it's a Saturday night
They're in their finery
Dancing it up and making deals
Furry sings the blues
Why should I expect that old guy to give it to me true
Fallen to hard luck
And time and other thieves
While our limo is shining on his shanty street
Old Furry sings the blues
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
dream
i took two extra strength tylenol to stay asleep last night and i had this early morning dream
i dreamed that i was a food table with barbra streisand. i spoke to her and she was feeding her face and i went over to another person and we ogled and i said i have always wanted to meet her (im not sure that is true) but i wanted to tell her..
that her character in the way we were was important to my development. I explained that i was a jew kid in a small town with no real jewish role models except Molly goldberg and fiddler on the roof and the way we were was the first time that i saw a role model that was not a beauty but beautiful, sexual, dated and got the goy ( a taboo when i was growing up) i told her that movie meant a lot to the 12 year old kid watching in the dark theater...
she kept stuffing food in her mouth and seemed to listen to me but seemed to be polite in her response and not really moved by what i was telling her
i dreamed that i was a food table with barbra streisand. i spoke to her and she was feeding her face and i went over to another person and we ogled and i said i have always wanted to meet her (im not sure that is true) but i wanted to tell her..
that her character in the way we were was important to my development. I explained that i was a jew kid in a small town with no real jewish role models except Molly goldberg and fiddler on the roof and the way we were was the first time that i saw a role model that was not a beauty but beautiful, sexual, dated and got the goy ( a taboo when i was growing up) i told her that movie meant a lot to the 12 year old kid watching in the dark theater...
she kept stuffing food in her mouth and seemed to listen to me but seemed to be polite in her response and not really moved by what i was telling her
Monday, January 23, 2006
dreams
i am up many times during the night. I had two snippets of dreams in the earliest of morning hours THis morning. I dreamed that i had to plan differently for my own security. I have apartment insurance and i have benefactors named for my investments and savings but the last Bin Ladin tape got to me and in my dream i was making plans to improve my security because the threats given, if true had to be planned for.
This is the first lack of security or truth behind the Bin Ladin threats i have had.
the second dream had me sitting at a desk on the left hand side of hte screen sharing a space with my boss stacey who was a desk on the right. She and i were talking about my increased leadership and the first time since working at CMS that i have the administrative credibility and then entered a woman. This woman looked foreign in stature and skin tone and color and was totally unrecognizable to me. She had tears in her eyes and addressed me and asked me what i knew about......
the alarm clock rang.....
This is the first lack of security or truth behind the Bin Ladin threats i have had.
the second dream had me sitting at a desk on the left hand side of hte screen sharing a space with my boss stacey who was a desk on the right. She and i were talking about my increased leadership and the first time since working at CMS that i have the administrative credibility and then entered a woman. This woman looked foreign in stature and skin tone and color and was totally unrecognizable to me. She had tears in her eyes and addressed me and asked me what i knew about......
the alarm clock rang.....
Sunday, January 22, 2006
dreams
i am still waking up every few hours with hot flashes. I could not remember lots of my dreams til last night
I dreamed that there was a beating rain that flooded the roofs and caused all the ceilings in my building to leak. The building was not the building i live in but the walk up in Matchpoint or the walk up in Munich. An old walk up apartment building like i lived in on prospect ave when i first moved to brooklyn. I saw the water seeping through the ceiling and all the tenants started to come out of their apartments and walk down or up the stairs to report it. IT was not safe as ceilings were falling in but i was unharmed. the super needed to repair them and then i got word that the apartments would be painted. I was asked if i would allow them to paint the apartment without removing all the pictures on my foyer hall walls.
actually i have lots of photos from Folk stuff, falcon ridge, of concerts and signed stuff by my favorites. lots of stuff i collected are hung in clip frames...it a shine of sorts...
sally, suzi, gail cohen, amy and chris you are all there..on my wall of fame..
there are lots of dar crap and mary chapin stuff and other signed stuff i got along the way.... moving these to get a paint job would be a chore...
I dreamed that there was a beating rain that flooded the roofs and caused all the ceilings in my building to leak. The building was not the building i live in but the walk up in Matchpoint or the walk up in Munich. An old walk up apartment building like i lived in on prospect ave when i first moved to brooklyn. I saw the water seeping through the ceiling and all the tenants started to come out of their apartments and walk down or up the stairs to report it. IT was not safe as ceilings were falling in but i was unharmed. the super needed to repair them and then i got word that the apartments would be painted. I was asked if i would allow them to paint the apartment without removing all the pictures on my foyer hall walls.
actually i have lots of photos from Folk stuff, falcon ridge, of concerts and signed stuff by my favorites. lots of stuff i collected are hung in clip frames...it a shine of sorts...
sally, suzi, gail cohen, amy and chris you are all there..on my wall of fame..
there are lots of dar crap and mary chapin stuff and other signed stuff i got along the way.... moving these to get a paint job would be a chore...
random things
i pick up coins and money that i find. I have found 57 cents so far this year. if i keep it up at this rate. I will find about 7.00 a year. That does not count the money i find in my own pocket
I also found a sweatshirt. A hoodie that had embroidered writing from a security company. I dont wear it openly but under my coat. Yesterday, the 21st of January, it was warm enough to wear a sweatshirt out to the store. i put on the security sweatshirt and wore it out. I was spotted by an employee of the security company who had their van parked on my street. what are the chances, that i would wear the sweatshirt without a coat (first time) what are the chances it would be 60 degrees in january, and what are the chances i would be spotted at that moment by the security company employee on my street wearing their sweatshirt...
I also found a sweatshirt. A hoodie that had embroidered writing from a security company. I dont wear it openly but under my coat. Yesterday, the 21st of January, it was warm enough to wear a sweatshirt out to the store. i put on the security sweatshirt and wore it out. I was spotted by an employee of the security company who had their van parked on my street. what are the chances, that i would wear the sweatshirt without a coat (first time) what are the chances it would be 60 degrees in january, and what are the chances i would be spotted at that moment by the security company employee on my street wearing their sweatshirt...
leaving your kids home alone is a crime
Twenty four year old Shannon Cook of Westmont, Illinois, really wanted to be on the Jerry Springer show. Problem was, she had no one to watch her kids while she went to the taping.
So, she left them home alone for the nine hours that she was gone. The children, who are now in foster homes, are aged 3½, 2 and less than 1. She's been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty earlier this week to three misdemeanor counts of endangering the life of a child because of no adult supervision. She was ordered to surrender to begin serving her jail sentence February 10. DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin also placed Cook on one year of probation and ordered her to pay $525 in fees and fines.
So, she left them home alone for the nine hours that she was gone. The children, who are now in foster homes, are aged 3½, 2 and less than 1. She's been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty earlier this week to three misdemeanor counts of endangering the life of a child because of no adult supervision. She was ordered to surrender to begin serving her jail sentence February 10. DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin also placed Cook on one year of probation and ordered her to pay $525 in fees and fines.
whata delightful little move.....
The performances are outstanding, the jokes funny, the movie a comedy, the comedy very british, the Lead can be rude, the women are naked and movie is sophisticated
the dresses are gorgeous and costumes stunning.....and the angelika theater is small
get there early....eat popcorn and have fun
___________________________________
Come On In, Dearie, for Gaudy Skits and Artsy Nudes
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: December 9, 2005
The first thing to know about "Mrs. Henderson Presents," a period British comedy laced with a dash of tragedy and straining with uplift, is that it is inspired by true events. Beginning in the 1930's and continuing through the early part of World War II, the film tracks the history of the famous Windmill Theater in London after it was given new life by a bored widow of means named Laura Henderson. Mrs. Henderson, played by Dame Judi Dench with her familiar mixture of starch and twee, swept the Victorian cobwebs out of the Windmill, located right off Piccadilly Circus, by conceiving of shows featuring live nude girls - tastefully arranged, of course.
Mrs. Henderson was assisted in her campaign to take the full monty to the London boards by a pugnacious stage manager, Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins, who helped produce the film). Apparently, Van Damm's Dutch Jewish heritage both amused and intrigued Mrs. Henderson, who, at least as conceived by the American-born screenwriter Martin Sherman, tends to drop adjectives like "delicious," call the vaguest acquaintance "dear" and utter pronouncements that might seem rather more rude if spoken by anyone less twinkly and wrinkly. On discovering that Van Damm is Jewish, Mrs. Henderson announces that "one must make do." He consequently does call her rude, but he needs a job and signs up, anyway. A strange partnership is born, along with a wafer-thin pretext for a feature-length film.
The rest is the usual song and dance: Mrs. Henderson opens her purse, Van Damm hires the help, and together they put on a really mediocre show. The public eats it up, nonetheless, never more ravenously than after some of the female talent appears onstage wearing nothing but strategic shadows and even more strategically positioned props. Van Damm invokes Botticelli and classical art, but the young women posed on the half-shell, under a gigantic lamp and inside empty picture frames are strictly from kitsch. Unlike the fan dancers and hootchy-kootchy gals who once drove Mayor Fiorello La Guardia into paroxysms of moralistic rage, forcing padlocks on 42nd Street, the Windmill nudists had to pose stock still. At least the fan dancers could show off their motor skills along with their assets.
The combined forces of Dame Judi's and Mr. Hoskins's charm and professionalism help obscure the second and only other thing to know about this film: there isn't much going on in "Mrs. Henderson Presents" beyond the odd-couple routine, some gaudy musical numbers and artful nudity. The director, Stephen Frears, keeps things moving at a nice clip and doesn't tarry long during the story's side trips into the maudlin, but neither does he try to put much personality into the proceedings: this is principally the Bob and Judi show, complete with boisterous fights, silly pantomime (banned from the theater, Mrs. Henderson sneaks in, kitted out in a polar bear suit and Chinese drag) and a rich helping of sentimentalism that might make you gag if it were spooned up by less practiced con artists.
Peter Sellers appeared at the Windmill in 1948, doing vocal impressions and warbling a song written for him by his father, which is enough to suggest a more interesting history than the one imparted here. The story of the British music hall may well be chock-full of eccentric aristocrats with stiff upper lips and hearts of gold, English roses who happily open their petals, and plucky young men ready to serve God and king, but how much more agreeable it would be to discover a couple of real people mixed in with the usual shopworn clichés. Watching this reasonably funny, professionally assembled calculation is a little like snuggling up in front of the television with a mug of hot cocoa and a warm blanket. Those who prefer their drinks and recreation spiked would do well to look elsewhere.
"
the dresses are gorgeous and costumes stunning.....and the angelika theater is small
get there early....eat popcorn and have fun
___________________________________
Come On In, Dearie, for Gaudy Skits and Artsy Nudes
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: December 9, 2005
The first thing to know about "Mrs. Henderson Presents," a period British comedy laced with a dash of tragedy and straining with uplift, is that it is inspired by true events. Beginning in the 1930's and continuing through the early part of World War II, the film tracks the history of the famous Windmill Theater in London after it was given new life by a bored widow of means named Laura Henderson. Mrs. Henderson, played by Dame Judi Dench with her familiar mixture of starch and twee, swept the Victorian cobwebs out of the Windmill, located right off Piccadilly Circus, by conceiving of shows featuring live nude girls - tastefully arranged, of course.
Mrs. Henderson was assisted in her campaign to take the full monty to the London boards by a pugnacious stage manager, Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins, who helped produce the film). Apparently, Van Damm's Dutch Jewish heritage both amused and intrigued Mrs. Henderson, who, at least as conceived by the American-born screenwriter Martin Sherman, tends to drop adjectives like "delicious," call the vaguest acquaintance "dear" and utter pronouncements that might seem rather more rude if spoken by anyone less twinkly and wrinkly. On discovering that Van Damm is Jewish, Mrs. Henderson announces that "one must make do." He consequently does call her rude, but he needs a job and signs up, anyway. A strange partnership is born, along with a wafer-thin pretext for a feature-length film.
The rest is the usual song and dance: Mrs. Henderson opens her purse, Van Damm hires the help, and together they put on a really mediocre show. The public eats it up, nonetheless, never more ravenously than after some of the female talent appears onstage wearing nothing but strategic shadows and even more strategically positioned props. Van Damm invokes Botticelli and classical art, but the young women posed on the half-shell, under a gigantic lamp and inside empty picture frames are strictly from kitsch. Unlike the fan dancers and hootchy-kootchy gals who once drove Mayor Fiorello La Guardia into paroxysms of moralistic rage, forcing padlocks on 42nd Street, the Windmill nudists had to pose stock still. At least the fan dancers could show off their motor skills along with their assets.
The combined forces of Dame Judi's and Mr. Hoskins's charm and professionalism help obscure the second and only other thing to know about this film: there isn't much going on in "Mrs. Henderson Presents" beyond the odd-couple routine, some gaudy musical numbers and artful nudity. The director, Stephen Frears, keeps things moving at a nice clip and doesn't tarry long during the story's side trips into the maudlin, but neither does he try to put much personality into the proceedings: this is principally the Bob and Judi show, complete with boisterous fights, silly pantomime (banned from the theater, Mrs. Henderson sneaks in, kitted out in a polar bear suit and Chinese drag) and a rich helping of sentimentalism that might make you gag if it were spooned up by less practiced con artists.
Peter Sellers appeared at the Windmill in 1948, doing vocal impressions and warbling a song written for him by his father, which is enough to suggest a more interesting history than the one imparted here. The story of the British music hall may well be chock-full of eccentric aristocrats with stiff upper lips and hearts of gold, English roses who happily open their petals, and plucky young men ready to serve God and king, but how much more agreeable it would be to discover a couple of real people mixed in with the usual shopworn clichés. Watching this reasonably funny, professionally assembled calculation is a little like snuggling up in front of the television with a mug of hot cocoa and a warm blanket. Those who prefer their drinks and recreation spiked would do well to look elsewhere.
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