What is the meaning of life and why does it involve green tea and fried tomatoes?
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Catch up musing
Things have been hectic around the farm and library the last few weeks and the heat of summer has been a pain for the animals.
Luckily for them the aquifer under the farm has been extra gracious in coming out of the natural well at a faster rate than normal (there is still more than enough for better than a hundred years at the current rate, so my bottled water business will continue to do well), and they have had plenty of water even with the water restrictions my neighbors have had to deal with.
There are benefits to owning your own water.
The Renaissance fair is fast approaching so a busy fall is in the offing.
The Carolina Panthers are showing some good things for the upcoming season and should make for some good game day parties.
My leatherworking business is hopping right now as it does every year when the Fair rolls around and all the Rennies want or need something made or repaired - and to think I started it eight years or so ago as a hobby ... even have branched out into tailoring costumes - who says a man can't sew - and the ladies who do sew costumes and such for a living come to me for any work that deals with the heavier fabrics for help and advise because I work with leather and they all know I can handle the heavier stuff, the delicate stuff is another story all together.
The one problem is I do too good with my work and I have yet to have had any repair work on any of my pieces (I have repaired other's work) other than replace a screw or two that did not set when I glued it (inserted glue on the grooved cylinder to hold is from undoing itself).
Lamentations for the demise of a vibrant, dynamic place are being voiced.
Now, as to them being heard ...
Cryptic enough for you?
I know some who will think it is referencing them - sorry, but no it is not.
Luckily for them the aquifer under the farm has been extra gracious in coming out of the natural well at a faster rate than normal (there is still more than enough for better than a hundred years at the current rate, so my bottled water business will continue to do well), and they have had plenty of water even with the water restrictions my neighbors have had to deal with.
There are benefits to owning your own water.
The Renaissance fair is fast approaching so a busy fall is in the offing.
The Carolina Panthers are showing some good things for the upcoming season and should make for some good game day parties.
My leatherworking business is hopping right now as it does every year when the Fair rolls around and all the Rennies want or need something made or repaired - and to think I started it eight years or so ago as a hobby ... even have branched out into tailoring costumes - who says a man can't sew - and the ladies who do sew costumes and such for a living come to me for any work that deals with the heavier fabrics for help and advise because I work with leather and they all know I can handle the heavier stuff, the delicate stuff is another story all together.
The one problem is I do too good with my work and I have yet to have had any repair work on any of my pieces (I have repaired other's work) other than replace a screw or two that did not set when I glued it (inserted glue on the grooved cylinder to hold is from undoing itself).
Lamentations for the demise of a vibrant, dynamic place are being voiced.
Now, as to them being heard ...
Cryptic enough for you?
I know some who will think it is referencing them - sorry, but no it is not.
*****
Live by this simple mantra ... Smile - it confuses people ... and you will be happy.
Mauled, I tell you, mauled
The Carolina Panthers mauled the Washington Redskins last night to the tune of 47 to 3 in NFL action.
Traditionally a good indication of how the regular season is going to be - the third game of the pre-season was a night to remember for the Panthers and one the Redskins would like to forget.
It looks like it is going to be a long season for Carolina Panther opponents.
Traditionally a good indication of how the regular season is going to be - the third game of the pre-season was a night to remember for the Panthers and one the Redskins would like to forget.
It looks like it is going to be a long season for Carolina Panther opponents.
Thought for the Day
What is scary is that this is reality today ...
Insightful commentary on surveillance from webcomic Boy on a Stick and Slither.
For more comics in the series check out the link below.
Boy on a Stick and Slither
For more comics in the series check out the link below.
Boy on a Stick and Slither
Klingon knife scares the crap out of dumb British scandal-sheet
That pitiful excuse for a newspaper that scandal-sheet rag The Daily Mail has a hilariously breathless account of a giant stainless steel Klingon fighting-knife received by police during a knife-amnesty; to hear them tell of it hooded thugs are roaming the streets with Klingon dueling swords looking for little old ladies to terrorize.
You got to love it! Imagine the reaction to Phasers!
Lethal Star Trek blade seized in knives amnestyA spokesman for police in Gloucester, where it was surrendered, said: "It is a particularly nasty weapon that can, literally, take someone's head off. We are very glad it is off the streets and we want more weapons handed in."
The blade is believed to be a stainless-steel copy of a Klingon weapon used in the science fiction series Star Trek. "It's an extremely dangerous weapon," said a martial arts expert last night.
You got to love it! Imagine the reaction to Phasers!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Alice In Wonderland from 1903
Restored the very rare, first film version of Alice In Wonderland, made in England by Cecil Hepworth in 1903 (this versatile director also plays Frog in the film).
The original negative is severely damaged, and much of the film has deteriorated. No known prints survive anywhere so restoration is next to impossible.
The music you will recognize as Claude Debussy's "Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun."
The BBC have rescued this film from obscurity by releasing it as an extra, with commentary, on their DVD for the 1966 Jonathan Miller production of Alice in Wonderland.
*****
Thanks to Milk and Cookies for the link.
Magazine ads from 1904
The 1904 magazine features ads for horse carriages, but by 1909 the ads are for automobiles.
This cool ad and more can be found at getrichslowly.org using the link below.
Marvelous Magazine Ads from 1904
In case you haven't heard ...
Senator Barack Obama has selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, according to his official Web site and a text message the campaign sent to supporters on Saturday.
(And, no I wasn't awake at 3am to read the text message on my machine when it came - I do need my beauty sleep, how else will I stay so handsome)
(And, no I wasn't awake at 3am to read the text message on my machine when it came - I do need my beauty sleep, how else will I stay so handsome)
It's in the record books
Tropical Storm Fay crossed into the Florida Panhandle on Saturday, becoming the first storm of its kind in recorded history to hit the state four different times.
Fay's center made landfall around 1 a.m. EDT about 15 miles north-northeast of Apalachicola, Fla., according to the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center.
Fay was expected to skirt across the Panhandle's coast Saturday and the coast of Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday, forecasters said.
Although Fay never materialized into a hurricane, its zigzagging downpours have been punishing and deadly.
Fay's center made landfall around 1 a.m. EDT about 15 miles north-northeast of Apalachicola, Fla., according to the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center.
Fay was expected to skirt across the Panhandle's coast Saturday and the coast of Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday, forecasters said.
Although Fay never materialized into a hurricane, its zigzagging downpours have been punishing and deadly.
A Grizzly Encounter
One moment Howard Hawkins Jr. was driving to get an early morning cup of coffee and the next he hit a large grizzly bear running at a full gallop across one of Anchorage's busiest streets.
"It is just unreal," Hawkins said Friday, less than 12 hours after his 2002 Land Rover struck the bear.
"I didn't have time to react. I wasn't even able to hit my brakes or anything.
What stopped the forward motion of the car is that I ran into a big bear."
Hawkins, 57, plowed into the bear shortly before 4 a.m. in what is the latest in a summer of close encounters between human and bruin in Alaska's largest city.
The male bear came out of the woods from one of Anchorage's many greenbelts.
It was struck on a four-lane highway near a large car dealership and RV campground.
The collision pushed in the front end of Hawkins' Land Rover.
The vehicle's air bags deployed but Hawkins was uninjured.
He called 911 and got out of his car to await police.
The bear, angry and in a lot of pain with a broken leg, was behind the Land Rover stumbling around, roaring and growling.
Officers arrived within minutes and advised Hawkins to get back in his vehicle; which he did.
At one point, the bear charged the officers, police spokesman Paul Honeman said.
The grizzly made its way off the road and back into the woods, where officers found it and killed it.
The bear was a 15-year-old grizzly that was part of a state Fish and Game research study to determine how many bears there are in Anchorage.
The bear was trapped in 2006 and fitted with a global positioning collar that showed it stayed mostly in one of two areas, including Far North Bicentennial Park where there have been two bear maulings and several encounters with grizzlies this summer.
One of the bears, a sow with two cubs that was believed to be responsible for much of the trouble, was shot and killed Tuesday.
DNA showed that bear was not the one responsible for the most serious attack, on a 15-year-old bicyclist.
The grizzlies come into Anchorage in the summer to feed on salmon and moose, said Sean Farley, a Fish and Game research biologist who conducted the study that showed residents share the city with at least 20 grizzlies.
So far this summer, 18 black bears and one grizzly have been shot in the municipality in defense of life or property.
That's a higher number than normal, said Jessy Coltrane, an assistant area wildlife biologist.
Last year, that total was about 10 black bears and one grizzly, she said.
Coltrane attributes the higher number this summer to a "social reaction" among city residents.
When there are maulings, people are less tolerant, she said.
"It is just unreal," Hawkins said Friday, less than 12 hours after his 2002 Land Rover struck the bear.
"I didn't have time to react. I wasn't even able to hit my brakes or anything.
What stopped the forward motion of the car is that I ran into a big bear."
Hawkins, 57, plowed into the bear shortly before 4 a.m. in what is the latest in a summer of close encounters between human and bruin in Alaska's largest city.
The male bear came out of the woods from one of Anchorage's many greenbelts.
It was struck on a four-lane highway near a large car dealership and RV campground.
The collision pushed in the front end of Hawkins' Land Rover.
The vehicle's air bags deployed but Hawkins was uninjured.
He called 911 and got out of his car to await police.
The bear, angry and in a lot of pain with a broken leg, was behind the Land Rover stumbling around, roaring and growling.
Officers arrived within minutes and advised Hawkins to get back in his vehicle; which he did.
At one point, the bear charged the officers, police spokesman Paul Honeman said.
The grizzly made its way off the road and back into the woods, where officers found it and killed it.
The bear was a 15-year-old grizzly that was part of a state Fish and Game research study to determine how many bears there are in Anchorage.
The bear was trapped in 2006 and fitted with a global positioning collar that showed it stayed mostly in one of two areas, including Far North Bicentennial Park where there have been two bear maulings and several encounters with grizzlies this summer.
One of the bears, a sow with two cubs that was believed to be responsible for much of the trouble, was shot and killed Tuesday.
DNA showed that bear was not the one responsible for the most serious attack, on a 15-year-old bicyclist.
The grizzlies come into Anchorage in the summer to feed on salmon and moose, said Sean Farley, a Fish and Game research biologist who conducted the study that showed residents share the city with at least 20 grizzlies.
So far this summer, 18 black bears and one grizzly have been shot in the municipality in defense of life or property.
That's a higher number than normal, said Jessy Coltrane, an assistant area wildlife biologist.
Last year, that total was about 10 black bears and one grizzly, she said.
Coltrane attributes the higher number this summer to a "social reaction" among city residents.
When there are maulings, people are less tolerant, she said.
****
Met a black bear or two over the years myself ... it always has been an 'interesting' experience.
Met a black bear or two over the years myself ... it always has been an 'interesting' experience.
Canada confirms 4th death in listeriosis outbreak
A third death has been confirmed in a nationwide listeriosis outbreak that might be linked to tainted meat products, Canadian health officials said Friday.
They said the latest confirmed death from the bacterial infection was a woman who died in June at a retirement home in St. Catharine's, Ontario.
"In Ontario, there are three confirmed deaths at this point linked to the investigation," said Robert Clarke of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
A fourth death British Columbia has been linked to the investigation.
Listeriosis is a kind of food poisoning that can be dangerous to the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea
Officials said there are 17 known cases in Canada, including the three deaths, with the same strain of listeria bacteria: 13 in Ontario, two in British Columbia, one in Saskatchewan and one in Quebec.
More cases are expected to be found, officials said.
An additional 16 samples from suspected cases are currently being tested to confirm if they are related to the outbreak are related to the outbreak, Clarke said.
Health officials are studying whether there is any connection between the 17 cases and the recall of nearly two dozen types of processed meats manufactured at a Toronto plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods.
Officials said they have positively identified the bacteria in 18 food samples representing six different types of the meat products, but had yet to determine whether the meat was responsible for the outbreak.
While the cause of the contamination at the Toronto plant has yet to be determined, the plant was undergoing three separate sanitation processes, all under the watch of a microbiologist and a sanitation expert.
Officials announced Wednesday that an elderly woman from Ontario was the first fatality to be positively linked to the listeriosis outbreak.
Earlier Friday, officials announced that another elderly woman, also from Ontario, had died from listeriosis.
Health officials grappling with the outbreak have said they expect to see more cases of the disease.
Let's hope health officials are incorrect and they do not see more cases.
They said the latest confirmed death from the bacterial infection was a woman who died in June at a retirement home in St. Catharine's, Ontario.
"In Ontario, there are three confirmed deaths at this point linked to the investigation," said Robert Clarke of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
A fourth death British Columbia has been linked to the investigation.
Listeriosis is a kind of food poisoning that can be dangerous to the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea
Officials said there are 17 known cases in Canada, including the three deaths, with the same strain of listeria bacteria: 13 in Ontario, two in British Columbia, one in Saskatchewan and one in Quebec.
More cases are expected to be found, officials said.
An additional 16 samples from suspected cases are currently being tested to confirm if they are related to the outbreak are related to the outbreak, Clarke said.
Health officials are studying whether there is any connection between the 17 cases and the recall of nearly two dozen types of processed meats manufactured at a Toronto plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods.
Officials said they have positively identified the bacteria in 18 food samples representing six different types of the meat products, but had yet to determine whether the meat was responsible for the outbreak.
While the cause of the contamination at the Toronto plant has yet to be determined, the plant was undergoing three separate sanitation processes, all under the watch of a microbiologist and a sanitation expert.
Officials announced Wednesday that an elderly woman from Ontario was the first fatality to be positively linked to the listeriosis outbreak.
Earlier Friday, officials announced that another elderly woman, also from Ontario, had died from listeriosis.
Health officials grappling with the outbreak have said they expect to see more cases of the disease.
Let's hope health officials are incorrect and they do not see more cases.
Friday, August 22, 2008
SC sex offender gets 25 years for gun charge
A man acquitted last year of charges he raped two girls in an underground dungeon has been sentenced to 25 years on a federal gun charge.
A U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina said Kenneth Glenn Hinson's criminal history led to the lengthy sentence on a charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
Authorities said they found the 49-year-old man with a gun when he was arrested in 2006.
Two teenage girls had said Hinson raped them in an underground room behind his home and left them for dead.
He was acquitted last year on those charges.
Hinson previously served nine years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl.
A U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina said Kenneth Glenn Hinson's criminal history led to the lengthy sentence on a charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
Authorities said they found the 49-year-old man with a gun when he was arrested in 2006.
Two teenage girls had said Hinson raped them in an underground room behind his home and left them for dead.
He was acquitted last year on those charges.
Hinson previously served nine years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl.
Carbs kill cells that regulate appetite
This could explain alot ....
Carbohydrates don't just screw up your blood-sugar: they release free radicals that kill appetite-suppressing cells. The research is from a Nature article by Dr Zane Andrews, a neuroendocrinologist with Monash University's Department of Physiology.
"The more carbs and sugars you eat, the more your appetite-control cells are damaged, and potentially you consume more," Dr Andrews said.Killer Carbs: Scientist Finds Key To Overeating As We AgeDr Andrews said the attack on appetite suppressing cells creates a cellular imbalance between our need to eat and the message to the brain to stop eating.
"People in the age group of 25 to 50 are most at risk. The neurons that tell people in the crucial age range not to over-eat are being killed-off.
Thought for the Day
Hard work spotlights the character of people;
some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Comments, comments, comments
Spot on!
I wonder if the self-righteous know when they are skewered.
I learn more about America from your blog than from your news media.
Yes!
Positive, honest and doesn't play favorites.
Funny and subtle as a sledge hammer.
Local, regional, state, national and international news all in one place.
Makes my day.
****
I wonder if the self-righteous know when they are skewered.
I learn more about America from your blog than from your news media.
Yes!
Positive, honest and doesn't play favorites.
Funny and subtle as a sledge hammer.
Local, regional, state, national and international news all in one place.
Makes my day.
****
To be fair here are some comments from some of those 'skewered' herein:
You should be ashamed of calling our president a shrub.
That's McCain.
America love it or leave it!
That's McCain.
America love it or leave it!
The rest of those comments are too vulgar and bile-filled for me to post - Yes, I DO have standards despite some of the aforementioned 'skewered's' rants and railings to the contrary.
it's McPain -
I have bled for America how many of you have?
Thanks for the positive comments they are always a pleasure to receive and to read. As for the rest ... keep'em coming, you make it so easy.
In response to the comments posted above:
Ashamed .... Nope, I call it as it is -it's McPain -
I have bled for America how many of you have?
Thanks for the positive comments they are always a pleasure to receive and to read. As for the rest ... keep'em coming, you make it so easy.
Student killed in shooting at Tennessee school
A student fatally shot a 15-year-old classmate Thursday at a high school, police said, as other teenagers watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor.
Police identified the victim as Ryan McDonald, a sophomore who lived with his grandmother and had alopecia, a condition that left him bald since he was 3 and the target of endless teasing as a child.
"He tried to have a tough exterior, like a shield, to fit in," his uncle Roger McDonald said.
"He was a good kid ... who was dealt some bad cards in life."
The shooting happened shortly after 8 a.m. at the Central High School cafeteria, Deputy Chief Bill Roehl said, and the suspected shooter was taken into custody six minutes later on a nearby street.
The suspect and victim knew each other, Knox County School System Superintendent Jim McIntyre said.
Jamar Siler, 15, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and was being held in a juvenile detention facility, police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
Siler had an initial appearance in Juvenile Court late Thursday and was being held without bond. His lawyer, public defender Mark Stephens, refused to discuss the case.
"This wasn't a shooting that was a random act," Roehl said. "It was an individual directing his aggression toward another individual, not the school or the students inside the school."
At a news conference late Thursday, McIntyre said the school will reopen Friday, though more for counseling than for classes.
"I want to assure parents and others in this community that despite this tragic ... and isolated incident that our schools are safe," the superintendent of the 52,000-student system said.
Those not attending would get an excused absence.
The cafeteria was a popular place to gather before classes started at 8:30 a.m., students said. Chad Griffin, 15, and Josh Matthews, 14, said that they were sitting about 10 feet away from the victim and talking when they heard a sharp noise.
Griffin at first thought someone had dropped a book and then looked around.
"He got shot and started walking and he was holding his chest. There was blood everywhere. And then he fell and his arm hit me," Griffin said.
Matthews said he thought it was a fake at first but then realized the shooting was real.
"I took off running and ran outside and called my mom," Matthews said.
Students in the cafeteria began crying and scrambling to leave, while others tried to get in the room, thinking they had missed a fight, witnesses said.
Students began to gather around the victim, said freshman Jared Wohlford, 14.
"Everybody started running out real fast saying, 'He got shot,'" he said.
The school, which has about 1,400 students, was placed on lockdown after the shooting.
Classes were dismissed and students were bused to a nearby church so they could be picked up by their parents.
Police identified the victim as Ryan McDonald, a sophomore who lived with his grandmother and had alopecia, a condition that left him bald since he was 3 and the target of endless teasing as a child.
"He tried to have a tough exterior, like a shield, to fit in," his uncle Roger McDonald said.
"He was a good kid ... who was dealt some bad cards in life."
The shooting happened shortly after 8 a.m. at the Central High School cafeteria, Deputy Chief Bill Roehl said, and the suspected shooter was taken into custody six minutes later on a nearby street.
The suspect and victim knew each other, Knox County School System Superintendent Jim McIntyre said.
Jamar Siler, 15, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and was being held in a juvenile detention facility, police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
Siler had an initial appearance in Juvenile Court late Thursday and was being held without bond. His lawyer, public defender Mark Stephens, refused to discuss the case.
"This wasn't a shooting that was a random act," Roehl said. "It was an individual directing his aggression toward another individual, not the school or the students inside the school."
At a news conference late Thursday, McIntyre said the school will reopen Friday, though more for counseling than for classes.
"I want to assure parents and others in this community that despite this tragic ... and isolated incident that our schools are safe," the superintendent of the 52,000-student system said.
Those not attending would get an excused absence.
The cafeteria was a popular place to gather before classes started at 8:30 a.m., students said. Chad Griffin, 15, and Josh Matthews, 14, said that they were sitting about 10 feet away from the victim and talking when they heard a sharp noise.
Griffin at first thought someone had dropped a book and then looked around.
"He got shot and started walking and he was holding his chest. There was blood everywhere. And then he fell and his arm hit me," Griffin said.
Matthews said he thought it was a fake at first but then realized the shooting was real.
"I took off running and ran outside and called my mom," Matthews said.
Students in the cafeteria began crying and scrambling to leave, while others tried to get in the room, thinking they had missed a fight, witnesses said.
Students began to gather around the victim, said freshman Jared Wohlford, 14.
"Everybody started running out real fast saying, 'He got shot,'" he said.
The school, which has about 1,400 students, was placed on lockdown after the shooting.
Classes were dismissed and students were bused to a nearby church so they could be picked up by their parents.
*****
Dammit, it is about time we put a stop to such as this ...
Way Past Time!
Start in your neighborhood!
When we all do we will end this reign of terror our kids have been living under for for too damned long now.
Way Past Time!
Start in your neighborhood!
When we all do we will end this reign of terror our kids have been living under for for too damned long now.
Grand jury issues 3 indictments in polygamist case
A grand jury issued three new felony indictments Thursday against members of a polygamist sect raided in April.
Schleicher County Clerk Peggy Williams confirmed the grand jury issued indictments against three individuals.
She would not say who was indicted or what the indictments allege, other than that they are felonies.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, which is handling the prosecution of the case, also declined to comment on what the indictments allege or who the accused are.
The indictments, which followed a day of women in prairie dresses again filing in and out of the grand jury meeting room, were the second set issued since the grand jury began meeting in June on the case.
Six indictments were issued last month.
Schleicher County Clerk Peggy Williams confirmed the grand jury issued indictments against three individuals.
She would not say who was indicted or what the indictments allege, other than that they are felonies.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, which is handling the prosecution of the case, also declined to comment on what the indictments allege or who the accused are.
The indictments, which followed a day of women in prairie dresses again filing in and out of the grand jury meeting room, were the second set issued since the grand jury began meeting in June on the case.
Six indictments were issued last month.
*****
Fun and sun in Texas as the soap opera continues ...
Fun and sun in Texas as the soap opera continues ...
Mayor shuts down home produce stand operated by kids
From the "You've got to be joking department":
Clayton, California Mayor Gregg Manning is punishing two little kids for taking the initiative to sell their own garden produce from a card table in front of their house.
Manning ordered police to raid their operation because the neighborhood isn't zoned for commerce, and because it constituted an imaginary traffic hazard.
Clayton Mayor Gregg Manning ... wonders what Katie and Sabrina might do with that produce stand if the zoning laws weren't enforced.Eggs and chickens? Oh, The horror!"They may start out with a little card-table and selling a couple of things, but then who is to say what else they have. Is all the produce made there, do they make it themselves? Are they going to have eggs and chickens for sale next," said Manning.
Texas man convicted for role in child sex club
A 41-year-old auto body shop worker was convicted Thursday of grooming children as young as 5 to perform in sex shows at a small-town swingers club.
Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly showed no emotion after the verdict.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding him guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity, a conviction that could send him to prison for life.
Prosecutors alleged Kelly was a member of the so-called Mineola Swinger's Club, though Kelly has testified he is innocent.
They contended Kelly helped set up a "kindergarten" where young children learned to dance provocatively.
To help perform at the club, prosecutors say the children were given Vicodin-like drugs the adults passed off as "silly pills."
ADDENDUM:
Kelly received a life sentence in prison in a swift sentence hearing this afternoon immediately following the return of the guilty verdict.
Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly showed no emotion after the verdict.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding him guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity, a conviction that could send him to prison for life.
Prosecutors alleged Kelly was a member of the so-called Mineola Swinger's Club, though Kelly has testified he is innocent.
They contended Kelly helped set up a "kindergarten" where young children learned to dance provocatively.
To help perform at the club, prosecutors say the children were given Vicodin-like drugs the adults passed off as "silly pills."
ADDENDUM:
Kelly received a life sentence in prison in a swift sentence hearing this afternoon immediately following the return of the guilty verdict.
Ah, the joys of living in Florida
As if a fourth straight day of rain from Tropical Storm Fay wasn't enough, weary residents are now dealing with quintessentially Floridian fallout: alligators, snakes and other critters driven from their swampy lairs into flooded streets, backyards and doorsteps.
National Guardsman Steve Johnson was wading through hip-deep water Wednesday night when his flashlight revealed an alligator drifting through a neighborhood of flooded mobile homes."I said, 'The heck is that?' and there was an alligator floating by," Johnson said. "I took my flashlight and was like, 'You've got to be kidding me, a big old alligator swimming around here.'"
The erratic and stubborn storm has dumped more than 2 feet of rain along parts of Florida's low-lying central Atlantic coast this week.
The system continued its slow, wet march Thursday by curving back from the ocean to hit the state for a third time.
Alligators live in all 67 Florida counties, and state officials say they receive more than 18,000 alligator-related complaints each year.
But the floodwaters heighten the risk of an encounter with people because the creatures search for a safe place to wait out the storm.
"They are trying to find dry land, someplace to hide," said officer Lenny Salberg of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The threat of alligators, snakes and other creatures is one more problem confronting weary residents as they clean up their waterlogged homes.
At least two alligators were captured in residential neighborhoods, and several others were spotted near homes.
In Carla Viotto's backyard in Indialantic, outside of Melbourne, snakes were swimming around in 4 inches of water."It looked just like a junk yard," she said.
Flooding was especially acute along the Atlantic coast from Port St. Lucie to Cape Canaveral, with water reaching depths of 5 feet in some neighborhoods.
Gov. Charlie Crist visited the area Thursday and had asked the Bush administration to declare a federal disaster to help with the storm's costs.
"This is the worst I've absolutely ever seen it," said Mike White, 57, who was rescued by the National Guard as water crept up to the door of his mobile home.
Fay, which was responsible for at least 20 deaths in the Caribbean, is just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the Florida peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times.
The most recent was Hurricane Donna in 1960, according to Daniel Brown, a specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
Flooding was also possible in Georgia, where the southern half of the state's Atlantic coastline was under a tropical storm warning.
Some parts of Georgia could get up to 6 inches of rain.
In the town of St. Marys, Mary Neff watched the rain from the Spencer House Inn, which she owns with her husband.
"We're pulling in our plants and porch furniture, making sure we have our supplies and gas for the generator," said Neff, who had three couples cancel weekend reservations.
"I still think we all need to stay on our toes."
Fay hovered for hours just off the Florida coast Thursday.
At 2 p.m. EDT, the center was near Flagler Beach.
Maximum sustained winds were 60 mph, and the storm was expected to weaken as it swirled across the state and into the Panhandle by Saturday.
With the rain moving to the north, the sun began to dry out some Florida neighborhoods hit by floods earlier in the week.
The mood was considerably brighter for many residents who were finally able to get out of their homes.
"I'm ready to get back to work. This is insane. It'll drive you nuts being stuck like this," said Barry Johnson, 44, of Port St. Lucie.
National Guardsman Steve Johnson was wading through hip-deep water Wednesday night when his flashlight revealed an alligator drifting through a neighborhood of flooded mobile homes."I said, 'The heck is that?' and there was an alligator floating by," Johnson said. "I took my flashlight and was like, 'You've got to be kidding me, a big old alligator swimming around here.'"
The erratic and stubborn storm has dumped more than 2 feet of rain along parts of Florida's low-lying central Atlantic coast this week.
The system continued its slow, wet march Thursday by curving back from the ocean to hit the state for a third time.
Alligators live in all 67 Florida counties, and state officials say they receive more than 18,000 alligator-related complaints each year.
But the floodwaters heighten the risk of an encounter with people because the creatures search for a safe place to wait out the storm.
"They are trying to find dry land, someplace to hide," said officer Lenny Salberg of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The threat of alligators, snakes and other creatures is one more problem confronting weary residents as they clean up their waterlogged homes.
At least two alligators were captured in residential neighborhoods, and several others were spotted near homes.
In Carla Viotto's backyard in Indialantic, outside of Melbourne, snakes were swimming around in 4 inches of water."It looked just like a junk yard," she said.
Flooding was especially acute along the Atlantic coast from Port St. Lucie to Cape Canaveral, with water reaching depths of 5 feet in some neighborhoods.
Gov. Charlie Crist visited the area Thursday and had asked the Bush administration to declare a federal disaster to help with the storm's costs.
"This is the worst I've absolutely ever seen it," said Mike White, 57, who was rescued by the National Guard as water crept up to the door of his mobile home.
Fay, which was responsible for at least 20 deaths in the Caribbean, is just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the Florida peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times.
The most recent was Hurricane Donna in 1960, according to Daniel Brown, a specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
Flooding was also possible in Georgia, where the southern half of the state's Atlantic coastline was under a tropical storm warning.
Some parts of Georgia could get up to 6 inches of rain.
In the town of St. Marys, Mary Neff watched the rain from the Spencer House Inn, which she owns with her husband.
"We're pulling in our plants and porch furniture, making sure we have our supplies and gas for the generator," said Neff, who had three couples cancel weekend reservations.
"I still think we all need to stay on our toes."
Fay hovered for hours just off the Florida coast Thursday.
At 2 p.m. EDT, the center was near Flagler Beach.
Maximum sustained winds were 60 mph, and the storm was expected to weaken as it swirled across the state and into the Panhandle by Saturday.
With the rain moving to the north, the sun began to dry out some Florida neighborhoods hit by floods earlier in the week.
The mood was considerably brighter for many residents who were finally able to get out of their homes.
"I'm ready to get back to work. This is insane. It'll drive you nuts being stuck like this," said Barry Johnson, 44, of Port St. Lucie.
*****
While I have sympathy for the residents of Florida I hope they keep the rain, we have had enough around here for the time being.
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