text:
On air: Should we all be nosier neighbours?

Jaycee Lee DugardHow do we even begin to digest this story? Elation as a mother is finally reunited with her daughter after being separated cruelly for almost two decades – and after almost all hope of ever seeing her again was surely gone.

But digust and horror as the details emerge of then 11 year old Jaycee Lee Dugard’s kidnapping, sexual abuse, and confinement in squalid makeshift lodgings in a backyard in California.
She later shared those lodgings with the two children she gave birth to, fathered by her captor Phillip Garrido – a convicted sex offender.

It begs the question – how did this go unnoticed? Didn’t his neighbours see or suspect anything?

It’s true that Jaycee, now 29, was well-hidden – a video on this website shows an aerial view of how Garrido concealed her (click on “Asking Questions – how did Jaycee stay hidden“)

But wasn’t anyone’s suspicions raised in all those long years? Especially as Garrido’s registration as a sex offender was online and known among parents .

One neighbour, whose back fence was adjacent to the compound, said “I knew he was always strange. But I never saw the girl.” And a caregiver who works for a resident just two houses away said “it’s so surreal to think that this was happening 40 feet away.”

The story has echoes of the case of Natascha Kampusch, abducted at 10 years old in Vienna, and held for 8 years in a cellar. The same sorts of questions were raised then.

Have we become a ‘look-away’ society? In an effort to respect each other’s privacy, have we gone too far in keeping to ourselves? Should we all be nosier neighbours?

And before I go … check out this interesting little experiment in neighbor observations done by Michael Moore a few years ago … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwNf-3VHRhE

84 Responses to “On air: Should we all be nosier neighbours?”

  1. 1 James Ian
    August 28, 2009 at 10:06

    If they know she was a sex offender the should have been watching him like a hawk. HIs odd behavior and compound looking backyard should have been throwing up red flags right and left to people.
    It’s like people are afraid of being critical of one another because they don’t want people to be critical of them. Like, I’ll leave you alone as long as you leave me alone.

  2. 2 Utkrist Adhikari
    August 28, 2009 at 10:19

    The wholelife of the girl is infact ruined. She had to suffer sexual abuse and probably violence which will always remain uneraseable psychological effect in her mind.On the other hand, she might have adverse effect on health due to premature sex.Furthermore, she had to stay away from her family, with a cruel srtangerfor many years.
    All these incidents occured in the society which we live in and went unoticed for several years.
    This happened due to the idea of privacy because of which no one cared about the happenings at their neighbourhood.
    I think that there can be personal privacy but there shouldn’t be social privacy.All should know who is living at their neighbourhood and what’s happening there

  3. 3 deryck/trinidad
    August 28, 2009 at 11:29

    The neighbours knew he was eccentric and therefore they hardly interacted with him. That is normal human behaviour- to ostracise those we find an enigma or odd.

    I don’t think the neighbours could be blamed. If you were my neighbour and you appeared to be to nosey I’ll be suspicious of your motives.

  4. 4 Ann
    August 28, 2009 at 11:32

    A ‘look away society’ is sadly not new. For centuries domestic violence was ignored and tolerated by communities and the law. The line between interfering in people’s private lives and acting in order to protect the vulnerable is not an easy task. But I believe that where one considers a child or adult to be at risk, to not act is to avoid one’s moral and ethical responsibilities. If we saw a crime being committed in the street we would have no problem in reporting it to the police, yet somehow when something bad may be or is happening behind closed doors it gets seen in a different light? I find that bizarre – a crime is a crime regardless of where it happens.

    • 5 patti in cape coral
      August 28, 2009 at 13:40

      Hi Ann, good to hear from you! I was a little worried when I didn’t see you post for a while and asked WHYS about you. I guess I was being nosy!

  5. 6 anu_D
    August 28, 2009 at 11:59

    This is a bizzare story…..almost as unbelievable as that of the Austrian man convcited for incest, who kept his daughter locked for 2 decades and had children with her.

    These ghastly, perverse, idiosyncratic stories are 2 in a million exceptions….immensely readable and provoking……but by no means representtaive of normal humanity around us…and hence not the yardstick to make a judgementto poke nose into neighbours houses and lives.

    I’d rather leave the privacy of the world as it is…..there are a lot more good human beings than perverse ones

  6. 7 Dennis Junior
    August 28, 2009 at 12:59

    After some heavy thinking about it, we need to get more nosier in our neighbours affairs…..

    Specially, if there is suspicions regarding problems……

    =Dennis Junior=

    • 8 Maxine
      August 31, 2009 at 09:24

      It is not a matter of getting nosier in our neighbors affairs. When new people arrive on my street, I introduce myself , sometimes give a plant, it’s a good way to get to know your neighbors in a friendly way. “No man is an Island” said the poet John Donne – how true!

  7. 9 patti in cape coral
    August 28, 2009 at 13:00

    What can be said about this? It’s horrible. We all live very private lives nowadays, and most of the time I think it’s a good thing, but I agree with James Ian that if he was known to be a sex offender there should have been more scrutiny. Unfortunately, I really believe that even if we do everything we should, these things are going to happen from time to time anyway. I’m not sure how far we should go in being “nosy.”

  8. 10 Henry Nyakoojo, Kampala
    August 28, 2009 at 13:17

    Some in Africa sometimes blame our more open socialisation for our continued poverty. The context of the extended family and our “wellcome to everyone” attitude drains resources from the family as it leads to unplanned expenditure. The “western” arrangement of the nuclear family is much admired and touted by some as a way to escape poverty by using resources more “rationally”. The downside of all this is that homes are a more closed affair and a recipe to conceal evil. A similar crime would be highly unlikely to be perpetrated and remain concealed for so long in a rural African setting. So may be the “west” should become more nosier. There have been too many of these kinds of happennings including the Austrian man who imprisoned his own daughter and fathered children with her.

  9. 11 gary
    August 28, 2009 at 13:17

    We are our brothers’ keepers, and our most flagrant lapses in this responsibility lie in our failures adequately to protect our children from society’s predators. I’m not speaking just of Jaycee Lee; but of the societal maggot that managed to ruin Phillip Garrido’s life by supplying him drugs, and of this previous tormentor’s tormentor as well. One predator begets another. We usually compartmentalize these horrendous events and so fail to notice the resultant cascade of predators through time. This is our “looking away” and it meaning is equally horrendous: We help train them. I say again, as a society, functional people are our only useful product. How in eighty thousand years have we failed to get this right?

  10. 12 Henry Nyakoojo, Kampala
    August 28, 2009 at 13:20

    Some in Africa sometimes blame our more open socialisation for our continued poverty. The context of the extended family and our “wellcome to everyone” attitude drains resources from the family as it leads to unplanned expenditure. The “western” arrangement of the nuclear family and where everyone minds their own business is much admired and touted by some as a way to escape poverty by using resources more “rationally”. I personally lived in Brussels, Belgium for five odd years in a semi-dettached house, but never entered my neighbour’s house, nor did he mine. The downside of all this is that homes are a more closed affair and a recipe to conceal evil. A similar crime would be highly unlikely to be perpetrated and remain concealed for so long in a rural African setting. So may be the “west” should become more nosier. There have been too many of these kinds of happennings including the Austrian man who imprisoned his own daughter and fathered children with her.

  11. 13 Dennis Junior
    August 28, 2009 at 13:24

    I am glad, that this young lady was finally found and, will get the necessary Mental and other help that she will need to make a complete recovery from this ordeal….

    =Dennis Junior=

  12. 14 scmehta
    August 28, 2009 at 13:29

    This is appalling and apathetic; How can such crimes go unnoticed or unsuspected in the close vicinity of a proclaimed offender?
    I think we are increasingly becoming selfish, materialistic and indifferent towards each other, be it society in general or neighborhood in particular. It’s high time that we show some more concern and alertness, especially towards our neighbors; That is certainly not being nosy.

  13. 15 Jim Newman
    August 28, 2009 at 13:31

    Hello again
    I grew up in a very small village and I have now returned to my roots, as it were, and live in a very small village. Everyone is nosey and nobody is anonymous. I like it like that.
    The village still has a hard core of original families who have worked and farmed for centuries and even if I am a stranger and will never be fully accepted I feel that I belong here and am respected.
    The more diverse a community becomes the more selfish and uncaring are it’s individuals until the individuals themselves do not know who they are or where they belong. This sets the scene for the terrible abuses and mass killings that hit the news more and more frequently.

  14. 16 patti in cape coral
    August 28, 2009 at 13:51

    @ Henry in Kampala – You have a good point. When I have visited my husband in a poor part of his home town, there is a long row of small apartments that are attached, and the roof is actually resting above the walls, for air circulation, since it is so hot. Because of this, EVERYONE hears EVERYTHING going on in his neighbor’s house. There was virtually no privacy. Sometimes we would turn the radio up loud if we wanted some “romantic privacy”, but we weren’t fooling anyone, it was just a way of being polite. Being born and bred in the US, you can’t imagine the relief I felt to be back home and have privacy, as much as I love it there. Maybe if I stayed I would get used to it. You are right though, in that type of environment, it would be nearly impossible to get away with this kind of crime.

  15. August 28, 2009 at 14:29

    It all sounds a little bit 1984 to me. There are people paid to be nosey,like social services,although it did not help baby P. But that was sheer ineffiencey.
    Nosey neighbours? No thank you.

  16. 18 Ann
    August 28, 2009 at 14:40

    Hi Patti

    Thank you so much for your kind sweet words 🙂 Wasn’t too well for a bit, but feeling more like myself again. And it’s good to be back!

    What a sad story this is isn’t it? One wonders if Jaycee and her children will ever recover from such a horrific ordeal. Hopefully every assistance will be given to her and her entire family to help them come to terms with this.

    As Henry says in his post above, one of the down sides of our nice, comfortable private lives in the west is that we become cut off from our neighbours. I think we all lose something as a result. I like the phrase that Gary uses – we are our brothers keepers. Henry mentions living in Brussels – I live just outside Brussels in what sounds like similar sort of area. My daughter was across from Scotland for a visit and whilst here, the next door neighbours had truly enormous delivery of logs. My daughter immediately went out to help to the chap move and stack all his logs. He was astounded and a bit perlexed to begin with and said “people don’t do things like that anymore”. She was really surprised and said “well they do where I come from”. I see the logs every day and it makes me smile.

    • 19 Pam in US
      August 29, 2009 at 01:50

      I love this story. While it is true that we live in a world where face to face interaction has been replaced by the computer screen, the cell phone and other assorted mediums for communication, there still remains some miniscule amount of that which binds us together–the need to be a part of a caring community and to contribute to the welfare of others as needs dictate. To give and receive without expectation, with open hands and generosity unlimited… The need makes us human but the giving makes us more like God. Picture a world where everyone did more than just take up space …you’ve just pictured heaven.

  17. 20 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 15:03

    Where I live, people are very unfriendly, so to be nosy would probably get police called back and forth and would be even worse for what little societal cohesion we have here.

    The bizarre thing about this case, is that the wife was in on it too. Looks like a crazy man found a crazy women. I only hope she gets held responsible for it and doesn’t portray herself as a victim of something, she should be punished about as much as he should for enabling this horrible crime to occur.

  18. 21 John in Salem
    August 28, 2009 at 15:44

    The lesson to be drawn from this is not that we aren’t nosy enough or that laws need to be changed regarding predators and privacy – the lesson is that monsters are real, that they have always been with us and, sadly, probably always will, and that we put our children in jeopardy when we pretend otherwise.
    We don’t have to make our kids xenophobic to teach them what to do – to scream, run, fight back. The same neighbor who wouldn’t dream of intruding on the privacy of another will be the first to call the police when they see a child being taken.
    We may not be able to make all the monsters go away, but we CAN give our children the confidence in themselves that it takes to resist.

  19. August 28, 2009 at 15:47

    there’s nothing to do then call 911

  20. 23 VictorK
    August 28, 2009 at 15:47

    *@Henry Nyakoojo, Kampala, August 28, 2009 at 13:20: all across Africa there has been a revival of that ancient African institution, slavery, including sex slaves – despite the African lack of privacy that you put so much faith in. Nothing for the West to learn there.
    *The social ideal of some Western regimes – like the UK’s Labour government – is a ‘soft’ police state in which citizens’ existence and activities are recorded from birth to death on state databases, citizenship is conditional on having a state-issued & state-controlled ID card, and members of the public are eager to operate as voluntary/paid informers and spies on each other. That’s the logical end of encouraging greater ‘nosiness’ (and wouldn’t Jaycee’s ordeal have been impossible under such an arrangement?).
    *No thanks. Freedom was never supposed to be easy, or not come at a price. All that’s needed is life imprisonment or the death penalty for paedophiles, not Sovietising free societies.

  21. 24 Jade
    August 28, 2009 at 15:47

    The offender has no remorse and no shame. Distributing religious literature in a University? Lunatic or businessman? Maybe, he expects to make money out of a book deal sharing his adventures with crimes.

    • 25 Tom K in Mpls
      August 28, 2009 at 16:21

      A law was passed in the US to prevent making money from illegal activities. Especially books and movie rights. It was done something like 15 years ago.

  22. August 28, 2009 at 15:48

    Horrific things happen. This does not excuse them or accept them… it is a fact, just as the millions of acts of kindness and reaching out to others are facts in the greater world. The point is not whether society is best served by “nosier neighbors”, but rather that a story such as Jaycee’s reminds us all that evil does happen, even close to home.

    The comparison of nuclear vs. extended families and the resulting protection of all by close interconnectedness is too simplistic. I recall a recent book review by a woman who witnessed the beating of her baby sister by her mother while the adults in the same room all turned their heads.

    As a parent with a beautiful daughter, I cannot imagine the trauma for Jaycee and her family.

  23. 27 Robz
    August 28, 2009 at 15:50

    We should get to know our neighbors better,but then we would get involved in their problems.
    That’s the feeling of most americans,it’s kind of like(don’t ask-don’t tell).
    Example:A family moves in the neighborhood.After a few weeks you hear shouting and crying from the woman.Do you call the police,knock on the door,or do nothing out of fear of physical harm?
    Most do nothing.
    Caring about others around you is not an an american trait anymore.
    It’s more like:”Sorry for your luck,see yah”.
    Rob in Florida.

  24. 28 Anthony
    August 28, 2009 at 15:56

    I always check the Megans List website, and if there was some pervert living next to me with sheds, tarps, and extension cords that popped up one day, I would jump that fence and check things out in a heart beat.

    -Anthony, LA, CA

  25. August 28, 2009 at 16:05

    Hi WHYSers!
    This story is as disturbing as it is heartrending! I was inclined to ask the same questions as the post above, when I saw it on CNN this morning. What I am curious to know is how do we balance privacy with snooping? And, who do we decide to snoop on and under what circumstances?

  26. 30 Tom K in Mpls
    August 28, 2009 at 16:13

    Ask that Californian college professor, Gates. There are tons of old sayings to apply to this one.

  27. 31 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 16:18

    We’re asked to “understand” why terrorists blow themselves up and kill innocents. Should we ask why pedophiles do what they do? Should they be “understood”?

  28. 32 Jade
    August 28, 2009 at 16:38

    Comparing Eastern and Western cultures, Eastern societies seem to be more “nosy”, more affected by public image and the burden of “shame.” Western societies respect privacy and democracy more: doing own things, be own person, all very individualistic; unless one aspires to hold public office, then public image becomes important.

  29. 33 Jennifer
    August 28, 2009 at 16:44

    Re: Have we become a ‘look-away’ society? In an effort to respect each other’s privacy, have we gone too far in keeping to ourselves? Should we all be nosier neighbours?

    I think this situation is just disgusting. To think that something so horrific was going on in a neighborhood full of clueless people is scary. The man (a sex offender) was even visited by his parole officer at home with the parole officer never knowing. It’s n thing if people don’t want to be “friendly” but when they think something is seriously wrong; they should impose.

    I hope for the sake of the man’s wife that she did not know what was occuring. However, if she did; why didn’t she do something to help this girl? I think she knew full well what was going on and she did nothing! She should be held accountable for her part in allowing this to happen.

    • 34 Chrissy in Portland
      August 28, 2009 at 18:20

      From the reports I’ve heard, it sounds like the wife is suspected of being in the car when Jaycee was kidnapped. As far as her not knowing… how could she not know? It went on for 2 decades in her back yard.

      One neighbor commented that she heard children playing in the backyard and that she suspected they lived in the tents, but that when she talked to her husband about it, he basically told her to mind her own business.

  30. August 28, 2009 at 16:49

    The cardinal rule is respect and knowing that inquisitiveness would be resented.Being a good neighbour involves healthy respect for privacy. Nosiness will create feuds or extreme bad feeling. So while it is good to be helpful and cultivate warm friendships with one’s neighbours, one should not cross the line. There are tell-tale signs when one’s presence is not welcomed. But these skills take time to acquire. One cannot blame Garrido’s neighbours for not trying to find out more about the goings-on in his plot of land as he was known to be a weirdo.

  31. 36 John in Salem
    August 28, 2009 at 16:59

    Regarding sexual predators – I think that most states now have similar systems to what we have in Oregon. Here, you go to

    type in your address, and you get a map showing all the registered sex offenders living within a one mile radius.
    The place we just moved to in Lake Oswego shows none, while the house we left in Salem, the state capitol, had 25!

  32. 37 Pedro
    August 28, 2009 at 17:06

    Being nosier is not the best approach, IMHO, since we’d be solving a problem by creating another (lack of privacy). It’d be more effective if psychologists and neurologists gathered together and started a research on why strange sexual appetites develop in certain people. This way they could target the anomaly with proper medicine and treatment and prevent these individuals of becoming potentially dangerous for the society.

  33. 38 brinda,India
    August 28, 2009 at 17:08

    I agree with Robz.
    Its not only i America ” do not care attitude”/ look away” i think is spreading very where.
    People are so busy with their own life and their own problems.

    Coming from India i know at some point people had that fear of “Society”.Now no one cares.it has its advantages but look at the disadvantages.

    This a really alarming situation.

    I think we all should become a little nosy. Its better to be preventive than sorry.

  34. 39 Chris in Ohio
    August 28, 2009 at 17:21

    This story is so twisted, in every aspect, that Jaycee and her children can never hope to lead anything close to “normal” lives. Some speak of retribution for the heinous acts committed by her captor, but that same wretched person, and his wretched wife and co-captor, is also the father of her own teenage daughters.

    I can’t begin to imagine what they’ve been through and, worse, what they’re going to have to go through.

    As far as neighbors, I’ve always made it a point to befriend and get to know our neighbors, although I agree that in the USA, especially in suburban areas and housing developments, it has become increasingly the norm for neigbors to know nothing of each other, and to have no contact whatsoever. That, in my estimation, is truly sad.

  35. 40 Tracy in Portland, OR
    August 28, 2009 at 17:27

    I don’t advocate nieghbors peering over hedges but certainly if there is odd behavior by a neighbor it should be noted. If it is serious enough reported.

    I think it is important to note he was a known sex offender. Did the people in his nieghborhood not know that? If he was seen out with the young children, like he was when he was ultimately caught, something should have been done. He was visited in his home by a member of some branch of community corrections, just how thoroughly do we inspect homes, and property of sex offenders? Are they scheduled inspections or suprise ones? This is an opportunity to learn, and fix things. And a lesson. These people do not get cured. They will always be a threat to society.

    Portland OR

  36. 41 Keith- Ohio
    August 28, 2009 at 17:30

    What’s the point of convicted sex offenders having to inform the community about their crimes if no one puts them under any additional scrutiny? This is the only reason I think that the neighbors maybe should have watched him a little more closely. This was a horrible, unbelievable crime.

  37. 42 Nelson Isibor
    August 28, 2009 at 17:31

    There is something such as being a good neighbour but there is always a thin line between being nosy (looking for what’s none of your business) and being genuinely interested in what your neighbours are doing. If your neighbour chooses to keep to himself why should you start nosing around?

  38. 43 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 17:38

    I remember my 12th grade english teacher always saying in regards to some form of literature, that there is a saying “good fences make good neighbors”. People here keep to themselves.

  39. 44 Shannon in Ohio
    August 28, 2009 at 17:55

    Here in the west, people often mourn the loss of community–but “community” is a double-edged sword.

    While it is true that communities around the world often come together and help one another in the worst of times, it is also true that communities around the world choose scapegoats and rise up against them as angry mobs. In the past, “nice” white Christain suburban communities in the U.S. forced out Jewish families and then African-American families who tried to move in. Strong, highly-regarded Amish communities shun those Amish who stray from their beliefs. In the past, many rural communities in the U.S. routinely turned their backs on families with loved ones who were observably disabled, or who were nursing a loved one with cancer.

    The same rule is in evidence around the world. In Africa, some solid villages expell those members dying of HIV/AIDS. In some Muslim countries women are whipped by public officials for being raped.

    Where were the caring neighbors? Where was the loving community? Oh, that’s right– they were the ones enthusiastically throwing the stones.

  40. 45 Andrew in Australia
    August 28, 2009 at 18:10

    The problem is that if you try to be a decent neighbor then you will be labelled as something rather bad. If you play the local policeman people do not appreciate it. In essence I would say that it is best to keep yourself to yourself as it is not worth getting a bad reputation as a snoop or something worse and let the chips fall where they lay. If something bad happens well that’s your problem not mine. I don’t expect anyone here to help me so why so I put myself out to help those who will not appreciate it. I have learnt through bitter experience that it doesn’t work out well in the end no matter what your good intentions were at the time.

  41. 46 themoi
    August 28, 2009 at 18:10

    This is exactly the reason sex offenders should be locked up and the key thrown away. They CANNOT be rehabilitated or reformed and are more than likely to re-offend and ruin other lives. That his wife knew and was complacient is even worse.

  42. 47 Tiffany
    August 28, 2009 at 18:12

    I think that we shouldn’t be ‘nosier’ neighbors, we should become better neighbors. The saying ‘It takes a village…’ isn’t just a saying, it’s sage advice. We as communities must come together and be the kind of members of the community who not only know our neighbors but care for them as well. I’m sure that there were plenty of people who commented on those weird people who lived in that little house, but none who took the time to really extend themselves to these people more than once or enough to peak their suspicions earlier. Thank goodness that officer did his job and followed his instinct that something was off.

  43. 48 Andrew in Australia
    August 28, 2009 at 18:16

    My advice to anyone is that in case something obvious happens.. then go ahead and be a good citizen and report it to the authorities. But in any other case, especially if you have no proof then play it safe and protect yourself let others deal with it. I remember a case where a man was subjected to a horrendous hate campaign and as he lived alone and looked socially unattractive he was painted as an extremely unsavoury character and eventually had to move. When the glamour couple that all the others in the area thought were so wonderful and supported as they had kids and were so friendly etc etc were finally unmasked as abusers, did that man find any solace or forgiveness, were efforts made to publicly clear his name? Of course not. A life ruined by trying to do the right thing to help people. Let’s face it most people do things over the fence that are questionable and if brought to light will do everything to make those raising the issue out to be the bad guy.

  44. 49 Shannon in Ohio
    August 28, 2009 at 18:17

    The quote is from a well known Robert Frost poem–either you didn’t listen or your English teacher didn’t get the poem.

  45. 50 Marc
    August 28, 2009 at 18:18

    What we need to be are friendlier, rather than nosier neighbors. If people spy on one another, it is only going to drive neighbors apart, and prevent the community from coming together to take actions to protect its most vulnerable members. We need unified, caring communities to prevent tragedies like this, not busy-bodies.

  46. 51 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 18:23

    Let’s not forget we’re talking about California here. In San Francisco, you can be harassed on the street for smoking a cigarette by someone who is smoking pot.

  47. 52 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 18:27

    Also, this is insane about suggesting calling the police on people who are weird. I was grocery shopping several years ago, and this guy who was bizarre would walk up to everyone and apologize, for something different each time. He walked over to me and said he was sorry for burping. He was just weird, probably trying to practice social skills. Should I have called the police based upon that? Of course not.

  48. 53 DrLoco
    August 28, 2009 at 18:28

    I think the issue is not whether or not we should be nosier neighbors: we should NOT! This man was on supervised parole. It might be better in this instance to say that this man SHOULD HAVE BEEN on supervised parole. The fact of the matter is that he was not supervised adequately or he would never have gotten away with this for so long. Perhaps if we put more care and energy and funding into prevention and rehabilitation instead of just sending everyone off to prison and forgetting about them things like this might not happen. And let’s not forget that law enforcement spent (wasted might be a better term) a great deal of time and resources in suspecting this girl’s step-father. Who, by the way, cooperated from the beginning. So, not only did the system fail to find this girl sooner it would seem that the system went out of its way to destroy their marriage as well. Furthermore, this man was on parole and supervision. No search warrant was ever needed for his parole officer to enter the home at any time!

  49. 54 Marc
    August 28, 2009 at 18:31

    In a recent special report, the ECONOMIST reported that there are nearly 700, 000 registered sex offenders in the US, including for relatively minor offenses like streaking at sports games, and consensual sex between an 18 year-old and a 16 year-old. What the US needs is a more sensible system for registering and monitoring sex offenders that does not overwhelm the police with the responsibility of monitoring relatively harmless people, thus allowing them to focus their resources and manpower on those that are truly dangerous.

    August 28, 2009 at 18:36

    Interesting to see this guy described as a evangelical Christian, cult members use mind techniques to snare members. this girl must have been brain washed to remain with her Abductor.

  51. 56 Alex
    August 28, 2009 at 18:36

    We don’t need nosier neighbors. However we certainly should know our neighbors. I know my neighbors, my neighbors know me. Because we know each other when some thing is out of the ordinary we recognize it. People look out for one another’s safety.

    Now in this particular situation, the system failed. The authorities couldn’t investigate because they didn’t have probable cause, and as we in the US have constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure. But this is also an aberration. The number of cases like this are very very rare. This shouldn’t be the situation we using as an example.

  52. 57 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 18:41

    If you want to see the extremes of being nosy neighbors, watch the Twilight Zone episode called “Monsters are due on Maple Street”.

  53. 58 Jeremy from Lansing MI USA
    August 28, 2009 at 18:42

    Neighbors do not need to be nosier, they need to be more friendly and communicative with their neighbors. If the neighbors had some kind of neighborly relationship with the man, they would realize that a child showed up out of nowhere and would/should have questioned the appearance as well as the reason for keeping her in the backyard. Also, in the United States, all sex offenders are required by law to be registered. I am not sure about other states, but in Michigan you can pull up a map of your neighborhood and find out if there are any sex offenders living around you and exactly where they live.

  54. 59 Saurav Upadhyay/ Saint Louis USA
    August 28, 2009 at 18:49

    I’m a Nepalese student here in the US. I’ve lived in my current apartment for two years now and I still don’t know my neighbours. I don’t know why but no one in my apartment complex want to talk. I have tried but I feel like they don’t really want to talk to me…..In places like Nepal this would never happen because everyone knows their neighbors. Its not about being a nosy neighbor, its just about knowing them and helping them out when they are in need and talking to them when one feels that something is going a wry.

    • August 31, 2009 at 11:30

      Saurav, I used to teach ESL in the US. Many of my students felt as isolated as you feel in St. Louis. Now I am living in Norway and experiencing the isolation that my former ESL students felt. It seems to be the fate of “outsiders ” in N. America and in W. and N. Europe. I would almost welcome the occasional intrusion of a nosy neighbour here!

  55. 61 steve
    August 28, 2009 at 19:01

    @ Saurav

    It depends where you live. In the DC are people are very unfriendly. When I would go to Kansas City, people were much friendlier, and neighbors would talk to each other. It just depends where you live.

  56. 62 margaret
    August 28, 2009 at 19:22

    We can start with asking why this perpetrator was wandering around loose free to commit this horrible crime instead of being in prison or in a mental ward. I suspect it is because America’s prisons are full of nonviolent drug offenders and we don’t have enough room for all the real criminals. Secondly, I have to wonder how is it this guy is married and why was the wife apparently complicit in this nightmare. And to add insult to injury, he has some kind of religion blog. As far as being aware of what your neighbors are up to, I’ve lived in many places where it would really be hard to know what might be going on behind closed doors–including more isolated areas where there is quite a bit of space between houses. This American version of Josef Fritzl apparently very carefully planned out (before he abducted the girl) and was successful at hiding his activities also due to careful planning. The only reason he got caught is pure serendipity. Happily, I can see clearly into the back yards of my neighbors on both sides.

    Margaret Tacoma, WA

  57. 63 Macq
    August 28, 2009 at 19:26

    Such a thing would never ever happen in Africa setting. This is because Africans have better moral values that would never allow such a thing to take place. The man would never ever be able to leave with himself, not for 18 year!!!!!

    Macq, Nairobi Kenya.

    • 64 Tom K in Mpls
      August 28, 2009 at 20:19

      If you have seen the same headlines out of Africa as the rest of us over the last six month, you would understand why your statement is laughable. It would be nice if this is true in the Nairobi area. But the world sees activities as bad, though somewhat different, happening routinely in Africa.

    • 65 patti in cape coral
      August 28, 2009 at 20:22

      I’m sorry Macq, there are so many things wrong with that statement, I don’t know where to begin. Just suffice to say that Africans do not have a monopoly on morality, and Africans have allowed plenty of terrible, immoral things to take place, just like people everywhere else in the world.

    • August 28, 2009 at 21:54

      Right Marc, nothing bad happens to children in Africa. How deep is your head burried in the sand. Better moral values? You need to read the news from Africa.

    • 67 Pam in US
      August 28, 2009 at 23:28

      While it may be that Aficans are more moral than Americans, this story hardly proves that point. Considering the fact that this girl was so hidden from view and the effects of Stockholm Syndrome, it comes as no surprize that these monsters got away with this most awful crime for so long. Nosey neighbors who trespass will find themselves the defendants in law suits of imprisoned for illegal breaking and entry. As for “morality” of the neighbors? They’d have to be psychic to know she was there and without some evidence, not even weird persons like this freak can be investigated. I question your definition of morality, however. Perhaps there exists some moral reason why female genital mutilation is practiced in more than 50 percent of the districts in Kenya. These practices are most widespread in Kisii, where more than 95 percent of young women are circumcised by age 12! Are these little ones not worthy of moral consideration or do Kenya’s people consider the horrendous, damnable practice a “beneficial” procedure?
      May God have mercy and bring their sufferings to an end.

    • 68 Rick
      August 29, 2009 at 19:38

      Your comment is not true. Sexual violence does exist in Africa. Here is a story done by NPR:

  58. 69 Macq
    August 28, 2009 at 19:52

    unless you are assured of WPP by the police then it can be very risky in some parts of the world to go tell on your neighbour. If the police comes around and find there was nothing to be arlarmed about then that neighbour has just turned from being a good neighbour to being an enemy. – Nairobi.

  59. 70 Steven/Sacramento, CA
    August 28, 2009 at 21:45

    Your reporting is very incomplete! I suggest you consult the Sacramento Bee (you quoted one of their reporters) regarding the facts. At least some of the neighbors knew Mr. Garrido was a registered sex offender. What are the neighbors supposed to do – hold regular raids of his property? This is a very strange, rare, and horrible event. Taking it as an example of the entire society is nothing short of sensationalism. That certainly wasn’t the attitude with the Austrian case!

  60. 71 sumedh
    August 29, 2009 at 07:39

    we in NEPAL even know whatever the neighbour’s cook .so we dont have such problem as in the west

  61. 72 SparklingLawrence
    August 29, 2009 at 11:13

    This is very bad for the young girl. However this must be a wake up to everyone that anything can happen to your neighbour whether good or bad.

    Sometimes your neighbour could be sick and stays alone what happens? and may not even have your phone number just becuase you must mind your business shame, In africa those years are too many to be unnoticed.

    Lets encourge the young girl to start a new life now.

    Laurence, in Kitwe

  62. 73 Leonet Reid - Jamaica
    August 29, 2009 at 16:21

    Hello WYHS listeners, i am from teh countryside of Jamaica whee communities are closely knitted, everyone knows who there neighbours are and and who their neighbours kids are and who they affliate themselves with. In previous times, around the time of my mother’s generation, the community was much closer because neighbours were entrusted the duty to grow their neighbours child and be keen to any misbehaving. In recent times, the community has grown a part as families become asocial and, as we would say, “look-awayers”. Sadly, as a result of this disfunctional community, the communal family has broken down where older people which not to comment or even act on acts that are seen as culturally rude. This might be caused by ones effort to keep his or her own life, or it may be that the community has adapted a laissez faire mentallity and grant neighbours too much privacy. On the other hand, as a good citizen, patrons should not try to encrouch on others personals space , but at the same time should be keen if change has occurred in the equilibrium of the community. In this instance, we are not sure if the neighbours had any knowledge of a kidnapping or even the criminal record of their neighbour. Also, this horrifing kidnapping that went on for 18 years illustrates how the mores in society are tainted. As a society we should not try quick to judgement and isolate someone because of their criminal records because it is my opinion that if a criminal lives in my community, he or she will be of high interest ( in the sense of being suspiscious of that person).

  63. 74 Rick
    August 29, 2009 at 19:56

    Many who have posted have been saying the same thing. We don’t need to be nosey, but we need to get to know our neighbors. Thankfully, my neighborhood is very friendly and we not only know people next to us, but all over the neighborhood. We also have block parties, easter egg hunts, etc. It helps that our association owns a park, pond, pool, tennis courts and walking and biking trails. All of these things help bring people together.
    People need to get away from the TV & PC after work and take time to get to know the people around them. People need to be observant, not nosey. This may also help to notice anything suspicious without having to be nosey. A neighborhood crime watch can also help.

  64. 75 James Ian
    August 30, 2009 at 02:54

    Why was this freak ever let out of jail after what he did to the first woman? The way we deal with sexual predators has got to change!! I hate drugs and the people who use them but why are we crowding our jails with pot smokers and setting sex offenders loose to make room to the pot heads. It just doesn’t make sense. No one that could do to that woman what he did could have ever been rehabbed. The people who set him free should be held acountable. And then the lazy cops who didn’t investigate complaints, I don’t know how they can live with themselves. They need to resign and let someone who is not so lazy do the job.
    I wanted to vomit when I heard about this!

    • 76 Rick
      August 31, 2009 at 16:12

      It made me sick too. I have two girls and can’t bear the thought of something like that happening to them.

      I agree with your post. People who commit violence against another person should be locked up for life.

  65. August 30, 2009 at 11:04

    I was unsettled by the informal radio broadcast reported by the BBC News where the kidnapper used the recording to his advantage to report unconfirmed information and gain possible ghoulish interest in the next instalment.
    I expected this to be reported online or by the tabloids. However IMO this was a report where the BBC should have taken the moral high ground and refused to allow the one sided advertising audio report

  66. 78 James Ian
    August 30, 2009 at 13:14

    I hope someone puts togrther a fund raising project for this girl and her children. 18 years of her life, her childhood, was taken from her and she will never be able to get it back. Those who can should make sure she is spoiled rotten for tthe rest of her life to try and make up for this. Not just for her but for ever other child that has been taken. Those who failed her like the police, parole officer, neighbors and those who set this guy free after the first attack should be the first to contribute. She and her children should have an all expence paid month long trip to Disney World and any other place they want to go. I would contribute and pray to God that some legitimate fund is set up. Get them in the best school available and even collage if they want.
    Please, if anyone is reading this that can make something like this happen, please do.

  67. 79 Hardik
    August 30, 2009 at 16:43

    What????i mean 20 years and the neighbor didn’t know. I think in the verge of modernization we are in fact forgetting the way of socializing. I m from Nepal and in my country i m sure this event would not take place , the people here are more socialized.

  68. 80 John Salkeld
    August 31, 2009 at 11:02

    Yes, I think we should all spy on our neighbours. We could report them to the authorities for improper use of their waste bins, for using the wrong kind of light bulbs, not conforming to health and safety laws – the list is endless.

    Perhaps the Stasi could then award us Brownie points, maybe holiday vouchers or tax exemption vouchers as a reward.

  69. August 31, 2009 at 11:12

    The concept of noisy neighbbour does not exist in Africa. It is assumed that your neighbours are keeping an eye out for your car, house , children etc. If not there is always the mama mboga who sells vegetables,the guy who washes your car ,the kiosk owner, the guy who polishes shoes- all ready with news of any thing new or strange in the neighourhood. I have lived in the West and the unfriendliness was excruciating .For me this is the main reason why this could never happen in Africa , its not a question of morality but culture. After all anyone keeping to themselves in Africa is either from the West or suspect.

  70. 82 ALAN HESTER
    August 31, 2009 at 12:33

    Unfortunately, I live in America, where the police would rather kill me. I will NEVER report anything to the police!!!

  71. 83 T
    August 31, 2009 at 18:28

    It’s beyond sad how often these key things happen in situations like this:
    He seemed weird. But I never thought about it.
    He seemed so “normal.” He’s the last one I’d suspect of doing such a thing.

    If it’s a matter of child rape/torture/murder, what do you tell the victim’s family or loved ones when you suspected something but DIDN’T say anything?

  72. 84 Michelle from Jamaica
    August 31, 2009 at 20:29

    I am saddened to learn that this young girl’s life has bee ruined by these monstrous people. I hope she will someday be able to adjust to some form of a normal life. In Jamaica we are very “nosey” and I know someone would check out the tent round the back. I know I would. People are different and I cannot blame the neighbours; that’s the society there. It is difficult to prevent these perverts from carrying out their crimes, but I think a little ‘nosey’ is sometimes good. we have’nt had any case like that here; (not thia I have hear of). I hope we see no more of these horrific crimes against young women!

Leave a Reply to T Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
Opinion: Palestinians’ most dangerous enemy is… archaeology

A 2,000-years-old mikvah (ritual bath) was recently uncovered in the Lower Galilee.

By Stephen M. Flatow, JNS

Pundits will tell you that the most dangerous enemies of the Palestinian Arab cause are the Gulf kingdoms that have decided to recognize Israel, or the European countries that are moving their embassies to Jerusalem, or the American politicians who refuse to keep underwriting the Palestinian Authority’s debts.

I disagree. I say that the Palestinians’ most formidable foe is … archaeology.

A 2,000-years-old mikvah (ritual bath) was recently uncovered in the Lower Galilee. Most people probably would never have heard about the discovery if not for the dramatic photos of the entire structure being carried by truck to a nearby kibbutz for preservation.

The remarkable sight of a truck-borne mikvah, however, also makes one pause and reflect on the remarkable implications of the archeological find.

It means that 2,000 years ago, the residents of the Lower Galilee were practicing the exact same religious rituals that Orthodox Jews throughout the world practice today. Those Galileans, in other words, were Jews.

They weren’t “Palestinians.” The word “Palestine” had not yet been invented. They weren’t Arabs or Muslims—the invasion of the Land of Israel by Muslim fundamentalists from the Arabian Peninsula was still 600 years in the future.

The news of the ancient mikvah must have been quite a disappointment to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas. On Sept. 25, he told the U.N. General Assembly: “The Palestinian people have been present in their homeland, Palestine, the land of their ancestors, for over 6,000 years.”

Those meddling archaeologists and their discoveries keep getting in the way of Palestinian propaganda!

To make matters worse for Abbas, the directors of the excavation were Walid Atrash and Abd Elghani Ibrahim. You can tell by their names that they are not exactly Orthodox Jews. The P.A. will have a hard time getting anybody to believe that Atrash and Ibrahim are agents of a Zionist conspiracy.

The mikvah discovery was just the latest in a series of archaeological finds in Israel during the past year, each of which contradicted the Palestinian Arab propaganda narrative.

In the Givati Parking Lot excavation in Jerusalem, archaeologists discovered Hebrew-language inscriptions dating back 2,600 years. One was a stone seal with the words “belonging to Ikkar son of Matanyahu.” The other was a clay seal impression that read “belonging to Nathan-Melech, servant of the king.” They weren’t in Arabic. And the names weren’t Yasser or Mahmoud.

Elsewhere in Jerusalem, archaeologists uncovered a 2,000-year-old paved road that was used by Jews who made the annual pilgrimage to the capital at the time of the festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. It wasn’t used by Arabs, or Muslims or “Palestinians”—because there weren’t any of them around in those days.

Meanwhile, excavators from the University of North Carolina discovered two stunning mosaics at the site of a 1,600-year-old synagogue near Huqoq in northern Israel. One depicts a scene from the exodus of the Jews from ancient Egypt. The other shows images based on verses in the Torah’s book of Daniel.

Note that the mosaics do not show scenes from the Koran. There is nothing Arabic of Islamic or “Palestinian” about them. They are Jewish, they are situated in Israel, and they are 1,600 years old.

Every new archaeological discovery about the ancient Jews constitutes another stick in the spokes of the wheels of the Palestinian Arab propaganda machine. Every physical fact in the soil of the country shatters the P.A.’s lies. Every stone or seal or shard of pottery reminds us who are the real indigenous people of the Land of Israel.

Stephen M. Flatow is a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, an attorney in New Jersey and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. His book, “A Father’s Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror,” is now available on Kindle.

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-45
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for October 2020
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-127.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Burning passions, decisive as the night …

Would that the pay (there is none) equals the passion (there is plenty) for putting pen to paper for Worm Gear. Instead the grind of our day jobs sometimes takes its toll from time to time, and we have to make peace with a pittance of a publish like we have this week (one review). Luckily, at least for myself, things are getting back to normal and throughout August maybe can win back any we have lost with our infrequency this Summer. So enjoy the words and sounds of Taatsi, and let’s hear it – how does the balance between passion and responsibility take shape in your own lives, and where does metal lie upon that scale? Playlists and discussions, let’s hear them!

Jim Clifton Playlist
Bölzer – Soma
Stargazer – A Great Work of Ages
Coldfells – s/t (demo)
Necros Christos – Triune Impurity Rites
Mayhem – Esoteric Warfare
Panopticon – Roads to the North
Deceased – Supernatural Addiction
Obsequiae – Suspended in the Brume of Eos (vinyl)
Type O Negative – Slow, Deep, and Hard
Lustre – Wonder

~ by cliftonium on July 23, 2014.

2 Responses to “Burning passions, decisive as the night …”

  1. Well, Jim, whether a ‘pittance’ or a full ‘pantheon’, it
    is much appreciated. Thanks for the review and “head’s
    up” on the Taatsi release. Looks/sounds very promising.
    Indeed, work and summer can tear us into shreds. Certain
    self-fragments receiving more attention than others, for
    better or worse. However, Worms do not die. Reading the paper format as a kid or visiting electronically now, I/we are not going away. Even when life forces us to be more
    silent than we would like, we are always lurking, and we
    always return ‘home’.
    Balancing passion and responsibility … that sounds like
    the very definition of life’s task. Forgive the word-
    play, but I try to tackle my responsibilities with as much
    passion as I devote to my Passions. It is not always
    easy, surely; but if one’s responsibilities are felt to be
    truly crucial or essential, it becomes a pleasure of
    sorts to handle them with strong dedication and fervor.
    In the same sense, I think our passions can actually become a different type of responsibility for us.
    I will be honest, however, and admit that I strive to
    simplify my life by keeping my responsibilities
    to an efficiently manageable minimum. I think that we as
    humans often inundate ourselves with ‘responsibilities’
    and/or obligations that may not be truly necessary. Some
    things are taken on purposefully, by choice, while others
    are merely consequences of societal habit/behavior. Having
    children or buying a house are good examples of the former
    that can dramatically increase one’s responsibilities.
    Having children or buying a house can also be good
    examples of the latter, depending upon the mindset of the
    individual. Many small responsibilities can aggregate to
    become royal pains in the ass, all too easily. Car
    payments, expensive clothes, new tech just for the sake of
    new tech, eating out instead of cooking all/most meals at
    home, phone bills, cable bills, etc. These all lead to
    extra responsibilities, bills, or things we need to keep
    track of. I certainly will not speak for anyone else, but
    all those kinds of irritating details just feel like a
    complete waste of time, especially when combined with the
    responsibilities that are inevitable simply due to
    general existence … shelter, food, transportation, etc.
    My computer is a dinosaur (but still basically allows me
    to do what I need/want), I do not have tv, the cell phone
    I have only makes calls, I eat at home 99.9% of the time,
    I find virtually brand new clothes at second-hand shops,
    etc. I am not saying my way is better, it just seems to work for me.
    Doing things a certain way allows me MUCH more time,
    energy, and funds to pursue my passions with almost reckless abandon, even though I do not make a lot of money.
    If I have learned anything, it is that the world and our
    lives are in constant flux. The Balance that we speak of
    is not a static thing. It tips and sways perpetually. The
    key for myself has been to keep the swings from
    being overlarge, and not over-react when there happens to
    be an abrupt movement of the scales.
    Metal = Passion. As said earlier, an intense passion
    often morphs into a ‘responsibility’ of its own. I surely
    spend a ton of time, and too much money, on metal (not to
    mention my other interests). I have a tendency to go
    full-tilt with my passions. I think this is a good thing
    overall. What is life without passion? The ‘music’ has been such a complex, crucial, and constant force in my life. It has become ingrained into who I am, and I would not have it any other way. As I have grown a bit older I have learned to temper things, and keep focused on what is most important at any given time.
    I believe that Worm Gear is not only a passion for you guys; but as I mentioned earlier, has possibly turned into a positive ‘responsibility’ as well. I genuinely admire that, and am truly grateful for the time and effort you put into it. What you do is important, no matter the quantity or frequency. I know it has made a difference in my life over the years.

    Current Playlist:

    Spectral Lore – III
    Mutiilation – Vampires of Black Imperial Blood
    Drowned – Idola Specus
    Acerbitas – Urkaosets Svarta Vredesdom
    Bolzer – Soma
    Gotham City – The Unknown
    Golem – reissues
    Reverend Bizarre – all
    Poccolus – ST
    and …

  2. Unaerth, thanks for the well-considered, honest and open response. I’m a constant self-analyst, and your take on passion/responsibility set my mind to thinking: have I allowed my responsibilities to push too far into my realm of passion? Is there more that I can do to simplify and focus on the things I enjoy most? I like taking mental snapshots of my life, and then, as objectively as possible, ponder on ways to improve or – at the least – attempt Balance by untried means. Also, let it be known that Marty and I certainly appreciate that you – and the other dedicated WG Elite – stick by us in times both prolific and scarce. As you all have been here for us, so shall we remain here for you. Here’s to soldiering on …

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
David Blaine’s Special 2020: Celebrities Appearing on the Show

Magician and endurance artist David Blaine is returning to ABC with a one-hour special titled “David Blaine: The Magic Way” on Wednesday, April 1 at 10:00 p.m. EDT.

Blaine first appeared on ABC more than 20 years ago when his first-ever television special Street Magic aired. Blaine has since become well-known for his high-profile feats of endurance and his breaking of several world records.

Throughout the new special, Blaine’s celebrity friends make appearances and allow him to work his tricks on them. Read on to learn more about the special.

Which Celebrities Will Appear on ‘David Blaine: The Magic Way’?

According to ABC, the special will include the following celebrity guests:

Odell Beckham Jr. (wide receiver, NFL’s Cleveland Browns)
Emily Blunt and husband John Krasinski (actors)
Tom Brady and wife Gisele Bundchen (quarterback, NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and supermodel)
Dave Chappelle (stand-up comedian)
James Corden (The Late Late Show with James Corden)
Bryan Cranston (actor)
David Dobrik (YouTube star)
Dr. Dre (rapper, songwriter, producer)
Jamie Foxx (actor)
Derek and Hannah Jeter (former shortstop, MLB’s New York Yankees, and model)
Michael Jordan (sports superstar and former player, NBA’s Chicago Bulls)
Aaron Paul (actor)

Blaine has appeared in a number of live events and specials. From “Buried Alive” and “Frozen in Time” to “Vertigo,” Blaine has continued to push himself and his endurance. The magician has survived being entombed in an underground plastic box beneath a three-ton water tank for seven days with no food and little water. He was also encased in a block of ice in New York’s Time Square, and he has stood atop a 100-foot-tall pillar in New York’s Bryant Park for 36 hours without a safety net.

He last appeared on ABC in the 2016 special “Beyond Magic.”

Blaine Has Been Teaching Celebrities Magic Tricks During Quarantine

During the global coronavirus pandemic, Blaine has been working with other celebrities to try to teach them magic tricks. After Ellen Degeneres posted a video on her Instagram of her trying to perform a card trick, Blaine sent her a video to help out. She then uploaded another video of her still trying, unsuccessfully, to do the trick again with the caption “@DavidBlaine, you really helped.”

He also appeared on The Late Late Show to perform some magic for James Corden over FaceTime. During the segment, Blaine performed two tricks. One involved picking a random card and then later finding it in the deck, and the other involved a series of associations that ended with Blaine making whatever Corden was thinking appear on a card.

Tune in to “David Blaine: The Magic Way” on ABC at 10 p.m. ET to watch Blaine blow the minds of some of his celebrity friends.

READ NEXT: WATCH: Backstreet Boys iHeart Concert on Fox Living Room Performance

Source link

What do you think?

Written by pfwid

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Jennifer Lawrence, other celebrities push for vote-at-home access

7 Celebrities and sports stars giving us some coronavirus relief


text:
Cattywampus, It’s a $100 Story

After the disturbing Q drops yesterday, thought it might be a good time for a break and some levity. Our research on this issue will be grim and sordid. Here’s something to brighten your day. In our family, we refer to the Cattawampas story as our $100 story. It’s a winner.

My first husband owned a construction company and he was having a difficult week. They were pouring the foundation for a large school and some of his concrete workers were ‘missing’. The ‘pour’ had to be done at one time and was a logistical nightmare – 36 hours straight. At one point, there were 23 concrete trucks lined up. At night, the concrete had to be covered, and the men worked under lights. He rarely came home that week, sleeping in his car, and when he did come home, his clothing had to be thrown away. His body was showing the stress and I felt badly for him. He used to love it when I rubbed his back after a long day, but that week, everything on him, hurt.

Back at the B&B, we had a house full of business guests all week and we were humming.

By Friday, the pour was done and he was feeling victorious. As is typical for construction guys on a Friday, they headed to the beer store. He stopped at the butcher and had 1 1/2″ ribeyes cut specifically, which I was marinating. He was home by 4:00pm, firing up the grill, and surveying the yard work required for the weekend, when a lady from the Historical Commission pulled into our driveway. I was sitting at the computer in the library. The desk is in front of a large window which looks out to side porch and porte cochere, but the window is covered with lace curtains. So, I could not see to whom he was speaking.

His voice got louder and the woman was gesticulating wildly. They were arguing. I thought, “that’s odd”, and I rounded the corner to the side porch to open the door and see what was going on. There she was Jane, an elder member of my lady’s club. She insisted my husband repaint, at his expense, a commercial awning for a historical building downtown, because it did not match her “historical” paint chips from Sherwin Williams.

The LAST thing my husband needed after the week he had was a lady from the “Hysterical Commission” in his driveway on Friday night while he was ready to drink beer and cook a steak. I walked outside to talk to Jane and try a little diplomacy. One of the things I did before we bought the house was take a senior level class on historical architecture and period correct interiors. As gracefully as possible, I explained to Jane, the Sherwin Williams “historical collection” was from the Revolutionary War (Newport Blue, Colonial Yellow, Williamsburg Green) but the building in question was built in 1877, more “Williams Morris” color scheme, and thus the color chosen, was, in fact, period correct.

She didn’t like that answer. She wanted it re-painted at husband’s expense, which would also change the customer’s color scheme for their corporate logo and brochures, already printed. Husband yelled. She yelled. He yelled some more. She threatened to withhold final payment on the job. He yelled. She started crying. He didn’t care about her crying. She finally left.

Husband went back to drinking beer and cooking a steak. Don’t bother husband on a Friday night when he’s cooking a steak after a long week.

Guests arrived, thank heaven they didn’t show up in the middle of Jane in the driveway, and all was well. By Sunday, everyone checked out, I spun the rooms, a mountain of laundry, and by 3:35pm, Sunday afternoon, I was back at the computer desk, in the library, peering out the window, waiting on more business guests to check in. Husband was at the round desk working on a large bid and I was helping him. The house was pristine, immaculate, rooms were perfect, I had 4 rosemary-lemon chickens in the oven so the house smelled wonderful. It was husband’s favorite dish and I was still trying to be nice to him after his bad week. The yard was perfect, flowers blooming, driveway was so clean I could eat off the concrete.

And that’s when it started.

Out of the corner of his eye, husband saw a car pull up in the driveway. Immediately, he said, “Sonofabitch!” and he took off around the corner for the door. Me, again with the lace curtains, couldn’t see who it was. Yet, husband knew exactly who it was. I took off after husband. He stopped at a dresser by the door and snagged a 357 and shoved it into the back of his blue jeans. My eyes went wide. I had never actually seen him do that before. He was out the door in a flash, and I was chasing him when I actually uttered the words, “Whatever you do don’t get blood on the driveway!”

A few steps onto the side porch he glanced back at me. His jaw was set. His eyes were fixed. I could see the veins in his arms and neck. He had that look on his face that all wives know. He sternly told me, “STAY there!”

Okay. Of course, I stayed inside. But….. what the heck? Was my husband going to kill someone in the driveway? Did I need to find another gun and defend my own husband? Were we under attack? We had guests due to arrive within the hour. I was frantic. I raced around the corner back to the library, and stretched hard over the desk, to move the lace curtains to see what the heck was going on.

What a vision it was…

In the driveway was a pink champagne colored Lincoln Town Car from the late 1970’s with a burgundy vinyl top. Huh? Out of the car stepped Billy and Lenny, my husband’s ‘missing’ concrete workers from the prior week. Billy and Lenny were cousins – somehow.

Billy was a middle-aged black man who had 23 children. He was a fast talking guy who should have been a preacher. Billy’s wife, or girlfriend du jour, made terrific egg salad and pimento cheese sandwiches. Billy used to share her sandwiches with me and they were sumptuous, always with sweet dill pickle. I liked Billy but I knew he could be trouble. Billy was wearing a bright purple, polyester leisure suit and a canary yellow shirt, with a purple tie. He was dressed like he was going somewhere important.

Lenny was the black version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’ve never seen a more perfectly formed man. No lie. Lenny was wearing a kiana floral printed shirt, shiny polyester, with a huge collar, like we wore to discos in the 70’s, and it was so tight the buttons were barely holding. Beneath an enormous black belt that had to belong to his father, he had on burgundy slacks, polyester, with no pockets. The pants were so tight I could see the outline of the quadriceps in his legs… and everything else.

Keep in mind, 30 seconds earlier, I was thinking I needed a gun to defend my husband and our home was under attack. With Billy and Lenny in the driveway, I was annoyed. What the heck were they doing here? I was expecting guests. Everything was perfect. They needed to go away, and they sure as heck did not need to make my husband angry after last week.

I watched from the window a little while and husband seemed to calm down, but he was shaking his head emphatically. Five minutes passed, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, I kept checking my watch. They weren’t going away. Patience is not my strong suit and I was frustrated. I estimated the potential for ‘murder in the driveway’ decreased significantly, and decided to take a chance, outside. I quietly sneaked onto the porch, and took a seat on the top slate step, about 30′ away from the men but close enough to hear.

They were arguing about money. Billy and Lenny wanted some, but my husband didn’t want to give it to them. My husband was mad at them for not showing up since Monday afternoon. The concrete pour started on Tuesday. They let him down when they were needed most.

Suddenly, Billy saw me, and decided he would try to tell me his story of woe, make his appeal to me since he wasn’t getting anywhere with husband. Folks, this is good. I’ll never be able to tell this story as well as Billy did that day, under the shade of the porte cochere, but I will try. Grab another cup of coffee for this one.

Billy: Miss D, Miss D, I see you there. Miss D, you have to help me.

Me: (Reluctant and frowning) Oh yeah? Tell me Billy, why should I listen to you?

Billy: Miss D, your husband owes us money for working on Monday and he won’t pay us for our honorable work on Monday. As a graceful southern woman, I beg of you to interVENE with your husband in the name of family honor. (He really does speak in this way)

Me: (In my best southern accent and following his lead) Billy, where money is concerned there is no grace. AND as a fine southern woman, I would hardpressed to go against the will of my husband. YOU know that. For me to even consider such an action, there would have to be a right POWERFUL reason…..

I looked at husband, quizzically, as husband was well known for paying bills. By then, all three men drifted into the shade under the porte cochere. It was 95 degrees in the shade that day and the men were beginning to glisten with sweat. Husband was slightly to my left and Billy and Lenny on the right. Lenny was quiet but Billy could do the talking for them both. I waited for husband’s answer as to why they should not be paid.

Husband: I lent both of you $100 LAST Friday, which you still have not paid back, which is equal to wages for Monday. AND you didn’t show up on Tuesday or for the rest of the week. Where the hell have you been?

Me: Yeah, where the heck have you two been? I depend on you two to take care of my husband and the jobs we have. His thumbs are still cracked from last week! And his boots…. I’m still cleaning them off. You have made my life difficult and hurt my husband.

Billy: Oh, we couldn’t come to work on Tuesday. Just…. couldn’t……

Husband: Why the hell not? You knew it was the biggest pour we’ve ever done.

Billy: Aunt Sarah died.

Now, understand, Billy and Lenny have an enormous family. Yet, a death in the family is a death in the family. Southern tradition takes over and a very strict protocol is set into motion.

Billy: I had to see to the body and make ‘rangements.

Me: Why were you making arrangements as a nephew? One of so many? That doesn’t make sense to me, Billy, and thus, I am not inclined to help you.

Billy: It’s my job for the church. (See there, I knew Billy was going to be a preacher some day.)

Husband: So why didn’t you come to work on Thursday and Friday? (In the south, people are buried quickly and by protocol. Next day is visitation and the following day is burial.)

Billy: We couldn’t bury Aunt Sarah cuz we had to wait for the family to come home from Chicago. Some of them have jobs and they could not leave Chicago until Friday. They drove all night….. straight through, Miss D…… Quickest we could have the ‘visiting for Aunt Sarah was on Saturday. It was a mighty long trip for them, Miss D….., I promise.

Billy: (Continuing) Lenny and I dug the hole. (This was new to me.)(For those who are not used to black southern culture, it is a great honor to be chosen as those who ‘dig the hole’ for the dead family member and family members always dig the hole.) I wasn’t familiar with this custom, so in my mind, I was visualizing these two digging the hole, in August, in the heat and humidity of Mississippi.

Billy: (Sensing he was winning me over) Oh, please Miss D, your husband just has to lend us $100. (Notice how it went from ‘pay us for past wages to ‘please lend us’. Lenny nodded ….. a LOT, it seemed very important to Lenny to have the money.)

Me: Again with the money? Billy why do you need $100?

Billy: Well, we had a problem at the funeral.

Me: What kind of problem at the funeral can be solved with a $100 bill? (Husband reared back, eyebrow raised, —– waiting on this answer)

Billy: Well, we had the “visiting” on Saturday and all was fine. Relatives all there, and “X” made the sandwiches you like so much, you know Miss D, the ones you like. (I nodded). Lot of food, good town turnout for Aunt Sarah. You know how much she was loved. Everything was fine. Real fine. On Sunday, we had the ceremony to bury Aunt Sarah and I preached (he’s preaching now), which was a great honor bestowed upon me by my congregation. The “bearers” (pallbearers) carried Aunt Sarah out to the cemetery. And all of Aunt Sarah’s sisters and brothers, those that were still living, were there, as were all her children. We picked a beautiful shade tree for Aunt Sarah, you would be proud, Miss D. It was so beautiful.

Me: (Billy had set the perfect picture in our minds. Husband was calmed down and beginning to empathize. Billy sensed he had us in the palm of his hand. He was preaching, alright. I broke the calm) Why didn’t you invite me to the funeral, Billy? I go to all the funerals. I would have brought a covered casserole.

Billy: Oh, Miss D, you’re the lady of this fine house (not working on me). You’re way too busy to be bothered (not working on me). And besides, if you came, you know Miss Ann would have to come, too (Miss Ann was my mother-in-law, and Billy was right about that one. Miss Ann would have been a problem.). Billy continued with his tale…. putting us back at the scene of the funeral, under the shade tree. Billy was a master storyteller.

Billy: We lowered Aunt Sarah into the ground, her final blessed resting place, as we all sang hymns (Lenny humming in the background as if on cue). But Lenny and I didn’t dig the hole quite big enough, Miss D. We were using those yellow straps to lower her (straps taken from husband’s job site) and we were having trouble. The congregation sang another verse as we tried to put Aunt Sarah in the ground……… cattywampus.

Husband turned away to stop from laughing. I grinned but did not laugh. I did not know the word, catawampus. I had the image in my mind. They’re trying to shove the casket into too small of a hole, so they decided to place the casket at an angle, I guessed. I was hanging on the edge of my seat.

Billy: Well, at about that time, Buford (another cousin) noticed a tree root was in the way, and he stepped down real hard on that tree root to clear the way for poor Aunt Sarah. So she could finally be put into the ground…….. and at rest……… and we almost had it Miss D…….but….. at the last minute, the casket flipped on that blasted tree root and spun ’round….. like a whirlybird…… And there went Aunt Sarah, face down in the dirt……

Aunt Henrietta: (closest to the edge of the hole) She’s going to HELL!!!!!!!!!!!! My dear sweet departed sister is GOING TO HELL!!!!!!!

In the culture, if someone is buried face down, they are ‘going to hell’. Bedlam ensued and several women fell to their knees…. with the “vapors”. Aunt Henrietta lost her hat in the commotion, into the hole, with dead Aunt Sarah.

Aunt Henrietta, “She’s not taking my hat. She always stole my favorite hats!” and “I want my hat back!” and “Dear Lord, SAVE ME!”

Husband was still furious, not listening, not sold, and growing impatient.

Me: So what did you do Billy?

Billy: Well, we rushed everyone back into the church for a little while and Sudry played the piano. You know Sudry, Miss D, you like her, and she plays a pretty piano (I had no idea who Sudry was). The women served more Hawaii punch (Hawaiian punch from a can) and the men went outside to reconnoiter. We scooped up Aunt Sarah, who was really heavy by then (Huh? Heavy?) Then, Lenny and I tried to make the hole a little bigger for Aunt Sarah and the cousins helped. But it started to rain. You know, afternoon shower….. just spitting a little rain. It was all okay, but it was powerful hot. The sun came back out. The congregation returned to the grave and we sang once more. We lowered Aunt Sarah to the great beyond. (Billy’s prose was award winning) and I said her final prayer.

Me: So why do you need $100 from my husband, and why are you here with us, instead of with your family? Aren’t they waiting on you? (Husband in the near distance, tapping his foot, impatient and irritated)

Billy: Well, Miss D, it’s a powerful hot day (he stretched his arm beyond the porte cochere into the sun and wiped his brow for emphasis), and we’ve been through so much. We need to go and buy beer…….

The need for beer almost caused a murder in my driveway? But I couldn’t get past the mix of culture, the vision before me. Every sense I had was pegging on overload.

I looked at my husband and “Give him the $100.” Husband was stunned, “Are you kidding? We’ll never see that $100 again!” I said, “I don’t care…., and please trust me this one time. I will tell you why, later.” Husband was confused, but he did trust me. He went into the house and returned with 5 – $20 bills. The men left.

We got back into the house, barely inside the door, and he asked me, “Why in the hell did you do that?” I smiled and explained it pained me to see him have such a horrible week because of those two men. I knew how hard he was working. Yet, in the end, he gave me a great gift. I told him, “That’s the best damn story I’ve ever heard. They dug a grave and tried to shove the casket in the grave…… “cattywampus”. I learned a new word. Then, Aunt Sarah fell out of the casket…. in front of all the relatives…. women in hats, wearing their Sunday best…. men in leisure suits…….singing hymns with Aunt Sarah going to hell….. and they want to borrow $100…… cuz….. beer…….” I was howling with laughter, “Are you kidding? It’s a $100 story. I’m gonna tell this story so many times, it will be worth $100 to me.”

Seeing how I reacted changed my husband. All the tension from his face and shoulders was gone…. poof! He started to chuckle. It was pretty funny. And no blood in the driveway was a good thing. Over time, the cattywampus story evolved into HIS story. He laughed just thinking about cattywampus. And he told the story at least 100 times.

But it’s not over.

About six months later, the phone rang in the kitchen. It was the local prison from the next county, with a call for me. It was the prisoner’s ONE phone call. It was Billy. He said, “Miss D, I need your help. You’re the only one who can help me. You’re a powerful woman and I need your power.” Again, not working on me. He went on to explain that if I could just see my way clear to pay for his 128 parking tickets, AND drop off $20 a the prison he would be most grateful and pray for me.

I grinned, after all, it was Billy. I thought for a moment and figured I might be able to get him out of the parking tickets…., but I asked him what the $20 was for.

Billy: I sure could use some cigarettes, Miss D.

51 thoughts on “Cattywampus, It’s a $100 Story

  1. Daughn, you definitely put a smile on our faces! I can visualize the tide of events thru your outstanding writing. By the way, do you share recipes? Would love the rosemary-lemon chicken recipe! Thanks for lifting us up today.

    Liked by 10 people

    1. It’s easy and no specific recipe. Here’s the trick to can’t miss roaster chicken.
      Slide your finger under the skin, as far as you can go.
      Pour in a good dry white wine, about 1/4 – 1/3 C for each side.
      Get out 2 sticks of butter, cut into pats, about 1Tbsp each.
      2 lemons, sliced thin, about 1/4″ rounds
      Mix up about 2tsp salt, 3/4tsp pepper, 1Tbsp basil, 1Tbsp of crushed rosemary – that’s enough for all 4.
      Opening the pocket as wide as you can, smear the salt/pepper/herbs on the inside, between the skin and the breast.
      Into one side, slide in a pat of butter, then a lemon slice, then another pat of butter, then another lemon slice.
      Repeat on all halves.
      Spray the top of the chickens with PAM (not fake Pam, need the alcohol to evaporate and form golden crust).
      Sprinkle with leftover herbs and PAM again.
      Place on roaster racks, with 1Cup of water in the bottom and any leftover butter.
      The water steams the chickens.
      Sometimes, I quarter an apple and quarter an onion and place one quarter of each, inside the chicken.
      This is the BEST recipe for Thanksgiving Turkey as well. Have not had a dry turkey in 30 years.
      Works great with leftover champagne, too.

      Liked by 12 people

        1. Ooooo, celery makes everything better. Bay leaf is a good idea. I will try it for sure.
          Hey, best one I ever did.
          I made a wild concoction that started as homemade cranberry sauce, but I put raisins, dates, apricots, Grand Marnier……., and the kitchen sink into it. Then, I cooked it on low for about 2 hours.
          THEN, I stuffed the turkey with it.
          OMG – fabulous. BUT the turkey was pink – from the cranberry. Hey, gotta try new things.

          Liked by 1 person

      1. I hope the flag isn’t offensive and won’t cause Wolfie any grief. It was the sentiment of the song I meant to post, though not meant literally. Of course, heaven will be much more wonderful and perfect than any place on earth!

        Even better than fried chicken, squash casserole, pole beans with new potatoes and ham hock, Grandma’s hot buttered corn pones, blackberry pie, Mama’s freshly grated coconut cake and ambrosia.

  2. This is a funny story. I like that seeing humor in situations can work for most things that have potential for bad outcomes. I have difused DH’s anger at situations many times by laughing and pointing out the funny side of situations.

    Love it. Thank you bunches for it DNW.

    Liked by 5 people

  3. In the South, you could not have any black men come to work for you unless you did the loan business. They never quite paid up, but that’s the way it was. You also had to be willing to bail them out of jail too. That’s just the way it worked.

    Our yard man, Raymond, who worked alongside my husband, a daylily and native azalea enthusiast, was the source of many unique sayings and stories.

    Mr. Ike worked for our family and several other families each one day per week. One southern grande dame would try to ‘borrow’ Ike on our day when she had a party coming up. He hated it when we agreed to her request – because she would have him polishing piles of silver all day long.

    We had a lady working for us when we were little who was a huge Gullah or Geechie from the coast and we could not understand one word she said. Except we could tell when she got mad because we were naughty children.

    We called the black ladies we loved, Aunt. Aunt Martha was the one who made dried fruit fried pies for us after school – apple, peach, apricot, even prune – and man those were amazingly good!

    Liked by 6 people

    1. To some, this may sound ‘racist’ – but my Mama taught us to respect and appreciate people who worked for us – and made sure we said Yes, Ma’am and Sir to them.

      We were also expected to learn how to work just as hard as they did. When we got to be teen agers, we were expected to work for the local farmers in the fields and barnes to earn our school clothes money. We worked in stores and other odd jobs. We were expected to learn how to cook, iron, sew, and clean our houses.

      Mama was our city clerk, and she and the mayor, a lady who taught all of us in the 5th grade, were were instrumental in getting the shanties torn down and new low income houses built in our town. Mama had many businesses, grocery store, did taxes and accounting, and even read the water meters and picked up pecans to earn money through the years.

      She was also a pistol toting Mama. She loved to shoot skeet. When she died, we found a gun in every room. She once caught her own burglar who was breaking into her business when the local sheriff couldn’t or wouldn’t. She sat up in the dark with her pistol while my aunt sat in a dark car down the street. If Mama caught someone, she would turn on the light and my aunt would go wake the sheriff. Mama caught him and he was our former housekeeper’s son, Larry.

      Larry later became a preacher – but that was after he stole a Cadillac that he talked the dealership into letting him take it out for a test drive alone…and he didn’t bring it back. Maybe someone finally put the fear of GOD in him or he put his gift for gab into gathering up offerings and tithes intended for the LORD’s work.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. When we first bought the house, I was stunned, at least once a week, by someone’s preconceived notion of who or what they thought I would be.
        Halloween was our first holiday, and I was smuggling mums into the yard, planting them as fast as I could, so my husband really didn’t know HOW MANY mums I had purchased. I was face down in the dirt, wearing sweats (and pearls), when a car pulled into the driveway next door.
        It was Miss Virginia. She was the granddaughter of the man who built our house and Virginia was in her 70’s. She was sitting in the back seat with her maid driving. Driving Miss Daisy.
        She rolled down the window and said, “Whatever are you doing, child?”
        I got up to speak to her. I knew her, she was my mother-in-law’s best friend.
        Virginia chastised me. She said, “You are the woman of a fine house and you don’t dig in the dirt.” and she would “send her men round” to help me.
        Huh? Twilight zone?
        I finished planting and moved on to the kitchen duties for the day. About 4-5 hours later, I opened the back door to find 3 men, one foreman, shovels in hand, who were sent to me by Miss Virginia.
        OMG – she was serious?
        I invited them into the kitchen, and they were reluctant. We made sandwiches and started talking. They knew everything I needed to know. Because I was a new homeowner, I knew nothing, really, about the property. They were a GREAT help. We stomped all over the house, and yard, while they told me stories and uncovered things I didn’t know.
        I found a 30′ long outdoor grill —- wowwwwiiieee
        they knew all about the smokehouse
        and they knew where the brick pavers were for the brick garden
        and the cistern had extra bricks in it.
        It was like Christmas!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. this line right here:

      Aunt Henrietta, “She’s not taking my hat. She always stole my favorite hats!” and “I want my hat back!” and “Dear Lord, SAVE ME!”

      i think i am probably not alone whwn i read daughns writing i actually hear the pwople talking with unique voices all their own – and that is a gift good writers have.

      also, i would love to have the car in the picture! just for sunday drives of course.

      Liked by 6 people

  4. Daughn,
    Great story…still smiling. Smiling is good.

    However, I’d love to stick around and read other’s comments but…..

    I need to go and buy beer !

    Liked by 6 people

  5. Daughn, that is hilarious!
    And, I think you should ask Billy to co-author a book with you on “The Art of Shifting Attitudes So That People Willingly Give You What You Want”. 😂😂😂

    Liked by 4 people

  6. A suggested title if you ever publish:

    “By the Daughn’s Early Light” (Star Spangled Banner reference)

    Also, in my neck of the woods (Michigan) we (but not all) say kittywampus and kittycorner.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Itswoot. I have family in the Quad Cities! “kittycorner” meant across the street and over one.
      I never knew about Cattywampus though. Total surprise.

  7. Another awesome story… You remind me of someone OT, Ma’iingankwe who lives in Alaska. You both have a gift… Imagine, One book, something about tales from the Far North and Deep South…. She told us all about her best friend, Pony Tail Kim… I have never forgotten.

    Some people here may know, dear Ma’i is battling cancer. She shared, with a story teller’s gift, her treatments,and life during this battle. I checked back, and last I heard, her last chemo session is supposed to be June 6.

    You and Ma’i…. amazing, truly…TY so much.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Daughn your stories are the greatest! Now, what happened to the Vermont ski lodge owner/date? Inquiring minds want to know. Oh yea, as a native Son-of-the-South, your reply regarding honor was pitch perfect. Could really hear my grandmother in there … just sayin’ … 😉

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Redleg, that boy from NYC/Vermont was a good man, funny as heck, and scary smart. We were close to getting married and shopping for houses. BUT, three things happened all at the same time, deal breakers.
          1. We were shopping in a local mall and I saw suburban moms with their kids on leashes. You know, like a long curly telephone cord. I was mortified. Realization hit I was getting married, and might have kids. No way in hell I was raising kids… on a leash. It occurred to me, I couldn’t let my children play in the front yard, in NJ or Westchester. Didn’t like that at all.
          2. We traveled back and forth from Miami to NYC on weekends. I picked him up at the airport and went to kiss him hello…….. and he smelled like another woman. I have a freakish olfactory sense. He thought it was funny. I wasn’t laughing and I don’t have a jealous bone in my body. It was like flipping a switch, I was done.
          3. My daddy called, he needed me, and daddy never needed me before, — but that’s another story.

          Liked by 2 people

  8. I grew up in the South, and though I now live in Montana, crooked is cattywampus!

    Thanks for the memories of how things are often done in the South.

    Great story, and well worth 100 bucks!

    Liked by 5 people

  9. Another Great story Daughn … love every bit .. thank you .. 😛👍❤‼

    Please don’t ever stop, keep them coming., it’s like a Q fireside chat … 🔥🔥🔥 🍿 🌭☕ … uh .. and …

    … 🍻 🥃 🍸🍹 🥂 🍷 … and …. 🎵🎶🎵🎶

    Liked by 3 people

  10. I’m sure you’ve been told this but you should really write books! ❤I can’t believe you remember so many details! I’m often asked to remember details (just cuz I’m having to involve the police in my life more then I like! But not all due to me being bad! Sometimes I need their help!😂)and I’m like “what? When? Who? And why do you need to know all this? Because all I know is it was something important that obviously makes it apparent I should be much more aware!”😂 Will you be my sensei Daughn? 🙏 Could you imagine the next time the cops come because of something suspicious and I’m like “he was 5’4 with short man syndrome. He had 4 wrinkles on his forehead. He is 40 yrs old. He was 40% white, 20% Indian, 30% Black And the rest a mix. He wore a rust color shirt with a grease stain the size of a dime on his right front shoulder…”😂😂😂 OMG I’m gonna totally do this! The cops will know I now have a sensei for sure!😂

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Hehe! Hey, Drillerwife!
      Hope you and the police are okay!
      For me, it’s weird. Some things sail right past me. There were years of my life which are blurry, small kids and a husband who hated me. Too much stress, I guess. Sometimes, I forget my phone number, but I had all of my client’s social security numbers memorized. People were talking about Trivial Pursuit, yesterday, and which category was best for them. Well, after a few games, I had the answers memorized. Not fair to others and no one would play with me. Don’t know why I cue on some things and wish I could train it better.

      Liked by 2 people

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Prison Quotes

The world itself is but a large prison, out of which some are daily led to execution.

Walter Raleigh Sr.
Total votes: 39

Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X came out of prison stronger.

Philip Emeagwali
Total votes: 39

Crimes generally punish themselves.

Oliver Goldsmith
You voted 3. Total votes: 44

The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.

Clarence S. Darrow
Total votes: 92

Federal prison, if you get any of it, you're going to have to do 85% of it. And the reason why I called it that is because I had a friend who got sent to the federal joint and his whole... it wasn't about him being in jail. He cried about the 85%.

Mike Epps
Total votes: 52

Whatever is worthy to be loved for anything is worthy of preservation. A wise and dispassionate legislator, if any such should ever arise among men, will not condemn to death him who has done or is likely to do more service than injury to society. Blocks and gibbets are the nearest objects with legislators, and their business is never with hopes or with virtues.

Walter Savage Landor
Total votes: 61

We shall not yield to violence. We shall not be deprived of union freedoms. We shall never agree with sending people to prison for their convictions.

Lech Walesa
Total votes: 53

Punishment, that is the justice for the unjust.

Saint Aurelius Augustine (Augustine of Hippo)
Total votes: 74

When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.

Eric Schaub
Total votes: 43

The solution to our drug problem is not in incarceration.

Barry McCaffrey
Total votes: 74

Most people fancy themselves innocent of those crimes of which they cannot be convicted.

Total votes: 60

There's no greater threat to our independence, to our cherished freedoms and personal liberties than the continual, relentless injection of these insidious poisons into our system. We must decide whether we cherish independence from drugs, without which there is no freedom.

William Von Raab
Total votes: 51

The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.

Hiram Mann
Total votes: 72

A variety in punishment is of utility, as well as a proportion.

George Washington
Total votes: 36

Corporal punishment falls far more heavily than most weighty pecuniary penalty.

Total votes: 42

I don't like jail, they got the wrong kind of bars in there.

Charles Bukowski
Total votes: 45

Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them.

Total votes: 48

Money will determine whether the accused goes to prison or walks out of the courtroom a free man.

Johnnie Cochran
Total votes: 42

It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.

Sir William Blackstone
Total votes: 42

I have been studying how I may compare this prison where I live unto the world; Shut up in the prison of their own consciences.

James Usher
Total votes: 71

Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.

Marcus Porcius Cato
Total votes: 44

No crime has been without a precedent.

Total votes: 80

Intellectual despair results in neither weakness nor dreams, but in violence. It is only a matter of knowing how to give vent to one's rage; whether one only wants to wander like madmen around prisons, or whether one wants to overturn them.

Georges Bataille
Total votes: 54

Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.

Philip Emeagwali
Total votes: 48

Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a complex figure and we should not look for easy answers with him. He was, strangely perhaps, against the death penalty, and he was never put in prison for murders or anything like that.

Philip Kaufman
Total votes: 53


text:
Problem solving in leadership

By | October 12, 2020

Making decisions is a part of problem solving. problem solving in leadership rather, it means that you how to write the introduction of a lab report know how to solve how to write a discussion for a research paper problems effectively as they arise the problem-solving process in order to effectively manage and run a successful organization, leadership must guide law firm business plan template introduction examples for a research paper their employees and do you quote essay titles develop problem-solving techniques. 14.1 leadership and small group communication; 14.2 essay my favorite writer group member roles; 14.3 problem solving in leadership thesis statement sentence starters problem solving and decision problem solving in leadership making in groups; chapter 15: step 3: rather, it means that you know how to solve problems effectively as they arise. here are seven-steps for an effective problem-solving process. positive problem solving a positive problem solver has the ability to compartmentalize a problem as an individual event and seek solutions with an open mind. crowd sourcing problems has also been a valuable problem solving euthanasia research paper outline tool for me. however, the basic problem-solving rhetorical devices in writing process remains the same even if rewrite my paper for free the problems identified differ. dec 12, 2013 · however, the mechanism by which transformational leadership cultivates employees’ creative problem‐solving capacity is not well understood. general problems are ill-defined or well-defined.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *