Dear Jaspers,
705 are active on the Distribute site.
This month, we had 197 views on 7/28 and 6,538 over the last month.
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This issue is at: http://tinyurl.com/9akky
Which is another way of saying
http://www.jasperjottings.com/jasperjottings20050731.htm
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July 30-31 The Manahttan College Jasper Dancers will be
performing as part of the NBA's Rhythm N' Rims Tour on in |
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AUGUST 1 Construction Industry Golf Open 18 |
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My list of Jaspers who are in harm's way:
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- Unknown location
- - Lynch, Chris (1991)
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… … my thoughts are with you and all that I don't know about.
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"On the Plains of Hesitation, bleach the bones of
countless millions who, --GEORGE W. CECIL |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050727/ap_on_hi_te/games_blind_gamer_1 Blind Teen Amazes With Video-Game Skills By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press Writer Wed Jul 27, 5:25 PM ET ===<begin quote>=== In that regard, the 17-year-old isn't much different from so many others his age. Except for one thing: He's blind. And as he easily dispatched foes who took him on recently
at a <extraneous deleted> "I'm getting bored," Mellen said in jest as he won game after game. Blind since birth when his optic nerve didn't connect because of Leber's disease, Mellen honed his video game skills over the years through patient and not-so-patient playing, memorizing key joystick operations and moves in certain games, asking lots of questions and paying particular attention to audio cues. He worked his way up from games such as "Space Invaders" and "Asteroid," onto the modern combat games. "I guess I don't know how I do it, really," Mellen said, as he continued playing while facing away from the screen. "It's beyond me." Mellen knows this much: He started playing at home when he was about 7. "He enjoyed trying to play, but he wasn't very good at first," said his father, Larry Mellen. "But he just kept on trying. ... He's broken a lot of controllers." When the question of broken controllers comes up, Mellen flashes a smile and just shrugs. "I used to have quite a temper," he said. "Me and controllers didn't get along very well." Now they get along just fine. <extraneous deleted> How Mellen became so good is a mystery to his father. "He just sat there and he tried and tried until he got it right," Larry Mellen said. "He didn't ever complain to me or anyone about how hard it was." Mellen hangs out any chance he gets at the That attitude doesn't faze Mellen. "I'll challenge them, maybe. If I feel like a challenge," he said, displaying an infectious confidence. "I freak people out by playing facing backwards." There's nothing he likes better than playing video games, Mellen said. He will be a senior in high school next year. After graduation, he plans to take a year off because he wants a break from school. When he does go to college, Mellen wants to study — what else? — video-game design. ===<end quote>=== Now, I was “loafing” this week. I couldn’t find something worth occupying this space. Some thing that would uplift us this week, embarrass us into action, or at least make us thankful for what blessings and gifts we have. I use the word loafing lightly, because my Outlook calendar at home and work is full of “stuff”. I haven’t learned Covey’s lesson of focus, but I’m trying. Then this popped in my newsreader. (If you haven’t tried RSS Bandit or RSS popper, then you haven’t experienced the lazy way to browse the net.) Shazzam, golly geee, wow! A blind video gamer? More than that a champ. How embarrassing is that? I know that I kvetch that I don’t got enough ____ (you fillin the blank) to do important and urgent “stuff”. I juggle but complain (at least to myself) about the need to juggle. I regret things that I have done and not done. I say “why me?” instead of “why not me?”. Like I have the troubles of Job! Then I read a story like this and I am truly amazed. I marvel – like Jesus with the Centurion – at the talents that this fellow has been given. He was challenged; he exceeded expectations. OK, I’m ready what else can I do! Lay it on there, Lord. Cause if’n he can do that, what’s my potential. My only handicap is my own limited thinking! Pogo said it best “we’ve met the enemy and it is us”. I am sure that my fellow alums must be amazed at how dense an injuneer can be. Hopefully we can all take inspiration form this fellow’s remarkable achievement. Are we as dedicated to what is important to us? |
Reflect well on our alma mater, this week, every week, in any and
every way possible, large or small. God bless.
"Collector-in-chief" John
reinke--AT—jasperjottings.com
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Daily, Alfred N. |
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Kempton, Patrick |
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Morrissey, James |
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Morrissey, Maria Magnoli |
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Daily, Alfred N. |
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Kane, Walt |
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Kelly, Raymond W. |
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Kempton, Patrick |
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Krupp, Peter A. |
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Lutz, Peter |
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Marcano, Barbara |
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Morgan, Grant |
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Morrissey, James |
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Morrissey, Maria Magnoli |
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Quirk, Dennis |
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Rubino, Bob |
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Serrano, José |
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Umana, John |
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The Rebecca Catherine Haines, the daughter of Angela and
William Haines of Mrs. Kempton, 30, received a medical degree in June from
Weill Medical College of Cornell University. She graduated from Mr. Kempton, 31, works in GRAPHIC: Photo (Photo by Angela Haines) LOAD-DATE: July 24, 2005 [MCalumDB: 1996 ] |
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From: Orgon, Edward
A. <1967> Hi, Thanks again for publishing this. Just thought some of my classmates (A&S 67) would like
to know that my wife, Jeanne (married
38 yrs) and I were blessed with our second grandchild and second granddaughter, Ed Orgon |
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Subject: Jasper
Jottings Please add this bit of good news from Jasperland: Maria (Magnoli) Morrissey ('98) and James Morrissey (BS '97, ME '99) welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Taylor Marie, into the world on July 5. Thanks, www.engineering.manhattan.edu/environmental [JR: Great news. BTW the email came in on the 29th. Kick MC’s email server. Or feed the squirrels! Only obits seem to arrive without delay. I did a quick look at the Jottings search engine and find we have the engagement and wedding stories. So, I am tickled with our coverage of the “Morrissey Adventure”. Congrats to all involved. Especially to Mom, who we all know did the “heavy lifting”. And even to Dad, who had some small role -- we suspect. Last good night’s sleep for 30 or so years. ] [JR: Special kudos to jasper Rich for the report. Special sticks and coal for the MC email server that delayed the report!] |
[Collector's prayer: And, may perpetual light shine on our fellow
departed Jaspers, and all the souls of the faithful departed.]
Your assistance is requested in finding these. Please don’t assume
that I will “catch” it via an automated search. Sometimes the data just doesn’t
makes it’s way in.
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<extraneous deleted> Alfred N. Daily Alfred N. Daily, 83, He was born May 3, 1922, in Survivors include his wife, Mary L. ( Services and burial will be in In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to
Hospice Care in The Berkshires, c/o of the Devanny-Condron Funeral Home, <extraneous deleted> LOAD-DATE: July 25, 2005 [MCalumDB: 1944 ] |
[JR: I'm going to try a new section for "updates". These
are changes that "pop" in from the various sources that are not
really from the news. I thought it might be valuable to alert old friends
seeking to reconnect or "youngsters" seeking a networking contact
with someone who might have a unique viewpoint that they are interested in.
This is a benefit of freeing up time trying to make email work by
"outsourcing" the task to Yahoo.]
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Criqui, Ms. Carla A. (1994) |
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Krupp, Peter A. (1976) |
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Marcano, Barbara (2002) |
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McKenna, |
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Pradas, |
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Steponkus, Bill (1957) |
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Van Etten, Joseph E. (1966)
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Vermaelen, Paul A. (1960) |
[JR: I'm going to try a new section for "negative
updates". These are changes that "pop" in from the various
sources that are not really from the news. I thought it might be valuable to
alert old friends or "youngsters" that someone they maybe interested
in has “drifted off”. Yet another benefit of freeing up time trying to make
email work by "outsourcing" the task to Yahoo.]
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None |
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The They meet every morning: Raymond W. Kelly, "Suicide bombing in Hercules is a set of police antiterror teams. The team members carry heavy weapons, and they turn up without warning at sites all over the city, for reasons never shared with the public. "New al-Zawahiri video, went up last night on Al
Jazeera. Mentions the Kelly nodded, studying the report on the mosque deployments. "Morty's back from Morty is Mordecai Dzikansky, a Cohen said, "On News broadcasts from stations around the globe, including
Al Jazeera, were playing silently on monitors in the room, along with live
videocasts of traffic on Kelly brought up Semtex, a Czech plastic explosive known as "the poor man's C-4." He wanted to know whether it was ever used in construction. "It's military grade," Sheehan said evenly. Sheehan, who is fifty, sharp-featured, and wiry, spent twenty years in the Army, mainly in Special Forces; he later served as the State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for Counter Terrorism in the Clinton Administration. Kelly, who is sixty-three, was a marine and, even in a dark, double-breasted suit, still carries himself like a soldier on active duty. Presumably, both men know something about explosives. "Let's add it to Nexus," Kelly told Cohen, who made a note. Nexus is another police antiterror program, run by the intelligence division. Nexus keeps tabs on terror-sensitive businesses and merchandise, among other things. An aide called Kelly out of the room. Sheehan and Cohen
relaxed perceptibly. They discussed a recent bombing in a "Oh, yeah," Cohen, who is sixty-three, said. "She was going the route. Cops spooked her." Subways and their vulnerabilities have been an abiding
preoccupation with these men since long before the bombing of the Cohen, especially, has the pensive cast of a professional worrier. He spent thirty-five years in the C.I.A., rising to become director of operations. Kelly hired him in 2002 to revamp the Police Department's intelligence division. There is no other program in the country even slightly like it now. Kelly came back in. The briefing turned to local matters.
"I.D. fraud in They moved on. Sheehan said, "Our four guys are back
from "Anything back on al-Hindi?" Kelly asked Sheehan. Abu Issa al-Hindi is an Al Qaeda operative, currently in
British custody. Al-Hindi and his team were discovered, through a computer
seized last summer in Sheehan said, "We've got a detective working it every
day. Everything they touched here in "Did you check out the building I told you about?" "Yeah." On a notepad, Sheehan started sketching what seemed to be
a warehouse in Kelly asked, "Hey, did you see what they did out front of Le Cirque? Two big brick boulders." "Le Cirque's a little above my pay grade," Sheehan said. "But I don't think that's authorized. I'll drive by." "Listen," Kelly said. "Tomorrow, remind them that it may be bigger than a shoebox." "Yeah, yeah, I will." Kelly was referring to a big training drill in the harbor that was to take place the next day. The police, along with the Fire Department and other agencies, would simulate a jet crash in the water off the end of a runway at LaGuardia, with the cause of the crash unknown. Cohen mentioned a request from the C.I.A. His old employer wanted to borrow some N.Y.P.D. cyberintelligence specialists to help its people learn how to navigate jihadist chat rooms. "Wait," Kelly said, raising his hand. "My son." He pointed to a monitor, where Greg Kelly, a correspondent for Fox News, was doing a standup. Kelly flicked on the sound. It was the Zawahiri video story. On the scroll across the bottom of the screen, the national terror-threat level appeared: yellow, "elevated." Kelly flicked off the sound. "O.K.," he said. "C.I.A. wants what?" Under Ray Kelly's command, the The rationale for the N.Y.P.D.'s transformation after
September 11th had two distinct facets. On the one hand, expanding its
mission to include terrorism prevention made obvious sense. On the other, there
was a strong feeling that federal agencies had let down Within the counterterrorism world, the department's transformation is highly regarded. "The N.Y.P.D. is really cutting-edge," Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser at the rand corporation and a respected authority on terrorism, told me. "They're developing best practices here that should be emulated across the country. The Feds could learn from them." The federal government must, of course, play the leading role in stopping international terrorism at the borders. But, Jenkins said, "As this thing metastasizes, cops are it. We're going to win this at the local level." This is Kelly's second tour as Commissioner; his first was in the early nineties, under David Dinkins. In his first week back, in January, 2002, Kelly announced the creation of a counter-terrorism bureau-the first new bureau at the N.Y.P.D. in more than thirty years. He started a talent search that took him far outside traditional police-recruitment channels. Kelly wanted people with military, intelligence, and diplomatic backgrounds, with deep knowledge of international terrorist organizations-people like Cohen and Sheehan. Kelly has been sharply critical of the Bush
Administration's failure since September 11th to help Communication, at least, is better than it was. Kelly
talked about a brief but terrible scare, in October, 2001, when the White
House was informed by the C.I.A. that a ten-kiloton nuclear weapon was being
smuggled into Ray Kelly came up the long way. He went from police cadet
to Commissioner-the only officer in the history of the N.Y.P.D. to have done
so. He was raised on the "It was the main number, and you had to memorize
twelve hundred extensions," he says. "You just felt, working there,
like you were right at the heart of the city." Kelly enrolled in a
police-cadet program for college students. After graduation, he enlisted in
the Marines and was sent to Kelly rarely talks about his experience in Kelly's early years as a police officer, in the late
sixties, coincided with an epochal increase in violent crime. He became known
as a "collar guy"-the type of cop who, given a choice, likes to
make arrests, never mind the extra danger, paperwork, and court appearances
they entail. Kelly has held twenty-five commands, and when I asked him which
he liked most he talked about his days as a plainclothes officer in the old
Twenty-third Precinct, in Kelly went to law school at night, and got a master's in
public administration from the Kelly is a strange kind of tough guy, though. His sense of urgency, his impatience with the Feds, seem balanced by a certain laconic calm. He has a blunt, nineteenth-century face, complete with crooked smile. (Or, if he's angry, a perfect downturned circumflex of a mouth.) He wears his hair shorter than Sluggo's. He is extremely fit, lifting weights five days a week in a regimen that his wife describes as "borderline addictive." Still, there is no sense of gratuitous threat about him. He's neither tall nor burly, and he moves precisely, economically. Kelly listens hard and catches jokes early, but he doesn't have the verbal deftness of, say, a politician. He bites off sentences, or lets them trail toward the obvious point, as if to minimize the drama of what he's saying. It's a great affect for crisis management but not for winding up a crowd from a podium. His enthusiasms are wide-ranging: he relaxes by reading history, and by playing the drums. Kelly became Commissioner in 1992, after Lee Brown was
undone by officer corruption scandals and the Kelly went on to serve in the Clinton Administration as an
under-secretary of the Treasury, responsible for, among other agencies, the
Customs Service, the Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms. He commanded the multinational police force in "I was out of it, out of the game," he told me.
He and Veronica live in Battery Park City, across from Ground Zero. "The
"He had a unique combination," Bloomberg told
me. "He knew how to run a police department day in, day out-putting a
cop at that corner, with this kind of backup, and that kind of training, and
this kind of equipment. But he also had international and The office of the department's Deputy Commissioner for
Intelligence, where I spoke with David Cohen, is in an unlikely, distinctly
hip corner of southern Before September 11th, the intelligence division was devoted mostly to guarding visiting dignitaries. Cohen estimates that two per cent of its work was counterterrorism. Now that figure is eighty per cent. The division runs Nexus, cyberintelligence, overseas deployments, financial investigations, and all manner of undercover operations. It also still guards dignitaries. Cohen already knew something about setting up a
counterterrorism program. In 1996, he established a special team at the
C.I.A., known as "the Bin Laden unit," that concentrated on Al
Qaeda's finances. Kelly first got to know him in the late nineties, when
Cohen was the C.I.A.'s station chief in After a career in federal government, Cohen found that he liked the speed at which things can happen in the N.Y.P.D. The first time he and Kelly talked about stationing officers overseas, Cohen thought it was an exciting idea. At a meeting the following week, he brought it up again. Kelly cut him off, saying, "Didn't we already decide that?" "The N.Y.P.D. is on a hair trigger," Cohen said.
"The air gap between information and action is the shortest I've ever
experienced." For example, he said, "Israeli border guards catch a
guy who says he's trained to do surveillance for possible assassination
operations in Cohen went on, " "We don't want to learn from what's happened
here," he said. "We'd rather learn from what's happened somewhere
else. We're looking at how they did it, the fine-grained stuff-what kind of
detonators they used, what vehicles-so that we can take the anatomy of the operation
and transpose it onto Compared with what he did for the C.I.A., Cohen told me,
"the work here is much less abstract. It's the difference between
protecting Luck plays a role. "Transit cops on the 7 train caught two guys camcording infrastructure," Cohen said. "Most of the video was tourist stuff. Two minutes was train track. Two minutes of train track? Turns out these guys worked for Iranian state intelligence. We turned them over to the F.B.I. They were deported ten days later." He rubbed his eyes. "I don't know what we've stopped," he said. "It's impossible to calculate, and I don't spend much time thinking about it. I've gotta be thinking about the next thing." Behind Cohen's desk stood a bin of large rolled maps of "Nothing from there yet," Cohen said. But the
many N.Y.P.D. officers who have been to One morning, I met Detective Charles Enright and his partner,
Sergeant Joseph Salzone, at the Chin, who is also the chairman of the safety-and-security
committee of the Hotel Association of "Most of these major hotels, they have garages, and that's what we're actually most worried about," Salzone said. I asked what would be of interest to them. "People who don't want to give the garage the keys. Any vehicle that looks overloaded," he said. "Salvage yards-they're traditionally Mob-related, so they get their guard up when we show up," Enright said. "But we tell them it's about terrorism, their guard comes down, they're ready to help. They know we don't want to look at their books. Other departments are going to bust their chops on that. We just want to know about any used emergency vehicles they've been selling." "Ambulances," Salzone said. "Ambulances can
get through checkpoints. In the "Pat Wagner manages the After a Palestinian suicide bomber in "Thing you've got to remember," Salzone said. "We got a boss who doesn't sleep." He meant Cohen. "That percolates down to us." "9/11 is never over," Enright said. The officers wrapped up their business with Chin and left
the "Did he pay cash?" "Yes." Enright and Salzone turned back. And so the manager told them a long story about a secretive, erratic, abusive customer. To me, he sounded extremely suspicious. I was riveted. Enright and Salzone were not. They thanked the manager for her time, and left. Once we were back on the street, they gently explained to me that the man was just a bad truck-rental customer. Every truck-rental place had them. Yes, this guy had paid cash, but nothing else the manager said tripped any alarms. Then I realized why he had sounded so suspicious to me. Her manner, the sequence, even the rhythm of the conversation-"Wait, there was one fellow"-followed, to the letter, every script of every cop show ever made. Enright seemed to read my mind. "All these duped-up cop cars they're using on these TV shows," he said. He was pointing along the West Side Highway. " 'Law & Order'-they shoot right over here. Those cars are all unsecured at night, so we visit them." The intelligence division doesn't gather information only
from the street. It has specialists tracking suspicious financial movements
and others working the jails and prisons; in unmarked buildings throughout
the boroughs, it has officers fluent in the relevant languages poring over
the foreign press or surfing the innumerable jihadist Web sites and chat
rooms. The N.Y.P.D. employment application form these days asks about
knowledge of some sixty languages. The department has had considerably more
success in attracting immigrants who can pass its careful background checks
than either the F.B.I. or the C.I.A. has had. In a nation that, in 2002,
conferred a total of six undergraduate degrees in Arabic, even the Pentagon,
not known for its humility, recognizes this rare resource. The Department of
Defense recently borrowed seventeen computer-literate Arabic speakers from
the N.Y.P.D. to assist its intelligence arm. At one counterterrorism-bureau
facility, in a darkened room full of cops wearing headphones and silently
watching satellite broadcasts on big flat-screen TVs, I met a tall, gaunt
officer, whom I'll call Mohamed, taking notes on news reports from On another occasion, David Cohen introduced me to some of
the N.Y.P.D.'s cyberintelligence specialists: a detective and a sergeant,
both born and reared in "We're always being tested," Maged, the
detective from "Also, we're cops," Reza said. "We hear different things than the civilians the F.B.I. hires do. We got investigative backgrounds, looking for bad guys on the street. Sometimes it's not what they're saying, it's what they're not saying. You see patterns, like news items from two months before that suddenly start recirculating." Sometimes, Reza said, "You'll see an offer of a video-clip download. It might be a beheading, or training materials, or proof that someone actually did something." Aly, the Egyptian-born sergeant, shook his head. "This is not Islam," he said. The cybercops told me that each of them belonged to more than thirty separate e-mail groups, or chat rooms. "It can take a long time to work your way up the
ladder," Maged said. "At first, it might be just some guy in "Ninety-seven per cent of the juicy stuff is done P.M.-personal message," Reza said. "Not in chat rooms. But it takes a lot of time-months, maybe years-to get this kind of trust." I asked the cybercops how they communicated with other security services. "We tell the Commissioner," Reza said, indicating Cohen. "He tells the C.I.A." "Or I call Kelly, depending what it is," Cohen said. "And he takes our calls." Detective Ira Greenberg, the N.Y.P.D.'s man in Scotland
Yard, was on the Tube, on his way to work, when the The What the N.Y.P.D. learns from "Our backbone is hard-nosed detective work, investigations," Sheehan told me. And yet there is not much about his job that resembles traditional police work. He worries about infrastructure protection-roadways, financial systems, the water supply. He works on grim, multi-agency protocols for identifying and responding to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (C.B.R.N.) attacks. He supervises constant, intensive training-his bureau trains city, state, federal, and regional instructors, and also key corporate security divisions. "We train the trainers," Sheehan says. Sheehan, like Cohen, has been thinking hard about Al Qaeda
for a long time. He was in Richard Clarke, the N.S.C.'s coordinator for counterterrrorism, in his book "Against All Enemies," describes Sheehan's fury after one White House meeting, in 2000: " 'What's it going to take, Dick?' Sheehan demanded. . . . 'Does Al Qaeda have to attack the Pentagon to get their attention?' " Sheehan says that, even when he was at the State
Department, he was often in So Sheehan took the counterterrorism job at the N.Y.P.D.
with a full appreciation of the federal government's failings. Kelly knew
Sheehan from his stint in What's striking about Sheehan is how casually he connects
his unusual breadth of experience to his present job. He directs close
studies of far-flung terrorist episodes and groups, on the theory that, as he
put it, "We have to know what's going on. When things went to hell in As closely as Sheehan watches developments in It was Sheehan who, in a letter to the Port Authority last
year, raised the N.Y.P.D.'s concerns about the design of the Sheehan stared ruefully at the papers on his desk, and
pushed away the remains of a takeout lunch. He has a restless, loose-limbed
energy; in a dark suit, carelessly worn, with his caustic asides and wide
knowledge, he seems more like a professor than like a career soldier, or a
top police official. "You've got to find a level of intensity you can
sustain," he said quietly. "If we let ourselves get all spun up by
every bullshit threat we get from The threat reports from Sheehan, as an outsider to local institutions, seems to
have a relatively easy time forming unheard-of alliances with other city
agencies. He even claims to welcome the N.Y.P.D.'s traditional rivalry with
the Fire Department. "They're both aggressive organizations, and that's
fine," he said. In April, the Mayor signed a formal order designating
the Police Department the lead agency in hazardous-materials incidents, which
had previously been handled by the Fire Department with the police in a
subordinate role-and the F.D.N.Y., naturally, objected. In other American
cities, fire departments still have the command role in hazmat incidents. But
Assistant Chief Phil T. Pulaski, a commanding officer in
the counterterrorism bureau, gave me an example: "A tanker-truck
collision, a spill, it's an accident anywhere in the country, but not here in
Much of the counterterrorism bureau's work is done at a
facility in an obscure warehouse district in "We collect information on the strategic threat, including from overseas, and analyze it," Captain Hugh O'Rourke told me. "Then we take it out and put it to work: target hardening." We were joined by Lieutenant John Rowland, the director of regional training for the bureau. "We've been doing instruction on Islam for the N.Y.P.D.," Rowland said. "It's needed. We've got a lot of Catholics in this department." (I had already noted, in a restroom at the facility, a well-thumbed copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam.") O'Rourke said, "We're trying to get our analysis
influenced with the proper cultural perspective, because we're a long way
from southwest "Pashtun tribesmen, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Farsi-speakers, Filipinos, Chinese-you name it," Rowland said. "They've been tremendously helpful. One guy here just made his hajj." The N.Y.P.D.'s contingency planning now includes the
devolution of decision-making, in an emergency, from I went out to Floyd Bennett Field, the old airbase on Sheehan talks about "adding a counterterrorism
element to event management." Kammerdener gave me an example. "The
marathon," he said. "While those runners are warming up and
stretching on Outside the old airbase headquarters, there were subway cars parked in the scrub, swarming with guys in huge blue hooded suits-a simulated chemical attack. A mannequin representing a victim was rushed past me to a portable outdoor shower, where it was scrubbed with long-handled brushes while an instructor barked suggestions: "More water!" More blue suits were going through the train cars with monitors. Dr. Dani-Margot Zavasky, an infectious-disease specialist
with an interest, previously only academic, in unconventional weapons, is the
medical director of the counterterrorism bureau. "Not only are bioagents
hard to detect, they're hard to put yellow tape around," she said.
"They're not like other crime scenes." Recently, she told me,
"a number of us have been studying the issue of quarantine-what can be
done, legally, in the Phil Pulaski, from the counterterrorism bureau, told me that all officers had at least basic training in C.B.R.N. response, and some "have all the equipment-they can enter the hot zone." He added, "We'll work with the chief medical examiner, going through the bodies, in case they're suicide perps." John Colgan, a deputy chief in the counterterrorism bureau, said, "We've got a seventeen-page protocol on C.B.R.N. / hazmat incidents. Officer Jones may need to know just one page, but he trains on the whole thing, so he knows where he fits in. He's seen the whole movie, that's good. But you really gotta know your lines." Before September 11th, the N.Y.P.D. had a small unit that, on request, reviewed the security arrangements of important businesses and facilities. "That was really just lights and locks," a counterterrorism officer told me. Now the unit offers much more comprehensive, terror-risk assessments, free of charge. The N.Y.P.D. sends the officers who carry out the assessments to labs around the country for radiological, biological, chemical, and bomb training. Sheehan and one of his detectives took me through an
assessment they had produced for a prominent The detective went on, "You see these columns here? No bomb-blast mitigation measures in place. Very easy for a truck to pull up right here, with this whole big structure up above. That's bad. They're hardening these columns as we speak." Not all businesses are thrilled to receive a detailed, official tally of their "risk exposures," however. The alterations suggested are often expensive, and not all insurers agree that the liability implications of having such a list would be good for their clients if an attack occurred. The No. 1 private-sector target in " 'Groundhog Day,' " said his deputy, Sam Cocozza, who is ex-N.Y.P.D. Wall Street has been closed to traffic at Broadway since
the mid-nineties, and "They had counted the chairs in the Big Board room," Esposito said sourly. "We had sharpshooters, bomb dogs, drug dogs years ago," Esposito went on. "But, suddenly, it's so sophisticated. The N.Y.P.D. has created a body of experts that is just unbelievable. Without frightening the public, they've just been quietly going about their business. Our people have trained with the Police Department, the Fire Department, on C.B.R.N. We're really customers of their expertise." I was walking through a crowded shopping district downtown with a senior police official. We were on our way to one of the "undisclosed locations" of the metropolitan antiterror effort. The official said, "Now, guess who the Feds are." I saw two young white men in dark suits standing stiffly against a wall, failing utterly to blend into the scene. A former federal prosecutor told me, " The N.Y.P.D. works closely with the F.B.I. on counterterrorism, mainly through the local Joint Terrorism Task Force. (The task force worked on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and apprehended the main perpetrators.) Tim Herlocker, the agent in charge of the local branch of the Bureau's new Office of Intelligence, told me that the N.Y.P.D. had "soldiers to invest in this at a level that we never will have." The N.Y.P.D., which is nearly twice the size of the F.B.I., "really stepped up," Herlocker said, after September 11th. Still, the tensions persist. The F.B.I. reportedly opposed
the deployment of Morty Dzikansky to Local police departments tend to resent the F.B.I.-if
nothing else, for its tendency to condescend to them. Its agents actually
have a better working relationship with the N.Y.P.D. than most, partly, no
doubt, because the condescension runs both ways. The deep identity crises and
public exposures of incompetence that have distracted and consumed the F.B.I.
and the C.I.A. since September 11th may, paradoxically, have strengthened Cohen told me, "We've got the Feds working for us
now, in a good way; it's not the usual feeding of raw material to the
experts." It's doubtful that anyone at the F.B.I. would put it quite the
same way. When I mentioned Commissioner Kelly to Pasquale D'Amuro, then the
F.B.I.'s lead agent in Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security,
in 2002, there has been one large, inert, misshapen bureaucracy that, for The bill for Kelly, in return, has given Bloomberg a rare political gift: crime rates that have continued to fall without an over-reliance on the kind of tactics that alienated minorities during the Giuliani administration. The fact that crime is so low has also made the department's ferocious new focus on terrorism possible. Kelly has sometimes infuriated the police unions by refusing to defend officers in controversial incidents. However, within the department, his dramatic restructuring of the Job has encountered surprisingly little resistance. He told me that was because police officers identified with the counterterrorism effort: "They see themselves on a mission to protect the city." "Salaam alaikum." Mayor Bloomberg was greeting
an auditorium full of Muslim community leaders last fall at Bloomberg extolled Kelly was crisp and specific. He said that he would be
increasing patrols around mosques for the holiday, and would put out extra
plainclothes officers. "We want recent immigrants in particular to know
that the Police Department is not an immigration agency," he said. He
added that he hoped that more Muslims would become police officers, and gave
specifics-dates, phone numbers, Web sites-for applying to take the next
police exam. He said he had no new threat information to report. "Still,
we ask all The Mayor left, but Kelly stayed and took questions. Some conferees looked as though they'd just arrived from a Saudi village, others from the Afghan mountains. There were turbans, djellabahs, tall black embroidered caps, red checked kaffiyehs, and Western suits, and many languages were spoken. Kelly listened closely to all questions and speeches, and gave respectful answers. An African-American chaplain from the Department of Corrections was concerned about the treatment of Muslim women taken into custody. People were unhappy about being made to change their clothes, she said. Kelly said he would check out the protocol. A Turk in a red kufi wanted to thank the police for twelve years of untroubled Ramadan parking at his mosque. This speech brought general applause. Later, I told a senior police official about this
pre-Ramadan lovefest. "Well, some of those guys in there don't talk
quite so One of the men he may have had in mind was Amin Awad, a
co-founder and the president of the Al-Farooq mosque, in Boerum Hill, When I spoke with Awad in his tiny, third-floor office at
Al-Farooq recently, he was circumspect about the N.Y.P.D. He has been a
chaplain at a jail on Zein Rimawi, a Palestinian who helps run the Islamic
Society of Bay Ridge, in Donna Lieberman, of the I asked Kelly if the N.Y.P.D.'s relations with the city's
Muslim communities today are a challenge comparable to its dealings with the
black community in the past. He looked a bit surprised. No, he said. The
relationship with black Hardening the target: that's the term of art for the overarching goal of local counterterror work. It can help to know what's happening thousands of miles away, but a densely layered system of municipal defense is a terrorism deterrent of a special type. It says, basically, Try another town. There are obvious limits to what local cops can prevent.
As Sheehan told a symposium of terrorism experts at No counterterrorism program, no amount of
homeland-security spending, can eliminate the threat. For politicians, there
is a temptation to hype it, to practice the politics of fear. Some, like
Bloomberg, have resisted the temptation; the Bush Administration has not. But
spreading alarm is one of the aims of terrorism, and fearmongering subverts
the counterterrorism effort, which essentially seeks to manage the threat.
Cohen, talking to the same symposium as Sheehan, brought the N.Y.P.D.'s
position into sharp focus when he said, " Endless vigilance, no victory; success means nothing
happens. Such anti-drama is the essence of prevention. Meanwhile, there is an
element of theatre to a lot of counterterror work. The American "sleeper
cells" that we have heard so much about-but whose existence has yet to
be convincingly demonstrated-may prove to be as elusive as Saddam Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction. Believing that jihadist fighters may be inside
the United States waiting to strike feels, some days, like a paranoid leap of
faith (other days, like after The N.Y.P.D.'s Hercules teams are the city's street-level
deterrent. Their deployment can be startling. A Chevrolet Suburban with
blacked-out windows pulls up to the curb, doors fly open, and officers in
Kevlar combat helmets and body armor, carrying M-4 assault rifles, rush to
positions. Pedestrians freeze; some recoil. Motorcycle patrols often
accompany the teams, and a bomb-sniffing dog is always there. The site may be
a bank or a bus station or a concert hall-or an ordinary block with no
self-evident potential target. The team knows why it is there; bystanders are
left to guess. I watched a Hercules team in action one afternoon on Broadway,
north of "We're here for you," they were told. "It's for the Bible college," a woman said knowingly, pointing at the American Bible Society offices down the block. (Wrong.) "It's the Israeli film festival," an older man said, pointing at a movie house in the other direction. (Right.) "We're here to protect you." An immaculately dressed sergeant from intelligence who was observing explained the scripted answers: "They don't want to find themselves in a debate about the intifada or Ariel Sharon." Hercules deployments are "asymmetric," unpredictable-they deliberately follow no pattern. They are self-conscious displays of force, presuming the existence of enemy reconnaissance. "The goal is to create a hostile environment for terrorist operatives in the city," Detective Abad Nieves, a Hercules officer, told me. Hercules commanders like to point to Iyman Faris, an Al
Qaeda operative with designs on the Most The people who did not seem intimidated at all, I noticed, were older women. Several of them marched right up to the warrior cops and asked if there was something they should be worried about. But it occurred to me that people who were not happy to see machine guns and military gear on Broadway might not feel comfortable saying so. I asked Lieutenant Cory Cuneo, one of the Hercules officers posted outside the Israeli film festival, about the worst hostility he had encountered in this role. He said it had come from a woman outside the Winter Garden, across from Ground Zero. "Why are you out here?" she said. "There used to be two buildings right over
there," "That was just one event," she said. "It's being used to justify all kinds of horrible things." "Just one event? Where are you from?" " "No. Originally." " "No way. Nobody who was born and raised here would ever say what you just said." I thought the woman sounded like a LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2005 [MCalumDB: 1963 ] [JR: Long, but I thought it was interesting.] |
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JNEWSxx: Matzke, Pete (1997) is remembered again http://www.pressconnects.com/today/news/stories/ne072505s180648.shtml 5K race honors grad's memory ENDWELL -- Geoff King left his hometown eight years ago, but he still returns to Endwell every summer to run a memorial race in honor of his late friend, Pete Matzke. "It's a great way to honor Pete's memory and at the same time, contribute something positive to M-E," said King, now a 26-year-old who works for Duke University in Chapel Hill, N.C. Maine-Endwell High School graduates from around the country will be returning home next month to run in the eighth annual Pete Matzke Memorial 5 Kilometer Road Race scheduled for 8 a.m. Aug. 6, beginning at the M-E track. Registration runs from 7 to 7:45 a.m. The race honors the
memory of Matzke, a 1996 M-E graduate and the captain of the school's 1995
and 1996 Section 4 championship cross-country teams. The engineering student
at ### http://ferdinand_reinke.tripod.com/jasperjottings20030810.htm#News1 |
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JNEWSxx: Yearick, Danielle (1994) makes a mark at her high school 07/25/2005 Chaykun: Waldron’s memory lives on at reunion Some Delco Names and Games .. They passed out cigars at the Resurrection School Reunion at Tri-State Sports Saturday afternoon. "These are for Mr. Waldron," said Dave Kasarsky, one of the people who helped make the event possible. Bill Waldron, the beloved former football coach at Rez for more than 20 years, died in May. "He was at our last two reunions," Kasarsky, one of the many Rez players who earned All-Delco and All-Catholic honors while at St. James High, said. "He always had a cigar. <extraneous deleted> Danielle Yearick, a
member of the <extraneous deleted> ### |
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http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ Neighborhood cleanup today <extraneous deleted> Voice of the Faithful meeting slated Sister Maureen Sullivan, O.P., a Sullivan, is a member of the Saint Anselm College theology department. Her topic for the evening will be “I Hope You Dance.” She will offer an overview of Vatican II, discuss some of the most important developments brought about by the council and offers a theology of hope for the future of the church. She has a master’s degree in theology from The meeting is at Millette Manor, For more information, call Marge Thompson 465-7761 or Bill McPherson at 883-5688. <extraneous deleted> === Google Alert for: "manhattan college" -"marymount manhattan college" -"borough of manhattan college" Neighborhood cleanup today ... of the church. She has a master's degree in theology
from ### [MCalumDB: 1989? ] |
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JNEWSxx: Serrano, José (1995) is annoyed
José Serrano is fuming that District Council 37, the
largely minority municipal union, abandoned Democratic front-runner Freddy
Ferrer to endorse Mayor Bloomberg. "In all honesty, I have no other way
of saying it — it pissed me off," declared Serrano, the longest-serving
Puerto Rican elected official in the nation. "This is going to have
serious ramifications," said Serrano. Serrano suggested DC 37 could expect
the cold shoulder the next time it comes to <extraneous deleted> ### [JR: Getting like Mike recognizing the names. ;-) Only about 70k names to memorize!] |
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JNEWSxx: Morgan, Grant (1988) named executive director of the Hackettstown Business Improvement District. The Express Times <extraneous deleted> Grant Morgan has been named executive director of the
Hackettstown Business Improvement District. Morgan has a bachelor's degree in
finance from <extraneous deleted> ### |
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Daily News ( HOCKEY-STARVED Rangers fans finally had a reason to celebrate. Hundreds lined up at "I was in hockey withdrawal," said Dan Hannon,
20, a The first 1,000 fans were given vouchers for two free tickets for a game for the upcoming season that kicks off on Oct. 5. "I'm excited it's back," said Ryan Shelton, 19,
of Some of the fans toward the back of the line did display some hard feelings after two-plus hours of waiting. There was scattered booing, and at least one anti-James Dolan (Garden chairman) chant, but all the venom vanished with receipt of the free ducats. The line snaked from the corridors of the Garden down "I'm a big fan. I'm an old fan," said Gilbert, the team's all-time leading scorer. "I'm happy it was resolved. I appreciate that they (fans) are coming back." Giddy fans also had a chance to shake hands with Rangers prospects Al Montoya, Hugh Jessiman and Rich Kozak. Longtime fan Tony Sarra of GRAPHIC: LINDA CATAFFO DAILY NEWS Ranger fans aren't too happy about long line, but sour feelings vanish with free ticket vouchers and chance to meet Blueshirt great Rod Gilbert. LOAD-DATE: July 26, 2005 |
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MNEWSxx: Neafsey, Sean (????) gets a scholarship $1000 scholarship to Sean Neafsey presented by the
International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC). He will attend
Manhattan College-Engineering School and major in Environmental Engineering.
Sean was instrumental in the creation of the public skatepark at |
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Nothing new. |
The only reason for putting this here is to give us a chance to
attend one of these games and support "our" team.
Date Day Sport Opponent Location Time/Result
No more data has been loaded.
If you do go support "our" teams, I'd appreciate any
reports or photos. What else do us old alums have to do?
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HEAD GOLF COACH WALTER OLSEWSKI '68 CARDS HOLE IN ONE Riverdale, NY (July 21, 2005)- Manhattan head golf coach Walter Olsewski '68 carded his first career hole-in-one recently, while playing at the St. Joseph of the Palisades golf outing at Valleybrook Golf Club in Blackwood, NJ on July 14. Olsewski, playing in a foursome with Manhattan Athletic Director Bob Byrnes '68, Byrnes' brother Charlie, and Manhattan gradaute and current Pearl River High School Athletic Director Tom Collins '68, holed out on the par-4, 300-yard 10th hole, hitting driver on the tree-lined narrow fairway. The hole-in-one, witnessed by Byrnes, was the first ace of Olsewski's golf career. |
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http://www.gojaspers.com/article.cfm?doc_id=6099 WOMEN'S HOOPS ANNOUNCES 2005-06 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Riverdale, NY (July 26, 2005)- Third-year Manhattan College women's basketball coach Myndi Hill announced today the Lady Jaspers' 2005-06 non-conference women's basketball schedule. Games against two NCAA Tournament teams, as well as a WNIT team, and the annual game vs. local rival Fordham highlight the schedule. |
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http://www.gojaspers.com/article.cfm?doc_id=6098 FITZPATRICK WINS NECBL HOME RUN Riverdale, NY (July 26, 2005)- Manhattan rising junior
designated hitter John Fitzpatrick was the New England Collegiate Baseball
League (NECBL) Home Run Derby Champion after sending nine balls over the
fence. The NECBL All-Star game was held at historic Cardines Field in |
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http://www.gojaspers.com/article.cfm?doc_id=6097 MEN'S BASKETBALL ANNOUNCES 2005-06 NON-CONFERENCE SLATE Riverdale, NY (July 26, 2005)- Seventh-year Manhattan
College men's basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez announced today the Jaspers'
2005-06 non-conference men's basketball schedule. A Pre-Season NIT
appearance, a third-straight ESPN Bracket Buster appearance, a game at |
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http://www.gojaspers.com/article.cfm?doc_id=6101 ASSISTANT TRACK COACH JOE RYAN TO COACH GUYANESE NATIONAL TEAM AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Riverdale, NY (July 28, 2005)- Manhattan College assistant
track coach Joe Ryan '81 will travel to Helsinki, Finland as the official track
coach of the Guyanese national track team for the World Track and Field
Championships, being held August 6-14. This is the third time Ryan has been
selected to coach |
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http://www.gojaspers.com/article.cfm?doc_id=6102 XAVIER AND THE MAAC ALL-STARS WRAP UP |
[JR: At the risk of losing some of my aura of omnipotence or at
least omni-pia-presence, you can see Jasper Sports stories at:
http://www.topix.net/ncaa/manhattan/ so for brevity’s sake I will not repeat
them here. I will just report the ones that come to my attention and NOT widely
reported. No sense wasting electrons!]
http://www.topix.net/ncaa/manhattan/
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http://www.gonu.com/mtrack/news/freeman071905.htm Hammer throw champ coming to NU Northeastern Huskies - ... s oldest brother, still holds the national high school
record for the longest hammer throw (253'3). Both went on to successful
careers at == Hammer throw champ coming to NU Head track and field coach Sherman Hart has announced that high school national hammer champion John Freeman, a native of Warwick R.I., will attend Northeastern and compete for the Huskies in the 2005-06 season. Freeman is considered the top hammer recruit in the nation. "Every time I look at [Freeman’s] throwing, I have to reevaluate how far he can go," long-time Northeastern throwing coach Joe Donahue said. “I can say this, the school record set by a great NCAA champion, Boris Djerassi, will be in jeopardy from the moment John wears red and black. His future is unlimited." The hammer throw event has long been an area in which Husky athletes have flourished. The Northeastern record books are filled with dominant competitors like Djerassi, the 1975 NCAA champ and a U.S. Olympian, and two-time All-American Vinny Tortorella (2002-03). Freeman won the national title (215’10) last month after
four years at Freeman's brothers, Jacob and Michael, were both national
champions in high school. Jacob still holds the national high school record
for the longest hammer throw (253’3). Both went on to successful careers at Freeman’s high school coach and mentor, Bill Johnston, was
an All-American at Northeastern from 1975-77 under Donahue. Freeman joins Bamidele Faboyede, who finished eighth in the hammer at the IC4A Championship as a freshman. All-American shot putter Derek Anderson returns for this senior year after redshirting the 2004-05 season. After qualifying for the Pan Am Junior Games in late June,
Freeman will head to == [JR: Disappointing! ] |
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http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=73123&category=Sports Sports <extraneous deleted> Shortstop Ryan Marcoux, who will be a "I was just trying to give my team a chance to win," Marcoux said. "I knew that we wouldn't need much behind Alex. "We knew Alex was going to get guys out, so we were just looking to scratch across as many runs as we could and hope that Alex would pitch a good game, which he did. He pitched excellent." ### |
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MCNEWS: Rizzotti's MC root cited in Baseball news
A franchise record six Vermont Mountaineers will travel to
<extraneous deleted> Mountaineers send record number of players to today's
All-Star game ,xd <extraneous deleted> ### |
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From: Rubino, Bob <1964> Ferdinand: [JR: New invite
extended, but, you could have just changed you address yourself at Yahoo.
But, it does let us know about a big change in your life. So what are you
gonna do with all that time? No pay, but, you can apply to be the Jasper
Jottings Collector in Chief. … … (Sooner or later, someone is gonna buy this |
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From: Dennis Quirk <1992> Hi John, I already receive JJ. It is sent to my <privacy invoked> email. I enjoy it when I get a chance to read it and appreciate all your efforts. Dennis --- ManhattanCollegeAlumni Moderator wrote: > Dear fellow Alum, [JR: Fire that stupid clerk who doesn’t know which end his up! Ohh. Yes. Hmmm. Really, I’m the clerk. Never mind! ] |
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From: "Don
Wszolek" <1968> JR, I got sent this a few days ago, thought it cut through to the essential verity of some meaning to this life....you may find a nugget or two for your weekly MC mailing.... For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time. Ben Stein's Last Column... ============================================ How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World? As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing
as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale,
Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used
to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I
saw Samuel L. Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer
think How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, A real star is the A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day,
is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of
unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He
pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a
family desolate in The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who
have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the
covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on
military pay but stand on guard in I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject. There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the
stairs at the I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms. This was the only point at which my life touched the lives
of the soldiers in Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will. By Ben Stein === [JR: Don is a fellow MP64MC68 Classmate. A classy guy. And, other than his mistake to go into science as opposed to engineering, a pretty smart guy. And, always finds good “stuff”. Thanks, Don.] |
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From: Peter Lutz [1981] Subject: RE: Peter Lutz has forwarded you Patrick Norberto's profile Based on everything I have seen, read and observed over
the past few years, it sure seems that Peter == From: Ferdinand J. Reinke Pete, Thanks. I have exchange emails with him when he signed up for Jottings. Based on your prompt, I offered him a link. Thanks, John Senor Norberto, I have been bugging DeSalvo to sign us up for LinkedInGroups. I took it as far as I could unless I wanted to go unofficial. I think it makes sense for you at the College to jump on this freebee. Notre Dame is there as well as Duke. For free! I don't understand it. Thanks, John == Peter Lutz wrote: >Peter Lutz has forwarded you Patrick Norberto's
profile on LinkedIn. |
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From: John Umana.
(1969) Dear John, You may remember me, as Jerry Breen's friend, John Umana. (Manhattan College, class of 1969) We exchanged emails a few months ago. I wanted to let you know that I have just published a new book, Creation: Towards a Theory of All Things. John Umana, Copyright, 2005. This is a book about evolution and the origins of life. Creation
strives to reconcile creationism with certain aspects of Darwinism, where
possible. This book analyzes evidence
as to the creation of the Universe,
the creation of our solar system and the formation and development of complex
life on Earth, prehuman hominids and the eventual creation of our species,
Homo sapiens, 200,000 years ago in The Universe really is 13.7 billion years old and commenced with the Big Bang. The cosmic expansion is ongoing and galaxies continue to rush away from each other. Earth really is 4.54 billion years old. But what caused the Big Bang? And what caused complex life to develop on Earth but nowhere else in this sun system? Why have the Mars Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) uncovered no fossils or even so much as a seashell on the red planet although the Rovers have proved that salt seas once covered much of the martian surface? Why are three-quarters of the surface of Earth covered with water? Why is the microwave background radiation from the Big Bang, observed by NASA's WMAP satellite, uniform in all directions? These are some of the questions that Creation seeks to answer. Respectfully, this book has pieced together evidence in a way that no one else has done. Here is the link that will take you to the booksurge.com website and directly to Creation, where you can also read an excerpt. http://www.booksurge.com/author.php3?accountID=GPUB02608&affiliateID=A000932 Best wishes and thanks.
[JR: Well I can’t opine on the topic. I have a hard time figuring out what I did last week. As far as the piecing together evidence, I think in some ways we are little advanced from the native American Indian legend which is logically inconsistent http://www.worldandi.com/public/1998/cljul98.htm but maybe it loses something in translation. ;-) Anyway, I am always impressed when anyone is a “published” author. We stand on the shoulders of brilliant men and those shoulders are the books they leave behind for us. Like Hansel and Grettle’s breadcrumbs, they help us find our way. Considering the amount of effort that must go into it, I haven’t done it but even contemplating it is awe inspiring. Congrats and I hope every Jasper buys a copy. Do you offer signed first editions? Or, if someone buys a copy and then runs into you, will you sign theirs? I’ve never had email from a real live Jasper author. Up to now the only one I knew of was Patterson. Maybe I can self publish Jottings in book form? Just kidding, I wouldn’t want to demonstrate my foolishness. Like twain said “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Congrats. ] |
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http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/2416/vinnie-ferguson-traditionalist/ Monday Jul 25, 2005 Growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the
1940s and ‘50s, Vinnie Ferguson was never afraid of a good scrap. While most
of his friends loved baseball, he was more interested in boxing. At ten years
of age he saw his first live bout – at “I was hooked,” said An older man in the neighborhood suggested that The moment Before long he was joined by his best friend, future lightweight champion of the world Carlos Ortiz. Both youngsters were quick learners and they each began beating much more experienced opponents with relative ease. Although Vinnie and Carlos were barely teenagers, they were being touted as future professional champions. “Everyone said we were naturals, which was a lot of bull,”
said When After winning the NCAA boxing title as a freshman, Jack
Fiske, the longtime boxing writer for the It was at the Olympic Trials in “I was painting Crook like a Picasso,” said Vinnie was given “every conceivable test” and released
from the hospital with a clean bill of health. By that time he had left the “My father, who could be a tyrannical son of a gun, always
insisted I get an education,” recalled “When I lost in the Olympic Trials, I never saw the punch
coming,” said Afterwards, “I was heartbroken,” said Vinnie can only assume that his father was concerned about
his physical well-being, a notion that was driven home two years after his
forced exit from the ring. Charley Mohr, a good friend of Vinnie’s, was
killed in the ring while fighting for the “I was instrumental in Charley getting into the college,” said Vinnie. “He had asked me to put in a good word for him. He wasn’t a very rugged kid and, having attended a Catholic seminary, he was torn between becoming a boxer or a priest. After he died, it bothered me for a long time. I felt halfway responsible.” It was later learned that at the time of his death Mohr was receiving shock treatment for severe depression, much of which was likely brought on by the conflicts between his spiritual and athletic interests. Boxing, Vinnie insists, is not for the fainthearted and can easily bring you as much pain as elation. “At its best and worst, there is nothing like it,” he said. “I compare a boxer to a long-distance runner. The only difference is the runner doesn’t have someone trying to kick the sh** out of him.” And winning, he adds, is a lot more complex than it looks. “When you see good boxing, there is nothing Neanderthal about it,” he explained. “You have to do one thing to accomplish another thing. A good boxer is thinking three and four steps ahead. Occasionally you’ll hit a guy six or seven times with decent shots and he won’t even blink. Abruptly you throw out your game plan and have to start from scratch” He remembers discussing the nuances of boxing and acting
with the late eclectic filmmaker, John Cassavettes, who was a diehard fan. “I
told him that acting must be a rough business, and he told me I was crazy,”
said “I get to hide behind my makeup, behind my wardrobe, and behind my character,” Cassavettes responded. “That’s not me out there on stage, that’s my character. Nobody knows anything about me and nobody cares. They only see who I’m playing. But a prizefighter, he’s standing in front of 10,000 people with no shirt and in a pair of shorts with some guy raining punches on him. Everything about you is exposed every minute you’re in the ring. You’ve got nowhere to hide. All of your courage and determination (or lack of it) is there for everyone to see. Acting is easy. Boxing is a bitch.” “Vinnie is a traditionalist, who doesn’t realize how
admired he was by a wide range of people,” said Richard O’Neill, the former
vice president of the “The first thing you realize about Vinnie is that he is
the quintessential Ever the traditionalist, Vinnie concedes that we live in a crazy world and that prospective prizefighters have to be a little crazy to be drawn to such a demanding sport. However, he chuckles at a college memory that makes you realize just how subjective the notion of craziness really is. “When I was at “But,” he adds, “While I was battling the bone-chilling cold, I’d be thinking of winning a title so I had a lot of motivation. As I was running, I’d always see this guy sitting on a chair with his fishing pole sticking in a little hole he had chopped into the ice. As I ran past him, I’d wave and he’d look at me like I was crazy. I’d look back at him and think the same thing.” It seems that wherever you go throughout the At a recent International Hall of Fame induction weekend
in “You’re the Vinnie Ferguson,” said Chuvalo, an extremely rugged man who is not easily impressed. “Guilty!,” said “In the fifties you were the talk of ### [MCalumDB: 1961 ] |
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http://ws.gmnews.com/news/2005/0727/Front_Page/032.html Front Page July 27,
2005 METUCHEN –– News 12 reporter and Metuchen resident Walt Kane won his third consecutive Emmy award for outstanding news reporting last spring. “I like doing stories that can make a difference in people’s lives and that lead to legislation,” Kane said. “I think the role of a journalist is not exactly to lobby for change, but rather to point out fundamental problems. It is a real challenge to dig up stories that have never been done before,” he said. Kane, 42, has been a journalist since he graduated from “While in college I convinced Cablevision in He got his first job in That’s also where he met Nancy, his wife of 20 years. They
were married in A few years later, in 1992, he and his family moved to “While there, they sent me to His time in “It might sound a bit cliché but going to He began working for News 12 in “Then in 2001, the station started up a full-time investigative unit, which I got to do,” Kane said. “I also got a chance to anchor breaking news. I enjoy thinking on my feet and ad-libbing.” Kane won his first Emmy in 2003. “That year, we won for a story on the shooting of a police
dog in His most recent Emmy award was for a segment about a similar money-laundering scheme. “Our last award was for a story on tin can donations, referring to those donation cans you sometimes see on the counters of convenience and grocery stores,” Kane said. “In particular, we investigated National Animal Welfare Foun-dation, and we found that the organization had raised tens of thousands of dollars and apparently had not spent a dime of it on any charity in the previous five years,” he said. “One individual connected with the organization had ties to organized crime.” Dedication is the most important quality for a budding journalist, Kane said. “My advice is to be prepared to work hard, and to be prepared to not make a lot of money, at least at first,” he said. “It took me 10 years before I could make enough money to even think about buying a house, and I had to move 11 times in the first ten years of my career. You have to really love what you do, and you have to look at your career as a marathon and not as a sprint.” There are more aspiring journalists coming out of school than there are available jobs. New reporters have to go where the job is even if it’s not in the Northeast, because you can always come back, he said. Kane decided on broadcast journalism as his chosen profession because he gets a deep sense of personal satisfaction from his work. “It’s true that print journalism lets you cover a story in detail, but I like the magic of television because it lets you capture the moment and transmit an experience,” he said. “It lets the viewer experience a story in a way that they cannot in print.” As with any job, Kane has good days and bad days. “But there are moments of real joy and satisfaction doing what I do,” he said. “When I know I am doing a great story that leads to legislation or improves people’s lives, then that is a tremendously satisfying feeling.” Kane has had offers, but has no plans to change jobs. He and his family will stay in Metuchen. “I wanted to put my family first,” he said. “News 12 was great in that they would let me take Wednesday evenings and Saturdays off to coach my son’s soccer team, and then two weeknights each week later on when his game schedule changed. I am one of the few people in this industry who can do that, and it’s one of the reasons I have been with News 12 for 10 years. ### |
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http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul267.html July 28, 2005 Thanks to Jude Wanniski for the transcript. ===<begin quote>=== RON PAUL: If, indeed, this is your last appearance before our committee, Mr. Greenspan, I would have to say that, in the future, I’m sure I’ll find these hearings a lot less interesting. But I do have a couple of parting questions for you. Keynes, when he wrote his general theory, made the point that he has tremendous faith in central bank credit creation because it would stimulate productivity. But along with this, he also recognized that it would push prices and labor costs up. But he saw this as a convenience, not a disadvantage, because he realized that, in the corrective phase of the economic business cycle, that wages had to go down – which people wouldn’t accept, a nominal decrease in wages, but if they were decreased in real terms, it would serve the economic benefit. Likewise, I think this same principle can be applied to our debt. To me, this system that we have today is a convenient way to default on our debt – to liquidate our debt after the inflationary scheme. Even you, in the 1960s, described the paper system as a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. And, in many ways, I think this is exactly what has happened. We have learned to adapt to deficit financing. But in many ways, the total debt is not that bad because it goes down in real terms. As bad as it is, in real terms, it’s not nearly as high. But, since we went on a total paper standard in 1971, we have increased our money supply essentially 12-fold. Debt in this country, federal debt, has gone up 19-fold – but that is in nominal dollars, not in real dollars. So my question is this: Is it not true that the paper system that we work with today is actually a scheme to default on our debt? And is it not true that, for this reason, that’s a good argument for people not – eventually, at some day – wanting to buy Treasury bills because they will be paid back with cheaper dollars? And, indeed, in our lifetime, we certainly experienced this in the late 1970s – that interest rates had to go up pretty high and that this paper system serves the interests of big government and deficit financing because it’s a sneaky way of paying for it. At the same time, it hurts the people who are retired and put their money in savings. And aligned with this question, I would like to ask something to dealing exactly with gold, is that: If paper money – today it seems to be working rather well – but if the paper system doesn’t work, when will the time come? What will the signs be that we should reconsider gold? Even in 1981, when you came before the Gold Commission, people were frightened about what was happening – and that’s not too many years ago. And you testified that it might not be a bad idea to back our government bonds with gold in order to bring down interest rates. So what are the conditions that might exist for the central bankers of the world to reconsider gold? We do know that they haven’t given up on gold. They haven’t gotten rid of their gold. They’re holding it there for some reason. So what’s the purpose of the gold if it isn’t with the idea that some day they might need it? They don’t hold lead or pork bellies. They hold gold. So what are the conditions that you might anticipate when the world may reconsider gold? MR. GREENSPAN: Well, you say central banks own gold – or
monetary authorities own gold. The And the answer is essentially, implicitly, the one that you’ve raised – namely that, over the generations, when fiat monies arose and, indeed, created the type of problems – which I think you correctly identify – of the 1970s, although the implication that it was some scheme or conspiracy gives it a much more conscious focus than actually, as I recall, it was occurring. It was more inadvertence that created the basic problems. But as I’ve testified here before to a similar question, central bankers began to realize in the late 1970s how deleterious a factor the inflation was. And, indeed, since the late ’70s, central bankers generally have behaved as though we were on the gold standard. And, indeed, the extent of liquidity contraction that has occurred as a consequence of the various different efforts on the part of monetary authorities is a clear indication that we recognize that excessive creation of liquidity creates inflation which, in turn, undermines economic growth. So that the question is: Would there be any advantage, at this particular stage, in going back to the gold standard? And the answer is: I don’t think so, because we’re acting as though we were there. Would it have been a question at least open in 1981, as you put it? And the answer is yes. Remember, the gold price was $800 an ounce. We were dealing with extraordinary imbalances, interest rates were up sharply, the system looked to be highly unstable – and we needed to do something. Now, we did something. The United States – Paul Volcker, as you may recall, in 1979 came into office and put a very severe clamp on the expansion of credit, and that led to a long sequence of events here, which we are benefiting from up to this date. So I think central banking, I believe, has learned the dangers of fiat money, and I think, as a consequence of that, we’ve behaved as though there are, indeed, real reserves underneath the system. ===<end quote>=== Now I don’t know about any of you out there, but I don’t see the central (unconstitutional) bank behaving like it is on the gold standard. As far I can tell the “dollar”, lets just call it the FRB, the FuRBie, Federal Reserve banknote, … … you know that pretty green piece on paper in your wallet that signifies nothing … … the thing that says “this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private”, has lost 95% of its purchasing power since ~1970s. If one had an ounce of gold in 1970, the market would have given you 34$. It could have bought you 17 barrels of oil. OR, 29.5 gallons of milk. OR, 54 dozens of egg. OR, 94 gallons of gas. Your 34$ today – remember these are FRB$ -- gets you a half a barrel of oil, or ~17 gallons of milk or gas, or dozens of eggs. Hmmm. If you had an ounce of gold today, the market would pay you 427 of those FRB$. That’s 6 barrels of oil. 210 gallons of gas, milk, or dozens of eggs. Doesn’t sound like the gold standard to me. A 1970 new home was 26k$. A new home today is 400k$ (using my neighborhood as a proxy). A 1970 home was 764 oz gold; today 936. A modest rise for 30 years of 5 oz per year. Now raise your hand if you believe that the Big Government isn’t silently stealing your savings from you! Something to think about? When the government imprisons you, they just steal your today. When they steal your savings, they steal your past. When they steal children’s education, they are stealing the future. If I told you that your tax bill for the next 30 years would be 95% of everything you had, wat would you do? I’m mad as hell and I ain’t gonna take it any more. |
And that’s the last word.
Curmudgeon
-30-
GBu. GBA.