The 2006 True Stella Awards

Issued 31 January 2007

(Click here to confirm these are legitimate.)

#5: Marcy Meckler. While shopping at a mall, Meckler stepped outside and was “attacked” by a squirrel that lived among the trees and bushes. And “while frantically attempting to escape from the squirrel and detach it from her leg, [Meckler] fell and suffered severe injuries,” her resulting lawsuit says. That’s the mall’s fault, the lawsuit claims, demanding in excess of $50,000, based on the mall’s “failure to warn” her that squirrels live outside.

#4: Ron and Kristie Simmons. The couple’s 4-year-old son, Justin, was killed in a tragic lawnmower accident in a licensed daycare facility, and the death was clearly the result of negligence by the daycare providers. The providers were clearly deserving of being sued, yet when the Simmons’s discovered the daycare only had $100,000 in insurance, they dropped the case against them and instead sued the manufacturer of the 16-year-old lawn mower because the mower didn’t have a safety device that 1) had not been invented at the time of the mower’s manufacture, and 2) no safety agency had even suggested needed to be invented. A sympathetic jury still awarded the family $2 million.

#3: Robert Clymer. An FBI agent working a high-profile case in Las Vegas, Clymer allegedly created a disturbance, lost the magazine from his pistol, then crashed his pickup truck in a drunken stupor — his blood-alcohol level was 0.306 percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving in Nevada. He pled guilty to drunk driving because, his lawyer explained, “With public officials, we expect them to own up to their mistakes and correct them.” Yet Clymer had the gall to sue the manufacturer of his pickup truck, and the dealer he bought it from, because he “somehow lost consciousness” and the truck “somehow produced a heavy smoke that filled the passenger cab.” Yep: the drunk-driving accident
wasn’t his fault, but the truck’s fault. Just the kind of guy you want carrying a gun in the name of the law.

#2: #2: KinderStart.com. The specialty search engine says Google should be forced to include the KinderStart site in its listings, reveal how its “Page Rank” system works, and pay them lots of money because they’re a competitor. They claim by not being ranked higher in Google, Google is somehow infringing KinderStart’s Constitutional right to free speech. Even if by some stretch they were a competitor of Google, why in the world would they think it’s Google’s responsibility to help them succeed? And if Google’s “review” of their site is negative, wouldn’t a government court order forcing them to change it infringe on Google’s Constitutional right to free speech?

And the winner of the 2006 True Stella Award: Allen Ray Heckard. Even though Heckard is 3 inches shorter, 25 pounds lighter, and 8 years older than former basketball star Michael Jordan, the Portland, Oregon, man says he looks a lot like Jordan, and is often confused for him — and thus he deserves $52 million “for defamation and permanent injury” — plus $364 million in “punitive damage for emotional pain and suffering”, plus the SAME amount from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, for a grand total of $832 million. He dropped the suit after Nike’s lawyers chatted with him, where they presumably explained how they’d counter-sue if he pressed on.

©2007 by Randy Cassingham,
StellaAwards.com. Reprinted with permission.

(AP photo via Yahoo)
Could it be because John Kerry just gave him a political reach-around? Or is there a reason Kerry is licking his lips?

Isn’t it amazing that the democrats continue to hang out with these vicious animals while claiming to speak for the American people? I don’t get it. Do the majority of my fellow Americans actually want to embrace those who want to kill us and destroy our way of life? Do the majority of Americans seriously support the violent extremists that people like Khatami represent?

Are we (the “majority of voters) just openly suicidal?

If John Kerry represents the average American, then we deserve to be wiped out.

I don’t believe he does.

Kerry: U.S. A “Pariah” Nation Under Bush

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry slammed the foreign policy of the Bush administration on Saturday, saying it has caused the United States to become “a sort of international pariah.”

Kerry rips Bush in front of former Iranian president at Davos

He said this while seated next to the former CEO of one of the world’s foremost terrorist states, which as we speak is working on building nuclear weapons, bankrolling Hezbollah’s efforts to foment civil war in Lebanon and Hamas’s exterminationist jihad against Israel, and supplying Shiite militias with IEDs to kill American soldiers in Iraq. Whose current leadership, lest we forget, Kerry has previously signaled a desire to meet with. Note the bolded bit in the quote, too: given a direct choice between defending the president or siding with the Iranian government circa 2003 — whose nominal leader was, of course, Khatami himself — Lurch essentially chose the latter.

Then he signed an autograph for the pig. The same pig who, six months ago, defended executing gays for the crime of homosexuality.

Remember, this man was almost the President of the United States.
Please remember this man, his party, and his contemporaries while you watch things heat up over the 2008 Presidential Elections.

The Republicans aren’t perfect, and they’ve done a lot of things that are downright stupid – but these Democrats are just plain dangerous. Maybe someday we’ll get a viable third choice.

I’ve been an off and on E-bay buyer for years – nothing serious – but more than enough to recognize the potential for fraudulent bidding. The only thing that amazes me about this article is that the author seems to believe this is news; something novel and unique that has only cropped up recently, or that most people might find unexpected and interesting.

Sorry folks, if you’re looking for a large purchase from an honest broker, buying from an anonymous stranger over an anonymous auction service via the anonymous internet is really the wrong approach.

The simple rule for buying things via Ebay? Know what you’re willing to pay, never bid higher. Follow this rule every time, and you’ll never be sorry.

Revealed: how eBay sellers fix auctions

Last week one of the UK’s biggest eBay sellers admitted in a taped conversation with an undercover reporter that he was prepared to use business associates to bid on his goods for him.

Our inquiries found evidence that a number of businesses — ranging from overseas property agencies to car dealerships — have placed bids on their own items using fake identities.

The cases raise questions about whether eBay, the world’s biggest auction site, is doing enough to protect consumers.

Positive feedback from an immigration raid in NC… let’s hope these people (ICE) keep doing their jobs instead of pretending there isn’t an invasion underway as they’ve been doing for so long.

Scared Smithfield workers stay home

TAR HEEL — The 21 Smithfield Packing Co. employees arrested by immigration officials while they worked Wednesday are in the process of being deported.

The 20 men and one woman arrested were moved Thursday from the Mecklenburg County Jail to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., nearly 700 miles from Tar Heel.

Meanwhile, church officials within the region’s Hispanic community and spokespeople with the United Food & Commercial Workers union said the workers’ families didn’t know where they were and other immigrant workers were terrified of more arrests.

Perhaps they’d be best off packing their bags and heading south?

Production at the plant was substantially diminished Thursday as workers stayed away.

You’re breaking my heart.

“There are hundreds of immigrant families who will have to decide, ‘Do I show up to work (Friday) and risk being arrested by immigration?’” said Eduardo Pena, a spokesman for the union, which became an unofficial hub of information for workers Thursday, he said.

Incredible. Illegal immigrants giving interviews via the union that knows they’re illegal, and still represents them to employers. Bring back Jimmy Hoffa and the mob – at least then we knew what we were dealing with.

Now let’s see if this story is followed by one that tells us how many legal citizens formerly on welfare are now able to find work; like last week in Georgia.

Yes, I’m an optimist.

Hey, look… ICE at work in California, too! Nice to see them earning their pay for a change. And can someone find a bonus for the guy/gal who thinks up the names for these operations? “Operation Return to Sender” is pretty funny, not to mention appropriate.

This guy is breaking my heart, too:

“We hadn’t seen anything like this here before, and it came as a shock,” said Antonio Bernabe, a community worker who runs a day labor program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Day labor program – what do you want to bet he doesn’t check his “employees” for legal residence?
Hadn’t seen anything like this, but damned sure should have.

And this statement pretty well sums up the sad state of immigration law enforcement in the United States… at least up until now, and hopefully an accurate prediction for the future.

“We used to feel secure here,” Nicaraguan electrician Manuel Salomon told Reuters as he sipped coffee in a Mexican bakery in the city. “But it looks like that honeymoon is over.”

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read/heard about in some time.

“I want to be my child’s friend” parents + out of control child = get the hell off this plane. The little brat won’t sit down, won’t shut up, won’t do as she’s told… the parents insist they’re trying to control her (but can’t)… after a 15 minute or so delay, the aircrew gives up and informs the lovely family they need to leave the plane. For a truly wonderful, detailed version of the entire episode, check here!

Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. (Ms.?) Kulesza, the incident was your fault, and the airline did the right thing. If an adult passenger was drunk, unruly, and refusing to take his seat, would you have expected the aircrew to ignore them and take off anyway? Your little snot-nosed brat was disruptive to the flight. No one on that flight was willing or eager to put up with the delays your hellspawn was causing, despite what you claim.

I’m sorry to see AirTran backing down from their stance – but maybe it’s just lip service to satiate the rabid liberal “spare the rod” crowd running to this story.

Toddler’s temper ousts family from plane

The folks over at “The Hatemonger’s Quarterly” (let’s just call them “Chip”) have a lovely “post” on a similar topic. Awesome.

Some of the plugin/enhancements from the older version aren’t working properly… sorry for the mess!

Imagine that, immigration enforcement with benefits for US Citizens? Whodathunkit?

An Immigration Raid Aids Blacks — For a Time

STILLMORE, Ga. — After a wave of raids by federal immigration agents on Labor Day weekend, a local chicken-processing company called Crider Inc. lost 75% of its mostly Hispanic 900-member work force. The crackdown threatened to cripple the economic anchor of this fading rural town.

But for local African-Americans, the dramatic appearance of federal agents presented an unexpected opportunity. Crider suddenly raised pay at the plant. An advertisement in the weekly Forest-Blade newspaper blared “Increased Wages” at Crider, starting at $7 to $9 an hour — more than a dollar above what the company had paid many immigrant workers.

Of course, I had to happen across this information while reading a blog… there’s been nothing said about it on any news broadcast I’ve seen. And no, I don’t subscribe to the WSJ.

A few weeks ago, I took the dive and bought a new Plasma HDTV. Shortly thereafter, I upgraded my cable service to include a host of new channels, including the “Military Channel”, and have found a whole new set of shows determined to consume my free time… tonight I spent some of that time watching “Alpha Company: Iraq Diary”. This is not the same work the evening news would have you believe we are accomplishing.

It may sound like I’m trying to be funny, but I can honestly say that while watching this show I laughed, I choked up, and I was amazed – sometimes all at once. These are the sort of men who will win the war against islamic fascism, despite the efforts of the current political powers to thwart them.

If you get the Military Channel, check the link for air times and previews. Well worth your time.

Alpha Company: Iraq Diary: Military Channel

During the summer of 2005, filmmaker Gordon Forbes spent three months embedded with the U.S. Marines 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion during their deployment to the Sunni Triangle in Iraq. He documented the daily grind and struggles of the men in Alpha Company as they fought the War on Terror, thousands of miles away from home. While most networks send a crew to shoot only enough footage for a 90-second highlight piece, this three-part documentary covers several operations — from helicopter raids and mounted patrols to everyday interactions with the people of Iraq.

Three platoons, 74 professional Marines — strangers in a strange land … Forbes was in the company of these men inside the wire and out in the field, as they fought an enemy they both despised and respected. We learn about how these Marines view war, their desire for combat and their fears. We see how they deal with extreme heat, the constant threat of IEDs and language barriers with humor. We see them dreaming, playing, frustrated and lonely. These Marines are the husbands, brothers, sons, uncles and citizens of America. Alpha Company: Iraq Diary is a Marine’s story, and not the kind you see on the evening news.

My little sister sent this to me… thought I’d share:

Well said, Mr. Wilson.

I’m all for winning any war we get involved in – if it’s worth fighting, it’s damned sure worth winning.

But why are we allowing Mexico to wage a border war against this country without acknowledging it? The Mexican government provides assistance to anyone who wants to invade the United States. They publish comic books to encourage the illiterate. They’re handing out GPS devices to show the easiest routes. They’re doing little to nothing to fight the drug runners who control their side of the border. They lobby our politicians to hamstring our efforts to pass laws to protect ourselves.

Assigning National Guardsmen to assist the Border Patrol was a good idea… but let’s give them ammo and rules of engagement that allow them to defend themselves when necessary. It’s obviously necessary.

Guardsmen overrun at the Border

A U.S. Border Patrol entry Identification Team site was overrun Wednesday night along Arizona’s border with Mexico.

According to the Border Patrol, an unknown number of gunmen attacked the site in the state’s West Desert Region around 11 p.m. The site is manned by National Guardsmen. Those guardsmen were forced to retreat.

Found this page to reference a tradition I’ve taken part of since learning it from my good southern friends, the Slades.


Black Eyed Peas for New Year’s Day

Blackeyed peas have long been a tradition for the New Year’s table. They supposedly bring good luck for the coming year, and eating them shows “humility”. Some Southerners have been rumored to eat one pea for each day of the year to insure good fortune! They are a humble food, therefore, eating them represents humility. The taste of blackeyed peas are unlike other beans, and unless you’ve grown up eating them, as my husband did, you may find the taste a bit “earthy”. In our house, we cook blackeyed peas with ham hocks, or a ham bone, and water. That’s it. No fooling with the recipe is allowed! However, I do have several recipes you can use if you prefer a spicy version. They make a nice side dish served with cornbread, ham and greens, if your family enjoys a Southern style meal. The spicy versions are good served with fajitas, tamales or similar dishes.

I’ve always made mine fairly plain, although I do add a few varieties of fresh pepper, sometimes a bit of salt, and often a finely chopped onion.

Now then… I need to go dish up another bowl before the day is officially over… no sense taking chances with fate!