Lively Case Discussion #506 8/4 - 8/6/2006

[Kat_Gram]

test 2

[Kat_Gram]

Kat_Gram - go into photobucket and EDIT the photo.  Resize by 50%. Then refresh your photobucket page.

ok

That's better!  Isn't that easy??  

It was still way too big. Will resize it to 99 x 99 like I did with the other one. I do have the link. I deleted it for now, takes up too much space.

[SSD]

Thanks, you all, for liking the idea of my Curious George dress!  My husband thinks I'm slightly nuts, but... If I can get my daughter to help me, maybe I can post a picture of it in the lounge in a few days.

By the way, Peaches, I received my CD and really am enjoying it!  I know the children at school will like it, too.

SSD

[klaasend]

Since it's slow right now I'm going to get some work done.  I'll be lurking and working.  If you email me about the labels I'll get back to you in a couple of hours.

[mishy]

SSD, your dress sounds adorable and the kids will love it!!!!!!!

I can't wait to see a pic in the lounge      

[tcumom]

I thought you all might get a kick out of this:

I made a dress to wear to school out of Curious George fabric.  My first graders will love it - but I will have to remember not to embarrass my family by going anywhere after school when I am wearing it!  

I will especially think of all my monkey friends when I have it on!  

SSD

Please, please post a pic of the dress ~ I teach school, too ~ oddly enough, my 8th graders would probably get a real kick out of a Curious George dress!

[SSD]

Thanks, tcumom and mishy!  

I'll do my best to post a photo of the dress next week.

Got to go to the grocery now.  Take care, Everyone!
SSD

[Peaches]

Thanks, you all, for liking the idea of my Curious George dress!  My husband thinks I'm slightly nuts, but... If I can get my daughter to help me, maybe I can post a picture of it in the lounge in a few days.

By the way, Peaches, I received my CD and really am enjoying it!  I know the children at school will like it, too.

SSD

I am so glad you like it !  I play mine all the time.  I love the lullaby side.  Christal's fans thank you for supporting St. Jude's.

[justinsmama]

YIPPEEE -- thanks, everyone!  

ok; now I really have to go; have a meeting; gotta love working for yourself ...

Sooooo.....is the meeting only with yourself?  

[terryd270]

In a crabby mood? Perhaps some of my humor will cheer you up.  
I live in Florida, which for most intents and purposes is the most Perfect Place to Live on the Entire Planet, with only a few exceptions:
The hurricanes, which I have managed to prepare myself for by making an Hurricane Prevention Kit. This kit consists of a) Two bottles of water and b) A flashlight with batteries that don't work. So with the exception of little things like food, shelter, and the possibility of a house landing on my neck, I'm all set to survive the next Hurricane..
Parking.
My friend came up with this theory that all small talk at parties in large cities is dominated by the biggest problem that city has. For example, in Miami, the biggest question asked at parties is, "How did you get here?" because the Miami roadway system is set up such that, no matter where you try to drive, you always end up in a big traffic jam somehwere near Little Havana with 20,000 cuban protesters..  In New York, the big party question is, "Hey, what did you find in your hot dog today?" and in West Palm Beach, the big question is "Where did you park?"
Parking is especially difficult for me, seeing as how I own a Caddy, a car so large it can comfortably seat the entire population of Rhode Island. It also gets about 2 miles to the gallon. Every year, Exxon sends me a big Christmas card (along with a dead oil-covered piece of Alaskan wildlife. I guess they've still got a lot leftover).
As it turns out, I have to spend most of my time trying to parallel park. This is even more difficult for a big car because I often find myself trying to parallel park into spaces that, in theory, shouldn't be possible, seeing as how the space is typically several inches smaller than my car. But, as I've learned, if you move back and forth enough, you can eventually bump the other cars a few inches out of their way. Either that or accidentally knock off their bumper, which also gives you plenty of space.
This strategy does not work with motorcycles. Parallel parking next to a motorcycle is one of the most stressful moments of my life, seeing as how when I try to park, my mind is playing for me every movie where the hero knocks over a row of motorcycles which undoubtedly belong to a group of guys who eat radial tires as a snack.
But parking does have its benefits -- you become part of a big city-wide society along with other people who need to park, developing your own system of signals and gestures -- one meaning, "Hey? Are you about to get in that car and leave?" another meaning, "No, I just went back to the car 'cuz I forgot my purse." another meaning, "Listen, missy, I'm driving a car bigger than most studio apartments, so you'd better get in that car and drive away right now." and one other that means, "I have a gun."
Plus, having a car gives you a good perspective on romantic relationships. All of parking is just a metaphor for the dating scene. Think about it: you always start off aiming for the perfect spot; you know, the one right in front of your house. The problem is that the perfect one is always taken. So you start looking for ones further and further away from your original ideal, but still keeping your standards high. Then, after some fruitless searching, fear strikes. You think, "What happens if I never find a spot at all? What happens if I never ever find a parking space again?!" At that point, you begin to search for a space... any space... now matter how crummy it might be. Even if it's some temporary space and you know you're going to have to find another one the next day... you're just glad to be parking again.
Of course, it's only after you've settled on a parking space that really isn't all that great that you realize the perfect space, the one you were looking for all along, is finally available. But by that point, you don't want to bother getting in your car again, so you let it pass.
But I don't mean to be cynical. Sometimes it works out -- sometimes yous get that perfect space if you wait long enough. And sometimes it turns out the spot you thought wasn't very good is really perfect for you, while the perfect spot turns out to be under a tree full of pooping pigeons.
Well, okay, the piegons part is kind of hard to translate into the whole relationship metaphor, but you get my drift.
I think Katz gets my translation..
ps
Stay away from that dirty other site, they all have std's and if you catch one, then you can't come here..
Now smile and have a good day..

[Kat_Gram]

Terry LOL    
I am not " down " because it is not over. The NY decision, well, I was prepared.
JQK is going to Aruba to see KJ.
I believe the case will be closed as she does not intend to prosecute.
I hope there are other avenues that he intends to look into.
Stay happy guys.

[klaasend]

Posted on Fri, Aug. 04, 2006  
http://tinyurl.com/jlx6f

ARUBA
Aruba an uneasy neighbor as Venezuela builds forces
The Caribbean island of Aruba feels caught between two powers battling for ideological and possibly military control of the region.
BY STEVEN DUDLEY
sdudley@MiamiHerald.com

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - On a clear day, you can see all the way from the southern side of Aruba to Venezuela -- a fact that has rarely caused concern since the island became part of the Dutch kingdom in the 17th century.

But with a military buildup going on in Venezuela and U.S. warships recently engaged in large-scale exercises in nearby Caribbean waters, Aruba suddenly finds itself in the center of political tensions that some fear may turn into a military showdown.

''Little by little, we are more concerned,'' Agustin Vrolijk, Aruba's director of foreign affairs, told The Miami Herald.

He mentioned the recent purchases by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, more than 30 Russian helicopters and the desire to manufacture Kalashnikovs to protect his country from a U.S. invasion -- a possibility that Washington has strongly denied.

''Is all this only for defensive purposes?'' Vrolijk asked.

Vrolijk's concerns are partly allayed by a long history of good relations between Venezuela and the so-called ABC islands -- Aruba, Bonaire and Curac¸ao, all part of the kingdom of the Netherlands and protected by the Dutch armed forces. They have long maintained close commercial ties and have strategic partnerships to tackle issues such as drug trafficking.

There are many Venezuelans living on Aruba, and most islanders speak some Spanish. There is also a Valero refinery that processes Venezuelan oil for sale on the East Coast of the United States, and the Dutch oil giant Shell is expanding its reach into Venezuela.

''We know that Aruba poses no threat to Venezuela, and we don't believe that Venezuela poses a threat to Aruba,'' Hinkinus Nijenhuis, the Dutch ambassador to Venezuela, told The Miami Herald in an interview in Caracas.

The U.S. government also has interests in the islands, maintaining military facilities in both Aruba and neighboring Curac¸ao. These facilities, known as Forward Operating Locations (FOL), support U.S. airplanes and occasionally ships that are fighting drug trafficking in the region. They are particularly useful because U.S. planes are no longer allowed to patrol in Venezuelan airspace.

RHETORIC IS FELT

Tensions between the islands and Venezuela appear to have grown as a result of the increasingly combative rhetoric between Washington and Caracas, and Venezuela's increased relations with its Caribbean neighbors. In addition to expanding relations with Cuba, Venezuela also has reached out to the rest of the islands with offers of discounted oil and refinery upgrades.

At the same time, Chávez has tried to isolate the U.S. government from the region, calling President Bush ''Mr. Danger'' and saying repeatedly that Washington has designs to invade his country or even assassinate him. With this in mind, Chávez has ramped up his defenses.

For Chávez, the Dutch islands, which lie between 16 and 30 miles off the Venezuelan coast, would feature prominently in such an invasion plan. On the ABC News program Nightline last year, Chávez told Ted Koppel that a war game developed in Spain in 2001 simulated this invasion; one of the launching points for this simulated attack was an FOL near the target.

The United States has denied Chávez's claims but at the same time flexed its military muscle in the region. In April, as part of a large exercise, the U.S. Navy sent the aircraft carrier George Washington to Aruba and to Curac¸ao and St. Maarten, both part of the Netherlands Antilles.

''There's no other symbol of American power like the carrier that conveys our commitment to the region,'' Brig. Gen. Kenneth J. Glueck Jr., the Southern Command's chief of staff, told The Associated Press at the time.

A destroyer, frigate, cruiser and 60 airplanes joined the aircraft carrier in its tour through the Caribbean.

Tensions also rose after the Netherlands defense minister, Henk Kamp, told parliament in Amsterdam that Chávez had his sights set on the ABC islands. He added that there was little to fear because of Venezuela's ''second class'' navy.

Chávez, a former army colonel, responded by calling Kamp ``a pawn of Washington.''

The Dutch government moved quickly to calm the storm, saying Kemp did not convey its feelings toward Venezuela. The Dutch also hosted two Venezuelan military officers during a military exercise of their own and recently sent a high-level delegation to Venezuela.

TOO MUCH ADO?

U.S. analysts like Daniel Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington also downplay the recent rhetoric.

''This is very much the tempest in the teapot,'' Erikson said. ``There is an unsettled climate around Venezuela's regional ambitions. . . . But while there might be a nervousness there, I just don't see Venezuela having any serious designs on the Netherlands Antilles.''

On Aruba, a tranquil, arid island of 80,000 people with a soft breeze and light blue waters, the mood is hardly tense. Tourists escape the news with piña coladas and grilled fish, while locals mostly laugh at the likelihood that Chávez would want to take over their lands.

''We talk about it, but we don't think they'll invade,'' said Luis Yarzagaray, a former Dutch marine who is now a private security officer.

[justinsmama]

Guess I feel as Beth does. There was hope, and now that particular door has been slammed shut with resounding finality. So now we pursue other doors in which to enter the way to our goal. The postal stamp is a fantastic idea. Granted, there is far less snail mail these days, but every little bit helps. Hey! What a Boycott Aruba stamp with the SM link on it? Yet another means of spreading the word further!

[Peaches]

Guess I feel as Beth does. There was hope, and now that particular door has been slammed shut with resounding finality. So now we pursue other doors in which to enter the way to our goal. The postal stamp is a fantastic idea. Granted, there is far less snail mail these days, but every little bit helps. Hey! What a Boycott Aruba stamp with the SM link on it? Yet another means of spreading the word further!

And then there's junk mail.  You know, the mail that comes with postage-paid return envelope in which you are supposed to put all your info?  Why not park a sticker on that and mail it.  It's going to go right back to the credit card company.  Hmmm.. Is there any advantage?  I don't know.

[Bearlyhere]

YIPPEEE -- thanks, everyone!  

ok; now I really have to go; have a meeting; gotta love working for yourself ...

Sooooo.....is the meeting only with yourself?  

       

[Ono]

Klass:

Those stickers are absolutely gorgeous.

As far as Aruba/Venzuela  goes...Chavez is salivating at the thought of officially claiming that little island as his very own domain.  It isn't in the far distant future I believe...One interested in history contemplates what Holland will do if push comes to shove...Hhmmnn...??

[klaasend]

Guess I feel as Beth does. There was hope, and now that particular door has been slammed shut with resounding finality. So now we pursue other doors in which to enter the way to our goal. The postal stamp is a fantastic idea. Granted, there is far less snail mail these days, but every little bit helps. Hey! What a Boycott Aruba stamp with the SM link on it? Yet another means of spreading the word further!

I feel silly for not thinking about that!  Thanks, great idea!  I'll run it past Red and see if it's OK with him.  I've already created the image and the template with the SM web address..just need his ok.

[Bearlyhere]

Thanks, terry    

It can also be a long time between parking spots.  

While all guys don't sport cadillacs, many believe they do.  Sometimes their bike is their only form of transportation, while others walk.  

Finding a spot to park must be really tiring as when they are finished parking, many need to go to sleep.  

[mishy]

In a crabby mood? Perhaps some of my humor will cheer you up.  

Terry, I just woke up from a nap and read this...I love reading your posts...you always put a smile on my face! Spooky started the day with a feel-good message....thank you for paying it forward      

[Carnut]

Thanks, terry    

It can also be a long time between parking spots.  

While all guys don't sport cadillacs, many believe they do.  Sometimes their bike is their only form of transportation, while others walk.  

Finding a spot to park must be really tiring as when they are finished parking, many need to go to sleep.  

Also some guys don't want to park their Vintage Cars 'just anywhere', they look for special parking spots.