Death row inmates are allowed to blog?!?!

I just read this and I am thoroughly outraged,
http://tinyurl.com/5mfavn

I cannot believe that this guy has been given the privilege of engaging with the public. He has been deemed a treat to society but he's still allowed to influence others?

I'm (of course) a big fan of blogging. I could see a non-violent prisoner being given the right to blog. Perhaps as a useful tool to promote reform... but NOT for someone who killed their wife and baby.

Tell me what you think...

Anti-Terrorism Exercise in China

These are great photos... it comforts me that they are preparing so diligently for the big event,

http://tinyurl.com/6r964e

Sick

This just makes me sick,
http://tinyurl.com/6owo2a

He is sick and I am sick just thinking about what he did. Not to mention, what if he only gets 15 years in prison, now?

I am only happy that the jury must feel a sense of relief and affirmation that they made the right decision.

The power of the 'net

I am following a discussion list thread on my favorite social networking site, Yelp. I think I'm addicted to this freaking site, but that is the topic for another blog entry. : )

Yelp has this feature called, "talk". Anyone who is a Yelp member (free of course) can post topics for discussion, open to public viewing and response by other members. I love it. I have seen some random posts like, "what should I cook for dinner?", "Things to say to the UPS man" or even a recent post, "I just got dumped via text message". I find myself getting sucked into the most obscure topics of discussion. It fascinates me the power of the internet to facilitate such discussions and of course the key driver here is that folks aren't "discussing" face-to-face.

As such, you can imagine there are many pretty risque conversations which develop....

A couple of weeks ago, a woman posted a talk entry titled, "Help find Bongo!! Please!!". With your profile, you can include a picture and next to this woman's entry displayed the most adorable fluffy white with black patches dog. Naturally, I had to read the thread.

Apparently this woman went on a trip to Florida. Her dog, Bongo, missing her so, went on a mission to find her. She learned that the dog had run away while away in Florida. Feeling helpless 3000 miles away, she posted on Yelp to request the assistance of other San Franciscan Yelpers to aid in her search. This posting triggered hundreds of Yelpers to respond, offer condolences, and promises to help find Bongo. I added my two cents: something along the lines of, "as a dog owner, my heart goes out to you... blah blah blah".

I found myself continually searching for the thread to see if any new updates had emerged. It almost became an obsession. And I wasn't alone, I started to see the same members writing in snippets of good thoughts and suggestions, "put up fliers at all of the dog parks", "Bongo will be back, keep the faith".

Although I'm sure Bongo's mommy will not be content until Bongo is safe and sound at home, but I'm sure it must be a great feeling to continually receive such support.

The other day, I found a new feature on Yelp Talk!.... it's a little check box for each topic enabling you to be emailed anytime a new entry is posted. Nice! So, I added checked the box for Bongo's thread. Now I get the replies sent directly in my inbox.

Now, every time I get a message from Yelp re: "Help Find Bongo!!" I have to stop everything I'm doing to see if Bongo has been found. Obsessive ? A bit. But, come on, these days with technology and the internet changing the way people work and interact socially, any means toward a sense of community is a good thing in my opinion.

It's been two weeks, so I'm sure either Bongo has a new home or he's in doggy heaven, but I am still thinking positively for Bongo and his mommy.

Haters

There is a mean man on a bike who yells at Lucy every morning. It makes me furious as you can imagine.

This man does not like the fact that Lucy is off leash, never mind it is 5:30am and there is nobody around.

What a bully! She's 2o pounds to his 200 pounds (I'm guessing). He rides his bike without a headlight and feels like it is his right to yell at dogs. A dog who does not make the decision as to whether or not it should be off leash.

I would feel better if he yelled at me. You'd think he'd feel like a complete nincompoop for yelling at such a small dog.

Every morning, this man scares me as he comes out of nowhere, barrelling down the trail. With my headphones on, I usually don't hear him until he is whizzing by screaming at Lucy to get out of the way. NOTE: Lucy is never ever ON the paved trail, instead she's off trail, sniffing other dog smells, chasing squirrels and exploring.

For the most part, the folks we meet on our trail take one look at Lucy and quite simply, fall in love. There are exceptions.

Bike Bully is the worst.... but there are others who do not embrace the sweetness, cuteness and eager-to-please-ness that is Lucy.

There is the chubby Cub's fan who yells at ME (thank you) because Lucy "aggravates" her two pit bulls (!!) -- personally I think she's just mad cause she's struggling so hard to jog. There is the group of little old silver haired ladies who took one look at Lucy and decided they just did not like her.

I used to either yell back or put on my stoniest face and forge on, but I'm getting better. When I see these haters, I'll now put Lucy on her leash. Unfortunately, the bike bully is probably going to have to continue to yell, as I never have enough advance notice to do anything about it.

All I can say is Karma, people. Watch out.