Alley-Cat Bicyclist Killed by SUV in Chicago: Blame Game Begins

To blame the victim for dying such a tragic death I think is an injustice. It’s an injustice that our culture is so embedded in auto use and the convenience of autos that we’re willing to let our friends and loved ones be killed.

*Longtime cyclist organizer Alex Wilson on the death of a participant in the illegal bicycle street race, the “Tour Da France” in Chicago.

It’s called “alley-cat” city bicycle racing, hard-core bicyclists who participate in street races, unofficial and now, deadly for one rider, 29-year-old Matthew Manger-Lynch of Chicago.

Matthew Manger-Lynch, 29, of the 1400 block of West Lill Avenue in Chicago was near the front of the pack of about 40 riders, police said. The group was traveling southeast along Lincoln Avenue, when they attempted to cross Irving Park Road at about 9:15 a.m.

But the stoplight was red, and Manger-Lynch was killed when an SUV traveling east along Irving Park struck him. He was pronounced dead in Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center at 9:47 a.m. Police said they do not expect charges will be filed against the driver.

Manger-Lynch was participating in the “Tour Da Chicago,” a well organized bicycle “street race” even though the organizers failed to seek permission.

A take-off of the Tour De France, the Chicago race also took place in stages, each stage scheduled at various times throughout the winter.

Chicago’s race takes place in six stages, beginning with a preview race in January and ending with a rugged “Stairmaster” challenge — a course that includes riding on several of the city’s most treacherous staircases — in March, according to participants.

Sunday’s race, which was Stage 3, began at 8 a.m., and featured a course that wound through Chicago, starting in the West Loop, heading to the Rogers Park neighborhood, into the northwestern parts of the city and finishing in the West Loop. About 50 cyclists participated, by one rider’s estimate.

The race is well organized but is also illegal, the competition includes competing against the traffic as the riders try to outpace each other, “blowing” through red lights, not obeying traffic laws.

“It’s an event inherently designed to have people break rules and break laws,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, which advocates city bicycling and promotes bicycling safety. “It provides a competitive incentive, almost, for people to run red lights.”

Ben Zorn in the Chicago Tribune:

Let those who have participated in, organized or even tacitly condoned such races denounce and renounce them in the strongest terms. They’re no better than outlaw drag races — grotesquely selfish events that endanger innocent people. Mayor Daley, our town’s bicyclist in chief, needs to make this clear.

Alex Wilson, a longtime friend of the dead cyclist believes it’s the drivers who are fault, even when the cyclists are competing in a contest which spurs them to break the traffic laws. Manger-Lynch who was riding in a group of at least 40 cyclists who went through a red light.

“Bicycles don’t kill people, cars kill people. I believe laws should be written to protect the lives depending on your mode of transportation. If you get hit by a bicycle you probably won’t even have to go to the hospital. If you get hit by an SUV there’s a good chance you’re going to be killed. The laws don’t reflect the liability of the vehicle,” Wilson said.

Mr. Wilson is incorrect, there are laws out there to protect cyclists. Mr. Manger-Lynch and the other alley-cat cyclists were competing in an illegal street race designed by the organizers to break traffic laws.

What is interesting is the the city of Chicago hasn’t taken action against the organizers of the Tour Da Chicago.

As Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is, as stupid does.”

In this case, one guy’s dead, the driver and passengers in the SUV are most likely traumatized and the organizers are pointing fingers at everyone but themselves.

By LBG

Image – Mini Alley Cat
Image – Tour Da Chicago
Source – Chicago Tribune – Bike Tragedy Could Have Been Worse
Source – Chicago Tribune – Bicyclist Killed by SUV
Source -
Chicago Tribune – Bike Fatality



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Electric Power Line Art

Pixelaneous #31

Power lines are an inspiration for artists?

They were for Richard Box in Bath, England in 2004.

Even though this happened almost 4 years ago, it’s not something one will likely see everyday. So, we thought we’d post it up for the readers to see.

This happen back in 2004, but it’s still very interesting – thousands of fluorescent lights from the emissions of the cables above–Hundreds of people are flocking each night for a close-up look at Richard Box’ artistic display of 1301 fluorescent bulbs that are lit by the overhead high-power lines — just from the ambient energy surrounding the lines.

The display, called “Field,” which opened on Feb. 15 and has been extended to March 6, is situated near freeway M4 in Bath, England, where passersby can view the spectacle.

Art is many things to many different people. To Richard Box, it’s 1301 fluorescent tubes set up under some power lines in England.

Because we’re feeling particularly “sciencey” this morning, we’ll throw in–absolutely free of charge!–a pic of the earth’s magnetic fields.

Art and science all wrapped up into one.

A twofer for Leap Day 2008.

Most of the above images can be enlarged by clicking on them.
* Pixelaneous #30: Fantastic Tree Furniture and Art from Down Under!

by Mondoreb
Images:
* Power lines in Suffolk England |Source=http://www.tonyboon.co.uk |Date=4th October 2004 |Author=Tony Boon
* on paperwings
* jugglingklines
* makezine
* pure energy systems
Source: Richard Box



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: February 29, 2008

WAR, DISASTER, REPORTS, QUICK-THINKING, MOVIES, VAVOOM, MUSIC, QUITTING, SCIENCE, RATINGS, POLITICS, KILLERS, UNUSUAL, BURNED, KINK, SPORTS, WHAT, RECORDS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH

QUICK-THINKING

1504 Christopher Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his fourth voyage to the West, used a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew.

You might be interested in reading: Leap Day: Facts, Figures, Birthdays and Famous Events

WAR!

1856 Hostilities in Russo-Turkish War cease.

1944 US troops land on Los Negros, Admirality Islands.

DISASTER

1960 Earthquake kills 1/3 of Agadir Morocco population (12,000) in 15 seconds.

1996 A Peruvian commercial jetliner crashed in the Andes, killing all 123 people on board.

UNUSUAL

1904 Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorft Sr near Hamburg, Germany; had a Christian name for every letter in the alphabet, shortened it to Mr Wolfe Plus 585 Sr.

VAVOOM!

1960, the first Playboy Club, featuring waitresses clad in “bunny” outfits, opened in Chicago.

KINK

1784 Marquis de Sade transferred from Vincennes fortress to the Bastille.

RECORDS

1964 Frank Rugani sets badminton shuttlecock distance record, 24.3 meters.

WHAT?

1988 NYC Mayor Koch calls Reagan a “WIMP” in the war on drugs.

POLITICS

1956 Islamic Republic established in Pakistan.

2000 George W. Bush won Republican presidential primaries in Virginia, Washington state and North Dakota, defeating John McCain; Vice President Al Gore crushed fellow Democrat Bill Bradley in Washington state.

SPORTS

1964 North Carolina high school basketball teams play to 56-54 score in 13 overtime.

KILLERS

1996 Daniel Green was convicted in Lumberton, North Carolina, of murdering James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan, during a 1993 roadside holdup. (Green and an accomplice, Larry Martin Demery, were sentenced to life in prison.)

2000 Six-year-old Kayla Rolland was fatally shot by a fellow first-grader at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan.

REPORTS

1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) warned that racism was causing America to move “toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.”

BURNED

1528 Patrick Hamilton Scottish protestant martyr, burned at stake.

MOVIES

1940 “Gone with the Wind” won eight Academy Awards, including best picture of 1939.

2000 “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards, including best picture; Sean Penn took the best-actor prize for “Mystic River” and Charlize Theron won best actress for “Monster.”

SCIENCE

1968 the discovery of the first “pulsar,” a star which emits regular radio waves, was announced by Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell in Cambridge, England.

MUSIC

1968 at the Grammy Awards, the 5th Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away” won record of the year for 1967, while album of the year honors went to The Beatles for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

QUITTING

1984 Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau announced he was stepping down after more than 15 combined years in power.

2000 Facing rebellion, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and left for exile in the Central African Republic.

RATINGS

1996 About 30 television and entertainment industry executives met with President Clinton at the White House, where they promised to devise a TV ratings system.

BORN

1908 The artist known as Balthus was born in Paris.

1936 Henri “Rocket” Richard NHL center (Montréal Canadiens).

1944 Dennis Farina Chicago IL, actor (Mike Torello-Crime Story).

BIRTHDAYS

Actress Michele Morgan is 88. Actor James Mitchell is 88. Actor Joss Ackland is 80. Actor Alex Rocco is 72. Former space shuttle astronaut Jack Lousma is 72. Actor Dennis Farina is 64. Actress Phyllis Frelich is 64. Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. is 36. Rapper Ja Rule is 32.

DEATH

1992 Johnny Mack British actor (Time Lord-Dr Who), dies at 70.

2000 Playwright Jerome Lawrence died in Malibu, California, at age 88.

February 29th, the 60th day of 2008. There are 306 days left in the year. This is Leap Day.

compiled by Mondoreb
image: eaae
Sources:
* Today in History

* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Leap Day: February 29th Facts, Figures, Birthdays and Famous Events

A Celebration of Leap Day

Leap Day, February 29, occurs once every four years.

Since the Gregorian Calendar has only been in effect since 24 February 1582, February 29 2008 is only the 103th Leap Day.

Why the change to the Gregorian Calendar, which has an error of 27 seconds per year?

Because it’s a great deal more accurate than its predecessors.

Gregorian calendar AD 1582 365.2425 days 27 seconds (1 day every 3,236 years)
Julian calendar 45 BC 365.25 days 11 minutes (1 day every 128 years)
365-day calendar – 365 days 6 hours (1 day every 4 years)
Lunar calendar ancient 12-13 moon-months variable

A little bit about Leap Day 2008.

“The year 2008 is a leap year. If you look at a 2008 calendar, you will see that February has five Fridays–the month begins and ends on a Friday. Between the years 1904 and 2096, leap years that share the same day of week for each date repeat only every 28 years. The most recent year in which February comprised five Fridays was in 1980, and the next occurrence will be in 2036. February 29, the leap day, has been associated with age-old traditions, superstitions and folklore.”

What are the legal ramifications of being born on a day that occurs once every four years?

Not as many as you think.

When to celebrate is a matter of personal preference, and the only time having such an unusual birth date really could cause problems is in years when the exact day matters, as getting a driver’s license, sipping your first legal cocktail, registering to vote or playing the slots.

Sometimes, registering on a Web site using a Feb. 29 birthday will result in “Invalid birth date,” though the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies in Oregon, a non-profit advocacy group, offers free software that Web designers can use to avoid the error message.

Statistically, it really doesn’t matter what day someone is born on, says Christopher Mrela, statistician with the Arizona Department of Health Services, which maintains the state’s vital records. Age is computed by year, not actual birth date. So to celebrate a Leap Day birthday in a non-leap year is not a state concern.

One could go get their driver’s license on their actual birth date–this year. But had this not been a leap year, the applicant would have had to wait until March 1.

“Just like anyone born on any other day, you can’t get a driver’s license on the day before you are eligible,” says Cydney DeModica, spokeswoman for the state’s Motor Vehicle Division.

What about gambling in Las Vegas or a glass of wine? Would a person have to wait until March 1? Based on stories from other leap-year babies, it would depend on the pit boss or bartender.

FAST FACT: [And one that we bet you'll not remember for too long after today.]

The longest time between two leap years is eight years. The last time that occurred was between 1896 and 1904. The next time will be between 2096 and 2104.

For a day that has only occured 102 times previously, a lot has happened on February 29.

From Wikipedia:

* 1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
* 1704 – Queen Anne’s War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 100 men, women, and children.
* 1712 – February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Old style.
* 1720 – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I.
* 1864 – American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid fails – Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
* 1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida incorporated.
* 1916 – Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old.
* 1932 – TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William “Alfalfa” Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
* 1936 – Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuts on the radio program The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
* 1940 – For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
* 1940 – Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations
* 1940 – In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, because of the war, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives his 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from the Sweden’s Consul General in San Francisco.
* 1944 – World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
* 1952 – The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
* 1956 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.
* 1960 – An earthquake in Morocco kills over 3,000 people and nearly destroys Agadir in the southern part of the country.
* 1964 – In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
* 1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization – South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
* 1972 – Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
* 1984 – Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announces he will retire as soon as the Liberals can elect another leader.
* 1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town
* 1996 – Novelist Joan Collins awarded US $1 million from Random House for breach of contract.
* 1996 – A Peruvian Boeing 737 crashes in the Andes, killing 123 people.
* 2000 – Six year old Dedrick Owens shoots and kills Kayla Rolland, also six years old, at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan.
* 2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.

People who only get to celebrate a real, honest-to-goodness birthday every four years probably don’t spare any expense.

February 29 People Famous people–or not, depending upon how you define “famous”–born on February 29. 1468 Pope Paul III last Renaissance pope (1534-1549) 1692 John Byrom, English poet, hymnist, and inventor of a system of shorthand. (d. 1763) 1692 Edward Cave, England, printer (Gentlemen’s Magazine) 1696 Esprit Joseph Antoine Blanchard, composer 1712 General Montcalm – Hero of the French & Indian war 1728 Robert Bage, English writer (Criticism by Peter Faulkner) 1736 Ann Lee, Shaker movement, Manchester England, Founded the Shaker movement and brought it to America in 1776. (d. 1784) 1756 Christian F. Hansen – Danish architect 1784 Franz KL von Klenze, German architect (Hermitage, St-Petersburg) 1792 Karl Baer – Embryologist, found mammals develop from eggs 1792 Gioacchino Rossini – Italian composer (The Barber of Seville, William Tell) (d.1868). 1792 Karl Ernst von Baler, Russia, Naturalist (discovered human ovum) 1796 [Lambert] Adolphe J Quetelet, Belgian Astronomer / Meteorology 1808 Charles Pritchard – British Astronomer 1812 Hermann Hirschboch, German composer 1820 Adolf Schimon, composer 1828 Antonio Guzman Blanco, president Venezuela 1828 John Phillip Holland, Ireland – Designed and built the first submarine for U.S. Navy (d.1914) Some lists show him born February 29 in 1828, others in 1840. 1840 1844 French Ensor Chadwick – Naval officer at battle of Santiago de Cuba. 1852 Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian judge (d. 1936) 1856 Sedley Brown – Twin brother of J. Edwin Brown, American playwright, author, stage director, actor 1856 J. Edwin Brown – Twin brother of Sedley Brown, USA, Actor 1860 Herman Hollerith – American statistician. Inventor of the 1st Electric Tabulating Machine. (d. 1929) 1864 Jan Svatopluk – Czech poet 1864 Albert Patry – Elbing, East Prussia, Germany [now Elblag, Poland], Actor 1864 Alice Davenport – USA, silent screen comedic actress 1884 Alfred Sendrey, composer 1876 John Harwood – UK, Actor 1888 John Costigan, American regionalist printmaker, and a cousin of the noted American showman, George M. Cohan, whose parents brought the young Costigan to New York City and were instrumental in starting him on a career in the visual arts. 1892 Augusta Christine Savage – Augusta Christine Fells – American sculptor and educator who battled racism to secure a place for African American women in the art world. She became the first Black member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptures in 1934. 1896 Ranchhodji Mararji Desai – 6th Prime Minister of India from March 24, 1977 to July 15 1979. At 83, he was the oldest Prime Minister of India. (d. 1995) 1896 Wladimir Rudolfovich Vogel, composer 1896 Omer C F L Tulippe, Belgian geographer 1896 Stanley Swash, CEO (Woolworths) 1896 William A. Wellman – American Film Director, (first picture to win an Oscar (1928) “WINGS”) (d. 1975) 1896 Archie Ricks – Actor, Second Unit Director or Assistant Director, Director 1904 Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorft Sr., Germany; had a Christian name for every letter in the alphabet, shortened it to Mr Wolfe Plus 585 Sr. The world’s longest name officially used by a person. 1904 John “Pepper” Martin – Feisty 3rd baseman for St. Louis ‘Gashouse Gang’. (NL stolen base leader 1933, 34, 36) (d. 1965) 1904 Alan Richardson, composer 1904 Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian dancer and founder of Kalakshetra (d. 1986) 1904 Jimmy Dorsey (James Francis Dorsey) – Legendary saxophonist, conductor, songwriter and composer. He formed an orchestra with his brother, Tommy Dorsey, lasting from 1933 to 1935, and then led his own orchestra, rejoining Tommy’s orchestra in 1953 and taking over the orchestra at Tommy’s death. (d. 1957) 1908 Alf Gover, English cricketer (bowled in 4 Tests for England/famous coach) (d. 2001) 1908 Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski) – French-Polish painter, considered one of the 20th century’s greatest realist painters. (d. 2001) 1908 Masahiro Makino – Japan – Film director 1908 Bernard C. Boyd – Glassmaker and Chemist. Founded Boyd Glass with his son. 1908 Dee Alexander Brown II – He became known to the larger public as a novelist and historian. His great novel “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” is still perhaps the best historical portrayal of the violent relationship between Native Americans and the expansionist Americans with their roots in the Old World. 1908 Edward B. Taylor – Photographer – documented Dayton, Ohio’s African American culture in photographs for nearly 40 years. He was Dayton’s first Black commercial photographer. 1908 Renee Evans – Film actress and Mother of stage actress ‘Diane Alban’ 1912 Gaetano Amata – Italy – Film Writer, Director, Assistant Director, Production Manager, Producer 1912 Mary McAdoo – USA, She was named the “Most Outstanding Female Personality” by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1955. 1916 Leonard S. Shoen – Entrepreneur, founded U-Haul Rental System. 1916 Dinah Shore (Frances Rose Shore) – USA, Actress, Singer, Talk Show Host. Some sources list her birth date as March 1, 1917 1920 Kosti Klemela – Finland – Actor 1920 Don Ornitz – Photographer and Miscellaneous Crew 1920 Alberto Ribeiro – Portugal – Composer, Actor, Miscellaneous Crew, Producer, Director, 1920 Arthur Franz, USA, Actor, (That Champion Season, Invaders From Mars, Young Lions) 1920 Louise Wood, director of Girl Scouts of USA (1961-72) 1920 James Mitchell, USA, Actor (Palmer-All My Children) 1920 Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991) 1920 Michelle Morgan – French Actress (“Symphonie Pastorale”) France 1924 William D. Hathaway – U.S. Senator (R) from Maine (1973-1979). 1924 Otto Hutter, Physiologist 1924 Carlos Humberto Romero, President of El Salvador 1924 David Beattie, British governor-general of NZ 1924 Al Rosen – Ballplayer, slugging Cleveland 3rd baseman. 1928 Joss Ackland – British actor 1928 Alan Loveday, British(?) violinist 1928 McHenry Boatwright – Opera Singer, American baritone. 1928 Tempest Storm (born Annie Blanche Banks), American actress and star of burlesque. She took the name Tempest Storm as her stage name around 1950, legally changing her name in 1957. 1932 Newel Kay Brown – Wrote the children’s song, “I Hope They Call Me On A Mission,” which every child in the world-wide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called Mormon) has sung since 1970. 1932 Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist 1932 Gavin Stevens, cricket (Australian bat on 59-60 India/Pakistan tour) 1932 Masten Gregory, American F1 Driver 1932 Gene Golub, American mathematician (d. 2007) 1936 Erik Häkkinen – Producer, Director, Writer, Editor, Actor, Cinematographer 1936 Alwin Schockemohle, Germany, equestrian jumper (Olympic-gold-1976) 1936 Alex Rocco, American Actor 1936 Jack Lousma – Astronaut; was a crew member of the Skylab 3 flight in 1973 and Columbia Space Shuttle in 1982. 1936 Henri “The Pocket Rocket” Richard – NHL Hall of Fame Center, Montreal Canadians. 1936 Sharon Webb – Science Fiction Novelist (Earthchild) 1940 Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople 1940 Gretchen Christopher – Multi-Gold Record Artist, BMI “Million Airs” Songwriter (“Come Softly To Me”), Female Lead Vocalist/Arranger, Dancer/Choreographer and Founder of “The Fleetwoods”, first group in the history of Rock & Roll to have multiple #1 Records top Billboard’s Hot 100 in a single year (1959). 1940 Billy Turner – Thoroughbred horse trainer, “Seattle Slew”. 1940 Sanda Aronson – New York, USA – started the Disabled Artists’ Network in April, 1985 1944 David Briggs, record producer 1944 Ene Ergma, Estonian polotician 1944 Dennis Farina, USA, Actor 1944 Phyllis Frelich – deaf American actress, Member of National Theatre of the Deaf, Devil’s Lake ND, (Love is Never Silent) 1944 Sharon Hugueny – Actress 1944 John Niland – NFL guard for Dallas Cowboys. 1944 Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian illustrator 1948 Willi Smith – Fashion designer. 1948 Yuri Pimenov, USSR, coxless pair rowers (Olympic-silver-1976) 1948 Patricia [Anne] McKillip, US, sci-fi author (Fool’s Run) 1948 Nikolai Pimenov, USSR, coxless pair rowers (Olympic-silver-1976) 1948 Gérard Darmon – Actor, France 1952 Bart Stupak, American polotician (Rep-D-Michigan) 1952 Raisa Smetanina, USSR, cross country skier (Olympic-gold-1976, 80, 92) 1952 Raul Gonzalez, Mexican 50K speed walker (world record) 1952 Tim[othy] Powers, US, sci-fi author (Epitaph in Rust, Night Moves) 1952 Randy Jackson, rocker (Zebra – I Don’t Know, I Don’t Care) 1952 Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush – Born in Greensboro, North Carolina. She became America’s first African-American weather anchor when Detroit, Michigan’s WGPR-TV hit the airwaves in 1975; WGPR-TV was the nation’s first black-owned and operated television station. 1956 Peter Brouwer (LDB # 1 in the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies) – Founded Leap Year Babies Honor Society (in 1997). 1956 Jonathan Coleman, Anglo-Australian radio and television personality 1956 Neil Rosenthal (LDB # 57 in the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies) – Poet published by The National Library of Poetry. 1956 Bob Speller, Canadian politician – his father-in-law is also a Leap Day Baby 1956 J. Randy Taraborrelli, American celebritiy journalist 1960 Raenell Dawn (LDB # 39 in the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies) – Founded Leap Year Babies Limited (in 1987). 1960 Dan Daoust – NHL center for Toronto Maple Leafs. 1960 Heidi Henriksen – The 1st of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days. 1960 Ian McKenzie Anderson, British musician and record producer 1960 Anthony Robbins – American Motivational Speaker 1960 Khaled, Algerian raï musician 1964 James Robert Bruce Ogilvy, the only son of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy and the late Sir Angus Ogilvy. He is second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II. 1964 Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player 1964 Olav Henriksen – The 2nd of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days. 1964 James RB Ogilvy, son of English princess Alexandra 1964 Antonella Ponziani – Actress, Director, Italy 1964 Henrik Sundstrom, Sweden, tennis star 1964 Mervyn Warren – Five-time Grammy Award winner (as of 2004), original member of the vocal group “Take 6″ 1964 Jahred Shane, Afro-Brazilian rapper/singer of (həd) p.e. 1968 Suanne Braun, South African-born actress 1968 Chucky Brown, NBA forward (Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks) 1968 Cary Conklin, NFL quarterback (SF 49ers) 1968 Gareth Farr – Composer and Percussionist, born in Wellington, New Zealand 1968 Pete Fenson, American curler 1968 Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress 1968 Leif-Martin Henriksen – The 3rd of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days. 1968 Gonzalo Lira, Chilean-American novelist and filmmaker 1968 Bryce Paup, American football player, NFL linebacker (Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills) 1972 Cyrus Beasley, Rowe NY, rower (Olympics-1996) 1972 Fabien Bownes, NFL wide receiver (Chic Bears) 1972 Chris Devine, Allentown Pa, diver (Olympics-96) 1972 Mark Farraway, CFL offensive linebacker (Edmonton Eskimos) 1972 Antonio Sabato, Jr. – Italian-born actor 1972 Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002) 1972 Saul Williams – Rap Poet, Actor, USA 1972 Pedro Zamora, Cuban-born American AIDS activist (d. 1994) 1976 David Kendall Sr. – Actor, USA 1976 Bryan Gillooly, Auburn NY, diver (Olympics-96) 1976 Ja Rule – American Rapper and Actor 1980 Eric Benz – Actor, Germany 1980 Simon Gagne, Canadian Hockey player, NHL player (Philly Flyers) who has been an all-star 1980 Taylor Twellman, American soccer player 1984 Darren Ambrose, English footballer 1984 Cam Ward, Canadian hockey player 1984 Adam Sinclair, Indian Hockey player 1988 Scott Golbourne, English footballer 1992 Caitlin E.J. Meyer – Actress

If your birthday is February 29, you can join the Honor Society of Leap Year Babies by clicking on this link.

DBKP wants to salute all Leap Day birthdays today!

If you know anyone who has a birthday today, don’t forget to wish them a very cheery “Happy Birthday”–maybe four times.

They won’t hear it again until 2012.

You may also be interested in reading: Today in Weird History: February 29, 2008

by Mondoreb
images:
* Leap Year Babies
* Leap Year
* jack dandy
Sources:
* February 29
* Babies born on Leap Day can count on years of confusion
* Famous people born on February 29
* time and date



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Men with Machetes Rob Aussie Club, End up Hog-Tied

Robbers wearing ski masks and waving machetes burst into a western Sydney club in Australia Wednesday evening only to end up hog-tied and beaten by bikers.

The robbers had burst into the club and yelled at the patrons to “lie down” while they attempted to rob the cash register. What they didn’t realize was that 50 members of the Southern Cross Cruiser Club were meeting in another room.

‘We caught him at the fence and crash-tackled him and hog-tied him to the ground and waited for the police to get there,’’ Jester said.

There’s an estimated 35 outlaw biker gangs in Australia with 3,500 members. Aussies call them “bikies.”

In 2007 the Aussie police vowed a “crackdown” on bikies during the funeral of a member of the Bandidos. The police were going to “get tough” by issuing tickets for not wearing a helmet and that all bikies were licensed and their bikes registered.

This action by the Aussie police stems from violence between different gangs, shootings and arson over “drug distribution.”

As for the two robbers, in trying to escape the bikers one leapt off a balcony while the other tried to flee through a service entrance only to end up slightly beaten but humiliatingly hog-tied.

By LGB

Image – Aussie Biker Gang
Source – Sun Times
Source - Foreign Policy
Source – Times Online
Image – Biker sign



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Soldier Wins Million Dollars in Lotto, Then Prepares for Third Tour in Iraq

Sometimes, karma’s on crack.

Sgt. Wayne Leyde first completed two tours of duty in Iraq, then won $1 million on a scratch-and-win lottery ticket on Tuesday.

Now, he’s ready for a third tour.

The lucky soldier, a 26-year-old Washington National Guard member, insists he’s still going to volunteer to return to Iraq for his third tour of duty.

He also said that he won’t spend any of the money until he returns from Iraq.

That Leyde even bought the ticket was a lucky break.

“I decided to walk into a local Zip Trip. I got a Coke and beef jerky and walked up to the counter and thought I’d pick up a few scratch tickets and try my luck. I was on my way out when the lady said, ‘Do you have a lucky scratch coin?’

“I said ‘no, you gave me a dime and nickel back.’”

“She said ‘no, try this,’” handing Leyde a penny. “On my way home I started scratching tickets. They were losers. I’m thinking, boy, that lady didn’t know what she was talking about.”

The fact that Leyde hit the jackpot with the lotto doesn’t make any difference on whether he returns to Iraq a third time or not.

“It was a commitment I made about three months ago. I’m going to stick to it,” Leyde said about his decision.

The sergeant says rents have gone sky high where he and his parents live in the Mount Spokane area of Washington and that, for now, he’s not going to spend any of the money.

“For right now, I’m going to hold off [spending] and let reality sink back to earth. This is a true blessing. I’m going to turn it around and see if I can bless other people with this,” Leyde said.

Sometimes, the Good Guys win.

Or hit the lotto for $1 million.

by Mondoreb
image: ABC
Source: Lucky Soldier Wins $1 million in Lottery



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Parents Move Teen’s 36-Year-Boyfriend Into Home

What’s a poor Mum and Dad to do?

A couple from Kent, England, Sheila and Paul Garcia, had a problem. Their daughter was unhappy, so Mum and Dad did what they could to cheer the 16-year-old Alison up.

Alison and her Mum, Sheila

Ailson was sad over the fact that her parents didn’t quite approve of her newest boyfriend of 4 months, Craig.

“I hate the thought of her sleeping with any man, because I think she is too young to understand the implications of a sexual relationship,” she says.

“But I know she is 16 and I can’t stop her. If I don’t take the softer approach I fear she will take off with Craig and cut ties with us.

“If I forbid it or attempt to ban her from seeing him, I risk losing my precious child.

“Paul has managed to accept the situation far better than I have, because he believes we should let her make her own mistakes.”

Even though Alison’s Mum believed her 16 year-old daughter “too young to understand the implications of a sexual relationship”, when Alison asked her parents if her boyfriend could move in so the couple could save up for flat, Alison’s Dad figured the best way to handle the problem was to move Alison’s boyfriend, 36-year-old Craig Wright, lock, stock and barrel into their home and daughter’s bedroom.

Wright, a divorced double glazing fitter with one child now resides in the Garcia home as Alison’s live-in bedroom lover.

Alison believes she knows best.

“I’m not stupid,” she says stubbornly. “I know to the outside world such a huge age difference must seem weird and unnatural.

“My mum keeps saying it’s a ridiculous phase and I’ll grow out of it, but I won’t.

“My dad is much more laid-back. He takes the view that it’s my life and I have to do what I want.

“After all, I’m 16 and can make up my own mind. He recognises that I’m not a child any more, but my mum doesn’t.”

Alison likes the fact that Criag isn’t “immature” like the boys her age.

“He’s the fourth guy I’ve been with, but the others were all inexperienced teenagers – boys I’d been going out with for a few months.

“It was very different with Craig. He knew exactly what he was doing. He told me how beautiful I was and made me feel really special and cared for.”

They met in a pub even though Alison is/was underage and dated for a few weeks when Alison and Craig decided to get a flat but the 16-year-old had a better idea: why not move in with my Mum and Dad and save up.

Sheila said she was horrified, but her husband, Alison’s Dad, was okay with the idea of his daughter’s older boyfriend moving in because the couple wouldn’t have been able to “afford a decent flat”.

Sheila made an astute observation about Craig which we doubt she’s spent much time mulling over:

“What I can’t understand is what a man of Craig’s age sees in a girl who is so young. She can’t possibly fulfil his emotional needs.”

It’s as if Sheila has removed herself from the situation with her decision to blame it on “society and not on her own parenting skills:

“Girls no longer get a childhood past about the age of ten when they are asked to make choices on what lipstick to wear or what jeans to buy.

“It’s a sad state of affairs, and one from which I fear there is no way back.

“It seems we have raised a generation of children who believe they can do whatever the hell they like, without worrying about the consequences.”

As for Craig, he’s been set up as a peripheral character in this vignette. The scene revolves around Alison and her parents, of whom is responsible for this situation, the “too-liberal” Mum and Dad or the spoiled teen-aged Alison. But what about a 36-year-old man who feels it’s okay to bum off his teenager girlfriend’s parents and sleep with their daughter under their roof?

Alison has decided Craig’s “the one.”

“That will inevitably happen, because I do want to marry Craig and have kids, and he isn’t getting any younger.”

We not sure whether we should laugh or cry, “not getting any younger.” We imagine once the “bloom is off the rose” in this relationship, Craig will begin to look older and older to Alison while she will have aged prematurely, stuck with babies while she’s still one herself.

By LBG
Image – Wimpy Parents
Source – The Mail

Waterboarding: Company Used It to "Motivate" Employees

Claims Former Employee in Lawsuit

Prosper, Inc.

About Prosper, Inc.

Prosper, Inc. provides executive-level coaching for individuals. Our mission is to provide our students with the education and hands-on experiences they need to achieve their personal and professional goals. We strive to make the road to personal achievement meaningful, rewarding, and enjoyable.

By understanding our business and by becoming sensitive to our world, we position ourselves to help others become leaders in an ever-changing marketplace. Our products and services are based on proven principles that, when applied, produce positive results in the lives of individuals and families. Source – Prosper, Inc.

So how does a company that “provides executive-level coaching for individuals” motivate its own employees?

A supervisor at a motivational coaching business in Provo is accused of waterboarding an employee in front of his sales team to demonstrate that they should work as hard on sales as the employee had worked to breathe.

In a lawsuit filed last month, former Prosper, Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens alleges his managers also allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees’ faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle “because it resulted in increased revenues for the company.” Source – Salt Lake Tribune

“[Prosper] allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees’ faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle because it resulted in increased revenues for the company.” –Chad Hudgens, former Prosper employee

Former Prosper, Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens has filed a lawsuit accusing Joshua Christopherson and Prosper, Inc. of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful termination.

Hudgens claims he volunteered for a “motivational exercise” with his team leader, Joshua Christopherson. Hudgens also claims he volunteered in order to prove his “loyalty and determination” to Prosper, Inc..

Hudgens alleges Christopherson took the sales team outside the office to the top of hill. This is where the story gets bizarre, Hudgens alleges Christopherson told the rest of the sales team to hold Hudgens’ arms and legs. Christopherson then took a plastic jug full of water and began pouring it over Hudgens’ nostrils and mouth while extolling team members that “he wanted them to work as hard on making sales as Chad had worked to breath”.

In his suit Hudgens says he required psychological counseling for emotional trauma.

According to How Stuff Works, waterboarding is known as a controversial form of interrogation that has been used for centuries.

Water boarding has been around for centuries. It was a common interrogation technique during the Italian Inquisition of the 1500s and was used perhaps most famously in Cambodian prisons during the reign of the Khmer Rouge regime during the 1970s (see David Corn: This Is What Waterboarding Looks Like for pictures of a Khmer Rouge water board now in a Cambodian museum). As late as November 2005, water boarding was on the CIA’s list of approved “enhanced interrogation techniques” intended for use against high-value terror suspects. In a nutshell, water boarding makes a person feel like he is drowning.

Socrates, you dummies!

Prosper Inc., President Dave Ellis came up with an alternate view of that day’s events, that no, it wasn’t waterboarding, it was a “dramatization” of a Socrates story, how a young man asked Socrates to become his teacher. Socrates responded by “plunging the student’s head underwater and telling him he will learn once his desire for knowledge is as great as his desire to breathe.”

The company president claims that what happened to Hudgens was a form of “Socratic thinking” and not good old fashioned waterboarding.

In the end it will be up to a judge or jury to make that determination.

By LGB

Image – Waterboarding
Image - Socrates



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Aussies "Grow Trees" into Furniture, Art

Pixelaneous #30
Click on images to enlarge them.

It’s called the art of Pooktre, growing and shaping trees into art and furniture. It’s the invention of Australian, Peter Cook.

In 1987, he had been at one of his favorite places were three large fig trees nestled under the cliff face. As he was walking home from the cliffs behind the cabin the idea came to him, “I wonder if I can grow a chair”. Telling his partner at the time about his idea, she hated the concept.
The more he thought about it the more logical it seemed. Not deterred he started the very next day. He took 7 cuttings from a willow and planted them in a U shape in the area where he directed the waste water from the cabin. Source – Pooktre

Nine years later Peter joined up with Becky Northey. Located near Brisbane, Peter and Becky tend their garden, Pooktre Tree Shapers.

Future Bed

Pixelaneous #29: Top 10 Fantastic Art Pictures

By LGB
Source – Newsday
Source – Pooktre



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Hillary Clinton Video: New Direction for Her Campaign?

Not Suitable for Work

It could happen.

by Mondoreb
source: FarkTV



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.