News 11/3 - 11/9

11/3/02 (kal) Damn, my left ear's been hurting for the past two days. Hey, we didn't say we'd be writing every day. Since I last wrote in a few weeks ago, I had actually gone to the page with something to write, and then I just didn't care. Not at all. But be glad I'm writing now, even if I don't find something good to write about. I come up with topics all the time, and I should probably write them down. Today was the first time I went to church in a few months, and whoopie was it fun! Well, it wasn't bad, but I would have rather just stayed home and read the bible, as odd as that may seem. Well, I saw Tool with matt and the fallen empire leader on October 25th, and it kinda sucked. Well, I think I'm going to make a seperate page for the review, which will be here. Since the review will waste a bit of my time, I'm done now.

11/7/02(kal)
In today's obituaries: FLOPPY PEDUZZI died on Sunday, November 3rd. He was officially pronounced dead at 9:55 A.M., though it's possible he was deceased earlier the night before. Source of death is not certain, though numerous pills and needles were found around his place of rest. One bottle read: "Warning: Cyanide and stuff. Do not take unless you want to die, or something." Another read: "Caution: We don't know what's in this, so it's best that you just don't take it. Seriously, we warned you. Don't blame us if you die from this stuff, you signed your own waiver when you purchased this bag of Candy Corn." FLOPPY, unfortunately, was the last of a large branch of rabbits, begun by professional rabbit breeder KYLE COATES, of North Stonington. Floppy's brother, GREYBUN, passed away sometime earlier this year, but sadly, was never officially pronounced dead. The date was forgotten, and a memory faded. Our hope is with you FLOPPY, god speed.
Hold on, there's something in my ey... (sobs and runs into the ladies room)... Okay, I'm back. Floppy will be remembered by all of us who knew him very well, particularly me. On a lighter note, I still haven't gotten to the concert review, but expect it sometime NEVER. If I do get to finishing it though, I will be sure to notify you. What happened recently? I don't know, I'll just sit here for a while until something comes to mind.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ummm, okay, I have a Black Belt Spectacular thing coming up on Saturday, it's at the Westerly High School or something stupid like that. Everyone come by and get a ticket, it should be long and boring, especially me, because this is my third time IN the show, and we've already rehearsed everything about a million times, so nothing will be very new to me. I saw it first in sixth grade, and I though it was cool, I was in it in seventh grade to get my 1st degree black belt, and i thought it was awesome, I faded away from karate in eighth grade for some reason, in ninth grade I performed a weapons kata in it, and I thought it was kind of stressful, and I am in it on Saturday to get my 2nd degree black belt, and I think it's pretty darn boring by now. buh bye, i don't care anymore.

11/08/02 (matt-o)
I thought that some people (yes all -2 of you) would be intrested in this article I read and appreciate the pains I endured to put it on the site.....enjoy. You can always skip ahead to my article though, if you wish. Just Say No To Book Cops By Andy Thibault

FBI agents walked into libraries looking for suspicious readers more than 200 times in the months after the bombing of the World Trade Center on 9-11-01.

Here's something they forgot to read on the way in: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Of course, just about the whole Congress forgot it, too, when they passed the USA Patriot Act. Section 215 of the Act lets the FBI look at the reading habits of anyone, without probable cause to believe they are involved in criminal acts. The secret court that issues these warrants has a track record of saying yes to the FBI in virtually all cases. This new federal law also conflicts with privacy laws in many states. We used to worry about banned books. Now we can worry about banned people as well. Or, we can do something about it.

Many librarians are standing up against the long arm of Big Brother. They are the front-line heroes as the War on Terror evolves into The War on Immigrants and The War on Book Readers. The Patriot Act, mind you, requires librarians not only to give the FBI what it wants, but also to keep quiet about it. Bookstores are next; they have the same deal under the so-called Patriot Act.

Bravo to Judith Krug, director of the American Librarian Association's office for intellectual freedom. She has a plan.

"The only way to overcome this," Krug told The Miami Herald, "is to act illegally."

Krug and other friends of libraries have suggested shredding records of what patrons read before the FBI comes knocking. Librarians and bookstore owners under siege should also seek the assistance of lawyers to examine any warrant delivered by the FBI. This has become the official position of the library association.

Why not take it a step further? Entire communities could help examine such warrants, as a sort of citizen's militia against government gone awry - the kind of oppressive government against which our ancestors spilled blood.

As candidates for Congress visit local communities, they should be asked: "Why did you let this happen?" Or, "What are you going to do to fix it?"

In Connecticut recently, librarians and even some politicians celebrated free speech by reading banned books aloud in public schools. Some of the hundreds of books banned illegally in the United States over the years have included Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird," "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin," Thomas Paine's "The Rights of Man" and Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Torrington Mayor Owen Quinn read a chapter from "To Kill A Mockingbird," the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel about race relations, during a celebration of free speech at his local high school. Credit Torrington Library Media Specialist Robin Magistrali with putting the event together.

This is great, but it's not enough. Our judges need to stand up against the federal government when it tramples our privacy rights. Local libraries must heed the national call for civil disobedience, and ordinary citizens can join in.

Libraries were once sanctuaries of the First Amendment. They have been violated by the federal government. It's up to judges and ordinary citizens to protect these freedoms and stop the book cops at the library and bookstore doors.

"Not Floppy!" screamed the masses. One local mourner was heard to say this: "I felt like I should of got to know him better, you know man? I didn't even know his name, I didn't even know he was bunny.".
Let me show you some of the horrific deaths in my pet history:
the Lizard, Ike
cause of death: Devoured by feline nemesis.
date of death: sometime in 1989

the Dog, Max
cause of death: Shot and devoured by neighbors.
date of death: January 1996

No name grow-a-frogshiwitz,
cause of death: devoured by a cat member of the manson family, apparently due to invoking their leader's name. date of death: November 2002

the Cat, Q,
cause of death: vehicular accident
date of death: August 2003
Quotes on death: "God just never wanted Q to live, and that's why he died. See? God always has a reason, we never said it had to be a good one."

this list goes on for a quite a while, but you can skip ahead if you want.

the cat, forgot name
Cause of death: vehicular accident
date of death: 1997
Quotes on death: "Oh, it's dead? What was it's name again?

the cat, sox
Cause of death: vehicular accident
Quotes on death:"too bad, I WANT NINJA TURTLES"

the dog, puppy
Cause of Death: Old age
quotes on death: "What! Of Old age! When was the last time that ever happened?"

the cat, chico
Cause of death: God
Quotes on death: "I hereby decide to smote you with a large, hardwood, cutting board."-God

the cat, black sox
Cause of Death: God
quotes on death: " Acatthat'sgoingtodieinasecondfromunknowncausessaysmeow"-God, judging from the turn of events, you can guess what poor old b.s. said.

Quite horrific, isn't it?
I met a bastard today, he didn't seem to notice I was trying to seem intrested in the list of merlots.He said "hey matt, how are you doing", "Pretty good" I retorted quick and quiet, end of conversation. I sware I could be dying of a bullet wound and I would still say "Pretty good" if someone asked me how I was doing. It's not like most people really care, they just feel the need to say something to break the silence.

Well, I'm going to go for now, but i'll update tomorrow.
"The Patriot Act, why, with that name, I'd have to approve of it"-too many idiots