Ron G.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0...24191%2C00.html Judge Gets 4 Years for Exposing Himself Friday August 18, 2006 7:16 PM By MURRAY EVANS Associated Press Writer BRISTOW, Okla. (AP) - A former judge convicted of exposing himself while presiding over jury trials by using a sexual device under his robe was sentenced Friday to four years in prison. Donald Thompson had spent almost 23 years on the bench and had served as a state legislator before retiring from the court in 2004. He showed no reaction when he was sentenced. At his trial this summer, his former court reporter, Lisa Foster, testified that she saw Thompson expose himself at least 15 times during trial between 2001 and 2003. Prosecutors said he also used a device known as a penis pump during at least four trials in the same period. Thompson, 59, was convicted last month of four felony courts of indecent exposure for incidents that took place in his Creek County courtroom. Thompson, a married father of three grown children, testified that the penis pump was given to him as a joke by a longtime hunting and fishing buddy. ``It wasn't something I was hiding,'' he said. He said he may have absentmindedly squeezed the pump's handle during court cases but never used it to masturbate. Foster told authorities that she saw Thompson use the device almost daily during the August 2003 murder trial of a man accused of shaking a toddler to death. A whooshing sound could be heard on Foster's audiotape of the trial. When jurors asked the judge about the sound, Thompson said he hadn't heard it but would listen for it. Police built a case against the judge after a police officer testifying in a 2003 murder trial saw a piece of plastic tubing disappear under Thompson's robe. During a lunch break, officers took photographs of the pump under the desk. Investigators later checked the carpet, Thompson's robes and the chair behind the bench and found semen, according to court records. Carmelia Brossett, a senior probation officer for the state Department of Corrections, said in a presentencing report that Thompson refused to undergo psychosexual testing. ``Thompson's denial of the offense would likely present difficulty, if not inability for treatment providers to provide meaningful and beneficial sex-offender treatment,'' she said. The jury recommended a sentence of one year in prison and a $10,000 fine on each count. The jury foreman has said it was the jury's intent that Thompson serve the full sentence. Judge C. Allen McCall denied a defense motion asking that Thompson be allowed to remain free pending an appeal. Thompson was also ordered to pay a $40,000 fine.

TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) -- Former fighter pilot Col. Herschel "Herky" Green, recognized as one of the sharpest shooters in World War II, has died. He was 86. Green died Wednesday at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, said spokeswoman Ann O'Brien, who declined to disclose the cause of death. A fighter pilot in Europe and Africa from 1943-1944, Green was the leading ace of the 15th Air Force. He destroyed 18 enemy aircraft and 10 more on the ground during his career. He had such a proficient shot that during one attack on German bombers, Green single-handedly destroyed six aircraft. Green eventually convinced himself he couldn't be killed after returning from numerous aerial combats unscathed. By the time he hung up his pilot's wings in 1944, Green had flown 100 combat missions, amounting to 402 combat hours in the air. He had also amassed military decorations including the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. Green left the Air Force in 1964 and worked for Hughes Aircraft Co. He retired in 1982.

Why the picture of the foot? Is that to illustrate how worn you gas pedal foot was? Just wondering.

I think it's a good thing. Too bad ol' Clinton, in his infinite idiocy, gave local militias a bad name. Local militias perform a necessary function. I know various non politically correct things have been attributed to local militias by the looney left, but having been exposed to that and even having participated to a limited degree, the only thing really noticable is that most are trying to recapture lost youth. Typically, their motto should be "We stand and fight because we're too old and fat to run."

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) is a benevolent and charitable organization with high moral principles seeking to aid and improve the life of good men. Much of their philosophy was to aid and protect its members, with visiting the sick, aiding the distressed, educating the orphan and burying the dead. Throughout the years they have established over 60 retirement homes for the aged and orphans throughout the United States and Canada. It is a worldwide organization having one sovereign leader. Lodges can be found in every continent of the world with a total membership of over one and a half million, and is the only fraternal society allowed by the United States Army to hold Memorial Services at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier, in Arlington Cemetery.

I thought dentists were more dignified than that. How come Sudo doesn't show any teeth when he smiles?

I dump rubbing alcohol in the gas tanks on everything have about once a month or so. It not only helps prevent condensation, it seems to help vapor locks, too...really helps old Ford tractors with gravity fed "puddle and suck" carbs. Been doing it for years and years.

I dunno about diesels. I considered one a while back and found out the parts and maintenance are considerably more expensive and diesel fuel is as high and many cases higher than gasoline (unless you can get tax free farm diesel). The plus side, of course, is a little better fuel efficiency, a little more power, cleaner burning and the biggest plus of all is that it can be modified to run on used vegetable oil like McDonalds cooks their fries in and then throws out. A lot of greasy spoons and particularly convenience stores that offer up fried chicken and the like are always eager to dispose of their used oil. A bud of mine has a big ol' Dodge diesel truck which he thought he needed to pull his cattle trailer, but it turned out that it was no more efficient or powerful than a gas truck and regretted his $18,000 truck purchase. It seems there's ALWAYS something going wrong with it. The only thing he likes about it is that it makes him feel like he's driving a "big rig". I had to drive his truck to a Scout event about three years ago since he had to drive the van full of Scouts (I don't have the required chauffers license or the required $1,000,000 liability insurance) and did it according to his explicit instructions which was to keep shifting in order to maintain a uniform RPM all the way. That's quite a tedious task here in the Ozark hills with the constant up and down and hairpin curves....with one eye on the road and one eye on the tachometer. I don't know how necessary that is, but it's his truck and it's what he wanted. Besides...it stunk like an old bus the entire way.

It's gonna cost you to pull a 28' camper/trailer no matter what you pull it with. You're not going to necessarily do better by going with a smaller engine. I have a scoutleader bud who usually pulls his troop trailer and hauls a few boys around and he bought a big ol' Ford V10....which in the long run saves gas on trips because of the overall efficiency. Get something gutsy to haul the trailer and keep the smaller vehicle for your trips to the store.

A White Sport Coat....and a Pink Crushed Asian....

Best of birthdays to ye! Young'un.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060803/ap_on_...dHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ Dog destroys Elvis' teddy bear at museum Wed Aug 2, 10:07 PM ET LONDON - A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney. Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff. The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936. The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had loaned it to the museum. "I've spoken to the bear's owner and he is not very pleased at all," Medley said. A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground.

"So what about other people, both famous and non-famous, who have made anti-semetic comments, ... and were/are roundly condemned for them?" This is very true Garth...yet Hillary made some comments about a G o d d a m n e d Jew and ol' Rush Limbaugh's made more than a few "off the wall" comments...why do they get a free pass? I think ol' Mel is just reaping some of the results of some of his movies...Not just the "Passion", either...there was a HUGE hue and cry from the looney left over "The Patriot" where he armed his young sons with unregistered muskets and had them shoot British officers...enough to make the Film Actors Guild have strokes. By the way...has anyone seen that movie "Team America: World Police"? I doubt few who've seen it would actually admit it. IMNSHO, it's the most accurate depiction of neocons and liberals I've seen yet. Anyway, as for Mel...I'm pretty well convinced that tequila actually DOES have devil spirits in it (especially if you eat the worm)...I know from experience. In my young formative years, tequila taught me how to get in fights...and lose.

Just wondering...it had a cool little map and everything.

Pond asks "how did you bust this out?" It's been known for a while. A number of folks have tipped me off to it...I think maybe before SafariVista knew about it. Yeah, Cat man doo died from cancer, or so the legend goes...but he awoke again on the third day...that doesn't happen very often. All that happened before I discovered Waydale...but I sure remember Firebee from the old beseen.com chat days...jerk extraordinaire. What a world...and to think I may have fellowshipped with a lot of these folks back in the 80's never believing they could be certifiable.

Pond asks "how did you bust this out?" It's been known for a while. A number of folks have tipped me off to it...I think maybe before SafariVista knew about it. Yeah, Cat man doo died from cancer, or so the legend goes...but he awoke again on the third day...that doesn't happen very often. All that happened before I discovered Waydale...but I sure remember Firebee from the old beseen.com chat days...jerk extraordinaire. What a world...and to think I may have fellowshipped with a lot of these folks back in the 80's never believing they could be certifiable.

The libs want laws to legitimize homosexual marriage, issue licenses to same sex couples, etc. The cons want laws defining marriage as....well...we all know the drill. My question is WHY does the state need to be involved in any of that? Why does a free citizen require a "license" in order to marry, shack up or anything else he/she/it wants to do? Get the state OUT of all those issues altogether...maybe get rid of a lot of the entitlement programs...and just let people be free and do what they're gonna do, anyway. The states job should be to provide for the common defense, arbitrate disputes and protect the integrity of private property. Anything they do beyond that is meddling.

Jacksonville? Would that be Jacksonville, Florida...Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas etc etc.? Just curious.

Sounds wonderful, Belle! I;ll most likely try it. Try this some time....instead of rosemary, add a sprig of tarragon. I think you'll like it.

Look closely...these aren't worms, but rather sprouts...the seeds were sprouting inside the tomato. Anyone ever see anything like this before?

I use Shelter Insurance for my truck and homeowners. www.shelterinsurance.com Good rates, easy to deal with and the agent is a friend.