and boy does it hurt! I am keeping ice packs on it and the swelling has gone down. I'm thankful I didn't have to get on it tonight!
TresHappy
JoinedPosts by TresHappy
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I sprained my ankle today...
by TresHappy inand boy does it hurt!
i am keeping ice packs on it and the swelling has gone down.
i'm thankful i didn't have to get on it tonight!
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So if you can't fly the American flag, can we compromise?
by TresHappy inat home with the riverboat aristocrats .
sunday, august 14, 2005 .
by all outward appearances, some of the more patriotic, god-fearing americans in town live at the foot of southeast harney street, on the right side of the (railroad) tracks and the "no trespassing" signs.
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TresHappy
At home with the riverboat aristocrats
Sunday, August 14, 2005
By all outward appearances, some of the more patriotic, God-fearing Americans in town live at the foot of Southeast Harney Street, on the right side of the (railroad) tracks and the "No Trespassing" signs.Those would be the homeowners of the Portland Rowing Club, an elite, floating enclave of 17 houseboats on the Willamette River, just south of the Sellwood Bridge.
The private club -- membership is required of all residents -- was established in 1879, and 126 years later, the board of directors is still diligently defending the grand traditions of the flotilla:
Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the walks or ramps. "Flags" -- to quote the nine-page Portland Rowing Club rulebook -- "must be raised on Memorial Day and lowered on Veterans' Day."
And finally this: "Each house must display Christmas lights during the holiday season from the second week in December through New Year's Day."
Who could possibly object to such all-American covenants and restrictions?
Joan and Randy Jackson of Temecula, Calif. And this is their story.
At the end of July, the Jacksons agreed to purchase a houseboat at the Portland Rowing Club for $499,500. It was, Joan Jackson said, "our dream home." The three separate buildings in the moorage provided adequate living room for the Jacksons; Joan's 82-year-old mother, who is battling Parkinson's disease; and her sister, Valerie, who also planned to move to Portland to care for their mother. And the river site was a short drive to the nearest hospital and the VA.
The contract stated the Jacksons must be accepted as members to the club and abide by its rules. That was fine with the family. But when the Jacksons paged through the club's covenants, they grew concerned. They were perplexed by the prohibition on "motorized vehicles" -- Joan's mother is forced to ride on a scooter because of her health problems -- which seems to be an obvious violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"I thought that was a little off-base," Jackson said, "but I was willing to do it." The rules on the flag and the Christmas lights, however, were a different matter: The Jacksons are Jehovah's Witnesses.
Those two rules conflict with our religious convictions," Joan said. "Our faith prevents us from pledging our allegiance to any sovereign nation on the Earth." It also prohibits the family from celebrating the Christmas "holiday" by stringing up lights.
The Jacksons were so excited about the houseboat, however, that Joan penned a lengthy letter of introduction to the club, offering a compromise. Instead of the U.S. flag, Joan wrote, "We would be happy to fly the flag of the Portland Rowing Club." Instead of Christmas lights, she added, "We would be willing to string white lights on the home for the entire year and light them for the purpose of beautifying the view from the river."
The club responded last Wednesday with a terse unsigned reply, saying the board "has decided not to grant the two waivers requested."
Club "Commodore" Dick Aanderud and manager Candace McElroy refused to comment or elaborate Friday. The two local agents involved, Jeff Parker of Parker Realty and Walter Valenta at Harbor Properties, decried the restrictions, Valenta noting, "They have the effect of excluding people. That's why the rules have to change."
And Pegge McGuire of the Fair Housing Council of Oregon said she was eager to file a fair-housing complaint on the Jacksons' behalf. There is considerable case law, she said, to contest covenants that discriminate against Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses and people with visible disabilities. The effect of the club's rules are "discriminatory," McGuire said, "even if the intent is not discriminatory."
Whatever the intent of the highly decorated, flag-waving folks at the Portland Rowing Club, the effect has been to send the Jacksons back to California.
"Obviously, there isn't a place for us there," Joan said. "The hostility isn't worth it for us. We couldn't call that place home."
Steve Duin: 503-221-8597; [email protected]; 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
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Why is this news?
by TresHappy injehovah's witnesses reach out to all
web posted: 08/13/2005 12:00 am cdt
vianna davila.
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TresHappy
I found it thru google searches. Here is a link - evidently when I posted it some of the story didn't come thru. To read it in its entirety:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA081305.1R.jehovahs.20c7d340.html
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Why is this news?
by TresHappy injehovah's witnesses reach out to all
web posted: 08/13/2005 12:00 am cdt
vianna davila.
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TresHappy
Jehovah's Witnesses reach out to all
Web Posted: 08/13/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Vianna Davila
Express-News Staff WriterFor every door that has opened for lifelong San Antonio Jehovah's Witness Joe Doctor III, plenty have slammed in his face.
(Kin Man Hui/Express-News)
Walter Garbut, 14, and August Torres, 8, go door-to-door as they volunteer as part of a team of Jehovah's Witnesses recently. Their group was on a weekend mission going through a neighborhood to talk to people about their faith.
He's learned not to take it personally.
As a so-called "publisher" — one who publicly identifies as a follower of Jehovah through a door-to-door ministry — Doctor is one of 6.5 million Witnesses worldwide who aim to reach every household at least once a year with one mission: to love thy neighbor and share Jehovah's kingdom.
"We know that every door we knock on is a challenge," said Doctor, 43. "If we talk to somebody one day and they are hostile, we feel in our hearts we've planted a seed."
With 85 English and Spanish Jehovah's Witness congregations in San Antonio, Witnesses ferry their message across city blocks with methodical perseverance and unyielding sincerity.
But the right to ring a doorbell or wedge their literature in a doorframe represents decades of hard-won battles.
"You may be irritated when somebody wakes you up on Saturday morning and knocks on your door," said Jehovah's Witness General Counsel Philip Brumley, based in New York. "But you might think on another hand, isn't it nice in this country we have a freedom to do that?"
A right to minister Witnesses have successfully argued cases in front of the Supreme Court 48 times. One of their most prominent Witnesses and general counsels was Hayden Covington.
(Kin Man Hui/Express-News)
David Casillas (left) and Joe Doctor III meet with Roger Casias (right) at his home recently after asking permission to talk to him about their religion. 'We feel we're doing God's will, preaching the good news to everyone,' Doctor says of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Covington was second only to Thurgood Marshall in the number of successful civil liberty cases he argued, many with far-reaching implications for all Americans, Brumley said.
Witnesses won cases that allowed them to distribute information without taxation, a precedent that later affected the right of newspapers to do the same, said Trinity University assistant communications professor Jennifer Jacobs Henderson.
They have argued that politicians might not have the right to canvas door-to-door and people could be forced to salute the American flag against their will, Brumley recalled.
The greatest blow to the religion in the United States came with the 1940 Supreme Court case Minersville School District vs. Gobitis, which said that Jehovah's Witness children could be forced to salute and pledge to the flag in school, a violation of their allegiance to Jehovah.
The ruling opened the door for Witness persecution across the country, said Henderson, who's writing a book on the religion's contribution to First Amendment rights. In Texas alone, there were mob beatings and an attempt to hang a Witness.
Minersville was overturned in 1943 with the case West Virginia Board of Education vs. Barnette, known as the flag salute case, Brumley said.
In a recent 2002 victory for Jehovah's Witnesses, the Court ruled that the city of Stratton, Ohio, could not force religious groups and political canvassers to obtain a permit before taking to the streets.
Both decisions weren't just boons for the Witnesses: it meant more rights for everyone, Brumley said, calling the religion and the paths Witnesses forged in the name of freedom of expression "a slice of the American pie."
But the right to sacrifice time for their religion, which began in the late 19th century with a focus on evangelism and the coming of the millenium, didn't come easily. Between 1935 and 1950, at least 10,000 Witnesses were arrested in the United States for their door-to-door ministry, Brumley said. They've had to fight for their right to refuse blood transfusions because Witnesses believe blood is sacred.
Abroad, the Nazis persecuted them during the Holocaust; at least 2,500 died in concentration camps, Brumley said.
Though they are Christian, many of their beliefs are different from those of other Christian groups. Their name originates in Isaiah 43:10, Brumley said: "'You are my witnesses,' is the utterance of Jehovah, 'even my servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and have faith in me.'"
Witnesses also believe Jehovah is the one and only true God and that Jesus is his son. They discount the idea of the Holy Trinity. Witnesses believe Earth will be restored to paradise, and unrepentant sinners do not face hell but cease to exist upon their death. They do not use religious symbols in their worship.
San Antonio Witness Vivian Riley, 59, remembers friends from San Antonio who were jailed when they refused to fight in the Vietnam War. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to bear arms because doing so violates Jesus' commandment to love they neighbor, Brumley said. The 1953 case Dickinson vs. the United States clarified draft exemptions for ministers — all Witnesses are considered ministers, Brumley said.
"There's forces that like to restrict religions," Brumley said. "We are then obligated to push back in the other direction."
Perfected to a science For Riley, the cases have only ensured her right to complete her mission: "If you saw a neighbor's house on fire, you'd run over, wouldn't you, to warn her. That's how we feel about our message."
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God, through the Bible, instructs them to spread a message of love throughout the world. Brumley references Matthew 24:14: "And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come."
The well-known door-to-door ministry is a requirement of all Witnesses, and they have perfected their work to a science.
They carry laminated territory cards of individual neighborhoods and chronicle each house they visit on small sheets of paper, noting points of interest or concern in every household like "worried about crime" or "searching for the meaning of life."
Children are encouraged to publish, as are the elderly. Some publishers graduate to become "pioneers," who make a yearlong commitment to log 70 hours of ministry every month.
"This is something since I was younger that I've wanted to do," said Lisa Riley, 34, Vivian's daughter-in-law, who started her year of pioneering last September. "It's hard to explain. It's just been wonderful."
The time of publishing excludes the hours Witnesses spend in five meetings sprinkled throughout the week at each congregation's Kingdom Hall, the name for their gathering place.
Clearing up misperceptions also consumes a large part of their ministry: No, they are not Mormons. Yes, they can drink alcohol, in moderation. One woman who Doctor's wife, Kim, encountered thought Witnesses lived in communes and grew their own food. Witness David Casillas said he's had to politely ask his co-workers to remove his name from the office birthday list because Witnesses don't celebrate them.
"Nine times out of 10 they (people) are ignorant as to what our beliefs are," said Casillas, 39. But after some explanation, "they realize you're just like everyone else."
Converting isn't necessarily their goal, either, Doctor said. They don't want to shove the Bible down anyone's throat.
"We feel that if a person makes a decision that they do not want to follow God's principles and become a Jehovah's Witness at this particular moment, we still feel satisfied," Doctor said. "We feel we're doing God's will, preaching the good news to everyone."
Lisa Riley's daughter Jasmine, 11 and a publisher since she was 8, explains her tenacity like this: "There are so many more people that don't know about God's kingdom," Jasmine said.
'No Jehovah's Witnesses' Though many of the big battles for Witnesses in the U.S. have been won, the day-to-day challenges continue.
On one Saturday morning spent publishing, Kim Doctor and another publisher knocked on a door on the city's Southwest Side. When it's opened they began with a Bible verse. "No thank you," said the woman who answered.
At the next house they encountered a sign pasted on one door: "Aqui somos catolicos" "We are a Catholic household."
Kim knocked and when she received no answer, left behind a pamphlet.
Other days the signs are clearer. In one neighborhood, she spotted a string of placards that specifically said "No Jehovah's Witnesses." Sometimes people call the police or yell obscenities. Kim once even heard a man murmur to his dog, "Sic 'em," as she and her fellow publishers passed.
It's all opposition they've learned to take in stride because they never know whose door could open and whose life they could change.
"We're not there to argue," Kim said. "We're there to share. And it's up to them if they want to listen or not."
vdavila@express-news.net -
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TAX FREE WEEKEND
by horrible life intexas is having a tax free weekend on all clothes and shoes, and .
each must be valued under $100.00.
so oklahomans will be traveling to texas, in droves, to spend our money in all of the boarder towns, including dallas.
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TresHappy
This brings a lot of people from neighboring Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana to Texas this weekend. Everyone loves this!
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How many mistakes does an organization have to make, to be a false prophet?
by run dont walk in.
1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1,000,000 .
how would a jw answer ????
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TresHappy
I'd like to know how many false prophets it takes to screw in a light bulb?
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Who's the best actor working in movies today?
by Preston injohnny depp?
ian mckellan?
morgan freeman?
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TresHappy
Six of Nine - lol I love the Usual Suspects!My favorite actors working today - Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman
My favorite TV actor - the late Carroll O'Connor - he was simply brilliant My favorite all time actor - the late Gregory Peck
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Actually the JW's do some good in this case!
by TresHappy inseized dogs lived in squalor
by shawne k. wickham .
sunday news staff.
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TresHappy
Seized dogs lived in squalor
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
Sunday News StaffA 69-year-old Andover man faces 14 charges of animal cruelty after police and animal shelter workers found more than a dozen dogs living in his filthy, rat-infested house, and three more dogs shot to death outside.
Authorities were called to the man’s Plains Road home after members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith came to call on him Friday afternoon and discovered a dead dog in his yard, officials said.
The individuals apparently had visited with the man before and knew he had some health problems, officials said. Fearing for his welfare when Labraney did not answer his door, they contacted police.
Grisly discovery
When state and local police officers arrived, they found the three dead dogs, apparently shot in the head, lying outside, with other dogs chained nearby. Police called the staff at the Concord Merrimack Valley SPCA to take custody of the living animals.
That turned out to be extremely difficult, according to Kim Adams, executive director of the Penacook shelter.
She said the shelter workers walked the property to check on the animals, but none would let them approach. “They were all very vicious,” she said.
Kathy Counter, director of operations of Concord/Merrimack County SPCA, checks one of the juvenile dogs seized during an investigation of animal abuse in Andover. (BRUCE TAYLOR/UNION LEADER)“There were dogs hanging out the windows looking out, and dogs tied every which way,” she said. “It was unbelievable.”
Adams said two of the dead dogs “had their back legs bound, with twine, like you’d do a hay bale with.” She said they appeared to have been shot through their ears, at close range.
And the dogs living outside were in “absolute squalor,” she said. “One of them was in a hole in the ground, with boards over the top of it so it couldn’t get in or get out. That was its place.”
Garbage, feces, rats
The conditions inside the home were even worse. “You’ve never seen such filth and squalor in your life,” Adams said. “I’d say the floor was lifted six to eight inches just from garbage and feces. There were rats running around.
“It was a nightmare.”
Labraney arrived at the house as police and shelter workers were investigating.
One puppy was sitting outside the house, on top of wooden pallets. “The man told us the other puppies threw it out the window because they didn’t like it,” Adams said.
Shelter workers were unable to capture the skittish pup Friday night, and had to leave her behind. But they returned yesterday afternoon and succeeded in snaring her and bringing her to the shelter.
Guns confiscated
Adams said Labraney signed his animals over to the SPCA but at first refused to let authorities inside the home. According to officials, he told police there were weapons inside, and state police then sought and got a search warrant to look for the guns.
Labraney subsequently was arrested on a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, after state police confiscated two rifles from his house. He was released on personal recognizance and will appear in Franklin District Court in September, according to state police.
His arrest for neglecting his many dogs was the latest trouble in a life marked by a violent act Labraney committed more than 42 years ago and, more recently, by serious illness.
The 1969 fatality
The former Franklin resident spent years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally shooting a man he spotted driving on Route 93 in Bow with his former girlfriend on Feb. 9, 1963. According to newspaper accounts from the time, he confessed to the highway shooting but told officers he intended only to “tingle” the victim’s arm with a shot.
Rumors of his past troubles and prison term had accompanied Labraney to Andover, where he lived in the secluded trailer and sold parts off junk cars piled about the property, according to Police Chief Glenn Laramie.
State Police Trooper Eric Shirley confirmed that Labraney was sentenced to 20 to 30 years in state prison for the 1963 shooting, after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He originally had been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
Shirley said after troopers got the search warrant Friday, Labraney showed them where he kept two .22-caliber rifles inside, and the weapons were confiscated.
Three dogs shot
But first the SPCA employees had to remove the dogs from the house, using poles with attached nooses to ensnare the snarling, lunging animals, Adams said.
She believes they knew that three of their pack mates had been killed. “If dogs are around when a dog is killed or a dog is being shot or a dead dog is lying there, dogs sense that. And they certainly have a great sense of smell.”
She said someone was setting off fireworks in the neighborhood while she was there, and the dogs were reacting with panic. “I’m sure they were terrified they were going to be shot.”
Adams said Labraney told officials he had asked a neighbor to shoot his dogs. “It’s my understanding they were shot because neighbors were complaining the dogs were running. They kept getting loose, so he just decided he would shoot them and that would end their running.”
Dogs running loose
Indeed, Chief Laramie said police had gotten numerous complaints about Labraney’s dogs running loose. And he said the department had finally issued a citation for leash law violations to the man within the last two weeks.
“We gave him a number of warnings because we knew he didn’t have any money,” the chief said. “Yet I have to do what’s right for the neighborhood.”
Relatives of Labraney last night were upset with what has happened and say he has tried to care for his dogs even as his health has deteriorated.
Matt Laro of Franklin said he has known Labraney for 33 years and grew up with the man’s son, Christopher, with whom he has been living for several months.
“He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body,” Laro said. “I consider him another father. That’s how much I love him. He’ll give his shirt off his back to anybody.”
Laro said Labraney was diagnosed with prostate cancer several years ago and now has a colostomy bag, after part of his intestine was removed. But he said the man still managed to drive to his Andover property every day to give the dogs food and water.
He said Labraney had someone shoot the three dogs after they turned on him.
And Labraney’s daughter-in-law, who would not give her name, said Labraney wept when he found out some of the dogs have been euthanized since they were picked up by the SPCA.
“He goes there every single day and he takes care of them and he plays with them. He’s always patting them and giving them bones.”
“He wants you to know that he loves his dogs and he’s not abusive to them. He takes care of them,” she said.
Those who responded to the Labraney property Friday were shocked by what they encountered.
“I have never seen anything quite like that in my life,” Trooper Shirley said. “Even if you’re not an animal lover, you’d be sympathetic with their condition. It was not a place for a human or an animal to be living.”
“I think he just went and fed and watered the animals and left them in there.”
A feral colony
“It’s the worst situation I’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Matthew Mason of Blackwater Veterinary Services in Salisbury, whom Adams called to examine the dead dogs. “It was absolutely atrocious.”
Mason said the other animals appeared to have been fed and given water regularly and seemed OK physically — but not mentally. “It was like a feral colony of dogs,” he said. “They had had such minimal human contact. I don’t think they’ve ever been appropriately cared for at all.”
Sandy Clabaugh, director of development of Concord/Merrimack County SPCA, holds puppies shelter employees have named Huckleberry, left, and Bertie. They estimate the dogs are approximately 10 to 14 weeks old. (BRUCE TAYLOR/UNION LEADER)Adams said it is not illegal to shoot your own dog on your own property. The animal cruelty charges against Labraney stem from the condition in which the other dogs were living.
She does have doubts about the man’s claim that he asked a friend to shoot his dogs, because of how viciously the others reacted to the shelter workers trying to rescue them. “Somebody had to know these dogs in order to be able to shoot them that closely.”
Suspect bitten
But on Friday, even Labraney couldn’t get near the animals.
Mason said one of the dogs bit Labraney as the man was trying to get him out of a wooden crate outdoors, and none of the other animals responded to him either. “I don’t know how he was feeding the dogs inside because he certainly couldn’t walk through the door.”
“What I witnessed from a distance as he was trying to get the dogs out of the trailer, it was pretty awful. It definitely didn’t show he had any relationship at all with these dogs. It’s not like he went out there and spent time with them. I think he went out there and put food out and that was about it.”
“He didn’t even know how many dogs he owned and he couldn’t tell us any names.”
Asked if he believes the man is a criminal or a victim, Mason said it’s hard to know. “From the animals’ point of view, he’s a criminal as far as not taking care of them. But then again, he’s not taking care of himself either. He’s barely getting by himself.”
“I don’t know if it was just one of those situations getting more and more out of control.”
Bleak future for dogs
Adams said the future for many of the 14 dogs rescued Friday appears bleak. While some seemed to recover after a night of rest and quiet, and may eventually become socialized to humans, most of the adults will have to be put down.
“When you have dogs at that age that have never really had human contact, they are not adoptable pets,” she said. “They’re dogs that have essentially been kept wild.”
“It’s heartbreaking for us . . . There are not people who are going to line up and take these vicious dogs. Nor could we feel safe about putting them in the community. If they got loose and got out, someone could get hurt.”
“So the most humane thing for these dogs now is to euthanize them,” Adams said, her voice betraying her emotion. “They’re not living in filth, they’re not sleeping on top of their own feces anymore, and they’re not afraid they’re going to be shot.”
Veterinarian Mason agreed.
“I think it’s a very humane thing to do,” he said. “Unfortunately, temperament-wise, they’re a real high-risk type of thing. They’re not going to be readily adoptable, and it’s just not going to be safe.”
Adams said she hopes whatever happens to Labraney legally, “he should not own dogs ever again.”
One more mystery
Meanwhile, state police said they have forwarded evidence from their investigation to the town’s health inspector for possible civil action.
And Chief Laramie said he expects the trailer will be condemned for health code violations.
But Mason questioned why no one discovered the conditions at the house before now. “I was shocked when somebody said this gentleman lived there periodically. It’s just not right.
“And I don’t understand why the town hadn’t been there more frequently, or hadn’t been a lot more proactive on it. I don’t know why something wasn’t done sooner.”
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Fawlty Towers
by Sunspot inmy cheeks are hurting.
i laughed so hard that i missed some of the precious fast moving dialogue!
my pbs station has begun to rerun old "fawlty towers" programming!!
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TresHappy
Love Fawlty Towers - John Cleese is still brilliant!
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assemlbly time passing tricks
by stopthepain inas a kid ,you could almost certainly kill time at an dc ,sad{as richie rich put it},or a the "2 day assembly" in many various ways.. this has probably been done before,but here we go.. 1--watch the audience as a whole,they almost lookm like ants or something,because thier was always people moving around.peole figiting,taking vigorous notes,people getting up and down for a walk,or a bathroom break,attendants barking at the teens to sit down.i used to find pleasur in watching everyon fidget as a group.. 2--watch the peole who where doing sign language for the deaf.i would always try to start matching words for signs.another way a 10 year old mind can wander.. 3--locate all friends of yours,chicks you have a bad witness boy crush on,obsess for a few hours,and how you can stalk the hot girls.. 4--what too eat{pre modern era}you know,lemon lime or cola shasta,apple or cheese danish,vanilla or chocalte swiss miss,hoagie or dri chicken w/mayo packet?????????
?descisions ,descisions!!!!!.
5---count each minute out in my head.there was a huge digital clock at the providence civic center.when the clock changed,i would try to count 60 seconds to an exact point the clock would change again.clock manipulation,a huge witness kid skill.you could will the cloock to move,or so you thought.. 6---think about what flavor slush i wanted at break,and wether i would buy the cheap binoculars,or the mini -fan.those toys would occupy my brain for hours.. 7---wait with baited breath for the drama.when those lights went down,,,,,,,,,,,sheer ecxtasy!!
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TresHappy
We used to count how many times we could circle the convention center before we were told to shut up and sit down.