I just read this article about the Kenmore West teacher who was killed in an accident. I was really touched until I got to the end and found out that the school organized a balloon release in memoriam. I can't believe the ignorance of such actions and for this to be done as an official act by a school. The article ends with "When a bagpipe player finished the last strains of “Amazing Grace,” the balloons were let loose. Heads turned to watch them dance like free spirits toward the heavens." They are balloons, not spirits and they don't go to the heavens, they go to our water ways and imperil our struggling wildlife and make everything ugly. They get entangled in trees and rocks and there they sit for who knows how long until they photo-degrade and break into smaller pieces which get eaten by plankton and thus passed on up the food chain. Death is sad but adding more death and destruction makes it even sadder.

It is really sad what happened. I really like the beginning of the article where the girl shares her experience about his encouragement. What a huge loss for the school.

School grieves loss of teacher
After football victory, Kenmore West says goodbye, with love
By Matthew Spina
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Published:
September 19, 2010, 12:00 AM

Laura Doxbeck was an insecure sophomore, certain there was no place for her at the Tinsel Ball, Kenmore West High School’s holiday season gala.

She would know no one. She would have no one to talk to. She would stick out like a sore thumb. But she went.

“Mr. Dugan talked me into it,” she said Saturday, almost two years later.

“He said that no matter who you know, you will always meet people. Because, no matter what, people are going to be friendly. Everybody’s friendly. Nobody’s mean. You just have to give them a chance.”

He encouraged her to buy a nice dress—the calming color of green so that if she became nervous she could look at herself and feel at ease. He told her she would look beautiful and would have a great time.

Apparently, she did. She posted a picture of herself at the Tinsel Ball on her Facebook page. And the memory of it all brought a smile to her face on an otherwise sad day.

“That was Mr. Dugan’s whole perspective,” she said. “He was so intelligent, with so much insight into everybody’s life, and with so much intuition that it just blew me away.”

Kenmore West’s football team played Lockport High on Saturday and thrilled the huge home crowd with a come-from-behind victory — 14-13—on the last drive of the game.

The teams congratulated each

other and then several hundred people fell silent.

You could hear only the wind as the players, cheerleaders and about 200 more people assembled at midfield. Balloons in the school colors of blue and white were handed out.

The Kenmore West community was gathering to remember Brian C. Dugan, its “beloved colleague and friend,” as the school superintendent called him.

Dugan, an English teacher at the school since 1995, active over the years in coaching football and basketball, a husband and father to boys ages 7 and 8, and the teacher most likely to pull any young student out of a funk, was hit by a car and killed while jogging Wednesday on Sheridan Drive.

He was just 37.

“He loved kids. He loved being with kids. And he loved the kids he taught,” said Sam Drago, who taught with Dugan in the English department. “Whether in the classroom, or on this football field, he taught by example. He taught with love. With compassion. With honesty. And with sincerity. It’s for all those reasons that he’s a hero to so many kids.”

He taught students in the ninth and 10th grades, young teenagers sprinting toward adulthood and fretting about their place among their peers. Dugan’s students said he taught them to relax and to have a laugh or two while learning.

He would throw a few outlandish choices into his multiple-choice tests. He’d read Shakespeare with his best British accent.

“He taught us to laugh, to make things a joke. Not everything was so serious. He made it OK,” said Haley Lewandowski, now a senior.

When a bagpipe player finished the last strains of “Amazing Grace,” the balloons were let loose. Heads turned to watch them dance like free spirits toward the heavens.

Students will be dismissed early Monday to allow them to attend the Mass of Christian Burial for Dugan, to be offered at 11:30 a. m. in St. Amelia Catholic Church, 2999 Eggert Road, Town of Tonawanda. The Brian C. Dugan Children’s Education Fund—PO Box 2, Buffalo, NY 14223—has been set up for his children.

District Superintendent Mark P. Mondanaro handed a bouquet of flowers — again in blue and white — to Dugan’s widow, Ann Marie. Minutes earlier he had urged everyone to live the way Dugan had lived, with a sense of purpose, passion and heartfelt love to those around him.

Some students were asked later how Dugan had changed their lives.

“I’ll just look at things in a much lighter way,” Doxbeck said. “I’ll find the comedy in the most terrible situation if I can.

“Mr. Dugan told me there’s always a bright side.”

I like Google Chrome. I'm really surprised at how much faster it is than Firefox. It took me a while to get used to but besides being faster it is nicer that Chrome doesn't waste viewing space. It was annoying that when I was downloading a driver I was unable to do it on anything but I.E or Firefox.

Fall Clean Up! Buffalo Niagara RIVERKEEPER is calling for citizens to join the Fall Shoreline Sweep to clean up the shorelines in Western New York on Saturday September 25th, 9 a.m. until noon, coinciding with the International Coastal Cleanup and Sunday September 26th, noon until 3 pm, to celebrate World Rivers Day. For a complete list of sites and dates for each and to register, please click here

Mike and I did this in the Spring and I thought it was rewarding. People trash it again right after you clean it up but if I didn't have to work I would do it again. I really wish I had a garbage claw and I would work on cleaning up the trash along the rocks along the Niagara.

I never have seen these before. I think they are so freaking precious.

I promised to write about ketchup in my next journal but I forgot and posted about naked people who "cycle" {{{{(e:brit)}}}}} while face painted.

So has anyone else noticed the taste between Canadian ketchup and US ketchup? Or the difference between US and any where else they sell ketchup? I'm only referring to Heinz when it comes to the difference between US and Canadian ketchup.

When I met Mike in Niagara Falls Canada for lunch I remarked at how sweet the ketchup was. Mike looked at the label and read liquid sugar and I knew right away it was the sugar that made the difference. As we know {{{{(e:brit)}}}}} the US crap is made with freaking corn syrup. I hate corn syrup and am just about ready to get it out of my life but that will be somewhat challenging since I don't want to go crazy about it. They use it so much and just like {{{{(e:brit)}}}}}} will attest to, it is in almost everything we eat as a replacement for sugar because of government subsidies to the corn industry.

When I went to Cuba for a semester I loved their beer and their soda. Not sure what it was about the beer, and for that matter the rum, but the soda was better than ours definitely because they make it with real sugar vs our corn syrup and it was delicious!!!

Heinz says this specifically about the difference between US and other countries...

The secret ketchup recipe!
Only 8 to 10 people in the world know the exact recipe for Heinz ketchup. You may also be surprised to learn that, although Heinz has one basic recipe, there are differences - depending in which country it is made in. For example, ketchup users in Canada, England, Australia and Venezuela like their ketchup a bit sweeter than Ketchup users in the U.S. and Mainland Europeans, who tend to like their ketchup a bit spicier.

source

Mike does say that he thinks that Canadian ketchup is too sweet. I loved it so I got a bottle of Annie's when I got home because it is made with real sugar. I love Annie's especially their BBQ sauce....yummy!

Upon further investigation, it appears that Hunt's is a good way to go if you don't want to spend the money on organic.

OMAHA, Neb. — ConAgra Foods Inc. has removed high fructose corn syrup from its Hunt's brand ketchup.

Shoppers have been shying away from high-fructose corn syrup due to health concerns, and it was consumer demand that drove the changes, said Hunt's brand manager Ryan Toreson.

Hunt's is the latest brand to make the shift.

PepsiCo Inc. removed all high-fructose corn syrup from sports drink Gatorade and replaced it with cane sugar.

Some nutritionists cite the syrup as part of the country's obesity problem, though industry scientists and many dietitians say it is no more fattening than sugar.

Corn syrup is popular with manufacturers partly because it is cheaper than sugar.

Hunt's Tomato Ketchup has five ingredients: tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt and other seasonings, the company said.

The products should be on all store shelves by the middle of this month.

The price has not changed, the company said.

Source

Check the bottle before you buy and make a taste comparison. Next supermarket outing I am going to see if they have the new Hunts with the real sugar. Now if only Coca Cola would get their HFCS asses in gear! PepsiCo if you want to beat Coca Cola in Cola sales switch to real sugar and you got em!

I would rather pay more to have real sugar. If people can afford to eat less of these products it certainly won't kill them. Has anyone ever tried using a Soda Stream?

This looks so fun. I can't believe how popular this body painting and biking is. What I found is pretty heavy on the dudes but there are some girls too. I got them all from nakedriders.tumblr.com These are the best ones I found of the body painting.

Some of my favorite pics I wasn't able to upload, (e:paul). What would happen when I drop the image file is that it would go to a blank web page showing just the picture. When I would hit the back button, I would have to re-edit the journal in order to post. I'm not sure what is triggering it but I can send you the photos that were problems if you want.

I finally can check off that I rode my bike to the Falls. I can't believe it took me this long to do it. It is a super easy ride because it is so accessible from Buffalo. It was nice to be on the other side of the river. I spend so much time sitting on the US side. The Canadian side is, no surprise, cleaner.

I was hoping to find somewhere to swim along the way but I only saw some kids jumping off a bridge into a channel right before the Falls. Mike met me for lunch and we went to Kelsey's. The one downfall of biking to the Falls is that it is expensive to find something to eat because it is so touristy. It was also hard to deal with tourists in your way after biking for a couple of hours.

Going over the Peace Bridge was really scary for me and I actually messed it up. I went into the US customs check point by accident because I didn't read the sign and then after they said I had to cross the bridge I accidentally almost went onto the 190 on my bicycle! When I was half way across, I stopped and looked over at the mighty Niagara. It made me nauseous so I had to look away and continue on.

I saw this dead tree with all these great birds, which maybe someone on estrip can tell me what they are? These are the only photos I took.







Now that I know how easy it is to go to Canada, I might try and explore Fort Erie more. Did you know they have a dance club?!

....next journal KETCHUP

Wow, Paul. I can't believe how awesome the new uploader is. You are constantly innovating!



UPDATE

I had a gif file that I uploaded just to see if it would work and it did but I am taking it out cause it is getting on my nerves. I should find another one.

Look at how scary they made this prisoner control energy beam look like. They point it at prisoners using a joy stick and zap them causing their skin to burn. They say it only makes it feel like it is burning. This is just a bit sadistic in my book. When it gets to the point that we need laser wielding, sadistic, joy controlled robots to maintain control in prisons, it is maybe time to question if maybe there might be too many inmates?

LA authorities plan to use heat-beam ray in jail
AP


This image provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows an Assault Intervention Device (AID) at the Pitchess Detention Center's North AP – This image provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows an Assault Intervention Device …
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer Thomas Watkins, Associated Press Writer – Fri Aug 27, 12:50 am ET

LOS ANGELES – A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is "tantamount to torture."

The mechanism, known as an "Assault Intervention Device," is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Sheriff Lee Baca's decision in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel.

It is remotely controlled by an operator in a separate room who lines up targets with a joystick.

The ACLU said the weapon was "tantamount to torture," noting that early military versions resulted in five airmen suffering lasting burns. It requested a meeting with Baca, who declined the invitation.

The sheriff unveiled the device last week and said it would be installed in the dorm of a jail in north Los Angeles County. It is far less powerful than the military version and has various safeguards in place, including a three-second limit to each beam of heat.

The natural response when blasted — to leap out the way — would be helpful in bringing difficult inmates under control and quelling riots, the sheriff said.

But the sheriff was creating a dangerous environment with "a weapon that can cause serious injury that is being put into a place where there is a long history of abuse of prisoners," ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said. "That is a toxic combination."

Cmdr. Bob Osborne, who oversees technology for the sheriff's department, said the concerns were unfounded. He said he stood in front of the beam more than 50 times and that it never caused any sort of lasting damage.

"The neat thing with this device is you experience pain but you are not injured by it," Osborne said. "It doesn't injure your skin, the beam doesn't have the power to do that."

He said the device would be a more humane way of dealing with jail disturbances. Unlike hitting inmates with batons or deploying tear gas, a shot from the beam has no aftereffects, he said.

The device was made specifically for the sheriff's department by Raytheon Missile Systems. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said its $750,000 cost was paid for by a Department of Justice technology grant.

After a six-month trial, the sheriff will determine if the device is effective and if it should be deployed in other jails.

"When this pilot program is done, the realistic hope is it will accomplish not only what the sheriff's department wants but what the ACLU wants, which is to save lives harmlessly," Whitmore said.

A Raytheon spokesman on Thursday referred questions to the sheriff's department, but provided a fact sheet describing how the device only penetrates skin to a depth 1/64 of an inch. The military's version of the device can shoot a beam more than 800 feet but the sheriff's department model has a maximum range of 85 feet.

Angelica Arias, an attorney with the county's Office of Independent Review, which monitors the sheriff's department, said only deputies with special training would be able to use the device and a video would be automatically recorded each time it is operated.

"Based on the level of scrutiny the department has put on itself and its training, it doesn't appear there would be too much wiggle room for misuse," Arias said

I love this video especially this Hungarian version. So awesome. I want to sing it to all the homophobes I have to speak to on the phone as part of my job. It would be so satisfying.