I think that insentives to help get more people from canada to shop in Buffalo is a great idea. I hope that this idea is carried on for other things as well. I know the sabres have a night where Candian money is taken at Par and The Bandits Had a game like that last Season Vs. The Toronto Rock. I hear adds on the radio for travel packages to Toronto. It would be great if Buffalo did the same thing. I think mall shopping is great and gets people to spend money here and that is more tax money that goes to the government. But I think that is is even better for local places like Home of The hits, or Urban to get buisness also. I think that it could be done during the summer as well. I know in toronto they have trips to Fallsviewcasino. I think it would be great if we could get some of those people to shop in Buffalo or even in NF usa or go to a concert at the Dome Theartre. I know Musicals and Plays often go to Toronto First. But if Buffalo could get some of them to come here first we might be able to get more vistors to the area. Or if Shea's had lower cost tickets then Toronto then we might be able to get people to come see a play and do something else like go to the falls or a Sabres game or something. I think this could be the start of something great, we shall see. The article below from the Buffalo news is interesting and sounds promising.

Canadians offered $50 if they stay overnight to shop here
By MICHELLE KEARNS
News Business Reporter
10/21/2005

A new regional collaboration of hotels and shops will give away $50 shopping certificates to encourage more Canadians to come spend the night and spend more of their increasingly-valuable dollars on this side of the border.
"I thought, "What the heck, we'll give it a try,' " said Ed Vidler, president of Vidler's 5 & 10, a 75-year-old store in East Aurora known for its old-fashioned penny-candy charm. "I call 'em the bonus extra. They're wonderful to have."

Vidler came to downtown Buffalo Thursday to speak during the formal announcement of the new $20,000 "Shopping is Hopping in Buffalo" effort, organized by the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The campaign will be promoted on the Toronto CHUM-FM radio station and by the local WNED public television station, which broadcasts to Canada, in hopes of selling 500 packages before the deal ends in March.

The $50 certificate is given with a hotel booking and works in the local shopping districts of East Aurora, Buffalo's Elmwood Village and Williamsville's Main Street and three of the area malls: Eastern Hills, Walden Galleria and McKinley Mall.

Next year, the bureau plans a second campaign to sell people in Southern Ontario on the idea of making a trip for the Frank Lloyd Wright houses and the other local art, architecture and culture features.

"We think that's a prime market for us," said Edward Healy, director of communications for the bureau.

Already the Walden Galleria reports that more cars with Canadian license plates have been appearing in the parking lot - 15 to 20 percent, compared to 8 to 12 percent a few years ago.

One hotelier, of Cheektowaga's Sleep Inn, called travel agents offering the new deal and got 14 bookings at $110 a night for November, an attractive month for its traditional "Black Friday" sales day after Thanksgiving.

For Torontonian Jamie Patterson, shopping in the Buffalo-area is an easy draw. His dollars are now worth about 85 cents to the American dollar compared to 60 cents of a few years ago.

As the man in charge of travel and retail marketing for the 1.5 million Ontario members of the Canadian Automobile Association, Patterson came to Buffalo and spoke at the WNED-TV studio in support of the new package.

After it was over he walked out to his car and talked about how he found a pair of Kenneth Cole pants for $40 at the Walden Galleria. He did a rough approximation of the cost and savings and said at home the pants would have been $70 in Canadian. Patterson had also been eyeing $85 watches that would have cost about $115 at home.

The selection seems better, too, he said. The Galleria says it has 76 stores, out of 211, that are unique to Buffalo.

"It just makes good sense," Patterson said of crossing the border to shop. "It's a nice trip."


e-mail: mkearns@buffnews.com

I'm fealing a little down or something today. Maybe it is because I feel asleep Before South Park and also Over There. That could be a factor not sure really. I did get to see Inked and e-ring wich are both good shows. I think South Park is replayed tonight. The sabres will be on soon, so that should be fun assuming I can stay awake for the entire game. It will be better if they win ofcours or at least have a great game. Right Now I'm listing to a "Halford" CD I burned it from someone at work.

]I admit that this article I read in the Buffalo news was interesting today. I don't know when the first part was in the paper maybe yesterday and I missed it I don't know. I find it interesting how someone can start out doing something that is ok then how they can sprial out of control or cross that line that they shouldn't cross. I don't think that there is anything wrong with porn. I think that as long as the people who partake in it do it of there own free will then it is fine. I know some may say it is wrong but there is a need for it and aslong as it dosn't hurt anyone else then it is fine. I try not to judge what kind of porn or sex differant people like, some of it may seem a little odd to me. But I'm sure plain sex seems odd to to People who swing and are part of the BDSM life style. This is a story of the dangerous sides of porn. I don't belive that porn is evil or harmfull. But it can do damage like anything can if you do to much of it, but that isn't porn's fault. That is the fault of the people who do it. I think it is good for people who do enjoy it to read this so they know that they may cross a line that they don't want to cross without knowing it. Maybe it will help others. From my understanding of the article that is why this guy was willing to talk about it. I think this article is and what I'm writing about is more about sex then it is porn so that is why a picked sex as the catogory. It could really be either one it was a close call but I think sex is a better fit

FOCUS: PORNOGRAPHY
'I had become a monster'

---

Former teacher in prison for child pornography discusses his obsession and the nightmare it caused
Second of two parts


By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
10/18/2005


Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
"I was addicted to it like people get addicted to cocaine or alcohol . . ." said Jeffrey Hart about child pornography. Hart is a former Town of Tonawanda teacher serving time in a federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Looking back, Jeffrey E. Hart says he is thankful the FBI caught him.
"The day they arrested me, I realized what I had become," he said, "a monster."

Hart, 28, a former teacher who is now a federal prisoner, blames only himself for his fall into the dark and sleazy world of Internet child pornography.

His obsession with child porn resulted in his arrest, the loss of his job and the 57-month term he is serving in a federal prison for sex offenders in South Carolina.

Hart wishes he could go back to the spring of 2001, when he got bored looking at adult pornography and began to seek out images of naked young girls.

He wishes he had looked for psychiatric help before his curiosity became an obsession that turned his life upside down.

"The first few times I saw child porn, I was totally disgusted," Hart told The Buffalo News. "I couldn't click off of it fast enough. But after a while, it became an escape for me. I was addicted to it like people get addicted to cocaine or alcohol . . . I thank God they stopped me when they did."

Hart was arrested in June 2004, when members of an FBI cyber crimes task force showed up at his mother's home in the Town of Tonawanda. He immediately confessed to possessing child pornography and later pleaded guilty to a single felony charge.

Hart was never accused of molesting children, and he insists he never felt the urge to do so. But his conviction made him a registered state sex offender and forced him to resign his job as an elementary and middle school art teacher in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda school system. As a convicted felon, he can never teach again.

Losing a job was nothing compared with the pain he caused his mother, father, brother and other family members, Hart said.

"I don't feel bad for myself, but for them," he said. "Knowing how this devastated my family is a pain that is with me all the time, even when I'm asleep."

Hart said he agreed to tell his story publicly because he hopes other men will read it, learn from his mistakes and get psychiatric help.

The introspective ex-teacher is one of a growing number of men throughout the nation prosecuted for viewing and trading child porn images on the Internet. The number of federal prosecutions for such crimes has skyrocketed - from just 366 in fiscal year 1995 to more than 1,550 so far this year.

At least 200,000 child porn Web sites exist, according to Innocence in Danger, a non-profit international group that fights child exploitation. The group estimates that, worldwide, one million children each year are forced into the "commercial sex industry."

Violators caught in Western New York have included several other teachers, a priest, at least two politicians, a police officer, a youth hockey coach and a retired judge. Most cases involve men like Hart, who download images and trade them with others.

The worst local incidents involve men who transmitted images of themselves molesting toddlers or young children - in some cases, their own children or grandchildren.

Why are so many American men willing to risk their freedom, their reputations and family relationships to look at sex images of children?

The men who get involved generally fall into two groups, according to Dr. David G. Heffler, an Orchard Park psychologist who counsels sex offenders.

One group is made up of hard-core pedophiles who look at child porn to indulge their fantasies and who sometimes use the Internet to contact children and teens whom they hope to molest.

The larger group - which includes Hart - consists of men who start out as Internet porn thrill-seekers and wind up in big trouble.

"If the public knew how many men in this community are looking at Internet pornography, day after day, people would be shocked," Heffler said. "A lot of these men start looking at adult porn. The Internet makes it so easy, it becomes a habitual thing. Some actually become addicted to the chemical response that their arousal from pornography releases into the brain."

After a while, for some men, adult porn becomes too routine, Heffler said. They start looking at images of teenage girls. Then, some move toward images of children.

"Part of the nature of man is that he's attracted to things that are considered taboo by society," Heffler said. "I've interviewed men who said they never intended to look at children, but once they did, they were drawn to it, again and again."

Heffler considers all pornography to be bad for society.

"Once a man starts looking at pornography and looking at women as sex objects, less than human, he's on a slippery slope," he said. "He could start looking at kids that way."

Never underestimate the damage that child porn causes for the children who are forced to take part in it, said Elizabeth R. Donatello. She is a prosecutor with the Niagara County district attorney's office who specializes in sex offender cases.

"If you're looking at this material, children are being raped and molested for your entertainment," she said. ""For the victims, it's always on their mind that their pictures are being circulated all over the world."





Forbidden territory

An honor student in the Sweet Home school system, Hart began looking at Playboy magazines at age 12 and adult porn videos as a teenager. In his early 20s, Hart realized that the Internet opened up a whole new world of porn. All he had to do was sit in his room and turn on his computer. "It was easier to get porn than a pack of cigarettes," he said.

Hart kept pushing the envelope, looking for the edgiest adult entertainment he could find. He found Web sites offering pictures of nude teenage girls and started looking at them.

And then, children.

At first, the images repulsed him. Later, he couldn't get enough.

Over the next three years, Hart gradually focused more and more on images of children. Some were posing nude. Others were being molested by adults.

Visibly embarrassed, Hart struggled for words as he tried to explain his attraction to such material.

"At the time, I had some personal demons that I had no way to deal with . . . I was spending a lot of time on the Internet," he said.

"There's a rush you get from doing something that is forbidden. That's part of the attraction. I was being extremely selfish. Pornography is all about a quick fix. Looking at those images makes you feel like you are in control of others . . . My mistake was, I didn't see children there. All I saw was pictures."





Getting caught

By May 2004, Hart had a steady girlfriend and a good job. According to school officials, he was doing excellent work, and there were never complaints about his conduct. But at home, he was looking at child porn almost every day. He stored images in his hard drive and used the Internet to trade them with other men he met through child porn Web sites.

One of those men turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. Hart e-mailed the man seven images of a nude preteen girl.

At 7 a.m. on June 29, 2004, eight federal agents came to Hart's mother's home with a warrant, authorizing them to seize Hart's computer. "My mother woke me up. Two agents came into my room to talk to me," Hart recalled. "They showed me a transcript of me e-mailing back and forth with the undercover agent.

Weeks earlier, while describing the kind of pictures he was looking for, Hart had told the undercover agent, "The nastier, the better."

"When I saw that transcript," Hart said, "that's when I realized what kind of monster I'd become."

Hart's arrest made local headlines. "For five days after the arrest, I just sat in my room, staring at the wall, drinking coffee," he said. "I didn't sleep. I didn't eat. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't even listen to music during that time.

"For the next five months, the family and friends who stood by me had to tell me when to eat, when to wake up, when to go to bed, when to take a walk. I couldn't function."

The support of his family and counseling sessions with Heffler have helped Hart - not only to move on with his life, but to recognize the pain his actions caused others.

Not everyone was forgiving and supportive. A few friends dumped him altogether. One told him bluntly, "I can't be your friend anymore."





Not a victimless crime


In the months since his arrest, Hart said, he has come to realize that the children in the images he was viewing were victims of vicious and degrading crimes.

"Morally, I consider myself a sex offender," he said. "Yes, there were other people molesting these kids, but I was taking gratification from it. I was helping to create the market for it. I feel like I have blood on my hands."

None of the thrills he got from child porn were worth what he lost, Hart said. His hope is that men who are looking at child pornography now will learn from his mistakes and get help. Here is what he would tell others looking at child pornography now:

"There's no such thing as a victimless crime, when it comes to children. Before I got arrested, I was becoming aware that I had a problem. I tried to stop a couple of times. I couldn't. If you're trying to fight it yourself, get some psychiatric counseling."

What will Hart do after his prison term?

"I'm not even thinking right now in terms of an occupation," he said. "I'm going to do everything I can to make this up to the people I hurt."


e-mail: dherbeck@buffnews,com

First a little off topic I watched "Elephant" the other nite on tape. It is about one of those hishschool shootings I belive Columbine. With out giving to much away the story was told in differant way it showed each character and what they did that day. Sometimes they where in focus and everything not dealing with them was blurry. Someone might go bye in the background then later you saw there day and saw how they saw the people they walked past. The way it was shot was interesting. Was it violant yes but it to be honest the shooting was the smallest part of the movie. But on to my point. TONIGHT NEW SOUTH PARK and DRAWN TOGATHER are on comedy central. I know some people don't watch much TV but I would highly recomend these two shows if you are going to watch something. Drawntogather is a a Drawn Reality show like The Real World, Big Brother, or The Surreal life. But all the Cartoon Characters are sterotypes. Well except the pissed off pig. You have the fat black and white sex sybol who cuts her self and eats a lot looks like betty Boob. Then there is the Black Heroin, Foxy Cleopatra. Then there is a superman like Character. Xandr is like from a video game and is on a never ending quest to save his girlfriend, but it turns out he is gay. I forgot about the Racist Snowwhite Cinderella type I guess you would call her "when she sings woodland creatures apper. It really is a funny show and is kinda out there. I guess in tonights episode they have to find a new roomate. I hope it is funny tonight. South Park is new. From what I've read online it sounds like it is ripping on "The Day after tommarow" It should be awesome. I have included a couple pics I got from the comedycentral website.

Drawn Togather


South Park

I have to admit that I'm verry surprised that The Patriots lost and with the Buffalo Win we are tied for first place. I thought that if Losman played to his ablity we would have a good year but that we wouldn't make the playoffs. I admit it is still early in the season but so far the NFL is looking like the entrie season is going to be verry interesting in dead. My raiders are biting bad interms of there record but what ya gona do. Monday Night Bikini football at Guido's on Chipewa sound awesome. It also sounds like a great way to get brought up on sexual haresement or assult charges to. I have also heard a couple adds for some strip club where they show football. I think watching Football with the Jills and Bikini Bar tenders would be so distracting wich one do you watch. But stripers that would be almost impossibe I wonder if they Have TV where they give private dances. I know there are some clubs in the falls where you can get BJ and Finger the girls from what I have been told I wonder if that is the same place or same girls I doubt it. In any event I think Hot girls and Football are a good mix but forget about work the next day. Go Bills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!