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2006-11-14 - 12:27 p.m.
News Bytes People do stupid things. Check your newspaper. Daily headlines are a testament to the ridiculous behaviors of the human animal. From hundreds of absurd articles, I’ve selected three; all three give an account of an incident about something near and dear to me: freedom of speech, coffee and dogs. Steve Howards, 54, and his wife were walking their son to piano practice in Beaver Creek, Colo., and were surprised to see Vice President Dick Cheney on the street chatting with citizens.
"Many of us fantasize what we would do if we had the opportunity to really tell Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney how we feel," Howards said, so as he passed by he told Cheney, "I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible."
After dropping off his son, a Secret Service agent approached Howards and asked, "Did you assault the vice president?"
Howards said no, and made it clear he didn't even attempt to touch Cheney. "If this had happened, I would think if they were doing their job, I would have been face-down in the concrete five or 10 minutes earlier," he said later.
Still, he was handcuffed and jailed, with the Secret Service demanding he be charged with harassment. The Eagle County District Attorney dropped the charge. Howards has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Secret Service agent Virgil D. Reichle Jr. with civil rights violations.
Rocky Mountain News Dick Cheney's America: where exercising one's rights has become an act of courage.
This is True by Randy Cassingham Stopping at the java store is a part of my morning ritual. I may be stumbling and mumbling and befuddled in the early morning hours, but I have never considered driving through to pick up my caffeinated fuel with an exposed behind.
From The (Spokane) Spokesman Review: “I'm very sorry,” coffee-stand exposer Garry Harding, Bend, OR, told judge, victims and families during his October 30th sentencing. A judge later ordered the release of the man who admitted to driving through several coffee-stand and restaurant drive-thrus naked from the waist down, but also ordered sex-offender and mental health treatment, along with other probation conditions.
When it comes to dogs, I’m a push over. My girls are my fur babies, and I’ve done an admirable job of spoiling them. They share my bed, they share my dinner, I have long, intelligent conversations with them and I dress them warm in the winter. I draw the line, however, when it comes to letting them drive my car. In August, Chinese state media said a Chinese woman's attempt to teach her dog how to drive proved a costly error, as her car crashed into an oncoming vehicle.
Xinhua news agency reported no one - including the dog - was injured, but both vehicles were slightly damaged.
Xinhua said the accident happened in the city of Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region.
The woman, surnamed Li, had noticed how fond the dog was of crouching on the wheel, and thought it should have a go at steering the car.
While the dog controlled the wheel, she operated the accelerator and the brake.
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