I also agree as I was involved in a TA 6 or 7 years ago (my fault) and the officer claimed he smelled alchohol on my breath. I think he smelled the candy I had and was doing some slick detecting. Anyway, I told him, honestly, I drank 2 or 3 beers with a mexican meal a couple of hours ago. I complied with his request of a breathalizer (sic?) test and blew a 0.00!
Three glasses of wine (which is usually around 5% or so alchohol) ain't cuttin' it. If the test resulted in a 0.135 a whole lot more of something had to have been consumed.
I also feel as someone else stated the letters replying to this only make her look more guilty.

"The memories of a man in his old age, are the deeds of a man in his prime.You shuffle in the gloom of the sick room,and talk to yourself as you die."
(R. Waters)

You are correct Sir. She would have blown little to nothing if she would have had three glasses of wine in four hours.

I think that's what bothers me the most about the 'I didn't do what you think I did letter'.

The failure of a role model for teachers and students to be honest and accept responsibility is an ugly thing at best. Since I do not have kids at Whitewater High School I do not have to worry about the personal experience of them seeing her in the hallways and thinking they too can do the same thing and get a free pass. It's not my problem other than yet another shot in the eye for the school system and local community.

The good news is, the guest speaker at McIntosh's graduation and John DeCotis will decide what happens next and I am sure she will be treated fairly.

I do not think teachers (or administrators) should be fired for a DUI but I think you may need to consider a transfer for her if you wish to head off problems with the faculty and students.

Pink Floyd, Atlanta Stadium, June 1975, Dark Side of the Moon Concert - it was the best ever. I was there (but I didn't drive home.)

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I actually believe she only had 3 glasses of wine. I'm not a doctor, but if she is not a regular drinker, 3 glasses was probably too much.

The more you drink the more efficient your liver gets at metabolizing the alcohol. For example our fine mayor and city manager could knock back double that and still pass a sobriety test. A person who rarely or never drinks would put their liver into a tailspin with just 2 drinks let alone 3.

This is whole story is sad.

The liver doesn't metabolize alcohol "better" if the person is a hardcore alcoholic. At some point, it will actually cease to metabolize alcohol properly. It also doesn't affect your blood alcohol content that much as even the best functioning liver can only process a small amount of alcohol per hour.

You're confusing the liver with how the brain learns to react to alcohol which is highly different between a social or rare drinker and an alcoholic.Still, just because a heavy drinker may appear "fine" after 10 drinks and the rare drinker totally wasted after 2 beers, the alcoholic's blood alcohol level will still show the obvious: they are legally drunk.

As far as the rumor you say all the time about Logsdon being a drunk and getting wasted at the y-knot, where is the evidence of that?????

NUK

Thanks for the clarification.

The stories about harold and company come from his neighbors. You are correct they are just rumors....I don't hang out in bars so I can't verify any of it. I will say that if even half of the stories are true, it's sad.

You are right on the money today nuk. Looks like you took the research challenge or already understand how alcohol works in the body.

So, what does that say about someone who continues to lie to us, the police and her husband about how much they had to drink?

Hummmm..... what say you?

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I'll drink to that!

I don't know anything beyond what is happening right here and now with Mrs. Pina, but it was actually her husband that posted the 3 drink bit, not her. Of course, he said she said that's what she said and blah blah blah. I kind of got the feeling the Mrs. was trying to apologize but couldn't quite get it out right. Too much rationalization and self-justification that is irrelevant. She's better not saying anything until reflecting a lot more on the situation after some time has passed.

I know some are going to say she should lose her job over this, but I don't agree. Unless her lack of a license means she cannot perform her job duties at Whitewater, I don't see where the school should terminate her employment. This was definitely not a work-related offense and unless this is an issue that has been addressed with her prior to the recent arrest, I don't see why she should lose her job. A reasonable employer would likely ask her if there is anything they can do for her, if she wants some help, etc. but firing her? Excessive to me and unrelated to her job performance.

I don't know about any of the prior rumors and all that stuff and I'm not going to speculate on the accuracy of them. Since judges usually make part of the offender's sentence attendance at AA meetings for a while, if she does in fact have a problem(besides this obvious DUI problem), maybe she can get the help she needs. If she doesn't have a problem, I'm sure she will have learned a valuable lesson in all of this and likely will think more carefully in the future. But, that's no guarantee either. Alcohol impairs judgment and people who know better can sometimes repeat the same mistakes again.

NUK

Do you think the teenagers will call her Ms. Pina-Colada? And do you think that she will be a distraction or a good lesson for them?

I think it's unfortunate that this has happened. I am also thankful that we do not read about this more often. As many teachers as there are, and they too are 'people', I am surprised that we do not see it more frequently. Kudos to the remainder of the local professionals for showing maturity and moderation.

Whatever happens, I do not blame the police, the newspaper, or the school system. At the ripe old age of 50, one needs to show some restraint when partying. She should have called the supportive Mr. Pina to come get her from the restaurant.

Also, the Officer that "thought" she was driving on the road - but she was 'lost' even though she was across the street from McIntosh - where she used to work? I don't know nuk - all I do know is that it's bad for the kids - hers, yours, mine, and ours.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Guess there is no room left for error or a mistake in calabration. On anyside - Must be nice to have that ability to judge, convict and sentence from a newspaper article. Go for her juggler while she's still breathing. It's lonely at the top.

Did I miss a suggestion that we hang the administrator or are you just exaggerating to bring a red herring in to the discussion?

What, if any, action do you believe is appropriate for a High School administrator busted for DUI in the local community while working for the local system?

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

They did claim three drinks and not four. Regardless, she had more than that if she drank for four hours. Research it and you will be able to calculate it yourself.

If she was 21 and made this mistake that's one thing.

I feel for her family.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

What I was trying to say is this woman over estimated her livers ability to keep up.

She obviously is not a reguar drinker or 3 glasses would not have done her in. After 4 hours she should have blown close to zero.

It is a matter of knowing your personal limit.

You are fine. You were in a golf cart (as you will see in my posts), you were not in a vehicle. They are doing a witch hunt. Next week it will be some one else. Heck, it could be me.

In one of my posts, I mention, The Citizen, do not give me so many details about DUI golf carts. Tell me and give me addresses of all the sexual preditors in the county??????? That's where I have an issue. And we all should.

A witch hunt? Are the Peachtree City police tracking down educators and framing them for crimes they didn't commit? As for the suggestion that you could be next, if you drink and operate a vehicle (yes, a golf cart is most certainly a vehicle and has the potential to harm or kill) I hope you are.

As for wanting to know the location of predators (a perfectly legitimate request, although I hardly see its relevence to the topic at hand), you can search for them by zip code at http://www.familywatchdog.us/

"You were in a golf cart (as you will see in my posts), you were not in a vehicle."

Here in PTC a golfcart is legally a "vehicle".

My Daughter forwarded this to me and I was absolutely horrified! Personally I thought the letter by both she and her Husband was patently pathetic. In fact I damn near vomited. “I was just crossing the road, Oh poor little old me" "I have worked so hard" "I am such a good person" "I am so smart with my 4.0 GPA) Oh shut up!!!!!

I don’t need to wait for the court outcome, you blew .135!!! and refused to blow the more accurate breathalyzer! By this one insanely dangerous act you have now forfeited the right/privilege of educating my children. This grown Woman is one of those idiot people that was probably doted on by her overbearing parents while growing up. She was no doubt thought to believe she was a princess and could do no wrong. She probably never got disciplined for anything, because in her parents mind and now hers, she does no wrong. Now she is well into adulthood and still thinks the same. My thinking is that this is a mental aberration that approaches a small degree of mental retardation. She desperately needs help. She may be 50 years old, but I don't think it's too late to administer a beating, maybe then she'll understand the true meaning of cause and effect. This exercise will also probably result in her not ever even thinking of doing it again. So there's my solution, bring the school assembly, faculty and student body, out to the front of the building where she, in full view of this throng of people will be publicly flogged for her unbelievable stupidity. Only then would she be able to retain her job with the warning of forever losing her position should she ever transgress again. Obviously I say the aforementioned in jest; however you may now understand my outrage

You know what? I too am 50 years old and I too would love to throw caution to the wind, however I don't because that is the responsible thing to do. I can't put me or my family in jeopardy. Every person walking this earth needs to know the difference between right and wrong, there is no grey area in this regard. It is the responsibility of the parents to teach this, in addition, and equally as important, our educators to supply the same. The rest is up to the individual and hopefully common sense. This piece of work Woman is an educator and a role model. She ought to get off her what is fast becoming a typical hypocritical American self centered, sentimental, sanctimonious, self righteous high horse and do the honorable thing and simply quit!!!

I am sure this Woman lives her life with the saying that comes to mind "Do as I say and not as I do"

With all due respect. please do not blame others ('few strokes of a keyboard') for your decision to drink and drive. As a senior administrator in a high school, what kind of an example have you established for kids who may get behind the wheel thinking, "well, Mrs. So and So did it! So can I!!"

There are thousands upon thousands of folks working many jobs to make their kids lives better -- but, are not driving and drinking!

Own up to your mistakes like an adult; take your medicine; and quit playing the role of a victim! You are setting a very poor example for kids of the 21st Century!

As an educator, shouldn't you support the right to free speech and the press? You are in a position of respect and as a community leader you are in the public eye. Like it or not, that means you must hold yourself to higher standards. I'm not suggesting you sequester yourself at home or have no life outside of school, but act responsibly. Have a designated driver or don't drink. Most of all, don't condemn those who wish to share facts. Perhaps they didn't report all sides of the story, but the fact remains that you were arrested for something that shows you to be a poor role model.

Am I the only one sick of all the excuses people make when they screw up? Just say you screwed up - or better yet, don't say anything at all!

Here are my comments all edited neatly for you Maryannpina:

"I was never contacted by the Citizen nor allowed to make a comment." (This is not a trial, this is a newspaper report that you received a DUI. Is this false reporting? Excuse one.)

“What happened the other night was a sad series of events which has led me to write this today.” (A sad series of events? Like”… three glasses of wine in over four hours”? Excuse two)

“I don't think that the article really said much about who I am, so let me tell you.” (Let me take a wild guess, Mary Ann Pina, Peachtree City, and an Assistant Principal at Whitewater High School. Excuse three)

“It saddens me to think that all this could be lost with a few strokes of a keyboard.” (It won’t be, it will be from the DUI you received Sunday morning- unless you are going to be arrested for the whole cyber thing next!? Excuse four.)

“I love Whitewater High School and am embarassed by the publicity that my actions have caused them and the Fayette County Schools.” (You misspelled ‘embarassed’ it should be ‘embarrassed’, I bet that’s embarrassing. Is that an apology?) Go Wildcats!

“I have three chidren,” (I assume you mean ‘Children’?)
“Many of you have children and know what it means to want to protect them.” (You mean from adults that party and drive drunk or teachers that can’t spell? Not helping your cause here Mary Ann.)

“Yet bigger than life on the front page they have to read about their mom.” (Uh, is that Jim Murray’s fault or would that be John Munford’s fault? Maybe Cal? Certainly not YOURS. Excuse five or so. I'm a victim 2.)

“How many other people who were arrested were put on such a public display? (Is that a trick question?” (How about every administrator in the county who has been arrested is front page news. I'm a victim 3, excuse 6 or so.)

“… if at any moment in time I thought that I was unfit to drive my golfcart home I would not have done so.” (How many drinks did you REALLY have? Excuse 7.)

“Please know that I take this situation very seriously, I feel that I never put myself or anyone else in harms way.” (It’s a good thing no kids were driving by and dodging your cart and hitting one of those killer trees in PTC! Excuse 8.)

“It is difficult to even leave my house because of the shame I feel.” (That’s called a ‘conscious’. victim 4 or so.)

“They say that this too shall pass, but for me and for my family it has left an indullible (do you mean ‘indelible’ – a 4.0 average huh?) mark on all of us.” Yes, now I have to explain your actions to my daughter - the one who was grounded and lost her car for drinking on her 18th birthday. The one who says ‘everybody in High School drinks”. Victim 5 or so.)

“I ask you not to judge me but to remember all the times that it could have been you.” (What? Me? Huh? Insult 1, Excuse 9, Victim 5.)

“Anyway, I hope that this helps you to see me as the person that I am, much like the rest of my neighbors here in Peachtree City.” (Are you telling us that your neighbors all drink and drive? Insult 2, Excuse 10, Victim 6 or so.

“I pray that you never have to see your name in the headlines.” (Yea, me too! I'm a compassionate girl- you should be one too!)

You are the same Ms. V_____o from McIntosh - that married the basketball coach right? I know you, you are not a victim and I have no sympathy for you.

________________________________________________________________________
Ground Zero - What Radical Islam Wants for You and Your Family

(That’s called a ‘conscious’. victim 4 or so.)

*snicker* Actually it's called a "conscience"...was this a 'conscious' error?

Really, you should spellcheck your own work, particularly if you're gonna rag someone about their own spelling.

You seem to have quite a personal grudge against this woman. Did she cut your kid off the basketball team or something?

______________________________________________
Sunlight causes cancer. I don't plan on living underground like some on here. -Bad PTC, responding to a typical "The Sky is Falling!" post from Denise Connor

Spell-check will not catch homonym errors (words that sound alike). That's why there are so many misuses of "its" & "it's" / "they're" & "there" & "their /"your" & "you're."

It's = it is or it has / its = possessive

The airline must cancel its early flight to New York because it's snowing.

They're = they are / their = possessive / there = adverb (at or in that place)

They're standing over there because their seats were taken.

Nonstandard: No one is sitting at that there table. Them there beans ought to be picked.

You're = you are / your = possessive

You're not spelling all of your words correctly if you're relying on your Spell-checker.

_____________________________

Spell-check will not catch words that are spelled correctly but used improperly, such as "conscious" and "conscience."

How ironic that Basmati (who once pictured himself as Jiminy Cricket) notices the word conscience!

Conscience (noun) -- The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong: Let your conscience be your guide.

Etymology of conscious (adjective), meaning perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation: Latin conscius, from com- (with, together) + scire (science = to know, knowledge)

Conscience, meaning to be conscious of guilt, also has the same etymology: from Latin conscientia

In the history of ethics, the conscience has been looked upon as the will of a Divine Power [i.e., GOD] expressing itself in man's judgments, an innate sense of right and wrong resulting from man's being created in the image of God.

_____________________________

Jiminy & Pinocchio sing “Give A Little Whistle”

When you get in trouble and
You don't know right from wrong
Give a little whistle
Give a little whistle

When you meet temptation and
The urge is very strong . . .

Take the straight and narrow path
And if you start to slide . . .
And always let your conscience be your guide

Take the straight and narrow path
And if you start to slide
Give a little whistle
Give a little whistle

And always let your conscience be your guide

And always let your conscience be your guide

_____________________________

And, for cultural variety: Pinocchio's "I've Got No Strings" in Arabic

Video clip of Pinocchio's reckless driving that grabs the attention of one of Mayor Scamboli's law enforcements, a Scambocop

_____________________________

"Really, you should spellcheck your own work, particularly if you're gonna [sic] rag someone about their [sic] own spelling." -- Actually, with someone as the antecedent, the pronoun should be his.

"Denise Connor" should be Conner.

Hopefully, you will be more conscious of your spelling and grammar now.

But I wouldn't recommend that you "let your conscience be your guide"!

You do need Jim's help!

I'll be here, too, to remind you of the "straight and narrow" since you say that "there are no absolutes in the world."

_____________________________

"A good conscience is to the soul what health is to the body; it preserves constant ease and serenity within us; and more than countervails all the calamities and afflictions which can befall us from without." - Joseph Addison (English essayist, poet, and statesman)

"The conscience is the most flexible material in the world. Today you cannot stretch it over a mole hill; while tomorrow it can hide a mountain." - Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

"A man's conscience, like a warning line on the highway, tells him what he shouldn't do -- but it does not keep him from doing it." - Frank A. Clark

"Conscience is thoroughly well-bred and soon leaves off talking to those who do not wish to hear it." - Samuel Butler (English novelist and essayist)

"A blind man knows he cannot see, and is glad to be led, though it be by a dog; but he that is blind in his understanding, which is the worst blindness of all, believes he sees as the best, and scorns a guide." - Samuel Butler

In this snake-pit of anonymous cheap shots and ridicule, Denise, you always seem to have a little class, so this is for you:

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

author unknown

Thanks!

From “Improving Communication from the Federal Government to the Public,” "Funny Headlines"

• Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
• Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
• Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
• Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax
• Farmer Bill Dies in House
• British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands
• Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
• Miners Refuse to Work after Death
• Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
• War Dims Hope for Peace
• If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
• Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
• Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
• Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
• Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
• New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
• Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
• Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
• Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
• Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
• Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
• Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

See also "How to Write Good" and
"Nine Easy Steps to Longer Sentences."

Actually, she is experiencing opprobrium or ignominy. Hey, I'm just saying.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I told you that Republicans don't like my stance on abortion or religion. She's mad at me too (put a good word in for me).

I'm the conservative around here for crying out loud!

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Take some frindly advice an spel chek your work too. Aktually, we are a bit moor fogeving on blogs than we would be on a formal paper so you can relax. Uther than that I loved the blog. As always - whitty and sobering (no pun intended). by the way - don't worry about basmati - he mispels with the best of um - just ask his girlfriend Denise.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I didn't respond to yours so you could edit that - the "babble on" is good but the rest - don't go there man. Over-da-top man-Please.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

grumble grumble take all the fun out of blogging grumble grumble

(You gotta admit it was pretty apt!)

______________________________________________
Sunlight causes cancer. I don't plan on living underground like some on here. -Bad PTC, responding to a typical "The Sky is Falling!" post from Denise Connor

Sorry that you lost a little of your fun!

Your "stalker buddy,"

The "Whore of Babble-On"

I've come up in the world from swine and cockroaches.

You do mean "the mother of harlots," Babylon, don't you?

(Rev. 17:6) And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Perhaps you have our roles reversed here.

Penguin got you. But the evidence is gone. ((It's a Sandy Berger moment. Ha!))

Come on both of you are wrong sometimes but you are both smart and both write well and both of you are smarter than me.

So when are you going to log in on what should be done, if anything, about the administrator with the DUI?

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Bas/MAV isn't fast enough for me and my "choir of hyenas."

Thanks for looking out for me.

My stalker buddy Denise appears to have made it her life's work to spell check my collected works. I think she finds it empowering to find a typo in my replies.
______________________________________________
Sunlight causes cancer. I don't plan on living underground like some on here. -Bad PTC, responding to a typical "The Sky is Falling!" post from Denise Connor

The "whore of babble-on" (as you originally posted) is Delightful Denise, remember?

Calling me a whore (sexually promiscuous, a prostitute, hooker, streetwalker, hussy, scarlet woman, "lady of the night") -- Is that a Freudian slip?

Maybe you meant 'Ho?

"lady of the night" -- I've noticed that you're posting during the middle of the night recently. Hoping that our paths will cross?

My talk or writing is certainly not meaningless or confused. Perhaps you were thinking of $? Actually, he said something recently about admitting guilt and apologizing. Maybe you should listen to him.

So now I'm your "buddy"? ROFL

The one that you call cockroach, crone, nerd, slimebuddy, swine, bottom feeding scum, ghoul, Christianist, Christianist Cockroach liar, amoral gutterslug, Denazi, right wingnut, fascist, dense, ignorant, unctuous pecksniff, ** Unfit mother and bottom-feeding scumbucket ** ???

A "stalker buddy" -- now, that's an oxymoron! That would be like my calling you "my good friend"!

I don't have enough hours in the day to spell-check (and critique) your "collected works"! Are you publishing your posts in a Blogging for Dummies book?

My "life's work" -- Wouldn't you like to know?

"Empowering," no. Entertaining, yes!

___________________________

Good, better, best; never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best.

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better. - Pat Riley

It is what we do easily and what we like to do that we do well. - Orison Swett Marden

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude. - Ralph Marston

Excellence can be obtained if you
...care more than others think is wise;
...risk more than others think is safe;
...dream more than others think is practical;
...expect more than others think is possible.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character. - T. Alan Armstrong

Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come. - Rick Pitino

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. - Henry Ward Beecher

I'm still mad about you stirring the pot with Hutch and me.

'He' would have banned it anyway (he's everywhere you know).

I assume you REALLY do know that dinosaurs did not coexist with man ... and you have a 'tongue in cheek' moniker, right bas?

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

According to Pentapenguin's Homeskooling your kids for Dummies book, Adam and Eve rode Stegosauruses to Church on Sunday. Noah led them two by two onto the Ark.

Do you know why T-Rex's teeth were so sharp? Because his diet was mainly watermelons and coconuts! If you'd open a Bible from time to time, Mister, I wouldn't have to explain all this to you!

______________________________________________
Sunlight causes cancer. I don't plan on living underground like some on here. -Bad PTC, responding to a typical "The Sky is Falling!" post from Denise Connor

Evening, Ms. Fredi Phelps.

How are we tonight? Killed some babies (through abortion) recently?

According to Pentapenguin's Homeskooling your kids for Dummies

Hmm...let's look back on some of her posts.

Ms. Fredi has a good vocabulary. She calls me "amoral" but hasn't a clue as to what it means. I have VERY strong opinions on right and wrong. (And proud of them too!) Glad that government education is working.

She must have done well on her book reports because she is such a good researcher too! (Not!)

Based on some of her comments, I'm guessing she's a 50 or 60 year old hippie feminazi who taught in the government schools after leaving her regular job at an abortion mill. That would explain her hatred of those who disagree with her on abortion and homeschooling. So am I close, Ms. Fredi?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get Firefox for a better, safer, and more enjoyable web browsing experience!

Do you know why T-Rex's teeth were so sharp?

This is a subject for another blog but your reasoning leaves much to be desired.

A fruit bat has very sharp teeth, but doesn't eat meat. T-Rex's teeth are fine whatever he ate - your logic needs sharping.

Awesome teeth of the fruit bat, also known as a flying fox

Straw-colored Fruit Bat Skull -- Fruit bats consume fruit and flowers. These bats usually suck on the flowers and fruit; then swallow the nectar or juice and spit out the remaining pulp.

Giant Leaf-nosed Bat that specializes in hunting insects

Common Vampire Bat and Skull Showing Teeth

The Jamaican or Mexican Fruit Bat

Habitat and natural range: Native to central Mexico to Bolivia, Mexican fruit bats now prefer the fruitiness of the U.S., especially the D.C. area.

Now, for the culinary-minded world traveler . . .

Tourists from around the world come to Palau (an archipelago comprised several hundred volcanic islands, located southwest of Guam, southeast of the Philippines, and north of Papua New Guinea) for the incredible scuba diving and tasty fruit bats.

"Don't Eat the Fruit Bat!" -- Travel Guide for Savvy Vegetarians

______________________________

Panda Eating Bamboo -- An adult can consume between 26 and 33 pounds (11-14 kg) of bamboo (leaves, stems, and shoots) per day.

Panda Jawbone

Brown Bear Skull -- Ursus arctos -- Contrary to popular mythology, most brown bears are not particularly carnivorous as they derive up to 90% of their dietary food energy from vegetable matter (berries, roots, and sprouts, fungi, i.e. mushrooms). For example, bears in Yellowstone eat an enormous number of moths during the summer, sometimes as many as 40,000 in a day and may derive up to a third of their food energy from these insects!

Chimpanzee -- Chimpanzees' diets are composed mainly of ripe fruits. They also enjoy eating young leaves, particularly in the afternoon. In long dry seasons when fruit is scarce, tree seeds, flowers, soft pith, galls, resin and bark become an important part of their diet. They also eat many different types of insects; however, termites are the most nutritionally important.

Chimp

Chimp Skull

Gorilla -- About 67% of the Western lowland gorillas' diet is fruit; 17% is leaves, seeds, and stems; and 3% is termites and caterpillars.

Eastern lowland gorillas consume only 3 types of fruit (there is hardly any fruit available due to the high altitude). About 86% of their diet is leaves, shoots, and stems, 7% is roots, 3% is flowers, 2% is fruit, and 2% ants, snails, and grubs.

Gorilla Yawning

Gorilla Skull

Monkey diet is richer in vitamins and minerals than human diet, UC Berkeley anthropologist discovers.

The fruits and leaves that monkeys eat in the wild are loaded with nutrients, giving these primates a diet far richer in many essential vitamins and minerals than the diet recommended for daily consumption by human beings. The foods include leaves of many kinds and fruits such as figs, plums, berries, palm fruit, and grapes.

"Young leaves from tropical trees are far more nutritious than I realized. In fact, the young tips have the same profile of essential amino acids as meat, although in lower concentrations," said Milton.. She said that leaf protein is perfectly good and clearly satisfies all the protein needs of the monkeys.

Howler Monkey Skull

Monkey Skull

Mandril Baboon

Baboon -- The baboon's diet consists of tubers, roots, bulbs, leaves, flowers, buds, seeds, aquatic plants, mushrooms, shoots, twigs, bark, fruits, and sap.

During the dry season(s), the baboon can easily dig nutritious corms and rhizomes out of the dirt beneath the dry grasses, which means that food sources are abundant almost year-round.

Mandrill Baboon

Mandrill Baboon Skull

Hippo -- The "river horse" grazes on short grass, its main source of food, spending 4-5 hours grazing each night, and can consume 68 kg (150 lb.) of grass at a time.

Didelphimorphia eat insects, snails, rodents, berries, over-ripe fruit, grasses, leaves, eggs, corn, and other vegetables. Opossums also enjoy eating snakes, and will kill and eat all snakes including poisonous ones. They are immune to the snake venom, and relish copperhead, water moccasins, rattlesnakes, and others.

I wouldn't stand between this guy and his watermelon! He can eat whatever he wants!

** Now, what were you saying about teeth being indicative of diet? **

No bas, I don't think they (Denise and Penguin) are a part of the group that thinks the earth is 5,000 years old do they?

What about it Penguin and Denise?

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I realize the subject is redundant , but Rice Maggot is such a hypocrite! She mocked me for a simple typo right here. She told me that I "should at least spell check the title of [my] post." Then she calls Ms. Conner (note to Rice Queen -- it's Conner not Connor like in your signature) a nasty name like "whore." You're such a nice person my smelly Rice Maggot.

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everyone needs to just back off of her. she is the only kewl administrator in the school. anyone can get a dui. just relax and have a vodka!

The only real cat in town

Please do not take these 4 or 5 individuals who sign in and respond sometimes with several different user ID's on this blog as the voice of the community. It happen, you'll pay the price, learn the lesson and move on. This situation could happen to many citizens of PTC any day after a few drinks - windfall profits on concert nights. Good Luck

Tell us who they are and we will see if they have a dui to since they think its so bad.

The only real cat in town

Onlyrealcat, please use some form of spell check or have your parents check your grammar or something!

You sound like a character from a Faulkner novel.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Maybe as in "A Rose for Emily": a Gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, a tragedy of an enigmatic heroine who “looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue”

Just what "ghouls" like to read after midnight!

I really must re-read it before I respond to another of Basmati's posts!

You are an idiot.

________________________________________________________________________
Ground Zero - What Radical Islam Wants for You and Your Family

Please let us know which individuals use the different id's, all these opinions from just 4 or 5 people, I'm impressed.

I yam what I yam...Popeye

So far I have been me, Mixer, Maxim, Git_Real, and a few others. It's been keeping me really busy too! In fact, seems like I was hutch for a bit too.

________________________________________________________________________
Ground Zero - What Radical Islam Wants for You and Your Family

I want to be someone too! Can I be basmati? Pleeeeeeeeez! I'll send all my money the the Republican(guard)! That'll shake him up! Ha!

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Of course YOU thought you were fit to drive....every drunk driver thinks they are fit to drive too, which is why they were driving when arrested for DUI! YOUR determination of your ability to drive is rather meaningless when a field pocket tester says you're over .08, the level by which the law decides whether your are fit to drive.

The bit about "remember all the times it could of have been you" is total denial and I'm sure surprising to those who don't drink alcohol.

The Citizen didn't say anything about you the person and what you have done in your life because that wasn't the "news." The news was you got a DUI and you're also a Whitewater assistant principal. People get them every week as you can see by reading the same newspaper. The PTC City Manager is one of those and his DUI certainly made headlines too.

My advice to you is to say little or nothing and just let it go. Admit your mistake, drop the denial and blame-shifting, pay your fine and do your punishment and move forward. You are not going to come out of this looking "good" by trying to defend yourself or blame a newspaper or the police.

NUK

I gotta tell you it is surprising to see I agree with Nuk, Mrs. Pina, just shut up and take the medicine. Follow the advice of Bernie McMullen. Take it and move on.

I laughed NUK-- you are right---- "every drunk driver thinks they are fit to drive too, which is why they were driving when arrested for DUI!" Mrs. Pina--- just how many glasses of wine do you drink before you hand over the car keys ? A couple of those boxes of wine?

The biggest complaint I have on your public weeping is the poor example you set for the children you work with every day. Getting the DUI is bad enough. Just as worse is your litany of excuses and circumstances--- "I'm special..I got a 4.0...I am a good person" So what? You don't drink and drive. The PTC cops would give Mother Theresa a DUI if she was .137 as well they should. What you are teaching your kids is that if they are to be held accountable all they have to do is throw up a pile of excuses and "circumstances". Not the real world. Leave it alone.

maybe you need to get a life?

The only real cat in town

I am glad you have been able to accomplish so much with so little in your life. But the day you started to accept a pay check to look after our children, you decided to place yourself in the public eye for everything you or your family does. I am not going to even address any rumors because if any of them are true, you will be exposed. I hope they are not. People in the community know your name and I am sure it took the paper 5 seconds to connect your name with with the High School. It is bad that you have brought discredit to such a great school. The second you decided to drive away in a golf cart or car, you decided to put all the good things you have done in life on the line.

If a student told you the dog ate his home work, you would be callings good old mom and dad. I suggest you not tells us anymore that the police made you drink and drive and maybe just maybe, we can still respect you when this is finished.

But the day you started to accept a pay check to look after our children, you decided to place yourself in the public eye for everything you or your family does.

*shakes head* The stupidity...the stupidity...

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Look at my avatar. Does that look like a "human being" to you?

I'll bet her and Gump won't take it.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

As a matter of law, there is no such classification as in the "public eye".

Read the law on "Public Figure".

Being an employee of a county school system doesn't rise to the level you would have us believe.

Mrs. Pina is simply a "private person" who mad a bad decision. She's not the first or the last to do so.

I hope she has learned from it and will be a better private person for it.

Maybe as part of her restitution she can speak to school kids about the down-side to drinking and driving. Maybe save a life, who knows?

This is just small town gossip that will evaporate in the next few days. It's just your turn in the barrel sort-of-speak.

Hang tuff, do the right thing and it will be behind you before you know it.

As muddle said; “He who is without sin....”

If you had worked at the Citizen we would have never known your name.

Opinions are those things that everybody has at least “one” of and a rumor is worth it’s weight is dog poop.

Hold your head up and keep moving forward.

Ms. Pina,

Who in the world is drunk on an early Sunday morning and why?

A word of advice: If you don't want to be on the front page for a DUI, don't drink and drive!

You gave up your privacy rights when you were on the road in a golf cart driving drunk and were arrested. That happens to everyone - be they the teenagers you have arrested or middle aged women who drink and drive.

A few strokes of the keyboard didn't do you in. You have been drinking for years and rumors have circulated in PTC for several years of you 'partying' with your students when you were a teacher at McIntosh.

You have now set a horrible example for your children and the children at Whitewater High School and the best thing for you to do is stop making excuses, take responsibility for your actions and ask for forgiveness.

Your children didn't HAVE to read about their mother on the front page - your behavior created the 'police blotter' and you are solely responsible for that.

Consider a twelve-step program for drinking problems.

You are not a teenager making teenager mistakes, you are a 50 year old grown woman.

Take responsibility.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Partying with students?? That had better be the usual small town gossip. If it is true it is terrible.

I don't have much sympathy for DUI people. My brother was in the hospital for over a year because of a drunk driver. You people make your own bed ..lay in it!

.135 isn't that alcohol poisoning, near death levels??

.135 is just plain drunk. Near-death levels and alcohol poisoning are around .30-.40 range.

It's total BS that she had "3 glasses of wine" over 4 hours and blew a .13. Unless the "glasses" were HUGE, her blood-alcohol content would be negligible or not even register. This story sounds like almost every driver who gets busted for DUI and tells the cop "I only had TWO beers!" Yeah right.

The only explanation that is credible besides she drank a LOT more than 3 glasses is if she really tied on one during the day, stopped for a while and still was drunk later when she had 3 glasses of wine. Even taken into consideration that women tend to have lower body weights and metabolize alcohol slightly slower than men, the 3-glasses-in-4-hours is unbelievable.

NUK

I inferred from Mr. Pina's letter that the "Sunday morning" reference was due to the fact that it was just past midnight. It was a Saturday night out; not a run to the bar in lieu of church.

I do not know the Pinas. But I certainly understand their point: the news story presents only the sordid details, leaving readers to imagine that "this lady who educates our children is a reckless, wine-swilling drunk." And she is put on the defensive by default so that any attempt to explain or defend herself is viewed by many with cynicism. The damage from this unnecessary publicity is incalculable. Simply getting caught up in the law's net is surely humiliating enough, not to mention whatever further legal consequences follow.

It is perfectly believable that a genuinely responsible and dedicated person could suffer from such a lapse of judgment.

And the common inference from (1)"X got a DUI" to (2) "X is an alcoholic" is fallacious. Hearing of this incident is insufficient evidence for thinking that the lady should consider a "12 step program."

I am sorry that the paper chose to run the story.

And he who is without sin may cast the first stone. I sure as heck don't have any to throw.

No one I have spoken with is surprised. The only surprise from those former cohorts I have spoken to appears to be that none of her students were caught drinking with her years ago or that it took this long for her to get a DUI.

Regardless of the rumor, anyone who has a DUI and then blames it on the police and the newspaper and then denies responsibility has a problem.

A person who has a spouse in denial that is also in denial and blames the police is married to an enabler.

The components are all in place for a person with a text book case for alcohol abuse. I believe the people I have spoken to about this incident.

I would have thought you would have recognized the denial muddle.

Regardless, when one accepts the job of 'teacher', and more especially later on as an 'administrator', one's ability to drink and drive and 'party' in the community without wide public exposure in the newspaper is lost.

Don't be surprised if you hear more about her students and her past parties.

Regardless, I wish her and her family well. Her children don't deserve this.

This can be a chance to start a new life with a clean slate if she accepts responsibility, admits her transgression and moves on.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Mixer,

If this incident is but one of a larger pattern that you reasonably believe to exist, then I stand corrected. In that case, such a crisis might indeed have a redeeming and literally sobering effect.

But it would be a shame if this is truly anomalous, but was trumpeted by the paper. One might have wished that she could have accepted full responsibility, met her legal obligations, but did so by keeping as low a profile as possible.

DUI must, of course, be taken seriously. Indeed, I take it personally. I have six grandchildren, each of whom I cherish, and the random accidents that are caused by drunk driving could involve any one of them just as easily as it could anyone else's child or grandchild.

But the offense has also become highly politicized, and a package of assumptions regarding the offender has become standard. I believe it is possible for a wise person occasionally to do something foolish, for a smart person to do something stupid, and for a person without a drinking problem to land a DUI. (I also think that the legal limit has been under a relentless downward pressure so that it is now possible for an essentially unimpaired person to "blow over" the legal limit. I believe the MADD people, God love 'em, would have us equate DUI with any detectable BAL.)

I read a great deal of shame and anguish in her and her husband's letters. It probably would have been best had they refrained from writing them, as it was a time of high emotion. But while they both challenge the paper's decision to broadcast the incident--perhaps the chief motive in writing--they are not without admission of guilt. She notes, for instance, that it was "her own actions" that will, because of the publicity, have an adverse effect upon her workplace.

Do you think I have something personal at stake here? Perhaps. Many years ago, my own mother(!) was pulled over for a suspected DUI. She had been to a party hosted by her bank, and unwisely decided that it was OK to drive herself home after a drink or two too many. She was a top executive at the bank, and was one of perhaps half a dozen people responsible for rejuvenating her city so that it won the All American City award. A publicized arrest would have been big news in her town, and it might well have ruined her. The officer recognized her, read her the riot act, and took her home. She had to retrieve her car the following morning. Knowing the rest of the story (she is now happily retired and tends to keep the wheels between the lines), I am convinced that the officer did the right thing.

Every person in a 12 step program has made a mistake. Every last one of them.

The difference is, they do not blame the police, the newspaper, or make excuses, they accept responsibility and make a commitment to no longer have the problem - by choice.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Is not evidence. To say someone told you so is not a rumor is stupid! It is hearsay, not a "fact."

What????????

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Mixer,
You can discuss her DUI arrest all you want, since that's a matter of record, but accusing an educator of "partying" with her students is just about the worst accusation you can level at any educator. It's a cheap shot of the worst kind. By labeling your accusations as "rumor", you are trying to avoid any personal responsibility for backing up your accusations with evidence. Since you are accusing Mrs. Pina of a felony, you should be willing to back those accusations up with real evidence--names, dates, and places. Otherwise, this is just character assassination, conducted from behind your anonymous net name, while her name is in the papers and in your accusation.

Calling it a "rumor you heard" doesn't make it any less of an accusation. Unless you can back it up with facts, you should withdraw the accusation.

"You can discuss her DUI arrest all you want, since that's a matter of record, Gee, thanks GUMP for permission to comment.

Then, you decided to take exception to this comment:
"A few strokes of the keyboard didn't do you in. You have been drinking for years and rumors have circulated in PTC for several years of you 'partying' with your students when you were a teacher at McIntosh."

Okay 'Gump' since you obviously do NOT hide "...behind your anonymous net name," and since you have chosen to defend the drunk driving assistant principal/teacher and then attack me for sharing what I have been told by reliable sources, here is my response to you.

GUMP, (your real name no doubt) first of all, I didn't accuse her of a felony or a misdemeanor, I didn't accuse her of anything but lying about how many drinks she had and I challenge you to research it yourself. (So far, she is a liar who was driving drunk for the 'accusation total' of '2'.) I said that she has a reputation of partying and that includes with her 'students'. I was told that but the 'truth and accuracy are not substantiated by me 'personally' and that it why it was qualified as 'RUMOR' by me - not so I can 'HIDE', GUMP (like you are doing). I shared it with the bloggers here. Most of the bloggers are smart enough to consider and qualify it as a rumor and decide how to weigh the accusation. You obviously are not. Get over it.

Second, you have now done exactly what you choose to criticize others for doing. Hidden behind a 'net name' to defame and criticize me for taking what you call "... a cheap shot of the worst kind. By labeling your accusations as "rumor", you are trying to avoid any personal responsibility for backing up your accusations with evidence. Since you are accusing Mrs. Pina of a felony, you should be willing to back those accusations up with real evidence--names, dates, and places." My 'cheap shot as you call it is exactly what you are doing.

As for me qualifying the information that I passed along to you as rumor, since it was a rumor, you have said "It's a cheap shot of the worst kind. By labeling your accusations as "rumor"", Oh, really GUMP? I suppose you would have called it something else? Maybe you, the all mighty 'GUMP' would have used your real name, used the name(s) of your sources and then outed all of those who said what they did as opposed to accurately stating it was 'rumor'.

Maybe, being the 'upfront' guy that you are, GUMP, you would have just not said anything to anyone that might help shed light on this situation or commented on this string - oops - too late for that!

Better yet, maybe you claim that you wouldn't be the judgmental jerk (that you are being now) that I am and would have just not commented on the 'letters of denial, err, defense' that place the blame for this DUI on the newspaper, the police, being a 'single parent' at one time, or having worked hard for your job. How unfair! Perhaps refusing to accept responsibility like she demands of the teachers and students she supervises gives you a measure of comfort since you obviously have a problem with her arrest and subsequent public notice. Maybe you have kids that she taught at McIntosh under her previous name?

(Ms. Pina's previous name withheld for privacy reasons and to prevent the 'rumor' from being further 'exploited'.)

In conclusion: unlike Ms. Pina, I have not committed a crime, I am not making excuses, I am not blaming anyone, and I do not drink - at all - ever. But that has not kept the great 'Gump' from attacking me. Oh well.

So as for the 'Think of all the times it could have been you' remark she made - Sorry Ms. Pina, I don't drink and if I did - I am smart enough not to drink and drive.

As far as I am concerned, she brought this on herself, she needs to be punished for her actions and humiliation is a normal non-politically correct consequence that is a part of that punishment (it's called 'SHAME') and it won't hurt for the students and teachers she has supervised to see her being punished.

I can tell from your picture that you are obviously not her husband so tell me, are you her brother, ex-husband, a former student, or are you just a self-righteous defender of community 'leaders' who get DUIs?

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I may regret stepping in the middle of this, but it sounds like tempers have gotten out of hand.

I don't know any of you except online, but it seems that all of you are decent humans. I don't know the Pinas, but I do know someone who knows Mr. Pina (seems to be a really nice guy). Small world. That knowledge reminded that these are real people with feelings.

You won't hear me excusing Mrs. Pina's behavior -- I've seen the negative effects of alcohol, and I never excuse drinking and driving. So, questioning her claims with facts is helpful for those of us who didn't know how much alcohol would cause her test result.

However, by adding the rumors of her "partying with her students when she was a teacher at McIntosh" and "drinking for years" is character assassination, even if unintended. If someone has known about these problems and not reported them, then that person has "aided and abetted" criminal (felony?) action. If these problems have been going on and ignored, then something much worse that this incidence could have occurred.

If the school board (if that's the proper authority) has ignored reports of past drinking, then the source(s) of this information should have pursued it further. Why wasn't the police notified about under-age drinking? What are the FACTS?

Perhaps this woman does have a serious alcoholic problem, but maybe what you've been told has been vicious gossip. If so, then by repeating it, doubts will still persist in people's minds about this woman. That's just how gossip works. You can't take back harmful words, and people seldom forget them. Driving her golf cart while drunk was bad enough, but having to hear these rumors (if not true) is more than anyone should have to bear. Would you like to be accused of harming kids, if you really had not done it? Think of her children and husband, too.

I've re-read Gump's "assassination" post several times & just can't see that it was attacking you in an unfair way nor was it defending drinking and driving. I just see it as expressing strong feelings and a sense of fairness. Please reconsider and stop personally criticizing one another. Seems like a snowball has turned into an avalanche.

Hope I won't be hit next!

Denise,
Thank you ever so much. You said what I was trying to say, only in a more coherent way. You're right that this has snowballed, so I will do my part by backing out of any further discussion of this topic. I will say for the record that I certainly do not condone drinking and driving, nor do I condone enabling teens to drink at all. "Nuff said.
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Ridicule is the last resort for a bankrupt point of view.

Conciseness is NOT my strong suit!

"only in a more coherent way" -- Not at all, but will I ever quote you over and over to Basmati!!!!

Your reply is concise and coherent, & taking the focus off the real issue (which we can all let happen, in my opinion -- I won't qualify it as "humble") isn't helpful.

"For the record" -- I never read otherwise in your posts.

Watching for the snow to melt . . . .

Denise, I said your post was coherent, not necessarily concise. What I meant was that you expressed it better than me, without the emotional content that I used. However, I don't follow what you meant by:

"Your reply is concise and coherent, & taking the focus off the real issue (which we can all let happen, in my opinion -- I won't qualify it as "humble") isn't helpful."

I just got through driving 500 miles nonstop, so I'm a little punch-drunk. (pun intended, considering this thread) Maybe that's why I'm not following your meaning. Have a good night!
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Ridicule is the last resort for a bankrupt point of view.

I think that I meant that making personal remarks takes the focus off the real issue(s). Here, the focus should be on drinking and driving, personal responsibility, etc. -- not on someone's clothes, etc. Is that coherent?

I admit that I trade remarks back and forth with Basmati, but I do try to wait until he side-tracks first. If he wants to be a bully, then I'll fight back. I usually find his creative personal comments amusing (i.e., the anagrams) and can laugh at his attempts to discredit me.

Guys, you want to know just how wrong you are?

You have forced me into a position where I have to agree with Denise.

You two are spreading vicious gossip. I urge the both of you to knock it off.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go douse myself with Lysol.

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Look at my avatar. Does that look like a "human being" to you?

You and Gump are having the perfect left wing moment - you own that position. It is not you agreeing with Denise, it is Denise agreeing with you. If Denise is not a teacher, she has one in the family. All the same, I would still use the lysol.

I have always respected that you are a genuine, dyed in the wool, heartfelt liberal. In fact, agree or disagree, I respect your opinion and your consistency. I respectfully disagree with you three. I have reasons why I chose to advance the rumor, and tempered it with the caveat that it was indeed a rumor. I did it after some reflection.

I don't mind you disagreeing at all. What I do resent is some moron like 'GUMP' calling me names, and telling me I was taking 'cheap shots' when he knows little or nothing about me, (this was not the first time by the way that he has done that - and I already told him that I wouldn't blog to him, about him, or with him) or has any knowledge of the history of why I repeated something that, in my opinion, needed to be repeated.

I think in the case of Gump, the pseudo liberal, he sees himself in Ms. Pina's shoes because he too is a teacher - what else he does is anyone's guess.

Regardless, as I told you before, Denise doesn't like my views on abortion or religion so I have no reason to chat with her but you and I are right where we always have been - opposites that can chat and disagree amicably. I mean come on bas - it's not like I called her "the 'witch' of babble on", or degraded her eulogy.

You're still my favorite liberal bas.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

"as I told you before, Denise doesn't like my views on abortion or religion" -- What????

Please back that up!

"It is not you agreeing with Denise, it is Denise agreeing with you." -- Wrong!

"If Denise is not a teacher, she has one in the family." -- I believe in "don't ask -- don't tell" when it comes to blogging!

I'll admit to being adamantly against public GOVERNMENT education, if that's a clue!

We're all teachers -- "All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated .... As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness .... No man is an island, entire of itself... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." ~ John Donne

Since you've "always respected" Bas, does that also apply to me? I need to know before I consider marriage!

"so I have no reason to chat with her" -- That could be one way to handle marriage conflicts -- just admit that I'm right and no arguing!

Are you saying that I'm not "genuine" or consistent? That's almost like calling me a -- liberal -- !

"Et tu, Brute?"

"I have reasons why I chose to advance the rumor, and tempered it with the caveat that it was indeed a rumor. I did it after some reflection." -- Fair enough, but others can't read your motives. Gump asked you to be more specific, and that's fair, in my opinion ("humble" I'll not claim).

"knowledge of the history of why I repeated something that, in my opinion, needed to be repeated" -- Will you explain and will you tell the school board?

"disagree amicably" -- Isn't that what we're doing?

Am I still your "favorite" (female) ultra-conservative?

Neither of you will answer questions that will give identifying information but both insist that I must. "Gump asked you to be more specific, and that's fair, in my opinion ("humble" I'll not claim)." Perhaps you and I didn't read the same passage. I read this as the FIRST blog from 'GUMP':

Character assassination.

Unless you can back it up with facts, you should withdraw the accusation.

And from that you got what??? First of all I didn't "accuse" anyone of anything at anytime except for lying and driving drunk. You obviously don't see it that way.

Sure, let me give you names, dates, and times of things told to me in confidence to a guy in tight pants named 'GUMP' who is defending a drunk driver.

Whatever Denise.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

Trying to marry me off?

I hope I don't read of this in the gossip column!

"Neither of you will answer questions that will give identifying information but both insist that I must." -- What???????????

I don't intend to reveal much either!

I prefer the allure of anonymity. I've always loved a good mystery!

"names, dates, and times of things told to me in confidence" -- "In confidence," did you say?

In confidence = A feeling of assurance that a confidant will keep a secret (i.e., not tell)

If true, these things need to be told to the proper authorities!

Maybe your mama should wash out your mouth, too! (For calling me cockroach liar, bottom feeding scum, amoral gutterslug, etc.)

Now, I know that's there's hope for you to agree with me on a lot of other issues. I won't give up! I really won't! (I'll picture Joan of Arc for inspiration!)

Much better than that Babylon woman you called me!

Here's one thing you all have in common. None of you feel she should be removed from her position for her DUI. Gump and Denise have yet to suggest what an appropriate punishment, if any, should be. Bas, didn't you and Denise just go through this with a completely innocent DEAD judge (as opposed to a completely guilty living liar)?

Given the facts in the blog below as laid out quite well by Emigma:
We know she has at least one DUI.

We know that she drinks in front of minors. (I don't and never have)

We know that she drinks in front of at least one student or former student. (I don't and never have)

We know that she lied about how much she drank to her husband and him to us. (I didn't and never would)

We know that she has trouble spelling and taking responsibility. (One out of two ain't bad)

I think he feels she should be fired. I can tell you that I do not; however, heaps of shame should be on her and let the rumors fly.

I also feel she should be reassigned to a lower profile position for a while (maybe away from teens who may come to school drunk). You see, I couldn't care less about Mary Ann Pina at this point because she is NOT a victim. I do care about the school system and the decline of the educational institution over all however. I know this may sound strange but I don't think people in her position who get DUI's are very good role models or have the ability to make the judgments necessary to lead a school full of impressionable kids and professional educators. Although I will be the first to admit that with the decline in morality and political correctness she could well be top tier in her profession. Aside from the grammatical and spelling errors, I think Marry Ann and her husband made more than a few errors when they wrote the paper. After all, that is when we began this discussion isn't it?

She should keep her name out of the paper (lesson one), she should not write lies, make excuses and blame others as she did (lesson two) and she should not have her husband write the paper to 'straighten the record out' (lesson three).

Lesson Four:

When you embarrass and humiliate yourself, your family, your profession, and your community and betray the trust placed in you by your employer and employees - sometimes, just sometimes, rumors fly and people get embarrassed. It beats the public humiliation of the scarlet letter or the stockades I suppose.

I stand firm: I have been told that Mary Ann is quite the party girl and no one is surprised but her (and you apparently).

As for the other rumors, as I previously stated, it was what I heard, I defined it as rumor, and I repeated it to you as such. Boo-hoo-hoo poor Ms. Pina has consequences.

In conclusion, there are plenty of people here who justifiably feel she should be fired. I do not; however, I say she needs to suffer her humiliation, apologize, straighten out her life, and move forward.

Finally, everyone on this site could agree with you and oppose my blog or my view and it wouldn't matter to me. I do not drink for some very serious reasons and certainly, despite Ms. Pina's statement that I should "think of all the times it could have been me", (That's NEVER boys and girls) I do not have any sympathy whatsoever for a 50 year old high school administrator whose personal life has been poorly guided, who now chooses to drive drunk. In our 'victimless' society - Ms. Pina may be a sympathetic figure. If you would have pulled a family member from a burning car that wrecked trying to avoid her little excursion, you might feel differently. Can you imagine being sent to the principal's office to see Ms. Pina? Whatever-

This too shall pass.

If WWII had been covered by the Modern Media: Great Video

I'm not into "feelings" much . . . and I'm wary of "sensitive" males.

"None of you feel she should be removed from her position for her DUI." -- I NEVER said that! I agreed with your analysis (FACTS) of the amount of alcohol that would have caused her to have a 0.135? reading.

"There are plenty of people here who justifiably feel she should be fired." -- See "Tug, Thanks!"

"I don't and never have." -- I'm with you there, but I do try to be t-o-l-e-r-a-n-t (very hard for me, I admit) of those who do drink but NEVER with drunkenness. I recognize that alcohol is deceptive and often leads to other problems.

"I say she needs to suffer her humiliation, apologize, straighten out her life, and move forward." -- Agreed!

"If you would have pulled a family member from a burning car that wrecked trying to avoid her little excursion, you might feel differently." -- Agreed! Feelings definitely might trump logic here in my response. That's the trouble with lynch mobs. I'm reminded of To Kill a Mockingbird right about now.

Again, my contention is with the rumors (even properly identified ones), and the harm that they can do. Please go to the school board (?) with the information so that children and teens can be spared the consequences. Someone needs to DO something about this (if this is true) -- more than typing, I might add. She should face the consequences of ALL her actions. I'm not a "sensitive" pity-the-victim type!

"However, by adding the rumors of her "partying with her students when she was a teacher at McIntosh" and "drinking for years" is character assassination" Oh, really?

Well one of her staunch defenders has shed some light on one of those "two rumors", The one that she has been drinking for quite a while (and now we can add that it was in front of minors other than her own children and either students or former students as well).We know she drinks in front of kids too young to legally drink (other than her own that is), and we know she drinks in front of students or former students who are still even now not of age to drink..

So, the man in the tight pants named GUMP, who has insulted Mixer and me multiple times and inferred we were gay, called us classless, etc. etc. wants Mixer an me to apologize to the Drunk woman in the golf cart who as a teacher/administrator in this town:

Is that about right Denise? And GUMP wants, as a teacher, to police his own profession? Right. Good call Denise.

Just one small detail left to 'prove' despite it being called a 'rumor'. Maybe it really was just a rumor Denise. Maybe is is just rude to repeat it. And maybe Mary Ann really did have just three glasses of wine in four hours.

Care to take bets on whether the other rumor begins to come to light?

You are on the losing side Denise. Keep digging and you just might be shocked at what you will find.

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Ground Zero - What Radical Islam Wants for You and Your Family

I read the post by the college student (Megro) who writes as a "personal friend of the family" and a "a close friend of her daughter." If true, then natural bias has to be recognized but does not automatically negate true statements that she made.

"Nowhere did I try to tell you that I have never seen her drink alcoholic beverages." (Megro) -- If someone visits my home, he has seen me drink COFFEE, but that doesn't mean that he drinks with me or that I'm an addict! I probably wouldn't even offer to share a cup. (OOps! I've confessed that I'm an addict!)

All kidding aside, please read my other posts so that I won't need to repeat the comments here and to keep my comments in perspective.

"We know that she drinks in front of minors." -- Seriously, is that a crime now? (I'd outlaw all alcohol, if I could choose, because I've seen the destructiveness of "casual" drinking.) Giving to minors, yes, but consuming? Restaurants come to mind.

As far as the implications that Gump made, that was inappropriate, and I would imagine that he regrets doing it. I doubt anyone took that seriously -- just an inappropriate analogy that could lead to vicious rumors. AGGGGG!

"Keep digging" -- Not my job, but whoever has the FACTS should report them.

I'm going to read the stem-cell posts -- a better use of my time.

Also, I have to remind Bas that he agrees with me while he's still doused in Lysol. Hope he doesn't go near any burning buildings!

I know that, ultimately, I'm not the one on the "losing side" there.