�� new old this that ��

2001-06-11.11:14 a.m.

� Headlines �

The headlines are real, the take and the story is mine...

*Updated: 1:35 p.m..*

1 2... 3 4 5... 6 Cygnets floating in the water! � Baby Swans Sighted

Late last week I saw that the swan nest I�ve been watching along the canal since March was abandoned. I didn�t see any egg shells and only once did I see the male swan standing on the empty nest rooting around.

I�ve been on the lookout for signs of the babies ever since and today as I was walking back to work after my lunch break I saw Mother, Father and 6 gray downy cygnets flittering in the river. The swan parents were dredging up shoots and other assorted food stuffs for the tiny little swans to eat. The cygnets were grouped close together and trying to stay between their parents.

Amazingly cute, I hope they stick around so I can watch their progress.

Today, we saw 'JUSTICE' � Victims' relatives applaud the execution of McVeigh.

Harley Lappin: "The court order to execute inmate Timothy James McVeigh has been fulfilled."

He did not speak before he died, but gave Lappin a handwritten copy of the 1875 poem 'Invictus,' by British author William Ernest Henley to pass on to media witnesses, including the lines: "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."

He made eye contact with witnesses before the execution began, and looked up at a camera mounted on the ceiling that provided a video feed to Oklahoma City. He wore a white T-shirt and sneakers, and died with his eyes open.

McVeigh was strapped to a padded metal stretcher inside a squat red brick building. Needles were inserted into a leg vein. Two officials of the federal Bureau of Prisons each stood before thier own button on a flat matallic machine with three plungers rising from it's top.

One button initiated the killing secquence, the other button did nothing. The executioners are not told which button is functional so that they may have some solace knowing that they might not have been the one to have killed the prisoner.

The officials were reported to have whispered among themselves during the execution.

At 8:09 a.m. each official pressed thier buttons.

The first plunger dropped injecting thiopental sodium to relax him and render him unconscious. This occured at 8:10 a.m. ET; the second plunger dropped at 8:11 a.m. and injected pancuronium bromide to collapse his lungs and stop his breathing; after several heavy breaths, his breathing became shallow and the final plunger - filled with the drug potassium chloride to stop his heart dropped at at 8:13 a.m.

"This man clearly deserved what he got. He died peacefully, which I cannot say my three members of my family did," said Kathleen Treanor, who lost her daughter and parents in-law in the blast.

"I knew I wanted this before it happened, I knew my objective was a state-assisted suicide... This world just doesn�t hold anything for me." - Timothy McVeigh

"An execution is an event," Bud Welch said, whose daughter Julie died in the bombing, "and when the sun sets on this day, we�re going to end up with a huge staged political event."

"It changes nothing, my daughter and granddaughter are still dead." - Anonymous.

Today my boss said while I was in his office. "Didn't they execute McVeigh this morning?" I replied, "Yes" "Good" he said. I bit my tongue and then only said "At least we won't have to read about him anymore."

Timothy McVeigh was pronounced dead at 8:14 a.m. Eastern Time today.

Opinion: Seeking solace in revenge � The real cost of state-sponsored killing.

REVENGE - Polls taken prior to the 1993 Oklahoma City bombing showed that 60 percent of people are in favor of capital punishment, a USA Today poll taken in April of this year shows that 81 percent of Americans wanted Timothy McVeigh to be executed - and 28 percent of that support was from people who are traditionally against the death penalty.

McVeigh�s apparent disregard for life and the pain he�d caused made many want to strike back at him as the inhuman monster he presented himself to be. It�s understandable. It�s predictable. And it�s a mistake, because the cost of what we do to another person is ultimately paid by us. Whether that person deserves what we do to him or not, the choice to act, and the responsibility of acting, is still ours. Perhaps instead of 'Does he deserve to die?' we should be asking 'Do we deserve to kill?' And on the heels of that question should be, 'Haven�t we all had enough pain?'

When the goverment executes a person, you execute a person. In this republic we call the United States, the Goverment truely is an extention of each individual. If only for a moment, drop any notion of being able to determine which acts deserve death - is it even possible to know if someone is guilty beyond a doubt? Drop any notion or belief that the death penalty is a deterrant. Drop it all just long enough to ask yourself the question: "Do you truely have the right to take a life?"

My personal beliefs are based on an answer of no - no matter how much I hated that bastard McVeigh.

Lakers hold on to win Game 3 � 76ers fall behind 2-1 in NBA Finals

Yawn.

Death toll rises in Texas, La. floods � Tropical storm kills at least 18

Did you know plain old 'heat' is the greatest natural killer in the US. Yes, more people die from the heat than from hurricans, tornados, earth quakes...

Bush to advance world climate role � U.S. could commit to U.N. framework

Bush is reversing himself and dropping the hardline US stance in dealing with environmental issues? Thank you Sen. Jeffords.

Doherty�s un-�Charmed� life � �Scoop�: Cast happy to see her go

First Beverly Hills 90210, now Charmed. "SHE WAS A MISERABLE person who made the lives of everyone around her miserable," said an insider. You'd think she'd learn by now.

� WSJ: Glaxo to cut AIDS drug price

About damn time. How many people died while they were making so much money?

� Fineman: Senate�s W.H. wanna-bes

Lots of people in the senate want to be the President. They want the White House. Somehow this is shocking?

� WSJ: Sports leagues hoard Net value

"What is the net present value of an un-won NBA championship?" "Get the hell away from ME you sports freak!!! AAAAH!!!"

� Dot.coms in an arid environment

Debt to Equity and Profit Margin ratios? Needing a product to sell? A company has to make money to stay in business and pay it's employees? What the hell is up with that?

� �Swordfish� is catch of the box office

'Swordfish' wound up as Travolta�s third-best debut ever, behind 'Face/Off' and 'The General�s Daughter.' Now, does anyone remember joking about how lame Travolta was? I'd give anything to see Travolta licking Terrentino's boots as part of his monthly career resurrecting repayment schedule.



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Since Feb 2001





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