Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Perils of Addiction

A retired corporate executive decided to take a vacation. He booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life… until the boat sank.
He found himself on an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing, only bananas and coconuts.
After about four months, he was lying on the beach one day, when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rowed up to the shore. In disbelief, he asked her, “Where did you come from? How did you get here?”
She said, “I rowed from the other side of the island. I landed here when my cruise ship sank.”
“Amazing,” he said. “You were really lucky to have a row boat wash up with you.”
“Oh, this?” the woman said. “I made the boat out of raw material I found on the island. The oars were whittled from gum tree branches. I wove the bottom from palm branch and the sides and stern came from a eucalyptus tree.”
“But, where did you get the tools?”
“Oh, that was no problem,” the woman said. “On the south side of the island, a very unusual stratum of alluvial rock is exposed. I found if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into forgeable, ductile iron. I used that for tools and used the tools to make the hardware.”
The guy was stunned. “Let’s row over to my place,” she said.
After a few hours of rowing, she docked the boat at a small wharf. As the man looked to shore, he nearly fell out off the boat. Before him was a stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white.
While the woman tied up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp 20 rope, the man could only stare ahead, dumb struck.
As they walked into the house, she said casually, “It’s not much, but I call it home. Sit down, please. Would you like a drink?”
“No. No, thank you,” he said, still dazed. “Can’t take any more coconut juice.”
“It’s not coconut juice,” the woman said. “I have a still. How about a pina colada?”
Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepted, and they sat down on her couch to talk. After they had exchanged their stories, the woman said, “I’m going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to take a shower and shave? There is a razor in the bathroom cabinet.”
No longer questioning anything, the man went into the bathroom. There, in the cabinet, was a razor made from a bone handle. Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge were fastened onto its end inside a swivel mechanism. “This woman is amazing,” he mused. “What next?”
When he returned, she greeted him wearing nothing but vines and flowers strategically positioned, and smelling of gardenias.
She beckoned for him to sit down next to her! “Tell me,” she began suggestively, slithering closer to him, “We’ve been out here for a really long time. You’ve been lonely. There’s something I’m sure you really feel like doing right now, something you’ve been longing for all these months?”
She stares into his eyes and takes his hand in hers…
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He swallowed excitedly, tears started to form in his eyes, and he said, “You mean… I can check my e-mail from here?”

Monday, April 17, 2006

Union-Tribune, Copley News Service share Pulitzer with New York Times


Celebrating the news, an exuberant San Diego Union-Tribune editor Karin E. Winner shares the news that the newspaper has won a Pulitzer Prize with chairman and publisher David Copley (right) and senior editor special sections Chris Lavin.

The staffs of The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service have won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

CNS and the Union-Tribune shared the honor with James Risen and Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times, the Pulitzer Prize board announced Monday in New York.

The committee honored the CNS and Union-Tribune staffs for breaking the story exposing the corruption of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Cunningham eventually pleaded guilty to federal charges and was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

“We did it!” Union-Tribune Editor Karin E. Winner exclaimed to dozens of the paper's staffers, who had assembled in the paper's newsroom on hearing the news.

“I am just so proud of this great group of people.”

Winner was in an editorial board meeting with chairman and publisher David C. Copley when she got word of the award. She and Copley rushed downstairs and were greeted with applause.

“Prizes aren't everything,” she said, after exchanging hugs with some of the story's key players. “They're not why we got into this business. But when they honor and they respect great work, it's just fabulous.”

Winner also thanked Copley, who she said “stood behind us every step of this story,” even though the newspaper and its predecessors had long endorsed Cunningham.

“I wish his mother were here because she'd be so proud of us, of him,” Winner said, referring to the late Union-Tribune publisher, Helen C. Copley.

Cunningham's corruption was first exposed June 12 by a story by CNS staff writer Marcus Stern that revealed Cunningham's questionable real estate dealings with military contractor Mitchell Wade. The story reported that Wade bought Cunningham's Del Mar area house for $1.6 million only to sell it for a $700,000 loss.

A follow-up report five days later revealed that Cunningham had been living aboard a yacht owned by Wade.

Three weeks later, spurred by Stern's stories, federal agents searched Cunningham's home in Rancho Santa Fe and the Washington offices of Wade's defense contracting firm, MZM.

On July 14, Cunningham announced that he would not seek re-election to a ninth term representing the 50th Congressional District.


On Nov. 28, Cunningham reached a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney's office. In it, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion. As part of the deal, he admitted to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes. He also resigned from office.

On March 3, he was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison.

The San Diego Evening Tribune won a Pulitzer in 1979 for its coverage of the crash of a PSA airliner over North Park. The Evening Tribune's Jonathan Freedman won one in 1987 for his editorial writing.


Breaking News Team: (619) 293-1010; breaking@uniontrib.com

Sunday, April 16, 2006

How to Tell the Sex of a Fly

A woman walked into her kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Hunting flies” he said.
“Oh. Killing any?” she asked.
“Yep. Three males, two females,” he replied.
Intrigued, she asked, “How can you tell them apart?”
He responded, “Three were on a beer can. Two were on the phone.”

Submitted by Ensenada Jim

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

San Diego City College Wins Six Out of Six at 2006 SIFE Regional Competition

San Diego City College’s Students In Free Enterprise organization won all six special competition awards and the regional championship for its league in a regional competition held at the Hyatt Regency, Long Beach, California, April 5.

Active on more than 1,500 college and university campuses in 37 countries, SIFE's declared mission is to provide college students the best opportunity to make a difference and develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise.

SIFE's vision is to help people through free enterprise education. SIFE has grown to become one the largest collegiate organizations in the world since it was founded in 1975. In the United States, more than 800 schools are enrolled in SIFE.

San Diego City College’s SIFE team has participated in this competition for the past 12 consecutive years and, this year, will go on to represent at the national competition to be held at the Kansas City Convention Center, Kansas City, Missouri, May 21 through 23.

Web: www.sife.org
www.sdsife.com


How I became a millionaire (Students in free enterprise)

New London, New Hampshire - New London AreaOpoly Monopoly Game - Suki Coughlin Photography