[angelize56]

I was in the home of a professional woman with a Masters degree today, and there, sitting on her table was the National Enquirer?

Does she know you snuck it out yet???? angel

[eggplant43]

Does she know you snuck it out yet???? angel

Of course not, she's gone until Thursday, and I'll be done with it by then




You're a brat!

[angelize56]

Now Bruce can I help it if I'm quick witted??? Angel Brat

[eggplant43]

Now Bruce can I help it if I'm quick witted???

Oh, is that what you call it???

[angelize56]

Bruce: Better quick witted than dumb witted eh! angel

[Rep]

I found and posted the article in thread #58 last evening. This morning I was reading some of the threads in, "Suspected Terrorists...". I see Eggplant and Angelize posted a few. Mulder and ComputerFix had quite a discussion on profiling.

Then I remembered post #58 and I wondered, if we are going to profile, who do we want to do it? Trained police?, or, can all of us profile each other, come to a conclusion, then call an 800 phone number to report what we believe is suspicious activity?

I am not certain what the outcome of the Florida incident will ultimately become, but it would be a shame if those three med students were not to become doctors over this.

Just expressing my conservative viewpoint.

[eggplant43]

I happened to watch the three young man last night on "Larry King, Live". I thought they comported themselves well, and their body language showed no hostility, or rage to me (which would have been hard for me to do in similar circumstances).

I don't know if anyone will ever know the entire story. I do feel that law enforcement was correct in the way they handled this, and give a lot of weight to the fact that they released them unconditionally after a thorough investigation.

I feel that it is in the nature of our country to forgive and forget, and hope that will be the outcome of this situation. Ultimately, I'd rather err on the side of caution in this situation, than blow it off, and have the possibilitiy of injuries or death.

[Rep]

eggplant - I may, or may not be correct in this. But, did I hear a few days ago that the three men were going to lose their sponsorship at medical school? Or, did I dream that?

[ComputerFix]

Originally posted by Rep:
eggplant - I may, or may not be correct in this. But, did I hear a few days ago that the three men were going to lose their sponsorship at medical school? Or, did I dream that?

In the article Egg posted under "suspected....." it mentioned that the hospital received threats in all forms from various methods (phone, email, etc.), and so the hospital told the three boys to go somewhere else. It quoted them as saying that their progress towards becoming doctors is "in limbo". I have not heard/read an update after that point. It may have changed.

[Rep]

ComputerFix - TY, I appreciate your help.

[n2gun]

This was carried just a bit to far by the Cabbie


Sept. 17, 2002, 11:55AM


'English only' lands cabbie in trouble
Driver faces assault charge for trying to boot Spanish speaker
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

The sign inside the taxi said "English Only," but Mauricio Camargo figured talking on his cell phone in Spanish during his ride in from Bush Intercontinental Airport Friday would be no problem.

He was wrong.

After Camargo answered two calls in Spanish en route to the Adams Mark Hotel, the driver pulled over, took his suitcase out of the trunk and tried to physically force the Colombian businessman out of the back seat. Harris County Sheriff's deputies have ticketed the driver, Tony Mitchell, on a charge of misdemeanor assault.

Mitchell's English-only rule did not violate city codes, and it was unclear whether it would be a violation of federal civil rights legislation.

But Camargo, who came to Houston for a business conference, said the experience left him with a bad impression of the city.

"It's completely absurd that in a city like Houston, so close to Mexico, a person can't speak Spanish in a taxi," Camargo said. "If the city is trying to attract business, this seems like a serious disincentive."

Mitchell could not be reached for comment. He was an independent contractor driving a cab affiliated with Liberty Cab Co., though the company terminated his contract after the incident, saying he had tried to violate a city ordinance that forbids a cabdriver from leaving a passenger along the side of the road.

Even if Mitchell's English-only rule did not violate the law, observers were quick to note that it might not have been the best business practice in a city where a third of the residents speak a foreign language at home.

"In this city, there are a lot of people who speak Spanish," said Daniel Romero, a driver with a competing company, Yellow Cab. "I don't care what language they speak, as long as they can tell me where they're going."

Other cabbies said they worry that the incident could hurt the industry as a whole.

"This guy should not have been in the fleet," said Pete Ivanus, a native of Romania who drives a cab and teaches elementary school in Pasadena.

Camargo, who lives in Washington and works for a Colombian telecommunications company, said he arrived in Houston about 9:30 a.m. Friday to attend a conference of the National Association of Colombian American Organizations at the Adams Mark. He got into a cab at the airport and showed a card with the address of the hotel.

After the cab left the airport, Camargo's cell phone rang. It was his wife, a diplomat with the Colombian Embassy in Washington. Camargo spoke briefly in Spanish.

He got a second call from his boss in Bogota. While he was still speaking, the cabdriver pulled over on Aldine Mail Road. The driver told him to get out of the cab, but Camargo was at first incredulous.

"This is a country that respects freedoms, like the freedom to speak in one's native language," he said.

The driver popped the trunk, took out Camargo's bag and then opened the car door and tried to force him out. Camargo said he wedged his feet to keep himself in the car, but his jacket was ripped.

Both the driver and the passenger then used their cell phones to call police, according to Camargo. Three Harris County deputies arrived, then ticketed Mitchell on the assault charge.

The driver "was talking all kinds of crap about terrorists," according to Capt. M.H. Talton with the Harris County Sheriff's Department. "He did admit that he had forced the passenger out of the cab."

Another Liberty Cab arrived to take Camargo to his hotel.

Wini Brady, the general manager at Liberty Cab, said the company regrets the incident.

"We feel very grateful to the international travelers who use our service," she said. She criticized Mitchell for trying to leave a passenger along the side of the road.

Cab companies generally hire drivers as independent contractors to limit liability. This means the drivers are essentially self-employed, so the company has limited ability to establish rules.

The city has no ordinance that would prohibit taxi drivers from insisting on the use of English in their cabs, according to Blanton Daniels, division manager of the city of Houston's transportation department.

"It's just stupidity or prejudice, but it's really a matter for the company to take up," he said.

Federal civil rights laws prohibit employers from forcing their workers to speak English on the job, and the laws also prevent a hotel from refusing service to guests based on their language. But it is not clear whether an English-only rule in a cab would violate federal laws, according to two separate civil rights lawyers.

The attorneys agreed that it is rare in a state like Texas to have businesses turn away customers who speak Spanish. So the question rarely comes up in the courts.

"It just doesn't happen that often," said David A. Kahne, local representative of the American Civil Liberties Union. "In fact, this is the first time I've heard of it. Most taxi drivers want a tip. They want to be nice to you.

[imustbeanidiot]

Hog slaughter ahead of expectations

US Weekly Hog Outlook, 13th September 2002 - Weekly review of the US hog industry, written by Glen Grimes and Ron Plain.


Ron Plain
Hog slaughter for the last 4 weeks has run about 120 thousand head more each week on average than was expected based on the June Hogs and Pigs.

Carcass weights as reported by the mandatory price reports indicate we may have pulled marketings forward one day and possibly two. However, due to differences in temperatures this summer and last there is the possibility of substantial error in calculating how much if any those marketings have been pulled forward by comparing slaughter weights.

We certainly are hoping and even praying that marketings have been pulled forward. If not, the price news for hogs for the remainder of the year is not good.

If marketings continue running 5-8 percent above a year earlier for the next 3-4 weeks, the news is bad. However, if we have pulled marketings forward by 4-5 hundred thousand then marketings within 2 or 3 weeks should be back close to a year earlier.

If we have pulled marketings forward by as much as indicated above, prices in the fourth quarter for hogs could average about as high as in the third quarter. With this possibility we probably have had the low in prices for the year at the end of August and the beginning of September.

The extremely low prices of a couple of weeks ago was probably due in part by the lack of information on what was happening. Another example of the trade getting a surprise in the amount of increase in production.

While prices were falling retailers bought their minimum needs because prices were lower the next day.

Live and carcass prices rallied sharply this week with live top prices this Friday up $5 to $7.50 per cwt from a week ago. Average carcass prices were up $9.05 to $9.70 per cwt for this 7 day period. Top prices live this Friday for select markets were: Peoria $27, St Paul $28, Sioux Falls $31.50 and interior Missouri $24.25. Average prices for 185 pound carcasses with 0.9-1.1 inch back fat, 6 square inch loin 2 inches deep by area were: Western Cornbelt $37.37, Eastern Cornbelt $34.34, Iowa-Minnesota $37.20, and Nation $36.21.

Sow slaughter for week ending August 31 was 23.1 percent above a year earlier after adjusting for herd size. For the 4 weeks ending August 31 sow slaughter was up 20 percent and gilt slaughter was up over 1 percent.

Our preliminary estimate of the U.S. breeding herd in September is 98 percent of a year earlier. This estimate assumes no revision in the September 2001 breeding herd.

Pork product prices also improved this week with one quarter inch trim loins at noon Friday up $6.97 per cwt at $87.14 per cwt, boston butts were up $0.99 at $50.57, 17-20 pound hams were up $4.92 cwt at $40 per cwt and 12-14 pound bellies were up $2.20 per ctw at $58 per cwt.

Slaughter this week was above 2 million head again under Federal Inspection. The preliminary estimate was 2049 thousand head.

Slaughter for the week ending August 31st at 2029 thousand was the 40th largest weekly slaughter of record. This weeks estimate under Federal Inspection at 2049 thousand head is the 32 largest of record.

my two penneth worth!
I love this forum :but sometimes................

[ComputerFix]

This was carried just a bit to far by the Cabbie

Ya know, maybe it is just me, but if I saw I sign in a cab that said "english only", I would have thought that it ment that was the only language the driver spoke, not that he was forbidding his passengers from speaking any other language than English. Dang I feel nieve.

[eggplant43]

I'm with you, I think that would be my interpretation as well, but then I've only been speaking English all my life

[eggplant43]

"my two penneth worth!
I love this forum :but sometimes................"