A Note on Notebooks

I’m sure many of you have shunned bulky desktop computers for sleek and ultra-portable notebook PCs. The current trend is to go small and portable, and computers are definitely not on the exceptions list.

I’m a non-conformist at times, but I definitely agree that notebooks are indispensable for those who are always on the go. Although I don’t usually go on out of town trips, my boss is lenient enough to let some of us go home early as long as we get our tasks done before the deadline. Of course, this means that I have to bring work at home.

Working at home is bliss. However, there are times when it can do more damage than good. There are lots of things at home which could keep you away from your laptop. There’s the TV, for example. I admit that I spend most of my time watching TV when at home, even when I should be doing something more important, like work or errands.

In order to avoid these temptations, I decided to work most of the time at a nearby coffee shop. The ambiance is great, and the aroma of brewing coffee stimulates my mind for some reason. Best of all, Wi-Fi is free!

But there’s a nasty downside to this, though. Laptop theft is becoming rampant recently. Some of them even transpire inside coffee shops! It’s hard to concentrate or be absorbed in your work when you’re always worrying that a thug might just approach you in your nook and take your notebook by force.

It’s quite impossible to demand for better security in these places. I haven’t been to a coffee shop that has a security guard detailed at the entrance. I have no problem being vigilant while tapping my laptop’s keyboard at the coffee shop. However, what I don’t like is the news that some café employees are actually in cahoots with the thieves!

I hope that the one serving me coffee in the Starbucks branch that I frequently go to is not one of them. I’m quite tempted to run a criminal records check on him to see if he has been convicted of theft before. I guess I will. It’s better to be overly cautious than to spend a thousand dollars for a new laptop.

Beyond Disturbing

This is one criminal record that might just make it to the record books :)

Bryan James Hathaway was recently convicted of having sexual intercourse with the corpse of a dead deer. The 20-year old didn’t get a prison sentence, though. What he got instead was probation.

I didn’t know that you could be criminally liable for having sexual contact with a dead animal. I’m aware of certain legislations involving the treatment of animals, but these laws usually only apply to live ones. Provisions regarding the handling and disposal of dead animals are usually contained in sanitary statutes.

Paul said that the man was lucky that he only got probation. He explained that in other jurisdictions, a person who’s caught having sex with an animal could even get a prison sentence. (How come you know about these things, Paul? Hmmm…. Just kidding :) )

Apparently the man needs professional help. Who, in his right mind, would have intercourse with a corpse of a dead deer? This wasn’t the first time either that he perpetrated a crime of a similar nature. He got a “felony mistreatment of an animal” conviction in April 2005 for killing a horse with the intention of having sexual contact with it. He got more than just probation that time. The court sentenced him to 18 months in jail. He was also meted a 6-year imprisonment for taking a car without its owner’s consent.

The judge lamented that the behavior exhibited by Hathaway was disturbing. I think that the court’s observation was mildly put. If you’re going to ask me, the act was plainly despicable. The probation was a very light penalty. However, it’s quite comforting to know that the court order also provided for Hathaway’s mandatory treatment at the Institute of for Psychological and Sexual Health in Duluth, Minnesota.

To Pay or Not to Pay

I’m sure you’re already aware of the government’s position regarding the payment of ransom or any form of financial aid to groups that have been tagged as terrorists. I have no problem with this policy. In fact, I think it’s a necessary one. If governments would cower in fear and quickly reach for its purse every time one of its citizens gets abducted by good-for-nothing bandits, then they’ll be technically abetting the latter’s reprehensible acts.

All this tough talk is easy for us who haven’t been victimized by kidnapping syndicates or terror groups. I could just imagine the scorn that the policy gets from the family and friends of those who have been abducted by the outlawed groups. I’m sure they don’t care if giving money to the criminals would just result into more kidnappings in the future. It’s only natural that they would do all that they can to save their loved ones.

This was the dilemma that Chiquita faced. The banana company mainly gets it supply of the fruit from their plantation in Colombia. Unfortunately, the location of the farm is known to be one of the kidnapping hotspots in the world. Their employees are in constant danger of being taken against their will. Fortunately, not one of the plantation workers are in the custody of the terrorist groups lurking in the area.

This doesn’t mean though, that the security situation in the Chiquita farm is good. On the contrary, many terror groups operate in the area. It’s not surprising then that the company had received demands for protection money from one of the bandit groups that control the area.

In order to ensure the security of its employees, Chiquita acceded to the demands of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and paid protection money to the group. The Justice Department found out that it had paid AUC a total of $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004. A $25-million fine was meted out to the company for dealing with the terrorist organization.

I can’t blame Chiquita for dealing with people whose criminal records are probably as thick as a telephone directory. I just hope that the military and law enforcement groups in Colombia would exert strenuous efforts in eradicating the area around the plantation of unwanted criminals.

Fatty Issue

Have you seen the Adidas commercial a few months back where Kevin Garnett said that we’re just being fooled to believe that it’s just all about him whenever his team is playing great? Well, I just remembered that line of his because an old friend of mine who saw my picture on blogger said that I look really fit and asked me if I’ve been working out.

I let out a loud chuckle after she said that. As much as I wanted to second her claim, I told her honestly that beneath that well-pressed suit lies a bulging (and still growing) belly. I also didn’t mention the chest hair because that might gross her out. We were enjoying our conversation and I didn’t want to abruptly end it by describing the lawn on my chest.

I’ve been planning to go to the gym for the longest time. However, my eyes usually play tricks on me whenever I examine myself on the mirror. For some reason I always see the reflection of a very fit man whenever I stand before the mirror. Maybe it’s not a mirror. Maybe it’s actually a 6-foot poster of a guy that looks lime me (minus the belly, of course).

I’m fully aware that there are many fat-burning pills in the market that could fry the lard off our tummies without lifting a muscle. However, I’m quite apprehensive in trying them because many say that there are very undesirable side effects. I bet some of the pharmaceutical companies who make fat-burning supplements have criminal records already for issuing defective or harmful products. The last thing that I need is a health problem. I’m not aspiring to have a body like Sylvester Stallone’s. All I want is to be healthy.

I’ve read an article which revealed that we could actually teach our body to burn fat. The methods by which you could do it require hard work, though. But, then again, nothing in life is easy.

The Antonym of Brotherhood

I never joined a fraternity during college. I always thought that brotherhood was the last thing that these groups had in mind, especially during initiation rites. I mean, how could anyone call their tormentors “brother.”

I had a dorm mate during my sophomore year who tried to join a famous fraternity in campus. We were already told that the recruitment process was a sham since entry therein was by invitation only. However, in order to keep their accreditation as a legitimate school organization, they still conducted yearly recruitments. Of course, the “undesirables” never made it, while the jocks breezed through the initiation rites.

I’m not totally against fraternities. Some actually merit the school and the community’s praises. However, many of these organizations were constituted just to house the hip and famous. Joining these entities is like joining a beauty pageant.

I know I sound a little bit bitter, or that my hatred for most of these groups is very evident. I guess you already have an idea why. During my freshman year, I got a fight with a fraternity member. It’s a geek-versus-jock kind of thing (guess who’s the geek). There was a time when I can’t even walk on the hallway without constantly looking at my back. That fraternity was notorious for maligning students who they deem to be “uncool.”

I heard that some of its members were already charged before the local courts for physical injuries. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the stupid jerk who punched me in the groin has a lengthy criminal record already.

I’m shoveling up buried angst right now. I already forgot about it actually until I saw an article on Yahoo! regarding the expulsion by a sorority of some of its members who didn’t “fit in.”

The expelled members are mostly overweight. Some of them are also members of the minority groups in the society. Many groups criticized the criteria that the organization has. However, the sorority’s governing body has denied allegations of discrimination and has vowed to look into the matter.

Ironic

The Oxford dictionary has defined “Irony” as an expression of meaning, often humorous or sarcastic, by the use of language of a different or opposite tendency.

Such was the word that immediately came into my mind when I saw the statistics on crime as posted on the White House Web site.

The good news is that violent crimes have declined since 1993. Property crime rates also followed a similar trend. Despite the drops, the number of adults inside correctional institutions has been sharply increasing. 7 million detainees were recorded in 2005. I guess it’s safe to surmise that that number is close to testing the 8 million mark already.

I’m sure you’ve already noticed that the statistics are conflicting. If the number of criminal records is declining, then how come penal facilities are still fully booked? I don’t have the data to explain this irony. Maybe it’s because violent or property crimes are just a small part of the total number of crimes that are being committed in the country. Let me know if you have a different answer.

New Evidence on JFK Assassination?

I’m sure many Americans would be opening up Lee Harvey Oswald’s criminal records again as a newly discovered footage of President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade shortly before he was shot was made public by the Sixth Floor Museum.

The homemade movie was taken by George Jefferies. He kept it from the public for forty years. It was only during a conversation with his son-in-law that he finally decided to let it out by donating it to the Dallas museum.

Some speculate that the footage would provide new insights to the assassination. I’m not sure if it will, but I hope that it could answer some of the questions that were left unanswered by the investigation that was conducted decades ago.

I’m sure that there are many more similar footages of the assassination or motorcade that are kept from the public. Although authorities have said that they already exhausted all available means and taken all open avenues to shed light to the case, new evidence might make the picture much clearer.