shoplifter steals the heart of shopkeeper

a curly-haired seven year-old was in the trendy williamsburg boutique catbird when he saw a locket in a candy dish he thought it would make a perfect mother's day gift, so he took it and brought it home. (happy mother's day!) when his family realized that the gift was as hot as it was heartfelt they made the boy bring it back, which he did along with a note:

"dear catbird people. sorry I took the locket. my sister said what is a good mother's day gift? that day i thought that the locket would be a great present, so i picked one and i didn't know they cost anything so i put it in my pocket."

staffers said the youngster handed over the $15 locket when he came in with his dad, who nudged him toward the sales counter where, standing three-feet tall and a little teary-eyed, he told the clerk "i have something for you." the store clerk said : "thank you for doing the right thing."

according to the store's blog (where they posted the apology letter) they won't be pressing charges. "sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. or, at least the cost of a $15 locket," they wrote. "have you seen anything sweeter?" the owner said that indeed the necklace was in a candy dish on a table and the kid could have mistaken for something free. additionally, he feels that this is a valuable experience the boy won't soon forget.

the neighborhood has had some recent issues of shoplifting and some co-workers at the boutique hope that their forgiving nature will not come back to haunt them. "we do have some shoplifting in here, but it's usually adults. it's not a major issue...but after people find out about this, every shoplifter in the city is going to come to the store because we are so lenient."

my point, and i do have one...is, i think that this scenario showed the best in all involved. the boy for wanting to do something nice for his mom, the parents for first identifying that the gift was stolen and then making him bring it back, the store owner for keeping it all in perspective and not pressing charges and then, hopefully in the end, the boy learning a valuable lesson. (that all being said, dude...you totally threw your sister under the bus in that note, like if she didn't make you think about what a good gift was you wouldn't have stolen it - ha!) what is your point?

criminally delicious

there is nothing i like more than sanctioned competitions in prisons that involve knives!

that's right riker's island hosted a cook-off (a-la bravo's "top chef") between teams of incarcerated inmates between the ages of 16 and 21. (a separate evening program also teaches kitchen techniques to women over 21). the competition was an opportunity to showcase the cultivated culinary prowess acquired from a behind-the-bars cooking program called island academy. the 60 girls who attended have been locked up for drug offenses, according to department of education. mark sauerhoff, who has taught at island academy for the last 11 years, says its main goal is to "change these kids' lives -- not just to teach them cooking."

and what do our julia childs' of cell block c think of the experience? students said that the class has taught them invaluable lessons about patience and teamwork. nineteen-year old aisha (who is set for release tomorrow after an eight-month incarceration from what she says stemmed from a fistfight) told the new york post "[the program] changed my attitude and my perspective on life." her first order of business come monday? to get a state-issued id card and then on tuesday, enroll in a cooking program at manhattan's co-op tech. "when i went to court [for sentencing] they called me a 'menace to society...now if i went in, they wouldn't feel the same, because i'm not a bad person."

but what about the food? harlem restaurant owner and judge melba wilson praised the entrees of sautéed tilapia with lemon caper sauce versus barbecued salmon with ginger cole slaw. ultimately it was ruled a tie! (come on, would YOU want to tell a bunch of inmates they lost?)

my point, and i do have one is...i have no idea what the cost implications of this kind of a program is, but i think it is good to teach people who may have aggression issues to channel their energies into something positive. that being said, should these prisoners find their way down an even more violent path once they get out, their trained knife skills should make it easier to identify their work later on. what is your point?

how do i love the stupidity of some union contracts, let me count the ways....

during a nyc mass transit authority committee meeting the other day, it was discussed that when a bus driver is assaulted they get an average of two months off to recover. on the surface this may seem reasonable, but it was also revealed that their contract defines an "assault" broadly enough to include...wait for it...getting spit on.

that's right, last year the 51 bus operators who reported they were spit on each got to take an average of 64 days off. it was suggested that, while some were genuinely traumatized, the mta thought perhaps, some may have been abusing the leave time policy. (ummmm, ya think?) the committee said they will be looking into changing the definition of "assault."

in fairness, it is worth noting that 1,500 drivers were assaulted last year in various ways, including being punched and some of those assault victims used no sick time at all. my point, and i do have one...is those who are legitimately assaulted should, of course take the time they need to recover, the others are just insulting their colleagues's pain and suffering. what's your point?

hello, my name is.....

jacob and isabella topped the recently announced most popular baby names of the year list. in the 80's, many babies were named after soap operas characters (a shout out to all the kayla's out there). this year the twilight series holds that distinction, with the boy name cullen moving up 300 spots. but for all the isalbella's out there, there are also those parents who choose give their children names that are just not necessary, like: tiny hooker, fanny large and wanna towell (some of the names highlighted in the new book bad baby names, based on thousands of shocking names given to real people, as recorded by the u.s. census beauru).

the past decade also saw some odd name trends, including selling your baby's name to the highest bidder on e-bay and giving your baby a corporate trademarked name (nautica, lexus and armani have joined the ranks of america's top 1,000 names, and almost no popular brand seems off limits...at last count, four american boys sported the name espn).

this trend of horrible baby names goes well beyond the coastlines of the u.s.
the bbc recently published a list of the most unfortunate names in the uk - which included: barb dwyer, stan still, paige turner, carrie oakey and tim burr.

while the u.s. doesn't regulate baby names, other countries are starting to. a nine year old girl in new zealand was rescued by a judge who ordered a name change when her parents tried to name her talula does the hula from hawaii. that same judge also mentioned other cases in new zealand where children were named number 16 bus shelter, midnight chardonnay and two pairs of twins named benson and hedges, and fish and chips.

in germany, your baby name has to be approved by the german standesamt who maintain that the name must reflect the sex of the child, and not endanger the wellbeing of the child. in sweden, parents protested a new law requiring that all swedish baby names be approved by naming their baby brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (the name, which they pronounced as “albin” was rejected). denmark is quite conservative about baby names, with a list of about 7000 pre-approved names to choose from. if you want to deviate from the list, you need special approval.

my point, and i do have one...is i'm as much about creativity as much as the next person (if not more) but come on people - life is hard enough as it is, why put kids behind the eight ball right off the bat? what’s your point?

dead right? or dead wrong?

his family said he was born to run, but is this really how he was meant to meet his maker? twenty-two year old david morales colon was murdered last week and to "honor" his passion of motorcycling, his family enlisted the help of san juan's marin funeral home to embalm colon's body, dressed in shades and blue jeans and prop him on his honda cbr600 for the duration of his three-day wake.

this isn't the marin funeral home's first foray into this unorthodox type of wake. in 2008, they embalmed the corpse of another young shooting victim, 24-year-old angel pantoja medina and displayed his body standing up for his multi-day wake in his mother's living room. medina's brother told a local newspaper that his brother had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "he wanted to be happy, standing."

my point, and i do have one...is that everyone is entitled to be celebrated in death in their own way, but is this a celebration of their life or just plain creepy? why not go the extra mile, take the corpse to a taxidermist and have them propped up on a bike or in their mom's living room eternity? what is your point? i know you have one!

our "view" on stupid programming choices...

cbs has announced that they are putting together a pilot to rival abc's "the view." who, you may ask, do they have lined up for their panel? host of big brother (and wife of cbs president - think that helped?) julie chen and star of "roseanne" and token lesbian-mom sara gilbert are on board and there is talk of other possible panelists like lisa rinna (think her lips get their own billing?) and pregnant "real housewives of nyc" cast member bethenny frankel (why would you pick someone who is marginally popular based on a show that is owned by nbc and will then be on maternity leave?).

now, it should be said that i do not think that creating a cookie cutter series based on a show on a competitor's network is smart programming. i personally think that networks should be counter-programming instead of copying (don't even get me started on how i think cbs should drop "the early show" and instead run "the price is right" in that slot - targeting older and college aged viewers...but i digress). this beyond to below average line up of "talent" that cbs has put together for their new show is so bad that my friend lance and i pondered we would select as our dream team to go up against the ladies of "the view." our point...and we do have one, is we think our list is better (take note networks)!

we started by identifying basic talk show-aimed-at-women casting criteria. you need a moderator who is opinionated but fair and seemingly liked by everyone, a republican to hold down the right side of the table or couch (the next time you watch "the view" notice that elizabeth is always on the right of your screen), people who can bring the funny, a healthy mix or races and wombs that have been used on the panel and a wacky matriarch who isn't on every episode, but comes on as needed and is all "been there, done that."

so who is on our list?
moderator:
connie chung (established news person people know and someone who has a sense of humor - her husband is the king of paternity tests!)
republican:
amy holmes (young, african-american conservative correspondent for cnn)
panelists:
kristin chenoweth (singer, musical theater, film and television actress, a self proclaimed liberal christian)
maria elena salinas (co-anchor of noticiero univision, the most watched newscast by american hispanics and considered one of the most recognized and influential female hispanic journalists in the united states)
matriarch:
joan rivers (legend, comedienne and out-spoken matriarchal figure, she won't be on all the time, but will add a special dose of energy when she is there)

what do you think of our picks? who would your picks be?

20 Year "Roommates"

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place--wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold's care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay's significant role in Harold's life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold's "roommate." The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold's bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling.

Without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold's possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county's actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.

With the help of a dedicated and persistent court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa, Clay was finally released from the nursing home. Ms. Dennis, along with Stephen O'Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O'Neill, Barrack & Chong, now represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home, with technical assistance from NCLR. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma.

My point and I do have one..as hard as it is to believe that this can even happen, it does all the time and is a reminder that we can't stop until we have equal rights to love and care for who we choose.