Josh Wolf Jailed For Contempt Of Court - $500 To File An Appeal Is All He Needs

This is from Josh Wolf's website, which can be visited if you click on the title of this post:

Hi, I'm Liz Wolf-Spada, Josh's mom. Although the July 20th hearing seemed promising, today the judge, Judge Alsop ruled against all motions including 5th amendment rights, rights coming under freedom of the press, against bail or a stay. Josh is in Dublin federal prison, in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay. I don't have any other information at this time, but his lawyer is planning to file an appeal to the federal 9th circuit court. That filing alone costs almost $500, so if you can donate any little bit helps with the expenses of legal counsel and money for Josh while in jail. If you believe in prayer or good thoughts please send them to Josh. Thanks,
Liz

Here's the rest of the story :

Yahoo! Personals - A Crazy-Making Affair With Katie M; Or Why Online Personals Can Be Dangerous

Ok, so I'm taking a time out from Mel Gibson to tell you this story that just happened to me yesterday. I -- like a lot of other people -- have a Yahoo! Personals Ad. I decided to take a friend's advice and "get out there and try" rather than, well, not trying at all and have things just happen.

Which can be fun at times.

At any rate, for those of you who are familar with Yahoo! Personals, people can respond to your ad or you can send a message to someone you want to meet. Well, in this case, I got a message from a woman named Katie who lives in Oakland as I do. What was most interesting about her message-out-of-the-blue was that it read "If you like nerdy women with muscular legs, you won't be disappointed."

I'm not kidding. Of course, that got my attention.

So I replied with a short "let's talk" message and about a week went by. So I chimed in one more time before I determined if I should "punt" on the idea of meeting her. Then, she wrote back that she was working a lot -- seven days on, then seven days off -- but she wanted to meet me. Katie suggested that I leave her my number so she could call me.

So I did. Yesterday, she called. Well, actually, she called three times. Katie and I were playing phone tag, but the point is that she really went all out to meet me. Cool.

So we finally talk on the phone and are having a great conversation. We were so into the idea of meeting that I suggested since we were notn far from each other, we meet at a local coffee shop called "Gaylords." So, I got into my car and headed over there. Once in the neighborhood, I found a parking space and parked the car.

I noticed Katie right as I walked in. She was at the counter ordering tea. She's tall, with a nice short blond hair cut and a good athletic build -- she wasn't kidding about the legs! She's in about her mid 30s, but could pass for younger than that with ease. Let's put it this way, even though I saw only a picture of her face, it never occured to me that I would not be able to pick her out with ease; I did.

We exchanged greetings, got our teas -- I liked what she ordered, so I got the same -- and went outside to a table. From the start I was having a great time and so was she. We talked about all kinds of things, and after a time I did make it clear that I liked her, and she returned the comment. Not bad for a first meeting.

So we walked down to Cato's Ale House and had beers and talk about her folks, her rowing, and my love for movies and being on this screening committe for a major film festival, and all kinds of stuff. Good chemistry, I thought. In fact the conversation and flow was going so well, we made plans to get together for dinner at my place the following week, Monday.

She said that she was getting a little tired -- it was after 10 and she's an early riser. So we left Cato's and walked up the street where my car -- and the way to her place -- were. No, I didn't think she was going to invite me in so soon. Not at all.

So we stopped at the corner of Piedmont and Monte Vista and as I went to hug her, she planted a great kiss and you bet I didn't resist that one. Wow. It was nice -- ok, I admit it was a little out of sync because it was both fun and unexpected, but kisses get better with time and it's not like this was bad. So after the long kiss goodnight, I realized that while she gave me her cell phone number, I didn't have her email, but after my trying to spell it the right way, we decided to just leave our communications to the phone.

Then we kissed again. "See you Monday!!" she said.

Nice.

Now, of course I was happy; who wouldn't be? Monday's not far away so I had to make some arrangements and figure out what I was going to make for dinner. I was excited.

The next day -- which was today -- I sent a simple message of thanks and that I'd see her Monday.

What I go back -- about 8 hours later -- was both weird and hurful. "I don't know how to be nice about this..." she wrote. And proceeded to write that we didn't have good chemistry. That's a crock. If you'd filmed us together, you'd have thought otherwise.

Give the evening and the hug and her kiss, I called to ask what was going on. No answer. It was a direct contrast to the evening before, and it was -- and is -- very scary. See, absent an explaination. Without a phone call. I have no idea of what happened.

What I gathered however is that she was being less than honest with her emotions and that's dangerous. It's sociopathic to fake an emotion or feeling to another person. She had me totally fooled. Plus, she was the person who was interested in me, or so she lead me to believe. She even told me I was what she expected. Go figure!

Everyone I've talked to says two things: 1) What she did was terrible, and 2) she was being dishonest. The guy at the Payless store said he'd want to know what was going on in her mind. My Mom -- visiting me from Georgia for my birthday -- think's she's "bipolar." "Why else would she do that, and then treat you this way?" The comments go on and on.

At one point I thought -- since she picked me out -- that perhaps this was something she did where she targeted black men who seem interested in interracial dating and played these mind games on them. I could be right. Whatever the case, everyone agrees that online personal sites seem to be a place where some people take out their problems on others.

What bothers me about Katie is that she's not far away from me, and so our paths will cross. At this point, my feeling is to say nothing. Her actions were confusing and hurtful and most uncalled for.

I suppose I could decided not to trust a woman I meet on Yahoo! and I may be right, or more to be point, I know I can't trust Katie right now. But I hope she realizes that -- if this is some normal practice for her -- it's dangerous. She could be emotionally phony with the wrong man -- a person with a bad heart -- and the results would not be good. I pray she realizes this. It could be she's too far down this path of game-playing to understand that it's terrible to do.

Hey, if you're a professional, nice, kind guy who's Black, beware out there -- there are some women who just want to be mean to you just because you don't fit a stereotype.

Now, that perception I just expressed above was told to me by a good friend of my Mom's last night: "Some white girls are looking for you as a black man to be stupid, and Zennie, you don't fit that." Mom's friend had a term for it called "Missionary Pussy" and gets it's form from the idea that a European American woman may be of a mind and quirk in her thinking such that she's looking for a kind of Black man who seems "downtroden" or just not one who reminds her that there may be things he knows that she doesn't know -- smart, in other words. I thought this was ridiculous at first, but then I let it roll around in my head a few times...

Hey, you laugh, but this is how some of our Black elders think, and who's to say they're not correct?

The bottom line is I don't know what was on Katie's mind -- maybe using Yahoo! to find guys to play head games with is her form of entertainment, since she doesn't have a television set -- but as long as she doesn't say what was on it, she opens herself to all kinds of assumptions about her character, and that's too bad for everyone, especially others on Yahoo! Personals.

Interview with Jets Rookie QB Kellen Clemens

The Interview with NY Jets QB Kellen Clemens
On the second full day of Jets training Camp we got to spend a few minutes
post practice with the Jets second round selection out of the university of Oregon.

FP: Kellen, thanks for taking a few minutes. I know it was hot out there and you probably want to get a shower and eat, so we won't keep you long.

KC: No problem. (smiles)

FP: So Kellen, right off the top, what's different about this experience so far, from your time in college?

KC: Well, the playbook, It's huge. Our playbook at Oregon was big, but there is so much more…(trails off)

FP: We spoke with NFL.com writer Pat Kirwan at the draft, and he told a group of us that a scout he knew worked out the top ten QB's in this draft class, yourself included, and your workout was impressive. Not only were they impressed, but we were told you had the tightest spiral of any of the Qb's.

KC: All I can say to that is thanks for the compliment. I have been working on my throws since High School. Keeping them tight, that’s important

FP: I got to watch some tape on you myself both before and since the draft. What would you say were your strong points? And weaknesses?

KC: You mentioned my (Throwing the) ball, and my reads. I think I excel at reading the other team.

FP: Coach Mangini said this morning you have a great personality, but because your injury cut your season short last year, your learning curve is a bit steeper. Can you explain?

KC: Well, that's true. It's been a little harder then I thought, but I'm improving each day.

FP: How much help has Chad been to you? How much has he helped you?
KC: He's been a great help. I've been in his hip pocket too. Everything he has to say, I absorb like a sponge.

FP: Ok Kellen, thanks for giving us a few minutes

Generation Jets Fan Fest

Generation Jets Fan Fest-By Annrose Fumai-Chachkes


"What's that?" I asked my husband Bill as we parked the car at Hofstra University
for NY Jets Training Camp. "Oh that’s the Jets Fan Fest" he said. I waited for him to continue, because like most writers, Bill explains everything to death. But he didn't elaborate, so I pressed. " What's a FAN FEST" I wanted to know. He was more concerned with getting our media credentials, but he knew I wouldn't leave him alone, so he explained. "The Jets are trying to reach out to the younger fans and the families, so they set this street fair type of event up in that parking lot, to draw a wider variety of fans to the workouts. They have a Shop Tent, skill events for the Kids, and Bands playing, plus they give stuff away."

Now I was hooked. This was my first day working with Bill. I was in his football writer's world for the first time, but I wanted to know more about this Fan Fest.
"Do we need pictures of any of that?" I asked him as we walked past. "I guess a few shots of the Kids having fun wouldn't hurt" he said "but wait until after we get our tags."

Later on, we needed to kill some time before the actual practice began at 2 pm.
"We have an hour, can we walk over now?" "As long as we come back. I don't want to miss Curtis Martin." So we walked over and looked around. Everywhere people were having fun. Young kids, older kids, and their parents. "Now this is what a family sporting event should be," I said. Bill was back to being his pre-occupied self, answering all the trivia questions from the ESPN van, but under his breath. "Okay Snapshot, back to work, I need more photos."

Anyway, Find a Fan Fest for your favorite football team and go!

Jerry Porter, I Don't Care Who You Are, The Raiders Are A TEAM

Thank you Raiders Head Coach Art Shell. Thank you for bringing things just a touch back into focus. Thank you for returning to the sideline and showing some of these players that not every schmuck who's made a mint in the NFL thinks they write their own rules.

Jerry Porter is a talented wide receiver. He's big. He's fast. He has everything it takes to be star. But, he has never had 1000 yards receiving. He whined that Jon Gruden didn't give him a chance to shine and then merely flickered when Callahan and the Turner tried to ignite him. And now he wants a trade because has to work out with his stinking teammates. Well cry me a salty sweaty stinking river.

Art Shell and receivers coach Fred Belitnikof (ever heard of those guys? Yeah, me too) put their foot down. They told Porter that he could work out in the Raiders off season conditioning program. You know why? Because he's a starting wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders. You know, that team that pays a lot of money to work out everyday and play football? Everyone else on that team is buying in. They love the game, they love the tough love Shell has for the game. They know that if they want to win, following Shell leads to wins. If they love football, they don't need Shell to tell them that chemistry with your teammates starts off the field. It happens in the weight room. It happens on the practice fields when practice is over or hasn't begun.

Porter needs to get his priorities straight. He has the whole off season to chill in Florida. I'm curious, what would happen if I were to walk in to the office and tell my boss that I feel like I deserve to work from home even though all the other guys don't. I'd especially be curious as to her reaction if I said something like that after underperforming for four straight years.

Jerry Porter is up for grabs. The Raiders have set the price at two first round draft picks. They have also moved Doug Gabriel up the depth chart. The high price though, tells me they aren't really wanting to lose Porter. Not a team in the league is going to give up one number one for Porter let alone two of them. I just hope he comes to his senses.

Fidel Castro Steps Down; Puts Brother In Place

I'm not sure the celebration is with merit; Castro's not passed away, and his passing would not necessarily change the state of affairs in Cuba. Sorry to be a kill joy.

Mel Gibson - "Young Turks" Hold Good Conversation On Matter

The "Young Turks" hold a good conversation on the Mel Gibson matter...