(no subject)

Scary and Sad.......

Fan dies after falling from stands at Rangers game
By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—A man attending a Texas Rangers game with his young son died after falling out of the stands and about 20 feet to the ground while trying to catch a baseball tossed his way Thursday night, the Rangers and Arlington fire officials said.

Arlington Fire Department officials in a statement that another fan nearby tried unsuccessfully to grab the man to keep him from falling. They said the victim’s son did not fall.

“We had a very tragic accident tonight and one of our fans lost their life reaching over the rail trying to get a ball,” team president Nolan Ryan said. “As an organization, and as our team members and our staff, we’re very heavy-hearted about this, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.”

A very somber Ryan didn’t get into details about the accident or release the man’s name.

Ronnie Hargis was sitting in the stands at Rangers Ballpark next to the victim. The men were talking to each other before the accident.

“He went straight down. I tried to grab him but I couldn’t,” Hargis said. “I tried to slow him down a little bit.”

TV replays showed the man falling head-first and landing behind a 14-foot-high wall supporting a video board for replays and scores. The area where the man fell is out of sight from the field.

It is the second fatal fall at a MLB ballpark this season. In May, a 27-year-old man died after he fell about 20 feet and struck his head on concrete during the seventh inning of a Colorado Rockies game. Witnesses told police that the man had been trying to slide down a staircase railing at Coors Field and lost his balance during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The accident in Texas occurred in the second inning after Oakland’s Conor Jackson(notes) hit a foul ball that ricocheted into left field. Josh Hamilton(notes), the reigning AL MVP, retrieved the ball and tossed it into the stands. Replays on Oakland’s television broadcast show the man reaching for the ball and apparently catching it before tumbling.

“We spoke to the ballclub, they understood what has happened and we spoke to Josh,” Ryan said. “I think as any of us would be, Josh is very distraught over this, as the entire team is.”

The Rangers clubhouse was closed to reporters after the game.

Replays on Oakland’s television broadcast show the man reaching for the ball and apparently catching it before falling.

The visitor’s bullpen at the stadium is in left-center field. Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler(notes) was in tears after the game when he found out the man had died.

“They had him on a stretcher. He said, ‘Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself.’ The people who carried him out reassured him. ‘Sir, we’ll get your son, we’ll make sure he’s OK,”’ Ziegler said. “He had his arms swinging. He talked and was conscious. We assumed he was okay. But when you find out he’s not, it’s just tough.”

There was an audible gasp in the stands when the man tumbled over the rail, eerily similar to an accident last July when a man fell about 30 feet from the second-deck of seats down the right-field line while trying to catch a foul ball.

Before the Rangers batted in the second, manager Ron Washington spoke briefly with one of the umpires. Michael Young(notes), who was leading off the inning, could be seen talking to A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki(notes) and pointing toward the area where the previous accident happened.

Former president George W. Bush was sitting in the front row with Ryan near the Rangers when the accident happened. Ryan left moments later while Bush remained in the seats.

Ryan said the former president, who used to be the team’s managing general partner and is a frequent visitor to Rangers games, was aware of what was happening.

Hargis’ daughter said the victim’s head was bleeding badly.

Safawna Dunn, who was sitting behind the victim, said he appeared to have injuries to both arms and was conscious when taken away on a stretcher.

“Josh Hamilton tried to throw (the ball) up to the guy because they were yelling for the ball,” Dunn said.

Last July at Rangers Ballpark, a fan fell 30 feet from the second deck of seats at Rangers Ballpark while trying to catch a foul ball. That fan, Tyler Morris, suffered a fractured skull and sprained ankle.

After Morris was hurt last year, he called the incident a “100 percent, total accident that could have happened to anybody.” He said he didn’t blame the Rangers or the ballpark.

Ryan said it was too early to talk the two accidents and what evaluations the team might make about railings at the stadium.

“Tonight, we’re not prepared to speak about anything further than the accident and the tragedy,” Ryan said. “That’s where I’m going to leave it.”

AP freelance writer Ken Sins contributed to this report.

(no subject)

I can't say I am a huge fan of his movies, but he is a great supporter........


Brad Pitt Salutes Gay Marriage
"It is encouraging that New York has joined the movement to grant equal marriage rights to its citizens. But it is each American's Constitutional right to marry the person they love, no matter what state they inhabit. No state should decide who can marry and who cannot. Thanks to the tireless work of so many, someday soon this discrimination will end and every American will be able to enjoy their equal right to marriage."
-- Brad Pitt in a statement to People magazine about marriage equality

(no subject)

There needs to be a lot more outrage over this.
I don't think it would hurt to ask what his "news" organizations have been doing on this side of the pond too..

British Politicians Blast Rupert Murdoch for Hacking Scandal
By Amelia T.

Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the News Corporation, is facing fire from British politicians over a voicemail hacking scandal that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. First, Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Milibrand expressed their outrage with one of the News Corporation’s tabloid newspapers, News of the World, which was accused of hiring a private investigator to hack into the voicemail of a missing 13-year-old girl. The investigator then deleted voicemails to make room for new ones, giving the girl’s family false hope and confusing the police.

Now, the tabloid is being accused of hacking the phones of people whose family members died in the July 7, 2005 London Underground bombing. New allegations also claim that the paper hacked into the voicemails of bereaved relatives who had recently been informed that their loved ones died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

In breaking news, James Murdoch announced that this Sunday’s issue of News of the World will be its last. This isn’t surprising; the newspaper violated journalistic ethics in such an absurdly dramatic way that it hardly seems that the News Corporation could continue to defend it. But even after the tabloid is gone, the ripples of this scandal may continue to plague Murdoch, whose current plans to take over the pay-television company British Sky Broadcasting may be in jeopardy. Murdoch owns four leading British newspapers, in addition to international media outlets.

Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative legislator, said that Murdoch was guilty of “systemic abuse of almost unprecedented power.” He added, “There is nothing noble in what these newspapers have been doing,” he said. “Rupert Murdoch is clearly a very, very talented businessman — he’s possibly even a genius — but his organization has grown too powerful and has abused that power. It has systematically corrupted the police and in my view has gelded this Parliament, to our shame.”

For many, this is a sign that British tabloid culture has gotten out of control. Rebekah Brooks, now a top executive at News Corporation, is at the center of the controversy, because of her role as editor of News of the World during the search for Milly Dowler. Brooks is a close friend of both Rupert Murdoch and Prime Minister David Cameron, and said she knew nothing about the Dowler hacking. Her meteoric rise to the top of the tabloid ladder was marked by what the New York Times calls her “creative flair in getting articles and her lack of compunction in how she got them.” At one point, she admitted to a House of Commons select committee that her current newspaper, The Sun, had paid the police for information, remarks which she later said were misunderstood.

The saddest part of this whole scandal, however, is the fact that the disappearance of a schoolgirl and the grief of families whose loved ones had just died in war or in a terrorist attack, were seen as tabloid stories. This staggering invasion into ordinary people’s tragedies, conducted until now with impunity, shows that tabloid culture has gotten completely out of hand. Let’s hope that the British Parliament is successful in its attempts to bring newspapers like News of the World to task – and that Rupert Murdoch doesn’t escape by cutting his losses with one tabloid.

(no subject)

Let me get this straight......
Other religious governments are bad, but Christian governments are good.

Michele Bachmann committed herself to ruling America like a theocracy yesterday.
The radical right-wing religious organization in Iowa known as FAMiLY Leader – pressed Republican Presidential candidates to sign a petition rejecting homosexuality and promoting other things important to religious fanatics. The petition declared homosexuality is a choice – is tantamount to polygamy and adultery – and is a public health risk. Not only that – the petitions stated that all forms of pornography should be banned – and Muslim Sharia law should be rejected, while it's Christian equivalent be embraced. And Michele Bachmann became the first Republican candidate to ink her name to the petition. Don’t underestimate the power of Michele Bachmann – she’s in it to win it – and has a lot of money and a lot of support. Goodbye democracy – hello theocracy? Let’s hope not.

(no subject)

I'm a WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I occasionally sign up for give aways on the Lavender Magazine's web site, and I think for the 3rd time, I have won something. :)

I won a remix album of the song Something Else by Diamond Rings.

Watch on YouTube

Never heard of it before, but not too bad.
There are several different remixes on the album.