To:				
Subj:	HOLIDAYS OF DEC 3 - 9
HERE ARE THE HOLIDAYS OF DECEMPBER 3 - 9:
MON DEC 4:St. Barbara
	  Day of the Artistans
TUE DEC 5:Prathet Thai
	  Tinsel Day
	  Constitution Day (USSR)
WED DEC 6:St. Nicholas
	  Suomen Tasavalta (Finland)
	  Day of Quito (Ecuador)
	  Ivory Coast Independence Day
FRI DEC 8:Panama's Mothers Day
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THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
	What distance can the average healthy slug cover in a day?
LAST WEEK'S TRIVIA:
	What is the average life span of a human being's tastebud?
	ANS: from 7 to 10 days
	WINNER: Shawn Vester - 11 to 14 days
	BEST ANSWER: Several said: the average life span of a human
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Correction: I accidently left off Matthew McInteer's name from the trivia
question last week.  I regret the error.
NORTH LONG BEACH - 14-year-old Jason Warner was walking his dog, Petey, when
two young men in an old gray pick-up truck, pulled alongside, got out, put a
gun to Jason's chest and demanded the dog. You may think this was a rare
prizefighter, a showdog, or an exotic, rare imported dog. You're wrong; Petey
was an old dog with one bad eye. The question is: Why would anyone steal a
poor, blind, old dog, at gunpoint?
SONORA - A judge did not fall for a bizarre alibi offered by a visually
impaired employee of the U.S. Forest Service, that he was so blind he did not
see how much government property he stole. A jury found Gary Gunder Gunderson
guilty of embezzlement and grand theft of truck-loads of government items.
Gunderson, 43, offered the following written excuse to the judge prior to his
sentencing: "During the years of working for the Forest Service, I was
conditioned to think it was customary practice to borrow and take excess
government items. Due to my visual impairment, I didn't realize I had so many
items on my property to be returned." Gunderson was ordered to spend 275 days
in jail and five years on probation. He will remain free on $25,000 bail while
the conviction is appealed.
THIS WEEK'S OBSCURE WORD:	PEJORATIVE
having a tendency to make or become worse
CHICAGO - Chicago's officials can't do much about street gangs infiltrating
the police ranks. The police officer's union contract protects the officers,
and allows them the right to associate with whomever they want. Unless the
officers break the law, it is perfectly legal for them to associate and be
involved with the local gangs. In the last three years, at least 15 police
officers have been charged with crimes, forced to resign, or investigated for
membership in a street gang. "We can't deny we have individuals who are
members, fraternize or associate with street gangs," said Police Supt. Matt
Rodriguez. "Why would they not do the same things organized crime always did,
such infiltrate the police? If the mob bought judges, politicians and
policemen, why do we think the gangs can't do it?" Rodriguez went on to add
that union rules and constitutional protections make it difficult to fire
gang-affiliated officers unless they are caught commiting a crime. 34-year-old,
ex-officer Reginald Lee, is serving time in jail for attempting to sell two
pounds of cocaine to undercover agents. Lee told investigators he was a member
of the Gangster Disciples, one of the area's most prominent gangs, and would
always be one. Another officer, Sonia Irwin, 41, recently resigned after being
accused of taking part in a Gangster Disciple drug conspiracy. Police are also
investigating officers with ties to gangs known as the Latin Kings and Latin
Lovers.
  
Michael Kearney is 11-years-old and he already graduated from college. He's
currently working on a graduate degree. The boy has a 300-plus IQ. Michael was
the youngest child on record to enter college - age six and a half - and the
youngest graduate - age 10 - when he got his degree in antropology last year
at the University of South Alabama. Michael will attend Middle Tennessee State
University, which has offered him something similar to a full-time graduate
assistanship, in order not to violate child labor laws. When asked if he will
join a fraternity, Michael responded: "Glug, glug, glug, I'll bring the
Kool-Aid." His sister, Maeghan, finished high-school at the age of 9. Both
kids were mostly home-taught by their parents. "He's been trying to take over
the family since he was 3," his father, Kevin, said. "I used education as a
scam, to divert him so Dad could stay in charge." Michael's ambition for the
moment is to become a game show host. "That's a passion we have to accept,"
his father said.

I Usually don't include stories this long, but this one is worth it.
There was a man (I forgot his name) who wanted to kill himself.  He went to the
top of the building in which he lived in order to jump off.  However, while he
was falling past one of the windows of a lower story, a man fired a shotgun
which hit him.  He was of course killed, but what of the man who shot him? 
Well, his argument for firing a shotgun at the window of the apartment in which
he lived was that he was aiming for his wife.  However, he and his wife claimed
that he often pointed a gun at his wife to threatenher, but that it was never
loaded.  Therefore, the jury concluded that he was NOT guilty of murder of the
falling man because the man had already decided to kill himself, and he
couldn't survive the fall under any conditions.  The police then decided to
investigate who had loaded the gun because the couple claimed that they never
loaded it.  The couple stated that their son had been angry with them for the
past several weeks and that he might have something to do with it.  The police
discovered the son's fingerprints on the gun, which made him guilty of
attempted murder of one of his parents and actual murder (probably involuntary
manslaughter) of the falling man.  As if this story couldn't get any more
complicated, it gets even more weird.  The son had apparently run into a mess
of trouble in his life, and as a result jumped off of the top of his apartment
building.  On the way down, he was killed by a shotgun fired by his father. 
Well, that makes a dead man guilty of attempted murder of his parents and
actual murder of himself, on top of suicide!  Go figure. (By Jeremy Brewer)
						Slama sidhi barakas,
						Brent