Crazy News Article

I found this news article on the internet and I thought it was really funny and interesting.

More People Leaving Money to Their Pets
By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Leona Helmsley's decision to leave $12 million to her dog so it could live out its life in luxury proved once and for all that she was not one of the little people.

But legal experts say that, size aside, Helmsley's gift to her beloved pet _ a Maltese named Trouble _ wasn't unique.

A growing number of people, not all wealthy, have been setting up trust funds or adjusting their wills to ensure that their pets are well cared for if they die, according to attorneys and animal welfare groups.

States have rushed to make such gifts easier. At the close of the 1990s, only a handful recognized so-called "pet trusts." Now, 39 states plus Washington, D.C., have enacted laws dealing with such gifts.

The types of bequests vary. Some well-off Americans go as far as to set aside tens of thousands of dollars to allow their pets to continue to live comfortably in their past homes with a professional caretaker, rather than be shipped off to a relative.

Others leave money for future veterinary bills, or just to compensate a new owner for taking on the responsibility of a new dog or cat.

Rachel Hirschfeld, an estate lawyer in New York who specializes in pet trusts, said the idea isn't so crazy.

"People really think of their pets as their babies," she said.

Yes, she said, gifts like Helmsley's are extraordinary. Her clients more commonly leave $5,000 to $10,000, although she had one who set aside $5 million.

Tales about eccentric millionaires leaving chunks of their fortune to a pet go back decades, but the creation of trusts for that purpose became easier in 1990 because of an update of the Uniform Probate Code, a model upon which many states base their laws regarding wills.
Animal welfare groups have also lobbied for a federal bill that would create tax benefits for a pet owner who creates such a trust, then leaves the remaining money to charity when the animal dies.

Sara Amundson, a director of legislative affairs for the Humane Society of the United States, said even a small gift can keep a pet from winding up in dire straits.

"As a nation, we still euthanize 4 to 6 million cats and dogs every year, and a good number of those are pets left without care when their owners die," she said.

Pet owners of moderate means can ensure some stability for their animals by including a few lines in their will spelling out who gets the family dog, said Kim Bressant-Kibwe, associate counsel of trusts and estates for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"Maybe it's a situation where a person only has $500 or $1,000 to leave for a pet's care, and that's fine," Bressant-Kibwe said. "What we want people to think about is making arrangements."

The specifics of Helmsley's gift to Trouble are spelled out in private trust documents and aren't publicly known. Her will says only that the dog will be cared for by her brother, and that when it dies, its remains will be buried next to her own in a lavish family mausoleum.

Hirschfeld, who was also a longtime acquaintance of Helmsley's, said that even given the hotelier's famous penchant for fine living, the trust's size is startling.

"Twelve million is outrageous. Come on! Let's get real!" she said. "If someone had come to me and said, 'I want to leave 12 million bucks, I'd say, 'why?'"

One possible reason, she speculated, is that money left over after the dog's demise might ultimately be destined for animal-welfare charities.

A strongly written trust, she said, could likely protect the dog's gift from becoming the subject of a court fight.

New York state law allows a court to reduce bequests to pets if a judge finds they are more than needed for the animal's care, and there is always the possibility that disappointed relatives might be waiting in the wings to argue that the dog got too much.

Helmsley, a hotel and real estate magnate who died Aug. 20 at age 87, decreed that the vast bulk of her multibillion-dollar estate would go to charity, not to her family, although she made individual gifts of $5 million to $10 million to several relatives.

She also expressly stiffed two grandchildren with whom she had feuded, saying in her will that they would get nothing, "for reasons that are known to them."

Songs

I really like these songs. They are some of my favorite.

Love Song by Sara Bareilles

Head under water,
And they tell me to breathe easy for a while.
The breathing gets harder, even I know that.
You made room for me but it’s too soon to see,
If I’m happy in your hands.
I’m unusually hard to hold on to.
Blank stares at blank pages.
No easy way to say this.
You mean well, but you make this hard on me.
I'm not gonna write you a love song,
'Cause you asked for it,
'Cause you need one, you see.
I'm not gonna write you a love song,
'Cause you tell me it's,
Make or breaking this.
If you’re on your way,
I'm not gonna write you to stay.
If all you have is leaving,
I’m gonna need a better reason to write you a love song today.
Today.
I learned the hard way,
That they all say things you want to hear.
My heavy heart sinks deep down under you,
And your twisted words, your help just hurts.
You are not what I thought you were.
Hello to high and dry.
Convinced me to please you.
Made me think that I need this too.
I’m trying to let you hear me as I am.
I'm not gonna write you a love song,
'Cause you asked for it,
'Cause you need one, you see.
I'm not gonna write you a love song,
'Cause you tell me it's,
Make or breaking this.
If you’re on your way,
I'm not gonna write you to stay.
If all you have is leaving,
I’m gonna need a better reason to write you a love song today.
Promise me you'll leave the light on,
To help me see with daylight, my guide, gone.
'Cause I believe there's a way you can love me because I say,
I won't write you a love song,
'Cause you asked for it,
'Cause you need one, you see.
I'm not gonna write you a love song,
'Cause you tell me it's,
Make or breaking this.
Is that why you wanted a love song,
'Cause you asked for it,
'Cause you need one, you see.
I’m not gonna write you a love song,
'Cause you tell me it's,
Make or breaking this.
If you’re on your way,
I’m not gonna write you to stay.
If your heart is nowhere in it,
I don’t want it for a minute.
Babe, I’ll walk the seven seas when I believe that there's a reason to,
Write you a love song today.
Today.

Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis

Closed off from love
I didn’t need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it was all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you’re frozen
But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melted to the ground
Found something true
And everyone’s looking round
Thinking I’m going crazy
But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that the goal
Is to keep me from falling
But nothing’s greater
Than the rush that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinks that I’m going crazy, maybe, maybe
But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
And it’s draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I’ll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see
I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

My Neighbor

Do you know anyone who doesn’t acts younger than they really are? My neighbor, Rick, is one of those people. Even though he is a father of three and a respectable lawyer, he seems like a seventeen-year-old person trapped in a near 40-year-old’s body. Not only does he dress like a teenager, he acts like one too. He is also very good all the extreme sports. My neighbor, Rick, acts younger than he really is.

Rick dresses like a teenager. He wears clothes that most of the teenage boys would wear. He loves to wear skate shoes. One of his favorite brands of shoes is Audio. His favorite store is Zumiez. I am pretty sure that most of his clothes are from Zumiez, a skater shop. He doesn’t usually buy his daughter any clothes except when they come from Zumiez. Rick gets mad when she buys clothes with his money, so she has to sneak in her clothes. He usually is seen wearing a beanie, hoodie and jeans. He doesn’t just look the part he acts like it too.

Rich acts just like a teenager. Rick loves to tease people, mostly kids. He especially loves to tease the neighbor kids on the street, like my sister Abbi, and his nieces and nephews. He always teases my little sister and calls her names like, “Princess Abbi” and “Pretty Princess.” She says she doesn’t like it, but I think she does. He also loves to watch TV. One of his favorite shows is South Park. I know he has seen a lot of the episodes. He even talks like a teenager too. One of his favorite things to say when he gets really excited is “Hot Digity Dog.” He speaks his mind and says whatever he wants. Usually, if something is bothering him, he will just tell that person that it is bothering him. He also likes to do sports a teenager would do.

Rick loves all the extreme sports. He spends a good portion of his money on things for the sports that he enjoys. One of his favorite sports is snowboarding. He has at least eight snowboards that he uses. Most of them are Burton. He went snowboarding every month last year, except July. I think if he didn’t have a job, he would go every day he could. Most of the people that work at Snow basin know him by name. Once one of the guys on the lifts thought he didn’t have a job, because he goes snowboarding so much. He even goes snowboarding with professional snowboarders, like Jeremy Jones. My eleven-year-old brother and his friend went with him and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. Rick is an amazing snowboarder, I have been with him and his daughter, and he taught me so many things. He is one of the best snowboarders I know. He also really likes snowboarding movies. Instead of watching movies likes to watch those instead. He loves to ride motorcycles. He has three Yamaha motorcycles. He rides his motorcycle during the summer a lot. He also likes to skateboard. Early on summer Saturdays mornings, you in the skate park. He usually takes his son. Some of the boys in our neighborhood also invite him over to go snowboarding or skateboarding with them.

My neighbor Rick is just like a teenager in every way. He likes to wear skate clothes. He acts like a teenager. He loves all of the extreme sports. That’s my neighbor Rick, just one of the kids.

Power to the Poachers

CHECK OUT MY FAV POACHING VID (to the left, it's the one with the guy in the neon jacket)


Until snowboarders everywhere are free to ride where they want to ride, until the snow and the slopes of this great nation have been purged of the scourge of segregation, until the four elitist, fascist resorts lift their draconian bans, there shall be no rest, no justice, and no peace.
In the face of this blatant and aggressive disregard for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, poaching isn’t simply a peaceful form of protest, it is truly your patriotic duty.
-Jake Burton


ALL WE WANT IS SOME PEACE!!!


SABOTAGE STUPIDITY: BURTON'S POWER TO THE POACERS (5ones.com)

Can it seriously be possible that we are now beginning the year 2008 and there are still mountain resorts in the United States that are getting away with banning snowboarders from their hills? Unfortunately, and unbelievably, the answer is yes. While we are now down to the final four mountains that refuse to lift their snowboarding ban, it’s still not good enough. Mad River Glen, Vt., Taos, New Mexico, Alta, UT., and Deer Valley, UT. all somehow continue to institute a ’skiers only’ policy. Apparently the godfather of snowboarding, Jake Burton, has had enough.

Burton is encouraging all of us fellow knuckle-draggers to band together and peacefully protest this atrocity at each of these mountains. On Dec. 15 of last year, a sneak attack was led on Mad River Glen. About 40 white-clad boarders organized themselves at Burton HQ, conveniently located 45 minutes from MRG, for an early morning sneak-attack. They were armed with donuts and smiles, taking an early morning hike up the mountain and catching the elitists before they even knew what hit them. With cameras rolling, the brigade took to the hill while on-lookers below gathered to see their mountain being poached. Once the group made it to the bottom they proceeded to greet skiers with donuts and a friendly hello while staging a peaceful picket line in protest of the continued segregation.

In addition to the protest that already took place, Burton is encouraging snowboarders to poach other mountains and submit a video that documents their experience, and the best video will be awarded with a cash prize worth $5000. So far there are no user generated videos posted on the site. Is that a sign of a failed attempt at Burton trying its hand in social media marketing? Or is simply because snowboarders don’t care enough that only four out of the hundreds of mountain resorts in the U.S. don’t allow boarders?

I’m sure each of these resorts has their reasons for limiting their guests to two-plankers, but at this point those reasons just don’t fly anymore. There simply is no way that these mountains can continue to justify picking and choosing who is allowed on their slopes. Burton has it right as he continues to encourage more of these peaceful poaching-protests, even going as far to call it our “patriotic duty.” Poach away my friends, poach away!!!