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CityCynic.com Redesign #219: As you, my loyal readers, may have noticed, I’ve redesigned the site yet again. Since I started designing CityCynic.com, I’ve been trying to work in actual city buildings into the layout, and, alas, I’ve finally done it! As usual, feel free to tell me what you think in the comments section. And, if you have a second, check out my new site, ElectionSquad. (0) [link]
July 30, 2007 
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Denied Asylum Because He Can’t Prove He’s Gay: “The story of the deportation of Alvaro Antonio Orozco, a 21-year-old gay runaway from Nicaragua, hit the major newspapers and TV stations in Canada in mid-February. Despite his claim that his life would be at risk if he returned to his home country, where homosexuality is illegal and the homophobia is rampant, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) denied him asylum because they didn’t believe he was a homosexual.” How does someone prove they are gay to a government board? And, in terms of civil rights, should he have to?
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Teens, adults separated by ‘IM gap’: 48% of teenagers regularly use instant messaging, compared to only about 20% of adults. “Teen users (30 percent) are almost twice as likely as adults (17 percent) to say they can’t imagine life without instant messaging.” I love instant messaging (and texting!) myself these days and have since I started using it. Its a viable communication method, but shouldn’t be the only means of talking to someone. When I see that 16 percent of teen IM users have used messaging to break up with someone, though, then I start to worry a bit… (0) [link]
Andre Agassi retires from professional tennis
Tennis great Andre Agassi bid farewell to professional tennis in Forest Hill, Queens yesterday, after losing his U.S. Open match to Boris Becker.
Agassi bids emotional farewell:
“The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn’t say is what it is I have found,” 36-year-old Agassi told thousands of cheering fans in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Forest Hills, Queens.
“You have willed me to achieve even in my lowest moments,” he said. “You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams that I could not have reached without you.”
The 25-year-old Becker — who entered the competition ranked 112th — won 7-5 6-7 6-4 7-5 over Agassi, who was ranked 39, in a match that ran for just over three hours.
Agassi said that back pain flared during the match and affected his game. “The pain came quickly; it can do that and it did,” Agassi said. “You immediately start cutting corners.”
Agassi’s two-decade career record includes 868 wins and 273 losses. He appeared 20 times in the U.S. Open, winning the event in 1994 and in 1999. He won a total of eight Grand Slam titles, covering the U.S., French and Australian Opens, and Wimbledon. […]
The capacity crowd gave Agassi a lengthy standing ovation.
As I’ve previously said it would be, this day is a sad day for tennis. Andre Agassi was one of the greatest player’s in tennis, over his 21-year professional playing career. He helped make tennis what it is today: from the exceptional matches and energy he brought to the game to the great interest he garnered that won over new fans to the sport.
Andre Agassi was the Michael Jordan of professional tennis. And, like MJ, Agassi’s presence in the sport will be missed.
I know the news reports all say Agassi is planning to take some time for his family and wife Steffi Graf, but I really hope he comes back to the game sooner rather than later in a commentator capacity of some sort, like John McEnroe did.
Thanks for the great tennis memories, Andre!
UPDATE: And here’s the video of his farewell speech. So moving…
So much to say, so much to say…
I have had so much to say here recently, but haven’t actually written any of it for you to read.
I think I’ll get back into the swing of things with more regular posting shortly, so don’t worry your pretty faces.
One upcoming thing I’m excited about (besides my birthday on July 2) is seeing Dave Matthews Band at the Island Getaway at Randall’s Island on August 5-6. Anyone want to come with me on the 6th, drop me a line!
I need to eat more fruit.
Stay tuned…
Michael Bloomberg is a male dwarf hamster
Michael Bloomberg is a male dwarf hamster.
At least that’s what it says on pet adoption site PetFinder.com:
Michael Bloomberg came to the NYHH in October 2005 along with his brother Jackson and their now-deceased brother, Prince. They had been neglected and their old owner had been keeping them in a bucket! But, now they have grown and blossomed and are super energetic and adorable white dwarf hamsters. They used to live together, but they fought too much and so they now each own their own co-op. Michael Bloomberg enjoys non-smoking establishments and the number 6 subway, as well as running in his exercise ball. He likes to sleep a lot! […]
If you are looking to adopt Michael Bloomberg, please fill out the application form here or email hamsters@thejessicawells.com with questions. […]Michael Bloomberg is waiting to go to a good, forever home… maybe yours?
I always knew Bloomberg reminded me of some sort of furry rodent. Who knew he was a male dwarf hamster?
So please, adopt Michael Bloomberg from the New York Hamster House at 212-569-5901.
President Rudolph Giuliani?
President Rudolph Giuliani? Can you imagine that?
Rudy Giuliani said today in Denmark that he will consider running for president in 2008:
“I will be considering it next year,” Giuliani said during a visit to Denmark. But he added that playing with the idea of running for the Republican nomination for president did not mean he would actually do it.
“Sometime you warm up and get ready and you don’t get in and pitch,” he told reporters, in a baseball analogy.
Could you imagine potentially having a president with a first name stranger than Grover Cleveland? Rudolph the Republican presidential nominee could be closer than you think…
CityCynic Remix
As you may have noticed, I’ve redesigned the site. I call this version CityCynic Remix since it is based on much of the last design’s ideas, but now remixed, and thus, much cooler.
If you look closely, you’ll see I’ve added a speech bubble, proclaiming my wonderful blog slogan: “The life of a New Yorker who doesn’t know when to quit.” And it’s in a comic strip font, as all speech bubble text ought to be.
I’m not sure if this counts as a three-column layout or a four-column one. I guess it depends on whether or not you count the column of *me* as an actual column.
Hopefully, the remix is aesthetically pleasing to you guys. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section. And if you need some custom web design, be sure to let me know as well.
Enjoy the remix!
CIA sends terrorism suspects overseas
The CIA has been secretly transferring terrorsim suspects overseas for interrogation, according to a former US official. A White House spokesman has already denied that the United States used the practice to “export torture.”
As if the amount of jobs being shipped overseas from America wasn’t enough, now the Bush Administration is outsourcing the interrogation of terrorists?
Its interesting to try and figure out what the possible benefits of sending terror suspects overseas would be. Someone that is a pessimist might lean towards the possibility of using torture to elicit information from the prisoners. An optimist would probably be stuck with just hoping there was some strategy with using multiple interrogation locations.The official, who asked not to be named because there are classified issues involved, emphasized that the process — known as “rendition” — is conducted with strict government oversight and with approval from the White House and the Department of Justice.
The practice had existed for years, but President Bush expanded it after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, The New York Times reported Sunday.
“This program of renditions is fully authorized, so the CIA is not doing anything illegal that has not been authorized by the president,” the former official said. He said both the chairmen and ranking Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees are entitled to know about it or have been briefed on it. […]
Those officials said the CIA has gone to “great lengths” to ensure that prisoners were not tortured. But some of those seized and shipped to third countries have said they were drugged, beaten and electrocuted while in custody overseas, and human rights groups have questioned the legality of the practice.
It will be interesting to see what further information comes forth about these secret interrogations of prisoners in the next few days and weeks. With the interrogation methods employed at the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq and the allegations of abuse at Guantanamo Bay, let’s hope there is a really good strategy being employed here. Although the alleged suspects’ claims of being drugged, beaten and electrocuted certainly need to be investigated.
