Louisiana woman trades kids for a cockatoo and $175, calls it “an even trade”
NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana woman is accused of trading two young children in her care for a pet cockatoo and $175 cash from a couple who had been trying for years to have their own child, authorities said Thursday.
The transaction for the 5-year-old boy and the 4-year-old girl was negotiated by phone after Greenwell spotted a flier posted at a livestock barn selling a cockatoo for $1,500 and called the Romeros on Feb. 18, Dupre said.
When they told that to Greenwell, she allegedly offered to hand over the boy and girl for money. When the Romeros said they couldn’t meet the price, Dupre said, “Ms. Greenwell agreed to make an even trade: the bird for the kids.”
Greenwell showed up with the children at the Romeros’ home the next day and said she would also need $175 for an attorney to complete adoption paperwork, Dupre said. But she had no authority to put the children up for adoption.
Only in Louisiana…
If Rahm Emanuel and Josh Lyman Had a Love Child
This is pretty funny. I couldn’t figure out who he looked like, but now it’s so clear!
Uniquie campaign video: The Bright Knight
Here is a campaign video from economics professor and author, Charlie Wheelan, who is running for 5th Congressional district seat in Illinois, which used to be held by Rahm Emanuel.
I don’t think I’ve see anything like this before, but it’s not bad:
While this video is different, I have to say that it’s definitely catchy, memorable, and probably one of the better political web videos I’ve seen.
For more information on Charlie Wheelan, click here.
Proof we’re winning: Capitol Hill receiving more than 1 million emails per day
Here is an interesting article from NationalJournal.com that gives a small glimpse into the IT infrastructure currently being used by on Capitol Hill.
As a tech-geek, I’ll avoid going into total analytical nerd mode, however the very fact that National Journal was compelled to write an article titled “E-Mail Surge Forces Hill IT to Keep Up” is a testament to the hard work of activists across the country.
From the article:
“There were delays on inbound Internet traffic yesterday but, given the fact that we receive on average more than 1 million e-mails per day, our system is extremely reliable and interruptions/slowdowns are rare. The volume is constantly increasing and we continually review technology upgrades to deal with it,” Kyle Anderson said in a statement.
One million emails per day, that’s a force to be reckoned with.
What I find even more uplifting about that number is that Anderson says it’s continually on the rise, which leads me to believe that a big portion of this activity can be attributed to the long awaited coming of age (in a technological sense) of the conservative movement.
Now with conservatives having a powerful presence on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Ning, and various other social networking sites, it’s extremely easy to relay information that drives action.
What’s even more uplifting about all of this is that it’s not just Hill-targeted email traffic that is on the rise, it’s also overall web-traffic.
Check out this graph showing the monthly traffic numbers of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate:
As the graph shows, December saw a decline in traffic, which is to be expected after a heated election with a lame-duck President.
However, what I find more remarkable is how quickly the level of traffic has picked up on the Hill. It’s often the case that after heated elections political apathy on both sides is a symptom that plagues even the most active politicos.
It looks like things are different now.
If political apathy can be avoided month-after-month between now and November 2010, I don’t see any reason why the Republicans in both the House and Senate wouldn’t gain (or at least keep) most of the contested seats.