Bryan Strawser

Appears that we have mice again in the house. They chewed up some bread the other day and last night made war on some toilet paper stored in the upstairs bathroom. Galadriel has been on the prowl most nights, which is never a good sign. Generally, she sleeps near my feet.

Dug out the old mousetraps and set them in the kitchen and the bathroom but unfortunately nothing came true.

But last night, after the toilet paper escapade, I set one in the bathroom cabinet. Less than an hour later, I had one. Whee!.

Traps are reset. Fingers are crossed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Violent and property crimes dipped in 2002 to their lowest levels since records started being compiled 30 years ago, and have dropped more than 50 percent in the last decade, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

The Justice Department survey, however, found continuing decreases in every major property and violent crime, crossing all household income, racial and ethnic lines. Crime is down in cities, suburbs and rural areas. [New York Times]

I was standing by my window,
On one cold and cloudy day
When I saw that hearse come rolling
For to carry my mother away

Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
In the sky, lord, in the sky

(more…)

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, seeking to increase the nation’s combat power without hiring more troops, is poised to order a sweeping review of Pentagon policies, officials say. It will include everything from wartime mobilization and peacekeeping commitments, to reservist training and incentives for extended duty.

In essence, Mr. Rumsfeld will ask the service secretaries and chiefs and his under secretaries to address how the Pentagon can more efficiently use its troops at a time when the armed forces are spread thin by global deployments. [New York Times]

BOSTON — Former priest John Geoghan, a convicted child molester who became a central figure in the Catholic church’s sex abuse scandal, has been killed in prison, a state public safety spokesman said Saturday.

The church abuse scandal, which has had repercussions worldwide, broke in early 2002 with revelations that the church had shuttled Geoghan from parish to parish despite warnings about his behavior. [Boston Globe]

Went to the driving range today here in Taunton for the second time in a week - was anothe good outing. Only hit bad balls about ten times out of 250 balls. Good swing, still got a nasty slice on the driver though..

Damn it feels good to finally be making good contact with my driver though.

Watched it last night. Probably could have been a great movie in the way that Gettysburg was a great movie, but I just couldn’t get into it.

If you have the time to watch this movie, you have the time to watch Ken Burn’s fantastic series The Civil War. Take my advice, skip Gods and Generals.

Saugus plays tonight for the US Little League Championship. If they win, they play tomorrow for the Little League World Series Championship.

I got my fingers crossed and will be watching the game…

Route 1, which makes up Saugus’s floodlit spine, has drawn streams of residents from all over town on game nights, where they pile into the warehouse-sized restaurants and cheer on the boys. They come from the old east side, where the now-famous Little League team hails from, and the tonier developments of the west side. Five hundred people gathered around televisions at Prince Pizzeria & Bar, 400 mobbed the upstairs at the Frank Guiffrida’s Hilltop Steak House, and 200 watched at Kowloon restaurant. By the improbable end of the game, when Saugus rallied with four runs to beat Richmond, Texas, by a single run in extra innings, old ladies were hoarse.

“They were happy to the point where they wanted to be with someone other than themselves,” he said. [Boston Globe]