GetSheila

Abstinence makes the heart grow hornier

Abstinence as a birth control method: thoughts?

Bristol Palin was on Oprah the other day discussing her commitment to abstinence. No I did not watch. Though Sarah Palin is lovely to look at, she was there to talk about her new gig at Fox News and, well, enough said. Add the lunacy of a discussion about young, horny girls using abstinence as their sole birth control method and I just had to say no.

So yesterday the morning shows jumped on the band wagon and interviewed various teenage mothers about how hard it is to have a child so young.

Young mothers. As in, girls who have already had sex.

Does “barn door” and “your escaped farm animal just pooped its diaper” mean anything to you?

So clearly its not a purity thing. (And thank god, because those chicks are nuts.)

The abstinence is solely for birth control reasons. Now I don’t know about you but I am having a hard time grasping the concept:

1. Sex makes babies;
2. These girls knew that before they had sex the first time;
3. They used no birth control method the first time;
4. They couldn’t resist having sex;
5. They got pregnant and opted to keep the baby;
6. They are now complaining about how hard it is to raise the baby they consciously and voluntarily chose to keep;
7. They have decided on abstinence as their sole birth control method from now on.

Is it just me, or is something missing here? How about a backup plan, like always have condoms on hand? Nix unwanted pregnancy and STD’s in one shot. Always having condoms doesn’t mean you’re planning to have sex. It means you have a brain and recognize you are a human being with wants and needs and perhaps not as much will power as you hope for.

I notice no one mentioned abstinence is also a great method against STD’s. Perhaps that topic is too delicate for daytime TV.

They also failed to mention abstinence in older women is called “a dry spell.” Mine has been going on for years.

Oprah has been getting a lot of flack for saying, “Good luck with that” to Bristol Palin. I saw the clip and she wasn’t being sarcastic but, damn, she should have been.

Seriously, to Bristol and all the women out there using abstinence as a birth control method: good luck with that but please carry condoms. You don’t take the kid out without backup diapers do you? BE PREPARED.

 

Technorati Tags: abstinence as birth control,bristol palin

Sziraki Train Wreck Update

If you missed my prior posts on the Kim Sziraki embezzlement fiasco…

1. Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame
2. Sziraki Saga Continues
3. More Sziraki News – Brace Yourself

…this one should catch you up nicely:

---

Merced Sun-Star
Monday, Nov. 16, 2009

Prosecutors double amount Sziraki allegedly embezzled to $1.6M

By VICTOR A. PATTON

Prosecutors say they've uncovered more evidence in the case of embezzlement suspect Kimberly Sziraki, claiming the amount of alleged stolen funds has doubled to about $1.6 million.

Sziraki, 45, was arrested Jan. 7 on suspicion of embezzling money from Central Valley Processing Acquisition Corp. in Merced, where she'd worked as a manager. She was charged with three felony counts of embezzlement and one count of unlawful use of an access card.

Sziraki is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on 13 additional counts of felony embezzlement, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Bacciarini. The Merced County District Attorney's Office filed those charges in Merced County Superior Court last week.

According to Bacciarini, the latest 13 counts were filed after investigators from the district attorney's office issued a subpoena for bank records from a Bank of America account shared by Sziraki and her husband, Merced County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Sziraki.

Investigators found evidence of $279,126 in wire transfers and $524,172 in Central Valley Processing checks Kimberly Sziraki allegedly deposited into the Bank of America account between December 2005 and January 2007, Bacciarini said.

Sziraki was already facing charges for allegedly depositing about $832,000 from CVP into a Washington Mutual account between March 2006 and February 2008.

An examination of Sziraki's Washington Mutual and Bank of America accounts appears to indicate that a total of $1.6 million was embezzled from CVP between 2005 to 2008, Bacciarini said.

Sziraki was facing between five and 10 years in prison. Now that she's facing 13 additional charges, she could face 17 years behind bars if convicted.

The Bank of America account was in the name of Sziraki and her husband, but Bacciarini said there's no evidence Steve Sziraki knew about the stolen funds. The husband hasn't been charged in the case.

Investigators are still trying to account for what happened to the stolen funds. None of the money has been recovered, and some of it may have been spent on gambling, Bacciarini said.

Sziraki pleaded not guilty to the first four charges in January.

John Garcia, her attorney, said he couldn't comment specifically on the latest charges because he hasn't seen them. Still, Garcia said he wants to confirm whether the district attorney's office is inflating the amount of allegedly embezzled funds. "If they have that evidence, I am certainly very anxious to see that," Garcia said. "But I would certainly like to verify all of that stuff through a CPA."

Even if Sziraki is convicted, Garcia said he's hopeful she'd receive a sentence of probation, as opposed to prison. Sziraki was suffering from alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder when the alleged crime happened, Garcia said.

Garcia said his client has cooperated fully with investigators, adding that he "doesn't see the point" in spending taxpayer dollars to incarcerate a nonviolent person with no criminal background. He noted that Sziraki has been in treatment.

Ken Spagnola, owner of Central Valley Processing, said he wasn't surprised investigators found more alleged embezzled funds. Since Sziraki's arrest in January, Spagnola has steadfastly maintained she stole more than $1 million. "I knew right away that the B of A account was a smoking gun," Spagnola said.

The alleged embezzlement began after Sziraki took over for a plant manager who had fallen ill to cancer, Spagnola said.

Spagnola said the alleged crimes came to light after he hired a bookkeeper, who spotted a wire transfer into a personal account for Sziraki. Spagnola said he also noticed that Sziraki hadn't been paying the company's payroll taxes. In April 2008, he contacted the Merced County District Attorney's Office about the missing funds.

Sziraki remains free on bail.

Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.

(Full story at the Merced Sun Star website , until they move it and break the link.)

---

 

My favorite part is where Kim’s attorney says he doesn't see the point in spending taxpayer dollars to incarcerate a nonviolent person with no criminal background.

I agree! Why do we incarcerate anyone who commits a nonviolent crime? I mean, it’s not like it’s the law or anything. Who cares if the family who owns the company might go broke or have to lay off a bunch of hard working employees because of the $1.6 MILLION DOLLARS she took? Come on! There was no violence. Let’s just call her a naughty girl and send her to bed without dessert.

*pokes own eye out with a sharpened pixie stick*

 

Technorati Tags: kim sziraki,kim walker,merced embezzlement

Jury Duty 1: Preliminary Thoughts

Happy birthday to me: I turned 45 on Monday. Yippee! I’m excited I’m not dead. It’s good to be above ground.

As a special present this year, the State gave me jury duty. And by jury duty, I mean the kind where you actually have to stay for the trail, as opposed to the kind where you show up and sit around all day bored out of your mind, only to be sent home before ever making it into the jury box for voir dire.

That was my last experience about 20 years ago and I haven’t been called since. I find that odd. Actually that’s not quite true. I did receive a summons when I lived in Fremont but opted for the 3 month deferral knowing I was moving the next month and it would take them a while to catch up with me at my new address.

I know! So shameful.

This year, I showed up to the fancy new Merced courthouse not quite sure what to expect in terms of security. Last year, a man walked past security with a knife in each hand, ran into a courtroom, and was headed for the judge before deputies shot and killed him.

Now it’s just like airport security at the courthouse entrance, only they don’t make you take off your shoes: purse on conveyor belt, walk through metal detector, confirm that yes, you are wearing an underwire bra, then go on your merry way.

(Oh wait, that last part happened at the Calgary airport but not at any of the U.S. ones nor at the County courthouse. Canada overachieves once again.)

So guess which judge presides over the trial for which I am a juror? Go on, guess…

Thaaaat’s right, the target of the knife-wielding mental health patient. The judge has since moved to a courtroom on the second floor so any crazy person who manages to get past security still has to navigate stairs to get to him. Very sensible of him.

Obviously I cannot talk about the trial until it’s all over but I can discuss things unrelated to the trial but very much related to serving as a juror. I will put that in a separate post I hope to get up in the next day or so.

In the meantime, are you dressing up for Halloween? What is your costume? Do provide a link to pictures in the comments here, won’t you?

 

Technorati Tags: jury duty,merced courthouse

 

Photo source: Courthouses of California on The Well

Spam emails: who writes this stuff?

I’ve been getting a lot of spam for “High-End Luxury Watches!”

As opposed to “Low-End” luxury watches?

Technorati Tags: spam emails

Michelle Obama is coming to town

You better watch out, you better not cry…oh wait, wrong historical personage. And a fictitious one at that. Oops.

First Lady Michelle Obama will be in Merced Saturday to address the first full graduating class at UC Merced’s commencement ceremony. I am truly excited for Merced. This is a Very Big Deal for podunk little us. I just hope we don’t screw it up.

What.

Oh, you want me to be a little more positive, do you? Well, let me tell you about my Wednesday instead and perhaps you will better understand my mood.

Word spread around town that UC Merced needed volunteers to work the graduation since it expanded from an expected 1,000 or so attendees to 12,000 after the First Lady announced she would address the Class. I volunteered along with a few others from the office and we all signed up for the 2:00 orientation on Wednesday.

Except we could not find the 2:00 orientation on Wednesday and nobody in the main administrative building knew anything about it, including the woman who signed us up.

Um yeah, the woman who made us give her our email addresses and had us choose which of the three orientation times we wanted to attend. That woman.

Luckily, a nice man who just happened to be passing by heard our plight and went out of his way to help us. He found out where we needed to be and took us all the way over there, which involved a Keystone Cops version of car parking when he realized we would be ticketed if we stayed where we were. Round and round we went through various parking lots – all full – until he finally had us park in the construction lot. Here we are:

Do you see the size of the rocks in which we are parked? More on that later. By the way, that is the same general direction the First Lady will be looking when she addresses the Class, only her view will include cows grazing in a pasture you cannot see just beyond the construction barrier.

So, we three -  plus two spouses who were roped into volunteering - arrive rather late to a briefing given by…the police department? The room is a sea of students, among which we are the only adults. Or at least the only full-time working adults, other than the two police officers giving the briefing.

They are talking about busses. It takes me a few minutes to realize 1) they need people for “parking lot screening” at three off-campus sites around town to make sure attendees do not bring prohibited items onto the bus and hence into the event (coolers, roller skates, laser pointers…oh, and weapons), 2) they need people to man the metal detectors on-campus, and 3) I made a big mistake when I volunteered to help out.

Then they said parking lot screeners have to be there at 5:00 AM but people manning the metal detectors can sleep a whole extra hour because they don’t have to arrive until 6:00 AM. For a ceremony that begins at 1:30 PM.

WTF? Oh, and you don’t get to choose which job you will do. They are so short handed they will put people wherever they need them and you will get an email before the big day telling you your assignment.

It was at this point we five looked at each other and said, I don’t think so. We stayed after to let the officers know to take us off the list because the job was not quite what we thought it would be but guess what? We weren’t on the list. Not one of us.

When we told him who our contact was, he said, “Well that explains it,” but then I think he realized what he said and told us she was just one of many “traffic cops” not really associated with the event but directing people to where they needed to go.

Yeah, well there’s a five car pileup on her corner, buddy.

I don’t know what I expected to be doing as a volunteer. Food service? Ushering attendees to their seats? The officer said he was only in charge of the police department volunteers – he was about forty shy of his goal of two hundred – but thought there were many other volunteer opportunities through the UC itself. When we asked where to go for that, he said to contact the same person we contacted the first time.

The one who didn’t sign us up the first time and didn’t know where the meeting was when we arrived? That one?

We opted to get the hell out of there as fast as humanly possible. Except remember those giant rocks in the construction parking area? My car got stuck on the way out. Of course. Because that is how my Wednesday was going.

Thank god the construction boys were leaving for the day. One of them teamed up with my friend Nash and pushed my little Prius to safety. Meanwhile, my friend Janice backed her Jetta way the hell up to avoid any flying rocks and she and Nash took a safer route out of the parking lot of doom.

It’s going to be 101 degrees Saturday. I plan to watch First Lady Michelle Obama’s UC Merced commencement speech on my 42” plasma HDTV while sipping a cool beverage after sleeping in until 9:00 or 10:00 AM.

 

Technorati Tags: First Lady Michelle Obama visits Merced,UC Merced 2009 graduation,UC Merced commencement,clusterfuck

More Sziraki News – Brace Yourself

I shall try not to be All Sziraki, All The Time over here in future, but I have to pass on this story in the Merced Sun-Star with the latest update about Kimberly Sziraki because I know how much you all love to hate.

Some excerpts:

Theft suspect may not get prison time

 

A probation department pre-plea report states: …Sziraki, who is married to Merced County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Steve Sziraki, should be granted probation because she doesn't have a previous criminal history. … was suffering from an addiction to alcohol and a psychological disorder, which may have impaired her judgment when the alleged crime was committed. …was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, had become overwhelmed at her job and was self-medicating with alcohol.

 

Sziraki’s attorney, John Garcia, states: …she doesn't deny the offenses…but also can't remember what she did with the embezzled funds. "What's the point of throwing her in a cave for five years…This is a life worth salvaging." [Sziraki] has been in treatment. "She's really cleaned up her act"

 

The probation department's report is key because the Merced County District Attorney's Office recently offered Sziraki, 44, a plea deal of five years in prison. Under the terms of the deal, Sziraki would also have to pay restitution costs of $832,000 -- the amount of money she is accused of stealing from a Merced nut-processing plant.

 

Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Bacciarini responds: "I will object to the court's adopting that recommendation, based on the amount taken, sophistication of the crime and the length of time over which the criminal conduct took place"

 

To read the full article by Victor A. Patton and some really pissed off comments, go to the Sun-Star: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/834294.html.

People are NOT happy over there.

____________________________________

Hat tip to RW for bringing this article to my attention. If you have a blog, let me know. I will be happy to link to you.

 

Related posts:

Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame

Sziraki Saga Continues

 

Technorati Tags: kim walker,kim sziraki,merced embezzlement

Sziraki Saga Continues

Background post: former Atwater High songleader arrested for embezzlement

Steve Sziraki was in court to beg for leniency and ask for Kim’s release on the grounds she is not a flight risk.

He cried.

He came to court on crutches (good sympathy vote strategy.)

He said Kim has been seeing a psychologist for two years and needs her prescription meds.

1. Do they deny people of needed medication in jail? Really? I had no idea.
2. Is this groundwork for some sort of “Kim is mentally unstable hence not responsible for her actions” defense? Because if so, I may vomit.

The take-away from this article, and do try to get past the lead sentence, won’t you? – is this quote from Steve Sziraki:

"I'm not defending what she's done," he said, "but she's a good person."

So for everyone out there who said to wait for the courts to decide if she is really guilty and to give the girl a break because maybe she didn’t really do it, well, there you go. Straight from the husband’s mouth.

(Full story)

 

Technorati Tags: kim walker,kim sziraki,merced embezzlement,atwater high songleader hall of shame

Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame

FORMER SONGLEADER CONVICTED OF EMBEZZLEMENT.

That’s right people, I personally know not one but two women who have been convicted of embezzlement in Merced County. They were both Songleaders at Atwater High School the same time I was.

The latest is Kim Sziraki (nee Walker), who embezzled $832,000 from a local nut processing plant (full story.) The ironic part? Her Sheriff husband heads up the local STAR team (think SWAT for Sheriffs.)

Here she is back in high school. Doesn’t she look sweet?

Don’t let that sweet smile fool you. That bitch was evil. I was napping on the bus on the way home from a competition once and she thought it would be funny to pour the dusty contents of a Pixie Stick in my ear as I lay there on my side.

IN MY EAR. She and Charlotte Martin thought it was hilarious. Mrs. Dallas, the Cheer advisor, didn’t do a thing in punishment other than make her sit somewhere else for the rest of the trip home while I tried to get the Pixie dust out of my ear canal.

Here is the former 1980-81 Songleader now:

What a difference 26 years makes.

The other embezzlista I know is Terry Laudate (nee Brady) who stole money and clothing from a local boutique a few years back. She claimed it was all a big misunderstanding when she was busted. She served her jail time and now works at a local mattress store.

Terry graduated in 1980 and was one of the most popular girls at school. Back then, it was the fashion to wear your mascara thick and clumpy like hairy spider legs and Tammy Faye Bakker.

At cheerleading camp, the rest of us spent most of our free time plotting to get a photo of Terry Brady and Toni Mancebo without makeup.

Never happened. They slept in their makeup to make it so.

What is it that gives some people a sense of entitlement? Why did these women not outgrow the childish behavior of wanting what they want and wanting it NOW like the rest of us did?

Of course, I do still have that attitude, quite often actually, but I don’t act on it. At least not with other people’s money. I spend my own money and get into my own debt and work my own butt off to pay for it all.

I don’t get the embezzlement thing. It makes me feel icky just thinking about it.

There have been a lot of cheer- and songleaders at Atwater High School, most of which go on to lead normal, productive lives.

Please don’t hold these two morons against us.

Technorati Tags: kim walker,kim sziraki,merced embezzlement,atwater high songleader arrested

Not Your Usual Kid

Have you notice how everyone who writes about their child claims he or she “is not your usual kid?”

Every. Single. One.

Some of these children are brilliant: intelligent beyond their years. Others are moody, throw tantrums, cannot possibly entertain themselves unless someone else tells them what to do or, the opposite, seclude themselves in their rooms and play all alone for hours. Still others are unusually precocious.

Aside from children whose odd behavior manifests an unusual medical condition, frankly they all sound normal to me.

It makes me wonder what people think a “usual kid” is like.

I bet you were not your usual kid, were you? How freaky unique were you? Do tell.

 

Technorati Tags: kids

We won, we lost

BARAK OBAMA WINS!

We Baraked the vote. Yay!

Just when I think the United States is beyond saving, we elect a black man as President. I find this remarkable. It gives me hope.

And yes, I used the no-longer-politically-correct term “black” to describe him. Is he a dual African and American citizen? No, not anymore. He was born in Hawaii and had dual citizenship with Kenya until he reached 21, but has been a 100% -- no sharing -- American citizen since them.

Barak Obama is American. Period.

If you insist on describing President-Elect Obama as African-American, then please refer to all people by their politically-correct ancestry from now on. I am Canadian-American, for future reference.

But how are we to know someone’s ancestral heritage if they do not wear a sign? It seems a bit silly to assume the ancestors of every black person in America hailed from Africa. What if they were Australian Aborigines? And how are we to distinguish between, say, the German-Americans and the Austrian-Americans? You know all white people look alike.

Since skin color is no real indicator, perhaps we should all carry identification papers or brand our heritage on our skins somewhere like, say, our forearm.

PROPOSITION 8 LOSES

But just as I begin to feel good about my Country, I am faced with serious doubts about my State: California passed the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage 52% to 48%.

So let me get this straight, gay is the new oppressed minority? We just passed A LAW to CHANGE THE STATE CONSTITUTION because…why, exactly?

This is the part I don’t get. Did people actually believe those scare tactic commercials that said our schools would suddenly start teaching second graders about gay marriage?

Do our schools currently teach about straight marriage? I do not remember taking that class. Perhaps it was an elective. It must have been Sophomore year when I took Anthropology and got a bunch of grief from my boyfriend who, unbeknownst to me, was a Creationist (back before anyone knew about those weirdos.) When he found out I was taking Anthropology, he said, “I didn’t know you were one of ‘those’.”

Yeah, we were not together long. But I digress.

I am currently shopping for a new state since mine has let me down so devastatingly, or at least a new county. My farming community passed the blasphemous proposition 37,000 to 15,000.

So what is your state or county like? Would I like it?

 

Technorati Tags: California proposition 8 results,obama wins,politics