CUPW: The Empire Strikes Back

                    Image via Wikipedia

Like a Freddie Friday the 13th movie, CUPW refuses to remain dead.

"Canada Post union looks to overturn back-to-work legislation in court"

They really, really, really would rather be on strike than working.

Let's help them make this a permanent condition.

Go, CUPW!!!

PS. to readers: I'm really disappointed in you. So far nobody has sent in $5 to support my Show-CUPW-Some-Love campaign. What is wrong with you??!!

Meanwhile, because Canada Post is back in "business", but impaired, I'm using UPS to get my travel documents to/from Ottawa. New non-postal habits are being formed across the country. The decision threshold for going electronic is being crossed... When volumes drop by 5%, will CUPW agree to a 5% across-the-board reduction in staff and/or wages?.... Thought so.

Never again will 21st cc. Canadians rely on Canada Post. They've dissed us; we can diss them.  One day, they will wake up to this fact.

I'm calling it the Frances Factor.

And that's the way the not-going-postal Ball bounces.

Related articles

• Canada Post union looks to overturn back-to-work legislation in court (theglobeandmail.com)
• Canada Post union to fight back-to-work legislation (ctv.ca)
• CUPW supporters protest in Toronto (macleans.ca)
• Talks between Canada Post, CUPW break off (ctv.ca)

CUPW Workers Are Angry!!!

                      Image via Wikipedia

Of course CUPW workers are angry -- Stable job. Great pay. Up to seven weeks annual vacation. Bankable sick days. Retire at, what, 55?

Who wouldn't be angry?

And now the government has interrupted their strike/walkout thus minimizing their lost wages.

Angry? Who wouldn't be?

Contribute to the Ball Bounces Show-A-CUPWee-You-Love-Them fund now. Send your $5 to:

Ball Bounces Show CUPW Some Love Fund
c/o this station. Please provide a self-addressed stamp envelope. A Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production.

Related articles

• Will Canadians go postal over a CUPW strike? (fullcomment.nationalpost.com)
• This postal dispute was never about pensions and new hires (theglobeandmail.com)
• Time to send a message to Canada's postal workers (macleans.ca)
• Giving CUPW less than they bargained for: an Ottawa tradition (macleans.ca)

I Feel Like A Woman

                    Image via Wikipedia

Headline: "No 'him' or 'hers' allowed: Is a gender-free preschool going too far?"

The fact we are even asking ourself this question means we are doomed.

Breaking: Government-Funded Clinic For Lawyers And Recreational Hockey Players

                                Image via Wikipedia

We're unique in the province,” says Mr. Long. “People think of methadone clinics and they think of people lining up and smoking and causing a nuisance in the neighbourhood. We're different. We are not bringing drug users in. Our clients are people who've been in the program for an average of 5 to 7 years, they are in the process of getting their lives together, they are lawyers, they are recreational hockey players.”

Coming to a neighbourhood near you.

Along the way, nobody informed local residents. But under current laws, they didn't need to. Substance dependence is considered a disability under the Human Rights Code. Virtually every Ontario municipality that has tried to weed out methadone clinics has been overruled for discrimination reasons by the Ontario Municipal Board.

In Ontario all methadone clinics should be established by law in neighbourhoods where anti-discrimination Ontario Municipal Board members live. How could they object?

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Prayer: Lord, we pray for those afflicted by addictions of any kind. May they find release from addiction's power through the mighty power of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Related articles

• Letters: Not all clinics bad; neither are patients (knoxnews.com)
• Methadone clinic restrictions questioned (cbc.ca)
• Methadone clinic fears 'unfounded' (windsorstar.com)
• Windsor Police say stats don't back up crime claims near meth clinics (windsorstar.com)
• Methadone clinic fight not over (windsorstar.com)
• Clinic locations for city to solve, LHIN CEO says (windsorstar.com)
• Buffers created for methadone clinics (windsorstar.com)
• How an Afghan Methadone Clinic is Fighting to Counter HIV (theworld.org)
• Will methadone 5 mg give a high (wiki.answers.com)
• Mississauga opens of Celebration Square to ‘develop a citywide spirit' (theglobeandmail.com)

The Supreme Court: Swinging On A Star?

     Image by jacob earl via Flickr

Two side-by-side headlines in today's National Post:

"Add diversity to top court, Harper urged"

"Swingers’ club ideal science lab: researcher"

Coincidence??!!

As Canadians know, the Supreme Court of Canada pronounced that in the new, vibrant, with-it Canada, swinging is A-OK. Have as many sexual partners as you like! Just don't try to marry more than one of them; you can enjoy them, but the minute you try to enter into covenantal commitment with more than one, the Supremes draw the line, thus indicating the top court's judicial if not sexual preference for shallow, one-off sexual encounters.

But, I digress. Where was I? Oh, yes. Juxtaposed headlines.

As far as the Ball Bounces can tell, there is nary a swinger in the highest echelons of Canadian courtdom. Not one. Contemplate that for a moment. How can swingers feel truly equal, fully Canadian, when they are entirely unrepresented at the top?

Come on, Prime Minister Harper, get with it. Do the NDP! Appoint a swinger. Do it before the Supreme Court over-rules you and appoints one themselves.

Jack Layton: CUPW Kung Fu Fighter!!!

Image via Wikipedia

"NDP vow to fight legislation to end mail strike"

Jack is fightin' for the common man Big Union.

I'm with Kung Fu Jack on this one because I want to see Canada Post stare down CUPW.


Related articles

• Talks between Canada Post, CUPW break off (ctv.ca)
• Talks between Canada Post, CUPW break off again (theglobeandmail.com)
• War of words escalates between Canada Post and CUPW (macleans.ca)
• CUPW supporters protest in Toronto (macleans.ca)

The Christian Duty To Accept Evolution?

                               Image via Wikipedia

In a well written article, entitled "The Christian duty to understand God’s creation", Dr. Paul Brown of Trinity Western University responds to an earlier National Post / Huffington Post opinion piece, "The Christian Duty To Accept Evolution".

Hmmff!


Dr. Brown notes some of the things darwinian evolution does not adequately account for:

• the sudden appearance of life forms in the fossil record
• the stasis that follows
• the coding and translation systems in life as they actually exist
• the origin of life
• the origin of multiple layers of programming in the organism
• coordination among those multiple layers
• how those multiple layers relate to evolving function and development
• how a fruit fly could change to a house fly or vice versa
• how or why a common primate ancestor would diverge into chimps and humans

Dr. Brown concludes:

For any thinking Christian and/or scientist, it should at least raise eyebrows that evolutionary theory actually explains very little about evolution, about how, as a process, it could work to change organism A into organism B particularly when expanded over the breadth of molecules to man. It is a theory of similarity masquerading as a theory of functional explanation. Regarding the latter, it is a poor theory indeed. 

As Michael Behe has said, the darwinian mechanism of random mutation has been demonstrated to have very feeble creative powers. It simply does not provide an adequate explanation for the teleological complexities of life as it exists.

I like the way another guy put it: "I don't reject darwinism because of its religious implications; I reject it because it is poor science".

Related articles

• Cambrian Period, The Theory of Evolution is Sufficient to Destroy (socyberty.com)
• UPDATED: Species appear to change? Evolution! Species didn't change? More proof of evolution! (4simpsons.wordpress.com)
• Darwinism (The mire of folly) (stevenlynevans.wordpress.com)
• finishing up my review of Coyne's "Why Evolution Is True" (schansblog.blogspot.com)
• Evolution Embraces Counter-Intuitive Observations (thebibleistheotherside.wordpress.com)

Buddy, Can You Spare Me A Killer $50?

                     Photo - National Post

Buddy, Can You Spare Me A Killer $50?

A polymer, that is. The new Canadian banknotes are made of... plastic.

I've used these Canadian-made polymer banknotes in Zambia. All the ink on the older bills wore or fell off, and you would go around with these silvery slidey things in your pocket trying discern whether it was a 1,000 Kwatcha note or a 20,000.

I think they've improved the technology since then.

On the negative side, they are unfriendly to life-forms.

“Further, scientific evaluation has shown that there is significantly less bacteriological growth on polymer banknotes, and that any bacteria which gets onto the notes quickly dies because of the lack of nutrients on the non-porous and non-fibrous material.” Source: Securency International Pty Ltd. 

Expect howls of rage from the environmentalists as Canada introduces these killer-banknotes.

Related articles

• New banknotes unveiled (cbc.ca)
• Coming soon: Money you can launder (thestar.com)
• Raising the Curtain on Canada's New Polymer Notes (currencynewshound.wordpress.com)
• Canada Prepares To Introduce Plastic Money (blogs.forbes.com)
• Bank of Canada unveils new plastic bills (ctv.ca)

The Vancouver Riot: “Pleaaseee, not the treees!!!!” (UPDATED)

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

 The Vancouver Riot: “Pleaaseee, not the treees!!!!”

Rioting 101 circa 2011: Looting fun/harming trees very, very bad (insert Seinfeld finger wag here).

An environmentally sensitive blogger "apologizes" for looting while suggesting certain Canadians should leave the country.

Memo to self: If I get caught in a wrong-doing, apologize, and leave it at that.

Update: The poster has apparently taken the Ball Bounces advice to heart and stripped her post of extraneous commentary, including the "please not the trees" bit. As it now stands, it's a decent apology -- good for her.

This post was based on the original, which you can still find here. The relevant tree-bit is/was this:

As many of you already know, I am majoring in Conservation Biology at UBC. I strongly belirve in ecological conservation and sustainability. That night, I saw a few people that were trying to knock trees down. So what did I do? I yelled at them, saying “Pleaaseee, not the treees!!!!” And what did they do? They stopped. And I felt like a hero.

Related articles

• Vancouver Riot Map: photos of riot and looting locations (globaltvbc.com)
• Accused looter turns himself in to RCMP (thestar.com)
• 17-year-old turns himself into RCMP for looting, destroying police cruiser (globaltvbc.com)
• Canadian officials at a loss to explain violent riots and anarchy in Vancouver (theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com)
• View from Calgary: Seedy side was there before Cup riot in Vancouver (calgaryherald.com)

Canadian of the Day: Steve Flanagan

                        Image via Wikipedia

 Steve combines two disparate stories for a whammo letter to the editor:

“It’s peculiar how are [sic] justice system works,” wrote Steve Flanagan. “You can be a page in Parliament with a sign stating ‘Stop Harper’ and you will be celebrated. You can also be standing outside an abortion clinic with a sign stating ‘Stop abortion’ [i.e., Linda Gibbons]
and you will be jailed.” 

For pointing out the disconnect between a cheap stunt and principled action, Steve Flanagan is the Ball Bounces Canadian of the Day.

Way to go, Steve!


Related articles

• Serial abortion clinic protester released from jail (life.nationalpost.com)
• All Pro-life Today: (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)

Canada's Goose Is Cooked...

                     Image via Wikipedia

"New York solves its Canada Goose problem by feeding them to Pennsylvania’s poor".

In retaliation, Canada plans to kill American Eagles and feed them to the families of impoverished striking postal workers.

Related articles

• St. John's postal workers want to deliver (cbc.ca)
• Postal workers hold rallies in 4 cities (ctv.ca)
• Union for locked out postal workers plans rallies (ctv.ca)
• Striking postal workers seek public's support (cbc.ca)
• Postal workers rally ahead of back-to-work law (cbc.ca)
• N.S. postal workers on the picket lines (cbc.ca)

Jack Layton Will Stand Up For Postal Workers

                                     Image via Wikipedia

"NDP will 'stand up' for postal workers in Parliament, Layton says".

Great. 

First, Jack, stand up for postal workers who are forced to pay CUPW union dues in order to work. Next, stand up for postal workers' rights to chose whether to continue to be shackled to a union stuck in destructive 19th century enmities.

Even better, Jack, stand up for the rights of ordinary Canadians who overwhelmingly think CUPW workers are pampered, over-paid and over-benefitted, and who are increasingly no longer willing to be held hostage by big unions.

Jack Layton will be standing up for Big Union, not postal workers.

Related articles

• NDP will 'stand up' for postal workers in Parliament, Layton says (theglobeandmail.com)
• NDP threatens filibuster against Canada Post back-to-work legislation (theprovince.com)
• Striking postal workers seek public's support (cbc.ca)
• Who wins with back-to-work legislation? (ctv.ca)

Even Jack Bauer Never Had To Deal With Weaponized "This"

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Thanks to 24 we're all accustomed to "weaponized" bio-agents. But this represents a new low (or high depending on your position) on the weaponization front.

Ya see, this is what I like about multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion. The West snorts cocaine; Middle East prisoners snort something else.

Warning: put down that cup of coffee before clicking.

Mark Steyn: Celebrating Diversity By Pretending Everyone's Just Like You

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In one phrase Mark Steyn eviscerates the pretensions and delusions of leftist liberals: "...celebrating diversity by pretending everyone's just like you".

Article scores 5 out of 5 on the Ballometer literary scale.

Quote of the Day: "Rioting Shouldn't Be A Freebie"

                     Image via Wikipedia

Those who riot should learn the hard way that it’s not a free game. That their violence and lawlessness isn’t a freebie — they have to pay for it.  -- Rex Murphy, National Post.

This sums it up, doesn't it. Present day rabble-rioters know they run no risk of being shot by police, little risk of even being whacked with a stick, and even less risk of being charged with anything. And, if they do get charged with something, they know it will be a slap on the wrist.

How about charging those caught participating in a riot with theft based on the amount of the clean-up bill. If there are five people caught among all the participants and $5,000,000 in damages, the five caught perps would be liable for $1,000,000 each.

Either pay up, or go to jail for whatever a million dollar theft is worth these days.

And that's the way the law-abiding Ball bounces.


Related articles

• Understanding the Vancouver Hockey Riots (bigthink.com)
• The riot kissers: ‘He’s a bit of a dreamer,’ mother says of son (theglobeandmail.com)
• What Would Make You Riot? (somethinsomethin.wordpress.com)
• Vancouver Rioters Hunted On Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr [Crime] (gawker.com)

Canadian of the Day: Matthew

Now for a bit of positive reporting to balance the dreary subject matter of recent posts. This post is on the whole Canadian student loan brouhaha ("poor me, the government lent me all this money and now they expect me to pay it back!").

"You could have saved money before attending university or you could have worked part-time (as I did for the whole of my university education). Whether you depended on OSAP or you used it to finance four years of good times, you borrowed money from the government which means you borrowed it from every citizen and it is your responsibility and no one else’s to make sure that you honour the agreement." -- Matthew

Matthew is on his way to becoming a fine conservative and a distinguished citizen contributing to Canadian society. Well said, Matthew.

Related articles

• Student money: 'I got $8,000 free' (business.financialpost.com)
• University fees 'not worth it' (lv.com)
• Struggling College Graduates (economix.blogs.nytimes.com)

Vancouver – The Official Response

                       Image via Wikipedia

Vancouver – The Official Response:

Provincial Solicitor General Shirley Bond:
"This is unbelievably embarassing for Vancouver." [Ya think?]

"There has always been a plan to deploy additional police officers. This is happening as we speak."

Police: 

"We have a plan".

"We're ready."

"We are executing our crowd control plan right now."

"The message is, you need to leave." [The message should be, "you will be jailed and/or shot".]

The Mayor:

"Vancouver is a world-class city" [Tainted, pal]

"Absolutely disgraceful and shameful."

"Extremely disappointing"

"Embarrassing and shameful"

"We will deal with these trouble makers." 

Let's hope so.

Memo To Vancouver Rioters: "Looters Will Be Shot"

                    Image via Wikipedia

Memo To Vancouver: "Looters Will Be Shot".

If this had been the go-in ground-rules, this outbreak of lawlessness could have been prevented.

Unfortunately, we are too "civilized".

Related articles

• Cars set on fire in Vancouver following loss (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Turn Stanley Cup riot photos into evidence, blogs and Facebook groups urge (thehockeynews.com)
• Cars set on fire in Vancouver following loss (sfgate.com)

Gov't To Posties: Return To Sender

              My Hero -- Image via Wikipedia

Government to introduce back-to-work legislation for postal strike.

Way too quick.

Let's hope Jack Layton steps up to the plate and denounces the Conservatives.

Support CUPW's right to be locked out by Canada Post!

Related articles

• Ottawa vows to legislate an end to Canada Post labour dispute (theglobeandmail.com)
• Feds move to force an end to Canada Post dispute (calgaryherald.com)
• Feds move to force an end to Canada Post dispute (theprovince.com)
• 140 Island postal workers locked out (cbc.ca)

Breaking: Milk Men's Union Throws Support Behind CUPW

                                 Image via Wikipedia

Flin Flon, MB. June 15, 2011. EhP.

In a move that CUPW President Denis Lemelin is characterizing as a "game changer", the Canadian National Association Of Milk Men (NAMM) has thrown its support behind the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. NAMM President Daisy Lait, speaking at their annual reunion in Flin Flon said she thinks CUPW's strike action "mooving", and finds Canada Post's refusal to cave to CUPW's demands "udderly ridiculous".

Meanwhile, the Canadian National Association of Bread Men (NABM) is expected to follow suit. NABM President Blanche Pain reportedly thinks Canada Post is toast.

Stay tuned to the Ball Bounces for breaking updates.

Related articles

• War of words escalates between Canada Post and CUPW (macleans.ca)
• Postal strike to spread across Canada (theprovince.com)
• Canada Post says strikes costing millions (cbc.ca)

Alien Arsenic-Boy Is So Last Year

Image by MJ/TR (´･ω･) via Flickr

 Last December we reported on a controversial paper published in Science which claimed to have discovered bacteria that feed on arsenic instead of phosphorous. According to NASA, this research promised to provide "an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." At that time the media reported things like:

scientists discovered "a bacteria whose DNA is completely alien to what we know today" (Wired)

the "bacteria is made of arsenic" (Wired)

the bacteria is "capable of using arsenic to build its DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes" (Gizmodo)

the paper had reported "arsenic-based life" which is "very alien in terms of how it's put together" and "NASA has, in a very real sense, discovered a form of alien life" (io9)

"you can potentially cross phosphorus off the list of elements required for life" (Nature)

But soon after the original Science paper was published, credible scientists began critiquing the paper's claims....

Breaking: Toronto Paralyzed by CUPW Walkout

Image by Grant Neufeld via Flickr

I'm here in Toronto, and I can tell you it is not a pretty sight. Streetcars have stopped mid-street; cars have been abandoned on the Don Valley, the 401 is closed, and all the Tims have closed. Torontonians are congregating on the streets with dazed looks on their caffeine-starved faces. CUPW has walked-out and Toronto is paralyzed!!!

Just kidding. But we were beginning to wonder when CUPW was going to show us some love. What's Flin Flon got that Toronto hasn't -- what are we, chopped liver?!

15,000 CUPW members will be idle in Toronto and Montreal effective midnight tonite. How they think a 24 hour stoppage of postal delivery is even going to be noticed, let alone bring the citizens of Toronto and Montreal to their knees, is beyond me.

As one guy said in the comments section of a newspaper, "last week I got mail on two days". If CUPW goes to a three-day a week delivery, that will be an improvement of 50%".

Strike on!

CUPW's Mr. Delusional: Bwahahahahaha!

Image via Wikipedia

Denis Lemelin is President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Around here, we prefer to refer to him as "Mr. Delusional".

On Monday, the union boss for nearly 50,000 Canada Post workers accused the Crown corporation of conducting a “partial lockout” by reducing mail delivery to three days a week in some cities and of having an ultimate goal of prompting back-to-work legislation.

Denis Lemelin, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said at a news conference in Ottawa that these measures, which begin this week, will affect more people than his union’s rotating strikes have since they started more than a week ago.

“Last week, when they announced they would deliver the mail only three days a week, for us it’s really like . . . a partial lockout,” Lemelin said, adding the union believes Canada Post wants a general strike so they can pursue legislation from the Conservative government to force them back to work.

Canadians would clobber the Conservatives if they forced the posties back to work. We support CUPW's right to strike. Indefinitely. All summer long. Into the fall. Whatever. Strike until CUPE is thoroughly demoralized, defeated, defunded, and, finally... defuncted.

Atheist Dawkins: "I Want My Fluffy Slippers"

                                    Image via Wikipedia

Laugh-out-loud funny video about atheist Richard Dawkin's refusal to debate Christian William Lane Craig.

h/t Uncommon Descent.

CUPW: If This is Monday, We Must (Not) Be In _________

Image by Grant Neufeld via Flickr

CUPW has so many mini-strikes happening you need a program to keep track of them all.

First, urban areas are now on a Monday - Wednesday - Friday schedule. As long as workers are not getting paid for not working, or having mail to process, I'm fine with this.

Then, there's the rotating strikes. Here's the schedule.

Corner Brook, Nfld.,
Fredericton, NB
Sydney, N.S.
Trois-Rivieres, Que.,
Sherbrooke, Que.,
Cornwall, Ont.,
Windsor, Ont.,
Niagara Falls, Ont.,
Regina
Nanaimo, B.C.

Of the towns mentioned, I've been to all 'cept Corner Brook and Nanaimo (but I LOVE Nanaimo bars!!).

As I've said, I think we should support CUPW's right to strike right to the bitter end. Let's help "stamp" out CUPW, and live to see that big "cancellation mark" over the CUPW logo. Give them a friendly wave and a honk. And let's be nice to postal workers who aren't CUPW zealots.

Don't forget to vote in the Ball Bounces poll at the left of the page.

Related articles

• Postal worker strikes set to begin in Windsor, Niagara (thestar.com)
• Windsor hit by rolling postal strike on Monday (windsorstar.com)
• Postal strike to expand to 14 more communities (canada.com)
• Postal strike expands, hits B.C. (theprovince.com)

"I Have And Have Not Committed A Felony"

         Image via Wikipedia

Americans love the word felon. We Canadians don't use it. "Convicted felon". Has an American ring to it. But, hey, how bad can being a felon be? I mean, look at how close the word felon is to fellow.

Anyway, let's take a closer look at this jolly good felon:

Four months after her name was the first to surface as just one of Mr. Gray’s questionable political hires, Ms. Whiting appeared at an oversight hearing before the Government Operations Committee on Monday and claimed she denied her felony conviction on a March 18, 2010, application for the Mendelson job because she thought a 10-year grace period for disclosing prior felonies had expired.

She entered a guilty plea to federal wire-fraud charges on July 3, 2001, according to a federal court transcript - less than nine years before signing and completing the form, which clearly states: “I understand that a false statement on any part of my application may be grounds for not hiring me, or for firing me after I begin work. I understand that the making of a false statement on this form is punishable by criminal penalties.”

Accompanied by her attorney, A. Scott Bolden, Ms. Whiting testified under oath that she disclosed her conviction on a Jan. 13 job application. A document submitted by the Gray administration to the oversight committee indicates a prior felony along with a typed entry that reads: “Will explain in person.”

However, that application is unsigned and undated, despite a bolded section that reads “YOU MUST SIGN THIS APPLICATION.” Mr. Bolden claimed that his client instead signed and dated a residency form attached to the Jan. 13 job application thinking it was sufficient.

Council member David A. Catania noted that Ms. Whiting signed the correct page of her 2010 application for Mr. Mendelson’s office - though she also made a false statement at that time. He shot down her explanation that she “felt both statements were accurate” because she was approaching the 10-year mark from the date of her conviction. He pointed out that the more recent form purports to provide the truthful answer while the older form clearly provided a false statement.

So, I have, and have not committed a felony.

It all depends on what the meaning of "have" is. Sounds like a Democrat to me.

Before her federal conviction in 2001, for which she was sentenced to 22 months in prison, Ms. Whiting was charged multiple times with fraud, forgery, passing bad checks and theft, according to Maryland court records. In 1994, she pleaded guilty to theft and was placed on home detention and probation. In all, courts have ordered her to pay back more than $150,000 in diverted funds over the years, state and federal records show.

I'm betting the mayor who gave this gal a $65K/year political hire gig is also a Democrat.

h/t Drudge.

Related articles

• What's the best way to reveal you're a felon? (ask.metafilter.com)
• What can a convicted felon not do (wiki.answers.com)
• Can an ex-felon in california ever own a firearm (wiki.answers.com)
• What happens if a convicted felon gets caught carrying a gun (wiki.answers.com)
• A nonpartisan look at felon voting rights in the USA (allthingsreform.org)
• Len Dykstra Charged With 23 Felonies, Two Misdemeanors For Good Measure (thehollywoodgossip.com)