- Score one for Christian charity and compassion. Safe to say that 88-year-old Mary Snyder of Albany, N.Y. has had it coming for some time and the Methodist Sunday School Association of Troy & Vicinity, Inc. is merely showing her God’s harsh love with the eviction notice it served that seeks to boot this old woman from the home where she has lived for the past 62 years. Snyder’s home is a pretty, rural dwelling in the town of Sand Lake. "[I've] been home all that time, raised my children here," says Mary. "All kinds of memories, good memories." Well, now she has another great memory to add to that list: the memory of getting an eviction letter from the Methodist Sunday School Association of Troy & Vicinity, Inc. How does religious organization even become involved in a situation like this? Well, Snyder owns the home itself, but the MSSA actually owns the land the home sits on and last week, it officially notified sweet, old Mary Snyder that she was no longer welcome there even though there has never been a single problem with her living there for the past six-plus decades. Out of the blue, a letter arrived in the mail, reading in part, "You will have 30 days... to remove your structure and personal property." How does one respond to an eviction notice for a home they have lived in longer than most people have been alive? "I'm very sad. I've lived here for so long," Snyder lamented. The next obvious question is why the MSSA is evicting Snyder and according to the group, changes were made to the property by Snyder that were unauthorized, specifically on a path that leads down to the lake. In the eviction notice, the organization cites trees that were cut down, lights being strung, tabletops being attached to trees and the construction of fire pits. Mary Snyder’s son Glenn insists that there is a simple explanation behind the changes and that they haven’t come all at once. "This path has been maintained by my father since he moved here in 1948," Glenn Snyder stated. “He's maintained that path to the lake over the years and my son and I have kept it up. My mother didn't do any of that. I did it. No one ever complained since 1978 when I built the house next door. They met with us to discuss the problems and I just asked that they submit a letter in writing and this is the letter they sent, an eviction notice.” Perhaps they’d had enough of your octogenarian mother and her attitude, Glenn. Besides, listen to attorney Mark Fluery, the attorney representing the church group, and you’ll learn that the eviction letter doesn’t mean they actually want to evict Mary Snyder. "The last thing Methodist Farm wants to do, and the board of trustees [wants to do], is evict Mary Snyder, who by all accounts is a lovely elderly woman who for years and years has occupied that property and has never been a problem," Fluery said. He added that the eviction letter was “sent in response to the actions of her [son and] grandsons.” Fluery went on to say that the cutting down of trees is a criminal offense and the association is exploring that avenue as well. The Snyder family will be heading to court to contest the eviction notice on Monday, so this dispute is about to get kicked up a notch……….
- When you have more than 1 billion people within your borders, you definitely have the potential to put a scare into your neighbors based on sheer numbers if nothing else. Thus, it makes sense that Japan is mildly terrified of China's military puts the scare into Japan, a fact admitted by Japan's Defense Ministry in a white paper Friday. "The lack of transparency in [Chinese] national defense policies and the direction of military power are a concern for the region and the international community, including our country, and we need to carefully analyze it," the 488-page Defense of Japan 2010 report states. Also cited in the annual report are several aggressive actions by China's military, including 10 Chinese submarines and destroyers being spotted west of Japan's Okinotori Island in April 2010 and a Chinese nuclear submarine entering Japanese waters in November 2004. Tensions in the region are always high when it comes to conflicting claims to territorial waters and islands and the natural resources associated with those islands. China has a habit of disputing pretty much any claims made by its neighbors' claims in the South China Sea region that China claims as its own. Even as the Japanese report was published, the two nations are embroiled in a showdown over a Chinese trawler that collided with Japanese patrol ships Tuesday off the disputed Diaoyu Islands, in the East China Sea. The Japanese coast guard had the audacity to arrest the trawler's captain and claim that he obstructed public officers while they performed their duties. That didn’t sit well with China, just as any action that implies, infers, insinuates or outright says that the actions of it or its citizens are wrong doesn’t sit well with China. "China will never accept the Japanese side's applying domestic law to the Chinese fishing boat operating in that area," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, adding that Japan's handling was "absurd, illegal and invalid.” Now, the question is what to do about the threat posed by China and Japan is looking to……the U.S. military, of course. The Japanese defense white paper emphasized the role of the U.S. military in protecting Japan from possible attack by positioning itself on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Even though the majority of Okinawans want the base moved, this report suggests that the government feels otherwise. Thanks for dragging us into the middle of yet another international sh*tstorm, Japan……….
- Now THAT is how you party. Students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. have clearly demonstrated that they know how to throw an absolute, burn-the-house down rager…..literally. See, a few RPI students were having a party Friday night and oddly enough, there was alcohol present. Having alcohol of any kind at a college party is odd, I know, because the majority of college students aren’t legally allowed to drink. But laws be damned, there was liquor at this party and with a few dozen revelers on hand to celebrate someone’s birthday, one thing led to another and the next thing you know, out come the shot glasses and people are doing flaming shots of some sort of hard liquor - tequila, vodka, etc. Somehow - and I know this is a major stretch, but make it with me - the flaming shots led to furniture and carpet being set on fire. Troy fire chief Tom Garrett outrageously claimed that the partygoers had consumed a substantial amount of alcohol, a claim I find both reckless and dubious. But let’s assume the chief’s wild theory is correct and that their drunken state slowed the students as they attempted to put out the fire and then waited several minutes before calling 911. How a) surprised and b) angry can anyone be that a birthday party in a first-floor apartment led to a massive blaze that forced the evacuation of the first and second floors of the building and the temporary relocation of the displaced students to university housing? Just because some drunk engineering major passed out in a bed and had to be dragged out by his friends and likely had something to do with the fire isn’t a reason to be upset. And yes, one police officer was taken to Samaritan Hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation, but it’s all in a day’s work. In the end, no one was seriously injured, no one died and all involved parties will have a sweet story to tell for the rest of their lives about the night that flaming shots nearly burned their apartment building to the ground. Sounds like a win-win situation to me………
- It was billed as a Saturday full of major matchups featuring Top 25 programs and indeed, some of the elite teams did put on great shows that lit up the college football world. Ohio State fought through rainy conditions, picked off Miami quarterback and noted overall wearer Jacory Harris four times en route to a 36-24 win in Columbus. Michigan earned its second win of the season with a dramatic, last-minute win at Notre Dame and Oklahoma blew the doors off of Florida State in a 44-14 rout featuring two teams ranked in the Top 20 in all major polls. However, the day ultimately belonged to Division 1-AA teams (I know, it’s technically the Bowl Championship Subdivision, but the NCAA can suck it if they expect anyone to use that long-winded terminology). One Div. 1-AA team after another KO’d a Division 1-A team, with the most prodigious example being James Madison venturing into Blacksburg, Va. and handing Virginia Tech its second loss in six days, 21-16. Coming off a heartbreaking 33-30 loss to No. 3 Boise State on Monday night, Virginia Tech looked lifeless most of the game against the Dukes and managed just one field goal in the second half to drop to 0-2 at the start of a season that began with national championship dreams. But of course, the Hokies weren’t the only Div. 1-A team to lose to a 1-AA team on its home field. Minnesota accomplished the same dubious feat, finishing what it was unable to do two years ago in losing to the mighty Coyotes of South Dakota, 41-38. Yes, the Golden Gophers surrendered 41 points to a team from college football’s second-tier division and it probably should have been more. The only team that came close to matching Minnesota’s embarrassing effort was Akron, which welcomed Division 1-AA foe Gardner Webb to its home turf and managed to botch a late-game field goal attempt that would have won the game in regulation before screwing up an extra point after scoring a touchdown in the first overtime period and allowing the Runnin’ Bulldogs to score a touchdown of their own, capped by a successful extra point attempt, to win by a 38-37 margin. All in all, a truly embarrassing effort for three Division 1-A teams that either drastically underestimated their opponents or should consider dropping down a division and competing at a level of college football where they might find the going a little easier……….
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