"The defendant's girlfriend was an American called Jessica. The defendant was deeply in love with her - in fact somewhat obsessed with her. He named his computer after her and he dedicated parts of the attack script to her rather like the way some adolescents draw graffiti on walls with 'I love so-and-so'. This defendant managed to weave into the script a sentence about his girlfriend Jessica."

Posted by GeeTee at October 08, 2003 06:58 AM | TrackBack 0

On a road trip it’s best to do road-trip things. If you want to be fancy or you have a low tolerance for inconvenience, then the road trip is not for you. Exploring small towns, interacting with strangers to learn about wherever you are, and eating at roadside stands that sell odd fare like fried pie (Independence, LA) and broken chicken (Pike County, KY) all require a sense of adventure and a suspension of disbelief that four-star cuisine doesn’t demand.

Posted by GeeTee at October 08, 2003 06:45 AM | TrackBack 0

In two visits to the bridge, I spent an hour and a half on the walkway and never saw a patrolman. Perhaps, on camera, I didn’t exhibit troubling behavior. The monitors look for people standing alone near the railing, and pay particular attention if they’ve left a backpack, a briefcase, or a wallet on the ground beside them. Kevin Briggs, a friendly, sandy-haired motorcycle patrolman, has a knack for spotting jumpers and talking them back from the edge; he has coaxed in more than two hundred potential jumpers without losing one over the side. He won the Highway Patrol’s Marin County Uniformed Employee of the Year Award last year. Briggs told me that he starts talking to a potential jumper by asking, “How are you feeling today?” Then, “What’s your plan for tomorrow?” If the person doesn’t have a plan, Briggs says, “Well, let’s make one. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back here later.”

Posted by GeeTee at October 08, 2003 06:28 AM | TrackBack 0