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The Associated Press

BOSTON — A North Carolina business executive who authorities say became disoriented and tried to open a cabin door on a US Airways Express commuter jet from Maine to Philadelphia was released on $ 500 bail at his arraignment in Boston on Friday.

Prosecutors had requested $ 1,500 bail at the arraignment Friday of 40-year-old Michael J. Ensalaco, of Mooresville, N.C.

Massachusetts State Police held Ensalaco overnight on a charge of interfering with a flight crew after the pilot diverted the flight to Boston on Thursday.

His lawyer said at the arraignment in East Boston District Court that his client suffers from a neurological disorder that causes disassociation and confusion. The lawyer says he expects charges to eventually be dropped because of the medical condition.

“The prosecutor this morning did tell the judge that it appears to be a medical problem, which is the right thing to do,” Ensalaco’s attorney, Michael Natola, told The Associated Press.

He suffers from a type of seizure disorder “in which he has disassociation, confusion, and doesn’t remember what he does,” Natola said.

Passengers who witnessed the incident and Ensalaco’s attorney say the man was looking for the bathroom and was not aggressive.

“He was opening the cabin door, so we were like, ‘What are you doing?’” Lauren Moore told New England Cable News. “The flight attendant rushed over and said, ‘What are you doing? Please sit down.’ and he sat the man down.”

Ensalaco was taken to the back of the aircraft where he sat for the remainder of the flight unrestrained, his attorney said.

Friends and family members say Ensalaco is a married father of five.

His attorney said Ensalaco runs a North Carolina division of a Massachusetts business.

___

May 11, 2012 04:36 PM EDT

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sitting at the far end of the concrete wall, with my legs dangling off the edge, I’m staring ahead intently towards the narrow valley. It extends forward nearly endlessly, suddenly transforming into the wide hills that surround me. In reality, I’m not staring at the plants, trees, or the valley, or even the hills. In this moment, I pay no attention to anything of physical form; the wall I’m resting on provides the perfect two feet of hard space necessary to escape from the tangible world: to dream. In my head I once again debate leaping forward into the valley below, perhaps taking the form of a bird and flying until I reach paradise, or maybe I’ll become a monkey, grab hold of the branches on my way down, and make my way to the troop where my new furry friends await. But I can’t fly, and there are no monkeys here.

There is always more to think about. This particular session has lasted well over half an hour, and I’ve physically felt every passing minute, a very real, constant wrenching in my gut. Not pain, not pleasure, the feeling is just there, always. Time happens to be among the few living things which refuses to forget about me, and I appreciate her for this, while secretly acknowledging the lethality of her proximity.

As I’m thinking of all the moments I’ve spent with Time, suddenly there is an abundance of rustling noises coming from behind me. The silence has been broken by this disturbance, and I turn my head back. in the direction of the scattered trees at my rear, attempting to catch glimpse of an animal. Perhaps a squirrel or a bird; the caliber of the noise was not large. I survey the area, and sure enough, standing there among a cluster of saplings is a tiny brown dog, almost entirely camouflaged by merit of the color of its fur and the abundance of dead leaves. It’s clearly staring in my direction, but its body does not project a reaction of fight, or even flight, although it should be clear to any animal as tiny as this one that I could be a formidable adversary. Surprisingly, it begins to walk closer towards the wall; I analyze its movements carefully. Its confidence is unmistakable, but its curiosity, obvious. With my day dream broken, and my own wonder of the creature growing, I turn around completely, and while gripping the wall tightly, lower myself enough to kick off and land a couple of feet away from it.

I close in on it slowly, and can appreciate that its delicate little frame and small but bulgy eyes give it an amusing look. With all that call this forest, hills, and valley home, one can only wonder how such a miniscule animal manages to survive here, much less keep a bold attitude. Perhaps it’s been fed by someone or something else, kept in life support until recently. Here it is now in front of me, certainly looking for help. After staring at each other for some time, I decide it is healthy and friendly enough to approve reaching down and picking it up, so I place it into my arms to examine it closer. It’s a he. The little thing is more muscular than expected, though that isn’t saying much given its bony appearance. He seems considerate enough with my presence, and has not made a single noise beyond its prior rustling of leaves. Perhaps we’ll grow to understand each other after all, despite the sudden acquaintance. I decide to name the dog Woody, a tribute to his appearance and uncanny similarity to that of the wooden saplings next to which I first spotted him.

So I grab Woody in a tight, safe hold, turn around, and make my way to the far edge of the concrete wall. I reach the narrow steps I had long grown accustomed to avoiding, climb them carefully until I’m at the top, and settle down at my favorite section. I get comfortable and stare at the valley, just as before, only now with some company. The dog seemingly appreciates this enough, and he becoming visibly sleepy, blinking slowly and lowering his head. It’s interesting how light seems to cause his eyes to twinkle as they close; it looks as if small watery tears form after every blink.

The atmosphere has clearly changed as it is evening now, and the sun is beginning to set among the valley, beyond the hills. I feel as if Time would be proud, but I can’t say for sure, because as I’m staring into the mesmerizing colors of the sky, I notice she is absent from this moment. The view in front of me is beautiful, and I can’t deny that it is infinitely much more so in the presence of a new companion.

Having established the TRULY OUTRAGEOUS! JEM Mailing List on the Internet, and being part of the original letter-writing campaign to get Rhino to release Jem on DVD, I was so stoked to be able to purchase this DVD set when it first came out.

This set contains the first twenty-six episodes of the series. The first disc has seven episodes, the second disc has seven episodes, the third disc has seven episodes, and the fourth disc has five episodes.

The first disc contains commentary on the first episode (“The Beginning”) by Christy Marx, the woman who developed the Jem animated series. There is also a “Play Songs” feature, which allows you to view the “music videos” from the episodes as stand-alone pieces. The second disc contains a commentary on episode thirteen (“The Music Awards Part 1″) by Christy Marx, as well as the “Play Songs” feature. The third disc only includes the “Play Songs” feature.

The fourth disc contains the most bonus features on the set. There is commentary on episode twenty-three (“The Jem Jam Part 1″) and on episode twenty-six (“Glitter and Gold”) by Christy Marx, there is the “Play Songs” feature, an interview with Christy Marx, an interview with Samantha Newark (the voice actor who provided the speaking voice for Jerrica and Jem), the public service announcements that originally aired with some of the episodes included on the set, and excerpts from the Jem production bible. The bible was written by Christy, and it includes character descriptions and the series guidelines; this is what the writers on the show referred to when they wrote their episodes for the series.

I really enjoyed Christy’s commentaries and interview. They were very informative about the episodes, and you can tell how much she enjoyed working on the series. Samantha’s interview was great as well. It was also nice to see that permission was given to include the Jem Bible, so fans have a legal way to see this item.

At the time, I was pleased with this set, as well as with the second DVD set that Rhino released. My main issue was some audio sync issues that I saw in “The World Hunger Shindig.” Unfortunately, Rhino never managed to finish releasing the series before they lost the rights.

In 2011, Shout Factory! acquired the rights to release Jem on DVD. In October of 2011, they released a first season set, as well as a complete series box set that includes all 65 episodes of Jem. At this point, the only reason to own Jem The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons is to own both versions of the first episodes that were released on DVD. Shout Factory!’s release includes the original version of “The Beginning” from the first time the episode aired on television, while this set from Rhino includes the re-done version that aired on television after the first airing.

At this point, I can only truly recommend Jem The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons to Jem fans who are completionists that want either own all versions of the episodes ever produced or want to own every Jem home video release in existence.

I wrote this review after watching the copy of this DVD set that my husband and I purchased.

I can remember that years ago when I was a moderator for a chat forum, that one of the members always used to use the phrase “salad days.” I won’t talk about the forum or the member because, honestly, the member was a bully, and he and some others made being a part of that forum a really bad time. Anyway, since he used the phrase “salad days” so often, I soon learned that it meant “early days” or “before being experienced.”

I have known that “green” can mean inexperienced, though I’ve never known why. However, knowing this helped me understand that salad is green, so “salad days” made sense for the early days or the days when one was inexperienced.

Shakespeare used the phrase “salad days” in 1606 in Antony and Cleopatra. In it, Shakespeare wrote that Cleopatra said, ” My salad days, / When I was green in judgment: cold in blood, / To say as I said then!” The meaning here is obviously when Cleopatra was inexperienced. Sometimes “salad days” is used as something akin to “the golden years,” but that is a rare usage.

What is interesting is that the phrase origins of “salad days” connects it to the color green and there are many more uses of the color green, even in Shakespeare. The usage that is probably most commonly known is that Shakespeare referred to jealousy as the “green-eyed monster.”

Green is said to be the color of lovers. Green is also used to mean things are safe. Even a traffic light that is a green signal tells people that it is safe to go. Earlier than any of these uses, green was used to describe illness. Perhaps this is because somebody who was ill looked a shade of green.

Green has also been the color used as the color of life, heaven, time, hope, luck, and environmentalism. Why is green such a popular color? Scientists say that it has to do with the wavelength of the color. People can easily find the color green from the furthest distances. It makes them comfortable. All a person has to do is think of a field of clean green grass to feel this comfort.

If green can be so many things, why is it also the color of inexperience? It seems that green refers to unripe fruits and the short life of lettuce in a salad. These things point to something that will “mature” either in a good way or a bad way. The “salad days” are over because the salad quits being green.

While it seems like a phrase from Shakespeare would stay popular ever since he wrote it, the phrase tended to disappear from usage for over 200 years. It wasn’t until June 1862 that The Morning Oregonian wrote, “What fools men are in their salad days.”

From there, the phrase “salad days” became popular. In 1954, a musical called “Salad Days” was performed at the Bristol Old Vic. It was highly successful. This musical was the inspiration for the Monty Python spoof, Sam Peckinpah’s Salad Days .

Sources:

Aviva Trivia Blog » Significance of Color Green. (n.d.). Add Url – Submit Site – Aviva Web Directory . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.avivadirectory.com/trivia/254-significance-of-color-green/

Martin, G. (n.d.). Salad days. The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/salad-days.html

Recio, B. (n.d.). Organic Spa Magazine » Blog Archive What Does it Really Mean to Be Green?. - Organic Spa Magazine . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.organicspamagazine.com/2011/09/what-does-it-really-mean-to-be-green/

Turning Green With Envy – Sensational Color. (n.d.). Color Advice and Insights from the Experts – Sensational Color . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/colorful-phrases-and-their-meaning/turning-green-with-envy.html

50 cent is being sued for sampling the 1971 Persuaders tune “Love Gonna Pack Up and Walk Out” on “Red Rum,” part of a collection he released as an online freebie three years ago, TMZ reports.

“Fifty Cents [sic] has not denied the infringement, but appears to be basing his defense solely on a frivolous and immaterial claim that the illegal version is not being commercially exploited, but is given away for free,” said Robert Poindexter, the song’s author, in a lawsuit filed in New York.

Poindexter is reportedly seeking $ 600,000 in punitive damages, plus interest, as well as unspecified amount for statutory damages. The rhymer’s reps have yet to respond.

BOSTON—Mitt Romney’s roadmap for governing the country is so vague that it has even Republican allies questioning his intentions.

“You have to campaign to govern, not just to win,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said in recent days after endorsing Romney. “Go ahead and have the confidence in the voters to explain the fix we’re in and then tell them with some specificity what we can do to get out of it in a way that’s good for everybody. Romney doesn’t talk that way.”

It’s a sentiment other Republicans decline to express so publicly, and Daniels later downplayed his comment. But it’s one that accurately describes the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s general aversion to detail.

In between heaping criticism on President Barack Obama, Romney spent the primary season sketching a broad conservative vision for leading the country should he win the White House. Supporters cheer his general plans for lower taxes, smaller government, a stronger military and a reduced federal deficit. But he’s offered few detailed prescriptions on a range of the country’s most pressing concerns from Social Security to potential military action in Iran. And in some cases where Romney and his aides have been specific, the former Massachusetts governor offers little significant change from the Democratic president he says is killing the American dream.

The tactic is, of course, by design for a candidate eager to make the general election a referendum on Obama’s first term. The less voters know about Romney, the more they may focus on Obama. By avoiding difficult policy decisions, Romney gives his opponents less fuel for political attacks.

The Obama campaign has noticed. And as the president’s team works to tie Romney to the GOP’s more conservative wing, Democrats are aggressively criticizing what they call Romney’s “secrecy strategy.”

“Mitt Romney’s campaign has been based on one thing — deceptively attacking the president’s record. He’s been purposefully vague about what he’d do as president,” Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said. “If he wants to be taken seriously in this race, he needs to put money where his mouth is and provide some honest answers.”

The Romney campaign says it has been more forthcoming than Obama in some areas, particularly on budget fixes for entitlement programs. Indeed, Obama has not proposed comprehensive plans to address the financial problems facing either Social Security or Medicare.

Romney has not done much better, however.

He has introduced a Medicare plan that transforms the popular health care program for seniors into a voucher system, but declines to say how much seniors may have to pay out of pocket. On Social Security, he says generally that he would raise the retirement age “for future generations.”

The fuzzy positions are consistent with Romney’s pattern of embracing politically popular choices — tax cuts and smaller government, for example — while ignoring the realities he would face as president, such as how to pay for those tax cuts or regulate business to prevent another economic meltdown. His campaign refuses to say whether he will offer specifics in some cases even before the November election. 

Perhaps the most glaring example is on taxes.