The Ra Ra Blog

Lighting a unity candle is fast becoming a popular part of the wedding ceremony for many couples. The candles used include a pillar candle and two tapered candles.

At the beginning of the wedding ceremony, a designated person from each family (usually the mothers of the bride and groom) light the taper candles. At the conclusion of the formal vows, the bride and groom use the two taper candles to light the large pillar candle—which represents unity—together.
Sometimes the unity candle is decorated with a meaningful message, the wedding invitation, or sometimes a photo of the couple. It may also be decorated with faux pearls, ribbon, or many other designs or ornamentation. I personally tend to prefer gel candles and also soy wax candles. I also kind of like large pillar candles as well as the more popular square pillar candles, but everyone has their own personal favorites. I have noticed that alot of people really enjoy scented candles such as the scented soy varieties, for example.
Invariably the candles used are white. As the candles are lit, there may be music playing, words expressing the message of the lighting, or a moment of the couple looking into one another’s eyes.
Usually the ceremony expresses the joining of the bride and groom into a couple, unified by a mutual commitment. The ceremony sometimes represents the two familes of the couple being united in their love of the couple.

I have just read a fascinating book about the career of legendary movie actor Robert De Niro.
The biography was written by John Baxer. I do not think it was the authorized version, but nevertheless paints a mostly complimentary picture of the actor, in my opinion. One funny thing happened involving director Martin Scorsese, who could not stand blood. De Nero, when training during real fights,
yelled at Scorsese as he was leaving “where are you going? Stay here! I am doing this for you, you know!”. He apparently was forced to watch the carnage. Then toward the end of filming De Niro famously ballooned up in weight for the final scenes. he worked them off by his next film, ‘True Confessions’, which was released in 1981 and co-starred Robert Duvall.
For the 1976 movie Taxi Driver, in which he was nominated for the best-actor oscar, he was so completely absorbed in the role that the crew was worried that he would never come out of the character when the shooting ended.
That role actually changed his face permanently…..he was in character 24/7 which required a certain crooked grin, which left a certain wrinkle and sidewise slant that he still has to this day.
‘The King of Comedy’ required stand up comedy practice, and so on….. In addition to his acting, he has also directed 2 films and produced a number of others via Tribeca.
He is also an award winning broadway actor and owns the Tribeca Film Center too. This is one talented dude. Roger Ebert said in his movie reviews book that he only knew of 2 movie actors from this era that would be legends (like Marlon Brando) and that they were Jack Nicholson and Robert De Nero. I remember that one movie where he had that distinctive leather jacket and leather jewelry By the way if you need silver and copper jewelry,  unique jewelry and artisan jewelry check out Lazuli Jewelry. They also have cufflinks and handmade jewelry as well. I agree and might also add Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Tony Hopkins to that list. Of course, De Niro has had a flew flops and several roles that were not universally well reviewed, as have virtually all actors. They include ‘the 1992 film noir drama ‘Night and the City’ co-starring Jessica Lange and Jack Warden and the 1996 Tony Scott thriller ‘The Fan;
which co-starred Wesley Snipes and Ellen Barkin. The film ‘Mad dog and Glory’, co-starring Uma Thurman, David Caruso and Bill murray, also recieved mixed reviews.

According to as number of National news sources, the teenage son of Professional wrestler and reality television celebrity Hulk Hogan was arrested yesterday and will likely face criminal charges stemming from a car crash in which the passenger, who is also his friend,
 was badly injured. In fact a seperate news story reported that the friend, whose name is John Graziano, will likely never recover from his injuries and will probably need to be cared for in a nursing home for the rest of his life.
Graziano, a United States Marine, suffered a broken skull, brain swelling and a large quantity of blood collected under his skull.
In fact he is still on life support and can only open and close his eyes. Pretty severe injuries indeed.
By the way if you have been injured in an automobile accident and need a quality lawyer check out Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys
In any event authorities stated yesterday that Nick Bollea, who is only seventeen years old but will probably be tried as an adult due to the serious nature of the case, turned himself in to authorities due to the August 26 incident in which eye witnesses stated that they saw 2
motor vehicles racing each other on the wet roads in Clearwater, Florida. And then one of them, tragically, slammed into a tree.
The charges arrayed against him are reckless driving involving serious bodily harm plus 3 other seperate offenses.
Daniel Jacobs, 22, whom authorities stated was the driver of the other vehicle in question during the race, must also appear in court for reckless driving.
 However, it appears that he is not considered to be the cause cause in the catostrophic crash. His father
 Hulk Hogan (real name: Terrence Bollea) stated that they were “saddened” that criminal charges have been filed andthat  his son was being treated as an adult despite his age.

According to a superb editorial story by none other than Henry Weinstein of the LA Times,
one of California’s most high profile law practices has filed civil litigation with the aim of putting an apparently crooked
 ”legal-aid” enterprise out of business in Northern California. Analysts have claimed that this specific lawsuit is an attempt to deal with a growing problem
in California. This lawsuit claims that the ‘Legal Center for Legal Aid’ has cheated
 state citizens who were seeking help with evictions. They also claim that they
have been using various fake advertising in a “brazen . . . scam” to cheat some 4 individuals, including a blind man senior citizen, a double amputee and even a plaintiff with an extreme head injury.
If you would like a legit personal injury attorney in California visit Los Angeles personal Injury Attorneys
They gave no help (or at least very bad help) to those aforementioned victims and unbelievably, still use fake advertising and promotional methods, according to the lawsuit in question.
They even advertise in some Yellow Page books and their entry was right next to to the honest legal aid outfits thus going the extra mile to decieve their victims, according to the report.
Furthermore, this particular lawsuit accuses them of unlawful practice of law, false advertising, professional negligence, fraud and several other very serious charges. Man, do these guys have no scruples or what?
Talk about a major lack of ethics and moral standards. In any event, this troubling situation was described as a “very common problem,”. Unfortunatel, it also appears to be increasing substantially, according to the los Angeles Times article.
For example, the California Law Clinic, which is a Los Angeles-based company, was sued about 4 years ago or so for misrepresenting itself as a public interest organization. This particular
“clinic” operated under a number of different names such as Legal Aid Crenshaw and Legal Aid Compton, in areas where they have Law offices. Very sneaky methods at work here.
After all was said and done, the judge in the case awarded one and a half million dollars in damages. Yet those damages have yet to be collected, sadly enouph.

George Clooney and his gal pal were injured yesterday when his motorcycle
collided with a vehicle on a road that cuts across from New York City to New Jersey state.
Clooney himself suffered a broken rib and some abrasions to his skin. Meanwhile, his passenger, Sarah Larson, unfortunately broke her foot in the late afternoon collision. They were both treated at Palisades Medical Center over in North Bergen and then released, according to the star’s spokesman. More celebrity news can be obtained at The Entertainment Blog All in all it appears that both he and Larson were going north and then sped up to pass on the right of a Mazda Millenia car which was about to make a right turn. Fortunately, both of them were wearing their helmets. As an aside I have noticed that many celebrities have been wearing unique, contemporary jewelry such as silver and copper jewelry, leather jewelry and even wood jewelry. I wonder is she was one of the ones I saw wearing handmade, artisan leather jewelry.
At this particular time it is not clear whether or not the car’s driver even used a turn signal. The accident is currently under investigation yet I strongly suspect some additional facts will be released very soon regarding the crash. It seems that the Oscar Winner and 2 time sexiest man alive winner was in the New York City area to film the movie “Burn After Reading,” which also stars his Brad Pitt, a co-star of many of his movies, plus John Malkovich and actress Frances McDormand as well.
Evidentally this accident will not likely delay the movie’s production schedule.
Meanwhile his next film, “Michael Clayton,” will be released sometime in October. He and Larson have reportedly been spied together at a few film events in the last month or 2.
I hope George get’s better soon. My favorite movies by him are ‘3 Kings and ‘The Perfect Storm’.

In celebrity criminal defense news, OJ Simpson was arrested just after 11 o’clock and in the morning and is currently being brought to a police office, Capt. James Dillon said. Police are still determining charges against former Los Angeles resident Simpson.  All in all, a few police officers were sighted entering the hotel where Simpson is currently staying; security reported that the authorities took Simpson out a side door shortly thereafter.At least 1 other individual has been arrested and authorities said earlier today that as many as 6 suspects could be arrested involving the possible armed robbery which apparently happened in a room inside the Palace Station hotel & casino several days.

The 60 year old former NFL has previously stated that said he and other persons who were with him were retrieving merchandise which belonged to him. He has stated to the authorities that no weapons were involved in the incident. Authorities have stated that 2 firearms plus other evidence were taken at a private residence early today. OJ may not need a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney for this case but he will assuredly need some sort of criminal defense attorney, whether in Los Angeles or not.

Arizona resident Walter Alexander was arrested Saturday and charged with 2 counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, 2 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and also burglary with a deadly weapon.
Should be interesing to see what exactly Simpson gets charged with. Perhaps he is looking for the Columbian drug lords who really commited the crime. He may not have a dream team criminal defense attorney like he wants had in Los Angeles, however.

Marcia Clark, who was made famous as one of the prosecutors (along with Christopher Darden) some twelve or thirteen odd years agoas the opposite number of the attorney “dream team: during the infamous Los Angeles O.J. Simpson murder trial, isin yet another courtroom with the former Buffalo Bills football running back.
Only this time, Clark was part of the media army which was covering Simpson’s Las Vegas arrest for Armed robbery. As a legal analysist for “Entertainment Tonight” as well as “The Insider,” she had the
opportunity to tell everyone what she thought of Simpson.
Well, ”He skated on 2 murder charges, and he managed to get out of other charges of much lesser gravity since then. How did he manage to get himself back in trouble again? (I mean) “How stupid do you have to be?”, she was reported as saying by the AP. Well, I guess getting away away with murder, if he did indeed do that, will give you a lot of confidence about little things like armed robbery, I suppose. But Clark did not stop short at simply calling Simpson and idiot. I think she used to be a probate attorney in Los Angeles or something similiar like that. During the interview she was also quoted as saying:  (The Simpson Book) “If I Did It,” (was) “hideous” and “all a lie.” Indirectly addressing his girlfriend Christine Prody, a Nicole Brown-lookalike who stood by him in court, she said said: “It made me sick to my stomach. Do you not realize you could be next?”
A Los Angeles jury found Simpson innocent of murdering his ex-wife and her apparent boyfriend friend Ronald Goldman. In the civil case, however, he was found liable for their deaths and ordered to pay $33.5 million. According to Ronald Goldman’s father, Simpson has dragged his feet and generally avoided actually paying that money, as he was supposed to do. As an aside, if you require a good Los Angeles probate attorney then I suggest this site.
Now back to the main story at hand: Clark, who was a defense or probate attorney long before being a prosecutor and is now back to representing defendants in California appellate cases, stated that her legal training permits her to view any case with an open mind without a personal bias. In addition to the said Simpson case, she has covered other celebrity cases for “Entertainment Tonight,” like for instgance Robert Blake’s unsuccessful prosecution for his wife’s shooting. Regarding the earlier case, She had no doubt about what the verdict should have been. But in the newer one, she is not quite so certain.

“The tape is very damning,” she stated, regarding the audiotape of Simpson’s confrontation with those he is charged with robbing. She then adds, “My attitude is, `Let’s see what else you’ve got.’”

According to USA Today and many other major national newspapers, and officially confirmed as well,
Mexican freight trucks can start transporting goods on highways across the country as early as tomorrow,
when the Dept. of Transportation is set to issue operating permits to various Mexican trucking outfits overall. The Texas newspaper ‘The Waco Tribune-Herald’ has reported that the Teamsters Union is very upset about this and will be protesting. Specifically, they claim that giving Mexican rigs free right of passage on roads will jeopardize trucking jobs held by American citizens. Meanwhile, other groups have questioned the safety of Mexican rigs. Up to this point, however, court decisions have rejected all legal protests and appear intent on allowing Mexican trucks onto the countries highways. No, this probably does not mean that your Grandmother will no longer be patted down at the airport on her airplane trip to her family reunion, or that you war hero brother won’t have to take off his shoes or be subject to a strip search the next time he
travels from California to Utah on business, lol. After all, we can’t risk something crossing state lines from a questionable source.The question I have is whether or not they are going to have the flashy hip hop bling jewelry such as gold chains, diamond dog tags and a gold bracelet or instead if they will go with more upscale style bling bling jewelry such as a Rayalty watch, Casio Diamond G Shock Watches  Joe Rodeo Watch or perhaps even a cool Techno Master Watches or 10k Gold Pendant. I am guessing more like a Joe Rodeo Watch actually but I could be wrong. As Jay Leno said on the ‘Tonight Show’ last night, the first fleet of Mexican trucks entering the country will be laden with toxic leads toys from China.

Buddy Smith, a trucker from Alabama, stated that they already starting to hear more and more Spanish on the radio, Smith said. Mexican truckers are eating into our paychecks. They are coming up here,but no American truckers are willing to go into Mexico. We are under enough pressure, from increases in fuel prices to decreases in freight price. We don’t need any extra stress. Has anyone written their congressman about this?

I just got back to los Angeles and wanted to report on some rather disturbing news, according to various reports, various drug kingpins from mexico who are involved in a violent conflict for rulership of a pipeline which runs from Mexico to Dallas, Texas and eventuall up through middle America have boldly stationed assasination teams in the Texan border town of Laredo. If you live in Los Angeles, you know it also happens on the California border as well. They just have better immigration and probate attorney in those parts I guess.

All in all, in the previous two years, competing drug gangs have killed at least 7 people in Laredo, including a victim stalked and killed near his employment site and a man gunned down in the parking lot of a crowded restaurant, U.S. authorities confirmed. Most of the victims were somehow involved in the drug trade themselves, apparently. “That river does not stop these people,” said Webb County Sheriff’s Maj. Doyle Holdridge, who for the past 30 years has been working cases in this area.

In addition, the former unwritten rules against involving family members and other civilians have all been but abandoned, sadly enouph.
Furthermore, in an unsettling twist another casualty has been the respect once given to American authorities. Holdridge said he and his wife have occasionally been followed by the drug gang members. The assasin Reta himself had the make, model and plates of a law officer’s personal automobile.
This has no doubt been in part due to the lax security along the border and the fact that many officers are not backed up. They are only allowed to use their firearms in extreme cases, such as if one is already pointed at them. As an aside if you live in the Los Angeles area and require first rate Los Angeles probate attorney then let me suggest this law firm, they are among the best probate attorney in all of los Angeles. Now back to the main story at hand:

All of the assasins lived in the United States., waiting for orders from the drug kingpins.
When testimony at Reta’s trial bagan to unveil details of the cartel’s organization, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to forty years in prison. A defense attorney and others involved in this case received threats during the trial.

Reta, who was only 16 when Flores was killed, still faces charges in the killing of another Laredo man, gunned down outside a restaurant, also allegedly on the orders of the Gulf Cartel.

He stated that the Zetas, former Mexican Army soldiers currently employed as Gulf Cartel enforcers, trained him in marksmanship and grenade-throwing at a boot camp south of the border.

He stated that he was involved in some thirty drug killings south of the border, beginning when he was only 13, and sought extradition here when he was arrested in connection with a grenade explosion that killed 4 individuals at a nightclub.

These assasins were paid some five hundred dollars per week, according to the police. When a job was completed, they would recieve an additional ten thousand dollars as well as 2 kilos of cocaine, the court documents stated. For the Flores killing, Reta and Cardona got five hundred dollars apiece, and The intended victim was indeed later assasinated.

The third alleged member of the hit squad made bail after his arrest and fled to Mexico before trial. Warrants have also been issued for the alleged middleman in the hit and the cartel’s reputed boss in Nuevo Laredo, but both men are believed to be in Mexico.

These narcotic trafficing cartels have studied United States law enforcement methods for years now and know how to work the system and find loopholes.

Holdridge said that the narcotic organizations in question occasionally send “suicide loads” or smaller shipement of marijuana that traffickers know will get discovered by the authorities. These tiny busts in turn distract them with paperwork that lasts hours, acting a s sort of decoy. This therefore gives the traffickers the time they require to get a much larger shipment through undiscovered.

Honest employers, partricularly those in the various blue-collar fields, might be over-paying rates for workers’ compensation insurance due to the fact that their less than honest industry peers are cheating, a California advisory committee stated recently. I think part of the probelm may be the sizeable number of workers comp attorney on the map. I know that in communities like kansas City and Overland Park there are a lot of these types of attorney, for example.

The report, which was in excess of forty pages long from the Committee on Health and Safety & Workers’ Compensation stated that this lack of integrity means that honest firms in a broad range of risky blue-collar fields may be paying as much as a staggering 8 times more for workers’ compensation insurance than they should be. Perhasp the district attorney will get involved in this one.
The 8 person advisory committee, which was commisioned by the governor and Legislature, sent the report to Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who has quickly formed an anti-fraud force.

Under the existing law, firms have to purchase workers’ compensation insurance for every single individual that works for them. The costs for this insurance is relative to the risk of the particular work being done. As a general example, a secretary would be at much lower risk than the employee who uses power tools. As an aside if you are in this are and you need an Overland Park tax attorney may I suggest this tax law firm as they are indeed one of the best in kansas City and Overland Park, in my opinion.
For such a a blue collar worker, the hirer might be required to pay a dollar in workers’ comp premium for every single dollar in payroll. Therefore, it obviously costs the honest firm around two times the amount to send such a worker up on the roof than the paycheck might suggest. In contrast, however, to get workers’ comp coverage for a secretary in the same
 firm, he or she might have to add only one cent in workers’ comp costs for every dollar.
On the other hand, the insurance firm, who bases their premiums on the total number of accidents for all the workers in that particular field or industry, has been swindled out of some 99 cents that could have otherwise gone towards covering the costs of accidents.
So the honest firms will eventually get hit with a further rate increase to make up for the less than honest ones, unfortunately.
A bay area based insurance agent who heads a confederation of home and small-business owners and is involved in the anti-fraud campaign mentioned earlier, stated that officials have come to percieve that this particular kind of fraud is running amok. Yet he also stated that he did not fully understand how rates could really be 8 times bigger overall.