Thomas Jefferson said in 1802: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."-- Thomas Jefferson

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." .... jbd

"When once a job you have begun, do no stop till it is done. Whether the task be great or small, do it well, or not at all." .... Anon

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Television is one daylong commercial interrupted periodically by inept attempts to fill the airspace in between them.

If you can't start a fire, perhaps your wood is wet ....

When you elect clowns, expect a circus ..............




Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Stumped in Ohio

I am stumped, searched the news, nothing of interest, just business as usual. Obama wants to close Guantanmo, I think he indicated that a long time ago, it could be offensive to other nations. I don't really know what that means, perhaps political gibberish.

Hillary may have held some "facts" back, nothing new there. "Don't confuse me with the facts." Always liked "I'm from the government and I am here to help you."

Some guy somewhere lost $2600 to a carnival game. They gave him $500 and a stuffed banana, he is still mad .... what is it, oh, yea, "If your gonna be a sucker, be a silent one." Old Nevada saying.

As you can see, I have been more attuned today to the Spoof stories, don't know why that is. I saw more "side" stories to the NBA player "coming out" than the actual story. And, in Nevada, dealing craps, the first roll of the dice to determine the "point" is always the "come out" roll, "Coming out, six, the point is six." Now, some want that changed ... coming out has bad connotations to it now.

The bombing in Boston. Gets a little thicker all the time. I would not be surprised if that whole family didn't have something to do with it. I always thought they were all to "well rehearsed" to not be involved. Amazing how they can get DNA profiles off of a bomb. I wonder if they can get any from that piece of aircraft they found lodged between those buildings. Been there a long time, I imagine building maintenance on those buildings is questionable.

I have read other blogs, checked news sources, nothing. My main concern is about "The Price is Right." Obama has used more of that time slot than Drew.


FBI searching


I'm apparently in a SPOOF frame of mind ......... no more today, not much news to comment on...

The FBI revealed today that more DNA had been found on bomb fragments found at the scene of the Boston Bombing. Three of them so far have been identified as employees at a Walmart in upstate New York, a telemarketer from India, and four from a "sweat shop" operation in ZinZin, China.

Apparently one smudge was that of Katherine Russell, wife of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the bombers. Further analysis revealed the possibility that their Mother and Father were also involved, along with three cousins who were studying at MIT and an uncle and aunt who are living on welfare in Palm Beach, Florida. "Vee lube eet oon te oceaann here." the aunt stated when approacched, "Gaaawd bleees Merica an I know nutting."

Surprisingly, one smudge was analyzed to be that of Anthony Weiner, former Representative from New York. Michelle Armbruster, lab assistant at the FBI lab that was analyzing the smudge stated, "When I saw who and what it was, I was shocked, I knew about him, I accidentally dropped it on the floor, God knows what it might have been." Weiner has been ruled out as a suspect, on this case.

Further analysis is being pursued. One lab assistant who did not want to be identified would not speak with our reporter.

Trouble in paradise


Another spoof ......... NO truth to it ...

Harvey L. Weisenbaum, Director of Operations for the Winfield Corporation who own and control many of the casinos around the world stated that he had met with dealer representatives from their various casinos, and he was taking their concerns to the Board of Directors who will meet in Las Vegas in early May.

"It's a drastic step, it is how it has been done for many years, it's what the public expects, I don't know if the wording can be changed or not, it's tradition.  I see where you guys are coming from but, well, I don't know what to say," Weisenbaum added.

The concern of both male and female dealers, from around the country, concerned the terminology used during the first roll of the dice on the crap tables, and the use of the term, "Coming out." They feel that the term has taken on connotations that are embarrassing for the dealers to declare.

Burt Woodall, dealer at the Sands, indicated that his using the term "coming out" had led to a number of "incidents" upon leaving the tables to go on breaks. "Once I had four guys follow me when I left the table, it was kinda spooky," Burt stated. "I think there may be other things we can say, maybe just, 'Shot and Got.'"

Grizz "comes out" TinC


This is a SPOOF SITE post ..... NO TRUTH to it .... written only in fun .........

"Madman" Grizzly Zagorski, World Wrestling Champion, who has twice been convicted of excessive violence by the World Wrestling Federation held a press conference at his training facility in the Catskills Tuesday morning, and announced that even though one of the most feared combatants in the profession, that he, in fact, is gay.

He indicated that he started wrestling in high school because it gave him an opportunity to "hug and caress" other boys and yet maintain his macho image. Grizz, as he is called indicated that he knew the public would soon learn the truth after he purchased a "NoNo Hair Remover" to use on his chest and legs to remove all that "ugly hair."

"I feel better now that I have come out, the public will be more aware of why I use some of my famous holds, like the Crotch Killer and the Butt Bruiser, I did 'em cause I really liked 'em," he stated.

In his upcoming grudge match this weekend with Bad Man Brogan, Grizz indicated he was doing away with his usual robe, tights and shoe colors of blood red and black, and would unveil his new colors of Fuchsia and Chartreuse "in pastels," he chided.

Monday, April 29, 2013

And, the winner is....................................


The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently released its "Xtreme Eating Awards," which highlight the unhealthiest chain restaurant meals in America.

Here are some of the "winners." To put the numbers into perspective, most people should eat about 2,000 calories a day and no more than 20 grams of saturated fat and 1,500 milligrams of sodium.

The Cheesecake Factory Crispy Chicken Costoletta: 2,610 calories, 89 grams saturated fat and 2,720 milligrams sodium.

Uno Chicago Grill Deep Dish Macaroni & 3-Cheese: 1,980 calories, 71 grams saturated fat and 3,110 milligrams sodium.

Chili's Baby Back Ribs with Shiner Bock BBQ, full rack: 1,660 calories, 39 grams saturated fat and 5,025 milligrams sodium.

IHOP Country Fried Steak & Eggs: 1,760 calories, 23 grams saturated fat and 3,720 milligrams sodium.

Sweets are hardly off the hook. A 40-ounce Smoothie King Peanut Power Plus Grape Smoothie (with peanut butter and grape juice among its ingredients) contains 1,460 calories and 22 teaspoons of added sugar.

One slice of Chocolate Zuccotto Cake from Maggiano's Little Italy weighs in at 1,820 calories and 62 grams saturated fat.

Though these are the extremes, most restaurant meals still have more calories, fat and sodium than you should eat in one sitting. You don’t have to bypass chain restaurants altogether, but if you do pull up to one on occasion, here are ways to keep things under control:

Who .... you gotta be kidding ....

I received a phone call last night that will mean nothing to anyone reading this, maybe one or two. As many already know, my "highlight" reel is loaded with stores of Nevada and my days out there. Great time of my life.

There was a message on our answering machine, my wife listened to it, "Who?" "Are you sure, she said she was Danny Sullivan's granddaughter."

Means nothing to you does it? Who was Danny Sullivan. Well, he was, Danny Sullivan. Fitz's partner, a legend .......

MORE INFORMATION HERE

We talked for quite a while, thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. As I say, it means nothing to probably anyone, but to me, I talked with Danny Sullivan's granddaughter. "Obama is on the phone for you, Donald Trump wants to speak with you, ....... Warren Buffet would like a word for you, Bill Gates on 2 for you ... but, Danny Sullivan's granddaughter ....... I know, humor me, takes me back fifty plus years in an instant. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night .....

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Jury Duty For Non-Citizens?



California would allow non-citizens to serve on juries under a proposal being considered by state lawmakers, potentially expanding a fundamental obligation of American life to millions more people.

The measure, which would apply only to legal residents, would make California the only state to open the jury box to non-citizens who meet all other requirements of service, according to legal experts.

The proposal raises the question of what it means to be judged by peers in a state where more than one in seven residents is not a citizen. One of the bill’s authors, Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), said the proposal would help ensure an adequate pool of jurors, help immigrants integrate into American society and make juries more representative of California.

Juries “should reflect our community, and our community is always changing,” Wieckowski said. “It’s time for California to be a leader on this.” The Assembly passed the bill this week on a party-line vote, with most Democrats lining up in favor and Republicans standing in opposition.

Are they not registered voters for their name to be drawn? My main concern would be the "language" problem. "Hey, Jose, wha he say, oh, he use a pistola, now I see. I not sure if he is Culpable or Inocente ................. what this mean on form here, Guilty or Innocent?"


Sunday Morning ..... 4/28/2013

Rainy, cloudy and gloomy in Ohio this morning, not sure what the rest of the day will be like. Have not seen the weather report, have the TV on, but listening to music from the 30's and 40's. Right now, Billie Holiday and Benny Goodman, love this old stuff, takes me right back to 319 South Brown Street in Dayton, Ohio. Sittin in Dad's chair, has the old Philco right next to it, now Red Nichols. Thankful I still have my memories.

Coffee is ready, be right back. On Sunday I splurge, make Maxwell House and not the generic from Walmart. There is a difference.

George Jones is gone. I always liked George and Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb, loved Floyd Cramer and his piano, but, hard to explain, but when I say "George Jones" I have to make a little shoulder twist, open hands, hip movement, almost like I am introducing him to an audience. Other names I can just say, but I just have to do that gesture with I say .......... George Jones ......... . Music and some songs can take me back to a time and place. Just like now, listening to this old stuff, I am taken back to a different time and place. Some of George's songs take me back to the Tux Club in Reno, a little neighborhood bar in Klamath Falls, Oregon, another place between Reno and Carson City where we used to go on Sunday's, party a bit, play some poker and have some great times. And the old Silver Dollar between Newark and Zanesville, now that was a Honkey Tonk. Dave Longaberger or his daughter bought the place. She was building a home nearby and didn't want a bar nearby. They have since sold it and someone built a house there.

I knew Dave a little, got to know him through the old Newark Downtown Association when he was moving his offices up here and build "The Basket" out East. I have had some pleasant times with him.

The NFL draft is over, probably one of the greater wastes of time and effort and money. A tip of my hat though, that TV has taken a totally uninteresting occurrence and attempted to turn it into a TV spectacular. They attempt to create excitement where there is none.

It is still on my mind though, the  two events, one in Boston, one in Texas, one we know every little detail about one, and one we know nothing, or very little. I wonder what the determining factor was? I still wonder also, who will pay for the body to be shipped back, and why that whole family was so well versed, trained, skilled, at all the comments they made, the accusations, the innuendo, I found it all rehearsed.

Now, just anticipation, what's next? For those interested, the "tag" on my right cheek is just about gone, took three weeks, but the "Tag Away" does work.

OOOOhhhhaaaa  ..... "My Old Flame" by Benny Goodman ....






Saturday, April 27, 2013

Holy water .................

I learned something today ..... how to make holy water ...............



You boil the hell out of it!

Thanks to Rev. Jim for that.

Looking back ............. a little

Not sure why, my old memories keep coming back to hen me this morning. I think it had to do with the passing of George Jones, and it got me thinking of all those who have been a part of my life, have passed.

My very early life, I think they are all gone. There may be a few left, but I have not been in touch with them for so many years.

The Guilds were our neighbors on Brown Street, the Burions, the Schmalls, and other escape e right now. Grace, Claire and Mary Jo were early family friends. The Geiringers, the Hurless's. Dr. Hurless on one occasion, I was probably in my threes or fours, quite young, and I had a new pair of tennis shoes, as we called them in those days. I was very proud of them. He jokingly told me he was going to take them .. I have never forgotten that little incident. I was always a little leery of him because of that, and he was a good family friend. I remember going to his house once, he had a radio that he had made, BIG speakers, short wave. We  listened to music coming in from London, awesome in those days. I think that spurred a love for radio in me that I have always had. Led to my building my first "crystal" set, with a cat whisker.

Watching Good Morning America, one segment was the high cost of proms. I think it was my senior prom, rented a tux, maybe even white tie and tails, too Sarah Booth, who I have just recently hooked up with on Facebook, after all these years, brought back a flood of memories.

Still some Oakwood classmates left, not many, but a few.

Then the Navy, one dear friend from there still in touch Ernie Moody. So glad he looked me up one time and called me ..... he is the only one left from that era.....

I am ssssssooooooooo thankful that I still have my memory, I pray I never lose it ................


Paranoid .................. ?


A fifth-grader in Cupertino, California was suspended and threatened with expulsion for bringing a small Swiss Army knife on a school-sponsored, science-oriented camping trip.

In early April, Braden Bandermann’s class set off on Garden Gate Elementary School’s annual, week-long pilgrimage for fifth-graders to Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco.

Before leaving, Braden did what any Silicon Valley 10-year-old faced with the perils of nature might do: He packed his trusty Swiss Army knife. As any camper knows, the multi-tool device is nothing if not versatile. Braden’s particular model contains a can opener, tweezers, a toothpick, a nail file, a tiny pair of scissors and a small blade.

The little blade landed the boy in big trouble.

“They called me,” explained Tony Bandermann, Braden’s father. “They said, ‘You have to come and get him. He has a weapon. He needs to be suspended or possibly expelled.’”

Hitler's Food Taster - revealed



BERLIN (AP) — They were feasts of sublime asparagus — laced with fear. And for more than half a century, Margot Woelk kept her secret hidden from the world, even from her husband. Then, a few months after her 95th birthday, she revealed the truth about her wartime role: Adolf Hitler's food taster.

Woelk, then in her mid-twenties, spent two and a half years as one of 15 young women who sampled Hitler's food to make sure it wasn't poisoned before it was served to the Nazi leader in his "Wolf's Lair," the heavily guarded command center in what is now Poland, where he spent much of his time in the final years of World War II.

"He was a vegetarian. He never ate any meat during the entire time I was there," Woelk said of the Nazi leader. "And Hitler was so paranoid that the British would poison him — that's why he had 15 girls taste the food before he ate it himself."

With many Germans contending with food shortages and a bland diet as the war dragged on, sampling Hitler's food had its advantages.

Friday, April 26, 2013

One more on George ...... this tells the whole story


George could get 'em going ............

Could George get a crown goin, or what ............................ there will never be another quite like him.

George Jones 1931 - 2013


Been  listening to George Jones music all day, all of his songs are good, He was unique, to say the least. I guess the Grand old Oprey is going to do a special show on him tonight.

I have always liked country music, even when it wasn't popular in my  circles. Ernest Tubb, Grandpa Jones, Hank Snow, been many good ones, but I really don't think that anyone attained what he did. His loss will never be filled, by anyone. One of a kind, unique, anything you can come up with, but, if you like country music, then all you have to say is, George Jones.

Country Music, as I know it, died today.  I never saw him perform, came close on an occasion or two. Now I wish I had ................. a legend is dead ......... there will never be another, George Jones .......

Vladimir Putin speaks ..................



 Putin’s Speech on Feb. 04, 2013

This is one time our elected leaders should pay attention to  the advice of Vladimir Putin.

On February 4th, 2013, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president,  addressed the Duma, (Russian Parliament), and gave a speech about the  tensions with minorities in Russia:

"In Russia live Russians.

Any minority, from anywhere, if it  wants to live in Russia, to work and eat in Russia, should speak  Russian, and should respect the Russian laws. If they prefer Sharia  Law, then we advise them to go to those places where that's the state  law.

Russia does not need minorities. Minorities need Russia, and we  will not grant them special privileges, or try to change our laws to  fit their desires, no matter how loud they yell 'discrimination'.

We  better learn from the suicides of America, England, Holland and  France, if we are to survive as a nation. The Russian customs and  traditions are not compatible with the lack of culture or the  primitive ways of most minorities.

When this honorable legislative body thinks of creating new laws, it should have in mind the national  interest first, observing that the minorities are not Russians.

        The politicians in the Duma gave Putin a five minute standing ovation,

OH NO, not George.... Country Music is Dead


I just saw it on the news, my eyes are filled with tears, some of his songs are so much a part of my life, I have most of his songs on this computer, he was, Country Music. "He Stopped Loving Her Today" .. listened to that so many times. After a car wreck, he had a hard time, getting well. He called out for Vestal Goodman, his friend, she was a gospel singer, she flew back from California, spent time with him, and got him well. Vestal has also passed.  Country Music has also died. The last one, has passed.    Well, I just listened to George and Vestal, cried through the whole thing, be sure to listen to it all ...... I now know how Elvis fans felt when they heard of his passing ... George Jones has passed ................

George Jones, the definitive country singer of the last half-century, died Friday at a hospital in Nashville. He was 81.

He was hospitalized on April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure, the Web site of Webster & Associates, his publicists, said in announcing the death.


And no health insurance .............


As if adapting to health-care reform and curbing the “nightmare bacteria” weren't challenge enough, hospitals are increasingly plagued by another problem: bedbugs.

More than a third of pest-management companies treated bedbug infestations in hospitals in 2012, 6% more than the year before and more than twice as many as in 2010, according to a survey released today by the National Pest Management Association. The percentage of exterminators dealing with bedbugs in nursing homes has also almost doubled since 2010, to 46%. Bedbug experts also report seeing them in ambulances.

Hospitals are already cracking down on anything that could increase the risk of patient infections, which not only can be deadly but may also lead to more readmissions and reduced federal funding under the Affordable Care Act.

While bedbugs have not been found to transmit infections to humans, they leave itchy bites after feeding on people’s blood, which can lead to secondary infections when victims scratch, opening themselves up to bacteria.

This is especially problematic in hospitals, where there is a greater likelihood of catching the highly potent and contagious staph infection known as MRSA, says Dr. Jorge Parada, medical director of the infection prevention and control program of Loyola University Health System in Chicago. “You don’t need one more ingredient to increase your risk of infections in the hospital,” he says.

"Mom, you are under arrest .............."


If the mother of the brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bombing travels to the U.S. to claim the body of alleged terrorist mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev or visit Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who remains hospitalized under heavy guard, she's in for a surprise.

There's a warrant out for her arrest for failing to appear in court on shoplifting charges and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva has more than $378 in the state's unclaimed property coffers, according to Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the state Treasurer's Office.

They probably want the government, or us, to pay to send him back. I wonder who is paying for Dzhokhar's hospital bill ..... I don't think that Tamerlan or Dzhokhar had any for "training" prior to the bombing. If so, I think they would have had them change their names to Bill or Jim or something that people could spell and pronounce. Napoleon is easy to remember, Aaron, Attila, John Wilkes Booth, all had easy names. Let's never forget Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, I have a hard time typing it ..................

Woman, 80, accidentally swallows $5G diamond at Florida charity event


Published April 26, 2013
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. –  The idea behind the Tampa Women's Club charity event was simple. For $20, you could buy a flute of champagne and a chance to win a one-carat, $5,000 diamond.

Organizers of the Saturday event placed $10 cubic zirconia stones in the bottom of 399 of the 400 champagne glasses. The prized diamond, donated by Continental Wholesale Diamonds, was placed in the last.

The problem? Eighty-year-old Miriam Tucker accidentally swallowed it.

Tucker told local news media that she didn't want to put her finger in the champagne, so she drank a bit. While laughing with women at the table, she realized she swallowed it.

Embarrassed, she had to tell jewelers who were frantically searching for the winner.
Already scheduled for a colonoscopy on Monday, she had a doctor recover the jewel.

Deadly fire


April 26, 2013 7:02 am

Deadly fire engulfs hospital outside Moscow

Ministry for Emergency Situations workers and firefighters work at a site of a fire of a psychiatric hospital on April 26 2013©AP
A fire engulfed a psychiatric hospital outside Moscow early on Friday, killing 36 of the patients, most of them in their sleep, and two of the institution’s staff.
The tragedy is the latest example of poor fire safety in Russia, where buildings rarely have fire exits or planned exit routes in place, resulting in horrific deaths at hospitals, apartment buildings and nightclubs.

Bomber moved ...

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been moved from the civilian hospital where he had been held since his capture to a federal medical detention center in central Massachusetts, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Tsarnaev left Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center overnight and was taken to the Federal Medical Center Devens about 39 miles west of Boston, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Time Square next???

The Boston Marathon bombing suspects made an impromptu decision to drive to New York City and detonate their remaining explosives in Times Square, New York City officials said Thursday.

“Last night, we were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at an afternoon news conference.

Bloomberg was referring to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was captured on Friday in suburban Watertown, Mass., after an intense manhunt by authorities. His brother Tamerlan, 26, was killed in a fierce overnight shootout with police earlier Friday.

“He told the FBI apparently that he and his brother intended to drive to New York and detonate additional explosives in Times Square,” Bloomberg said. “They had built these additional explosives — and we know that they had the capacity to carry out the attacks.”


Authorities searched a New Bedford landfill in connection with the marathon bombings


NEW BEDFORD (CBS) – The FBI has been searching a New Bedford landfill for evidence connected to the Boston Marathon bombings.

The landfill is near Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s UMass Dartmouth dorm room, where he was spotted after the bombings.

Specifically Authorities are trying to find any sales receipts or discarded packaging from ammunition purchases or parts of homemade bombs that may have been used in test explosions.

The brothers allegedly built three pressure cooker bombs and several homemade grenades.

Three people in New Bedford were detained by the FBI for questioning in connection with Tsarnaev last Friday.

He said, she said, then he said and finally, she said .............

A report authored by five congressmen says that Hillary Clinton personally rejected a direct request for more security at the Benghazi, Libya, facility before the September 11 attack that left four Americans dead.

That directly contradicts Clinton’s testimony before a congressional committee that requests for more security did not come to her.

The authors of the report released Tuesday had access to Obama Administration memos and emails that the report said shows that reductions in security levels at the Benghazi facility were approved “at the highest levels of the State Department,” including in at least one instance by Clinton herself.

In January, Clinton was questioned at a congressional hearing about events in Benghazi and was specifically asked about removal of some Marines from the facility over the objection of State Department officials in Libya. She testified that such decisions were handled far below her authority level.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden denied that there was anything new in the report, saying all the questions about Benghazi had been asked and answered already.

Also, the State Department has continually claimed that more Marines wouldn’t have made a difference in Libya because they were stationed far from the Benghazi facility. Hayden pointed out that the State Department’s Accountability Review Board found the response to Benghazi was “appropriate.”
The report also says the Obama Administration deliberately reworded talking points relied on by Susan Rice to downplay attackers’ connections to al-Qaida and to cover for the State Department.

The authors claim that there was ample evidence ahead of the attack that stricter security was needed. “This progress report reveals a fundamental lack of understanding at the highest levels of the State Department as to the dangers presented in Benghazi, Libya, as well as a concerted attempt to insulate the Department of State from blame following the terrorist attacks,” the report reads.

“… The administration’s talking points were developed in an interagency process that focused more on protecting the reputation and credibility of the State Department than on explaining to the American people the facts surrounding the fatal attacks.”


Read more: http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/04/hillary-rejected-benghazi-security-report-finds/#ixzz2RUXcOmGV

Are we a great country, or what?


The Patrick administration clamped down the lid yesterday on Herald requests for details of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's government benefits, citing the dead terror mastermind's right to privacy.

Across the board, state agencies flatly refused to provide information about the taxpayer-funded lifestyle for the 26-year-old man and his brother and accused accomplice Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19.

On EBT card status or spending, state welfare spokesman Alec Loftus would only say Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and 3-year-old daughter received benefits that ended in 2012. He declined further comment.

On unemployment compensation, labor department spokesman Kevin Franck refused to say whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev ever collected, saying it was "confidential and not a matter of public record."

On Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's college aid, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth spokesman Robert Connolly said, "It is our position -- and I believe the accepted position in higher education -- that student records including academic records and financial records (including financial aid) cannot under federal law be released without a student's consent."

On cellphones, the Federal Communications Commission would not say whether either brother had a government-paid cellphone, also citing privacy laws.

On housing, Cambridge officials and the family's landlord ducked questions on whether the brothers were ever on Section 8 assistance.

The Herald reported yesterday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and 3-year-old daughter collected welfare until 2012 and that both Tamerlan and Dzhokhar received benefits through their parents "for a limited portion" of the time after they came to the U.S., which was around 2002.

However, the Department of Transitional Assistance wouldn't release information about how long or how much they received.

It remains unclear how the accused bomber brothers financed their heartless attacks on the marathon.

The administration was slammed by a Democratic congressman who insisted the public has a right to know how taxpayers were underwriting the accused jihadist Tsarnaevs.

Draft Day 2013

Today is NFL Draft Day ................

Gotta be one of the GREAT marketing jobs of all times. Millions will be watching, listening, pen and paper in hand ........... ask them why? They will say ..................... "I doonnnkkknnnnoooooowwww, everyone else is."

What kind of marketing did it take to get millions of people interested in which team is going to take which player. There are experts all over the world trying to come up with the answers. The BIG question, WHO is going to be NUMBER ONE .. who will then become an instant millionaire, and everyone will go back to their jobs and families, not one thing has changed in their lives, but, BIG changes for old NUMBER ONE.

And, how has all this attention changed the world? Let's be realistic, nothing has changed one iotta.

The Super Bowl used to be a football game, now it is a television extravaganza.

Draft Day used to be some owners getting together and drawing names, now look what has happened.

Television is STARVED for ANY event they can sell to advertisers, and they will take any small event and turn it in to an extravaganza, and, a television show. One network even televised the Women's WNBA, I think it is, basketball draft, and there was no suspense there, it was a done deal before it happened.

"If we make an event out of it, they will come." That is there motto. Joe Montana was on TV this morning, one of the great players in the NFL. He was drafted in the third round.

WHO will be number one tonight? I gotta admit, I have no idea, will not be watching, and really don't care.

The last DRAFT that interested me was in 1952, I was concerned about my grades in school, not doing very well, really not that interested, so I joined the Navy, TO AVOID THE DRAFT.




Nevada governor denies patient dumping amid probe by officials in California


By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval on Tuesday defended his state against a report that a Las Vegas psychiatric hospital improperly sent hundreds of discharged patients by bus to California and other states, a practice known as patient dumping.

The Republican governor acknowledged that the state-run Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital improperly discharged at least one mentally ill man but said a new discharge policy put in place in recent weeks would prevent future missteps.

A state investigation led to disciplinary action against two employees, health officials said.

The Nevada governor's comments came a day after San Francisco's city attorney said he had opened an investigation into reports by the Sacramento Bee that Rawson-Neal gave bus tickets to as many as 1,500 patients without adequate provisions for food, medication, housing or medical treatment in a practice dating back to July 2008.

I wonder why?

WEST, Texas (AP) — On April 17, a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, leveled part of that small town located some 20 miles north of Waco. Most of the victims were first responders from fire departments in West and other nearby towns that were on the scene trying to control the fire that preceded the blast.

With help from relatives, friends and obituaries of the deceased released by local funeral homes, The Associated Press compiled vignettes of some of the 14 victims who died in the blast. They were a grandmother, a town secretary, a fire truck builder, a town festival organizer, fishing enthusiasts, hunters, fathers, men preparing to become emergency medical technicians, and devoted church and local organization members.

The Boston Marathon event, we saw everyone on TV, they could not find enough people to fill all that air time. The explosion in Texas got very little coverage. I don't recall seeing any footage on those killed, the tragedy, their funerals, little to nothing, I wonder why? Was the media just spread too thin and worn out from being in Boston. I watched for a full day, the "manhunt." There was even an hour of vehicles being cheered, as they left. I have no "images" of the event, imprinted, in my mind ............. 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Really surprised today ................

Well, because we are retired and all, I've been buying Gilbeys and less expensive gin when I went to the store. I could get the BIG bottle for around $20, so always went with that.

I have been trying to make a Martini that tasted like they did, well, sixty years ago, and I think that time element had something to do with it.

So I splurged and got a much smaller bottle, glass actually, I've been used to plastic, of Beefeaters Gin.

This afternoon, I made a nice gin and tonic, with fresh lime, really good, and could not help but notice how much better it was with the better gin, and I conveyed this to my wife.

I thought my wife would be happy that I had found something I really liked, but, that was not the case. Can't understand it.

A new one on me ... Bollywood


The name "Bollywood" is a portmanteau derived from Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry. However, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a physical place.

Though some deplore the name, arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood, it has its own entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.

The naming scheme for "Bollywood" was inspired by "Tollywood", the name that was used to refer to the cinema of West Bengal. Dating back to 1932, "Tollywood" was the earliest Hollywood-inspired name, referring to the Bengali film industry based in Tollygunge, Calcutta, whose name is reminiscent of "Hollywood" and was the center of the cinema of India at the time.

 It was this "chance juxtaposition of two pairs of rhyming syllables," Holly and Tolly, that led to the portmanteau name "Tollywood" being coined. The name "Tollywood" went on to be used as a nickname for the Bengali film industry by the popular Kolkata-based Junior Statesman youth magazine, establishing a precedent for other film industries to use similar-sounding names, eventually leading to the term "Bollywood" being coined.

 However, more popularly, Tollywood is now used to refer to the Telugu Film Industry in Andhra Pradesh. The term "Bollywood" itself has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the world's largest film producer. Credit for the term has been claimed by several different people, including the lyricist, filmmaker and scholar Amit Khanna, and the journalist Bevinda Collaco.

Not sure what it was, a Russian movie, a jury deliberating the fate of a boy accused of murder ... hard to watch, but interesting ......... the word Bollywood was in it .... had to see what that was.

Boston Suspects Are Seen as Self-Taught and Fueled by Web


By MICHAEL COOPER, MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: April 23, 2013

The portrait investigators have begun to piece together of the two brothers suspected of the Boston Marathon bombings suggests that they were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs but were not acting with known terrorist groups — and that they may have learned to build bombs simply by logging onto the online English-language magazine of the affiliate of Al Qaeda in Yemen, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Multimedia

The investigation into the bombings is still in its earliest stages, and federal authorities were still in the process of corroborating some of the admissions that law enforcement officials said were made by the surviving suspect in the attacks,Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. But they said some of his statements suggested that the two brothers could represent the kind of emerging threat that federal authorities have long feared: angry and alienated young men, apparently self-trained and unaffiliated with any particular terrorist group, able to use the Internet to learn their lethal craft.

Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters after emerging from a two-hour classified briefing with F.B.I. and intelligence officials Tuesday evening that the suspects were most likely radicalized over the Internet, but that investigators were still searching for possible sources of inspiration or support overseas.

“The increasing signals are that these were individuals who were radicalized, especially the older brother, over a period of time — radicalized by Islamist fundamentalist terrorists, basically using Internet sources to gain not just the types of philosophical beliefs that radicalized them, but also learning components of how to do these sorts of things,” Mr. Rubio told reporters.

“This is a new element of terrorism that we have to face in our country,” Mr. Rubio said. “We need to be prepared for Boston-type attacks, not just 9/11-type attacks.”

It had been a long confusing day for her, so much had happened, she reflected, and still had no answers for all she had gone through this day, and the day had started off, well, like any other, except, she knew that some situations could be dangerous.

In China, Breathing Becomes a Childhood Risk


BEIJING — The boy’s chronic cough and stuffy nose began last year at the age of 3. His symptoms worsened this winter, when smog across northern China surged to record levels. Now he needs his sinuses cleared every night with saltwater piped through a machine’s tubes.
Related

The boy’s mother, Zhang Zixuan, said she almost never lets him go outside, and when she does she usually makes him wear a face mask. The difference between Britain, where she once studied, and China is “heaven and hell,” she said.

Levels of deadly pollutants up to 40 times the recommended exposure limit in Beijing and other cities have struck fear into parents and led them to take steps that are radically altering the nature of urban life for their children.

Parents are confining sons and daughters to their homes, even if it means keeping them away from friends. Schools are canceling outdoor activities and field trips. Parents with means are choosing schools based on air-filtration systems, and some international schools have built gigantic, futuristic-looking domes over sports fields to ensure healthy breathing.

“I hope in the future we’ll move to a foreign country,” Ms. Zhang, a lawyer, said as her ailing son, Wu Xiaotian, played on a mat in their apartment, near a new air purifier. “Otherwise we’ll choke to death.”
Kathryn looked at the Lieutenant and thanked him enthusiastically. "I really don't know what to say other than Thanks, I'm so happy and relieved,  if it wasn't for you, I don't know where I would be."

Dharka building collapses





An unknown number of people remained trapped after a structure that housed garment factories crashed down near Dhaka.

A Jackass with reddish hair ........


A Tennessee state senator is refusing to apologize for what many are calling a "tasteless" joke about pressure cookers in his blog in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Republican State Sen. Stacey Campfield posted a photo of a pressure cooker with "Assault Pressure Cooker (APC)" printed below it.

The photo had labels and arrows pointing to all of the pot's "dangerous" features including a "muzzle break thingy that goes 'up'" and a "tactical pistol grip."

Tasteless ... no other words come to mind right now, but, in my opinion, Campfield should be ridden out of town on a rail. I generally find humor in anything, and started to do some things on my "spoof" site, but I didn't find any humor in the event or anything related to the event, and have nothing but contempt for any who felt they did. There are just some events that occur in this country, such as Boston, that are totally devoid of any humor. The state of Tennessee should be ashamed that a member of their senate would publish such tasteless drivel ....... Shame on the state if they do  not do something about him ..........

No name, yet.


Kathryn looked at the Police Detective Lieutenant and thanked him enthusiastically. "I really don't know what to say other than Thanks, I'm so happy and relieved,  if it wasn't for you, I don't know where I would be."

It had been a long confusing day for her, so much had happened, she reflected, and still had no answers for all she had gone through this day, and the day had started off, well, like any other, except, she knew that some situations could be dangerous.

Kathryn had been hired by the wealthy LeJohn family not really as a housekeeper, more of a house watcher at their luxurious Lake Tahoe home which they used sparingly, generally in the Winter for a skiing week or two, and on a few occasions they had left their home in the Hamptons and ventured West to enjoy the clear sparkling waters and the crisp aromatic air of beautiful Lake Tahoe.

She was excited at the thought of living at the lake in the large A-frame home nestled back in the pines, but with a nice view of the lake. From the upstairs window she could look over and see Crystal Bay and further down Carnelian Bay, she loved the view of the lake.

When she first arrived, she immediately took about seeing that all the cleaning and laundry were done. She had hired the North Tahoe Merry Maids to send in a crew and get all of the major cleaning done in two days, and a gardening company from Tahoe City to do the landscaping and grass trimming. She insisted, "Not just mowed and trimmed, I want the place manicured." When they were all completed she was pleased with all of the work they had done. The house and the grounds were spotless.

There was a 1940 Ford "Woody" station wagon parked in the garage that Mr. LeJohn had purchased at an automotive auction in Phoenix a few years before, fully restored, and was beautiful. She had driven it a few times, and liked the admiring glances she received when she drove it through town to the Safeway to purchase groceries and other items. Life was good for her, she was happy, living at Lake Tahoe, she loved that cedar aroma in the air and the air was so clean and crisp.

On one occasions she had parked and walked to the Tahoe Marina and walked up and down the wooden piers, just admiring all the boats and wondering if she would ever own one. Her Dad had restored an old Chris-Craft years ago, and she had helped him and she developed a love for old "mahogany," and here in these cold pristine waters were some of the finest she had ever seen.

She caught a glimpse of the gorgeous Thunderbird a 55 foot craft which  had been Commissioned by George Whittell, specifically for Lake Tahoe. It was designed by famed naval architect John L. Hacker and built by the Huskins Boat Works in Bay City, Michigan, which Kathryn had visited on a number of occasions on her travels around the state. The 55 foot craft was gorgeous. She had heard of the craft, but this was her  first opportunity to see it.

She was sitting and admiring the scenery when the telephone rang. It was Mrs. LeJohn, telling her the family would arrive in three days, three guests, some old friends of ours from back East,  and their private secretary. They had all been in San Francisco finalizing a business merger with a West coast firm and decided to take a mini vacation.

"Be a doll and have a limo pick us up at the airport, we'll come straight up to the lake, ta ta, see you soon," that was typical Thelma LeJohn, Kathryn was getting used to it.

The next few days Kathryn kept busy getting the rooms all ready. There were five bedrooms and the attached quarters where Kathryn was staying, so accommodations were not a problem.

The day before their arrival Kathryn drove the "Woody" down the hill to Tahoe City and made the rounds of a few stores. Plenty of thick ribeyes and t-bones, a couple prime ribs, assorted fresh "veges" and other items she knew they liked to have on hand, and of course a few bottles of Beefeaters Gin, Vodka for Mrs. LeJohn, and Crown Royal. Mr. LeJohn started the day with Beefeaters Martinis, and then in the evening, after dinner, the Crown Royal. with a dash of Angostura Bitters. So she stocked up at the liquor store for them, and for her, Amaretto, which she liked, just with some ice. "I'm good, I deserve it," she said to herself.

The house was ready, the kitchen was stocked, the little bar near the front picture window was stocked, everything was ready for the LeJohns and their guests.

Kathryn heard a vehicle slowly coming down the gravel driveway, and as it neared, she could not resist peeking out to see who the guests might be. First out of the limo was Mrs. LeJohns, and another woman, about the same age, and then a younger very attractive blonde emerged, then Mr. LeJohns and then another man backed out, and slowly turned around. "Oh my God, Kathryn blurted out, oh, no, it can't be, oh my God."

During the Summer of her Junior year at Albion, a small private liberal arts college located in Southern Michigan, she served an internship with a public relations firm in Detroit. They performed a lot of "damage control" work for General Motors. The work was quite interesting, and she had the opportunity to do a lot of traveling around the state.

On one occasion, she spent two weeks in Chicago, working with a GMC dealer who had been accused of having his bookkeeper do some "creative" work on the company books, and many billing errors in their service department, and some "shortcuts" which reflected badly on GMC.

The owner of the agency was John Hosings, the man exiting the limo, and the man whose conduct towards Kathryn that Summer was abhorrent. During her time in Chicago he was continually making unwanted passes at her, suggestions, touching, a classic case of Sexual Harassment. He had even tried to get in touch with her during her Senior year at Albion, and since graduation, she had not heard from him.

When Hosing saw Katheryn, his eyes lit up, a broad smile appeared on his face. He said nothing, but looked at her, a leer in his eyes. Kathryn tried to avert her eyes, and looked at the ground, instead of meeting his anxious eyes.

After some "pleasantries" and a few "Oh how nice the place looks," the luggage all placed in the appropriate rooms, the Hosings and the LeJohns were going to take the car and head to the North Shore and go to the Crystal Bay Club for drinks and to do a little wagering. Blanche Riordon, their secretary had a headache and was going to stay with Katyryn at the A-frame. Hosing tried to bow out of the afternoon, but when he realized that Blanche was going to stay, he agreed to go. Kathryn was relieved.

Blanche was an extremely attractive blonde, maybe too attractive, to just be a secretary. Kathryn had noticed some unusual "eye contact" between Blanche and Mr. Hosing but it was really none of her business. The two women went out to stroll the grounds and both gals chimed in on some idle banter and conversation. Mostly about the beauty of the lake and the surroundings and what a beautiful home the LeJohn's had.

Blanche revealed that she had been with Mister Hosing for many years, and had joined his firm just after graduating from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She had interned for two Summers with his company, and had started working for him the day after she graduated. Kathrine had the feeling that there was much that Blanche was not telling her about her relationship with the company, and especially with Mr. Hosing. She revealed that Mr. Hosing had given her a new Corvette for her graduation, and appreciation for joining his firm.

"Yea, right, Kathryn said to herself."

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

"Doctor Sidney Freeman" has passed .... from MASH


Allan Arbus, who played psychiatrist Maj. Sidney Freedman on M*A*S*H, died Friday at home in Los Angeles, his daughter Amy confirmed to The New York Times. He was 95.

Abrus, who had served as a military photography in the Army and ran a fashion photography business before becoming an actor, was so convincing in his role as Maj. Freedman, that co-star Alan Alda often found himself opening up to Arbus. "I was so convinced that he was a psychiatrist I used to sit and talk with him between scenes," Alda said in an interview with the Archive of American Television. "After a couple months of that I noticed he was giving me these strange looks, like 'How would I know the answer to that?'"

In addition to M*A*S*H, Arbus also appeared in Starsky and Hutch, Cagney and Lacy and Judging Amy. His last television appearance was on Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2000.

Allan Franklin Arbus was born in New York City on Feb. 15, 1918.

I had a hard time rationalizing his being born in 1918. I counted on my fingers a number of times, that's WWI era .... I thought I was old at 80, but he has 15 years on me, and what a 15 years that was .... he was my favorite "visitor" on that show, and his appearances were always something special ..... 95 wow!

"Why me."

Harley had never strayed far from home. He lived in Centerville, went to school in Centerville, worked in Centerville and never had any desire to leave.

He was eating breakfast one Tuesday morning, bacon and eggs, his usual breakfast, two cups of coffee, two pieces of white toast, some Smuckers strawberry preserves and a glass of orange juice. This was his usual menu, didn't alter it very often. Sometimes thick bacon, sometimes thin,  grape jelly or orange marmalade, was his other option.

He had just about finished eating, had poured his second cup of coffee, when there was a knock at the front door. This was unusual, he rarely had early morning visitors, everyone in town knew he would be at the hardware store at nine, and they could see him, for any business of any kind, then. He strolled to the door and casually opened it. He was surprised to see two men at his door, two "suits," a shiny black Chevy Suburban parked out in front. His first thought was Mormons, but these guys were too old.

"Gentlemen, what can I do for you?"

"Harley, we'd like to talk with you."

Harley was unsure what to do, they were well dressed, looked official, and that shiny black Suburban brought back some scenes from television, so he invited them in, they headed for the living room, took seats on the couch. Harley sat in his favorite chair, nestled back and got comfortable, and from his body language, his two visitors knew he was ready for conversation.

"Can I get you guys some coffee, or anything?"

"No thanks, we're good."

The two men assumed rather serious demeanor's and started relating the reason for their visit.

Harley listened, his lower chin started gradually dropping, and he was trying his best to comprehend these two strangers, and the information that they were relating to him. The more they spoke, the more in awe he was of what they were proposing to him.

Why him, he wondered, how and why had they picked him out of so many people, he led a quiet life, went to church on Sunday, taught Sunday School at his Methodist church, worked, came home, went fishing, loved to go mushroom hunting in the Spring, nothing special about him, he was just an average buy. Why would they make this proposal to him. How had they even become aware of him. He could not understand what was happening here.

"Why me?"




Monday, April 22, 2013

One Question .............

Is it just me, or is the White House ...... turning a blind eye, towards terrorism?

Just wondering, what do you think?

I think "he" is so focused on exerting his will on the people, i.e gun control, that his tunnel vision has caused him to be aware of other things that are going on in the world.

He has become obsessed with exerting his will on the people of this country. There is no such thing as gun control and there never will be.

I'm doin Ok..............


Hi Joe, how's it goin?

Well,  it's two o'clock, 4/22/2013, I'm sitting out here on the porch, in the sun, drinking a tall gin and tonic. Have my feet propped up, it's warm, and life is good.

Our rent is paid up through the end of the month, and, hopefully we'll get another SS check next month to pay the rent next month.

We have a frig with a lot of food in it, have a deli chicken for dinner tonight, clean water to drink, a nice bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, some money stashed in my billfold and two cars out front, both paid for.

As of now, all my children, grand children and great grandchildren are healthy and happy. I am 80, my wife is not far behind, and we are both in reasonably good health. She is a cancer survivor and I have had a triple bi-pass, a cyst in my colon removed, one cataract miraculously removed, kidney stones, an appendectomy, and a few other health issues resolved. I have another cataract in my left eye, and once I get my courage  pumped up I hope to get that taken care of.

I have passed up many golden opportunities in my life and let them slip out of my hands. I don't know how I am perceived, and probably do not care. Do I wish I had done some things differently in my life. No, not if they would have in any way affected where I am today.

At the end of the day today, I will go to bed, warm, fed, with few worries about the future. Not everyone can say that.



Sunday, April 21, 2013

Just wondering

A question, I do not know the answer.

I am assuming and wondering if there is any irony that Dzhokhar Txarnaev an apparent Muslim is in an apparently Jewish Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center?

Just wondering, perhaps one of my readers will know.

joedooley@yahoo.com

What's in a word?

I don't know about you, but I still wonder, question, think about, why, the president of the United States in his preliminary press conference, pertaining to a cowardly bombing, which killed and maimed, could not bring it upon himself to use the word ,,,, terrorist or terrorism or terror. I am genuinely concerned about that and have to question, why?

It was "Patriots Day," how significant was that, was that the reason it was chosen? Income tax? There was some reason the day was chosen, it was not just random. I am becoming of the opinion that it was not just a random act, the day was carefully picked, the occasion was given thought, the location was considered, I think a great deal of thought was expended on deciding the day, like a group decision, calculated.

Was the explosion in Texas just a coincidence? They were storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that should have triggered suspicion. "This facility was known to have chemicals well above the threshold amount to be regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act (CFATS), yet  DHS did not even know the plant existed until it blew up."

What next, that is one of the diabolic aspects of terrorism, the "anticipation of what is next."

What or who prompted the president to finally use the word? Did it stick in his "craw" when he said it?

Remember Fort Hood? The Department of Defense and federal law enforcement agencies classified the shootings as an act of "workplace violence." They have declined requests from survivors and family members of the slain to categorize it as act of terrorism, or motivated by militant Islamic religious convictions. In November 2011 a group of survivors and family members filed a lawsuit against the government for negligence in preventing the attack, and to force the government to classify the shootings as terrorism."

NO "Purple Hearts" awarded because of that.

There are some words that I try not to use, even though some of them are becoming commonplace, and I don't like to use words that might offend someone .... I think it was the way I was brought up. Honestly, I have not ever heard my Mom use profanity, and I can almost say the same thing about my Dad. In telling a story on one occasion, my Mom told a story ..... when my Dad worked for Blue Shield for a period of time after he retired, he had an assistant, Calvin,  who occasionally drove him around to meetings. My Mom went to a meeting with them on one occasion. She commented that when Calvin drove, there were less "bastards" on the highway.................

White House Hires PR Firm to Push Obamacare


The Obama administration has hired public-relations giant Weber Shandwick to help sell Obamacare to the uninsured and persuade them to enroll in a healthcare plan.

Obamacare aims to cover uninsured Americans by expanding Medicaid and by imposing an “individual mandate” requiring everyone to have insurance or pay a tax. There is obvious concern in the White House, however, that many of the nation’s 37 million uninsured Americans will pay the tax rather than buy health insurance.

“Weber Shandwick won a $3.1 million contract to assist the Department of Health and Human Services with rolling out a campaign to convince skeptical — or simply confused — Americans that the act is good for them and persuade them to enroll in a health plan,” Advertising Age reported.

The PR firm will seek to implement “rollout communication” based on “old-fashioned marketing principles,” the magazine disclosed.

The HHS agency in charge of the campaign is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Weber Shandwick is a global public relations firm with offices in 81 countries.

YOU WILL................................

Sorry about that

I was going to post this article on my blog, "Inside The Brains Of People Over 80 With Exceptional Memory" ........................ but I forgot!

Sunday Morning 4/21

Good Americans come through at the right time, there may be some hope after all.

I am thinking of those who immediately responded in Boston, those at the Boston Bruin's game who, all joined in and sang The National Anthem, and inspired me, and many others. I have not seen it, but the response at the Boston Red Sox game, and those who stood and cheered the authorities as they left the scene, the New York Yankee fans who sang an arch rivals song, "Sweet Caroline." And all those who came through and said their piece.

Tragedy seems to bring out the best in us .... "we can't let something like this stop us."

I can look back over many such events. It struck me too, that much of the equipment we saw being used in Boston, was the result of the event on 9/11.

If you think that all in the world is OK, here, in Central Ohio it is 21 April 2013, Spring, the sun is out, bright, clear sky ................. but ................. it is 31 degrees outside, and a closer look reveals the windshield on the car is covered in frost.

On TV now, Joe Berti, ran Boston, heard the explosion. Went home to Texas, photographed the explosion. To Joe ..... Please keep me posted on where you are, at all times.

My Gramma used to say, "I wish I knew where I was gonna die, cause then I wouldn't go there."

Another tough one for the day to get the brain cells working, "What was the Presidents name in 1975?"

Saturday, April 20, 2013

A fitting tribute .......RIP

\


Officer Sean Collier

Another parking lot revelation

Spent some more time in a parking lot today, sitting in the car, waiting for my wife. Quiet time, just sitting there, but if you look, there is so much going on around you ..

A young lady, 20's or 30's, attractive, came out of the store with a full cart. The top full of plastic bags, the bottom with 3 cases of pop, 2 were Mountain Dew.

She had her cell phone on her shoulder, held there by her cheek and/or neck, talking. The moment out the door, pushing the cart, holding the phone, she was able to light a cigarette and start puffing away.

I watched her move on to her car, a nice Cherokee, opened the back, and started carefully checking each bag before she placed them in her car,  The two Mountain Dew went in first, then some plastic bags, all the time smoking and talking. She had seventeen bags, a few were put in the back seat. She was very careful to check each bag, and seemed to have a plan to where each one was placed.

She finally found a bag which went on the front seat. All of this was done holding the phone and talking, smoking and sorting. She finally had it all loaded, closed the back and got in the drivers seat, closed the door, still talking on the phone and smoking. The first thing she did was put on her seat belt. I must admit I laughed to myself.

She was meticulous, a multitasker if there ever was one, she could smoke, talk, sort, load, and buckle up, all at the same time. I wondered, why smokers, who don't really care about themselves, or, they would not smoke, are concerned enough to put their seat belt on, to hopefully, save them in the event of a car wreck.

They apparently want to live long enough to experience, emphysema or lung cancer, maybe heart problems, but not get hurt in a car wreck. Curious ........................... My wife had the answer, "It's the law."


What is he thinking ..........................


"I know them as angels"


An aunt of Boston bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said she doesn't believe her nephews could be behind the attacks.

“I know them as angels,” Maret Tsarnaev told the National Post in Toronto. “I’m suspicious that this was staged.”

In a press conference later aired by CNN, she reiterated her suspicions and said she has doubts about the photos released by the FBI that show her nephews at the scene of the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday.

She also said she has doubts about the story behind the 9 -11 attacks. The suspects' father told CNN Friday that he believed they were "framed."

The message was starkly different from that delivered by one of the brothers' uncles, who said in a press conference on Friday afternoon that the two men had brought shame upon their family. Ruslan Tsarni speculated that his nephews were "losers" who were angry that they didn't fit in, though he said he had not been in touch with the family for years.

No comment.......................

Tough question ....

Need some help with this one ...................


3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, ...what was the highest mountain in the world?

Friday, April 19, 2013

I made this all up .... I find humor in most anything .


I know, taint funny, I seem to find a little humor in anything .... here is a conversation that transpired at Mass General ............

Hi, T s a r n a e v..... whew, how du yu pronownce that .... t  s  a  r  n  a  e  v .... sarnev .... theets close eenuf. Weelcom to Mass Gen, I am dawctor singe from Inja an I weel be your doctor .... you weel hav to excuse me I haaave been on call for manee hours beecausf of awll of thee excitement goeeng on an I had a haard time geeting through all of those poleece. Now what ees wrong weethe you?

Oh, I see, you seeem to habe some boolet whools en you. Deed yu no thet?

Oh, thee poleece shawt at u ....  oh ... yu roobed a store and yur brudder was keeled an u stole a car ... n .... yu deed what?

Yu wer where .... een a bot ... how deed yu geet een a bot ...

Uh .... Tsanav ... deed u hab anything to do weeth the bawmbings de udder day ... oh ..... i see ... aw here ... put yur finger on thees and puush down ..... thet weel stop the bleeding ... oh      aw ....duz eet hert .... ah I tink I need a nurs een here .... eets bery hot in here .... why ru wearing thet vest .......

OOOOhhhh ... well ..... excuse me for one moment pleeze .... I got to get sumting ..............

4/19/2013

This is a unique scene that I hope I never forget. The problem is over, the citizens are lined up, applauding ALL of those law enforcement officers as they leave the scene. Awesome. They even applauded a helicopter that was flying over.

April 19, 2013 ... I will never forget this day ..... she just said it .. "A feeling of unity"

Mass General has now become a fortified hospital, police cars are everywhere, it is an armed camp.

Been wondering too, the president in town one day, the city on lockdown the next, wonder if a part of their plan didn't work out or if someone in the SS screwed up. Maybe he was lucky.

Brings back sights of WWII when we liberated towns in Europe and the welcome the troops received.

Been a long day, I admit just watching it wore me out. Another one of THOSE days ..........

Enter a marathon and receive battlefield injuries ................

I was concerned

As you know, I watched a lot of TV today, almost all day.

Was it just me, I watched the uncles and other relatives, and was concerned. They are all from abroad  related to the "guys," who did the bombing. We don't seem to know anything about the terrorists other than one apparently spent some time abroad, perhaps "training" for the event he participated in. The uncles seemed to be living "comfortably," which is fine, but they were adamant that they knew "nothing" and had association with the "boys."

I doubted their stories and wondered that if somehow, they might not have been a part of it all. At lease, I know I did not believe them, and certainly, from their demeanor, would not trust them. To me, they were too well "trained" and too well versed, their stories were contrived and rehearsed. They had rehearsed their stories.

I hope the FBI does some checking on their backgrounds and activities, even the aunt. All felt comfortable when they were talking, trained and rehearsed.

They ALL seem to have done well since they arrived in this country .............

A Legend has passed on ...


George Beverly Shea, who escaped a life of toil in an insurance office to become a Grammy-winning gospel singer and a longtime associate of the Rev. Billy Graham, appearing before an estimated 200 million people at Graham revival meetings worldwide, died on Tuesday in Asheville, N.C. He was 104.

Mr. Shea and Mr. Graham in the early years of their many decades as partners in evangelism.
His death was announced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, in Charlotte, N.C., of which Mr. Shea was the official singing voice for more than half a century. Canadian-born, he lived in Montreat, N.C. — for decades just a mile from the home of Mr. Graham, a close friend.

Through the Billy Graham crusades, as the stadium-size revival meetings begun by Mr. Graham are known, Mr. Shea was perhaps the most widely heard gospel artist in the world, singing before worshipers throughout the United States and around the globe.

He also appeared regularly on “The Hour of Decision,” Mr. Graham’s weekly radio broadcast, which began in 1950 and continues to this day.

I just watched this, my eyes are filled with tears, another one of the good ones ...... is gone..

LISTEN HERE

Ramblings while watching TV ........ today

It is now 3 pm, and I have sat here most of the day watching television, listening to "breaking news" and really seeing nothing. I have seen interviews with people who had little to nothing to say. I have heard relatives, all of who spoke broken English, one uncle said a lot, but I don't know what he was talking about. He gave decisive information, but really had not seen them for many years. Many school chums of his and I suspect some, who really knew nothing of what was going on and wanted their time on TV.

I have seen vehicles of all shapes and sizes, an army of police, FBI, state police, and there just went a pizza delivery car. One poignant question just asked of a student, "Did he date anyone in school?"

I have seen thee guy in the purple tie a number of times. His answers are articulate and his comments are intelligent. The questions and inane and he does his best, and his answers are lengthy, so they love to get him on camera, a brief respite for the newsman.

They have filled over eight hours with short breaks, breaking news, one press conference that said absolutely nothing, held by a governor, mayor, chief of police and state police. I listened intently, like sitting down at a dinner table, hungry, knife and fork in hand, waiting to be fed .... and there is no food....

Just had a split screen interview, with the same guy on both screens, then it was interrupted by a commercial.

Policemen are very good at standing around, some with arms folded, some, hands on hips, 14 in this group, only 1 wearing a hat. They are all looking in the same direction. Apparently they are going from house to house, searching ... for a guy who might be wearing a bomb and well armed, and may be the one who shot a policeman sitting in his car, last night. I can understand their being deliberate.

How was this handled before, OH, right, something like this has never happened here. I have spent too many days in my lifetime, glued to a TV, watching news unfold, and they keep getting worse ....19 years old, good student, college scholarship, well liked ... how, why? ..... There are a lot of law enforcement officers ,,,,, wonder where they all ate lunch? Many cases of water were just handed out ......... in Watertown ....

If they are, in fact on a lockdown, who are all these people wandering around?

We are now hearing from their father .... he seems mad that they shot his son .... they were framed...



Bombs, floods ..... what's next?


London Mills, Illinois is being evacuated after flooding turned from bad to worse on Thursday.

No, we're not talking about a few blocks of the town. Police are ordering the entire town out their homes.

London Mills is not a big town — it's actually more of a village with a population of 390 — but the prospect of the entire community being swept away by floodwaters is just another extraordinary disaster in an extraordinarily disastrous week.


Ok, ok, ok .... we're moving back .....

I don't understand why, but we are way down the hall, sitting in the bathroom, with binoculars, watching the TV.

We were sitting in the living room, watching the Boston situation, and the policemen, all of a sudden, started motioning us to move back, we moved back to the back of the living room, they kept motioning us back, we went into the hall, they kept motioning, we went all the way back, to the bathroom, got the binoculars out and that's where we are.

Looks like some guy in a blue shirt is talking, can't make him out. He seems upset, talking about his brother .... cramped in here .... I don't see the police gesturing anymore, maybe it is safe to go back out into the living room ..

????????????????????///

Hey man,  what's happenen ...........?

Well, one of the bombers has been shot, one policeman  is dead, and we are watching, live, a war scene in Boston, live. It looks like they have suspect two located, thousands of policemen, spectators, TV crews, everyone of any importance .... has been interviewed, whether they had any knowledge of what was happening or not. I have not seen Obama in attendance, yet. I imagine the White House is delving into the situation to see how they can use the situation, and blame guns.

The suspect has guns, assault rifles, bombs and is wearing a "suicide" vest.

"I will kill you all, you killed my brother."

A picture of "the day" ..... the eight year old boy, the bomber, and the bomb, the bomber knew the boy would be killed ....

He is posting on line ... never seen anything like this, in eighty years, it just keeps getting worse.

Floods next week along the Mississippi, and let's not forget the explosion in Texas.

"He was just a normal, average American boy."

Now we are seeing how much of the world lives, everyday. I think of all the  similar interviews that I have seen, in other countries, but this is happening, in our country.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us now and always!


Whooooooops, not today ....

Well, I made it through the night. Have gotten up, on my first cup of coffee, turning on the TV, now watching the morning news...........

Going back to bed, will try again tomorrow, but before I go ...

How can this girl who went to school with the suspect, answer 126 questions without taking a breath?

I think a new record has been set for "Commercials Shown" between breaks.


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hip Hip Hooray for Lord Wolfson ........


"Good Lord!" says the headline in a British newspaper, praising Lord Wolfson, business leader and peer of the realm, for having been uncommonly generous.

Wolfson, CEO of Next, the U.K.'s biggest department store chain, gave his entire annual bonus--$3.6 million—to his employees.

But in the U.S. no CEO of a public company, so far as we could find, has recently given his bonus back to his employees. That's not to say some CEOs haven't foregone what's due them. Just last week a judge nixed a $20 million severance deal for Tom Horton, CEO of American Airlines.

Nor has any CEO in the U.K, other than Wolfson, according to Alistair Mackinnon-Munson, a spokesperson for Next. "It's the first time that any chief executive has ever done anything like this," he confirms. "All our staff of 19,400 will share in it as a cash bonus. It works out to about 1 percent of their basic salary."



The Most WANTED Men in America - Sorry, Not men, MALES