2014.01.30

The U.S. Justice Dept. will seek the death penalty for bombing suspect Tsarnaev.

2014.01.29

It’s 2014, and the AppleII GS is still alive!

DoJ: AG Eric Holder to announce by Fri. whether or not Dzhokar Tsarnaev will receive death penalty.  Dzhokar, and his brother, Tamerlan, were charged in 2013 for bombing the April 15 annual Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring +260.  Ma. state dropped capital punishment in 1986.

2014.01.27

Nasdaq.com: Gold, 1,263.4; Euro, 1.3654; Silver, 19.855 down to 19.555 (SIF14/COMEX, volume 45,396); Copper, down to ~3.2875 (ZWH14/CBOT, vol. 53,991); Platinum, dips to 1,416.1 (PLF14/NYMEX, vol. 15,644); Palladium also dips, to 721.65 (vol. 4,471); Wheat, down to 563-4 (vol., 67,779); Corn inches up to 431-6 (ZCH14/CBOT, vol. 246,082); Canola, after a downward trend upticks to 428.8 (RSH14/WCE, vol. 18,978); Cocoa shoots up to 2,889 (CCH14/ICEUS, vol. 25,680).

Rpt.: docs leaked by Snowden suggest that spies have used smartphones apps to track people— talking, extracting info on people via Angry Birds.  NSA slideshows…

Peru silver-zinc miner Castrovirreyna shuts San Genaro mine on price slump.

Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) plans to resign today, R officials tell CNN.

NYT Magazine calls him a garrulous, barrel-bellied apparatchik of the new Russia.

Amid swirling anti-gay sentiment in Russia, Sochi mayor Anatoly Pakhomov claims there are no gay people in his city.  It’s not accepted here in the Caucasus where we live, he told BBC Panorama, in an interviewWe do not have them in our city.  Rather, I am not sure, but I don’t bloody know them.  So, not quite like Iran’s stance (though Iran actively kills them off making it so)…  However, Pakhomov did say gays are welcome to visit for the Olympics so long as they “respect Russian law” and “don’t impose their habits on others,” following the 2013 anti-gay propaganda law, which prohibits gay content from coming into contact w. minors.

Pres. Putin puts the law like this: We don’t have a ban on non-traditional sexual relations.  We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and paedophilia.  (That ol’ confusion.)  So, of course, there are gays and lesbians in the country, even in Sochi, but in adult clubs and bars.  There are gay communities.  Putin, himself, in trying to appeal to Olympics tourists, guests, said he couldn’t care less about their sexual orientation, in another interview, to ABC.  We will welcome all athletes and all visitors to the Olympics.  None of our guests will have any problems.

But the law has done damage, seeming to justify a public negative stance on gays; most gays asked by journalists wanted to conceal their identity, or even not respond.  In some places there’s serious prejudice against gay people, said Madame drag queen Madame Zhu-Zha.  In other places it’s not as bad.

NYT exec. editor: this is the most secretive White House I’ve ever dealt with.

Yes, even the editor at the New York Times is admitting that the press isn’t getting answers.  Jay Carney, of course, refutes the claim, just as he denies anything else that’s just plain true.  And now, the W.H. warns unilateral action by the President to bypass Congress “whenever necessary.”  And people like me have warned that a dictator’s being made… crazy, right?

Conduit cases.
2016 producer Jaren Molen, who also worked on the upcoming America w. Dinesh D’souza, has a hard time believing that the justice arm of the admin. would go out of their way to find infractions, and punish anyone who helps the president’s enemies, while helping his friends.  The Chicago way…

On a different note, former Secretary of State and potential 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton is still… not like her husband.  According to CNN’s Jake Tapper, Clinton told the National Automobile Dealers Association crowd at their New Orleans convention: My biggest regret is what happened in Benghazi.  It was a terrible tragedy losing four Americans.

Compare that to her not-so-smooth response to a senator at the Congressional hearing on Benghazi last year.  With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans.  Was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they’d go kill some Americans. –What difference, at this point, does it make?!  It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.

Clinton was pushing back at the accusation made by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) that the admin. was misleading the public leading up to the attacks.  (That politics are… more important to the administration.)

Mediaite readers voted Erick Erickson 2013 worst conservative commentator, and it shows.

Colleague Greta Van Susteren responds to his crap by saying, “What is wrong with this guy?”  And so he responded via twitter: This is pretty awesome.  A ‘jerk’ to demean Wendy Davis, with tweets like, I love how alpha male @WendyDavisTexas sounds when she's angry.  And, Wendy Davis is upset you want the truth and she can't handle it. She's so cute when she's lying.

Greta was so rattled that she wrote that he was hurting his cause.  I wonder how proud his daughter would be of him if she knew that he tweeted insults about women.  It is one thing to disagree…but he tweets insults.  She didn’t realize at first that he’s a co-worker until looking him up, finding that she made a post last May on him.  Turns out this guy has a past of being pretty ‘unappealing’— if not sexist.  She had to advance upon her “He has never been on TV with me,” with “Have these men lost their minds?”

Of course, I’m one to agree with Greg Gutfeld, that twitter is a place where “nothing good comes of it,” where the N-word can be used at will, and recently to describe the shouting football player (Seahawks’ star Richard Sherman, for which his diatribe wasn’t spontaneous).

2014.01.26

Mubarak ouster anniversary: four dozen dead, hundreds wounded.

Police identify Sat. mall shooting suspect as Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19; both victims are twenty-something employees of a skateboard shop.

Hospital holding Marlise Munoz agrees to remove ventilator.

Rafael Nadal loses to Wawrinka for first time in 13 career meetings.  Not getting that Nadal injured his back to an extent that he had to leave the stage for some time (and returned shirtless), fans booed that they wouldn’t get the best.

Think MSG isn’t in your food?  Think again.

Derived from protein for the protein taste effect, mono-sodium glutimate, a neurotoxin (can, and does cause brain damage), has not been erradicated, but instead produced differently.  One of the names: “textured protein.”  You can find it in just about anything, including canned goods.  Even in organic food, processing can damage protein, so it’s best to eliminate as much processed foods as possible (go for raw produce or make your food yourself).

2014.01.25

Supreme court rules Co. nuns don’t have to provide birth control or fill out forms for exemption.

MD police: shooting at Columbia mall; call was made at 11:15a; 3+ dead, including gunman, who apparently committed suicide.

Father shot/killed while texting babysitter in movie theater; suspect is Curtis Reid, 71, ret. police capt.

Dolly Parton, 68, kicks off world tour.

TX law prohibits taking the comatose off life support.
But the family of Marlise Munoz sued, and the judge has ruled in their favor, ordering the hospital to take the pregnant Munoz, considered brain dead for a year, off the ventilator; the condition of her fetus is considered “distinctly abnormal,” unrecoverable.

Or dare I say, corrupt.

How one-sided has CNN gotten?  They’re using the out-of-context video clip of Mike Huckabee Thu., reduced to one sentence: reproductive cycle, libido, libido, libido— the least sexist person you’d meet made the latest example of ‘where the GOP is headed’ in the DNC “war on women” talking point.

The audience is encouraged to be sensitive to a word or sentence, not interpret the paragraph for context, or —gasp— treat Huckabee like a human being.  What of what he actually said?  Are there Ds wanting women dependent on government, even for reproductive health?  Then again, what of big-govt. Rs?  The R establishment says ‘be careful of the words you use,’ not for honesty or clarity, speaking the English language— no, no, but because said words would turn off female voters, the words replayed and misused.  Yeah, inevitable misuse… of everything.  Idiots.

Is there anything right with this picture?  It seems the media care nothing now of the truth, all of the chips on selling something, using 12 seconds in a half-minute-plus context— a similar timing to show Glenn Beck a fan of Mein Kampf (lopping off the ‘do you know what would happen if I said that’ part).  A controversy that Huckabee is inappropriately held responsible for, CNN pushes a story like Media Matters… a boring Media Matters, of course.

2014.01.24

Massive I-94(Chicago-Indiana) pile-up kills 3+, injures 20; still locked up.

Cairo: 3+ dead in attack.

GOP to change primary scheduling.

Justin Beiber out of jail; was arrested for DUI; father played a role.

Elizabeth Vargez opens up about her alcoholism on 20/20.
It was the reason why she had to leave work.

2014.01.23

Failing to get enough insured w. ACA, some insurance cos. may have to be bailed out.  The health of the health insurance industry at a whole at risk, and Katherine S. just gives the same bureaucratic response.  We’re on top of it.

Filmmaker Dinesh D’souza indicted on charge(s) that he or his work gave $20K to R candidate Wendy Long.  Even filmmakers get the thumb of this DoJ.

2014.01.22

Obit

Longtime Boston newscaster (at NECN) Chester “Chet Curtis” Kukiewicz, 74, dies of pancreatic cancer.  He was diagnosed with the disease late 2012.

Born in Amsterdam, NY, he began his career at the former WHDH-TV Channel 5 (now WCVB, launched 1972), from former CBS WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) to the CBS flagship station in New York, to NECN in 2001, where he anchored The Chet Curtis Report.  A co-anchor with his second wife, Natalie Jacobson and the original host of WCVB-TV’s award-winning Chronicle, Chet was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2013.  By then, he was frail.

At Chester’s funeral, John J. Unni delivered the homily.  Chet Curtis lived large in so many people’s lives.  At some level, he became part of their family. … He had a tough life when he was young, but he grabbed on to the rest of his life for a great ride.

He was a respected journalist that set standards.  Surviving are his former wife, Natalie (divorced, 2000, retired WCVB in 2007 for NECN); his children, Dana, Dawn, Lindsay (the only daughter of Natalie); and grandchildren.

2014.01.21

More cold, more wind, and…snow: the “polar vortex” is back.  3°F in ME.

Japan dolphin slaughter draws unusual U.S. rebuke.  The annual hunt in Taiji began today.

Chester Penn., suburban Philadelphia: police are searching for a gunman who opened fire in a college.

Upcoming S.B. met w. a Velveeta recall… *gasp*.

2014.01.20

Martin Luther King day (third Mon. of Jan.).

Russian North v. Olympics.
Terrorists threaten Sochi in new video.

The teams for the SuperBowl: Seahawks v. Broncos.

NHL: Leelan Lane breaks fight record; three fights in 10 sec., 8 ejections.

2014.01.19

Pass it to know what’s in it: the deal w. Iran.

2014.01.18

Kabul: Taliban attacks packed restaurant—civilian population.

CNN calls it ‘the new norm’—how Americans find it.
Already the second school shooting of the year, and the suspect is on the loose.

It happened one N. Korea stay…
…and intense/incoherent rant: Dennis Rodman checks into rehab.

2014.01.17

5 a.m.: gold, 1242; silver, 20.070.

2014.01.16

Experts that have looked at the ACA website (healthcare.org) have found it 100% insecure, the way things were just ‘added on’ for the ‘fixes’ with more holes than before.

Obama for 3 days says he may use pen & phone (executive order).  Becoming a dictator?  Nah, exec. orders only affect policies, what gets enforced or not…  But he is, as many presidents before him have, moved us in that direction.

Co.: bill that would prohibit use of EBT for pot (and more) struck down.

Alleged “swiss cheese pervert” arrested, guns found.  He was caught exposing himself.  Neighbors find him ‘weird,’ reportedly walking in public in his underwear.

Actor Russell Johnson, 89, co-star of Gilligan’s Island (as the professor) dies.

2014.01.14

Medicaid entitlement programs include: over $170 mn. for… penis pumps.  Exactly what you get in this bloated government: not meds, but bribes.

NYC principal that makes over $120K/yr., fails to show up most days, forces students to pay for prom, most of the students poor.

2014.01.13

Janet Yellen becomes Fed chair.

2014.01.12

WV: the chemical spill is so bad, with the risk of lake and river contamination so high, that officials are still telling the public to avoid any kind of use with the tap water, not just drinking or bathing.

The Benghazi attack, which started started 9:42 p.m. local time on 2012.09.11, was by all means an orchestrated terrorist attack, with the security guards on top shot out with precision, and Innocence of Muslims had no visible role in the attack.  No government official denies this now, but the question remains: where did the YouTube video blame come from?

2014.01.11

Ariel Sharon, 85, dies after being in a coma since his stroke in 2006.

2014.01.10

Morning Joe in mourning over the supposed death of Christie’s chances.

The Target data breach may go further than anyone knew.
As much as 110 mn. people affected, not just Target shoppers, as hackers make use of phone and credit card nos., email addresses.

Friday Dump!

Bad Website!— Bad!: the $600 mn. no-bid contract w. Canadian group CGI finally terminated.  They did tens of… tens of dollars in quality in return for the ACA website, and now they are fired.

Doubling Down on Pinning it on the Fat Man

Velma(???), the daughter of the 91-year-old woman that died on the Fort Lee bridge during the into-Sept. traffic jam, says the traffic jam was not responsible for her mother’s death— it was just “her time,” she said.  Age was an obvious factor, after all.

But that doesn’t stop the wall-to-wall “coverage” of “bridge-gate” (that’s what the garbage media are calling it), where NBC predictably leads in the total network time— in one day, seventeen times the coverage of Benghazi!  5 secs. spent on the IRS scandal in several months at NBC— a tiny update, compared to a whole multi-minute package with this crap.

I guess how bad things have gotten in network news explains why only abt. a quarter of people asked in a street poll can identify Brian Williams.  Tim Russert warned the network way back when when they promoted Keith Olbermann.

The ratings for the networks continue to drop… along with expectations…
And I am one of the few still tuning into AM radio (15%) for Howie Carr, far less full of crap than the pathetic sight on TV.

2014.01.09

Media grill Chris Christie, and it’s one-sided again.
He’s not directly responsible for what happened… but he’s an R.  Big questions, what did you know and when did you know it on something no one would have guessed.  Robert Gates adds his verification to …what people already realize about the Obama admin.  But how dare Christie, his own political expediency for… whatever he did!  Compare these items:

All of the sudden, the media pounce with nonsense, Banfield even proposing a charge of “felony murder” to get info. out of Christie.  All of the sudden, Christie’s chances at a 2016 presidential run may be over, as the garbage media now have more interest in this than they ever had in the Benghazi attacks.  The families of the four slaughtered still don’t have the answers they need, as the admin. continues to do what they can (or want) to cover up what happened.  To quote Hiliary Clinton, given months in passing (after deliberate delays): “What difference does it make?!”

Yeah, when people actually die, it makes all the difference.  Christie should be grilled; he’s an active politician.  It’s just entirely, and transparently one-sided they way he’s unfairly treated, the way it doesn’t matter what he actually did.  The media grill him for the wrong reasons and allow the Obama admin. to get away with as much as possible.

2014.01.08

A national debt of over $17 trillion, displayed in commercial(s) even, another actor for another gold exchange commercial.  Maybe even a What’s in your portfolio?  Nothing like the Sam Jackson commercials, some bloodshot-eyed “Now… what’s in your wallet?!”  (“YES, they deserve to die, I hope they burn in HELL!!” recalling Dave Chapelle’s use of the line for a ‘Samuel Jackson’ beer.)

No, a different actor, not so well known for playing good guys… for gold as protection, though the price of gold has dropped.  (But those who know and use the stock market would tell you that a lower price is more ‘the right time to buy,’ as a commodity stock like gold will eventually rebound, even skyrocket.)

2014.01.07

ACA ads to run during Olympics.  Don’t fix the law, don’t really fix the website (a hacker’s dream), leave it inefficient and open to fraud like everything else.  Because acting like you’re doing something or doing “the right thing,” telling people what to think while distancing yourself in the most irresponsible manner you can think of… that’s modern politics for you.  These people are the worst examples of what it means to be human.  (And I bet they would say, proving my point, that I’m talking race, pulling “these people” out of context— or ‘it’s just true that he’s a racist anyway,’ possibly making reference of other frivolous things.)

Disabilities fraud: 9/11 “victims.”
Former NYPD/NYFD members busted in $400 mn. scam: man who used to prosecute cases like these instead helped develop it, and coach people into acting “disabled.”

Robert M. Gates’ (R, ret.) memoir Duty takes jabs at Pres., VP.
Considers both to be ‘men of integrity,’ but, of Obama, supported the troops but not the war, didn’t believe in what he was doing; of Biden, ‘wrong on everything.’  Confidence almost entirely in political expediency, even as damage occurs; the level of corruption with this administration…

Obit

TIME: “Emperor of Chinese cinema.”—Richard Corliss.
Movie boss Run Run Shaw, of the Chinese Shaw brothers, dies at 106.  The youngest son of a Shanghai textile manufacturer, Shao Yifu and several of his brothers formed the Unique Film Production Co. in 1294.  By 1960, Run Run had taken Hong Kong; his Movietown studio made 40 films a year on twelve sound stages operating in three eight-hour shifts— the Hollywood system with a Hong Kong work ethic.

King Boxer (1972), a.k.a., Five Fingers of Death became the first martial arts hit in the West, but rival studios like Golden Harvest snatched up the big names like Bruce Lee, leading to cutbacks in film production on the Shaw Brothers’ part.  Even then, Run Run made billions in real estate and entertainment overall— given Run Run’s stake in television (the TVB channel in particular), where much of his fortune was given in donations to scientific research.

2014.01.05

Record low temps. fm. Great Plains to NW; -30°F, w. wind chills down to -60 or -70.

6-10" snow Mo. to Great Lakes.

With higher temps. in NE (possibly 36°F)… freezing rain throughout NE/New England.

2014.01.03-2014.01.04

Record cold temperatures.  So cold, the computer used to type this wasn’t started until Sat., colder than Fri. (making use of elec. heating, even a flood lamp).  Can you easily see your breath in the house?  “It should get up to 18(°F).”  …And -14°F in MN.

2014.01.02

Blizzard warnings, sub-zero temperatures.  And no power in parts of Maine until maybe Friday.  From Woburn MA to costal ME, 5 p.m.  And at 6 p.m. here, frost framed the windows.

2014.01.01

Just one of the new laws, besides ACA, going into effect: 1 oz. pot posession and use in Colorado, legal; like alcohol, it’s 21+ and… well, drug testing is unaffected.

Bill de Blasio, left of Obama, (re-)innaugurated as new NYC mayor.

Obit

Patricia Ryan, 75, second managing editor of People and its first female chief, died Friday of lung cancer (according to her husband, Ray Cave).  Initially, she was a typist from Maine with a bachelor’s degree from Columbia in a secretarial pool who worked at Sports Illustrated.  But as senior editor at People she created the Man of the Year franchise three years after being hired in 1982, first with Mel Gibson.  Never straying from the ‘accuracy first’ policy, she became the editor of Life in 1987, where her cover subjects were ‘both serious and lighthearted.’

Her career may have ended at Time Warner in 1989 when she was fired without explanation by Jason McManus (a rival of her husband), but her excelent work as an editor leaves a lasting mark.  Pat Ryan edited more of my stories than anyone else, Frank Deford wrote in his 2012 memoir, Over TimeShe understood me, as both a writer and a person, better than any male editor.

Pat Ryan is survived by a brother, Owen; a sister, Oonah; two stepchildren, John and Catherine Cave; and a step-granddaughter.

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