Shale is Fool's Gold
And the aquifers are being destroyed for it!
"Oil boom spurring fast growth in Texas" by Ramit Plushnick-Masti and Jesse J. Holland | Associated Press May 23, 2014
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Finishing the Month With Fracking
U.S. officials cut estimate of recoverable Monterey Shale oil by 96%
Shale is Fool's Gold
And the aquifers are being destroyed for it!
"Oil boom spurring fast growth in Texas" by Ramit Plushnick-Masti and Jesse J. Holland | Associated Press May 23, 2014
Shale is Fool's Gold
And the aquifers are being destroyed for it!
"Oil boom spurring fast growth in Texas" by Ramit Plushnick-Masti and Jesse J. Holland | Associated Press May 23, 2014
Blinded by This Holocaust
It's for the birds anyway!
"Ivanpah can be seen as a success story and a cautionary tale, highlighting the inevitable trade-offs between the need for cleaner power and the loss of fragile, open land. Government documents show dozens of dead birds from sparrows to hawks have been found on the site, some with melted feathers. The suspected causes of death include collisions with mirrors and scorching"
The bird version of hell.
Related: Boston Hates Birds
Now that is a Holocaust™!
"Solar plant is world’s largest; Vast system seen as marker for growing industry" by Michael R. Blood and Brian Skoloff | Associated Press February 14, 2014
PRIMM, Nevada — A windy stretch of the Mojave Desert once roamed by tortoises and coyotes has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, a milestone for a growing industry that is testing the balance between wilderness conservation and the pursuit of green energy across the American West.
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opened Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating protected tortoises to assessing the impact on Mojave milkweed and other plants.
Did a company connected with Harry Reid seize this land, too?
‘‘The Ivanpah project is a shining example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy,’’ Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a statement after attending a dedication ceremony at the site. ‘‘This project shows that building a clean-energy economy creates jobs, curbs greenhouse gas emissions, and fosters American innovation.’’
Pun intended, right?
The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc., and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year.
Larger projects are on the way, but for now, Ivanpah is being described as a marker for the United States’ emerging solar industry. While solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation’s power output, thousands of projects from large, utility-scale plants to small production sites are under construction or being planned, particularly across the sun-drenched Southwest.
The plant’s dedication comes as the government continues to push for development of greener, cleaner power.
President Obama has mounted a second-term drive to combat climate change, proposing first-ever limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. His plan aims to help move the nation from a coal-and-oil dependent past into a future fired by wind and solar power, nuclear energy, and natural gas.
$crew you guys, I'm going home!
Ivanpah can be seen as a success story and a cautionary tale, highlighting the inevitable trade-offs between the need for cleaner power and the loss of fragile, open land. Government documents show dozens of dead birds from sparrows to hawks have been found on the site, some with melted feathers. The suspected causes of death include collisions with mirrors and scorching....
Time to fly away and take a bath before the game.
I'll bet Boston doesn't like orioles, blue jays, or cardinals.
"Ivanpah can be seen as a success story and a cautionary tale, highlighting the inevitable trade-offs between the need for cleaner power and the loss of fragile, open land. Government documents show dozens of dead birds from sparrows to hawks have been found on the site, some with melted feathers. The suspected causes of death include collisions with mirrors and scorching"
The bird version of hell.
Related: Boston Hates Birds
Now that is a Holocaust™!
"Solar plant is world’s largest; Vast system seen as marker for growing industry" by Michael R. Blood and Brian Skoloff | Associated Press February 14, 2014
PRIMM, Nevada — A windy stretch of the Mojave Desert once roamed by tortoises and coyotes has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, a milestone for a growing industry that is testing the balance between wilderness conservation and the pursuit of green energy across the American West.
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opened Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating protected tortoises to assessing the impact on Mojave milkweed and other plants.
Did a company connected with Harry Reid seize this land, too?
‘‘The Ivanpah project is a shining example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy,’’ Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a statement after attending a dedication ceremony at the site. ‘‘This project shows that building a clean-energy economy creates jobs, curbs greenhouse gas emissions, and fosters American innovation.’’
Pun intended, right?
The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc., and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year.
Larger projects are on the way, but for now, Ivanpah is being described as a marker for the United States’ emerging solar industry. While solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation’s power output, thousands of projects from large, utility-scale plants to small production sites are under construction or being planned, particularly across the sun-drenched Southwest.
The plant’s dedication comes as the government continues to push for development of greener, cleaner power.
President Obama has mounted a second-term drive to combat climate change, proposing first-ever limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. His plan aims to help move the nation from a coal-and-oil dependent past into a future fired by wind and solar power, nuclear energy, and natural gas.
$crew you guys, I'm going home!
Ivanpah can be seen as a success story and a cautionary tale, highlighting the inevitable trade-offs between the need for cleaner power and the loss of fragile, open land. Government documents show dozens of dead birds from sparrows to hawks have been found on the site, some with melted feathers. The suspected causes of death include collisions with mirrors and scorching....
Time to fly away and take a bath before the game.
I'll bet Boston doesn't like orioles, blue jays, or cardinals.
--more--"
All kidding aside, this cavalier attitude towards the birds bothers me. We have a wonderfully and naturally open aviary around here and the thought of them frying to death after crashing into a reflection makes me sad.
All kidding aside, this cavalier attitude towards the birds bothers me. We have a wonderfully and naturally open aviary around here and the thought of them frying to death after crashing into a reflection makes me sad.
No Steam Over This Veolia Venture
I don't know what the difference is other than a lot of hot air:
"Cambridge project taps excess steam to heat buildings; Borrows from Edison concept" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff May 19, 2014
CAMBRIDGE — After three years and $112 million, the French company Veolia has put in place a key piece of what is one of the largest systems in the United States to generate electricity and recycle steam to heat nearby buildings and businesses....
District energy and combined heat and power are gaining renewed interest as concerns about climate change grow.
Pffft!
See: Back Home Again
Oh what a deadly web we weave....!!!!
Get your stories straight, will ya'? -- on this COLDER-THAN-AVERAGE MAY (on the cusp of June) DAY?!!!
Now I'm getting steamed!
Reusing the steam for heating and cooling eliminates the need to burn more oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, blamed for accelerating climate change.
Actually, it's the methane the government doesn't care about because this is all about carbon taxes.
*************
Veolia sells electricity to NStar and steam to businesses and institutions in both Cambridge and Boston.
And there wasn't a big stink about their Nazi past?
Since 2007, Veolia — which has 220,000 employees in 48 countries and annual revenues of $31 billion — has invested nearly $170 million to build out its steam transmission network in Boston and Cambridge, as well as a separate steam system serving the Longwood Medical Area. The company would not disclose its revenue from those operations.
The 30 miles of pipe beneath Boston and Cambridge also draw from two facilities in the Back Bay and Chinatown, which make only steam. The more-than-60-year-old Kendall Station, however, is now the network’s main source.
“It has basically become the heart of our system,” Bill DiCroce, chief operating officer of Veolia Energy, said. “We heat the city with it.”
Oh. That's why no one made a poop.
Veolia began planning the Kendall Station project in 2011, although it did not complete the purchase of the plant from NRG Energy of Princeton, N.J., and Houston until February. The project, which included upgrading the plant’s boilers and reconfiguring the complex of several buildings, has been the company’s single biggest investment here.
Inside one building, a silvery natural gas turbine built by General Electric produces 2,000-degree exhaust — the temperature of molten lava. That exhaust is cooled with water from the Charles River to produce steam.
The steam leaves the plant through two main outlets: a pipe crossing the Longfellow Bridge, as well the recent addition running along the Charles and across the Lechmere Viaduct. The new pipeline began delivering steam in December, doubling the amount that Veolia can send into Boston.
Walking through Kendall Station recently, DiCroce gestured to his right, where the biotechnology company Genzyme’s glass-walled building stretched toward the sky.
“You can see we’re kind of surrounded by biotech Cambridge,” he said. “They’re all served by our district energy network.”
"Cambridge project taps excess steam to heat buildings; Borrows from Edison concept" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff May 19, 2014
CAMBRIDGE — After three years and $112 million, the French company Veolia has put in place a key piece of what is one of the largest systems in the United States to generate electricity and recycle steam to heat nearby buildings and businesses....
District energy and combined heat and power are gaining renewed interest as concerns about climate change grow.
Pffft!
See: Back Home Again
Oh what a deadly web we weave....!!!!
Get your stories straight, will ya'? -- on this COLDER-THAN-AVERAGE MAY (on the cusp of June) DAY?!!!
Now I'm getting steamed!
Reusing the steam for heating and cooling eliminates the need to burn more oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, blamed for accelerating climate change.
Actually, it's the methane the government doesn't care about because this is all about carbon taxes.
*************
Veolia sells electricity to NStar and steam to businesses and institutions in both Cambridge and Boston.
And there wasn't a big stink about their Nazi past?
Since 2007, Veolia — which has 220,000 employees in 48 countries and annual revenues of $31 billion — has invested nearly $170 million to build out its steam transmission network in Boston and Cambridge, as well as a separate steam system serving the Longwood Medical Area. The company would not disclose its revenue from those operations.
The 30 miles of pipe beneath Boston and Cambridge also draw from two facilities in the Back Bay and Chinatown, which make only steam. The more-than-60-year-old Kendall Station, however, is now the network’s main source.
“It has basically become the heart of our system,” Bill DiCroce, chief operating officer of Veolia Energy, said. “We heat the city with it.”
Oh. That's why no one made a poop.
Veolia began planning the Kendall Station project in 2011, although it did not complete the purchase of the plant from NRG Energy of Princeton, N.J., and Houston until February. The project, which included upgrading the plant’s boilers and reconfiguring the complex of several buildings, has been the company’s single biggest investment here.
Inside one building, a silvery natural gas turbine built by General Electric produces 2,000-degree exhaust — the temperature of molten lava. That exhaust is cooled with water from the Charles River to produce steam.
The steam leaves the plant through two main outlets: a pipe crossing the Longfellow Bridge, as well the recent addition running along the Charles and across the Lechmere Viaduct. The new pipeline began delivering steam in December, doubling the amount that Veolia can send into Boston.
Walking through Kendall Station recently, DiCroce gestured to his right, where the biotechnology company Genzyme’s glass-walled building stretched toward the sky.
“You can see we’re kind of surrounded by biotech Cambridge,” he said. “They’re all served by our district energy network.”
--more--"
Not a word about Nazi connections.
Another pipeline that has people steamed:
"Oil industry study resists new rail regulations" by James MacPherson and Matthew Brown | Associated press May 21, 2014
BISMARCK, N.D. — The US oil industry pushed back on Tuesday against tougher rules for rail cars carrying crude following a string of fiery accidents, asserting in a new report that oil from the Northern Plains is no more dangerous than some other cargoes.
But the results of the industry-funded study differ from the stance of the federal government, which issued a safety alert in January warning the public, emergency responders, and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch.
I'm $ure they figure $omething out after $ome healthy campaign contributions.
The oil from North Dakota and Montana is comparable to other light crudes, with characteristics that fall well within the margin of safety for the current tank car fleet, the industry study says.
Kari Cutting, vice president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said it proves federal rules ‘‘are sufficient.’’
But a former senior federal railway safety official disagreed and said recent accidents are enough to justify government intervention.
‘‘We already have examples of this particular crude going ‘boom,’ ’’ said Grady Cothen, former deputy associate administrator for safety at the Federal Railroad Administration. ‘‘That’s how it has to be treated from a regulatory standpoint despite the distinctions being made’’ by oil companies.
Oil trains in the United States and Canada were involved in at least eight major accidents during the last year, including an explosion of Bakken crude in Lac-Megantic, Quebec that killed 47 people.
Suspicions still surround that event.
Other trains carrying Bakken crude have since derailed and caught fire in Alabama, North Dakota, New Brunswick, and Virginia.
I'm sure I noted them when the Globe happened to mention them, which was few and far between. I noticed they really don't like to focus on oil spills.
In response, regulators have discouraged shippers from using older tank cars known to rupture during accidents.
The Department of Transportation issued the January safety alert about Bakken crude, which is produced from a huge oil shale reserve that has propelled North Dakota to the nation’s second-largest oil producer behind Texas.
The North Dakota Petroleum Council, which represents more than 500 companies working in North Dakota and Montana, commissioned the $400,000 study of Bakken crude characteristics. The group said more than 150 oil samples were taken from well sites and rail facilities throughout North Dakota and Montana and sent to independent laboratories for analyses. The results will be shared with federal regulators this month, the group said.
A Department of Transportation spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing the industry data even as it continues analyzing samples of Bakken oil gathered by regulators. Results of the government’s testing have not been released.
Canadian investigators have said the crude involved in the Lac-Megantic was highly volatile and comparable to gasoline.
Mile-long trains pulling more than 100 cars laden with Bakken crude began running in 2008 when the state first reached its shipping capacity with existing pipelines and infrastructure. More than $2 billion has been spent on infrastructure and nearly two dozen railed-oil loading facilities have been built in North Dakota.
State officials say more than 70 percent of the more than 1 million barrels of oil produced daily from the Bakken region is being moved by rail, as producers increasingly have turn to trains instead of pipelines.
And this concern is pushing us towards pipelines, i$n't it?
Cui bono?
Aren't the tracking wells enough?
--more--"
I reserve the right to add to this post, to continue in another post, and I reserve the right to ask questions.
Not a word about Nazi connections.
Another pipeline that has people steamed:
"Oil industry study resists new rail regulations" by James MacPherson and Matthew Brown | Associated press May 21, 2014
BISMARCK, N.D. — The US oil industry pushed back on Tuesday against tougher rules for rail cars carrying crude following a string of fiery accidents, asserting in a new report that oil from the Northern Plains is no more dangerous than some other cargoes.
But the results of the industry-funded study differ from the stance of the federal government, which issued a safety alert in January warning the public, emergency responders, and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch.
I'm $ure they figure $omething out after $ome healthy campaign contributions.
The oil from North Dakota and Montana is comparable to other light crudes, with characteristics that fall well within the margin of safety for the current tank car fleet, the industry study says.
Kari Cutting, vice president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said it proves federal rules ‘‘are sufficient.’’
But a former senior federal railway safety official disagreed and said recent accidents are enough to justify government intervention.
‘‘We already have examples of this particular crude going ‘boom,’ ’’ said Grady Cothen, former deputy associate administrator for safety at the Federal Railroad Administration. ‘‘That’s how it has to be treated from a regulatory standpoint despite the distinctions being made’’ by oil companies.
Oil trains in the United States and Canada were involved in at least eight major accidents during the last year, including an explosion of Bakken crude in Lac-Megantic, Quebec that killed 47 people.
Suspicions still surround that event.
Other trains carrying Bakken crude have since derailed and caught fire in Alabama, North Dakota, New Brunswick, and Virginia.
I'm sure I noted them when the Globe happened to mention them, which was few and far between. I noticed they really don't like to focus on oil spills.
In response, regulators have discouraged shippers from using older tank cars known to rupture during accidents.
The Department of Transportation issued the January safety alert about Bakken crude, which is produced from a huge oil shale reserve that has propelled North Dakota to the nation’s second-largest oil producer behind Texas.
The North Dakota Petroleum Council, which represents more than 500 companies working in North Dakota and Montana, commissioned the $400,000 study of Bakken crude characteristics. The group said more than 150 oil samples were taken from well sites and rail facilities throughout North Dakota and Montana and sent to independent laboratories for analyses. The results will be shared with federal regulators this month, the group said.
A Department of Transportation spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing the industry data even as it continues analyzing samples of Bakken oil gathered by regulators. Results of the government’s testing have not been released.
Canadian investigators have said the crude involved in the Lac-Megantic was highly volatile and comparable to gasoline.
Mile-long trains pulling more than 100 cars laden with Bakken crude began running in 2008 when the state first reached its shipping capacity with existing pipelines and infrastructure. More than $2 billion has been spent on infrastructure and nearly two dozen railed-oil loading facilities have been built in North Dakota.
State officials say more than 70 percent of the more than 1 million barrels of oil produced daily from the Bakken region is being moved by rail, as producers increasingly have turn to trains instead of pipelines.
And this concern is pushing us towards pipelines, i$n't it?
Cui bono?
Aren't the tracking wells enough?
--more--"
I reserve the right to add to this post, to continue in another post, and I reserve the right to ask questions.
Hot Ticket
Got it from a Globe scalper:
"Notre Dame will get the vast bulk of the ticket allotment in the small park, creating what many anticipate will be a mad scramble among locals for what is expected to be BC’s share of fewer than 5,000 seats. And just to make things worse, Notre Dame will get to set the face value prices....
--more--"
That's not the game I'm going to see. I'll being seeing one of the games against an arch-rival, and it looks like tempers are flaring. I'm just sorry Jenny won't be there.
I know I said I wouldn't go to Boston ever again, but it would be disrespectful to my friend were I to turn down his offer. It would hurt his feelings, and I don't want to do that. I'll also be root, root, rooting for the home team even though they stink, so.... I guess you can take a swing and kick around those articles until I (hopefully) return tomorrow. Little nervous about going in there.
"Notre Dame will get the vast bulk of the ticket allotment in the small park, creating what many anticipate will be a mad scramble among locals for what is expected to be BC’s share of fewer than 5,000 seats. And just to make things worse, Notre Dame will get to set the face value prices....
--more--"
That's not the game I'm going to see. I'll being seeing one of the games against an arch-rival, and it looks like tempers are flaring. I'm just sorry Jenny won't be there.
I know I said I wouldn't go to Boston ever again, but it would be disrespectful to my friend were I to turn down his offer. It would hurt his feelings, and I don't want to do that. I'll also be root, root, rooting for the home team even though they stink, so.... I guess you can take a swing and kick around those articles until I (hopefully) return tomorrow. Little nervous about going in there.
Slow Saturday Special: Obama Gets an Earnest Press Secretary
"Obama press secretary resigning from job" by Nedra Pickler | Associated Press May 31, 2014
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Jay Carney became the news instead of just delivering it Friday, when President Obama unexpectedly interrupted the daily media briefing to announce Carney’s resignation after three and a half years as his primary spokesman.
The agenda-pushing mouthpiece just admitted where they get their stuff.
Obama said it was ‘‘bittersweet’’ to see his friend Carney step down and announced that principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest will take over the job. Carney said the transition will take place around mid-June, but Earnest will take his place next week on Obama’s trip to Europe.
Carney knows there is some serious scandal crap rolling downhill and he wanted out of the way.
Carney brought rare but practical experience to the job as a former reporter who once covered the White House for Time magazine. He left journalism to become communications director for Vice President Joe Biden and subsequently moved over to serve as Obama’s press secretary in 2011.
‘‘He comes to this place with a reporter’s perspective,’’ Obama told reporters after interrupting Carney midsentence as he responded to a question on Ukraine in the Brady Press Briefing Room. ‘‘That’s why, believe it or not, I think he will miss hanging out with you.’’
We don't believe it, sir, and you need to stop doing that!
A key component of a White House press secretary’s job is to joust with reporters in an intense question-and-answer session. Obama said he is putting the ‘‘flak jacket’’ for dealing with the press on another friend in Earnest, who has worked with Obama since he was his communications director for the Iowa caucuses in the 2008 campaign.
Must be why the Justice Department and NSA are spying on you guys in the lame$tream pre$$.
The affable Earnest is well-liked within the White House press corps, and is seen as helpful. Reporters applauded the announcement. Earnest is a native of Kansas City, Mo., and Obama noted he still roots for the hometown baseball team, the Royals, as the son of an athletics coach.
Yeah, it's an exclu$ive club complete with ha-has at at dinner.
‘‘As you know, his name describes his demeanor,’’ Obama said. ‘‘Josh is an earnest guy and you can’t find just a nicer individual even outside of Washington.’’
Obama also teased Earnest for providing the ‘‘golden voice and dulcet tones’’ as narrator of West Wing Week, a recap of White House events that can be seen on YouTube or the White House website. Earnest, who is expecting his first child with his wife, Treasury Department official Natalie Wyeth Earnest, told reporters he’s ‘‘grateful and excited and relishes the opportunity to spend the next couple of years with you.’’
I won't be watching him.
Earnest, 39, regularly conducts the briefing at the White House or aboard Air Force One when Carney is absent. He has been deeply involved in negotiations with the press corps over access to the president.
--more--"
Wish I could get an earnest paper.
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Jay Carney became the news instead of just delivering it Friday, when President Obama unexpectedly interrupted the daily media briefing to announce Carney’s resignation after three and a half years as his primary spokesman.
The agenda-pushing mouthpiece just admitted where they get their stuff.
Obama said it was ‘‘bittersweet’’ to see his friend Carney step down and announced that principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest will take over the job. Carney said the transition will take place around mid-June, but Earnest will take his place next week on Obama’s trip to Europe.
Carney knows there is some serious scandal crap rolling downhill and he wanted out of the way.
Carney brought rare but practical experience to the job as a former reporter who once covered the White House for Time magazine. He left journalism to become communications director for Vice President Joe Biden and subsequently moved over to serve as Obama’s press secretary in 2011.
‘‘He comes to this place with a reporter’s perspective,’’ Obama told reporters after interrupting Carney midsentence as he responded to a question on Ukraine in the Brady Press Briefing Room. ‘‘That’s why, believe it or not, I think he will miss hanging out with you.’’
We don't believe it, sir, and you need to stop doing that!
A key component of a White House press secretary’s job is to joust with reporters in an intense question-and-answer session. Obama said he is putting the ‘‘flak jacket’’ for dealing with the press on another friend in Earnest, who has worked with Obama since he was his communications director for the Iowa caucuses in the 2008 campaign.
Must be why the Justice Department and NSA are spying on you guys in the lame$tream pre$$.
The affable Earnest is well-liked within the White House press corps, and is seen as helpful. Reporters applauded the announcement. Earnest is a native of Kansas City, Mo., and Obama noted he still roots for the hometown baseball team, the Royals, as the son of an athletics coach.
Yeah, it's an exclu$ive club complete with ha-has at at dinner.
‘‘As you know, his name describes his demeanor,’’ Obama said. ‘‘Josh is an earnest guy and you can’t find just a nicer individual even outside of Washington.’’
Obama also teased Earnest for providing the ‘‘golden voice and dulcet tones’’ as narrator of West Wing Week, a recap of White House events that can be seen on YouTube or the White House website. Earnest, who is expecting his first child with his wife, Treasury Department official Natalie Wyeth Earnest, told reporters he’s ‘‘grateful and excited and relishes the opportunity to spend the next couple of years with you.’’
I won't be watching him.
Earnest, 39, regularly conducts the briefing at the White House or aboard Air Force One when Carney is absent. He has been deeply involved in negotiations with the press corps over access to the president.
--more--"
Wish I could get an earnest paper.
Slow Saturday Special: Toddler Tragedies
"Georgia toddler badly burned in police raid" Associated Press May 31, 2014
ATLANTA — Officers raiding a Georgia home in search of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside, severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door, authorities and the boy’s family said.
Isn't there a better way to pick people up than with jackbooted stormtrooper tactics?
WTF has happened to AmeriKa's police?
Related: American police now “Israeli-DHS trained,” precursor to dictatorship
Oh.
Looks like we are all Palestinian now, and authority is reflecting it. The ADL is even bragging about it.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects.
Oh, he MAY have been armed, huh?
Yup, proper procedures were followed so no fault of the thugs.
Alecia Phonesavanh told local media her son was sleeping in his playpen when the raid began Wednesday morning.
‘‘The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face,’’ Phonesavanh told WSB-TV.
OMG! The kid is going to be traumatized for life!
The officers were looking for Wanis Thonetheva, 30, who lives at the home with his mother and had recently sold drugs to an informant at the house, the sheriff said.
No better way of getting the guy, huh? Couldn't have followed and arrested him somewhere else when he wasn't expecting it? On a drug buy, perhaps?
All these cops are ex-military and looking for the adrenal action of war. Looks like they found it in Atlanta.
--more--"
Also see: Toddler’s fall deemed a ‘tragic accident’
It was a hard choice just linking that item.
ATLANTA — Officers raiding a Georgia home in search of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside, severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door, authorities and the boy’s family said.
Isn't there a better way to pick people up than with jackbooted stormtrooper tactics?
WTF has happened to AmeriKa's police?
Related: American police now “Israeli-DHS trained,” precursor to dictatorship
Oh.
Looks like we are all Palestinian now, and authority is reflecting it. The ADL is even bragging about it.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects.
Oh, he MAY have been armed, huh?
Yup, proper procedures were followed so no fault of the thugs.
Alecia Phonesavanh told local media her son was sleeping in his playpen when the raid began Wednesday morning.
‘‘The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face,’’ Phonesavanh told WSB-TV.
OMG! The kid is going to be traumatized for life!
The officers were looking for Wanis Thonetheva, 30, who lives at the home with his mother and had recently sold drugs to an informant at the house, the sheriff said.
No better way of getting the guy, huh? Couldn't have followed and arrested him somewhere else when he wasn't expecting it? On a drug buy, perhaps?
All these cops are ex-military and looking for the adrenal action of war. Looks like they found it in Atlanta.
--more--"
Also see: Toddler’s fall deemed a ‘tragic accident’
It was a hard choice just linking that item.
Slow Saturday Special: Michigan Teacher is Mean
"Mich. teacher mocked boy, letter says" Associated Press May 31, 2014
DETROIT — A Michigan teacher humiliated a student with Asperger's syndrome by videotaping him after he became wedged in a chair and showing the footage to his fifth-grade class and her colleagues, the school’s superintendent wrote in a letter obtained Friday by the Associated Press.
Scott Bogner, Goodrich Area Schools superintendent, sent the letter to the school board to summarize his investigation into what happened Nov. 22 in teacher Nicole McVey’s classroom at Oaktree Elementary School. The letter reveals for the first time that McVey was holding the recording device, suggested the video be sent to a national television show, and continued showing it to colleagues after several told her it was inappropriate.
Bogner wrote that once the boy became stuck, McVey ‘‘castigated’’ him and ‘‘refused to allow another adult to help him.’’
--more--"
DETROIT — A Michigan teacher humiliated a student with Asperger's syndrome by videotaping him after he became wedged in a chair and showing the footage to his fifth-grade class and her colleagues, the school’s superintendent wrote in a letter obtained Friday by the Associated Press.
Scott Bogner, Goodrich Area Schools superintendent, sent the letter to the school board to summarize his investigation into what happened Nov. 22 in teacher Nicole McVey’s classroom at Oaktree Elementary School. The letter reveals for the first time that McVey was holding the recording device, suggested the video be sent to a national television show, and continued showing it to colleagues after several told her it was inappropriate.
Bogner wrote that once the boy became stuck, McVey ‘‘castigated’’ him and ‘‘refused to allow another adult to help him.’’
--more--"
Slow Saturday Special: Small Town Gossip
I usually walk away when it starts....
"Mystery yacht has Hampton Beach talking" by Billy Baker | Globe Staff May 31, 2014
HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. — The rumors began swirling just as soon as the giant empty yacht crashed into the marsh here.
A popular one was that it was to be blown up in a Denzel Washington movie, though no one seems to know where that came from. Then there was the one about how it was being used as a set to film pornography. Still others whispered that it was used for drug smuggling.
And it went on from there. It’s hard to stop a small town on a gossip roll, and what a roll it has been....
The truth, it turns out, has just as many twists as a Denzel Washington movie, and it involves a Miami couple on a serious string of bad luck....
The newspaper is not where I look for truth, sorry.
--more--"
Also see:
Manchester couple were strangled before fire, records say
Deviant Dion on the Run
N.H. murder trial opens with lurid story of sex denied
Woman heard scream night UNH student was killed
Swastika found near rights group in Concord, N.H.
I'm tired of the self-inflicted false flags and hoaxes, sorry.
I'm sticking with the Saturday stuff today.
"N.H. man, 52, allegedly threatened school shooting unless his father gave him money
A 52-year-old man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he threatened to commit a school shooting unless his father gave him money, Essex prosecutors said. Lawrence Beam Jr. of New Durham, N.H., was charged with threatening to commit a crime, intimidation of a witness, threatening to use a firearm, extortion, two counts of criminal harassment, and two counts of making annoying telephone calls at his arraignment in Lawrence District Court, prosecutors said. Beam allegedly demanded $10,000 from his father, and told him that if the money was not provided, the son would shoot up a school, prosecutors said. Authorities did not release the name of the school."
Looks like Larry went of the beam a little bit, huh?
"Officials say group of Brighton High students made list of people to possibly harm
A group of Brighton High School students are under investigation for allegedly making a list of people they “might want to harm,” officials said. Brian Ballou, a Boston public schools spokesman, said a “small group of students,” possibly only two, made the list Friday. Ballou did not give any specifics as to who was on the list. The students and their parents were spoken to by school officials, Ballou said. It is not yet clear if they will receive any punishment or charges. “We have no reason to believe there was the intention of actually harming anyone,” said Ballou, who did not name the students involved."
So when do AmeriKan officials get investigated for all the wars they want to start.
Of course, they didn't intend to hurt anyone with the lies that led to them.
Might want to hear this, though.
"Mystery yacht has Hampton Beach talking" by Billy Baker | Globe Staff May 31, 2014
HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. — The rumors began swirling just as soon as the giant empty yacht crashed into the marsh here.
A popular one was that it was to be blown up in a Denzel Washington movie, though no one seems to know where that came from. Then there was the one about how it was being used as a set to film pornography. Still others whispered that it was used for drug smuggling.
And it went on from there. It’s hard to stop a small town on a gossip roll, and what a roll it has been....
The truth, it turns out, has just as many twists as a Denzel Washington movie, and it involves a Miami couple on a serious string of bad luck....
The newspaper is not where I look for truth, sorry.
--more--"
Also see:
Manchester couple were strangled before fire, records say
Deviant Dion on the Run
N.H. murder trial opens with lurid story of sex denied
Woman heard scream night UNH student was killed
Swastika found near rights group in Concord, N.H.
I'm tired of the self-inflicted false flags and hoaxes, sorry.
I'm sticking with the Saturday stuff today.
"N.H. man, 52, allegedly threatened school shooting unless his father gave him money
A 52-year-old man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he threatened to commit a school shooting unless his father gave him money, Essex prosecutors said. Lawrence Beam Jr. of New Durham, N.H., was charged with threatening to commit a crime, intimidation of a witness, threatening to use a firearm, extortion, two counts of criminal harassment, and two counts of making annoying telephone calls at his arraignment in Lawrence District Court, prosecutors said. Beam allegedly demanded $10,000 from his father, and told him that if the money was not provided, the son would shoot up a school, prosecutors said. Authorities did not release the name of the school."
Looks like Larry went of the beam a little bit, huh?
"Officials say group of Brighton High students made list of people to possibly harm
A group of Brighton High School students are under investigation for allegedly making a list of people they “might want to harm,” officials said. Brian Ballou, a Boston public schools spokesman, said a “small group of students,” possibly only two, made the list Friday. Ballou did not give any specifics as to who was on the list. The students and their parents were spoken to by school officials, Ballou said. It is not yet clear if they will receive any punishment or charges. “We have no reason to believe there was the intention of actually harming anyone,” said Ballou, who did not name the students involved."
So when do AmeriKan officials get investigated for all the wars they want to start.
Of course, they didn't intend to hurt anyone with the lies that led to them.
Might want to hear this, though.
Slow Saturday Special: Girls Better Get Goserelin
Drug may aid young breast cancer patients
Goserelin is sold by AstraZeneca under the brand name Zoladex. Global sales of the drug were about $1 billion in 2013.
I've noticed brea$t cancer is big bu$ine$$.
Goserelin is sold by AstraZeneca under the brand name Zoladex. Global sales of the drug were about $1 billion in 2013.
I've noticed brea$t cancer is big bu$ine$$.
Slow Saturday Specials: Girls Grow Up Quick in Woburn
"Former Woburn youth worker charged with raping girl
A former staff member at the Boys & Girls Club of Woburn has been indicted on charges of sexually assaulting a girl over a three-year period, beginning in 2000 when she was 12, authorities said Friday. Christopher Elwell, 33, of Woburn met the girl at the club and allegedly abused her through fall 2003, the Middlesex district attorney’s office said. Elwell is facing several charges, including three counts of rape of a child. An arraignment date has not been set."
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Woburn man is indicted on child sex charges; Former worker accused in abuse of 12-year-old girl" by Evan Allen | Globe Staff June 01, 2014
The Woburn Boys & Girls Club is cooperating with authorities as they investigate a former employee accused of sexually abusing a child he met at the club, according to a statement from the organization today.
“We are shocked and saddened by the allegations and our thoughts are with the victim and her family at this time,” read the statement. “The safety and protection of the children we serve is the number one priority of the Boys & Girls Club.”
Christopher Elwell, 33, of Woburn allegedly met the then-12-year-old girl in the fall of 1999 when he was the junior director of physical education and she was a club member, according to a statement from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
Soon after, Elwell began meeting privately with the girl and talking with her about sex, according to the statement. He then started communicating with her outside the club, often about sexual matters, the statement said.
Over the next three years, through the fall of 2003, Elwell allegedly instructed the girl to begin an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with him, both at the club and at his home, according to the statement. He allegedly showed her pornography and naked videos of himself, and encouraged her to take nude photos of herself for him, according to the statement.
In late 2012, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Woburn Police Department and the management of the club began investigating the allegations.
You sort of wonder what took so long, but....
The district attorney’s office announced Friday that Elwell had been indicted on three counts of rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, dissemination of matter harmful to a minor, and posing a child in a state of nudity.
Isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on this stuff? I know there is not one for murder, but....
Club spokesman Casey Sherman said Elwell worked at the club until around 2007. Sherman said he could not comment on whether Elwell left the club voluntarily or was fired. Sherman also declined to comment on when and how the allegations against Elwell came to light.
Asked if there was concern that any other children were involved, Sherman said, “Not at this time.”
The Woburn Police Department and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office could not be reached for comment.
A former staff member at the Boys & Girls Club of Woburn has been indicted on charges of sexually assaulting a girl over a three-year period, beginning in 2000 when she was 12, authorities said Friday. Christopher Elwell, 33, of Woburn met the girl at the club and allegedly abused her through fall 2003, the Middlesex district attorney’s office said. Elwell is facing several charges, including three counts of rape of a child. An arraignment date has not been set."
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Woburn man is indicted on child sex charges; Former worker accused in abuse of 12-year-old girl" by Evan Allen | Globe Staff June 01, 2014
The Woburn Boys & Girls Club is cooperating with authorities as they investigate a former employee accused of sexually abusing a child he met at the club, according to a statement from the organization today.
“We are shocked and saddened by the allegations and our thoughts are with the victim and her family at this time,” read the statement. “The safety and protection of the children we serve is the number one priority of the Boys & Girls Club.”
Christopher Elwell, 33, of Woburn allegedly met the then-12-year-old girl in the fall of 1999 when he was the junior director of physical education and she was a club member, according to a statement from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
Soon after, Elwell began meeting privately with the girl and talking with her about sex, according to the statement. He then started communicating with her outside the club, often about sexual matters, the statement said.
Over the next three years, through the fall of 2003, Elwell allegedly instructed the girl to begin an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with him, both at the club and at his home, according to the statement. He allegedly showed her pornography and naked videos of himself, and encouraged her to take nude photos of herself for him, according to the statement.
In late 2012, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Woburn Police Department and the management of the club began investigating the allegations.
You sort of wonder what took so long, but....
The district attorney’s office announced Friday that Elwell had been indicted on three counts of rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, dissemination of matter harmful to a minor, and posing a child in a state of nudity.
Isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on this stuff? I know there is not one for murder, but....
Club spokesman Casey Sherman said Elwell worked at the club until around 2007. Sherman said he could not comment on whether Elwell left the club voluntarily or was fired. Sherman also declined to comment on when and how the allegations against Elwell came to light.
Asked if there was concern that any other children were involved, Sherman said, “Not at this time.”
The Woburn Police Department and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office could not be reached for comment.
--more--"
Weird goings on in Woburn.
Slow Saturday Special: Slippery Post About Connecticut
"Conn. governor vetoes bill allowing eel fishing
Governor Dannel P. Malloy vetoed a bill Friday that would have opened Connecticut waters to the multimillion-dollar eel industry, saying it would be premature because federal officials are reviewing whether the American eel is a threatened species. State lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bill in the final minutes of this year’s legislative session, which ended May 7. The proposal would have eliminated the state’s ban and $250 fine on the taking of glass eels and elvers, or baby eels, in state waters. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing whether the American eel is a threatened species."
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Slippery Supper
Also see:
State Senate leader loses bid for college presidency
Conn. panel reviews definition of indigent inmates in document case
Those last two got away from me. Sorry.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy vetoed a bill Friday that would have opened Connecticut waters to the multimillion-dollar eel industry, saying it would be premature because federal officials are reviewing whether the American eel is a threatened species. State lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bill in the final minutes of this year’s legislative session, which ended May 7. The proposal would have eliminated the state’s ban and $250 fine on the taking of glass eels and elvers, or baby eels, in state waters. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing whether the American eel is a threatened species."
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Slippery Supper
Also see:
State Senate leader loses bid for college presidency
Conn. panel reviews definition of indigent inmates in document case
Those last two got away from me. Sorry.
Slow Saturday Special: Bangoring Around Maine
"Bangor woman found guilty of killing husband
A judge has found a Bangor woman guilty of murder for killing her husband in a jealous rage. WZON-AM reported that Judge E. Allen Hunter accused Roxanne Jeskey, 50, of ‘‘monstrous savagery’’ when he gave his verdict Friday afternoon. Police said Jeskey used weapons that included a box-cutter, plastic baseball bat, and pliers to kill her 53-year-old husband, Richard, in 2011. His naked body was found in a bathtub the day after the killing. The medical examiner said he was beaten and strangled. Attorneys used an insanity defense in the trial, saying Jeskey suffered from seizures and psychiatric disorders. She faces 25 years to life in prison."
UPDATES:
Suspect in Maine kidnapping, robbery captured
Maine officials say 8-year-old with knife threatened boy, 6
At least the police didn't shoot him.
A judge has found a Bangor woman guilty of murder for killing her husband in a jealous rage. WZON-AM reported that Judge E. Allen Hunter accused Roxanne Jeskey, 50, of ‘‘monstrous savagery’’ when he gave his verdict Friday afternoon. Police said Jeskey used weapons that included a box-cutter, plastic baseball bat, and pliers to kill her 53-year-old husband, Richard, in 2011. His naked body was found in a bathtub the day after the killing. The medical examiner said he was beaten and strangled. Attorneys used an insanity defense in the trial, saying Jeskey suffered from seizures and psychiatric disorders. She faces 25 years to life in prison."
UPDATES:
Suspect in Maine kidnapping, robbery captured
Maine officials say 8-year-old with knife threatened boy, 6
At least the police didn't shoot him.
Slow Saturday Special: Needham Adds to the Narrative
"Police seek woman who approached boy in Needham
Police are searching for a woman who approached a 5-year-old child Thursday night. The boy said he was riding on a toy in his yard on Concord Street when a young woman walked up to him. She did not say anything or touch him, Needham police said. The boy said he ran into his house and the woman ran down Concord Street toward Manning Street. Officers could not locate her. The boy told officers she was a white woman with dark hair and was wearing black clothes with white stripes, police said. Police said it is possible that it was a concerned jogger trying to keep the boy from riding into the roadway."
Related(?): Slow Saturday Special: Hingham Hoax?
Police are searching for a woman who approached a 5-year-old child Thursday night. The boy said he was riding on a toy in his yard on Concord Street when a young woman walked up to him. She did not say anything or touch him, Needham police said. The boy said he ran into his house and the woman ran down Concord Street toward Manning Street. Officers could not locate her. The boy told officers she was a white woman with dark hair and was wearing black clothes with white stripes, police said. Police said it is possible that it was a concerned jogger trying to keep the boy from riding into the roadway."
Related(?): Slow Saturday Special: Hingham Hoax?
Slow Saturday Special: Laying to Rest This Polish Post
"Poland’s communist chief is buried" Associated Press May 31, 2014
WARSAW, Poland — Former opponents and supporters of Poland’s last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, laid him to rest with military honors Friday, while noisy protesters underscored the nation’s ambivalence about the man who imposed military rule in 1981.
President Bronislaw Komorowski and former Presidents Lech Walesa and Aleksander Kwasniewski, attended the Catholic funeral Mass for Jaruzelski in Warsaw.
The joke was on Obama, but the Polish people are not laughing -- and that includes me!
In a poignant moment, Walesa, Komorowski, and Kwasniewski approached the grieving family and shook hands with Jaruzelski’s widow, daughter, and grandson.
Komorowski, in brief remarks, said Jaruzelski ‘‘carried the burden of responsibility for the most difficult and probably the most dramatic decision in Poland’s history after World War II.’’
As Jaruzelski’s family later went to a cemetery to bury his ashes, protesters yelled ‘‘murderer’’ and ‘‘traitor.’’
The family’s request for a religious ceremony was unexpected. Though born to a Catholic family, Jaruzelski became a devoted supporter of Soviet-backed communism, an atheist ideology foisted on his largely Catholic homeland after World War II.
Related: Secret Facts - Soviet & Jews
But at the end he sought solace in the faith of his childhood. Before he died at age 90, after a cancer fight and a stroke, he called for a priest for last rites, made his confession, and took communion.
--more--"
Related: Wojciech Jaruzelski, at 90; Polish leader seen as traitor, patriot
WARSAW, Poland — Former opponents and supporters of Poland’s last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, laid him to rest with military honors Friday, while noisy protesters underscored the nation’s ambivalence about the man who imposed military rule in 1981.
President Bronislaw Komorowski and former Presidents Lech Walesa and Aleksander Kwasniewski, attended the Catholic funeral Mass for Jaruzelski in Warsaw.
The joke was on Obama, but the Polish people are not laughing -- and that includes me!
In a poignant moment, Walesa, Komorowski, and Kwasniewski approached the grieving family and shook hands with Jaruzelski’s widow, daughter, and grandson.
Komorowski, in brief remarks, said Jaruzelski ‘‘carried the burden of responsibility for the most difficult and probably the most dramatic decision in Poland’s history after World War II.’’
As Jaruzelski’s family later went to a cemetery to bury his ashes, protesters yelled ‘‘murderer’’ and ‘‘traitor.’’
The family’s request for a religious ceremony was unexpected. Though born to a Catholic family, Jaruzelski became a devoted supporter of Soviet-backed communism, an atheist ideology foisted on his largely Catholic homeland after World War II.
Related: Secret Facts - Soviet & Jews
Certainly he knew about Kaganovich and Yagoda?
But at the end he sought solace in the faith of his childhood. Before he died at age 90, after a cancer fight and a stroke, he called for a priest for last rites, made his confession, and took communion.
--more--"
Related: Wojciech Jaruzelski, at 90; Polish leader seen as traitor, patriot
Slow Saturday Special: Monaco Princess Pregnant
"Monaco’s Princess Charlene is pregnant" Associated Press May 31, 2014
PARIS — Princess Charlene of Monaco, who married Prince Albert II in 2011, announced she is pregnant with the couple’s first baby.
The former Olympic swimmer from South Africa and her husband issued a statement expressing their ‘‘immense joy’’ at the news.
The birth is expected before the end of the year, suggesting the style-conscious princess is at least three months pregnant.
The news is sure to please the palace and end recent tabloid media speculation about why Charlene, 36, after nearly three years of marriage with Albert, 56, had not yet provided an heir to the jet-set European principality.
Demure Princess Charlene is known for her elegant fashion style, patronizing designers such as Giorgio Armani, who designed her couture wedding dress.
--more--"
PARIS — Princess Charlene of Monaco, who married Prince Albert II in 2011, announced she is pregnant with the couple’s first baby.
The former Olympic swimmer from South Africa and her husband issued a statement expressing their ‘‘immense joy’’ at the news.
The birth is expected before the end of the year, suggesting the style-conscious princess is at least three months pregnant.
The news is sure to please the palace and end recent tabloid media speculation about why Charlene, 36, after nearly three years of marriage with Albert, 56, had not yet provided an heir to the jet-set European principality.
Demure Princess Charlene is known for her elegant fashion style, patronizing designers such as Giorgio Armani, who designed her couture wedding dress.
--more--"
Slow Saturday Special: Striking Ireland Post
24-hour strike at Aer Lingus snarls Irish airports
I'm still able to let this post fly:
"N. Ireland leader retreats from anti-Muslim remarks" Associated Press May 30, 2014
DUBLIN — Northern Ireland’s Protestant leader retreated Thursday from anti-Muslim comments he made when defending a Belfast evangelist’s right to denounce Islam, but government colleagues accused him of defending prejudicial attitudes at a time of rising race-motivated violence.
Being stirred up by someone, chi bono?
******
First Minister Peter Robinson, who has attended Pastor James McConnell’s church, offered support both for the preacher’s right to speak and the sentiments expressed.
That is not being in favor of free speech then. You are only in favor of free speech if it is opposed to you and you are offended by it. Everyone is in favor of free speech when it is seconding, thirding, their motion.
He told a Belfast newspaper, the Irish News, that he also distrusted those Muslims ‘‘who are fully devoted to sharia law’’ — but would trust them to collect his groceries or hand him the correct change in a shop.
Wow! Step and fetch it!
The audiotaped interview, played Wednesday on BBC radio, stunned commentators in Northern Ireland. Many branded Robinson’s comments as both racist and patronizing. The government’s justice minister, David Ford, said Robinson used ‘‘the kind of language that would have gone down well in South Africa a few years ago or the southern parts of the United States half a century ago.’’
Yeah, I'm kind of fed up with that myself; however, I'm even more fed up with the attack on free speech.
Let 'em say it; it is our job to call them out for idiocy.
McConnell told his congregation May 18 that Islam was ‘‘a doctrine spawned in hell,’’ to describe Islam as evil and Muslims as untrustworthy....
I know what I do not trust anymore, and the good pastor here has obviously never dealt with a bank.
--more--"
wHo is your wife doing, first minister?
Related:
"Yesterday a reader sent this in to me. At first I thought it might be one of those hoax postings because of the intensity and graphic evil of the claims made against the highest authorities in this church. It's not that I did not believe them to be capable of it; it just hit with a great deal of force. Then several people commented to tell me it wasn't a hoax. Then someone wrote to tell me it was even worse, then someone sent it to me again. I guess it has gotten a lot of interest. This won't be showing up on the mainstream news because the people who own the mainstream news are without a doubt also engaged in similar things. In lieu of reporting on this, we get what they consider important and on the heels of these things they mainline their coming objectives. The disconnect between the real and the irrelevant in some minds is... well, I don't know what it is....
--MORE--"
Yeah, maybe the Catholics should be watching where they throw stones despite the propaganda pre$$ spit polish about Francis.
"Firebomb hits Northern Ireland hotel" Associated Press May 31, 2014
DUBLIN — A firebomb detonated Friday in a hotel lobby in the Northern Ireland city of Londonderry, but police said a swift midnight evacuation ensured that nobody was injured.
I bet I know who did it!
The bomb exploded inside the Everglades Hotel in Northern Ireland’s second-largest city. Witnesses said a masked man tossed a bag beside the hotel’s reception desk, said he was from the IRA, and warned that a bomb inside the bag would explode in 30 minutes.
Oh. I was all excited to holler Muslim terrorist.
‘‘Someone set off the fire alarm and I called the police,’’ said Gary Rutherford, who had just dropped off relatives at the hotel. ‘‘It was quite confusing at the time for most of the guests because they were in bed. It was mayhem.’’
As British Army specialists were deploying a robot to examine the bomb, it exploded and sent flames cascading throughout the evacuated lobby. Nobody was injured.
Oh, no! This is looking like ANOTHER FALSE FLAG pos!
Analysts noted that the hotel last week hosted a police recruitment drive for more applicants from the city’s mostly Catholic population, a peacemaking goal bitterly opposed by IRA activists.
Why didn't they.... never mind. The ridiculous and ludicrous are no longer to be questioned.
--more--"
Well, Britain did declare war on Ireland.
Globe stopped beating that Drumm.
I'm still able to let this post fly:
"N. Ireland leader retreats from anti-Muslim remarks" Associated Press May 30, 2014
DUBLIN — Northern Ireland’s Protestant leader retreated Thursday from anti-Muslim comments he made when defending a Belfast evangelist’s right to denounce Islam, but government colleagues accused him of defending prejudicial attitudes at a time of rising race-motivated violence.
Being stirred up by someone, chi bono?
******
First Minister Peter Robinson, who has attended Pastor James McConnell’s church, offered support both for the preacher’s right to speak and the sentiments expressed.
That is not being in favor of free speech then. You are only in favor of free speech if it is opposed to you and you are offended by it. Everyone is in favor of free speech when it is seconding, thirding, their motion.
He told a Belfast newspaper, the Irish News, that he also distrusted those Muslims ‘‘who are fully devoted to sharia law’’ — but would trust them to collect his groceries or hand him the correct change in a shop.
Wow! Step and fetch it!
The audiotaped interview, played Wednesday on BBC radio, stunned commentators in Northern Ireland. Many branded Robinson’s comments as both racist and patronizing. The government’s justice minister, David Ford, said Robinson used ‘‘the kind of language that would have gone down well in South Africa a few years ago or the southern parts of the United States half a century ago.’’
Yeah, I'm kind of fed up with that myself; however, I'm even more fed up with the attack on free speech.
Let 'em say it; it is our job to call them out for idiocy.
McConnell told his congregation May 18 that Islam was ‘‘a doctrine spawned in hell,’’ to describe Islam as evil and Muslims as untrustworthy....
I know what I do not trust anymore, and the good pastor here has obviously never dealt with a bank.
--more--"
wHo is your wife doing, first minister?
Related:
"Yesterday a reader sent this in to me. At first I thought it might be one of those hoax postings because of the intensity and graphic evil of the claims made against the highest authorities in this church. It's not that I did not believe them to be capable of it; it just hit with a great deal of force. Then several people commented to tell me it wasn't a hoax. Then someone wrote to tell me it was even worse, then someone sent it to me again. I guess it has gotten a lot of interest. This won't be showing up on the mainstream news because the people who own the mainstream news are without a doubt also engaged in similar things. In lieu of reporting on this, we get what they consider important and on the heels of these things they mainline their coming objectives. The disconnect between the real and the irrelevant in some minds is... well, I don't know what it is....
--MORE--"
Yeah, maybe the Catholics should be watching where they throw stones despite the propaganda pre$$ spit polish about Francis.
"Firebomb hits Northern Ireland hotel" Associated Press May 31, 2014
DUBLIN — A firebomb detonated Friday in a hotel lobby in the Northern Ireland city of Londonderry, but police said a swift midnight evacuation ensured that nobody was injured.
I bet I know who did it!
The bomb exploded inside the Everglades Hotel in Northern Ireland’s second-largest city. Witnesses said a masked man tossed a bag beside the hotel’s reception desk, said he was from the IRA, and warned that a bomb inside the bag would explode in 30 minutes.
Oh. I was all excited to holler Muslim terrorist.
‘‘Someone set off the fire alarm and I called the police,’’ said Gary Rutherford, who had just dropped off relatives at the hotel. ‘‘It was quite confusing at the time for most of the guests because they were in bed. It was mayhem.’’
As British Army specialists were deploying a robot to examine the bomb, it exploded and sent flames cascading throughout the evacuated lobby. Nobody was injured.
Oh, no! This is looking like ANOTHER FALSE FLAG pos!
Analysts noted that the hotel last week hosted a police recruitment drive for more applicants from the city’s mostly Catholic population, a peacemaking goal bitterly opposed by IRA activists.
Why didn't they.... never mind. The ridiculous and ludicrous are no longer to be questioned.
--more--"
Well, Britain did declare war on Ireland.
Globe stopped beating that Drumm.
Slow Saturday Special: Army Butterfly Net
By the end of the article you will think I'm crazy for reading and reporting this stuff:
"Artillery fire, butterflies coexist on Army range" by Phuong Le | Associated Press May 24, 2014
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — An undeveloped stretch of native prairie in south Puget Sound offers one of the few habitats in the world where a two-inch colorful checkered butterfly thrives. It also happens to be the main artillery impact range for Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The Army’s Stryker combat brigade and other troops regularly practice military maneuvers and live-fire training on acres of scenic, open grassland where a small population of Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly feed on nectar of native blooms, mate, and lay eggs.
The butterfly’s listing as a federal endangered species last fall ‘‘has the potential to cause major restrictions on training,’’ said Jeffrey Foster, an ecologist at the military installation.
That has the Army working to boost the numbers of butterflies, once found at more than 70 sites in Puget Sound, Oregon, and British Columbia, but now down to 14 sites. The effort mirrors others by the Army at bases across the country.
From Maryland to Louisiana to Colorado, the Army has been conserving buffer areas around bases to limit urban development, while also preserving and restoring habitat for rare species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker and the golden-cheeked warbler.
So far, the program has preserved more than 200,000 acres of land.
At Lewis-McChord, 44 miles south of Seattle, the program is helping not only the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly but also the streaked horned lark and Mazama pocket gopher.
Last October, the US Fish & Wildlife Service concluded that the Taylor’s checkerspot was in danger of becoming extinct and designated nearly 2,000 acres in Clallam County, Puget Sound, and Oregon’s Willamette Valley as critical habitat for the creature.
The agency said it considered ‘‘military training under present conditions a threat to the short-term and long-term conservation of the Taylor’s checkerspot.’’
That runs counter to all the positive propaganda leading up to this point. WTF?
--more--"
Where did all the Monarchs go?
Related: US Military Saving Endangered Species
Also see: Horseshoe crabs: Maybe some mood lighting?
Another military mission of mercy?
"Artillery fire, butterflies coexist on Army range" by Phuong Le | Associated Press May 24, 2014
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — An undeveloped stretch of native prairie in south Puget Sound offers one of the few habitats in the world where a two-inch colorful checkered butterfly thrives. It also happens to be the main artillery impact range for Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The Army’s Stryker combat brigade and other troops regularly practice military maneuvers and live-fire training on acres of scenic, open grassland where a small population of Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly feed on nectar of native blooms, mate, and lay eggs.
The butterfly’s listing as a federal endangered species last fall ‘‘has the potential to cause major restrictions on training,’’ said Jeffrey Foster, an ecologist at the military installation.
That has the Army working to boost the numbers of butterflies, once found at more than 70 sites in Puget Sound, Oregon, and British Columbia, but now down to 14 sites. The effort mirrors others by the Army at bases across the country.
From Maryland to Louisiana to Colorado, the Army has been conserving buffer areas around bases to limit urban development, while also preserving and restoring habitat for rare species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker and the golden-cheeked warbler.
So far, the program has preserved more than 200,000 acres of land.
At Lewis-McChord, 44 miles south of Seattle, the program is helping not only the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly but also the streaked horned lark and Mazama pocket gopher.
Last October, the US Fish & Wildlife Service concluded that the Taylor’s checkerspot was in danger of becoming extinct and designated nearly 2,000 acres in Clallam County, Puget Sound, and Oregon’s Willamette Valley as critical habitat for the creature.
The agency said it considered ‘‘military training under present conditions a threat to the short-term and long-term conservation of the Taylor’s checkerspot.’’
That runs counter to all the positive propaganda leading up to this point. WTF?
--more--"
Where did all the Monarchs go?
Related: US Military Saving Endangered Species
Also see: Horseshoe crabs: Maybe some mood lighting?
Another military mission of mercy?
Slow Saturday Special: Albuquerque Police Are A**holes
"Albuquerque police fatally shoot suspect" Associated Press May 24, 2014
ALBUQUERQUE — Amid increased scrutiny over the use of force, Albuquerque police shot and killed a man who authorities said slashed a good Samaritan’s throat late Thursday, police announced at a briefing.
Deputy Chief William Roseman told reporters that the knife-wielding man was attacking a woman when the good Samaritan stepped in to help late Thursday and was stabbed.
‘‘Officers attempted to talk to the offender and tried to have him drop the knife,’’ Roseman said. ‘‘As officers tried to deescalate the situation, the male offender began to advance on the officers.’’
Roseman said two officers shot and killed the man after he continued to move toward police.
The name of the suspect was not released. Officials also have not released the names of the officers who fired their weapons.
In addition, police did not say how many times the man was shot nor if lapel camera footage of the shooting was available.
So all we have is their word here, huh?
Roseman said the good Samaritan is in critical condition, while the woman has been treated and released.
It is the third fatal shooting by the Albuquerque Police Department since the US Justice Department released a scathing review of the agency’s use of force and the 40th police shooting since 2010. The report also faulted Albuquerque police for officers’ interaction with suspects who have mental illness and how the police SWAT team resolved conflicts.
Every department has a SWAT team now.
The city has entered negotiations with the Justice Department over reforms and it could take months before the two sides outline an agreement.
So when are the trials for murder?
--more--"
Related:
Arizona Riots in Response to Albuquerque Acquittal
And that was almost a year ago and it is not funny!!
Putting a Price on New Mexican Post
$500 a corpse, huh?
I know I missed something, but oh well.
Also see: Only Sadness Regarding Salisbury Slaying
That's the standard excuse now when cops murder someone: he had a knife!
ALBUQUERQUE — Amid increased scrutiny over the use of force, Albuquerque police shot and killed a man who authorities said slashed a good Samaritan’s throat late Thursday, police announced at a briefing.
Deputy Chief William Roseman told reporters that the knife-wielding man was attacking a woman when the good Samaritan stepped in to help late Thursday and was stabbed.
‘‘Officers attempted to talk to the offender and tried to have him drop the knife,’’ Roseman said. ‘‘As officers tried to deescalate the situation, the male offender began to advance on the officers.’’
Roseman said two officers shot and killed the man after he continued to move toward police.
The name of the suspect was not released. Officials also have not released the names of the officers who fired their weapons.
In addition, police did not say how many times the man was shot nor if lapel camera footage of the shooting was available.
So all we have is their word here, huh?
Roseman said the good Samaritan is in critical condition, while the woman has been treated and released.
It is the third fatal shooting by the Albuquerque Police Department since the US Justice Department released a scathing review of the agency’s use of force and the 40th police shooting since 2010. The report also faulted Albuquerque police for officers’ interaction with suspects who have mental illness and how the police SWAT team resolved conflicts.
Every department has a SWAT team now.
The city has entered negotiations with the Justice Department over reforms and it could take months before the two sides outline an agreement.
So when are the trials for murder?
--more--"
Related:
Arizona Riots in Response to Albuquerque Acquittal
And that was almost a year ago and it is not funny!!
Putting a Price on New Mexican Post
$500 a corpse, huh?
I know I missed something, but oh well.
Also see: Only Sadness Regarding Salisbury Slaying
That's the standard excuse now when cops murder someone: he had a knife!
Slow Saturday Special: Not Married to This Iranian Article
Or much else I see in the Globe these days.
"Iranian cleric decries divorce parties" Associated Press May 24, 2014
TEHRAN — A senior Iranian cleric on Friday called divorce parties a ‘‘satanic’’ Western import and a ‘‘poison’’ for Islamic society.
Related: To Hell With Harvard
Also see: The Ever Intensifying Madness of the Times
Looks like the Iranian may be right.
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, was referring to the Western phenomenon of holding parties to celebrate the dissolving of a marriage, a practice that has recently emerged in the Islamic republic.
Kashani told worshipers that marriage is a sacred bond and that Western practices like divorce parties undermine family values.
It does.
Iranian media in recent days have reported on extravagant preparations for such parties, including black roses and cakes.
‘‘Unfortunately, divorce parties are being organized as of recently. . . . This is very dangerous. It’s a poison for the Islamic civilization and society,’’ Kashani said in his Friday prayer sermon.
‘‘Men and women who hold divorce parties are definitely satanic,’’ he added.
Kashani urged young people to avoid adopting Western practices and to protect their local cultural achievements and traditions.
And they have centuries of them.
--more--"
I'm happy I did not see the videos.
Some people are all pissed off that Iran is acting so reasonably and trying to avoid war.
"Iranian cleric decries divorce parties" Associated Press May 24, 2014
TEHRAN — A senior Iranian cleric on Friday called divorce parties a ‘‘satanic’’ Western import and a ‘‘poison’’ for Islamic society.
Related: To Hell With Harvard
Also see: The Ever Intensifying Madness of the Times
Looks like the Iranian may be right.
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, was referring to the Western phenomenon of holding parties to celebrate the dissolving of a marriage, a practice that has recently emerged in the Islamic republic.
Kashani told worshipers that marriage is a sacred bond and that Western practices like divorce parties undermine family values.
It does.
Iranian media in recent days have reported on extravagant preparations for such parties, including black roses and cakes.
‘‘Unfortunately, divorce parties are being organized as of recently. . . . This is very dangerous. It’s a poison for the Islamic civilization and society,’’ Kashani said in his Friday prayer sermon.
‘‘Men and women who hold divorce parties are definitely satanic,’’ he added.
Kashani urged young people to avoid adopting Western practices and to protect their local cultural achievements and traditions.
And they have centuries of them.
--more--"
I'm happy I did not see the videos.
Some people are all pissed off that Iran is acting so reasonably and trying to avoid war.
Slow Saturday Special: Farmer's Daughter Dead in Zimbabwe
So is the farmer:
"Farmer, daughter killed in Zimbabwe" Associated Press May 24, 2014
JOHANNESBURG — A mostly white farmers’ group in Zimbabwe is mourning a farmer and his daughter who died after an assault reminiscent of attacks surrounding land seizures that began in 2000.
The Commercial Farmers’ Union said Friday that it was troubled by what it called the ‘‘total silence’’ of authorities following the attack on Malcolm and Catherine Francis, who suffered head injuries from possible axe blows on May 10 and died after surgery. The attack happened in Guruve district in northeastern Zimbabwe.
‘‘There are many other murders and other atrocities committed over the last 14 years during the land reform exercise that are yet to be resolved and their perpetrators have yet to be identified and held to account,’’ the farmers’ union said.
It also appealed for an end to land seizures in Zimbabwe, saying the upheaval had damaged the agricultural sector. Some government officials recognize the challenges and are trying to overcome them and promote investment, but violence, extortion, and theft are undermining those efforts, according to the farmers’ group.
--more--"
Also see: Mugabe's Birthday
Maybe you would like to take a walk around Zimbabwe for a while?
"Farmer, daughter killed in Zimbabwe" Associated Press May 24, 2014
JOHANNESBURG — A mostly white farmers’ group in Zimbabwe is mourning a farmer and his daughter who died after an assault reminiscent of attacks surrounding land seizures that began in 2000.
The Commercial Farmers’ Union said Friday that it was troubled by what it called the ‘‘total silence’’ of authorities following the attack on Malcolm and Catherine Francis, who suffered head injuries from possible axe blows on May 10 and died after surgery. The attack happened in Guruve district in northeastern Zimbabwe.
‘‘There are many other murders and other atrocities committed over the last 14 years during the land reform exercise that are yet to be resolved and their perpetrators have yet to be identified and held to account,’’ the farmers’ union said.
It also appealed for an end to land seizures in Zimbabwe, saying the upheaval had damaged the agricultural sector. Some government officials recognize the challenges and are trying to overcome them and promote investment, but violence, extortion, and theft are undermining those efforts, according to the farmers’ group.
--more--"
Also see: Mugabe's Birthday
Maybe you would like to take a walk around Zimbabwe for a while?
Slow Saturday Special: UNICEF's New Office in Myanmar
"UNICEF defends rental in Myanmar" Associated Press May 24, 2014
YANGON, Myanmar — The United Nations children’s agency has defended a decision to pay nearly $90,000 a month for its new office in Myanmar — a three-story house owned by the family of an ex-army general who was under with US sanctions during the country’s dictatorship.
UNICEF said in a press release Thursday it carried out an ‘‘extensive search,’’ looking at more than 40 locations, before signing the deal.
Without mentioning the name of the Major General Nyunt Tin — whose family owns the property — UNICEF said he no longer holds public office and was not currently subject to criminal charges or international sanctions.
Nyunt Tin was one of the most powerful ministers under the former junta regime led by Than Shwe.
Myanmar has implemented sweeping reforms since handing power to a nominally civilian government three years ago. However, former generals, business cronies, and drug lords tied to the old regime still control many of the country’s most lucrative assets and continue to benefit financially as foreign investors and aid groups flock to the country.
--more--"
Related: Myanmar Muzzles French Medics
YANGON, Myanmar — The United Nations children’s agency has defended a decision to pay nearly $90,000 a month for its new office in Myanmar — a three-story house owned by the family of an ex-army general who was under with US sanctions during the country’s dictatorship.
UNICEF said in a press release Thursday it carried out an ‘‘extensive search,’’ looking at more than 40 locations, before signing the deal.
Without mentioning the name of the Major General Nyunt Tin — whose family owns the property — UNICEF said he no longer holds public office and was not currently subject to criminal charges or international sanctions.
Nyunt Tin was one of the most powerful ministers under the former junta regime led by Than Shwe.
Myanmar has implemented sweeping reforms since handing power to a nominally civilian government three years ago. However, former generals, business cronies, and drug lords tied to the old regime still control many of the country’s most lucrative assets and continue to benefit financially as foreign investors and aid groups flock to the country.
--more--"
Related: Myanmar Muzzles French Medics
Slow Saturday Special: Old Man's Bottle of Water
"Sales of Old Man of the Mountain bottle reach $66,000
Sales from a commemorative liquor bottle featuring an image of New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain have generated more than $66,000 to help preserve the Hall of Flags in the State House. The New Hampshire Liquor Commission started a campaign in December to support preservation of the 115 historic flags. Nearly 80 percent of the 9,000 bottles sold by March. Fewer than 1,600 remain and are available at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets for $29.99. The Hall of Flags features a series of wartime flags, including 88 Civil War flags, as well as flags from World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War."
Sales from a commemorative liquor bottle featuring an image of New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain have generated more than $66,000 to help preserve the Hall of Flags in the State House. The New Hampshire Liquor Commission started a campaign in December to support preservation of the 115 historic flags. Nearly 80 percent of the 9,000 bottles sold by March. Fewer than 1,600 remain and are available at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets for $29.99. The Hall of Flags features a series of wartime flags, including 88 Civil War flags, as well as flags from World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War."
Slow Saturday Special: Car Motor Purrs Like Cat
"Cat survives being trapped in car engine in Manchester, N.H.
A cat trapped for 3 miles in a car engine is recovering after receiving more than 100 stitches at a veterinary hospital in Manchester, N.H. The cat, named Tommy by Manchester Animal Shelter volunteers, suffered third-degree burns last weekend. Several people attempted to pull him out after the driver heard the animal screaming. Three firefighters freed him; he was wedged in between a strut and the hot metal of the engine. Tommy underwent 90 minutes of surgery at the Veterinary Emergency Clinic of Manchester. No one has come forward to claim the cat, who is now under the care of the shelter."
A cat trapped for 3 miles in a car engine is recovering after receiving more than 100 stitches at a veterinary hospital in Manchester, N.H. The cat, named Tommy by Manchester Animal Shelter volunteers, suffered third-degree burns last weekend. Several people attempted to pull him out after the driver heard the animal screaming. Three firefighters freed him; he was wedged in between a strut and the hot metal of the engine. Tommy underwent 90 minutes of surgery at the Veterinary Emergency Clinic of Manchester. No one has come forward to claim the cat, who is now under the care of the shelter."
Slow Saturday Special: Santa Abused Animals
"Protest planned over animals at holiday theme park in Putney, Vt.
A holiday-themed park in Vermont is opening to visitors and protesters this weekend, a month after the owner and caretaker pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges. Lillian Billewicz and Brian Deistler — the owner and caretaker, respectively, of Santa’s Land — were arraigned on one misdemeanor count each and were released on court-ordered conditions. Authorities said they found about a dozen dead deer and 10 dead reindeer on the property. Sue Frazer-Stebbins of Saxtons River told the Rutland Herald that people are concerned about the animals’ health and have organized a protest and boycott at the Putney park for Saturday morning."
A holiday-themed park in Vermont is opening to visitors and protesters this weekend, a month after the owner and caretaker pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges. Lillian Billewicz and Brian Deistler — the owner and caretaker, respectively, of Santa’s Land — were arraigned on one misdemeanor count each and were released on court-ordered conditions. Authorities said they found about a dozen dead deer and 10 dead reindeer on the property. Sue Frazer-Stebbins of Saxtons River told the Rutland Herald that people are concerned about the animals’ health and have organized a protest and boycott at the Putney park for Saturday morning."
Friday, May 30, 2014
I'm Beat
It's been a long day of posting s***. Time to put on some music and relax.
Apple’s Beats buy is two-sided for music streaming
Apple on verge of buying Beats for $3.2b
I'm not listening, sorry. You can tell everybody, I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man!
"Search for flair grows as gadgets become accessories" by Barbara Ortutay | Associated Press May 30, 2014
NEW YORK — Beats Electronics’ colorful, oversized headphones serve as a fashion accessory to cool kids riding the New York City subway, but as tech companies such as Apple, Samsung, and others are discovering, wearable gadgets like smartwatches and Google Glass still have a long way to go to become trendy, must-have consumer items.
Apple’s $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, by far the company’s largest acquisition, is at least in part recognition that Beats founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine might be able to help Apple incorporate more style and flair into its premium technology gadgets — especially a coming wave of wearable devices.
Technology companies see wearables as an important area of growth beyond phones and tablets, and many are slowly realizing that if they expect people to wear gadgets — be they bracelets to monitor fitness activity, smartwatches to substitute smartphones, or Internet-connected goggles— those devices must focus as much on form as function.
So far, the most noteworthy wearables have hardly been stylish. The standard Google Glass product looks more like something out of Star Trek than a fashion accessory. Fitness bands meant to be worn 24 hours a day are difficult to match with evening gowns or even a suit and tie.
‘‘I guess they are accessories, but I would not say they are high fashion,’’ says Alison Minton, a blogger who writes about accessories, jewelry, and handbags on accessorygeneration.com. ‘‘There’s a ways to go before they could be considered high fashion in the way Chanel would be, or Prada.’’
To change that, tech companies are beginning to attract top talent from the world of fashion. Apple’s move comes less than a year after the iPhone and iPad inventor hired Angela Ahrendts, a respected executive who helped mold Burberry into the popular luxury brand it is today. In recent weeks, Google lured fashion and marketing executive Ivy Ross, who’s worked for Calvin Klein, the Gap, and Coach, to head its Google Glass unit....
I'm sorry, readers; I took off my glasses and I can't see a thing without them.
--more--"
What happened when I put them on:
"California motorist cleared in Google Glass case" by Julie Watson | Associated Press January 17, 2014
SAN DIEGO — A San Diego traffic court threw out a citation Thursday against a woman believed to be the first motorist in the country ticketed for driving while wearing a Google Glass computer-in-eyeglass device.
Commissioner John Blair ruled that Cecilia Abadie was not guilty because she had been cited under a code that requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the device was in operation, which the officer did not provide.
However, Blair did find that the language of the code specifically bars the operation of a video or TV screen or similar device on the front of a vehicle while it is moving — a provision that Blair said could be broad enough to apply to Google Glass.
The device in a kind of glass-wear frame features a thumbnail-size transparent display above the right eye.
Off come the glasses again.
Abadie said she was happy she won her case but hoped the court would have ruled that Google Glass is legal to wear while driving whether activated or not.
‘‘I believe it’s an initial success but we have a long way to go,’’ said Abadie, wearing the device outside the courthouse after the ruling....
‘‘The fun is just starting,’’ said Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Standford Law School.
From driverless cars to wearable devices that can enhance human functions, Wadhwa said, there are a host of legal questions to be answered. For example, when a Google-operated car is on the road and hits someone, who is responsible — the passenger, car manufacturer, or software developer?
Abadie, a software developer, is among some 30,000 people called ‘‘explorers’’ who have been selected to try out Google Glass before the technology becomes widely available to the public later this year.
Abadie was cited after being pulled over for speeding on a San Diego freeway in October and the California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass.
Officer Keith Odle, a 10-year veteran of the CHP, testified Thursday that the ‘‘hardware for this device was blocking her peripheral vision on her right side,’’ and that’s why she sped by his patrol car at 85 mph in her Toyota Prius.
Blair rejected that as speculation, noting that Odle had never worn the device. He also threw out Odle’s documentation of her speed and found Abadie not guilty of that count.
The commissioner also asked Odle to turn off his cellphone after it rang twice interrupting the proceedings.
Abadie’s attorney William Concidine said the device was not activated when she was driving and the code was irrelevant because it does not specifically state that drivers are barred from using Google Glass.
He said Thursday he hopes the case will spur lawmakers to review legislation on the issue, otherwise the code will be open to interpretation by individual courts.
The lightweight frames are equipped with a hidden camera and tiny display that responds to voice commands. The technology can be used to do things such as check email, learn background about something the wearer is looking at, or to get driving directions....
Google’s website contains an advisory for users: ‘‘Read up and follow the law. Above all, even when you’re following the law, don’t hurt yourself or others by failing to pay attention to the road.’’
You are not supposed to text on the road; how is surfing the web any different?
--more--"
"Ex-teacher who spied on students gets 25-year term" Associated Press March 12, 2014
WASHINGTON — A former Washington elementary school teacher who became one of the FBI’s most-wanted criminals after taking hidden video of his students using the bathroom and then eluded law enforcement officials by assuming fake identities and escaping to Nicaragua has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Eric Justin Toth spent five years on the run, living in Arizona and Texas before escaping the country. In 2012, the FBI put him on its ‘‘Ten Most Wanted’’ list, where he filled a vacancy created by Osama bin Laden’s death.
Related: FBI Case File: Checkmated
Before sentencing him Tuesday, a judge noted his skill at evading law enforcement and the large number of victims in the case, 17 in all.
Toth had asked for 22 years in prison, expressing remorse and promising to ‘‘do penance’’ for his deeds....
Toth, 32, became choked up while speaking, at points tearing up but at others attempting to joke. Toth, who will spend a lifetime on supervised release after he leaves prison, mentioned Google Glass and said he told his lawyer he could wear glasses that allow officials to ensure he is staying away from children.
He promised to spend his time in prison ‘‘trying to do penance in whatever humble ways I can.’’ Toth previously wrote in a letter to the judge that one of the things he wants to do is train seeing eye dogs as part of a prison program.
The prosecutor overseeing the case acknowledged that Toth had never distributed the images he took of children under his care. But she told the judge that Toth is ‘‘deeply disturbed and needs treatment.’’
Toth fled Washington in 2008 after images of child pornography were found on a camera he had used while a teacher at Beauvoir, a private elementary school.
--more--"
Time to turn the glasses off for the night.
Apple’s Beats buy is two-sided for music streaming
Apple on verge of buying Beats for $3.2b
I'm not listening, sorry. You can tell everybody, I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man!
"Search for flair grows as gadgets become accessories" by Barbara Ortutay | Associated Press May 30, 2014
NEW YORK — Beats Electronics’ colorful, oversized headphones serve as a fashion accessory to cool kids riding the New York City subway, but as tech companies such as Apple, Samsung, and others are discovering, wearable gadgets like smartwatches and Google Glass still have a long way to go to become trendy, must-have consumer items.
Apple’s $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, by far the company’s largest acquisition, is at least in part recognition that Beats founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine might be able to help Apple incorporate more style and flair into its premium technology gadgets — especially a coming wave of wearable devices.
Technology companies see wearables as an important area of growth beyond phones and tablets, and many are slowly realizing that if they expect people to wear gadgets — be they bracelets to monitor fitness activity, smartwatches to substitute smartphones, or Internet-connected goggles— those devices must focus as much on form as function.
So far, the most noteworthy wearables have hardly been stylish. The standard Google Glass product looks more like something out of Star Trek than a fashion accessory. Fitness bands meant to be worn 24 hours a day are difficult to match with evening gowns or even a suit and tie.
‘‘I guess they are accessories, but I would not say they are high fashion,’’ says Alison Minton, a blogger who writes about accessories, jewelry, and handbags on accessorygeneration.com. ‘‘There’s a ways to go before they could be considered high fashion in the way Chanel would be, or Prada.’’
To change that, tech companies are beginning to attract top talent from the world of fashion. Apple’s move comes less than a year after the iPhone and iPad inventor hired Angela Ahrendts, a respected executive who helped mold Burberry into the popular luxury brand it is today. In recent weeks, Google lured fashion and marketing executive Ivy Ross, who’s worked for Calvin Klein, the Gap, and Coach, to head its Google Glass unit....
I'm sorry, readers; I took off my glasses and I can't see a thing without them.
--more--"
What happened when I put them on:
"California motorist cleared in Google Glass case" by Julie Watson | Associated Press January 17, 2014
SAN DIEGO — A San Diego traffic court threw out a citation Thursday against a woman believed to be the first motorist in the country ticketed for driving while wearing a Google Glass computer-in-eyeglass device.
Commissioner John Blair ruled that Cecilia Abadie was not guilty because she had been cited under a code that requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the device was in operation, which the officer did not provide.
However, Blair did find that the language of the code specifically bars the operation of a video or TV screen or similar device on the front of a vehicle while it is moving — a provision that Blair said could be broad enough to apply to Google Glass.
The device in a kind of glass-wear frame features a thumbnail-size transparent display above the right eye.
Off come the glasses again.
Abadie said she was happy she won her case but hoped the court would have ruled that Google Glass is legal to wear while driving whether activated or not.
‘‘I believe it’s an initial success but we have a long way to go,’’ said Abadie, wearing the device outside the courthouse after the ruling....
‘‘The fun is just starting,’’ said Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Standford Law School.
From driverless cars to wearable devices that can enhance human functions, Wadhwa said, there are a host of legal questions to be answered. For example, when a Google-operated car is on the road and hits someone, who is responsible — the passenger, car manufacturer, or software developer?
Abadie, a software developer, is among some 30,000 people called ‘‘explorers’’ who have been selected to try out Google Glass before the technology becomes widely available to the public later this year.
Abadie was cited after being pulled over for speeding on a San Diego freeway in October and the California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass.
Officer Keith Odle, a 10-year veteran of the CHP, testified Thursday that the ‘‘hardware for this device was blocking her peripheral vision on her right side,’’ and that’s why she sped by his patrol car at 85 mph in her Toyota Prius.
Blair rejected that as speculation, noting that Odle had never worn the device. He also threw out Odle’s documentation of her speed and found Abadie not guilty of that count.
The commissioner also asked Odle to turn off his cellphone after it rang twice interrupting the proceedings.
Abadie’s attorney William Concidine said the device was not activated when she was driving and the code was irrelevant because it does not specifically state that drivers are barred from using Google Glass.
He said Thursday he hopes the case will spur lawmakers to review legislation on the issue, otherwise the code will be open to interpretation by individual courts.
The lightweight frames are equipped with a hidden camera and tiny display that responds to voice commands. The technology can be used to do things such as check email, learn background about something the wearer is looking at, or to get driving directions....
Google’s website contains an advisory for users: ‘‘Read up and follow the law. Above all, even when you’re following the law, don’t hurt yourself or others by failing to pay attention to the road.’’
You are not supposed to text on the road; how is surfing the web any different?
--more--"
"Ex-teacher who spied on students gets 25-year term" Associated Press March 12, 2014
WASHINGTON — A former Washington elementary school teacher who became one of the FBI’s most-wanted criminals after taking hidden video of his students using the bathroom and then eluded law enforcement officials by assuming fake identities and escaping to Nicaragua has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Eric Justin Toth spent five years on the run, living in Arizona and Texas before escaping the country. In 2012, the FBI put him on its ‘‘Ten Most Wanted’’ list, where he filled a vacancy created by Osama bin Laden’s death.
Related: FBI Case File: Checkmated
Before sentencing him Tuesday, a judge noted his skill at evading law enforcement and the large number of victims in the case, 17 in all.
Toth had asked for 22 years in prison, expressing remorse and promising to ‘‘do penance’’ for his deeds....
Toth, 32, became choked up while speaking, at points tearing up but at others attempting to joke. Toth, who will spend a lifetime on supervised release after he leaves prison, mentioned Google Glass and said he told his lawyer he could wear glasses that allow officials to ensure he is staying away from children.
He promised to spend his time in prison ‘‘trying to do penance in whatever humble ways I can.’’ Toth previously wrote in a letter to the judge that one of the things he wants to do is train seeing eye dogs as part of a prison program.
The prosecutor overseeing the case acknowledged that Toth had never distributed the images he took of children under his care. But she told the judge that Toth is ‘‘deeply disturbed and needs treatment.’’
Toth fled Washington in 2008 after images of child pornography were found on a camera he had used while a teacher at Beauvoir, a private elementary school.
--more--"
Time to turn the glasses off for the night.
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HOUSTON — Oil equals boom, especially in population right now. And Texas, in the midst of a significant energy rush, is seeing its towns and cities burst at the seams.
It's going to be like a sugar rush: crashing all to soon.
Three of the nation’s five fastest-growing cities, and seven of the top 15, are in the Lone Star State, according to new data from the US Census Bureau, part of a trend largely fueled by an oil boom.
Now these cities need to have enough roads, schools, water, and infrastructure to keep up — the growing pains of a surging population. And while it is viewed as opportunity, city planners are frazzled.
Odessa, Texas, smack-dab in the middle of the oil-rich Permian basin, is number 11 on the Census Bureau list. People are flooding the oil fields, booming thanks to new hydraulic fracturing technologies that allow drillers to access to once out-of-reach resources.
Related: Montana's Oil Boom
People are lured by higher-than-average salaries, but developers cannot build homes quickly enough, the schools are rapidly filling, and an overburdened water supply, made worse by a long drought, is stretched thin.
Overburdened in more ways than one when the polluted and poisonous waste water is injected into them wells.
‘‘It’s a challenge to continue to provide services to the rising population when you’re competing with the same workforce and labor that the oil field is,” said Richard Morton, Odessa’s city manager.
San Marcos, a city between Austin and San Antonio, has topped the list of expanding cities with more than 50,000 people for the second year in a row, showing growth of 8 percent between July 2012 and 2013 to 54,076 people.
Frisco, a suburb about 30 miles north of Dallas, has had growth ‘‘so long and sustained that we’re used to it,’’ said Mayor Maher Maso. Just 15 years ago there were only five schools in Frisco’s main school district. Now, there are 56 and seven under construction, he said.
For Texas, though, water is a concern, highlighted by years of debilitating drought.
I'm sick of being sold drought when the real problem is neglected infrastructure by this government.
Conservation is key, Maso said, and his city has distributed rainwater barrels, changed reuse policies, and is trying to make better arrangements to get water from a river on the Oklahoma border. I thought that was illegal.
‘‘That resource is challenging, and we have to change the way we do things,’’ he said.
--more--"
And about those droughts:
Colorado mudslide still unstable, hampering search
Search halted for 3 missing after Colorado slide
The large ridge that broke off? Due to fracking!
Not the first mudslide we have had this year, either, after a record snowpack from last winter's record snowfall.
"White House touts energy policies as rules loom" by Jim Kuhnhenn | Associated Press May 30, 2014
WASHINGTON — Setting the stage for upcoming restrictions on coal-fired power plants, the Obama administration is making a concerted effort to cast its energy policy as an economic success that is creating jobs, securing the nation against international upheavals, and shifting energy use to cleaner sources.
Like fracking and nuclear power!
In a 42-page report to be released Thursday, the White House contends that significant increases in the domestic production of natural gas and reductions in oil consumption have the United States in a better position to advance its economic and environmental goals.
??????
Few of the report’s conclusions are new, but a detailed analysis describes how past reliance on petroleum imports made the US economy especially susceptible to oil price shocks, a vulnerability that White House economists say has been diminished by a reduced US demand for foreign oil.
I'm tired of recycled oil from this agenda-pushing administration.
The report is designed to inoculate the administration against criticism that new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on coal-fired power plants, expected to be unveiled Monday, will increase electricity costs, cost jobs, and be a drag on economic growth. Conservatives and business groups such as the US Chamber of Commerce have contended that the reductions in emissions will be too small and the consequences to the economy too large to justify new restrictions.
OMG, it is a PUBLIC RELATIONS and POLITICAL piece of PROPAGANDA!
Enough with the IMAGERY and ILLUSION!!
While the White House economic report does not address those criticisms directly, it says greater domestic energy production, the use of wind and solar power, and the reduction in oil consumption ‘‘have had substantial economic and energy security benefits, and they are helping to reduce carbon emissions in the energy sector and thereby tackle the challenge posed by climate change.’’
Pffft!
A quarter of the report is devoted to analyzing the economic impact of the United States’ shift to producing more energy than it imports. The White House makes the case that the US economy is better protected from high oil prices than before.
Once again, government basing its decisions on fiction.
So, if an upheaval occurs in an oil-producing country and sends prices soaring, US consumers would still pay the higher costs at the pump, creating adverse economic reverberations.
That's because gas and oil need to be shipped to Ukraine and Israel as that Fed printing press whirs away.
But a greater portion of that consumer spending would stay in the United States and contribute to the economy instead of fleeing overseas. In theory, US drillers would get more money, pay more in taxes, and create jobs to find more oil.
That said, the United States remains a top oil importer, second only to China, and is the number one consumer of oil.
You have to love those two phrases back to back. Both mean the preceding is pure bull$hit!!!!
The White House report offers a lengthy list of Obama energy initiatives, ranging from new vehicle fuel economy standards to electric plants powered by renewable energy sources, that have contributed to less reliance on foreign oil. It also cites energy-efficient building projects and reduced processing time for onshore drilling permits and issuance of new offshore permits.
Yeah, BP got a whole slew of them.
Yet many of the trends that buttress the administration’s case are attributable to dramatic technological advances that have vastly expanded the extraction of domestic natural gas and oil. The main process, called hydraulic fracturing, has caused a furor within the environmental movement.
Not just with them. Please don't pigeonhole me, pos!
Natural gas is cleaner-burning than coal or oil, and the White House has embraced it as a transitional fuel. The report concedes ‘‘extraction of natural gas raises some environmental concerns,’’ and says the administration supports ‘‘safe and responsible development.’’
But what about the DRINKING WATER that can be LIT on FIRE?!
In addition, some of the positive trends predate Obama’s presidency, which began in 2009. The report acknowledges that the decline in petroleum consumption, for example, began in 2006, though it attributes much of the initial decline to the start of the recession. Meanwhile, natural gas consumption is up 18 percent since 2005.
Five years of recovery, so WTF?!!
Is it possible there NEVER WAS a RECOVERY for all but the elite and its political cla$$ of slaves?
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UPDATE: Group protests natural gas pipeline in Vermont
Maybe we could use something else for energy:
"EPA reaches deal to clean coal ash spill; Energy company must pay to clear sludge in N.C., Va." by Michael Biesecker and Mitch Weiss | Associated Press May 23, 2014
RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal environmental officials said Thursday that they have reached a deal with Duke Energy to clean up its mess from a massive coal ash spill into the Dan River that coated 70 miles of the waterway in North Carolina and Virginia with toxic gray sludge.
Related: Power Surge
Doesn't it just make you want to die?
The Environmental Protection Agency said it had finalized an enforceable agreement with the nation’s largest electricity company over the Feb. 2 spill, which was triggered when a pipe collapsed at Duke’s Dan River Steam Station.
The EPA will oversee the cleanup in consultation with federal wildlife officials under provisions in the Superfund law. Duke will reimburse the federal government for its oversight costs, including those incurred in the emergency response to the spill.
“EPA will work with Duke Energy to ensure that cleanup at the site, and affected areas, is comprehensive based on sound scientific and ecological principles, complies with all federal and state environmental standards, and moves as quickly as possible,” said Heather McTeer Toney, the EPA’s regional administrator based in Atlanta.
The agreement makes no mention of any fines imposed against Duke, which has its headquarters in Charlotte. The EPA did not immediately respond to questions Thursday about whether any civil penalties could still be forthcoming.
Duke did not immediately comment on the settlement.
Recent testing of water samples from the river show the level of contamination decreased quickly after the spill as the ash and the toxic heavy metals it contains sank to the bottom. Duke has already begun vacuuming out three large deposits of ash in the river, including a pocket that collected at the bottom of a dam in Danville, Va.
Yeah, they are doing such a good job.
What a whoreporate po$.
The byproduct left behind when coal is burned to generate electricity, the ash contains numerous toxic substances, including arsenic, selenium, chromium, thallium, mercury, and lead. Wildlife officials will be collecting tissue samples from fish in the Dan River to monitor whether the contamination works its way up the food chain. Public health officials in both states have advised residents not to eat fish caught downstream of the spill site.
Can they use the water yet?
“Conditions resulting from the coal ash release at the Dan River Steam Station present a substantial threat to public health or welfare and the environment if not properly managed,” the agency states in the agreement signed Thursday.
The agreement warns that any delay in the cleanup could cause serious problems.
“Actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances from this site, if not addressed by implementing the response action selected in this Action Memorandum, may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health, welfare or the environment,” the agreement says.
The agreement does not appear to resolve a criminal investigation into the spill and the company’s close relationships with North Carolina politicians and regulators.
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Coal corruption is everywhere:
"Coal-mine kickback scheme alleged" May 31, 2014
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former employees at a West Virginia coal mine are charged with pocketing almost $2 million from vendors in a pay-to-play kickback scheme, federal prosecutors said Friday.
US Attorney Booth Goodwin said the widespread setup required vendors to pay kickbacks to Arch Coal employees to do business with the coal company.
Yeah, so?
That's the AmeriKan $y$tem in the 21st-century, be it economic or political.
Four employees at Arch Coal’s Mountain Laurel mining complex in Logan County are accused of taking kickbacks from 2007 to 2012. Prosecutors said the mine’s former general manager, David E. Runyon, was at the center of the setup.
Prosecutors said some companies spent more than $400,000 to maintain lucrative contracts with Arch Coal, one of the biggest coal producers and marketers worldwide.
Ten people in all have been charged, with vendors, contractors, and four Arch employees among them. The employees are no longer with the company.
Companies knew Arch Coal would sever their contracts if the side payments stopped. Likewise, Runyon knew losing the contracts would hurt the companies, according to court documents.
‘‘This kind of pay-to-play scheme hurts honest coal industry vendors who refuse to pay bribes as a way to get customers,’’ Goodwin said in a news release Friday.
Arch Coal has mines in Wyoming, Colorado, Illinois, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. Its Mountain Laurel facility employs about 350 in underground and surface mining. Mountain Laurel produced 2.9 million tons in sales last year, according to the company’s website.
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Time to zero out this post.
"Report: Car, truck crashes cost whopping $871B" Associated Press May 30, 2014
WASHINGTON — The economic and societal harm from motor vehicle crashes amounted to a whopping $871 billion in a single year, according to a study released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
How can they possibly know that?
The study examined the economic toll of car and truck crashes in 2010, when 32,999 people were killed, 3.9 million injured, and 24 million vehicles damaged. Those deaths and injuries were similar to other recent years.
Actually, that second one is way more important.
Of the total price tag, $277 billion was tied to economic costs — nearly $900 for every person living in the United States that year. Harm from loss of life, pain, and decreased quality of life due to injuries was pegged at $594 billion.
NHTSA produces such calculations about once a decade.
The economic cost was the equivalent of nearly 2 percent of the US gross domestic product in 2010.
Yeah, it was car crashes that crashed the U.S. economy, not Wall Street thieves and their schemes or that nonstop Fed printing press.
Factors contributing to the toll include productivity losses, property damage, and cost of medical and rehabilitation treatment, congestion, legal and court fees, emergency services and insurance administration, and costs to employers. Overall, nearly three-quarters of these costs are paid through taxes, insurance, and congestion-related costs such as travel delay, fuel consumption, and increased environmental impacts.
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Also see:
Chief judge calls for improved traffic safety
One person killed in multi-vehicle crash on I-95 South in Norwood
They obviously did not listen. People starting to act just like government.
Time to turn the Globe car radio off, sorry. See you next month, readers.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Woman in fatal Norwood crash identified" by Melissa Hanson | Globe Correspondent May 31, 2014
The 58-year-old woman who died in a head-on crash on Interstate 95 in Norwood on Friday afternoon was identified as Jacqueline Fellow of Foster, R.I., State Police said.
A sport utility vehicle driven by Charles Iarrobino, 53, of Foxborough, crossed the median by Exit 11 at 4:22 p.m., when it hit a car in which Fellow and two additional people were riding, State Police said.
Fellow was pronounced dead at the scene.
Douglas Fellow, 62, and Nicholas Fellow, 28, of Providence were taken by helicopter to Boston Medical Center with serious injuries.
After hitting the car, the SUV struck another vehicle. Two passengers of that vehicle, Nina Battista and Katlynn Landry, both 25 and of Quincy, were taken to Norwood Hospital.
A 5-year-old boy, whose relationship to Iarrobino was not clear, was in the SUV during the crash, State Police said.
The boy and Iarrobino were transported to Norwood Hospital.
The crash remains under investigation.