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Cooley Hurd

Cooley Hurd's Journal
Cooley Hurd's Journal
August 19, 2016

Popular Character Actor Jack Riley dies (Mr Carlin on Bob Newhart Show)

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jack-riley-20160819-snap-story.html



Jack Riley, who played a counseling client on "The Bob Newhart Show" in the 1970s and also voiced a character on Nickelodeon's animated "Rugrats," died Friday. The 80-year-old actor died in Los Angeles, according to his representative, Paul Doherty.

Besides portraying grumpy, self-absorbed Elliot Carlin on “The Bob Newhart Show” and providing the voice for absent-minded dad Stu Pickles on "Rugrats" and its spinoff, "All Grown Up!," Riley appeared in the Mel Brooks films "History of the World: Part I," ''High Anxiety" and "Spaceballs" among his more than 150 credits over a career spanning five decades,

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He's been in so many things and yet we hardly knew his name. Cross gently, Jack!

(On edit: My original source seemed to be anti-Clinton since all their click-bait was anti-Clinton, so I changed the content of my post)
August 18, 2016

Arthur Hiller, Director of 'Love Story,' Dies at 92

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/arthur-hiller-dead-love-story-720777



Arthur Hiller, the Oscar-nominated director who transitioned from television to helm such classic films as Love Story, The Out-of-Towners and The In-Laws before serving four terms as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has died. He was 92.

Hiller, the 2002 recipient of the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his lifetime of charitable efforts, died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, AMPAS announced.

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Hiller started out in radio and then television, directing scores of episodes of such series as Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Rifleman. He received an Emmy nomination for an installment of the gritty ABC drama Naked City and helmed the pilot for the wacky ABC sitcom The Addams Family.

<snip>

He did two films with screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky -- The Americanization of Emily (1964), starring James Garner and Julie Andrews, and The Hospital (1971), toplined by George C. Scott — and two others with Neil Simon: The Out-of-Towners (1970), starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as hopeless suburbanites, and the three-act Plaza Suite (1971), starring Walter Matthau.

In addition to the comedy The In-Laws (1979), which featured Alan Arkin as a mild-mannered dentist thrust into a wild CIA caper with the father (Peter Falk) of his soon-to-be son-in-law, Hiller’s impressive body of work includes the musical Man of La Mancha (1972), with Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren; The Man in the Glass Booth (1975), starring Maximilian Schell; and Silver Streak (1976), the first pairing of Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.


A very impressive body of work. Cross gently, Mr Hiller.

August 18, 2016

40 yrs ago today. The Axe Murder at the DMZ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_murder_incident



The axe murder incident (Korean: 판문점 도끼살인사건; Hanja: 板門店도끼殺人事件,도끼蠻行事件; literally, Panmunjom axe murder incident) was the killing of two United States Army officers, Arthur Bonifas and Mark Barrett, by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) located in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The U.S. Army officers had been part of a work party cutting down a poplar tree in the JSA that partially blocked the view of United Nations (U.N.) observers, when they were assaulted by the North Koreans and killed.

Three days later, American and South Korean forces launched Operation Paul Bunyan, an operation that cut down the tree with a show of force to intimidate North Korea into backing down, which it did. North Korea then accepted responsibility for the earlier killings.

The incident is also known alternatively as the hatchet incident, the poplar tree incident, and the tree trimming incident.


The incident
Initial trimming[edit]
On August 18, 1976, a group of five Korean Service Corps (KSC) personnel escorted by a UNC security team consisting of Captain Arthur Bonifas, his South Korean (ROK) Army counterpart, Captain Kim, the platoon leader of the current platoon in the area (First lieutenant Mark Barrett), and 11 enlisted personnel, both American and South Korean,[2] went into the JSA to trim the tree, as previously scheduled, with the KPA delegation.

The two captains did not wear side arms, as members of the Joint Security Area were limited to only five armed officers and 30 armed enlisted personnel at a time. However, there were mattocks in the back of the 2½ ton truck. The KSC workers had the axes they brought to prune the tree branches. The tree had been scheduled to be trimmed seven days earlier, but rain had caused the work to be rescheduled.

After trimming began, about 15 North Korean soldiers appeared, commanded by Senior Lt. Pak Chul, whom the UNC soldiers had previously nicknamed "Lt. Bulldog" due to a history of confrontations.[3][4] Pak and his subordinates appeared to observe the trimming without concern for approximately 15 minutes, until he abruptly told the UNC to cease the activity, stating that the tree could not be trimmed "because Kim Il Sung personally planted it and nourished it and it's growing under his supervision."[5] Capt. Bonifas ordered the detail to continue, and turned his back on Lt. Pak Chul.[6]

Attack
After being ignored by Bonifas, Pak sent a runner across the Bridge of No Return. Within minutes, a North Korean guard truck crossed the bridge and approximately 20 more North Korean guards disembarked carrying crowbars and clubs. Pak again demanded that the tree trimming stop. When Bonifas again turned his back on him, Pak removed his watch, carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, placed it in his pocket, and then shouted "kill the bastards."[6][7] Using axes dropped by the tree-trimmers, the KPA forces attacked the two U.S. soldiers, Bonifas and Lt. Barrett, and wounded all but one of the UNC guards.

While Bonifas was knocked to the ground by Pak and then bludgeoned to death by at least five North Koreans, Barrett jumped a low wall which led into a 4.5-metre (15 ft) deep tree-filled depression, just across the road from the tree. The depression was not visible from the road because of the dense grass and small trees. The entire fight lasted for only 20–30 seconds before the UNC force managed to disperse the North Korean guards and place Bonifas's body in their truck.[7] However, there was no sign of Barrett and the two UNC guards at OP No. 5 could not see him.

The UNC force did, however, observe the North Korean guards at KPA No. 8 (along the UNC emergency egress road) exhibiting strange behavior, in that one guard would take an axe and go down into the depression for a couple of minutes and then come back up and hand the axe to another guard who would repeat the process.[9] This went on for approximately 90 minutes until the UNC guards at OP No. 5 were informed that Barrett was missing, at which time they informed their superiors about the KPA activity in the depression. A search and rescue squad was quickly dispatched and found Barrett had been attacked with the axe by the North Koreans.[9] Barrett was recovered and transferred to a hospital in Seoul via an aid station at Camp Greaves, but died during the journey.

Captain Shirron (Bonifas' replacement), Captain Shaddix, the joint duty officer's driver, the joint duty officer, and the OP No. 5 guard witnessed the attack from OP No. 5 and recorded the incident with both a black and white camera, which ran out of film, and Shaddix's 35 mm camera with a telephoto lens. The UNC guard at CP No. 3 (Bridge of No Return) recorded the incident with a movie camera.

Reaction
Shortly after the incident, the North Korean media began airing reports of the fight. The North Korean version stated:
Around 10:45 a.m. today, the American imperialist aggressors sent in 14 hoodlums with axes into the Joint Security Area to cut the trees on their own accord, although such a work should be mutually consented beforehand. Four persons from our side went to the spot to warn them not to continue the work without our consent. Against our persuasion, they attacked our guards en masse and committed a serious provocative act of beating our men, wielding murderous weapons and depending on the fact that they outnumbered us. Our guards could not but resort to self-defense measures under the circumstances of this reckless provocation.

Within four hours of the attack, Kim Jong-il (son of the North Korean leader Kim Il-sung) addressed the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he presented a prepared document describing the incident as an unprovoked attack on North Korean guards, led by American officers. He then introduced a resolution asking the conference to condemn that day's grave U.S. provocation and called on participants to endorse both the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea and the dissolution of the United Nations Command, which was seconded by Cuba. The members of the conference passed the resolution.

The CIA considered that the attack had been pre-planned by the North Korean government. A variety of responses were evaluated. Readiness levels for American forces in South Korea were increased to DEFCON 3 early on August 19. Rocket and artillery attacks in the area were considered, but discounted due to an unfavorable 4:1 ratio of artillery pieces and because President Park Chung-hee did not want military action taken.

Operation Paul Bunyan
In response to the "axe murder incident", the UNC determined that instead of trimming the branches that obscured visibility, they would cut down the tree with the aid of overwhelming force. The parameters of the operation were decided in the White House, where President Gerald Ford had held crisis talks. Ford and his advisers were concerned about making a show of strength to chasten North Korea, but without causing further escalation.[13] The operation, named after mythical lumberjack Paul Bunyan, was conceived as a US-South Korean show of force, but was also carefully managed to prevent further escalation. It was planned over two days by General Richard G. Stilwell and his staff at the UNC headquarters in Seoul.[6]



August 13, 2016

6 Killed in Plane Crash at Shannon Airport in Virginia

Source: NBC Washington DC

Six people are dead after a plane crashed at an airport near Fredericksburg, Virginia, state police say.

The small plane crashed into the woods near the end of the runway at Shannon Airport Friday afternoon. Shannon Airport is located about five miles from downtown Fredericksburg.

Virginia State Police said the plane was trying to land at the airport when it came to the end of the runway and pulled back up. The plane made it beyond the railroad tracks at the end of the airport property, banked left and struck the tree line.

The plane immediately caught fire when it crashed in the trees and was so badly burned that responders to the crash could hardly see the plane's tail number, making it hard to identify the aircraft.



Read more: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Plane-Crash-Reported-at-Shannon-Airport-in-Va-390003341.html



August 12, 2016

Happy 35th Birthday, IBM PC! In honor of it, some GREAT vintage ads

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer

Debut[edit]
IBM is proud to announce a product you may have a personal interest in. It's a tool that could soon be on your desk, in your home or in your child's schoolroom. It can make a surprising difference in the way you work, learn or otherwise approach the complexities (and some of the simple pleasures) of living.

It's the computer we're making for you.
—?IBM PC advertisement, 1982[52]

After developing it in 12 months—faster than any other hardware product in company history—IBM announced the Personal Computer on 12 August 1981. Pricing started at US$1,565 (equivalent to $4,073 in 2015) for a configuration with 16K RAM, Color Graphics Adapter, and no disk drives. The company intentionally set prices for it and other configurations that were comparable to those of Apple and other rivals;[53][23][5][36][17] one analyst stated that IBM "has taken the gloves off",[1] while the company said "we suggest [the PC's price] invites comparison".[54] Microsoft, Personal Software, and Peachtree Software were among the developers of nine launch titles, including EasyWriter and VisiCalc.[53] In addition to the existing corporate sales force IBM opened its own Product Center retail stores. After studying Apple's successful distribution network, the company for the first time sold through others, ComputerLand and Sears Roebuck.[53][19][4][20][5] Because retail stores receive revenue from repairing computers and providing warranty service, IBM broke a 70-year tradition by permitting and training non-IBM service personnel to fix the PC.

BYTE described IBM as having "the strongest marketing organization in the world", but the PC's marketing also differed from that of previous products. The company was aware of its corporate reputation among potential customers; an early advertisement began "Presenting the IBM of Personal Computers".[52][55][5] The advertisements emphasized the novelty of an individual owning an IBM computer, describing "a product you may have a personal interest in"[52] and asking readers to think of "'My own IBM computer. Imagine that' ... it's yours. For your business, your project, your department, your class, your family and, indeed, for yourself."


A compilation of PC ads from the early 80's:



August 7, 2016

The Rev has an Iraq War widow on, who was ALSO scammed by Trump U...

Cheryl Lankford. She is livid about Trump's Purple Heart stunt!

Poor woman...

August 6, 2016

Joy Reid knocks it out of the park again!

Right now, she has Malcolm Nance, General McCaffrey and Carl Paladino (Trump surrogate) on her show, and she is kicking Paladino's ass to the curb!!!!! Wish I could post the clip!

On edit: Paladino was saying disparaging things to Gen McCaffrey ("Where did HE get off the bus" after the General said Trump was a danger) and Joy said (paraphrase) "I won't let you disrespect a triple Purple Heart winner."

She then asked if the General if he chooses to respond, but also said it was okay if he didn't, since responding would dignify the comment from Paladino.

On edit: the clip! http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/security-experts-worry-about-trump-739398723509

Thanks Spitfire!

August 5, 2016

128 years ago today: Bertha Benz makes the first road trip

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz



Bertha Benz (née Ringer, 3 May 1849 – 5 May 1944) was a German automotive pioneer. She was the wife and business partner of automobile inventor Karl Benz. In 1888, she was the first person to drive an automobile over a long distance.[1] In doing so, she brought the Benz Patent-Motorwagen worldwide attention and got the company its first sales.

In August 1888, without telling her husband and without permission of the authorities, Benz drove with her sons Richard and Eugen, thirteen and fifteen years old, in the newly constructed Patent Motorwagen automobile—from Mannheim to Pforzheim—becoming the first person to drive an automobile over a real distance. Motorized drives before this historic trip were merely very short trial drives, returning to the point of origin, made with mechanical assistants. Following wagon tracks, this pioneering tour had a one-way distance of about 106 km (66 mi).

Although the ostensible purpose of the trip was to visit her mother, Bertha Benz had other motives: to prove to her husband—who had failed to consider marketing his invention adequately—that the automobile they both heavily invested in would become a financial success once it was shown to be useful to the general public; and to give her husband the confidence that his constructions had a future.

She left Mannheim around dawn, solving numerous problems along the way.[8] Bertha demonstrated her significant technical capabilities on this journey.[9] With no fuel tank and only a 4.5-litre supply of petrol in the carburetor, she had to find ligroin, the petroleum solvent needed for the car to run. It was only available at apothecary shops, so she stopped in Wiesloch at the city pharmacy to purchase the fuel.[10] At the time petrol and other fuels could only be bought from chemists and so this is how the chemist in Wiesloch became the first fuel station in the world.

She even cleaned a blocked fuel line with her hat pin and used her garter as isolation material.[9] A blacksmith had to help mend a chain at one point. When the wooden brakes began to fail Benz visited a cobbler to install leather, making the world's first pair of brake pads.[2] The thermosiphon system was employed to cool the engine, making water supply a big worry along the trip. The trio added water to their supply every time they stopped.[10] The car's two gears were not enough to surmount uphill inclines and Eugen and Richard often had to push the vehicle.[10] Benz reached Pforzheim somewhat after dusk, notifying her husband of her successful journey by telegram. She drove back to Mannheim several days later.

Along the way, several people were frightened by the automobile. Some even thought that two young boys and a woman on a hissing, thumping horseless carriage could only be the work of the Devil himself.[11] The novel trip received a great deal of publicity, as she had sought. The drive was a key event in the technical development of the automobile. The pioneering couple introduced several improvements after Bertha's experiences. She reported everything that had happened along the way and made important suggestions, such as the introduction of an additional gear for climbing hills and brake linings to improve brake-power. Her trip proved to the burgeoning automotive industry that test drives were essential to their business.

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August 3, 2016

Watch Trump now... Are we seeing a meltdown?

He brings up NASA, completely out of context. Says NASA's failing and ties in employment. Segues into Secretary Clinton (who had nothing to do with either). My God.

Rubbing my eyes...

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