Cooley Hurd
Cooley Hurd's JournalEver been to Shorpy.com? (dialup warning)
http://www.shorpy.com/They have thousands of historic, high-res photos. For example:
Per Big Eddie, Ryan called Akin and suggested he drop out...
...Ed says NBC News reporting this. no link yet...
Actor William Windom Dead at 88.
William Windom, Emmy Winner and TV Everyman, Dies at 88
By ERIC GRODE
Published: August 19, 2012
William Windom, who won an Emmy Award playing an Everyman drawn from the pages of James Thurber but who may be best remembered for his roles on Star Trek and Murder, She Wrote, died on Thursday at his home in Woodacre, Calif., north of San Francisco. He was 88.
<snip>
Mr. Windom won the Emmy for best actor in a comedy series in 1970 for his performance in My World and Welcome to It, a whimsical program based on James Thurbers humorous essays and fantastic cartoons. He subsequently toured the country with a solo show based on Thurbers works.
But filmgoers and television viewers may be more likely to associate him with roles that, though also fanciful, had a distinctly darker tone. He teamed up with Rod Serling on episodes of both The Twilight Zone (Five Characters in Search of an Exit in 1961 and Miniature in 1963) and Night Gallery; played the president in Escape From the Planet of the Apes; and had a memorable role in an early episode of Star Trek. He was also a guest star on dozens of other television shows.
</snip>
My mother met him once. She said he was a very nice fellow and a gentleman. Cross gently, Bill...
The Bernie Fine (SU) saga continues - wife & daughters are involved in controlled substance crimes
Syracuse, NY - A nurse practitioner has been charged with illegally selling prescription drugs to the daughter of fired Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.
Court papers said the defendant - Lauren Havens, of Manlius - provided prescription drugs to Sara Fine, 21.
Court papers also showed prescriptions written in the names of Bernie Fine's wife, Laurie Fine; a second daughter, Sheila Fine, 24; and son-in-law, Quint Streeter, 26, without proper authorization. The Fines are among seven people listed as receiving prescriptions for Percocet (Oxycodone) and Lorcet (Hydrocodone) from Havens.
<snip>
Dr. Michael J. Paciorek of ENT Facial Plastic Surgery also provided a brief written statement in which he sought criminal prosecution of Havens. He identified her as a former employee.
Paciorek said that on July 18 he met with Investigator W. J. Granato of the New York State Department of Health's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and Granata showed him a number of prescriptions that reportedly had been filled out by Havens for Hydrocodone and Oxycodone.
Those prescriptions were written for Sara Fine, Laurie Fine, Sheila Fine, Kristen Forte, Julie Moreland, Quint Streeter and Mark Zoli, according to Paciorek's statement. Zoli is Havens' married name.
</snip>
Facial plastic surgery? Look at the pic above again and ask yourself - did a WORSE crime take place beyond the prescriptions?
Noted Session Bassist Bob Birch is dead. Self inflicted gunshot wound...
Damn...
Robert Wayne Birch, a bass guitarist who played with Elton John and Billy Joel among many other huge artists, is dead after apparently having shot and killed himself this morning ... TMZ has learned.
Law enforcement sources tell us ... Birch was found around the corner from his home, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. We're told all signs point to a self-inflicted wound.
<snip>
Birch has been playing with Elton John since 1992, and was also involved in the biggest single of all time, "Candle in the Wind 1997."
Birch has also performed with legends like Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Cher, Sting, The Backstreet Boys, The Spice Girls, Clint Black and many others.
The Business Plot v2. This time without exploiting vets as a private army.
The Business Plot was an alleged political conspiracy in 1933. Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler claimed that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler as leader of that organization. In 1934, Butler testified to the Special Committee on Un-American Activities Congressional committee (the "McCormack-Dickstein Committee" on these claims. In the opinion of the committee, these allegations were credible. No one was prosecuted.
<snip>
The election of Roosevelt was upsetting for many conservative businessmen of the time, his "campaign promise that the government would provide jobs for all the unemployed had the perverse effect of creating a new wave of unemployment by businessmen frightened by fears of socialism and reckless government spending."
The Hoover administration had steadfastly defended the gold standard even when Britain abandoned it in September 1931. With a devalued currency, British manufactured goods became cheaper than American counterparts, resulting in more economic hardship for American industry. Roosevelt's campaign had promised to re-evaluate America's commitment to the gold standard and, through a series of actions from March 6 to April 18, 1933, abandoned it.
Conservative businessmen and other supporters of the gold standard were dismayed. Hoover, who had championed the standard, wrote that its abandonment was the first step toward "communism, fascism, socialism, statism, planned economy." He argued that the standard was needed to stop governments from "confiscating the savings of the people by manipulation of inflation and deflation....We have gold because we cannot trust Governments."
Roosevelt also dissolved any "gold clause" within contracts, public or private, that guaranteed payment in gold. This clause was part of every government bond and most corporate bonds. "It was a standard feature of mortgage agreements and other contracts. For creditors, it offered protection against inflation or congressional tinkering with the currency." For debtors, though, it was dangerous, as "The gold dollar, before Roosevelt reduced it, was $1.69. This meant that a bank, for example, could suddenly require a farmer to make mortgage payments in gold coin-transferring a $10,000 mortgage into one worth $16,900, raising the farmer's debt burden by nearly 70 percent." Likewise, the U.S. treasury could be required to pay the bearer of a $10,000 Liberty Bond $16,900 in gold coins. (The constitutionality of this Roosevelt policy was later challenged before the Supreme Court in the Gold Clause Cases.)
With the end of the gold standard, "conservative financiers were horrified. They viewed a currency not solidly backed by gold as inflationary, undermining both private and business fortunes and leading to national bankruptcy. Roosevelt was damned as a socialist or Communist out to destroy private enterprise by sapping the gold backing of wealth in order to subsidize the poor."
Ending the gold standard allowed the country to escape the cycle of deflation, but the shift was not painless. "Since higher prices were not yet accompanied by higher wages, inflation meant lower [real] incomes for those fortunate enough to be employed. Until the effects of increased investment spending ramified through the economy, there was little reason for investment incomes and hence consumption to rise dramatically. Industrial production remained volatile."
To encourage foreign investment, Roosevelt had the Reconstruction Finance Corporation purchase gold with dollars, thereby driving up the price of gold and reducing the value of the dollar. Still, this did not immediately affect the balance of trade. Those considering buying American goods anticipated that there would be a further depreciation that would allow their own currency further purchasing power and therefore greater profits, so they held back their orders. At the same time, Americans fearing additional depreciation purchased more foreign commodities in fear they would lose purchasing power in the future. "The volume of U.S. imports rose by 10 percent between 1932 and 1933. In contrast, exports stagnated. The consequence was a deteriorating balance of trade."
Another Roosevelt policy also had an unanticipated effect on the recovery: the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 16, 1933, provided established minimum wages of 40 cents an hour and revised upward the entire wage structure of many of the industries it covered; this placed upward pressure on labor costs.
The sustained recovery of industrial production "had to await stabilization of the dollar in 1934, along with the concomitant growth of commodity exports and capital imports."
Super PACs may support particular candidacies. In the 2012 presidential election, super PACs have played a major role, spending more than the candidates' election campaigns in the Republican primaries. As of early April 2012, Restore Our Futurea Super PAC usually described as having been created to help Mitt Romney's presidential campaignhas spent $40 million. Winning Our Future (a proNewt Gingrich group) spent $16 million. Super PACs are often run or advised by a candidate's former staff or associates.
In the 2012 election campaign, most of the money given to super PACs has come not from corporations but from wealthy individuals. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, the top 100 individual super PAC donors in 20112012 made up just 3.7% of contributors, but accounted for more than 80% of the total money raised, while less than 0.5% of the money given to the most active Super PACs was donated by publicly traded corporations. Super PACs have been criticized for relying heavily on negative ads.
On edit and upon reflection of my subject line:
There are a LOT of vets coming home and, with unemployment up, the use of vets as a private army is not as far-fetched as you'd imagine.
Cute little jumping goat acts like asshole and uses other goats as a springboard
The way he uses his goat bretheren as springboards makes me think he's a Republican...
Soledad O'Brien vs Robert E Murray (repug coal champion) this morning
Recap w/ paraphrasing:
Murray: Obama has ruined the coal industry. I personally know the people I've had to lay off and this is a human issue!
Soledad: Clean air is also a human issue. Besides, all the regs you've named were either enacted during the Bush admin or are not enacted yet due to court challenges. How has Obama ruined the coal industry?
Murray: That's incorrect. Coal production is down since "Barrack" (pronoucing it like an Army dorm) Obama took office.
Soledad: But according to the USDOE, coal production is up 4% since Obama took office.
Murray: That's incorrect. Besides, this is a human issue. I know the people I've had to lay off...
Soledad: Well, the regs you've named cannot be the cause, as I've just explained...
Murray: It's Obama's fault!!
Soledad: Well, you've donated $150,000 to the GOP this year alone, so are you sure this isn't about politics?
Murray: That's incorrect!!! *sputter*
video here! http://www.mediaite.com/tv/coal-plant-ceo-insists-his-issues-with-obama-arent-political-adds-that-obama-is-bad-for-america/
Of course, you might remember Mr Murray from the Utah Mine Disaster:
In 2006, the mine was cited for several safety violations, including lacking the required number of escape routes.[7] However, its 64 violations and $12,000 in fines was a relatively good safety record and on par with similar-sized mines throughout the country.[8][9] Murray said that the safety violations were trivial and included violations such as not having enough toilet paper in the restroom.[8] In addition, a practice[10] referred to as retreat mining was being conducted in some portions of the mine in which the coal had been removed by room and pillar method. The extraction of material literally creates a 'room' while the ceiling is supported by the 'pillars' of coal that remain. Retreat mining refers to the common practice of removing the pillars while retreating back towards the mine entrance.
On March 10, 2007 the north barrier pillar suffered from a rock burst, in which pressure causes material from the walls and ceiling to explode inward into the excavated spaces. No miners were injured and all equipment was recovered from the affected area, but the partial collapse closed off that area and forced the mine to instead extract coal that had a higher ash content. The company depended on the low-ash coal to meet its contractual obligations, however, so on March 21 a meeting was held in which it was decided to return to the south barrier pillar. This pillar was adjacent to the north barrier pillar. The March 10 event was never officially reported to MSHA, as required by law. Robert Murray claimed to be unaware of the incident but minutes of the March 21 meeting, released in January 2008, revealed that he had in fact known about it
James D. Watkins, who led Reagan’s commission on AIDS in the 1980s, dies at 85
Source: WaPo
Retired Navy Adm. James D. Watkins, who displayed independence in politically charged waters as energy secretary under President George H.W. Bush and as chairman of an influential commission on the AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s, died July 26 at his home in Alexandria. He was 85. He had congestive heart failure, said his wife, Janet Watkins.
Adm. Watkins was an imposing figure in his Navy dress blues a nuclear submarine officer who stood 6-foot-4 and was known as Radio-Free Watkins for his blunt outspokenness. As chief of naval operations from 1982 to 1986, Adm. Watkins served as the Navys top-ranking officer and representative on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was considered an architect of the Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative, the proposed missile shield and planned response to a Soviet nuclear attack.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan named him to lead the Presidents Commission on the HIV Epidemic. A Catholic and Republican, Adm. Watkins was an unlikely candidate for the panel. In addition, he said his experience dealing with HIV/AIDS was limited.
He told the president, Im a sailor and a submariner, and I know nothing about medicine,? his wife, Janet, said in an interview. But Reagan told him, Youre exactly who were looking for.?
<snip>
Under Adm. Watkins, the panel advocated the passage of anti-discrimination laws for AIDS patients and the need for laws to protect the rights and privacy of those with AIDS. He was most eloquent in describing the loneliness afflicting those with the disease.
All you have to do is walk in to the pediatric ward of Harlem Hospital and see those children, Adm. Watkins once said. Nobody wants them. They have no place to go. That gets you.
He added that he was profoundly affected by testimony about a 12-year-old boy infected with HIV and ostracized by classmates. The child was ridiculed, his parents received death threats and the familys car was pelted with stones.
Anthony S. Fauci, who oversees AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview that Adm. Watkins was an early and crucial advocate for AIDS patients
</snip>
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/james-d-watkins-who-led-reagans-commission-on-aids-in-the-1980s-dies-at-85/2012/07/27/gJQA4LSpEX_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
He tried, but his boss was tone-deaf to the plight.
Cross gently Admiral.
93 years ago tonight: the start of the Chicago Race Riots...
Chicago Race Riot of 1919
Starting with a white man throwing rocks at blacks in the water at a beach on the South Side which resulted in an African American's death, conflict escalated when police did not arrest the white man but arrested a black man instead. Objections by blacks were met with violence by whites. Attacks between whites and blacks erupted swiftly. At one point a mob of white men threatened Provident Hospital, many of whose patients were African American. The police held them off. The riot lasted for nearly a week, ending only after the government deployed nearly 6,000 National Guard troops. They stationed them around the Black Belt to prevent further white attacks. By the night of July 30, most violence had ended. Most of the rioting, murder, and arson was the result of ethnic whites attacking the African-American population in the city's Black Belt on the South Side. Most of the casualties and property damage were suffered by blacks. Newspaper accounts noted numerous attempts at arson; for instance, on July 31, more than 30 fires were started in the Black Belt before noon and were believed to be due to arson. Steel cables had been put across the streets to prevent fire trucks from entering the areas. The Mayor's office was told of a plan to burn down the black area and run its residents out of town. There were also sporadic violent attacks in other areas of the city, including the Chicago Loop. In the rioting, 38 people died (23 African Americans and 15 whites), and 537 were injured (two-thirds were African Americans). Patrolman John W. Simpson was the only policeman who was killed in the riot. Approximately 1000 residents, mostly African Americans, were left homeless after fires destroyed their homes. Numerous African-American families left the city by train before the rioting had ended, returning to families in the South.
Chief of Police John J. Garrity closed "all places where men congregate for other than religious purposes" to help restore order. Governor Frank Lowden authorized the deployment of the 11th Illinois Infantry and its machine gun company, as well as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd reserve militia. These four units totaled 3,500 men. The Cook County Sheriff deputized between 1000 and 2000 former soldiers to help keep the peace. With the reserves and militia guarding the Black Belt, the city arranged for emergency provisions to supply its residents with fresh food. Whites delivered food and supplies to the line established by the military; from there, deliveries were distributed within the Black Belt by African Americans. In addition, while industry was closed, the packing plants arranged to deliver pay to certain areas so African-American men could pick up their money.
After order was restored, Illinois Governor Frank Lowden was urged to create a state committee to study the cause of the riots. He proposed forming a committee to write a racial code of ethics and to draw up racial boundaries for activities within the city.
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