The events taking place in Ferguson Missouri are being watched by all states.. the national divide appears strong in some quarters of the country.. Racial tensions are exploding .. rage is developing like a summer heat wave of emotion and hate.. And charges of overreach are being hurled at Ferguson police over their use of Pentagon style weapons in the face of looters and protesters in the killing of Michael Brown.. Things progressed Sunday night into the chaos terriroty.. Governor Nixon is calling in the National Guard to secure a sense of order in a town consumed by anarchy and anger.. This latest turn of events taking place after a week and one day of protests, often coupled with tear gas and more..

However, though an important illustration of life and race relations in America at this time, the story taking place in Ferguson goes beyond just colors that are skin deep.. Something else is in clearer focus: Police actions throughout this nation..

There seems to be an increased presence of cops in Darth Vader gear, military style weapons, tasers and guns constantly drawn..

When my wife and I were traveling home on Easter with our son from a family dinner, we were actually pulled over by police for going 5 miles over the speed limit in a construction zone–an inactive zone on Easter Sunday.. The police offer gave us a near $200 citation (no points as illustration of ‘kindness’ on a holiday) .. But the way the officer acted was absurd. While I understand his job is dangerous and without any real moment of safety, to place your hand on your gun the entire time you’re talking to a family on a Easter Sunday afternoon is a bit much. But continuing to do so while looking at my son, holding his Easter basket of candy and nickles, is ludicrous… my wife and I sort of froze in our seats as we saw him eye us up with the possibility of drawing out his weapon at any point, wondering if any wrong move may have equaled an uncomfortable moment or something even more dire..

Whether it’s real or just perception, police action and the reaction from the citizenry is getting dicier by the day..

Even the biggest proponents of law, order, and police are uncomfortable with allegations of brutality, video evidence of brutality, and local police forces ditching blue uniforms for those that look more like a Central American army ..

This is not just a story of Ferguson.. this is a story that goes deeper. There are hundreds if not more websites and Facebook pages popping up daily to document what many deem as police abuse. Stories of such nature garner thousands of comments at a time..

The latest example I have seen making headlines: Ocala Florida police are defending their forces against charges of abuse after cops after a 30 second video made the rounds online showing Roy Sherman being tased and mistreated.. Cops released their own footage showing that there’s much more to the story than a 30 second mistreatment, and that the altercations stemmed from resistance to cooperate and attempting to drive away from the scene.

And that seems to be the common denominator: For every example of mistreatment, police forces circle their wagons and release their own story. Their own point of view–a view obviously shaped by common criminals and high profile scum that they regularly have to deal with. Even in Ferguson, police seem to be standing their ground by showcasing a video of Michael Brown supposedly robbing a convenience store before police killed him for unrelated reasons..

The tension between police and the policed is not going away, however. Instead, with each passing day and each new cell phone camera videptaping arrests, the situation is being antagonized.

Meanwhile, FBI and state threat fusion centers are busy documenting the ‘bad guys’ .. The victims are often innocent. The police often over react. Things happen–bad things. Tasers..guns.. weapons of war.. All at the center of this debate.

Judging from the scenario still unfolding in Ferguson, there does not appear to be a relief from the allegations of police abuse, or police abuse, as well..

A national trend .. We all need to calm down.

My son used to watch Caillou, before his 3 and a half year old brain figured out it was a ‘baby show.’ But I recall one episode called CAILLOU THE POLICE OFFICER. Caillou is outside on a hot day and a police officer is giving parking tickets. Caillou offers the cop water and is told why the cop gives out tickets: Because cars park too close to fire hydrants and if Caillou’s school catches ablaze trucks won’t be able to hook up their water. Quick and easy solution–but of course that will never explain why cities have imposed strict fees on tickets and fines for not paying. The city of Harrisburg PA actually has seen three major restaurants shut down due to parking costs–patrons just want to avoid the meters. The Caillou episode also represents a peaceful scene of friendliness.

If only it was that way.

Gone are the days of a police officer walking the beat down a friendly street.. (unless those moments of tranquility were just confined to old movies and comedy shows to begin with).. Enter the days of war of the worlds. Police, armed to teeth with Pentagon gifts of battle, and the homegrown citizen, often angry and unemployed. Stretched to the limit by a troubled economy. Some black, some white.. some Hispanic.. some Muslim–but seldom the rich. The masses are increasingly cased by classes.. Rich vs poor is more common than people admit. The real color blind foe: Elitism and classism.. But the wealthy don’t want you to know that..

Different strokes. Different folks.
Different standards .. different hazards..

The ties that bind us often blind us.
We’re in this together..

All people. The police, included.. The quicker we realized that we are a nation united to stand the faster we’ll prevent the divided fall.

Person critically wounded in Ferguson shooting

Person critically wounded in Ferguson shooting

It really couldn’t be a more perfect August day..

Missouri Governor Enacts Midnight Curfew in Ferguson

Missouri Governor Enacts Midnight Curfew in Ferguson

Proof I’m raising my son the right way.. Superman and friends cars. And Freddy as the villain.

Revel casino to close 8 days earlier than planned

3000+ out of work…
The show is over for Atlantic City..

Revel casino to close 8 days earlier than planned

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WggJUN039k?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

RAW COVERAGE OF FERGUSON FRIDAY NIGHT FROM VICE.COM

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Ferguson protests reignite overnight as cops again fire teargas at demonstrators

Ferguson protests reignite overnight as cops again fire teargas at demonstrators

IT’S A SAD FACT.. SUMMER IS ALMOST BEHIND US

ISIS massacres 80 Yazidis in northern Iraq town, say Iraqi officials

Islamic militants killed 80 members of Iraq’s Yazidi minority in a northern village, sources told Fox News on Friday.

ISIS massacres 80 Yazidis in northern Iraq town, say Iraqi officials

THE UFOS NOT AMONG US

The tale goes like this: For years, gullible Ufologists have fallen for a great hoax.. They have believed that some other civilization is coming to the planet, flying saucers around the globe, and abducting people in the deep south only to probe the portion portions of them deeply..

Apparently, the theory goes, the government has put out the false UFO stories for years.. they have given the fake stories to UFO experts who happily ate up all of the available disinformation.

This whole storyline is apparently hidden in the treasure trove of documents released by leaker Edward Snowden..

A new documentary is exposing how the government case over fake evidence of ET life for decades.. The documentary is called MIRAGE MEN, and it is gaining a number of awards and lots of attention in various UFO and skeptic circles.. 

Steve Rose of the UK GUARDIAN writes this in his piece on this potential interstellar false flag:

The place of movies in the grand UFO conspiracy is a tricky area. Depending on which theory you subscribe to, Hollywood’s steady stream of sci-fi is either a deliberate exaggeration, designed to make the “truth” look unbelievable (the “you’ve been watching too many movies” defence), or it’s a way of psychologically preparing the populace for staggering alien secrets yet to be revealed. There are at least grounds for suspicion in the latter camp. Pilkington points to the CIA’s Psychological Strategy Board, founded after the second world war to promote US propaganda. Associated with the board was veteran film producer Darryl Zanuck. In 1951, Zanuck executive-produced seminal alien-visitation sci-fi The Day the Earth Stood Still, often cited as a government-sanctioned testing of the waters for alien contact. Like Zanuck, the film’s writer, Edmund North, was ex-military, while director Robert Wise apparently became a UFO believer on account of discussions he had with Washington figures during the making of the movie.

Steven Spielberg is a less likely government stooge, though he has been obsessed by aliens his entire career, from Close Encounters and ET up to War of the Worlds and the last Indiana Jones film (not forgetting his producer role in Falling Skies, Transformers and, er, Men in Black). If anyone’s paving the way for the big reveal, it’s Spielberg, but, after 30 years of paving, we’re still waiting.

How true that is.. not only Spielberg, but lots of others too like George Lucas .. 

And who can’t listen to Whitley Strieber’s detailed description of his abduction without wincing in pain..?

The tin foil hat wearing club I subscribe —there are different sects of us—does not simply buy into every and all conspiracy theories.. we discern. we analyze.. we report.. we often don’t decide. The jury is still out amongst my brand of believers as to whether aliens, God, or even US are real.. Maybe this imaginary world is a fairy tale, or a dream.. maybe a nightmare.. 

Nonetheless, it’s certainly believable that government spooks can have some fun with the UFO crazed people of the planet.. And plant false information—perhaps false memories—in the world..

How widespread, though?
Why did Ronald Reagan constantly talk about alien threats.. did Dick Nixon show a dead alien to Jackie Gleason? and did IKE, the one we liked, put ‘In God we trust’ on change because aliens told him there is no God?

Or was it all a hoax..?
IS anything real?

…maybe not.

The truth is out there.
Or within.

Experts: Record Cold Summer Leads To Changing Leaves In August

Friday morning, Pittsburgh is waking up to temperatures in the 40s.

And the 40sa near me in the Eastern part of the state.

And I concur with the expert quoted: I am seeing yellow and red colors already showing up, a week prior to school evening beginning.. I truly hope this is not a harbinger of a winter of discontent to come..?

We have this from Accuweather: Summer is going to make ‘one last gasp’ late August.. that may upset those who felt summer was just a soft breath of air to begin with. 

Experts: Record Cold Summer Leads To Changing Leaves In August

If anyone wants a real scare, look no further than reality

Namely this documentary on Netflix: FORGOTTEN PLANET: ABANDONED AMERICA. It’s another example of why reality scares me much more profoundly than any work of fiction.

The documentary isn’t new.. But as a busy adult, I only watch things when I get the chance.. It was produced in 2011, and is a graphic account of how once booming towns in the United States often become abandoned ghost towns.

There is something brutally frightening to me about decaying structures and silent facilities.. I have near me a hospital that was active for over one hundred years, and now sits idle as bankruptcy took the legs out from under the workers .. the building, in only two years, has become overgrown with the earth and is already appearing as though it was forsaken over a decade ago.. It’s so amazing to see how quickly our planet makes us forget people ever lived in certain spots. Abandoned buildings serve as a reminder: We are dust and so are the places we inhabit.. They’ll be gone just as we will.

Also near me:  Centralia, the town I grew up in and have written about extensively on my site. Anyone visiting that town wouldn’t even know that it was once filled with homes stacked on top of each other, taverns on every corner, and churches active every Sunday.. A mine fire swept away life and the earth, again, took over.

So give this 40 some minute documentary a chance—if you’re like me and chilled to the core by abandoned structures, try out FORGOTTEN PLANET: ABANDONED AMERICA.. turn off the lights.. lock the doors. The zombie is time. And it eats.

ABC NEWS is reporting that the Secret Service is aware of a photo existent on social media: An ISIS flag in front of the White House..

THIS from ABC NEWS:

"We have an intelligence division whose mission is to assess information that we receive every day for dangerousness or potential threat level," Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told ABC News. "We are aware of the image and will take the necessary and appropriate follow up steps."

The Secret Service did not respond to an additional question about whether the tweet was believed to be authentic. The FBI has not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment on the tweet, its suspected origin, or whether it signifies a serious threat to the U.S.

I am not a proponent of censorship, but an observer of the strange. The strange being this: The amount of Twitter, Tumblr, and Blogger sites that get shut down with regularity every day.. but so many threatening Twitter accounts are permitted to keep on tweetin’ like there’s no tomorrow ..  

thepete:

10 blocks from my apt. yesterday afternoon, #NYPD beat an alleged drug dealer on camera. The guy didn’t seem to do anything to warrant it. via @dnainfonyc dnainfo.com

….presented without commentary..

Two More Stores Leaving The Schuylkill Mall

I have written many stories on this site about my local mall.. (HERE) (HERE) (HERE) (And more here)… Well, two more stores are now leaving it..

This place is about ready to become more than a dead mall, but a really dead mall.

No more bustle.. no more shopping..
Without massive change in leadership or ownership, the days for the once great Schuylkill Mall are ending..

Two More Stores Leaving The Schuylkill Mall

We had our family dog, Mutley, for less than a year, but we have gotten to know him..

He is tremendously nervous, all of the time. He is constantly ready to play like a puppy, but worry like an old aged animal.. He paces around the house when he is alone, does no damage, but anxiously anticipates the master or masterette to be back.. And he only seems to be at ease during the night, when the entire family is asleep. Many nights end with my son Ayden and my dog Mutley crowded in the ‘big bed’ of mom and dad, scrunched into odd contortions as my wife and I attempt to not fall to the floor due to the lack of space. 

I’m not complaining.. secretly, I love it and will miss it one day when my son wants nothing to do with mom and dad, and when Mutley is too old to jump up anymore..
I love these days.

There is also something about Mutley that amazes me.. he is a harbinger.. When the air pressure changes—before rain or thunderstorms begin—Mutley begins to shake uncontrollably. He frantically attempts to find some hidden portion of the house to hide .. He gets under desks, legs, beds.. Jumps into corners of closets, and tries his best to shield his little dog body the best he can..

And there’s nothing I can do for him.. he handles it himself, but I wish I could help.

Instead, once the air pressure changes and the storm lifts, he goes back to his old semi-nervous self again.

Mutley is a good little man.. he has some more growing pains to go through, and he bites a little too much when he plays, but he respects my son Ayden and hasn’t yet done a nasty thing to him. As a matter of fact, they get along like brothers.. stealing food and playing ball. It’s good to see..

But when the rain begins—or snow in the wintertime—leave Mutley be. Until the air pressure rises again..

Beebs.. you think you’re cool and all that and an unsalted bag of chips. But you’re also guilty and being subjected to an anger management class..

And I just thought.. for all the fame and fortune, yachts and models, does Beebs even perform anymore?

Sober.. but dealing with early stages of Parkinson’s Disease.. This according to Susan Schneider in a statement…

Even days after the death of Robin Williams, this is still all too hard to handle..

The fumbling mumblings of George Noory

There is a chance—some may disagree—but there’s a chance that George Noory is a nice guy. He may also be the luckiest guy on the planet..

Noory took over Coast to Coast AM several years ago from then host Art Bell.. I have posted quite a bit about Bell and Noory over the past several years. But Noory, regardless of ‘niceness,’ is also strange. And lucky.. Very lucky.

If you’re a newcomer listening to his show for the first time, your takeaway may be confusion.. head scratching that a man who mumbles so much, goofs up so many words, uses the wrong tenses, mispronounces everything, and so often seems to be aloof if not plain asleep during his interviews, still has a radio program. Premiere Radio still employs. And even more, he has 600+ affiliates. 

Sure there’s some form of technicality that states if a station gets Rush, they get the other PremRat shows, too..

But Noory? Oh .. George.. A host with thousands of pages on a message board to documenting his every mispronunciation and incorrectly worded statement.. But the message boarders don’t have a radio show. George Noory does..

But then something happens, like what happened today.. George Noory appeared on the Alex Jones radio program to plug his ‘Insulate the Grid’ initiative, an attempt to help the grid maintain an EMP attack or massive life-altering solar flare. While guesting on the program, Jones attempted to swerve Noory into uncharted territory: Ferguson, Missouri. Noory maintained composure, spoke with confidence about how both the protesters should go home and the police should stop employing hardcore military tactics.. He blamed both sides, something Jones couldn’t counter completely live on air.. Further, Noory spoke with a certain bit of eloquence about why insulating the grid from outside attacks makes sense, and is the moral necessity of this generation..

(Speaking of Noory’s involvement with maintaining the grid’s security.. one eloquent observer notes some of the oddities surrounding Noory endorsing something of this nature in the comments thread on WORLD NET DAILY.. it’s a must read.)

The Noory that appeared on Jones’ program is not the same that hosts his own show nightly..

This Noory, the day time version, didn’t botch words or forget what he was talking about.. he didn’t zone out during the interview, but instead was very much engaged .. he didn’t mumble words or jumble sentences together sounding like a mindless bot.. 

I frankly don’t understand..
Is it possible—just possible—that George Noory is tired by the time his own program begins? Maybe he just…isn’t awake anymore. Perhaps he’s not the Night Owl he once was.. his metabolism is shifting as he ages in life.. 

Noory has often commented that he’s no Art Bell—the obvious master of the macabre of late night radio. But sometimes George Noory is no George Noory either.. The Noory of day time radio or interviews while the sun shines is a coherent human who makes statements that make sense.. the night time version seems more to be a confused old man grasping in the dark for the right word to say..

I don’t host my own radio show. And I probably could not, though I have often pretended I could. So maybe Noory is just nervous on his own show.. perhaps constantly trying to play it safe as to not annoy or anger the hierarchy at Premiere Radio.

Or after 10pm on the Left Coast, when the CHASE begins to play, Noory gets tired.. very, very tired..