Now we know..
Thanks to the Guardians of Peace, the hacking group that may have worked on behalf of NORTH KOREA and decimated the personal information of Hollywood stars and threw Sony’s entire business operations into the public eye.

And apparently lots of folks really dislike Angelina Jolie. Including producer Scott Rudin.

According to some newly leaked emails from the information dump from the GOP, Rudin is on record saying that Jolie is a “minimally talented spoiled brat.” .. and another: “YOU BETTER SHUT ANGIE DOWN BEFORE SHE MAKES IT VERY HARD FOR DAVID TO DO JOBS.”

VARIETY has the full story..
As does the group GUARDIANS OF PEACE.

Among the billions of posts and GIFs online right now, there are a few little creepy ones that stand out for me.. They all come from the Tumblr account for the upcoming January 2015 film THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 . The site is http://womaninblack2.tumblr.com/.. you can find gems, like the one I feature with this post, and others including an arm reaching out to a woman from a baby carriage, freakish images of people screaming, and clever other ways the movie makers are getting their message out on social media.

But I see these THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 images being shared more than any others online in some time. Perhaps it’s because the there second clips are macabre and downright creepy—as the one featured here .. No matter how many loops over again it makes, each time I see it I still stop and get just a bit of a chill at the face on my screen..

And that is smart for THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 . People like GIFs.. the online community enjoys quick laughs and even quicker scares.. The movie is drumming up interesting simply by users freely passing around GIFs and other images with #SheNeverLeft as the tag…

And that is how marketing is now.. A chimp with half a brain and an empty wallet can do it. But to do it effectively, you need to know your audience, your platform, and the style of people who would share images like those being given out by the makers of THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ..

I remember a time when images online had copyrights and those copyrights mean something.. Big studios would sent out directives to websites —like mine—demanding a cease and desist on the publication of certain movie images.. But now? Now things are quite the alternate. Now studios and Hollywood executives are fine with their movie stills being shared. They even help. They upload to platforms hoping that users ‘reblog’ and make them go viral—all free, all fast. And all effective.

Those cease and desists are long gone. Now we are encouraged to steal those images and post away—knowing the end result will add to the word of mouth advertising.

Everything I just said is common sense and has been so for years. But i still get a little impressed when I come across a TUMBLR site or media site as effective as the one for THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 .

The movie has another thing going for it: It’s being released in January, it’s PG-13, and it comes after the Christmas season ends.. I personally think that January releases for horror are a good thing. By that point, we have had it up to our mistletoe in Christmas cheer and happiness. We want to be scared again.. and teenagers, those who will most likely make up the vast majority of the PG-13 release crowd on January 2 in the wide box office open for THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2, will eat this horror up.

The distributor is RELATIVITY.. No word yet officially on the number of theaters the film debuts in. But it’s a wide release. And an even wider TUMBLR world of image sharing..

TIME made its call.. the yearly ritual of waiting to see who a nearly irreverent magazine will decide was the most important person of the year is here again. This one was out of left field for me.. I did not expect them to choose a series of people, ‘the Ebola fighters,’ as the person that mattered.. I thought for sure TIME would focus in on the Ferguson story and name the ‘protester’ as the person—though they did that in 2011..  I was wrong.

Perhaps if EBOLA gets really, really bad, next year’s person could be the EBOLA patient. And then TIME could just include another mirror on the cover like they did for the 'You' as the person of the year in 2006.

This could also be a clever way to sell magazine—five covers?? I have always been aware of the theory that local newspapers utilize local sports to sell fishwrappers—every high school football player, baseball player, or track star buys up the issue when they are featured. As do their family members and friends.

In this regard, TIME will sell at least 5 magazine this year, and maybe a few dozen more will buy because they know the person on the cover.

But seriously..The reception for TIME’s choice has been positives, according to the TWITTER feeds I follow. People are roundly applauding TIME for picking brave people who fought Ebola and risked their own safety.. 

I personally think this is a safe choice for TIME to make—one that will have no opponents and be affectionately thought of as a positive decision for the corporate magazine..Nurses and doctors could get the choice as person of the year every year.. As could police officers and others. 

I think my choice for person of the year—the one who most influenced the news and changed the course of history over the past 12 months (by definition, this is how TIME decides) would be: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the soccer playing Ph.D. who became the leader of ISIS.

When weather models dash dreams

My son is going to wake up for day care in about 20 minutes. In his perfect world he would have not , though.. See, even though Ayden is three and a half, he gets it. He understands the excitement and buzz created by snowstorm hype.. he knows that workers at his day care were unusually happy yesterday—he even told us why: They were actively speaking of a day off because of a monster snow storm that would hit.

So last night, around 7pm when it was not snowing.. I figured it wasn’t going to.. weather models seemingly got this one very, very wrong. At least for my little region of Pennsylvania..

Days ago, 6 to 12 inches were predicted.
This morning: It’s cold, windy.. and dry as could be. The only reminder that precipitation even occurred are wet pavements and puddles of rain that never changed to frozen liquid.

Ayden may not be happy.. but the high schoolers among us will be even worse off.

I hated these days—those storms where forecasters botched things up beyond wildest expectations and dreams were dashed of days off.. School is on for all of those kids who expected 6 inches of road blocking bus stopping snow. 

I hated these mornings as a student.. 
I trust my son Ayden will as well, along with anyone else reading this who expected a snow day.

Good news may be that the storm is just developing differently than first expected.. I am forecast to get some snow tonight into tomorrow. So .. heads up: Buses could still be affected in the very near future.

Pennywise's new dance

"IT" is coming back.

And I am sure entirely that ‘it’ is a good thing..

Pennywise's new dance

Facts Buried In The Senate’s 600 Page Torture Report

Some more of the noteworthy things brought forth in the torture report..

This may be of particular interest, 

“[A]n “intellectually challenged” man whose CIA detention was used solely as leverage to get a family member to provide information, two individuals who were intelligence sources for foreign liaison services and were former CIA sources, and two individuals whom the CIA assessed to be connected to al-Qa’ida based solely on information fabricated by a CIA detainee subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques.” [Page 12]

And this

“CIA officers also threatened at least three detainees with harm to their families—to include threats to harm the children of a detainee, threats to sexually abuse the mother of a detainee, and a threat to “cut [a detainee’s] mother’s throat.” [Page 4]

And one more

“Conditions at CIA detention sites were poor, and were especially bleak early in the program. CIA detainees at the COBALT detention facility were kept in complete darkness and constantly shackled in isolated cells with loud noise or music and only a bucket to use for human waste. Lack of heat at the facility likely contributed to the death of a detainee. The chief of interrogations described COBALT as a “dungeon.” Another seniorCIA officer stated that COBALT was itself an enhanced interrogation technique.” [Page 4]

Facts Buried In The Senate’s 600 Page Torture Report

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antigovernmentextremist:

descentintotyranny:

Horrifying revelations drip out as media continues to go through Senate Torture Report

12/9/14

Just keep telling yourself that they hate us for our freedom.

A not so brief wrap on what reporters are finding out as they slowly peruse the Senate report on torture.. 

I assume many more will be coming forth over the coming hours..

A scathing report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday found that the Central Intelligence Agency routinely misled the White House and Congress about the information it obtained from the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, and that its methods were more brutal than the C.I.A. acknowledged either to Bush administration officials or to the public.

One new revelation I hadn’t heard of until now that surfaced in this report: Rectal feeding.

The NEW YORK TIMES reports, 

Detainees were deprived of sleep for as long as a week, and were sometimes told that they would be killed while in American custody. With the approval of the C.I.A.’s medical staff, some C.I.A. prisoners were subjected to medically unnecessary “rectal feeding” or “rectal hydration” — a technique that the C.I.A.’s chief of interrogations described as a way to exert “total control over the detainee.” C.I.A. medical staff members described the waterboarding of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the chief planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, as a “series of near drownings.”

Total control indeed..
The breaking down of human beings by those who did it best..

A scathing report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday found that the Central Intelligence Agency routinely misled the White House and Congress about the information it obtained from the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, and that its methods were more brutal than the C.I.A. acknowledged either to Bush administration officials or to the public.

Mashable: The advice 13 entrepreneurs would give their younger selves

What some of today’s top entrepreneurs would tell their younger selves when first starting out.

Call me negative, but I agree with very few of these—and really even the ones I agree with I don’t classify as being important..

There are two paths to success: Luck and hard work. 

The hard work is the one where it seems the most failures take place..
The luck?
Well let me say it this way.. there are a number of business owners I know that fall into three categories:

1. People who are smart, but don’t have confidence in themselves or the choices they make. They mean well, but often have too much doubt to succeed


2. People who are dumb, and make really dumb decisions. They know they are dumb..


3. People who are dumb, but don’t know they are dumb, and have wild success in business..

I know a farmer who opened a restaurant. He does not have great people skills, only a small click of friends.. but a successful business. No tact. But a track record of just making food and having a place. Not too shabby.

I am a little negative about good business experiences.. I think it’s more a matter of dumb luck—sometimes literally.

Mashable: The advice 13 entrepreneurs would give their younger selves

CIA Torture Report: Bush Was Kept in the Dark

President George W. Bush was never briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency on the details of harsh interrogation techniques and secret detention of terror suspects for the first four years of the controversial program, and when he did find out the details, he was “uncomfortable” with some of the practices, according to the long-awaited report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

CIA Torture Report: Bush Was Kept in the Dark

US prepares for security risks from torture report

"There are some indications that the release of the report could lead to a greater risk that is posed to U.S. facilities and individuals all around the world," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday. "The administration has taken the prudent steps to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe."

US prepares for security risks from torture report

Strange new twists in SONY HACK ATTACK

The GOP did it. 
Not the grand old party.. but the North Korean supported hacker group. Unless SONY is just trying to make us believe that to advertise THE INTERVIEW.

In entertainment, and geo-political affairs, never believe what you read. The truth will come out 20 years later.

Strange new twists in SONY HACK ATTACK

How to Make Pennsylvania Coal-Cracker Apple Pie Boilo

This is from the website http://poconofoothills.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Pennsylvania-Coal-Cracker-Apple-Pie-Boil-O.. Didn’t really ever hear of it until a Facebook message told me to go to it.

I have had boilo before.. And I have made it too.. My recipe for success isn’t the greatest, I am not as skilled as others are in making the concoction. But if you never had it before, you should try some.. It goes great in the autumn or winter. And let me say this, while it has been about three years since I had boilo (and about 6 months since I even had alcohol), this drink is the best when you are sick, with a cold or flu.. There is something magical about downing an intense amount of warm alcohol with a subtle cinnamon flavor..

In my region, each year there are boilo contests and people who made large quantities of it to give as Christmas gifts.. When you get it as a gift you feel extra special, like someone really loves you enough to give you 200 proof liquid. Christmas cheer comes fast.

But be warned, if the source of your boilo knows what he or she is doing, chances are you will be consuming lots of alcohol very fast. Boilo has a tendency to taste like the greatest thing you’ve ever had. Get some good warm bread to go with it.. or soup. Make it a holiday night to remember..

How to Make Pennsylvania Coal-Cracker Apple Pie Boilo

Fast times

Have not gotten the time to get much to this site in a bit.. Sporadic events of the real kind have kept me from it.. Le me apologize to anyone who is concerned. Unless you already forgot about me and moved on.. As happens so often online.

Stay tuned for more. Or less.

Or neither.

Don’t cry over froze ice.

Here’s what happened when a news site only reported good news for a day

No one visited

To me this is not shocking..

I can never understand what people mean when they say ‘the news is too negative..’ Haven’t they seen the world? Quite frankly the news is filtered and w are hardly told the truth.. That the more offensive part than over negative news..

Here’s what happened when a news site only reported good news for a day

Some Bay Area Residents Report Mysterious Flashes In The Sky During Napa Quake

Several people called the KPIX 5 newsroom after Sunday morning’s magnitude 6.0 earthquake in Napa, reporting mysterious flashes of light in the sky. Witnesses said the strange phenomenon looked like lightning.

This is actually very normal—there seem to be reports around the world similar to this very incident. The CBS affiliate in San Francisco wrote this, 

Friedemann Freund, a scientist with the SETI Institute in Mountain View, said the same thing happened during Sunday morning’s earthquake. And it wasn’t a transformer blowing up or UFOs.

“What they are, are a consequence of the stresses building up deep below the earth, seven miles like in the case of the Napa Valley earthquake,” Freund told KPIX 5.

Earthquake lights are an interesting phenomena. 

The BBC ran a good report on the strange occurrences.. At that time, scientists were opening their minds to the possibility that these quakes happen with 5.0s are greater, and that the Fukushima quake had the same precursor .. Even more interesting concerning Fukushima: Not only were there sky quakes, but also the atmosphere ABOVE Japan heated rapidly before the 9.0 earth shattering shake that his that nation in 2011. There was the very good chance that the atmosphere was hit by the quake before the land was jolted..

While science is still investigating the potential reasons that any of this happens, we know this: The atmosphere and the land seem to go hand in hand.. and the latest 6.0 earthquake gives evidence that some things are deeper and more interesting than meet the eye..

Some Bay Area Residents Report Mysterious Flashes In The Sky During Napa Quake

What I never knew about cuckoos: Some cuckoos raise their own young, but others are brood parasites—birds that leave their eggs in other birds' nests, duping the hosts into rearing their offspring and freeing themselves in the process to lay more eggs instead of investing time and energy in foraging and feeding babies.

And with that, I’ll never look at a cuckoo clock without anger.

What I never knew about cuckoos: Some cuckoos raise their own young, but others are brood parasites—birds that leave their eggs in other birds' nests, duping the hosts into rearing their offspring and freeing themselves in the process to lay more eggs instead of investing time and energy in foraging and feeding babies.

NEW YORK TIMES splashes headline: Obama Pursuing Climate Accord in Lieu of Treaty

The NEW YORK TIMES correctly points out this:

But under the Constitution, a president may enter into a legally binding treaty only if it is approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate.

And it then goes on to say how President Obama will get around that pesky rule:

To sidestep that requirement, President Obama’s climate negotiators are devising what they call a “politically binding” deal that would “name and shame” countries into cutting their emissions

 

NEW YORK TIMES splashes headline: Obama Pursuing Climate Accord in Lieu of Treaty

The Satanic Black Mass is a go in Oklahoma City

This story had my attention for several weeks now.. the ongoing battle between the satanic group at the Catholic Church has been heated.

An Oklahoma-based satanic group called Dakhma of Angra Mainyu has leased space in the Civic Center Music Hall, which is owned and operated by the city, for a black mass on Septetember the 21st 2014.. The Catholic Church and a number of other Christian organizations attempted to stop it.. 

Just today we found out this: The archbishop of Oklahoma City has dropped his lawsuit trying to stop the group from hosting their mass. Apparently they returned consecrated communion hosts back to the Church.. They were planning on desecrating the hosts during their service..

This from Christine Rousselle of TOWN HALL:

While Archbishop Coakley is glad that the group no longer plans to desecrate the Eucharist, he is still urging the city to cancel the event as it is greatly offensive to the quarter of a million Catholics who reside in Oklahoma.

The website WORLD NET DAILY has been following the black mass for some time—say what you will about the website, but they are presenting some key information concerning the legal battle and public outcry concerning the mass..

I offer no stance on whether Oklahoma City should allow the satanic mass or whether the Catholic Church is right to stop it, but I will offer this: This is some proof that the ‘news’ of the mainstream has been amazingly paranormal over the past few months.. Black masses, stories of houses getting possessed, people possessed.. All of this on front pages..

If you’re an atheist, none of this matters at all and each stance is comical.. If you believe a spiritual war is taking place, you’re most likely picking a side..