KDKA received some calls into our newsroom about it, starting around 8 p.m.
People reported seeing a shiny, silver object in the sky. The reports were coming from areas west of downtown.
“Around 8 p.m., we were looking up into the northern sky and saw what looked like just to be a bright, silver object in the sky, and then after we got a telescope on it, it looked like it was a clear balloon that was catching the light as it moved from west to east,” said Russ Moll, of McKees Rocks.
Moll says it was it a very odd sight in the evening sky.
“It stood out because it was before dusk and so the stars weren’t out yet, so it just really caught our eye,” Moll said. “You noticed it as being something out of the ordinary.”
And this..
The National Weather Service sends balloons up to measure atmospheric conditions; however, they said they had no issues Thursday night.
In a statement, they say: “We’ve had no issues with the launch this evening or any calls about objects floating/glowing in the sky.”
Look to the sky! You’ll never know what you will see..
The Post is using homegrown software to automatically produce hundreds of real-time news reports about the Olympics. Starting tomorrow morning, those items will appear, without human intervention, on the Post’s website, as well as in outside channels like its Twitter account.
The idea is to use artificial intelligence to quickly create simple but useful reports on scores, medal counts and other data-centric news bits — so that the Post’s human journalists can work on more interesting and complex work, says Jeremy Gilbert, who heads up new digital projects for the paper.
“We’re not trying to replace reporters,” he said. “We’re trying to free them up.”
Gilbert and Sam Han, the paper’s head of data science, have a team of three engineers working full-time on Heliograf, the Post’s AI software. A few more product analysts are spending about half of their time on the project, and four or five newsroom staffers are also spending time shaping the software.
This is what a STRANGER THINGS VHS cover art box would have looked like if it would have been released in the 1980s.. And since the show is based with the 80s as the setting, the cover art and photo just feel right. Like it WAS made in the Reagan era..
Critics have lambasted the film.. some have called for the website ROTTEN TOMATOES to actually be shut down because of the negative press that has been linked on the SUICIDE SQUAD page..
What is noteworthy about the aforementioned article linked here: My friend Anghus Houvouras from Flickering Myth got quoted by CNBC about the movie and controversy:
“I think they believe the potential is there. Take (2016’s) ‘Ghostbusters’ which pushed a very strong misogynist narrative. It became less about the quality of the film and more about the 'importance’ of a blockbuster with an all-female leading cast,” Anghus Houvouras, movie maker and writer for the pop culture website Flickering Myth, told CNBC via email.
“Sony and Paul Feig got on board and beat that horse to death. But it didn’t end up resulting in the kind of cultural zeitgeist they were hoping for. Those who benefit from feuds are the media and websites that proliferate a binary narrative. Conflict breeds clicks,” he said.
On Friday, the FDA released a final environmental assessment of the trial, finding that it “will not have significant impacts on the environment.” The project, led by Oxitec, a biotech company that focuses on insect control, calls for the release of thousands of genetically engineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The lab insects are bred so that over time they could kill off much of the local mosquito population by passing on a gene fatal to any offspring they have with wild females.
“NEWS ACCESS RULES APPLICABLE FOR THE BROADCAST OF THE GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD, RIO DE JANEIRO, 5-21 AUGUST 2016”
-
The title of the document from the
International Olympic Committee that is prohibiting without exception the use of GIFs of memorable Olympics moments..
The full text reads:
“Internet and Mobile Platforms Notwithstanding any other applicable limitation included in these NARs, Olympic Material must not be broadcast on interactive services such as “news active” or “sports active” or any other related Video on Demand services, which would allow the viewer to make a viewing choice within a channel and to thereby view Olympic Material at times and programs other than when broadcast as part of a News Program as set out in Clause 1 above. Additionally, the use of Olympic Material transformed into graphic animated formats such as animated GIFs (i.e. GIFV), GFY, WebM, or short video formats such as Vines and others, is expressly prohibited.”
and with that.. the GIFs are banned.. Done. Edited out. Down the memory hole. Nonexistent.
The summer Olympics are set.. Brazil is ready? Maybe.. The opening ceremonies begin tonight even if there are still pollutants in water and mosquitoes on the loose.
Zika was the big fear.. other fears have come since.
A sampling for some headlines potentially paints a not so rosy scenario concerning the Rio Games …
Americans are getting heavier and heavier. But new U.S. estimates may still come as a shock – since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the average American has put on 15 or more additional pounds without getting any taller.
As expected, David Paulides dropped new stories during his appearance last night on Coast to Coast AM.. Stories of hunters. Weird tales of people who know the forest, people who utilize various forms of instrumentation to find directions, people who carry weapons, all vanishing without a trace. In some instances, traces are found. In one specific story, one man was found after being dead for two weeks. But he wasn’t dead the whole time.. the coroner’s report in that instance said he was dead for only four days. The weird anomaly: His feet were literally worn down to the bone—literally the bottoms of his feet were worn away.
These are the types of stories that David Paulides tells George Knapp, the occasional host of the macabre airwaves under the cover of moonlight..
There was a new bombshell dropped last night during the program. Paulides described a bow hunter in the forest with her Blackberry—before the bankruptcy of the company, obviously. She noticed how the forest seemed to stop dead—no noise, no sound. Just silence. It felt strange. She went on to describe what really makes little sense: Just like in the movie PREDATOR, fuzzy saran-wrap-like figures jumping from one tree to the next.. She even snapped a photo of what appeared to be a mostly fuzzy landscape with a hairlike structure near the edge of the picture. The amazing story aside, the bow hunter’s husband is Dr. Bruce Maccabee—a very well known UFO expert..
It’s all so weird, so bizarre.
Paulides went on last night to also remind listeners of some prior cases where people came back from being missing. Those people describe having fuzzy memories, people looking at them from behind shrubs in the woods, or not even recall being last. Almost like walking into another reality, as George Knapp pointed out during the show. I have been an avid reader of Paulides books. I also spoke to George Knapp about this very topic a bit ago…
It fascinates me and scares me alike. I live near the woods in Pennsylvania. And I also had me own experience that I wrote about in May 2014.
During that time, I had a similar experience where the ‘forest went silent.’ Though my moment of silence was even weirder because, at midnight when it occurred, one lone songbird actually began to sing in the middle of the night. I saw a meteor or something streak across the sky, and then immediately began hearing what sounded, for lack of any better explanation, a chain-like noise. Almost like something being drug across the forest floor. But I did not hear footsteps. My dog Mutley heard it too and got into an attack formation, coupled with the hair on his spine rising as high as I ever saw it.. The noise continued to get louder and louder until it seemed like it was literally on top of me. I grew very cold and afraid. Despite turning on a spotlight on the side of the house, I saw nothing at all.. The noise dissipated after a few minutes. It felt like I was in the middle of a recording, or endless loop of some other reality..
The most troubling aspect of my personal tale is this: I had this foreboding sense about the whole thing. While I wanted to go about 15 more feet and step into the forest, I had some weird notion that whatever it was making this noise WANTED me to walk into the woods.. almost like it was tempting me to enter its territory and terrain, as though there was some weird boundary that it could not cross… Equally strange was a conversation I had with a deer hunter a few months ago. Given my interest I the unusual, I asked him if he ever had a ‘dead forest’ moment when he hunted. He said he did.. but it did not last long. He was deer hunting at a camp with several other hunters. While outside for a cigarette, he said the woods literally went dead and lifeless for about ten or so seconds. And then the noises of the forest came back again.
All so weird.. so strange. So peculiar.
The complex mystery continues. There seems to be no sound answer to the lost and unfound. David Paulides offered no reasonable explanation, as he purposely does not. George Knapp described it all as best he could: Like a harvest.
The harvest idea may be the most frightening of all to contemplate.
Apparently he is planning to have 3d holograms and a solar paneled tombstone that will constantly play his music.. He is also reportedly very serious about the funeral plans despite some early laughs from those close to him.
It is a little bizarre perhaps.. But Biebs is 22.. he saw some pretty amazing people die young this year, like Prince.. And maybe he is also aware of the dreaded ‘27 club’ that so many stars have found themselves become the victim of..
After all… we all have something dark and menacing tagging behind us until the end..
It’s curious to ponder.. What should athletes fear the most? Zika? Dirty bombs? Or those warnings not to ingest water during certain games because of pollution and dead bodies. Anyone wondering like me if Rio is even ready?
The 2100s are going to be troublesome… A giant asteroid is set then to pass between the earth and the moon. Chances are the media will only start reporting about it a few days prior. Nothing changes.
My son’s first soccer game is quickly approaching.. my wife and I as coaches has been pretty cool to be honest. The kids are amazing, funny, and filled with life and energy. A lot of energy.. so much so that we are winded after practices a lot more than the four and five year olds we are attempting to form into a cohesive set of players ..
But what is strange, and perhaps somehow due to my son’s seemingly honest love of the game of soccer, is how many times in the past few days he watched the movie UNDERDOGS. MY wife wathced it alone with him twice.. I did twice too.. and we as a family watched it a number of times.
As a matter of fact, as I type this post, he is watching it again. I lost count. It is great, though.. the movie i wonderful and has an excellent lesson about how victory is not everything..
Truly an amazing movie. UNDERDOGS is a good movie.. even if your child is not a soccer fan.
I love Infinite Waters and have really come to love an respect Ralph Smart. I have followed for years, but lately his message and the overall goal of Ralph seems to be really resonating with a lot of amazing people .. Kudos to him.
And kudos on this infographic..
For anyone who has either cut back on meat or cut it out completely, you know what stark and dire warnings you have been given by meat eaters.. you have been told you will be unhealthy and die early.. you have also been asked the dreaded question: Where do YOU get your protein from!
I often ask back, where do YOU get your fiber from? Since meat does not contain any bit of it… But it surely has cholesterol..
That being said, there also are some vegans who have come to truly get under my skin and make me boil with anger.. if they want to convince someone to go veg, being vindictive on YouTube is not the approach.. they just fall into the normal talking point people say about them. Perception is reality. Reality is also perception…
But if you have it in your heart, your private heart, to ponder a reduction in meat.. and you fear protein loss? Just look at that infographic here.. just realize you have plenty of sources.
Vitamin B12 and Iron may be a necessary concern for supplementation, but not protein if you have an overall whole foods planet based source of protein..
I think as he gets older he will fully accept the terms and conditions of life with the reading of this mag monthly..
Alfred E. Neuman is back in my life.. instead of hiding MAD behind other rags, I can now leave it proudly on top of the stack and simply say it’s my son’s magazine. Wink wink.
Though he is not on the air right now hosting MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT, the talk show legend is active on Facebook.. A few posts recently have shown his allegiance to Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the campaign for president in 2016..
A few days ago, Bell used the Facebook platform to write two separate posts: One simply said “Clinton” and the other “Trump.” The outrage to BOTH was almost immediate.
The reaction caused Bell to write this on July 24, 2016:
Experiment concluded: as you can clearly see below I simply made two posts without comment, one called Trump and one called Clinton. The results confirmed what I expected. Mostly they were filled with hate directed at me with people thinking it meant I was in support of one or the other, further hate was directed at the Candidates and of course other people who posted. What do you think this means about us?
Art
As the DNC convention continues and Donald Trump’s fiery rhetoric does as well, Art Bell went further in some commentary tonight on the social network:
Does the Democrat party think Trump can turn back time like Direct TV? They keep saying he is calling for the Russians to hack the 30,000+ Emails that Hillary deleted, that Felony already left the station. Come on Media, get it right.
Art
Longtime listeners dating back to the Coast days will recall Art as a renegade libertarian, chain smoking antidisestablishmentarian.. hellbent on questioning the system and authority. He also was not a Clinton fan during the 90s.. the contempt seemingly has continued through this year’s election, with Bell taking a positive position on the Trump candidacy since early in 2015 when the billionaire announced he was running for the White House.
The interesting part of the post today came in the comments. Those following the Art Bell saga know he was sick as of late, with two hospital stays in Nevada. Bell said this in a comment to his own post tonight:
Well I had a very close call, very nearly had answers to the biggest questions I always asked on air. I am trying to get stronger but I had very serious pneumonia, could not get air, now trying to get stronger, it will not be fast
He was close to death… Those ‘big questions’ he always talked about on air? Death and what happens after.
The hope and prayer of fans is that he returns at least in part to the Heather Wade hosted Midnight in the Desert.
Especially during an election. Especially THIS election.. at this time.
The leak took place around the time Joe Biden was talking to the Democratic convention.. Also the same night that President Obama was set to speak to the DNC.. Also the same night that we Philadelphia is prepping to welcome the new nominee of the party on Thursday..
Assange promised more. He delivered.. but something tells me there is still more to come..
Dave Schrader had a great Darkness Radio show last night for his weekly true crime Tuesday series .. The subject: Who took Johnny Gosch with the guest being the documentarian who created ‘Who Took Johnny.’
This is an immensely important 'cold case’ .. It’s only cold in the eyes of some who lost interest as the years went on since Gosch’s abduction in the early 80s..
I was amazed and happy to hear Schrader taking about the Franklin Credit Union cover up, the links to global high powered pedophile groups, and the fight that Noreen Gosch never gave up.
I have been an avid follower of this story for years. If you’re just beginning, start by listening to the Podcast on iTunes of this Darkess Radio from last night, (7/26/16) and go from there.. Still existent on YouTube: Watch the Franklin Credit Union cover up documentary–something that was going to air in the 90s but at the last minute not permitted on American television. And while you’re at it check out Noreen Gosch’s website .. Then decide for yourself and take any and all precautions to secure your family appropriately.
If you thought the future of AI was still to come, brace yourself for this..
EW reports,
Impossible Things, an independent horror film project from Greenlight Essentials’ Jack Zhang, was reportedly produced (in part) by an augmented intelligence software tool which analyzes audience response data to help writers craft plot points that connect with viewer demand. The result is Impossible Things, a project billed by its creators as “the scariest and creepiest horror film out there.” The software co-wrote the film’s script.
AI also helped the filmmakers target a calculated demographic by packing a “specific” trailer with key scenes and developing “perfect” plot twists for Impossible Things’ plot, which tells the story of a grieving mother who, after the death of her young daughter, succumbs to a sever case of supernaturally-induced insanity.
….and really… could it be much worse than some of the rubbish written and produced by Hollywood today in the horror market?
London is next on the list of target cities for twisted jihadis along with the US capitol Washington DC, it has been claimed.
Images threatening attacks in London and other major world capitals have been posted on jihadi messaging app Telegram, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
One picture chillingly shows New York’s Statue of Liberty engulfed in flames but with the caption “Washington soon” - referring to the US capital 225 miles away.
The threat comes as security at British churches is being ramped up amid a newterror alert after ISIS knifemen forced a French priest to kneel before slitting his throat on camera.
Julian Assange, Wikileaks’s founder, insists that they — and their candidate Hillary Clinton — have something very serious to worry about. In an exclusive interview with ITV, Assange insisted that he had more to drop on the Democratic nominee, including, possibly, information related to her private email server. The dump, Assange claims, will contain “enough evidence” to indict the former Secretary of State.
Hillary may be making history tonight as the first female candidate to be nominated by a major party.. but THE ROCKING IS NOT OVER.. THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IS NOT DONE BEING WARPED.. THE LATEST:
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said Tuesday his whistleblowing website might release “a lot more material” relevant to the US electoral campaign.
Assange was speaking in a CNN interview following the release of nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee by suspected Russian hackers.
However, Assange refused to confirm or deny a Russian origin for the mass email leak, saying Wikileaks tries to create ambiguity to protect all its sources.
You don’t know her as Youree Dell Harris, but you know her as Miss Cleo.. Today the world found out that the famed would be could be isn’t psychic from TV commercials died at the young age of 53..
She was famous in the 1990s with her “call me now” tagline.. I recall her as I grew up on late night TV… the wee hours of the night for me were filled with many things. And at many points, the background noise of my youth was this woman’s voice..
But her fame also led to questions about her past. In 2002, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an investigation that revealed she had a list of aliases and a longer list of former colleagues on the local theater scene who said they had been cheated out of money and questioned her Jamaican background.
“She had no Jamaican accent — she was born and raised in L.A.,” a former cast mate told the paper. (A copy of a birth certificate posted by BuzzFeed in 2013 showed that Ms. Harris was indeed born in Los Angeles on Aug. 12, 1962.) Information on her survivors was not immediately available.
In 2002, the Psychic Readers Network and Access Resource Services were the subject of a federal lawsuit that ordered the companies to forgive $500 million in customer fees. The networks agreed to stop selling their services over the phone, and, according to the Federal Trade Commission, the companies agreed to pay a $5 million fine.
And with that, the star that was Miss Cleo failed to shine bright at night.
What makes me sad is that she was not Miss Cleo. She was a human being.
““To me, this is not so much about gun control as it is about what’s in men’s hearts. Until we come together as a nation, as a people, to heal as a people we will surely perish as a people””
The suspect has been identified as a black male named Gavin Eugene Long of Kansas City, Missouri, sources tell CBS News. He was born on July 17, 1987.
One suspect was killed and two others might still be at large, Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, previously said. However, Louisiana state police said Sunday afternoon there is “no active shooter” in Baton Rouge.
man with a gun opened fire on police officers in Baton Rouge on Sunday, injuring at least seven – including three who are feared dead, an official said. Police received a call of “suspicious person walking down Airline Highway with an assault rifle,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. When police arrived, the man opened fire. The remaining officers are hospitalized in critical condition, the source said. The victims were from Baton Rouge Police Department as well as East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, another official said.
Fears today that events of this nature will continue.. Fears on the eve of the Republican convention in Cleveland..
One of the greatest things I have ever seen (and I have only seen of of the 8 episodes so far) is the original NETFLIX show STRANGER THINGS..
There are so many things to speak of.. the 1980s nostalgic feel (especially for people like me who were incarnated in then Reagan era) .. The throwback quality to a Speilberg or Stephen King story.. the mystery of Will Byers and the town of Hawkins, Indiana coupled with some amazing acting and character development..
The music of the series, besides featuring some pop hits of the 80s, also sounds a lot like the score from IT FOLLOWS. The set designs and color is true to the 80s and is similar to the movie HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, which was also set in the 1980s but made in the modern era..
Thus far, only one show into the season, I have nothing but praise for STRANGER THINGS and honestly can’t wait until my next free hour to continue the ‘binge.’ A binge on shows between work, parenting, and soccer practice can get rough.
Spoilers will abound if you read certain reviews.. I will not spoil anything, but instead just argue that you need to join in the fun and get watching this series.. I implored friends and family. And now you, my readers..
Update (8:28 p.m.): A tragedy occurred on Saturday, July 16, 2016 at Knoebels Crystal Pool. A young boy was found unresponsive by a lifeguard who immediately initiated emergency care. Additional care was provided and he was transported to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville. The Knoebel family and team members had been hoping and praying for the best possible outcome, but are saddened to have learned from local authorities that the young boy has passed away. Please join us in keeping the boy’s family in your prayers.
— Original Post (6:26 p.m.): Today, at approximately 3:00 p.m., a young boy was found to be unresponsive in Knoebels’ Crystal Pool. Emergency care was immediately administered by Knoebels’ lifeguards and first aid team until he was transported by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. Please join the Knoebel family and Knoebels team in keeping the young boy and his family in your prayers.
I have long enjoyed Knoebels. Even this year, I wrote a post about just how cool of a place it was and how, after 90 years in existence, it should be on your summer bucket list if it is not already..
If my memory serves me right, another child died in that same pool in 2011..
The emotions of sadness were expressed by most of the commenters on the Facebook post. Some of them were actually there, feet away, when the child was pulled from the water. They describe a sad and chaotic scene.. Some, of course, blame the lifeguards and parents..
But I am going to refrain from blame. Facts will work themselves out.
And no Facebook comments with blaming anyone will bring back a child who tragically died in a park that brings fun food and fantasy.
He is going to be included with a horror flick called HAPPY BIRTHDAY.. he is going to play a hard-partying cowboy named Kasape Suka in horror-thriller Happy Birthday. The film’s campy trailer finds Tyler’s character at a Mexican bar, where he boozes, gulps down pills and watches a cock fight.
THE CURSE OF THE GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK STONES!
The letter pictures is an example of what so often comes into the Gettysburg National Military Park.. People who takes rocks from the fame Civil War battle town in Pennsylvania send back letters of remorse.. people who claim that ever since they took those ‘cursed’ rocks, there have been a series of unfortunate events plaguing their existence..
And yes, people are returning the rocks with them.
It is important to remember that removing rocks from the park is a violation of Chapter 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Section 2.1(a)(1)(iv) prohibits “Possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging or disturbing from its natural state a mineral resource or cave formation or the parts thereof.” If these individuals had been caught in the act, they would have been cited and fined $100, plus a $30 processing fee. All in all, they may have preferred that.
MORE
So no matter how pretty that rock is, or how small it might be, or how much you really want something to remind you of how much you love Gettysburg, please remember that it needs to remain right where it is.
Ghostbusters slowed in its weekend estimates from some of the hyper projections we saw on Friday, now heading toward a $45M weekend opening after winning Friday with a $17.1M gross..
Now it would appear the final tally will be well below any previous projections ..
Sony is claiming publicly to Deadline and other box office reporting outlets that the newest incarnation of the film isn’t a bomb.. But s domestic $45 mil puts pressure on overseas markets–one market that was taken out of the running was China, which banned the film..
CNN has some great information about the Mike Pence Veep spot..
Trump wanted Christie, it would seem.. Advisors didn’t. The kids wanted Newt. In the end, the Pence push became substantial from advisors. Especially one..
Pence was hesitant to fly to New York, knowing that events did not unfold as he expected, it could be a humiliating trip and cost him the governor’s office. But he boarded the plane. Trump was frustrated by reports that he had picked Pence while he was “six hours and three time zones away,” one senior adviser said. He was still troubled by his conversations with Christie – wrestling with the instinct to go with his advisers’ guidance or his gut.
The fact this has been the first decision not made naturally by Trump could also show it was his worst..
It’s extremely similar to the way Reagan was forced by …the same campaign advisor Manafort!…to put Bush Sr on the 1980 ticket. It may have solidified a certain branch of he party but it wasn’t who Reagan wanted either..
If this Trump choice fails it would be mostly due to the fact that it wasn’t his choice..
It was he safe route. A pale white male with white hair and someone who, as CNN pointed out, will turn bright red as soon as Trump tells an off color joke.
Nice is a tourist magnet, not just for foreigners, but for the French as well. There were huge crowds here for the July 14th celebrations.
I am a journalist and we journalists knew there was a risk of this. It was in the back of our minds throughout the weeks of the Euro tournament. But the Euro went off without a hitch and now I found myself in Nice – touristy, beachy, laid-back Nice! – and there were bodies everywhere.
Some were tiny bodies. Kids. Their parents must have been so happy to give their kids a treat and bring them to see the fireworks on July 14th. And that’s the heartbreak of it all…“
‘We have taken control’: Turkish military open fire on civilians as they launch coup to depose Islamist government – while President Erdogan ‘hides in a hotel room’ and Facetimes a TV station to urge his supporters to fight for him
Turkish troops have launched a military coup according to the government with helicopters firing on capital Ankara
Turkish PM Binali Yildirim told reporters: ‘We will not allow this attempt’ although the military said they are in control
Explosions and gunfire have been reported in several locations with fast attack jets patrolling over the skies
The Turkish military claimed they have taken power in order to protect the civil rights of the population
President Recep Erdogan has used ‘FaceTime’ to call on the population to take to the streets to oppose the coup
As military-grade robotics get cheaper and more capable, someone will arm them and put them on American streets.
Robot-maker Sean Bielat says he’s fine with the Dallas Police Department’s apparently unprecedented use of a police bomb-disposal robot to kill a gunman on Thursday. “A robot was used to keep people out of harm’s way in an extreme situation,” said Bielat, the CEO of Endeavor Robotics, a spinoff of iRobot’s military division. “That’s how robots are intended to be used.”
Joergen Pedersen, the CEO of RE2 robotics and the chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association’s robotics division concurred. “If these robots are used in manners for which they were unintended, we would expect that the officers who are there to keep citizens and themselves safe would use good judgment where the application of lethal force is a last resort,” he said.
On Sunday, speaking to Face the Nation, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings blessed the operation. “The chief had two options and he went with this one. I supported him completely because it was the safest way to approach it,” he said.
The House failed to pass legislation on Monday to enhance a provision of the Patriot Act that encourages banks to tip off federal authorities to suspected cases of terrorist financing.
Many libertarians warned of potential privacy violations if the measure went into effect, which helped prevent it from reaching the necessary two-thirds majority to pass through the fast-track process under which it was considered.
While the bill won a simple majority of 229-177, it didn’t clear the supermajority bar needed for passage. The procedure is typically used for noncontroversial bills that pass easily.
This is a really good read from NEWSWEEK magazine.. the biggest threat to the United States right now is not from a foreign enemy.. but from one already here.. And the receipe for disaster lately has been cheap heroin..
From NEWSWEEK:
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), “Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group can challenge them in the near term.”
In other words, Mexican cartels have surpassed other international criminal organizations including the Italian mafia, Asian drug rings and the previous preeminent drug importer, the Colombians, to become the No. 1 source of dangerous illegal drugs in the United States over the past decade.
If heroin has yet to directly or indirectly touch you life, it will … give it a bit of time. It has far reaching and decimating..
And this year, a presidential campaign, what do we hear? Nothing much at all about this issue..
Nothing at all about the heroin epidemic and how to treat it.. Nothing at all about how this nation is falling apart at its core fabric..
Just a thought.. vote for someone who actually wants to change things as opposed to sweeping the problem under the rug..
That change may not necessarily be more law enforcement tactics. Not more legislation. But less.
I may or may NOT have mentioned this.. but my wife and I figured that it was not only good to have our son Ayden sign up for soccer, but that we should ALSO be the coaches for the team.. Call us crazy..
Call us insane.
Field clean up day was this past weekend.. The season starts Monday with a 7pm practice..
Yes, there will be strangeness… arguments.. (There already was an arugment over what dimension the field should be and whether it was being lined correctly or not — wonder if the same people who argued saw the abominble women’s game in the outfield of a baseball field?) But it will be rewarding..
We both want to be involved as much as possible with our son’s life as he gets older .. we also love soccer. It seemed like the perfect match.
….but there will be those moments when you question whether you’re in over your head.
The first moment for me could very well be tomorrow night when a group of 4 and 5 year olds stare at me like an alien as I tell them to stop touching the soccer ball with their hands..
It will be fun.
And YouTube will get plenty of hits from me … “how to coach kids soccer”….
…and a tremendous amount of people online in Centalia related message boards or Facebook pages are angry and want to run the guy out of town. People called him names like ‘bottom dweller and scumbag’ .. they also wanted to take him to unmentionable parts of the former town.. there are hostile ugly comments being thrown at him. It’s all weird.
Weird because…I actually wanted to do this.. he beat me to it!
I saw the number of people per weekend going to this town to tour and saw a goldmine. The fear deep in my soul held me back.
But the strange outcry of people anti-hot-dog vendor surprises me a little.
People: The town is over. it’s done.
If you think that the 200+ tourists per weekend is big, it will only get bigger.
As a former resident, I may be alone here, I am not angry someone is selling hot dogs in Centralia Pennsylvania.
They go to space with perfect vision and come back with a loss of acuity.
THE POST:
In 2005, astronaut John Phillips took a break from his work on the International Space Station and looked out the window at Earth. He was about halfway through a mission that had begun in April and would end in October.
When he gazed down at the planet, the Earth was blurry. He couldn’t focus on it clearly. That was strange — his vision had always been 20/20. He wondered: Was his eyesight getting worse?
“I’m not sure if I reported that to the ground,” he said. “I think I didn’t. I thought it would be something that would just go away, and fix itself when I got to Earth.”
It didn’t go away.
During Phillips’ post-flight physical, NASA found that his vision had gone from 20/20 to 20/100 in six months.
This is not a joke (but mostly a story showcasing how the US Women’s Soccer Team gets unfair treatment on a regular basis) ..
A match between the Western New York Flash and Seattle Reign FC of the National Women’s Soccer League on Saturday night was played at Frontier Field, a baseball stadium in Rochester N.Y., that could hold a pitch just 100 yards long and 58 yards wide according to match announcers.
Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Ali Krieger called this “shocking,” “embarrassing” and “unacceptable,” and tweeted at the league’s commissioner, Jeff Plush.
