Thursday, March 31, 2011

What did Virginia Tech do wrong?

March 31, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 31 is … Bunsen Burner Day and National Clams On The Half Shell Day

Wednesday afternoon my daughter, a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, had a particularly tough, long day. She was up at 5:00 a. m., had to work, go to class, write a paper and run a service project function last night. Around 4:00 p. m. she sent my wife a text explaining her day and ending with; “Been a tough day but all is well with the world, I am sitting at a U of I baseball game.” It was just a reminder to me , my wife and all of us to to enjoy the little things in life.

Slaughter in America revisited. I wrote about this in December, 2010. Authorities are investigating possible human remains found on a Long Island barrier beach where the bodies of four online escorts were discovered late last year, police sources tell FoxNews.com. A Suffolk County police spokeswoman said the remains were found Tuesday east of the area where the original remains were discovered during a day-long search of the area using helicopters and dogs. "We have not confirmed whether or not they are human," a police source said. Investigators from Suffolk County were searching the area Tuesday for 24-year-old Shannon Gilbert of New Jersey, who was last seen in May 2010 in a shorefront community nearby. Gilbert was not among the four bodies found on a Long Island beach in December. The bodies, all wrapped in burlap bags, were identified as 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, of Norwich, Conn.; 24-year-old Melissa Barthelmey, of Bronx, New York; 27-year-old Amber Lynn Costello, of Long Island, N.Y.; and 22-year-old Megan Waterman of Maine. All four women were escorts who advertised themselves on the Craigslist website. Police theorize a serial killer may have been responsible for the deaths. No suspects have been identified in the deaths of the women. The medical examiner's office is working to determine whether the remains found Tuesday are human.

I know my mother and father loved me but I don’t know if they loved me this much. Of course, I never put them in the situation where they had to make the choice these Ohio parents made. According to a story written by the Aol crime reporter; the body of a missing mother of three has been recovered from an underground septic system behind a rural Ohio church after the woman's mother-in-law told authorities where to find the corpse, according to police.

Authorities had been searching for 25-year-oldAuthorities  Summer Inman since March 22. She was in an alleyway behind a bank that she was cleaning when two men forced her into a car, police in the town of Logan said. Authorities in Ohio have recovered the body of Summer Inman from inside an underground septic system behind a rural church. "The body was very much intact [and] we're very comfortable with the identification," Logan Police Chief Aaron Miller told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday. Police investigated the incident as an apparent kidnapping and focused on Inman's estranged husband, William Inman II, 26. The couple, who were married in 2004, had been separated for about a year. Summer Inman had filed for divorce and obtained an order of protection. According to court documents obtained by a local TV station, 10TV News, she said her husband had "threatened to kill" her. Police last week filed kidnapping charges against Inman and his parents, William Inman, 47, and Sandra Inman, 46. According to Miller, authorities recently conducted a search of the parents' Jackson County home, during which they said they found "significant evidence" of their involvement in the crime. Miller said Sandra Inman came forward Tuesday with information in the case. "[She] asked to speak with her attorney," Miller said. "Shortly thereafter, [she] revealed the location of Summer Inman's body. Officers arrived at the location at about 8:50" Tuesday night. Miller said police were led to an underground septic tank at Faith Tabernacle Church, off U.S. 33 in Nelsonville. "Her body was in a septic system at the rear of the church," he said. Police say they have received information indicating that the Inmans may have been members of the church at some point.

I hope this is an internet rumor. Even if is not, President Obama and his people will spin it so it does not appear to be what it is. Obama made has a policy that NO U.S. SERVICEMAN CAN SPEAK AT ANY FAITH-BASED PUBLIC EVENTS ANYMORE. So much for Freedom of Speech; where’s the ACLU on this one? Why do military personnel give up Constitutional Rights even though they are the ones doing the real fighting to preserve them for United States citizens?

To the City of Lights we go, down the beautiful streets of Paris, under the Arc de Triumphe and there, before us, the site of one of the world’s most photographed and well-known landmarks, the Eiffel Tower. It was on this day in 1889 that the structure opened in Gay Paree. A beautiful sight, no? Well, not so to writers, Guy deMaupassant and Alexandre Dumas, who condemned the Eiffel Tower as a “horrid nightmare.” Well, no pleasing some people, we guess... The Eiffel Tower was named after its designer, architect, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel who built the structure for the Paris Exhibition of 1889.

You heard the old joke:

Why did the French plant shade trees to line street that passes under the Arc de Triumphe?

So invading Armies can march into Paris in the shade.

A woman turned a few heads when she walked into a rural Virginia courthouse with a tiny monkey clad in a pink-and-white dress tucked in her bra. The woman brought the palm-sized marmoset to Amherst County Courthouse on Thursday for a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Officials apparently didn't notice the monkey until the woman went to an office to complete some paperwork. In an interview with The News & Advance of Lynchburg, the woman says the marmoset is 7 weeks old and requires constant attention. The woman tells the newspaper she bought the animal on an online auction site and had its clothes specially made in West Virginia.

While that was going on, the government has found another way to avoid doing its job while passing the buck and charging a few bucks also. Virginia Tech will have to pay the maximum $55,000 fine for violating federal law by waiting too long to notify students during the 2007 shooting rampage, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday. Department officials said in a letter to the school that the sanction should have been greater for the school's slow response to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The $55,000 fine was the most the department could levy for Tech's two violations of the federal Clery Act, which requires timely reporting of crimes on campus. "While Virginia Tech's violations warrant a fine far in excess of what is currently permissible under the statute, the Department's fine authority is limited," wrote Mary Gust, director of a department panel that dictated what punishment the school would receive for the violation. The university could have lost some of its $98 million in federal student aid. The department has never stripped a school of federal funding for such a violation.

A university spokesman said Virginia Tech would appeal the decision. "We believe that Virginia Tech administrators acted appropriately in their response to the tragic events of April 16, 2007, based on the best information then available to them at the time," spokesman Larry Hincker said in a statement. Sponsored LinksThe department issued its final report in December, finding that Virginia Tech failed to issue a timely warning to the Blacksburg campus after student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed two students in a dormitory early on the morning of April 16, 2007. The university sent out an e-mail to the campus more than two hours later, about the time Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more students and faculty, then himself.

The report also determined that the school failed to follow its own procedures for providing such notification. The report said Tech's failure to issue timely warnings "deprived its students and employees of vital, time-sensitive information and denied them the opportunity to take adequate steps to provide for their own safety."

We pay a lot of taxes. One of the primary obligations of the government, one of the primary reason we pay the government taxes, is for it to provide security and National Defense. Why pay the government the tax dollars if all they are going to do is make laws that pass the buck to private or public entities not designed for that purpose?

The shooter in the Virginia Tech Massacre was not an American or a citizen. Born in South Korea, Cho arrived in the United States at the age of 8 with his family. He became a US permanent resident as a South Korean national. Virginia Tech is a university providing high quality post high school education. It is not in the security business. Even though the shooter was not a citizen, he had Constitutional Rights the university could not infringe upon. The government should not either but regularly does. Virginia Tech did not authorize this mass murderer to live in the United States, the federal government did. Now, after a tragic crime, the government blames the university and imposes a fine. What sanctions will be imposed on the government for failure to do its job and keep us citizens safe? Who will impose these sanctions? We all know the answer to those questions. How can we keep the United States citizens in the United States safe while we are fighting three wars we started to safeguard others rights and safety and while we are busy arming the Mexican drug cartels so they have the modern weapons needed to kill innocent people and drug agents?

BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." - William James



Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Libya is expensive desert property; too expensive.


March 30, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 30 is … I Am In Control Day

I previously mentioned how quickly money adds up when every time you fire a cruise missile it costs $2,000,000.00. They are expensive bullets. The Pentagon agrees with me. They released preliminary figures on Tuesday that put an early guess on the cost of picking on Libya. The military intervention in Libya has cost the Pentagon an extra $550 million so far, mostly for bombs and missiles, officials said Tuesday. The figure is not a full picture of the price tag for the operation in that it does not include such money as pay for U.S. sailors, airmen and other forces, who would have been deployed somewhere in the world anyway, officials said. But it is the first official figure released on the cost of setting up the no-fly zone in the North African nation and protecting civilians from strongman Moammar Gadhafi as he resists a movement to oust him.

Of the $550 million in added spending through Monday, about 60 percent was "for munitions, the remaining costs are for higher operating tempo" of U.S. forces and of getting them there, Cmdr. Kathleen Kesler, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Tuesday

From this day on, surgery would no longer painful, at least, while it was being performed. Dr. Crawford W. Long performed the first operation while a patient was anesthetized by ether on this day in 1842 as he removed a tumor from the neck of a boy. Crawford had been observing several party-goers under the influence of nitrous oxide and sulfuric ether. Those folks were feeling no pain. And Crawford’s patient literally felt no pain as the good doctor removed a tumor from the man’s neck using the party concoction. This event has been celebrated as Doctor’s Day since this day in 1933. The idea of setting aside a day to honor physicians was conceived by Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond. Doctors throughout the United States celebrate in Dr. Crawford W. Long’s honor and, in honor of ether as an anesthetic.

Give a doctor a red carnation today. It’s the official, designated flower of Doctors’ Day.

This next story should be the biggest news of the day but it won’t be. The White House is already spinning away from this claiming they were not involved in the decision making process and our Attorney General did not authorize this activity. Well, if they were not involved and did not OK this moronic plan, who did?

From Fox News: Congress and the Department of Justice appear to be headed for a showdown this week over documents detailing Operation Fast and Furious, the botched gunrunning sting set up by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that funneled more than 1,700 smuggled weapons from Arizona  Mexico. The Justice Department has until Wednesday to deliver to congressional investigators a stack of records and emails naming the individuals responsible for the gun trafficking operation that may have killed dozens, if not hundreds of Mexicans, and is becoming a growing embarrassment for the Obama administration. Under Project Gunrunner and the Phoenix off-shoot, dubbed Fast and Furious, the ATF encouraged gun store owners to sell to straw buyers consumers who they suspected of working on behalf of Mexican drug cartels.

Project Gunrunner purposely allowed the straw buyers to illegally buy and export guns only to see where they surfaced in Mexico. Using this investigative technique, the ATF hoped to take down the entire gun trafficking organization. Instead, records show it allowed more than 1,700 guns, including hundreds of AK-47s and high-powered, armor-piercing .50-caliber rifles to be trafficked to Mexico

Buying guns for non-personal use is illegal. Yet gun store owners were assured by ATF agents the buyers were under investigation and the guns were being intercepted before crossing into Mexico. AFT's gunrunning investigations were supposed to stem the flow of guns, like these, bought by U.S. straw buyers and sold in Mexico. Instead, whistleblowers say the guns were allowed "to walk."

President Obama, speaking for the first time about the growing scandal, conceded last week Fast and Furious may have been "a serious mistake," but he claimed, "I did not authorize it; Eric Holder, the attorney general, did not authorize it. He's been very clear that our policy is to catch gunrunners and put them into jail." But an investigation by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, could show otherwise. The ATF operates under Justice Department, and two assistant U.S. attorneys in Phoenix authorized virtually every wiretap, affidavit and investigation conducted in Operation Fast and Furious.

Some, like Issa, wonder how Holder could not have known about an investigation that size. "One of the questions we always ask is who is lying," Issa told Fox News. "We lose our credibility if we don't come clean and make the changes necessary to save lives on both sides of the border." If the Justice Department and ATF refuse to deliver the records Issa requested, as it already has done with similar requests by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Issa can subpoena the records. "We will subpoena if we have to, we'll hold hearings if we have to, we'll call in officials if we have to. But at the end of the day, the two Americans likely to have died as a result of this action pale in comparison to the countless numbers of Mexicans who have been killed," said Issa. He is referring to Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata. The guns used to kill both men were bought in the U.S. and investigators will now see if they are linked to Project Gunrunner.

Humberto Trevino, a senior Mexican lawmaker, says at least 150 people have been shot with ATF-monitored guns. Two of the gun stores involved were Carter's Country in Houston and J&G Gun Sales in Prescott, Ariz. "Let me tell you something about Carter's Country. They have been co-operating with ATF from the get-go," says Carter's County attorney Dick Deguerin.

"They were told to go through with what they considered to be questionable sales. They were told to go through with sales of three or more assault rifles at the same time or five or more 9-mm guns at the same time or a young Hispanic male paying in cash. It's all profiling, but they went through with it." Both gun stores felt burned by the ATF first by leaked records to The Washington Post that showed the two stores responsible for dozens of guns found at Mexican crime scenes, and now by Operation Fast and Furious. "You assumed they had your back," added J&G President Brad Desaye. "Absolutely, we felt like partners with ATF in a lot of ways." Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said in a Feb. 4 letter the operation's purpose was "to dismantle the entire trafficking organization, not merely to arrest straw purchasers." "The allegation -- that ATF 'sanctioned' or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico -- is false," he wrote.

Holder also says his department policy is not to "let guns walk."

Thinking outside of the box is one thing; thinking with your head up your ass is another. These guys act like they are trying to catch seventeen year-old high school dropout gangbangers on the west side of Chicago. They aren’t. They are dealing with professionals; professionals apparently smarter then they are.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

"Happiness is the full use of your powers along lines of excellence." - John F. Kennedy



Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Smoke and mirrors.

March 29, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 29 is … Festival of Smoke and Mirrors Day

Gadhafi was made for this day as are most politicians, including our President. I hope President Obama didn’t pay much for that commercial he read last night. It was not very informative or news worthy in my thinking. The speech belonged on a Sunday morning talking heads program not prime-time, speak to the nation time slot.
The wonderful Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on Margaret Langdon’s novel, Anna and the King of Siam, opened this night in 1951 on Broadway. The King and I starred Yul Brynner in the role of the King of Siam. The king, along with his subjects, valued tradition above all else. From this day forward, the role of the King of Siam belonged to Yul Brynner and no other.
Brynner appeared in this part in more than 4,000 performances on both stage and screen (the Broadway show was adapted for Hollywood in 1956).
Anna, the English governess hired to teach the King’s dozens of children, was portrayed by Gertrude Lawrence. Ms. Lawrence and Mr. Brynner acted, danced and sang their way into our hearts with such memorable tunes as Getting to Know You, Shall We Dance, Hello, Young Lovers, I Whistle a Happy Tune, We Kiss in a Shadow, I Have Dreamed, Something Wonderful, A Puzzlement and March of the Siamese Children.
The King and I ran for a total of 1,246 outstanding performances at New York’s St. James Theatre.

I mentioned this was going to happen in my blog of March 26, 2011. It will likely get worse. Elizabeth Taylor left an enduring legacy of great films and even greater acts of philanthropy. She also amassed a huge fortune estimated between $600 million and $1 billion, most of that from her savvy business dealings. Already, the fighting has begun as to who will get to manage that bounty along with all the money she's destined to make in death. Her last wish was for her lucrative jewelry collection, valued at a staggering $150 million in 2002, to be auctioned off and the proceeds given to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and amfAR. "Elizabeth also made arrangements to split the rest of her fortune between her four children and other charities that she cared so much about," a close friend of the stars has reportedly stated. "But what is causing all the problems is not the money she made during her life, but rather what should happen to the millions she is going to make after her death." the close friend confided. Beauty product giant Elizabeth Arden has already announced they'll continue selling Liz's still-popular fragrances, they made $77 million last year alone, and there are countless other opportunities, like film re-releases and merchandising that the estate could profit greatly from. "The one thing she didn't do was understand that, much like Elvis and Michael Jackson, she might be worth more in death," a source says. "This is what has already started to cause friction between family, business managers and the many charities that meant so much to Elizabeth." The two-time Oscar winner has been worth a lot of money for decades. In 1996, when she divorced her last husband, Larry Fortensky, documents showed her net worth was $608.4 million. The New York Post reported that during the 1990s, Taylor earned about $2 per second, or about $63 million per year. Her perfume, White Diamonds, has never stopped selling.

This is going to make the fight between the NFL owners and the NFL players look good before it is over. The rich are fighting over becoming richer. Lawyers love it.

Everybody knew this was going to happen even though our Congressional leaders said a compromise would be worked out during the time the temporary resolution passed two weeks ago granted all involved. More lies from our leaders once again. The specter of a partial government shutdown looms again as Congress returns to Washington with Democrats and Republicans as far apart on a bill to keep the government running as they were two weeks ago. Despite mounting pressure and a deadline looming, talks have stalled, with Democrats accusing GOP leaders of catering to tea party forces and Republicans countering that the White House isn't offering serious proposals to cut spending. The vehicle for the debate, left simmering when lawmakers went back to their districts last week, is must-do legislation to bankroll the day-to-day operating budgets of federal agencies including military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the Sept. 30 end of the budget year. Other major tests will soon follow, as House Republicans unveil a blueprint to attack the broader budget mess next week and a must-do measure to maintain the government's ability to borrow money to meet its responsibilities. Last month, House Republicans passed a measure cutting more than $60 billion from the $1.1 trillion budgeted for such programs last year. All the savings were taken from domestic programs and foreign aid, which make up about half of the pot. Democrats in the Senate killed the measure as too extreme, citing cuts to education, health research, food inspection and other programs and services. Reaching agreement between Democrats and Republicans is proving difficult enough. Then comes the harder part for House Speaker John Boehner: convincing his many tea party-backed GOP freshmen that the sort of split-the-differences measure Obama could sign isn't a sellout. The shutdown scenario was mostly set up in last year's midterm election campaign, when Republicans emphasized sharp spending cuts to attack mounting federal deficits and won control of the House, enough additional political clout to more strongly challenge President Obama on budget issues. The GOP promised that it would ratchet spending down to 2008 levels and force Obama to backtrack on generous budget increases made on his watch. To meet the promise, GOP leaders initially pressed for about $35 billion in cuts in a proposal that took account of the fact that the budget year was almost halfway over. That idea didn't sell with tea party activists, and House Speaker John Boehner was forced to almost double the size of the cuts, driving away any potential Democratic support. But that meant the halfway point between the House-passed measure and a proposal advanced by Democrats controlling the Senate was roughly where Boehner started out in the first place. "The speaker knows that when it comes to avoiding a shutdown, his problem is with the tea party, not Democrats," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Time is running short. Staff-level negotiations last week ran aground, and the principals are going to have to pick up the pace to have any chance of making an April 8 deadline to avoid a partial shutdown of the government. Right now it appears that the shutdown that both sides have sworn to avoid is possible - if not probable.

The frustration boiled over on Friday, with Republicans criticizing Democrats for not presenting significant cuts. An offer a few days earlier had ponied up just another $10 billion or so, GOP officials said, which prompted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to accuse Democrats of "negotiating off of the status quo and refusing to offer any sort of serious plan for how to cut spending." The tough rhetoric was matched by volleys from Boehner, R-Ohio, and other House GOP leaders. That prompted Democrats to accuse Republicans of blowing up a near agreement on a "top line" of spending cuts that would have likely given Republicans more than half of their $60 billion-plus in reductions.
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"The division between the tea party and mainstream Republicans is preventing us from reaching a responsible solution and prevented negotiations from taking place over the weekend even as the clock ticks toward a government shutdown," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday. Democrats also say that House Republicans insist on using House-passed legislation slashing more than $60 billion from the current-year budget as the starting point for talks, pulling back from an agreement with Boehner's office to work off a baseline essentially set at last year's levels. Boehner appears to be in a no-win situation. Any agreement with Obama is sure to incite a revolt among hard-line tea party figures who want the full roster of cuts and an end to funding for Obama's signature health care law. And social conservatives are adamant that the measure cut off money for Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions in addition to the family planning services the government funds. Any attempts to outmuscle Obama with legislation that pleases tea partiers, however, would surely incite a shutdown. One option circulating among Republicans is to use the Pentagon’s budget to pass a short-term measure to avoid a shutdown but carry stiffer spending cuts than the $10 billion in bipartisan cuts to earmarks and domestic accounts achieved so far.

On this date in history;

1882 Knights of Columbus chartered for Catholic men
1886 Chemist John Pemberton begins to advertise for Coca-Cola (with cocaine)
1951 Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage
1962 Jack Paar's final appearance on the "Tonight Show"
1971 1st Lieutenant William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
1973 Last US troops leave Vietnam, 9 years after Tonkin Gulf Resolution
1976 8 Ohio National Guardsmen indicted for shooting 4 Kent State students

BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011

Faith will not die while seed catalogs are printed.
VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong.
Abraham Lincoln

Monday, March 28, 2011

Go see an endodontist today!

March 28, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 28 is … Something on a Stick Day.

Happy Root Canal Awareness Week. Think Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man.

From the Associated Press and Tampa Bay Online; a billionaire executive whose family has run SC Johnson for five generations was charged Thursday with having sexual contact with a now 15-year-old girl over the course of several years. Samuel Curtis Johnson III, who goes by Curt, faces a count of repeated sexual assault of a child. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Johnson, 55, is the former chairman of Sturtevant-based Diversey Inc., a cleaning-products company that was spun off from SC Johnson in the late 1990s. Privately held SC Johnson makes household products including Pledge, Glade, Windex and Ziploc. Johnson resigned from Diversey's board in February and was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, the company said at the time. Diversey spokesman John Matthews told The Associated Press on Thursday that Johnson had retired effective the end of March and that his leave of absence immediately removed him from any role with the company. Johnson was replaced by his sister. The criminal complaint accuses Johnson of having inappropriate sexual contact with the girl 15 to 20 times, starting in the summer after she finished sixth grade. The girl told investigators that Johnson exposed himself, fondled her under her clothes and kissed her breasts and elsewhere. The girl's voice cracked and she began to cry as she described Johnson as having a "sex addiction" and "touching problem," according to the partially redacted complaint. Prosecutors said the girl confided about the abuse to her mother, who confronted Johnson. He allegedly admitted to fondling the girl's breasts and repeatedly apologized for his behavior.

Johnson's cash bail was set at $500,000. Messages left with both of Johnson's lawyers were not immediately returned. Family spokesman Harlan Loeb said Johnson is married with three children. "Obviously this is a personal matter for Curt," Loeb said. "Allegations of this nature are always deeply disturbing. The family is distraught and very much hopes for the best for everyone involved." Johnson's brother is the chairman and chief executive of SC Johnson, based in Racine. Company spokeswoman Kelly Semrau said Johnson had worked for the company as a general manager and in other roles in the 1980s and early 1990s but had no formal relationship with the company in almost 15 years.

How long has he really been gone from the company? I like the family spokesman saying “…this is a personal matter for Curt.” His wife and kids probably don’t think so. Since he was arrested and is being prosecuted, it is a matter of public record and no longer a ‘personal matter.’

I missed this anniversary on the 26th day of March. Sorry. Sarah Anthony Morse Borden 1823-1863, first wife of Andrew J. Borden and mother of Emma Lenora, Alice Esther and Lizzie Andrew Borden.  She was the sister of John Vinnicum Morse, born September 19, 1823 in Somerset, Massachusetts. Daughter of Anthony and Rhody (Morrison) Morse, she married Andrew on Christmas day, 1845.  Sarah died in Fall River on March 26, 1863. R.I.P. Sarah died before her husband and his second wife were hacked to death by an unknown assailant. The killings Lizzie Borden was charged and acquitted of are still an unsolved, open case in Fall River, MA I do not believe the case is under active investigation. It remains the perfect murder(s).
On this date in 1964; Radio Caroline debuted as the first pirate radio station to broadcast off the coast of England. On this day in 1964, the combination of rock music and lively disk jockey patter played to a huge audience in Great Britain; but well out of reach of British authorities. However, that didn’t stop them from trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to shut down the radio station ship. Radio Caroline had become competition to the staid and usually dull British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Today, all that is different, as there is licensed radio competition throughout Great Britain. The BBC and the giant, government-owned network has caught up with the times by offering five different services to appeal to wide audiences. They are simply known as ‘Radio 1’ through ‘Radio 5’ ... No ‘Zees’, ‘Qs’ or ‘Bees’, just numbers that include a rock channel, a talk channel, a nostalgia/easy listening channel, a classical/fine arts channel and a news channel.

In 2009, Philip Seymour Hoffman starred in a movie titled Pirate Radio. It is a good movie, a comedy with social commentary woven in. The movie has a real good soundtrack if you like 1960’s music and who doesn’t? It is also fun laughing at the British government and their attempts to shut the pirate radio station down. The United States had the Viet Nam war to deal with; Britain was dealing with godless rock and roll.

While I was wrestling with writing this blog in 1905, Marlin Perkins, Carthage MO, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) and director of the St. Louis Zoo, was born. Was Reba born in New England on this day in 1955? No. Reba Mc Entire was born in McAlester OK on this date in 1955. I do like redheads.

Notable deaths on this date:

1980 Jesse Owens (Olympics-gold-36), dies in Tucson AZ at the age of 66
1969 Dwight D Eisenhower 34th President/General (WWII), dies in Washington DC at 78

Significant events on this date through history:
1866 1st ambulance goes into service
1885 US Salvation Army officially organized
1910 1st seaplane, takes off from water at Martigues France (Henri Fabre)
1924 WGN-AM in Chicago IL begins radio transmissions
1957 1st National Curling Championship held
1979 Major nuclear accident at 3 Mile Island, Middletown PA (no deaths)
1994 Italy's right-wing alliance under Silvio Berlusconi wins election
1995 Julia Roberts & Lyle Lovett split-up

BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.
“Blessed are those
that can give without remembering
and receive without forgetting.”
~ Elizabeth Bibesco
(1897-1945)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Lies!

March 27, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 27 is … National "Joe"

Go here before or while you are reading this blog. http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Liar/fyUOb?src=5 Cut and paste if need be.

Have a cup of Joe this morning? While doing that, think about how citizens around the globe do not believe what governments say; their government or any government. Japan is the latest government to not be believed. Their citizens and the rest of the world knows the government is hiding the extent of the nuclear disaster. This is a hard one to keep secret but the Japanese government is trying to control the spin on the story. How can the water be unsafe to drink on Wednesday but OK on Thursday? What did they do, boil it? The nuclear problems are not the only things the government is hiding and lying about. The death toll is going to be well over 20,000 people but the government officially has it at under 8,000 people. The bodies are starting to spoil and they are washing up on shore. This is another situation you cannot hide but the Japanese government is trying. Why do governments have to treat its citizens as children and stupid children at that?

Libya is another current example.  Like many dictators and leaders of suppressed people, the Libyan government mostly ignores the turmoil in their country. When it is mentioned, it is just to brag how they are winning, beating back the invaders and rebels. If you ignore reality long enough and just continually tell lies, sooner or later the truth is forgotten about.

Similar tactics and propaganda was used by Saddam Hussein in Iraq during both wars we started against him. The Iranian leaders use this nonsense and have for years. They obviously do not care what the world outside of Iran thinks of them as long as their people believe it. Since this is all the Iranian people hear, they believe it.

North Korea is an expert as this subterfuge. You can tell when a North Korean government official is lying, his lips are moving. The President of North Korea issued a press release about eight years ago at the height of the Tiger Woods mania. The government release said the North Korean leader, in his early 60s at the time, tried golf for the first time. The release said he became bored with the easy game. He shot a 28 with 11 holes-in-ones. The North Koreans continually push the world to the brink of attack and then promises the world what it wants never intending on changing. The world accepts this time and again just to avoid a war. The North Koreans then brag to their citizens how they beat the world again.

In the news recently are other regimes no one believes i.e. Jordan, Tunisia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt and Somalia. All of these countries lie to the world and to their citizens. No one with half a brain believes what they say. A monkey with ears is more truthful.

European leaders are not much better. Russian leaders have lied since before WWII and continue to do so. Some of their leaders are in prison or have been eliminated by other government officials when the lies were not believed. The leader of Italy is a lying sexual predator. Not much credibility there. The leader of France is also carrying sexual predator baggage and the public lies of denial that come with the allegations. The former leader of Israel was just sentenced to prison for criminal activity.

Then we have the MENSA Society members running Afghanistan and Pakistan and the rest of the ‘Stans’ over there. Who could possibly believe or trust these drug smuggling government leaders? They are prostitutes. They take our money and then screw us, like most of the world does, but we do not learn.

Our government is no better. Our leaders tell us we will be out of a war in six months – a lie. We are told Gitmo prison will close as soon as I am President – a lie. We are told we have a coalition to fight in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya or Somalia – more lies. I will not raise taxes – lie. Health care reform will lower prices and everyone will get it - lies. Illegal aliens will not get welfare or free medical – lies. I am not a crook – lie. I did not have sexual relations with that woman – lie. The bailout will prevent unemployment from going over 8% - lie. The bank, company, (insert any industry you want) is too big to fail; we have to bail them out – lie, lie, lie. The list is nearly endless and disgusting. The worst part is that we, as citizens, accept the lies and keep voting these weasels into office. A prime example is Newt Gingrich. This lizard is a liar, see story below.

The earth has less than 200 countries on it. We give foreign aid to over 150. That is not money well spent and every politician promises to change it but they all lie.
Slaughter in America from three days ago. This story defines selfishness and lack of gratitude. According to a story on Aol, by their crime reporter, David Lohr, an Amber Alert for two juveniles has been canceled after they were found. In its place, a homicide investigation has been opened by police in Columbia, Ky., who have charged one of the juveniles in connection with the double homicide of his legal guardians.

Christopher Endicott, 15, has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Gary Holloway, 50, and Barbara Holloway, 51. Police said a host of other charges have been issued as well, including fleeing and evading police, wanton endangerment, reckless driving and criminal mischief. "The investigation is ongoing and more charges could be forthcoming, pending a grand jury hearing," State Trooper Billy Gregory told AOL News. Authorities have declined to comment on how the Holloways were killed. "Autopsies are currently under way," Gregory said. Police have called off an Amber Alert for Christopher Endicott, 15, and Kyra Shockley, 12. Endicott has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his legal guardians. Shockley was returned to the custody of her mother. The investigation into the case began Tuesday morning, when 12-year-old Kyra Shockley was reported missing. Shockley's mother, Ginger Shively, told TV station WBKO-13 that she suspected her daughter had run away with Endicott. She also said she did not approve of her daughter's relationship with the 250-pound teenager, which she said had been going on for about three months.

Investigators went to the Holloway home in Edmonton several times on Tuesday, but nobody answered the door. Later that day, at about 2:30 p.m., a family member of the Holloways entered the home and discovered the couple dead. No one else was found in the residence. Police also discovered that the couple's vehicle, a 1997 Chevy Lumina, was missing. Gregory said the couple had been awarded legal custody of Endicott in January. Family members told Lexington's LEX-18 TV station that the teen was a distant relative of Gary Holloway, whom they described as a quiet and generous person. "I just went to pieces," Holloway's sister, Marie Edwards, told LEX-18 of learning about her brother's death. "You hear something like that ... it's just everything runs through your mind at once. You don't know what to think."

Authorities issued an Amber Alert for the missing juveniles and released their photos to the media. The alert made it clear that authorities were already suspicious of their unexplained disappearance. "The ... missing children were possibly involved in a double homicide, but the circumstances remain unknown," the alert stated. "The children are believed to be in danger." However, at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, a firefighter spotted the Chevy Lumina driving down a highway in nearby Barren County. Police chased the car briefly, before it rammed through a fence, Gregory said. The juveniles were caught after a short foot chase.

Both juveniles were taken into custody for questioning. Following the interviews with homicide investigators, detectives made the decision to charge Endicott in connection with the case. Authorities are not yet commenting on what, if anything, the boy said to implicate himself. Endicott is being held at the Adair County Youth Development Center. Shockley has not been charged and was released to her mother.

Newt Gingrich has done an about face on President Obama and the Libyan situation. Newt Gingrich was all over President Barack Obama back on March 7 for not moving against Moammar Gadhafi, calling for an immediate no-fly zone over Libya and declaring that "this is a moment to get rid of him. ... Get it over with."

On Fox News, the former House speaker, who works for Fox News, said that "the idea that we're confused about a man who has been an anti-American dictator since 1969 just tells you how inept this administration is. ... The United States doesn't need anybody's permission. ... All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we're intervening."

Now that President Obama has done what Gingrich and many others said he should do, Gingrich says he would not have done what Obama did. Speaking on NBC’s The Today Show Gingrich said on Thursday, "I would not have intervened," Gingrich continued "I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Gadhafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces."

What a liar, what a hypocrite, what an adulterous flip-flopper. This clown, who was run out of Congress, may run for President and will be a major candidate. We deserve what we get if we keep electing the truth and honesty challenged jerks that keep running and buy the elections by spending the better candidates into oblivion.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead