Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy end of 2011


December 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.
December 31 is … Unlucky Day

For all of you lucky recipients of Kindles, Nooks or other Ereaders be sure to order my books. I have three published to date with another work coming shortly. They are available at Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple and many other ebook sites. Just do a name of author search or a search by book title. That information is below. Help a struggling author.

I am preparing this column before Christmas so anything that happened after December 15, 2011 was not considered. Here are 10 top stories of 2011 according to both impact and public out-pouring or emotion and interest. The death of the Korean leader did not make the list since I do not actually think his existence meant anything to the world. There are a line of nimrods ready to take his place in self-importance.

1) Japan earthquake and recovery. At 2:46 p.m. local time on March 11 Japan was rocked by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake centered off the coast of Honshu. More than 20,000 people were killed, tens of thousands more were left homeless, and Japan's economy was rocked. Road and rail lines were damaged, water and sewage systems were disrupted and damaged, and electric lines were damaged. Also, several nuclear power stations damaged in the massive earthquake became a concern, including the Fukishima plant, which lost power and overheated. Radiation concerns necessitated an 18-mile evacuation and no-fly zone before the situation was brought under control.
2) Osama bin Laden killed. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. managed to hide out for almost a decade despite the world's most aggressive global manhunt and a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture or killing. On May 1, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to send a small U.S. force into a compound where Obama was believed to be hiding in Pakistan. Osama bin Laden was killed in the raid, and after DNA confirmation was buried at sea. Obama announced bin Laden's killing in a televised address.
3) Steve Jobs dies. Apple co-founder and long-time CEO Steve Jobs died on October 5 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Hailed as one of the greatest innovators ever, Steve Jobs had recently retired as Apple's longtime CEO, after serving two stints in the job, due to his illness. That was also one of the top stories of the year, but in the end, his departure from Apple was nothing compared to his death, which stunned and saddened the world.
4) Gabrielle Giffords shooting. While hosting a public event in her district, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ.) was shot in the head by a gunman by Jared Lee Loughner. Six people were killed, including a nine-year-old girl. News reports suggested that Giffords had died in the shooting initially, yet despite taking a bullet through the head, Giffords miraculously survived. She was released from the hospital in the summer and continues to recover.
5) Occupy Wall Street. Much like the Arab Spring, it all started with one Tweet. On a summer day in New York's Lower Manhattan, an otherwise unrelated group of people gathered to begin a protest called "Occupy Wall Street." It lasted for months, and is still going, leading some to call it a movement of those fed up with what they claim is the coddling of the rich and big corporations by the government leading to a hollowing out of society economically. The movement led to such mass-shared stories as Warren Buffett's op-ed in The New York Times titled, "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich."
6) The Penn State scandal. Speaking of the establishment, and the problems that can occur with it -- few stories touched a nerve in 2011 more than the Penn State scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, charged with abusing young boys sexually. The scandal is still unfolding, and though Sandusky maintains his innocence it has already resulted in the firing of legendary football Joe Paterno. Regardless of how it unfolds in the end, the story speaks volumes to the taboos involving both sexual abuse victims and institutions that think they are bigger than the laws which govern and protect.
7) The London riots. It began with a peaceful protest in early August over the fatal shooting of a man named mark Duggan by police. Two days later, it was fully-involved rioting which last for four days throughout several London boroughs and districts of other towns in the UK. In all, several thousand were arrested, five people died and dozens of others were injured in the night-time riots, fueled by social media connectivity. Property damage from looting and rioting was extensive.
8) Moammar Gadhafi ousted, killed. The longtime leader of Libya, Moammar Gadhafi (Gaddafi) was killed on October 20, 2011 in cross-fire between rebels and loyalist fighters in Libya when the rebels in Gadhafi's birthplace of Sirt attempted to take the ousted colonel, who was wounded after an attack, to an ambulance. Gadhafi had been hiding in a large sewer pipe in Sirt. The leader of Libya since 1969, his ouster was also one of the top stories of the year. Gadhafi was overthrown in a civil war.
9) Celebrity deaths -- Ryan Dunn and Amy Winehouse. It seems demeaning to place celebrity deaths among top headlines of the year, but we don't make the news, we just report it. Such is the world we live in, as the death of "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn was one of the most-shared stories of 2011, according to Facebook. He died in a car crash, while speeding and driving drunk in June. The next month singer Amy Winehouse made similar waves throughout the world when she died in London on July 23.
10) Hurricane Irene. The first hurricane to strike the U.S. since Ike in 2008, Irene was a menace to the East Coast in August, making a direct hit on New Jersey and New York, while knocking out power for almost 50 million people and flooding Vermont. Irene caused widespread destruction, killing 56 people and causing an estimated $10 billion in damage. For days in August, Irene virtually shut down the entire U.S. East Coast.

Be careful out there today. Try not to be unlucky. I will see and talk to you sometime; changes are in the works. Thanks for reading me; have a good year and life.

Just a couple of thoughts I had and you should too or at least think about.
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 is available. It makes a great Christmas present.  More information will be forthcoming about my fourth book currently under construction.

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

Book Titles:

Holmes the Ripper

A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction

Public EneMe?


Friday, December 30, 2011

They slaughter horses don't they?


December 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.
December 30 is … Festival of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute and National Bicarbonate Of Soda Day

This day seems to be out of place. It should be in two days; we could always switch it to January 1, 2012 at the last minute. Pass the Pepto, please.

IT IS REAL CLOSE; ONE DAY, TWO AT THE MOST

For all of you lucky recipients of Kindles, Nooks or other Ereaders be sure to order my books. I have three published to date with another work coming shortly. They are available at Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple and many other ebook sites. Just do a name of author search or a search by book title. That information is below. Help a struggling author.

Where is Bo Derek to help with the cleanup after she lobbied to ban horse slaughtering in the United States? She only helped stop the humane slaughter of horses not the laughter of horses. As usual, when the headlines fade the well known spokespeople also fade.
The remains of yet another slaughtered horse were found in a Southwest Miami-Dade canal on Monday, the latest in a string of grisly butcherings feeding South Florida's illegal horse meat trade.
The dismembered carcass of a white horse was reported by a ranch owner who spotted it in a canal near Southwest 136th Street and 205th Avenue around 2 p.m. Monday, according to the Miami-Dade police report. Responding officers observed the animal's head, intestines, and skin floating in the canal.
According to the police report, investigators believe the horse was slaughtered in another location and dumped in the canal, and a crime lab unit processed what appeared to be dried blood with fingerprints along a guard rail surrounding the canal.
Much of the illegal horse meat trade is tied to Miami-Dade's infamous C-9 Basin, a rural agricultural zone west of the Turnpike and widely considered to be one of the most active horse slaughter locations in the world.
The record 21 carcasses found dumped in 2009 helped prompt a massive task force raid in the basin, but a tangle of laws and shared jurisdiction have hampered efforts to fully eradicate illegal slaughter. Though the U.S. Department of Agriculture keeps tabs on licensed slaughterhouses (the last of which was operational in Illinois in 2007), the prosecution of their unlicensed kin falls to multiple jurisdictions, and often through the cracks.
"There's a big, large demand for the meat, and not just in Miami-Dade and South Florida but all of Florida," activist Richard Couto of the Animal Rescue Mission told NBCMiami in October, after a mare was stabbed through the heart and butchered alive. "The meat is going between $7-40 per pound in our state. It's a high commodity item, and when there's a demand there's gonna be supply...
"This has been going on in Miami-Dade county for 30, 40, 50 years, and those days need to be over and done with."

DeKalb County, Illinois could use the jobs to legally and humanely slaughter horses since it has a slaughter house designed for just that; but it was forced to close due to the interjection of nonlocals who told all the locals they were smarter than the citizens who live in DeKalb, IL.

Why does a Jewish American Princess close her eyes during sex?

     She can't stand it to see her husband enjoy himself.
Just a couple of thoughts I had and you should too or at least think about.
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 is available. It makes a great Christmas present.  More information will be forthcoming about my fourth book currently under construction.

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

Book Titles:

Holmes the Ripper

A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction

Public EneMe?

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Nixon had gay affair?


December 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.
December 29 is … Pepper Pot Day

For all of you lucky recipients of Kindles, Nooks or other Ereaders be sure to order my books. I have three published to date with another work coming shortly. They are available at Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple and many other ebook sites. Just do a name of author search or a search by book title. That information is below. Help a struggling author.

THE END OF THE YEAR IS ALMOST UPON US.

Now, Jimmy Hoffa is under the GM Headquarters building in Detroit, Michigan. If you're looking for the bones of Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, you may need look no further than the General Motors headquarters. According to a new book by Hoffa's former driver and mob goon Marvin Elkind, Hoffa's corpse rests below the cement foundation of the Renaissance Center. Elkind co-wrote Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob with a Canadian journalist, and according to one passage, reported mob boss Anthony Giacalone told Teamsters delegates to "Say good morning to Jimmy Hoffa, boys," as he nodded to the foundation of the Renaissance Center during a conference in Detroit in 1985.

Thin evidence? Sure, but the news is just as credible as any of the other theories concerning Hoffa's disappearance. From a burial under the end zone of the old Giants Stadium in New Jersey to cremation at a Hamtramck waste disposal facility, plenty of urban legends surround the union leader's vanishing act. Something tells us no one's going to be ripping up the floor boards at the RenCenter looking for musty bones anytime soon, however.

The author did not have the fortitude to print or report this information while Nixon was in power or alive. It is real easy to kick a dead man with accusations that will obviously be contested or ignored by the family.

Watergate was only one of several scandalous aspects of former President Richard Nixon's life, according to a new book by a former White House correspondent.

Nixon's Darkest Secrets: The Inside Story of America's Most Troubled President by Don Fulsom (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.99), former correspondent for United Press International, makes several eye-catching accusations, including that the former president had a gay affair with Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a banker apparently with ties to the mob.

The allegation is especially noteworthy because, as gay news website Queerty reports, Nixon was known to have made homophobic remarks. From Queerty: When a close aide to President Johnson was caught having sex with a former sailor in a YMCA bathroom, Nixon called the man "ill," and added that such people "cannot be in places of high trust."

The new book also alleges that Nixon beat his wife and that his aides referred to him as "our drunk." Neither of these allegations is new or supported by significant sources.

The Daily Mail reports that Nixon's alleged secret lover also had a shady history of his own. According to the Mail, the FBI claims Rebozo had ties to mob bosses Santo Trafficante and Alfred 'Big Al' Polizzi. He also ran a bank that, a former mobster claims, was used to launder money.

The book's press release says that Fulsom used interviews with former White House staffers and ex-members of Congress, as well as government documents, to support his claims.

The Nixon Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The book's author Fulsom covered the presidencies of Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton during his career as a journalist. The book goes on sale at the end of January.

Just a couple of thoughts I had and you should too or at least think about.
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 is available. It makes a great Christmas present.  More information will be forthcoming about my fourth book currently under construction.

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

Book Titles:

Holmes the Ripper

A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction

Public EneMe