Saturday, September 24, 2011

You survived the satelite plunge.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

September 24 is … Festival Of Latest Novelties



If you are reading this, you survived the great satellite plunge of 2011; congratulations.



They celebrated the Festival of Latest Novelties on Wednesday in Mexico. We need to make sure more of these illegal Hispanic aliens get into the United States. They know how to celebrate even the smaller holidays.



Suspected drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major Gulf coast city as gunmen pointed weapons at frightened drivers. Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are examining surveillance video for clues to who committed the crime.



Horrified motorists grabbed cell phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area near the biggest shopping mall in Boca del Rio, part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz City. The gruesome gesture marked a sharp escalation in cartel violence in Veracruz State, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north. The Zetas drug cartel has been battling other gangs for control of the state. Prosecutors said it's too soon to draw conclusions from the surveillance video.



"We're not going to confirm or deny anything," Veracruz state Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Perez told the Televisa network Wednesday. "We're looking at it in different ways; we're seeing different numbers, that's why we don't want to get ahead of ourselves." Escobar said the bodies were left piled in two trucks and on the ground under the overpass near the statue of the Voladores de Papantla, ritual dancers from Veracruz State. He said some of the victims had their heads covered with black plastic bags and showed signs of torture.



Among the bodies was a local police officer who had gone missing two weeks ago, Escobar told W Radio in Mexico City. He told MVS Radio many of the victims were strangled, some bled to death and one person had been shot dead. Escobar did not return phone calls from The Associated Press.



Police have identified 32 of the victims so far and maintain they all had criminal records for acts such as murder, drug dealing, kidnapping and extortion and were linked to organized crime, said Magda Zayas, spokeswoman for the Veracruz Attorney General's Office. State Gov. Javier Duarte said on his Twitter account "the killing of 35 people is deplorable, but it's even more deplorable the same victims chose to extort, kidnap and kill."



Duarte said an intelligence database shows the 35 victims had a criminal background. Motorists posted Twitter warnings said the masked gunmen were in military uniforms and were blocking Manuel Avila Camacho Boulevard.



"They don't seem to be soldiers or police," one tweet read. Another said, "Don't go through that area, there is danger." Veracruz is currently hosting a conference of Mexico's top state and federal prosecutors and judiciary officials. Local media said that 12 of the victims were women and that some of the dead men had been among prisoners who escaped from three Veracruz prisons on Monday, but Escobar denied the escaped convicts were among the dead. At least 32 inmates got away from the three Veracruz prisons. Police recaptured 14 of them.



Drug violence has claimed more than 35,000 lives across Mexico since 2006, according to government figures. Others put the number at more than 40,000.



What the hell they gonna do on New Year’s Eve? This cannot be good for tourism. They can’t even blame it on President Bush.



This was a busy week for executioners in the United States. I wish they had a couple of hundred of weeks like this in a row to empty the death chambers around the country. A man described by a police informant as trying to make a name for himself was executed Thursday evening for the 1994 shooting death of an Alabama store clerk during a robbery.

Derrick O. Mason, 37, was administered an injection and pronounced dead minutes later at 6:49 p.m. local time at Alabama's Holman Prison. It was the third execution this week in the United States.



Strapped to the gurney, Mason gave a brief statement, apologizing to the victim's family "for the hurt and pain I caused" them. He thanked the victim's father for getting in touch years ago and granting him his forgiveness. Just before the chemicals began coursing through the veins in Mason's arm, a prison chaplain held his hand and kneeled and said a prayer before stepping back.



Mason's breathing slowed, his head tilted backward and his lips pursed several times before he became very still. Minutes later, authorities closed the curtain on the death chamber.



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 now available. The title is Public EneMe?



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?



"Anger is never without reason, but seldom with a good one." - Benjamin Franklin




Friday, September 23, 2011

Why is the President of Iran still alive?

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

September 23 is … Checkers Day and Dogs In Politics Day



This guy is an asshole. He is an embarrassing worldwide ambassador for Muslims in general. If I had to pick one person in the world to kill and remove from the face of the earth, he is the person I would throw my rope at.



American diplomats led a walkout at the U.N. General Assembly Thursday as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fiercely attacked the United States and major West European nations as "arrogant powers" ruled by greed and eager for military adventurism.



Last year, Ahmadinejad provoked a walkout by the U.S., EU, and others when he said a majority of people in the United States and around the world believe the American government staged the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in an attempt to assure Israel's survival.



The provocative comments prompted the U.S. delegation to walk out of Ahmadinejad's U.N. speech, where he also blamed the U.S. as the power behind U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used as fuel for electricity generation or to build nuclear weapons. He is a dog in politics.



Speaking of dogs in politics, but not to the same degree, rumor has it that Eleanor Mondale had an affair with President Bill Clinton while he was in office. I am not sure if Hillary will ever shake this stigma but she decided to stand by her man. I wonder how she thinks that decision has worked out. But, then again, he pretty much made her. She would never have been heard of if it were not for her husband.



I am in the justice business but never get invited to these types of seminars. Of course, I do not work for the government. As the U.S. government grapples to find ways to trim the bloated federal deficit, a new report suggests officials might start with cutting out $16 muffins and $10 cookies.



"We found the Department (of Justice) spent $16 on each of the 250 muffins served at an August 2009 legal conference in Washington," said a DOJ Office of Inspector General report released on Tuesday. The DOJ spent $121 million on conferences in fiscal 2008 and 2009, which exceeded its own spending limits and appeared to be extravagant and wasteful, according to the report that examined 10 conferences held during that period. The review turned up the expensive muffins, which came from the Capital Hilton Hotel just blocks from the White House, as well as cookies and brownies that cost almost $10 each.



The department spent $32 per person on snacks of Cracker Jack, popcorn, and candy bars and coffee that cost $8.24 per cup at another conference, the report said. The DOJ also spent nearly $600,000 for event planning services for five conferences, the document said.



A Justice Department spokeswoman said most of the gatherings were held when there were no strict limits on food and beverage costs, adding the DOJ had taken steps since 2009 "to ensure that these problems do not occur again." Word of the agency's extravagant spending drew a swift response from Capitol Hill.



Senator Chuck Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee which has oversight of the Justice Department, said the report was a blueprint for the first cuts that should be made by the "super committee" searching for at least $1.2 trillion in savings.

"Sixteen dollar muffins and $600,000 for event planning services are what make Americans cynical about government and why they are demanding change," Grassley said in a statement. "People are outraged, and rightly so."



I particularly like the justification that it was OK because the strict guidelines were not in place at the time. I think common sense was in place at the time. For someone in our government to authorize over $24.00 for a muffin and cup of coffee is why we are in the problems we are in. I bet the person in charge of approving the costs is still employed.



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 now available. The title is Public EneMe?



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?



"The only limits are, as always, those of vision." - James Broughton








Thursday, September 22, 2011

There is one less convicted murderer in the U. S. this morning

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

September 22 is … Hobbit Day and Dear Diary Day



Abraham Lincoln liked September 22 as a day of the year.



1862 President Lincoln, says he will free slaves in all states on Jan 1.
1863 President Lincoln makes his Emancipation Proclamation speech.

1911 Cy Young at 44, wins his 511th & final game.

1927 Famous "Long count" fight (Dempsey loses boxing title to Tunney).

1945 Stan Musial gets 5 hits off 5 pitchers on 5 consecutive pitches.

1959 Chicago White Sox clinch the AL pennant.

1985 Rock & country musicians participate in FarmAid in Champaign, Ill.



Troy Davis was executed in Georgia Wednesday night, twenty years after the murder of a police officer he was convicted of. It was about time.



FOX Sports made up headlines it reported were actual headlines from Chicago Newspapers. The main stream press has now dragged the sports into the sensationalism the regular news entered thirty years ago.



FOX Sports vice president of communications Dan Bell acknowledged that newspaper headlines shown as part of piece that aired during the Sept. 11 Falcons-Bears game concerning the injury Bears quarterback Jay Cutler suffered during the NFL Championship Game "were fabrications,” according to Jim Romenesko of Poynter.org.



Bell said, “It was misleading.” The network during the game "flashed three newspaper headlines across the screen," and announcer Daryl Johnston "told viewers that ‘these are the actual headlines from the local papers in Chicago.’ "



A FOX Sports official reportedly admits a graphic showing newspaper headlines about Jay Cutler that aired during the Falcons-Bears game in Week 1 were made up.



However, the Chicago Tribune sports department "didn’t buy it and started an investigation.” The FOX graphics read, “Cutler Leaves With Injury,” “Cutler Lacks Courage,” and “Cutler’s No Leader.”



The Tribune Sunday ran an article under the header: “Fox Sports: ‘Misleading.’” The article read, “The whole production rang false to us. The headlines didn’t look real. The language used in them was off. And since we know that most Chicago media had defended Cutler, we looked into it. We searched throughout Illinois newspapers for that headlines, Tribune, Sun-Times, Daily Herald, every other paper in the state. What did we find? Nothing.” Bell said, “The wrong word was used. Our attempt was to capture the overall sentiment nationwide following that game.”



If you cannot report the truth, do not report anything. If you make up lies, tell us you are using examples of what could have been. To lie on the air about headlines in Chicago newspapers is real ignorant. Chicago has only two papers people think of as Chicago. How could FOX not realize they were going to get called on this story? Somebody needs to move to another state; the state of unemployment.



The Iranian government knows how to play the political game also. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies were released from Tehran's prison on Wednesday after more than two years in custody.



Associated Press reporters saw a convoy of vehicles with Swiss and Omani diplomats leaving Evin prison Wednesday afternoon with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal inside, heading to an airport in the capital Tehran. Switzerland represents American interests in Iran because the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Tehran and the prisoners are expected to be flown to Oman now. The two men, both 29, were driven out of the prison compound just minutes after their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he has completed the paperwork for their release. They arrived in Oman and were greeted by family ndfriends.



"I have finished the job that I had to do as their lawyer," Shafiei said. He obtained signatures of two judges on a bail-for-freedom deal. A $1 million bail – $500,000 for each one – was posted. The two men were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years each in prison. A third American arrested with them, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on bail. Who posted the one million dollars is still unknown.



The London-based rights group Amnesty International called the release of the Americans a "long overdue step."


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 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.





Book Titles:



Holmes the Ripper



A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction





"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it." - Thucydides






Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Hockey mom

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

September 21 is … World Gratitude Day and International Banana Festival



Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Thank God for small miracles, my family, my friends, my dog, nature, the great outdoors, intelligent people, funny people, farmers, teachers, a good joke, a good movie, sports, watermelons and seedless grapes.



Put the puck in the net boy. A middle-aged hockey mom accused of having sex with two of her son's former teammates was out on bail Monday after being arrested at her Laguna Niguel home last week, authorities said.



Kathia Maria Davis, 44, faces charges of unlawful sex with a minor and lewd acts with a child, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino. She was arrested Wednesday after allegedly carrying on sexual relationships with the boys over a period of three to five years, officials said.



The first victim, who is still a juvenile, spilled details to his mother last week. She called authorities and an investigation began.

"These are incidents that are always embarrassing for the families and disgusting acts," Amormino said. According to the mother, Davis hosted parties at her home and served alcohol to underage team members, Amormino said.



A second boy also recounted alleged sexual encounters with the dishwater-blonde divorcee, Amormino said. The second boy said he couldn't recall when the alleged trysts began, but he might have been 14, authorities said. Both boys played for a youth hockey team called Beach City Lightning, Amormino said. Club president Stacey Chilcoff said the two players hadn't been involved with the team for at least four years.



Davis was released from custody after posting $25,000 bail, Amormino said.

Tuesday was the first day gays could openly serve in the military. Have you noticed a difference yet? I am sure an incident will happen the military will publicize to make a point and then everything else will be deep-sixed.



President Obama started off his campaign to raise taxes using a scare tactic, a sound bite and a lie. His proposal is so dead in the water he clearly lied in an attempt to get a good sounding clip played on the news.



President Barack Obama makes it sound as if there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries.



"Middle-class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires," Obama said Monday. "That's pretty straightforward. It's hard to argue against that."



The data tell a different story. On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government.



There may be individual millionaires who pay taxes at rates lower than middle-income workers. In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above $1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That, however, was less than 1 percent of the nearly 237,000 returns with incomes above $1 million.



In his White House address Monday, Obama called on Congress to increase taxes by $1.5 trillion as part of a 10-year deficit reduction package totaling more than $3 trillion. He proposed that Congress overhaul the tax code and impose what he called the "Buffett rule," named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The rule says, "People making more than $1 million a year should not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families pay."



"Warren Buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it," Obama said. "It is wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns $50,000 should pay higher tax rates than somebody pulling in $50 million."



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 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.





Book Titles:



Holmes the Ripper



A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction



"Be daring, be different, be impractical; be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." - Cecil Beaton












Tuesday, September 20, 2011

They don't make em like her no more!

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

September 20 is … National Punch Day



Delores, thanks for the memories. You have now completed the road to Hope. Delores Hope, born in New York’s Harlem in 1909 has passed away at the age of 102. Bob Hope died at age 100 on July 27, 2003.



Too bad this wasn’t Saturday. Floyd Mayweather sure thought it was National Punch Day.



President Obama made a campaign speech yesterday in the Rose Garden calling on higher taxes on successful people. He did not talk about any specifics and failed to mention that the top 1% of the wealthiest people in this country pay over 50% of the income taxes in this country nor did he mention 47$ of Americans pay no income taxes. He apparently forgot the page of his speech that contained the facts and common sense.



He has said several times in the past few weeks how he does not want class warfare but he has only proposed ideas that foster class warfare. The rich pay enough. Do not force the poor to pay taxes just give them less of the wealthy people’s money. Perhaps restricting handouts will convince millions of the takers to get a job. That is a better idea than convincing the wealthy to quit trying so hard. Why don’t we penalize welfare recipients that give birth to children they cannot afford? If you are on welfare and get pregnant, you either give the child up for adoption or you lose benefits. The third time you lose all benefits.



Why work hard long hours if the government is going to take over half from you? The poor drive on the same roads and bridges as the rich. The poor take advantage of the police, fire and military protection in this country just like the wealthy. The takers get more government services than the wealthy and they do not pay for them.



Harsh times call for harsh fixes. Obama tells us we need to have shared sacrifice but only if you are wealthy. That is not shared sacrifice, that is socialism.



Check this fun little video out:






Check this one out for some interesting use of technology for bovine control;




I have an answer to the Palestinian statehood question that would also solve the two Americans being held captive in Iran. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current President of Iran comes to New York this week to spread his vile anti-American crap at the U. N., arrest him on the way from the airport. Makeup a charge against him like his country does against anyone they do not like. Diplomatic Immunity can be ignored in certain criminal cases.



Once we have him as a prisoner, trade him for the Americans being held in Iran, release him and forbid him from ever coming into this country again.



The world will publically denounce us while privately applauding us. If the U. N. gets too mouthy, withhold all American funding, which is over 80% of their budget and give it two years to find a new headquarters. Might makes right. Let’s use the power we spend so extravagantly on but will not use to its fullest degree.



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 should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.



www.ebookmall.com (Do search by my name or book Title)

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



"The man who does not work for the love of work but only for money is not likely to make money nor find much fun in life." - Charles Schwab