Turns out he couldn’t take it with him – Dead man found in house loaded with $7 million in gold coins

          Good Day Humboldt County!

The following story is about a recluse who dies with his gold. It reminded me of someone I knew back in the mid 1980s – Harry O’Malley. I knew Harry for the last two years of his life. I was the editor of a weekly newspaper in 29 Palms, California, and for whatever reason Harry befriended me and my family.

He was what we called a “desert rat” and lived alone in a big rambling house he built over a period of years in Wonder Valley. That was exactly in the middle of nowhere. It took about thirty minutes of driving east of 29 Palms to reach Wonder Valley.

When he died the only two friends in the world he had were me, and a lawyer named Ralph Carrel. We had been helping him out for over a year with his finances (he was suffering from dementia) and Ralph had access to his bank account as a trustee. After seeing to his funeral Ralph discovered bank books in Harry’s old house. A dozen accounts in Harry’s name. They added up to over two million dollars!

An attempt was made to contact a relative, his sister in Greece, but she didn’t want any part of his money! What a story that must have been. Meanwhile, the county and state converged upon his estate, and gobbled it up!

And now Walter Samaszko Jr.s story:

“When Walter Samaszko Jr. died at his home in Carson City, Nev., he had $200 in a bank account. But as officials later discovered, Samaszko had about $7 million stored neatly around his home, the Nevada Appeal reported.

In late June, neighbors called authorities because of a smell emanating from Samaszko’s home. He was a recluse who had told them he hated the government and feared getting shots, but still, it had been a while since they had seen him, according to the Appeal.

According to the coroner, Samaszko, 69, had been dead for at least a month. He died of heart problems, the Las Vegas Sun reported. In came the cleanup crews, which discovered boxes of gold in the garage. They found gold coins and bullion, tiny dos-pesos, $20 gold pieces, Austrian ducats, Kruggerrands and English Sovereigns dating  to the 1840s – enough gold to fill two wheelbarrows.” (Read the story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Spot The Object: Find the “King” among these animals

Here’s a great optical illusion puzzle by Donald Rust: Can you find the King in this painting?

When you’re done, just please don’t tell! Instead, comment you found him.

Let’s see how long it does  take before you see him!

BTW: don’t forget to check other illusions by Rusty

Nude News: San Franciscans can no longer grin and bear public nudity

                    Good Day Humboldt County!

Must be all this nice weather along the north coast because people like going places and getting naked. But people in San Francisco are tired of the nudies making a spectacle of themselves and have reversed a law that allowed them to cruise around au natural.

I can’t say I blame them. It was an odd law, unlike any one in any city that I’ve ever heard of. If people want to run around naked there’s plenty of places to go where it’s legal and discrete. Check out the link below about the nudist convention in Vegas, or the nudist colony seeking members.   

“Call it a different kind of “crack” problem: Public nudity in San Francisco’s Castro is getting old. Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the district, has tried to be tolerant.

Last year he drafted the “skid mark law,” which forbids nudists from using any public seating without putting down a towel first. But now locals say the nudists have crossed the line, reportedly engaging in public sex acts, charging tourists money for photos and using genital jewelry or props to draw extra attention to their area downstairs.

Wiener says the nudist problem has become the issue his constituents complain about most often, more than homelessness, and Wiener and the people he represents are sick of locals happy to grin and bare it.” [Source]

Read more:

No shirt, no pants, no problem at Vegas nudist convention

Nudist colony tries youthful tactics to flesh out membership

AS IT STANDS: Distracted pedestrians: Oops! There goes another one!

           By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
Nostalgia moment; remember the old phrase,“…so and so can’t walk and chew gum at the same time?” It’s time to update it, and bring it into the 21st Century.
Now we can say, “…so and so can’t walk and text, tweet, play video games, and talk on the phone at the same time.” And we have statistics to prove it. One more thing, it’s called “distracted walking,” but I think that’s too nice a way to put it.
 Some readers may question why I’m bringing up this subject. It’s only been a month since I complained about a new texting and driving law in California. Some of you may wonder, “What’s the deal with Dave? What does he have against technology?”
 The answer is, nothing. It’s the idiots who don’t use modern technology safely because of a lack of common sense who interest me. I’m not really worried about getting walked over by a “distracted walker” as I’m sure I’ll see him or her before they see me. I’ll get out of the way. It’s when they step out into traffic (Hey! I’ve seen it happen on Broadway in Eureka) that I can’t help cringing.
“Distracted walking” is a greater problem than I realized. Data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that pedestrian fatalities rose by 4.2 percent from 2009 to 2010, and injuries increased by 19 percent during the same period.

You may remember I pointed out a report on traffic fatalities caused by “distracted driving.” The first three months of this year saw a 13.5 percent jump in drivers dying because of distracted driving. Sobering data to say the least.
 Recent information indicates that “distracted walking” is emerging as a public health concern. In 2011 alone, 1,152 people were treated for injuries caused by distracted walking, according to data collected by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. That number is likely a gross underestimate since doctors or nurses may not have asked whether the patient was using a mobile device at the time of the accident, according to a July 30 Associated Press (AP) report.

 "We are where we were with cell phone use in cars 10 years or so ago. We knew it was a problem, but we didn't have the data," Jonathan Atkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Assn., told AP in an interview.
Here’s more revealing information: researchers at the University of Maryland identified 116 cases in which pedestrians were killed or seriously injured while wearing headphones. Two-thirds of those injuries involved men under the age of 30, and half of them involved trains.

 If you go to YouTube there are endless videos of distracted people walking into things, or off them. Great for laughs. Funny stuff, right? Cathy Cruz Marrero, the woman who tumbled into a fountain while texting and walking in a mall in Pennsylvania, didn’t think it was too funny.
She’s a star on the internet now. She wasn't injured, but she told CBS News that she cried for days after footage of the accident landed on YouTube, where it was viewed more than 2 million times.

There’s another popular YouTube video starring distracted walker Bonnie Miller, a Michigan woman who recently fell off a pier while texting and walking. "I can't let pride get in my way of warning other people to not drive and text or walk and text. It's quite dangerous," Miller told ABC 57, a local television station in South Bend, Ind.
There was nothing funny about her husband and a 19-year-old bystander jumping into the cold water to save her. She wasn’t laughing when Firefighters and the Coast Guard arrived and threw them floatation devices. Lucky for her it was just a humiliating experience and she’s alive to talk about it.
 Another lucky distracted walker whose story has gone viral since it happened in 2009, is Alexa Longueira, of Staten Island, N.Y. This teenager fell into an open manhole while reading a text on her friend’s cell phone. According to a report by WABC, she fell 6 feet into four inches of raw sewage.
As It Stands, unlike distracted driving, I don’t think there should be any laws against distracted walking; it’s probably an effective way to thin out the gene pool!

Music Appreciation Corner: Kick back and listen to a generational contrast in music

                 These two examples of generational music are literally “Day and Night” apart!

Michael Franti & Spearhead– “Hello Sunshine…”

Simon and Garfunkel - “Hello Darkness…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? Which selection do you like the most?

Vote Online Today: Help pick this year’s ‘Hambone award’ recipient

Will it be a showdown between the Labrador who shattered a 55-gallon aquarium and the dachshund-terrier who was nearly buried alive by a skunk?

Those are just two of the nominees for this year’s Hambone Award, given out annually by Veterinary Pet Insurance to the most outrageous pet insurance claim it receives all year.

There is one nominee for each of the 12 months, and the winner is decided by the public, which can vote online for this year’s contest beginning today.

Then there’s Peanut (below), a dachshund-terrier mix from Sicklerville, N.J., who scuffled with a skunk and had to be rescued by firefighters after being buried alive at 2:30 in the morning.

Rescue workers had initially given up their search for the dog when owner Christy Wolfram grabbed a shovel and started digging in the dirt underneath the family’s backyard deck to find the dog.

“When the firefighters saw Christy continue to dig, one of them decided to take a last look,” Wolfgram’s husband, Keith, told VPI. “I remember him shouting, ‘I see her paw!’ and my heart just sank. By the time they got her out she was barely moving. I couldn’t believe she was alive.”

If pooping out rocks was a skill, a pug (top right) from Rhode Island would be the most talented dog in the country. Instead, Harley the pug won last year’s “Hambone Award,’’ given out annually by Veterinary Pet Insurance.

Another Zombie-like attack: naked bloody man tries to chew woman’s head off

              Good Day Humboldt County!

This year some of the crimes committed have been like something out of Zombie movies. In nearly ever case “bath salts” a dangerous designer drug, was involved.

One of the first reports happened on May 26, when Miami police shot and killed a homeless man who was allegedly feasting on the face of another homeless man in a daylight attack on a busy highway.

 

Before now-infamous "face-eating cannibal" Randy Eugene (bottom photo on left side) was stopped by four police bullets, say authorities, he had gnawed the face of victim Ronald Poppo down to his goatee.

Not long after that another “zombie” like attack happened in a Manatee County, Florida home, after a man under the influence of bath salts went into a fit of rage and bit a piece of someone’s arm off during a visit with his children.

According to ABC News, Charles Baker, 26, got naked, ate human flesh and wouldn’t go down without a fight, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report.

The latest candidate for Zombie Apocalypse comes from Ohio. A naked, bloody man broke into a home, jumped from a two-story window, tackled a passerby and chewed on her head while "screaming like an animal." The gory scene unfolded Friday night in Hawley, Pa., 40 miles east of Scranton, where 20-year-old Richard Cimino Jr. allegedly went ballistic on a woman and two officers, Patch reported.

Time for me to walk on down the road…carefully!

Governor Scott Walker gets hand slapped by Judge who strikes down Wisconsin law restricting union rights

                         It’s about time!

Gov. Scott Walker got away with breaking the law long enough. His attempt to bust the unions in Wisconsin has come to an end after one year. Enough was enough! I hope this ruling wakes up the rest of the Conservative wingnuts and puts them on notice: they can’t get away with breaking the law forever, because someone will stop them.

This is still America, and our country was built with unions. It’s heartening to see this ruling, but I know the wingnuts will never give up their attempt to destroy every union in America.

So the fight goes on against the corporations who would rule all. They aren’t content in just controlling the federal government, they want their victory to be complete at every level of government until we’re a Fascist State:

“A Wisconsin judge on Friday struck down the state law championed by Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public workers. Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled Friday that the law violates both the state and U.S. constitutions and is null and void.” Read story here.

Who is behind the hate film that sparked violence among Muslims worldwide?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Matt Lauer speaks with security analyst Michael Leiter about the likehood that the attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya was a pre-meditated act by a group of al-Qaida sympathizers rather than a spontaneous uprising over an anti-Muslim internet video

      UPDATES Below

Good Day Humboldt County!

It’s kind of hard to ignore what’s happening in the Muslim world right now, after 11 American embassies have been attacked and four Americans have been killed.

All over a hate-filled low-budget film made by one person(?) The events unfolding are like a bad movie.

How can such a relatively obscure video create such chaos in the Arab world? The following article explains some of the madness, but in the end it’s all about opening Pandora’s Box (the internet) to millions of Muslims who’ve never been in touch with society outside their small villages and towns.

“While the motivation behind the low-budget video "Innocence of Muslims" remains unclear, the reasons it has helped fuel attacks and protests at U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa are both emotional and political, experts say.

While it is true that images of Muhammad are not allowed by Islamic law, that doesn't explain the violent reaction, said Hassan Shibly, an imam and civil rights lawyer in Florida who works for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

The reason for the prohibition in the Quran was that Muhammad wanted to discourage idolatry, he explained. "The Islamic tradition forbade depictions of any prophet or any holy people so that people throughout the years don’t start worshipping the prophet," Shibly said. "God is supposed to be the focus, not Muhammad or Jesus or anyone else."

Images like these are now making their way, via the Internet to Muslim populations who have never before been exposed to sharp critiques of their faith, which also helps explain the level of anger they have stirred.

                               AND

“The film, which has been blamed by some for fueling protests at U.S. diplomatic posts, including the violence at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, and Danish cartoons that caused so much protest in 2005 caused outrage among Muslims because they were seen as ridiculing or criticizing the prophet.

"Innocence of Muslims" features wooden acting, poor dubbing, awkward sexual moments and ham-fisted insults, with none of the production values of "The Last Temptation of Christ," or any serious exploration of Islam. Experts said it would almost certainly have remained obscure had it not ignited the protests and violence after being circulated in Arabic via the Internet.

So far, it remains unclear who produced the film, and who funded it. Initially, the maker was identified as an Israeli-American man identified as Sam Bacile. But by Thursday, published reports were suggesting that it was the work of a group of anti-Islam Christians.

The latest reporting suggests that  Bacile is actually Egyptian-born Coptic Christian named Nakoula Basseley who lives in the Los Angeles area. The Copts are a minority in Egypt, and often victims of discrimination in the majority Muslim country, as well as attacks by extremists.

In a geopolitical context, said Esposito, the film plays right into the hands of extremists in the region who are using anti-American sentiment to advance their own goals.”

                        AND

"What we have here, and it’s significant symbolically ... on or around 9/11 (anniversary), two terrorist or extremist attacks in Benghazi and in Cairo. … They are attacking symbols of the U.S. They are playing to a population. … It would be anti-American, but (they are) using this (video) to legitimize what they are doing."

Shibly also wonders if the film itself was produced or circulated strategically to stir up well-known sensitivities. "The sad thing is these people are doing it on purpose," he said. "And unfortunately these Muslims fell right into the trap." (Read the whole article here)

Libyan Ambassador: "One of the saddest days in my life"

Updated Reports from the BBC                       UPDATE: Breaking NEWS from around the world.

From Raw Story: Anti-Islam video had adult film director and performers

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Mom gets ticket after her two-year old son pees in the street

Awww c’mon man! Are you kidding me? Really? I think the cop that issued the ticket was having a bad day…

“A Philadelphia mom is peeved that police gave her a $50 ticket after her 2-year-old son peed against a street light post.

“I’m absolutely going to fight it,” Caroline Robboy told NBC News on Thursday. “It was a potty-training accident.” (Full story here)

Rapper tweets 'YOLO' just before dying in car accident

Is "YOLO" now being used exclusively on Twitter when people are doing something incredibly dangerous?

The acronym, which means "You Only Live Once," is unfortunately proving true for some of the people who use it. The latest YOLO fatality is rapper Ervin McKinness, who performed under the names Inkyy and Jew'elz.

His last tweet? "Drunk af going 120 drifting corners #F**kIt YOLO." Not long after he tweeted it, the rapper, along with three other passengers and the driver, were dead, after their car sped through a red light and crashed into a wall in Ontario, Calif. Police say both drinking and excessive speed were involved in the accident, but no bystanders or people in other cars were injured. [Source]