Rallies held around the world to protest corruption, corporations –Anonymous holds Million Mask March

Masked marchers gathered in front of the White House Tuesday to protest against corporations and corruption in government as part of similar rallies held around the world on Guy Fawkes Day, Nov. 5 — which is primarily celebrated in the United Kingdom.

Members of the hacking activist group Anonymous called for demonstrations in more than 450 locations around the world as part of a Million Mask March on the day that marks the anniversary of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot that failed to blow up the English Parliament.

Protesters in Washington, D.C., made their way to Pennsylvania Avenue chanting, "Obama. Come out. We've got some s*** to talk about," among other things.

Jon Croteau, of Washington, D.C., said he was demonstrating to make his voice heard.

"We just want the government to represent the people," he said. 

A woman from Pennsylvania who gave her name only as Death's Maiden, said it was important for her to push for a better future for her 10-year-old daughter.

Several protesters held signs denouncing the National Security Agency's spying programs.

In D.C., the protest kicked off at the Washington Monument, and demonstrators marched to the White House from there. Rallies were also expected to take place in major cities such as London, Amsterdam, Cairo, Mumbai and others.

On Facebook, the official event description reads: “Remember who your enemies are: Billionaires who own banks and corporations who corrupt politicians who enslave the people in injustice.”

The real Guy Fawkes was arrested on Nov. 5, 1605, after British authorities tipped off by an anonymous letter found him guarding explosives meant to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate King James. Fawkes was tortured and executed on Jan. 31, 1606.

via NBC NEWS

Once upon a time it really was like ‘Flying the Friendly Skies’

Good Day World!

Once upon a time – in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and the 60s - flying was a magical experience for travelers. It was a real treat to fly anywhere! When I think about what it’s like flying today, I get nostalgic.

Lunatics are shooting up airports – LAX recently – and passengers are getting less service for higher prices! As the holidays draw near prices to fly soar, and the chance of getting stuck in an airport of the holidays is greater than ever before.

It’s hard to believe the difference. You had to be there to compare. I’ve assembled some airline posters and post cards to give you a small peek of what it was like.

Vintage Airline Travel Posters Reflect the Glory and Radiate the "Golden Rays" of Romance.
Hawaiian postcard (below) from United Airlines in 1940 (including wonderfully cheerful hula dancer poster). "Guests to the Hawaiian Islands were greeted by the Hula, an expressive sort of Polynesian dance."

(images via 1, 2)

(images via)

(images via 1, 2)

The "Western Air Express" flies over San Fransisco (left image) - buy this glorious poster here... While the Braniff Airways poster brings memories of King Kong swiping away pesky biplanes in the Manhattan skies (center image). And then, there is the ultimate luxury treatment - "Fly the Rolls Royce Way to London!”

(images via 1, 2)

(images via 1, 2, 3)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Venomous spiders found in supermarket bananas!

Yikes!

Consi Taylor was halfway through a banana when she saw a white spot on the skin, which she thought was a patch of mold.

That thought is gross enough, but then the "spot" burst open and baby spiders started scurrying across the fruit (and here's where we threw up in our mouths a little).

The British woman told the staff at Sainsbury's supermarket about their spider-infested offerings and they gave her a $15 coupon. But when she sent a picture of the spiders to a pest-control company, things got REALLY scary.

Taylor was told that those unwanted little nasties could be Brazilian Wandering Spiders, which have been called the most venomous spiders in the world. According to SKY News, those particular arachnids can be "extremely aggressive" and a bite from them can "trigger loss of muscle control, breathing problems, paralysis and eventual asphyxiation."

Sainsbury's not only apologized to the family, but put them up in a hotel and paid for their entire home to be fumigated. So, apples are pretty great this time of year, huh? [Source]

Pets still dying from jerky treats: experts call it a mystery, I call bull sh*t on the experts!

       Good Day World!

After six years, the FDA has still failed to ban chicken jerky treats from China even though they continue to kill American pets. I’m tired of the excuses being offered. What I want to know is who is benefiting from selling these deadly jerky treats?

Then I want to know why the FDA can’t see what thousands of pet owners and veterinarians nationwide have been seeing: over 600 animals dead, 3,600 sickened from the latest outbreak according to this FDA update.

Five years of testing. Nothing.

Snatched from NBC news:

FDA officials and veterinary experts who’ve been tracking the problem say it’s just not that easy. The FDA can’t force product recalls without a reason, said Martine Hartogensis, a deputy director at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. And so far, the FDA and a network of veterinary labs have failed to find a specific problem.

“To date, testing for contaminants in jerky treats has not revealed a cause for the illnesses,” Hartogensis told NBC News.

It’s not for lack of trying, said Lisa Murphy, an assistant professor of toxicology at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, one of nearly a dozen labs nationwide assisting the FDA. Since 2007, but especially in the past two years, the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network, Vet-LIRN, has been riveted on the issue, she said.

“It’s extremely frustrating for everybody involved,” Murphy said. “A lot of really smart people with a lot of expertise are looking at this. I can tell you a lot of things that this is probably not, but to the general public, that’s not a very satisfying answer.”

Meanwhile, we continue to allow these toxic treats to be sold. Where’s the accountability? How many more pets must die before someone puts a stop to this?

The FDA had the chance to ban jerky pet treats from the U.S. market last year, when officials at five Chinese plants that make jerky treats wouldn’t let American inspectors collect samples of the products. U.S. regulations allow the agency to refuse entry to products if they’re not allowed to inspect them.

But, nothing happened.

Time for me to walk on down the street…

Lakers hang on and beat Atlanta at Staples Center!

The Lakers held on for a close win, but a win is a win.

 

They’re 2-2. Which is a better start that last season. Henry looked good as a starter and scored 18 points, but Pau Gasol was the man with the clutch free throws in the waning seconds.

It’s not a win the Lakers are going to brag about. Here’s Five things to take from Lakers’ 105-103 win over Atlanta Hawks

Schush! The Art of Extreme Sleeping…

   Good Day World!

 It’s Sunday morning, and you just woke up from a good night’s sleep…or not!

 Perhaps you had to sleep in an awkward place and you’re thinking no one can sleep well where you had to sleep last night.

 You’d be surprised.

 Some people are into extreme (call it uncomfortable) sleep. Like any extreme activity, it requires the nerves of steel, good choice of timing, location and the absence of suspicious cops.

All this however is easier to achieve, because you are, well... asleep, so you can trust the unseen powers to take care of the rest.

Long & restful sleep is by no means guaranteed, but perhaps somebody someone will take your picture and you'll wake up famous…or, at the very least, on my blog!

 

 

 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Marketers who’ll do anything to get your attention!

  Good Day World!

 It isn’t easy getting our attention these days.

 There’s so much stimulus around that advertisers have to go to great lengths to sell a product, or an idea.

You never know when some viral urban campaign will come around the corner and whack you with some bizarre message.

More interesting ones may even capture your thoughts long after the first visual shock subsides. More often than not, it's just a smart product placement / promotion, but in some cases - truly subversive and genuine urban art.

Streets in Portugal seem to be the most often visited by creative mayhem:
(once you approach these stabbed victims, they will hand you a promo flyer.)

                                              In The Bathroom

                                              At The Bus Stop

In your local park protesting hippies stuck forever, due to a certain look

Well, you get the point. Nothing is sacred when it comes to advertising and getting a point across!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Breaking news! Shootout at LAX! 1 dead, 3 wounded!

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

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Tweets and more…

On the scene after shooting at Los Angeles International Airport

Following complete coverage on the reaction, via social media, to the shooting incident Friday at Los Angeles International Airport.

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9:20 a.m. This morning

A gunman shot and killed a Transportation Security Administration worker Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, federal authorities told NBC News. At least two other people, including a second TSA employee, were wounded, they said.

The authorities told NBC News that the gunman was in custody. It was not clear whether the shooter was among the wounded.

The shooting happened at a screening station where fliers show their IDs and boarding passes, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. The agent was shot in the leg, he said.

Federal authorities told NBC News that the shooter appeared to have a rifle or other long gun.

Witnesses and police said that the shooting happened at about 12:20 p.m. ET at Terminal 3, which serves Virgin America, among other airlines. Nick Pugh told NBC Los Angeles that he was waiting in line for security on the upper mezzanine when he heard eight to 10 shots.

“We were just standing there in line and somebody started shooting,” he said. “Everyone dropped to the floor and started crawling along the ground, abandoning their suitcases.” (Source)

Related:

LAX shooting: TSA worker dead after gunman opens fire inside Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 3

LAX Shooting Leaves TSA Agent Dead, At Least One Other Injured

RIP George Thorton: The Man who Blew up a Whale on the Oregon Coast

  Good Day World!

 I just returned from Vietnam in November 1970, and was watching television when I saw a news story that made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

(screen grab: reporter Paul Linnman - 1970)

Note: I was a combat engineer - Enemy Ordinance Disposal (EOD) – and knew my way around explosives. When I saw a sudden news break that some guy was going to blow up a whale with dynamite nothing could have dragged me from the room!

Eyes riveted on the tube, I watched reporter Paul Linnman (KATU-TV) standing near a dead whale on the Oregon coast as he explained how the country was going to get rid of the carcass. It was November 12, 1970. As I watched incredulously, there was a sudden boom and sand sprayed upwards with whale bits that covered the entire area – people, cars and buildings!

It was a miracle no one died.

The man who blew up the whale, George Thorton, died yesterday. I was surprised to find out he passed here in Medford, Oregon. I’ve only been a resident of Medford for six weeks, but I wish I would have known he lived here. I would have tried to see him. Not to interview him, but to ask him questions like how he arrived at the figure of 20 cases of dynamite?

George Thorton, for better or worse will always be remembered for the biggest bang of his career, and he will live forever in YouTube infamy. I think he got a bad rap and was left holding the bag on the whole incident. Sure would of liked to ask him if that’s what happened.

About the reporter Paul Linnman; after the news report aired, Thornton did not stay in touch with him. He’s now 66 and working as a news talk radio host. Linnman reached out to Thornton when he wrote a book entitled "The Exploding Whale and Other Remarkable Stories from the Evening News" in 2003 and on various anniversaries of the explosion, but the only response he got from Thornton was: "No, it seems like whenever I talk to the media, it blows up in my face." 

His words still echo:

"I'm confident that it will work. The only thing is, we're not sure just exactly how much explosives it will take to disintegrate this thing so the scavengers  — seagulls, crabs and whatnot — can clean it up," Thornton, wearing a hard hat, told Linnman on-camera minutes before the explosion. 

It didn't go as planned.

Bystanders were moved back a quarter of a mile before the blast, but were forced to flee as blubber and huge chunks of whale came raining down on them. Parked cars even further from the scene got smashed by pieces of dead whale. No one was hurt, but the small pieces of whale remains were flecked onto anyone in the area.

"The pieces that went into the air were of all sizes. The piece that flattened the car was about coffee-table size. But blubber is so dense that a piece as big as the tip of your finger can be like a bullet and kill you," Linnman said. "I'm so happy and so thankful that nobody got hurt, nobody got killed, because I don't think this thing would have lasted all these years had it been a more serious incident than it was."

To make matters worse, a large section of whale carcass never moved from the blast site at all. In the end, highway crews buried all the pieces and particles of the whale.

RIP George Thorton

Time for me to walk on down the road…

School District Fumes at Rulings: Are 'Boobies' Bracelets Battle Bound for Supreme Court?

 Good Day World!

 The Supreme Court takes on the most burning legal questions of the day and makes decisions – often partisan because we do have a conservative court right now – on every imaginable issue.

 Serious stuff right?

 After all, the justices are the law of the land and their words are written into history – regardless if their decisions are about really important stuff, or really ridiculous stuff. The latter is the case here:

The court battle between two girls and their Pennsylvania school over "I (heart) Boobies!" bracelets could be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Easton Area School District board voted 7-1 Tuesday night to appeal a federal appeals court's decision that rejected its claim the bracelets are lewd and should be banned from school.

The case started in 2010 when two girls, then ages 12 and 13, challenged the school's ban on the bracelets designed to promote breast cancer awareness among young people.

The students, Brianna Hawk and Kayla Martinez, said they merely hoped to promote awareness of the disease at their middle school. They filed suit when they were suspended for defying the ban on their school's Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

In August, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision in favor of the girls, saying also that the district didn't prove the bracelets are disruptive.

Superintendent John Reinhart told The Express-Times of Easton he supports the board's decision.

"The Third Circuit Court has compromised administrators' abilities to intervene in what is and what is not appropriate in school," he said.

In court sessions, Reinhart had called the bracelets "cause-based marketing energized by sexual double-entendres."

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped the girls challenge the rule, said Tuesday night the school had been hinting that it would petition the Supreme Court.

"I'm just really surprised that they're so determined to fight this speech case of all speech cases," said Mary Catherine Roper. "(The bracelets) didn't cause any problems in the school."

School district solicitor John Freund said the district had the backing of the National School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania School Board Association. He said they and other organizations are "concerned about the implications of a hyper-sexualized environment," The Express-Times reported.

The lone board member to vote against the appeal said the district should just drop the matter.

"I think we should be done with it. Let it go. We lost 20, 30 times, I don't even know anymore," Pintabone said.Easton is one of several school districts around the country to ban the bracelets, which are distributed by the nonprofit Keep A Breast Foundation of Carlsbad, California.

article via US News

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Lakers Start Season With Big Win Over Clippers

 Good Day World!

 It’s my favorite time of the year again – basketball season! My favorite team (for over 50 years) is the Los Angeles Lakers, and I watched them play the Clippers last night on television. What a game!

The fact that they won without Kobe Bryant blew my mind. The Clippers are no longer a joke in the NBA and finished among the elite teams of the West last season. Chris Paul is one of the top guards in the league and no one can really stop him when he’s hot.

BUT….

 Lakers 116 – Clippers 103

 Fact: Last season the Lakers were swept by the Clippers (first time since 1975). This is how to start a season. Sweet revenge.

The odds-makers had the Lakers underdogs in the game. Big time. Some hoped the Lakers wouldn’t get beaten too badly.

Some surprising numbers from Laker’s bench last night: 76 points!

Henry led all scorers coming off the bench with 20 points. Farmer looked great with 16 points. Gasol looked confident and comfortable with a double-double. Young with 13. Kaman with 10. Big 3s from Jodie Meeks. Jordan Hill looked great. The starters didn’t play the last 15 minutes of the game. And Nash…well he looked old.

Here’s the 2013-14 LA Lakers Roster

#5 Steve Blake     Guard 6-3
# 24 Kobe Bryant Guard 6-6
#1 Jordan Farmar Guard 6-2
#16 Pau Gasol Forward/Center C 7-0

#2 Elias Harris Forward 6-8
# 7 Xavier Henry Guard  6-6
#27 Jordan Hill Center  6-10
#11 Wesley Johnson G-F 6-7
#9 Chris Kaman Center 7-0

#4 Ryan Kelly Forward 6-11
#20 Jodie Meeks Guard 6-4

#10 Steve Nash Guard 6-3
#50 Robert Sacre Center 7-0
#3 Shawne Williams Forward 6-9
# 0 Nick Young G-F 6-7

Time for me to walk on down the road…