February 13, 2012

Loud Explosion, Lights In Sky Over Upstate Investigated

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The National Weather Service and emergency dispatchers from across the Upstate say they got numerous calls overnight from people who heard a loud explosion that was followed by lights streaking across the sky.

NWS staffers said they got a call from Greenville police around 2 a.m. They said after they started getting calls, they checked the security camera at the National Weather Service and saw a faint, barely recognizable flash of light at 1:42 a.m.

A NWS representative told News 4 it may have been a meteor, but that his agency does not investigate these events.

NASA would be the source to confirm meteor activity. The agency has not yet returned a call to News 4.

In Spartanburg County alone, dispatchers took about 75 calls, and reports are coming in from as far away as Lexington, N.C. and Carrollton, Ga.




Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/30442791/detail.html#ixzz1mIMbxaw5





This morning I was on my back deck smoking a cigarette and talking on the phone when I witnessed this amazing site fall from the sky. My backyard is usually very dark, but this "thing" that fell lit up EVERYTHING around me.

I would describe this object as a boxy looking meteor. It's tail was miles long. The colors that surrounded it were blue, white, red and streaking yellows. I was ecstatic! The woman I was talking too was kind of freaked out about by my moaning and screaming. lol Fortunately for me there were A LOT of these same types of reports all over the Southern and Midwest parts of the United States.

What could it have been?

Here is another link to a site where people report meteor sitings. As you will see there were reports from all over the place.

http://thelatestworldwidemeteorreports.blogspot.com/

February 13, 2012

EXCLUSIVE - Adele Trashes Newt Gingrich at the Grammys!

I am positive that this is a parody. LOL

This is an extremely funny song though. Hoping you guys and gals get a kick out of this song. LMAO

February 12, 2012

Whitney Houston Daughter Bobbi Kristina Rushed to the Hospital

Whitney Houston's 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was just rushed to Cedears-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles ... TMZ has learned.

According to our sources ... Bobbi was taken out of the Beverly Hilton, where Whitney died yesterday, on a stretcher.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ police and fire responded to a call for a medical emergency, but would not confirm who was transported.

http://www.tmz.com/

February 7, 2012

My live review for 'Kind of Blue'

'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis has always been my favorite jazz album. Throughout my life I have turned to 'Blue' like a Christian would turn to a cross. The purity of the sounds that were captured from these sessions were magical & angelic.





My live review of 'Kind of Blue'



1) So What.

It's like Davis and company are messing with the listener's minds. Their 'not give a damn' title of 'So What' creates the 9 + minute mood that sets the pace for the jungle in which the listener is about to trudge through. It's a slow dance with piano & Davis' trumpet directing a cadence that cannot be matched. The elevation that this song reaches is higher than the heavens and louder than a cosmic boom. "IT" is alive. Feel like doing some finger popping snaps, with a Gregory Hines tap, tap. I can see now why poets & writers from the 1950s drowned their ears in this beautiful music.



2) Freddie Freeloader









The dancing piano keys in this track places the listener on the outskirts of a Jazz bar in Harlem. It's right within reach of the crowd that's slowly filing into the joint. But the bystander just stands in a euphoric daze, hypnotized by what he/she is hearing. Then Davis introduces his melodic trumpet sound. The smoke is rising from the cigarettes of the patrons & all you see is Davis on stage (back turned) placing his soul in front of that crowd. The devil is there, but he can't touch Miles. That's when Coltrane fires up his groovin' pitchfork sound that takes this song to another universe. It's okay for you to bop your head to the tune. That's what Wynton Kelly's piano keys tell you. So you bop, bop, bop... Before you know it you are captured by the Freeloader himself.



3) Blue In Green









This is where the mood shifts to a rainy street in the mind. It's pouring and the woman who lost her lover during the war heads to a private eye. She hopes he can find her lost love. The man in the fedora is known for his skills and has found dozens people in his career, but you know in the end it's going to be like a Hollywoodized script. They will fall in love and walk into the black & white night hand in hand. The looks, the eye contact, flirtatious in every way. Davis' soul is bare. Notes of despair dance alone into the air.



4) All Blues











Keeping with the same mood as 'Blue In Green', but not as naked. 'All Blues' like all of the tracks on 'Kind of Blue' are intertwined like a fine piece of fabric. It's a lil' more upbeat, but you can tell Miles & company don't want to take you to the pinnacle, they keep it mellow enough just to not be depressing. The title 'All Blues' is probably one of Davis' head games, because this song is far from being ALL BLUES. Scat, a tat, tat, wom, boom, bat.





5) Flamenco Sketches









Now we are back to a bluesy place. Miles' trumpet paves the way for the highway that he has created so far. 'Flamenco Sketches' is probably one of the most beautifully arranged pieces in the history of music. Adderley, Coltrane, Davis' playing all meld into this track. It's seductive on a level that isn't perverted. It's divine on a level that's not quite saintly. It's ahhhhhhhhhhhh muzik. Those piano keys are dancing now. Uh huh. Capture the mood. Keep that mysticism that is Miles Davis. That's how this album ends with a sunset that never sets.

February 7, 2012

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust - Acoustic Version

February 6, 2012

Boehner Jokes That House Of Representatives 'Designed Not To Work'

Asked about the divisions within his House GOP caucus, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) quipped Monday that the institution is dysfunctional by design.

"I'm presiding over an institution that was designed not to work," Boehner said on PBS NewsHour. "You know, the founding fathers gave us 435 members from all across the country. One big committee to solve America's issues. It's a demanding job. But I'm glad I've got it."

The Speaker said the frequency of elections makes it difficult to get important work done.

More here:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/boehner-vents-that-house-of-representatives-designed-not

February 6, 2012

Mother and daughter battle homelessness to build a life

SARASOTA COUNTY - With no stove in the modest Days Inn hotel room on Clark Road, Julie Ackermann could not make a Christmas dinner for her 14-year-old daughter Danielle.

Holiday cheer came from two Christmas trees donated by the YMCA.

Now, the artificial trees make an oddly festive sight among bags of clothes and possessions in one corner of the hotel room where the Ackermanns have lived since the start of December.

For two heartbreaking years since Ackermann lost her job, the family has battled homelessness and poverty. Danielle, a freshman at Riverview High School, recently missed an English final exam because her mother could not afford gas to take her to school.

More here:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120205/ARTICLE/120209716/0/API


One of my followers on Twitter posted this story. It's a very moving and well written piece about the homeless problem our fellow Americans are facing in Florida.

February 6, 2012

Romney Team Slams ‘Flawed’ Poll That Shows Mitt Flailing

Mitt Romney’s campaign is publicly arguing that the methodology of a WaPo/ABC poll tainted its finding that his national numbers are tanking. However, polling experts who talked to TPM say that the survey is in line with a broad set of evidence that Romney’s general election appeal is declining — even if the poll’s approach is less than ideal.

The poll in question couldn’t have looked much worse for Romney’s presidential hopes. While it indicated he was still strong in the primary, his national numbers showed a rapid fall with Obama leading him 51-45 among registered voters. Romney pollster Neil Newhouse says these top line numbers should be disregarded because the question came after a series of queries referencing various recent stories surrounding Romney, including whether voters think his wealth is a positive or negative, whether they think he did more to create or cut jobs at Bain Capital, whether they feel his 14% tax rate is fair, and whether his Mormon religion affects their views of his candidacy.

“The poll introduced specific negative information about Governor Romney immediately prior to asking the ballot match-up against President Obama,” Newhouse wrote. “While I certainly understand the difficulty of designing a questionnaire to learn as much information as possible about a campaign, and the compromises that sometimes have to be made, the questionnaire design used by the Post/ABC Poll in this case is seriously flawed.”

Jon Cohen, director of polling for the Washington Post, told TPM in an e-mail that he felt the results held up.

More here:

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/romney-team-says-brutal-wapoabc-poll-was-biased.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

February 5, 2012

Ex-Panama dictator Noriega suffers possible stroke

PANAMA CITY (AP) -- Panamanian police say former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega has been transported from prison to a hospital, possibly because of a stroke.

A statement issued Sunday from the National Police says Noriega had high blood pressure and apparently a brain hemorrhage. He was taken from the El Renacer prison to Hospital Santo Tomas in the nation's capital.

In December, Panamanian authorities said 77-year-old Noriega had limited mobility due to a stroke.


More here:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_PANAMA_NORIEGA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

February 5, 2012

Bill would limit overtime for high-tech jobs

WASHINGTON High-tech workers could see smaller paychecks under an industry-led campaign to revise labor laws to limit overtime benefits.

Some of the multinationals behind the effort, such as IBM and Intel, say the changes are necessary to keep jobs from going overseas, where workers in technology are paid a fraction of U.S. wages.

Computer workers see it as an effort to squeeze more work out of employees for less pay in an industry notorious for killer hours and all-nighters.

U.S. Sen Kay Hagan, D-N.C., introduced the federal legislation last fall to expand the kind of technology workers who currently are not automatically entitled to overtime. The bill, S. 1747: Computer Professionals Update Act, would expand the pool to those whose job duties include securing, configuring, integrating and debugging computer systems, she said.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/05/2986706/bill-would-limit-ot-for-tech-jobs.html#storylink=cpy



Looks like I will be contacting Senator Hagan's office about this issue. I have a handful of friends that work in IT. These folks deserve every last cent of overtime they work. Was Kay bought out by RTP lobbyists? Sure hope not.