November 20, 2013

November 20, 1963 - President Kennedy Is Warned - Again - About Dallas

**This site has been posting news about President Kennedy and others as it would have occurred each day leading up to November 22. It is fascinating and ominous especially in hindsight.
All I can say is that President Kennedy and others received warnings from every quarter about Dallas. They came from reliable sources. In addition, Oswald was not some unknown entity. He had made it to the radar of people who could have acted.
____________
President Kennedy, complaining about the slow legislative process, tells Congressional leaders: “Things always look so much better away from Washington.”

Some lawmakers expressed concern that President Kennedy might encounter trouble in Dallas. U.N. Ambassador Stevenson had been attacked there on Oct. 24, and House Whip Hale Boggs told JFK: “Mr. President, you’re going into quite a hornet’s nest.”

Kennedy replied: “well, that always creates interesting crowds.”

It is the latest in a long line of warnings about Dallas. In the wake of the White House announcement that President Kennedy would visit Texas, there were expressions of concern - even alarm - about his safety there; It is notable that those who knew Dallas best were the ones who were most concerned. A sampling
Senator Ralph Yarborough's two brothers, both Dallas lawyers, sent him almost identical letters warning of widedspread local hatred for President Kennedy.
White House press secretary Pierre Salinger receieved a letter from a Dallas woman: "Don't let the President come down here. I'm worried about him. I think something terrible will happen to him," she wrote.
U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes feared an incident of some sort.
U.S. Attorney H. Barefoot Sanders, the ranking Justice Department official in that part of Texas and Vice-President Johnson's point man in Dallas, told senior LBJ advisor Cliff Carter that the trip was "inadvisable."
"I think we ought to see whether we can persuade President Kennedy to change his mind about visiting Dallas," Stanley Marcus (of the upscale Nieman-Marcus department store) told fellow executives. “Frankly, I don’t think this city is safe for it.”

And President Kennedy was personally warned as well by a close friend, Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-Arkansas), who told him “Dallas is a very dangerous place. I wouldn’t go there. Don’t you go.”

The President was not looking forward to the trip - telling friend Dave Powers on Nov. 18 that he hated visiting Texas and that he had a terrible feeling about going. Mrs. Kennedy also said that she would "hate every minute of it."
<snip>
- See more at: http://westwingreports.com/jfk-elm-street#sthash.FvIbuB6X.dpuf

sigh.......

November 20, 2013

New Ways to Fight 'Imposter Fears'- 'Stealthy' Intervention Counters Students' Self-Doubt

Feeling as if you don't belong—that you've landed in a fortunate spot by luck or by accident—can send anyone into a tailspin, from college students to corporate executives.

Imposter fears are common among men and women alike, research shows, and are blamed for an array of problems, from high college-failure and dropout rates to low female participation in math, engineering and science jobs.

Separate from general emotional insecurity, imposter fears affect high achievers and tend to focus on worries about being exposed as a phony. These feelings can come up in many situations in the workplace—when an executive is called upon to accept a promotion, dig into a tough project, or give voice to a fledgling idea. Joyce Roché, a former senior executive at Avon Products, worried in secret for years that she was "not as smart, not as prepared, not as good as my counterparts," says Ms. Roché, author of a recent book on the topic, "The Empress Has No Clothes."

A new kind of psychological intervention is proving surprisingly powerful in combating these fears for students in middle school, high school or college. Drawing on decades of research, the interventions deliver "persuasive yet stealthy" psychological messages to neutralize crippling anxieties and doubts, according to a 2011 research review authored by David Scott Yeager, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, and Gregory Walton, an assistant professor of psychology at Stanford University. Students who participate in the exercises post better grades, lower dropout rates and in some cases, better health and well-being for as long as three years.
<snip>
Much more: http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304439804579207951856455572

Muh.....
Can't hurt.
If this can be set up correctly, it would be an easy and inexpensive way to help kids.
I taught students in the middle school-high school range. Giving them more internal resources to counter doubt would be invaluable at those ages. It wouldn't hurt at any age, but some periods are crucial.

November 20, 2013

Harry Potter searching for the train to Hogwarts in Penn Station:

Ha!
(There are other clips of actors making movies come alive. Many are shown at the end of this video)

November 20, 2013

Creigh Deeds Family Violence Foreshadowed By Report Showing Psychiatric Bed Shortage

WASHINGTON -- The day before he stabbed his father and apparently shot himself to death, the 24-year-old son of Creigh Deeds, a Virginia state senator who was a 2009 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, failed to get psychiatric help because no beds were available.

Austin "Gus" Deeds died from a gunshot wound Tuesday morning at the Deeds home in the Millboro community of Bath County, state police said. His father, a prominent Democrat, was hospitalized in fair condition with stab wounds to his head and torso. Police said it appeared to be an attempted murder and a suicide.

The 24 hours preceding the violence had been tumultuous. An emergency custody order had compelled Gus Deeds to Bath County Hospital for a mental health evaluation, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Deeds was released because no psychiatric facility in Western Virginia had an available bed, Dennis Cropper, the executive director of the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, told the Richmond paper.

Two years ago, a state inspector general spotlighted the psychiatric bed shortage and called on Gov. Bob McDonnell's administration to address it. A 2012 report from the Office of the Inspector General for Behavioral Health Developmental Services found that 72 of about 5,000 Temporary Detention Orders -- issued after a mental health professional determines that a person poses a threat of serious harm to himself or others -- went unexecuted in a three-month period. Thirty-two of the unexecuted TDOs were in Southwest Virginia, where Deeds lived, compared with just five in Northern Virginia.

In 12 of the 32 cases of unexecuted TDOs in Southwest Virginia, no psychiatric beds were available. In addition, 273 TDOs statewide took longer than six hours to execute, exceeding the time allowed by state law. The report called for the state to rely more on private psychiatric beds in Southwest Virginia "until a reliable state-operated safety net is recreated."
<snip>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/creigh-deeds-violence_n_4305362.html

This is not just a problem in Virginia. It is nationwide. Somebody here was incredulous when this was posted in a story yesterday. There was doubt about not being able to find a bed for Gus Deeds. I hope this highlights the problem. The only reason this is now an issue is the tragedy that occurred yesterday.

People have been dealing with this for years. There are some people who do need immediate help and should be treated immediately. TOD's aren't issued for grins. That is a huge red flag that goes up beside the others that have been raised. Imagine having a loved one who is this unstable and you can't find help knowing there is a real risk to people.

November 19, 2013

Well. George Zimmerman's wife turned the tables today:

@HayesBrown: Boom. RT @JuddLegum: Zimmerman has been dodging service of divorce papers from his wife.
So she served him today when he was in jail

Ha!

November 19, 2013

Creigh Deeds’ son had mental-health evaluation Monday.Released because no psych beds available.

Sen. Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times early today at his Bath County home and his son, Gus, is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gus Deeds had been released Monday following a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order, an official said.

At a news conference in Charlottesville, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman said Deeds, 55, was stabbed numerous times in the head and torso but was alert and had given statements to authorities. He was listed in fair condition at the University of Virginia Medical Center just before 3 p.m.

Dennis Cropper, executive director of the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the emergency custody order, or ECO, allowed Gus Deeds to be held as long as four hours to determine whether he should be held longer, up to 48 hours, under a temporary detention order.

The son was evaluated Monday at Bath Community Hospital, Cropper said, but was released because no psychiatric bed could be located across a wide area of western Virginia.
<snip>
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/creigh-deeds-son-had-mental-health-evaluation-monday/article_431e61ca-5128-11e3-944a-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

smh.....

November 19, 2013

NYC Graffiti mecca 5 Pointz whitewashed overnight (pics)

5POINTZ: THE INSTITUTE OF HIGHER BURNING
5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc. is an outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York, considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building.

The name 5Pointz signifies the five boroughs coming together as one but, because of its reputation as an epicenter of the graffiti scene, the industrial complex has actually united aerosol artists from across the world. Legendary writers from Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all over the United States have painted on the building walls, including Stay High 149, Tracy 168, Cope2, Part, and Tats Cru.

Over the past decade, the striking, graffiti-covered warehouse has attracted several hip-hop and R&B stars, including Doug E. Fresh, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Kaz, Mobb Deep, Rahzel, DJ JS-1, Boot Camp Clik, Joan Jett, and Joss Stone.

On any given day, 5Pointz visitors can expect to find prominent artists, musicians, deejays, Emcees (rappers), and B-boys (break dancers) on site, in addition to filmmakers, photographers, and entire tour buses full of admirers soaking in the more than 350 Technicolor murals.

The gallery curator is graffiti veteran Jonathan Cohen, best known by his signature tag, “Meres One.” His goal is to convert the five-story, block-long industrial complex at Jackson Avenue and Davis Street, formerly the Phun Phactory, into a graffiti art museum.





http://5ptz.com/wednesday-oct-2nd-5-pointz-needs-you/
<snip>
In 2011 the building's owner, Jerry Wolkoff, submitted plans to redevelop the site and build two high-rise apartment buildings, which NY City Council approved in October. Graffiti artists sued to keep the building in place.
<snip>
http://cir.ca/news/5-pointz-demolition

"Nothing gold can stay."
-Robert Frost

November 19, 2013

Aerial photo of tornado path through Illinois town:

http://nbcnews.to/1jiLzxX

smh.....

November 19, 2013

7-week-old puppeh Theo joins Beau the toddler for naptime every day:

Earlier this month, blogger Jessica Shyba and her family adopted an adorable 7-week-old mutt. They named him Theo. On his third day as part of their family, Theo joined Jessica and her toddler son Beau for afternoon snuggle time. Beau fell asleep and then so did Theo…














http://twentytwowords.com/2013/11/18/toddler-naps-with-his-2-month-old-puppy-every-day-14-pictures/

Those naps should produce sweet dreams

November 18, 2013

Blind Dog Hugs Brother:8-months-old puppy serves as his brother's seeing-eye dog

A dog’s loyalty knows no boundaries, especially when it comes to its own blood. Two stray dogs found in Philadelphia are providing a heartwarming example of this. The Chester County SPCA posted a photo of the dogs, Jeffrey and his brother Jermaine, embracing each other while sleeping.

The photo itself is a perfect representation of their relationship. Jeffrey is blind. According to the SPCA, his brother Jermaine has dedicated his life to be his guide dog, helping him move around. "The unconditional love and devotion these two dogs show is positively inspirational," wrote an SPCA spokesperson on the group's Facebook page.

Both dogs, approximately 8-months-old and believed to be lab-pit bull mixes, were found on the streets of Philadelphia back on October 5 and taken in by Operation Ava, a no-kill animal rescue organization.

"They were obviously a little bit scared and confused' said Ray Little, the Director of Life Saving at Operation Ava. "It was immediately apparent that Jeffrey was leaning on Jermaine and that Jermaine was making every effort to stay with his brother." According to Little, the two brothers are inseparable.
<snip>
More: http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Blind-Dog--Loyal-Brother-in-Need-of-Rescuing--232251451.html

I hope they find the best forever home!