April 16, 2012

Truth or Consequences - Dan Rather and the Story About W's Military Career

Eight years ago, Dan Rather broadcast an explosive report on the Air National Guard service of President George W. Bush. It was supposed to be the legendary newsman’s finest hour. Instead, it blew up in his face, tarnishing his career forever and casting a dark cloud of doubt and suspicion over his reporting—and that of every other journalist on the case.
This month, as Rather returns with a new memoir, Joe Hagan finally gets to the bottom of the greatest untold story in modern Texas politics, with exclusive, never-before-seen details that shed fresh light on who was right, who was wrong, and what really happened.
<snip>
But the CBS documents that seem destined to haunt Rather are, and have always been, a red herring. The real story, assembled here for the first time in a single narrative, featuring new witnesses and never-reported details, is far more complex than what Rather and Mapes rushed onto the air in 2004.
At the time, so much rancorous political gamesmanship surrounded Bush’s military history that it was impossible to report clearly (and Rather’s flawed report effectively ended further investigations). But with Bush out of office, this is no longer a problem. I’ve been reporting this story since it first broke, and today there is more cooperation and willingness to speak on the record than ever before. The picture that emerges is remarkable.
Beyond the haze of elaborately revised fictions from both the political left and the political right is a bizarre account that has remained, until now, the great untold story of modern Texas politics. For 36 years, it made its way through the swamps of state government as it led up to the collision between two powerful Texans on the national stage.

And by the time it was over, no one—not Dan Rather, not George W. Bush—would be left
unbloodied.
<snip>
The long and winding road: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2012-05-01/feature.php

Fascinating! As close to the truth that we have at this time.

April 16, 2012

The Perfect Pillow

The Perfect Pillow

I have been in my Wayback Machine. It is a wondrous ride, and I never know where I will end up. That's because I have toted items from every part of my life. From some of my earliest memories to elementary school to high school and beyond, I have totems, tears, laughs, melancholy, and everything imaginable boxed up.

Of course, these are also part of my heart, but seeing them prods me to remember that time. From that small item, there is a huge spiral ride that connects me to more and more memories. It becomes an entire world unto itself.

One of the items I came across was a small feather pillow. It is 14" by 14" and covered in gray and white striped ticking. It has weathered to a brown and gray as time has passed.

I used this pillow until I went to college. It never occurred to me to ask for another one. This pillow was just right and the perfect spot to lay my head. It was a peaceful place.

Along with this pillow I found many pillowcases that were exactly the right size. My grandmama made them every Christmas for her grandchildren. I don't know if anybody else had a perfect pillow, but I gladly covered mine with the love from 'Grandy.'

As I looked at the pillow and pillowcases, I remembered all those Christmases spent with family. I thought about all the people who have passed and those of us who still remember those days. We are fewer and far between now.

The pillow is as close as I can come to that time and many loved ones. It makes me wistful and brings gentle laughs and smiles.

I hope all of you have a 'perfect pillow' of some kind. They are small but needed tokens to warm a lonely heart in what is at times a cold, cold world.

April 16, 2012

Eagle Owl landing at 1000 frames/second taken with Full HD High Speed Camera SA2

Awesome!

April 16, 2012

The goals of Romney vs the goals of President Obama

Jeff Sun Tzu (@JeffersonObama)
4/15/12 9:18 PM
Obama is trying to restore America's prosperity after a decade of failed Supply SIde GOP economics.
Romney's working on his bucket list #p2

Heh!

April 16, 2012

More Seattle Catholic Parishes Say NO To Archbishop Sartain Regarding Referendum 74

A growing number of Seattle’s Catholic parishes are saying “no” to Archbishop J. Peter Sartain’s offer that churches become signature gathering points for Referendum 74, the ballot measure to roll back Washington’s recently passed same-sex marriage law.

St. Mary’s Parish in the Central Area, and the new, growing Christ Our Hope parish in downtown Seattle, are the latest to decide petitions won’t be circulated on their premises.

The decision at St. Mary’s was announced by pastoral life coordinator Tricia Wittman-Todd in a “Dear People of St. Mary’s” letter.  She wrote.

“After much prayer and reflection, I have decided we will not collect signatures at the parish.  I am certain you will find ample opportunity elsewhere to sign whatever petitions you choose.

“This decision is based on two primary considerations.  St. Mary’s mission is ‘House of God, Home for Everyone.’  One of our highest values is inclusion and welcome.  I fear that the collection of signatures would be hurtful and divisive to our parish.  I am particularly concerned about our youth who may be questioning their own sexual identity and need our support at this time in their lives.

“The second consideration is that as Catholics, each of us is asked to form our conscience and decide how to vote on this and other issues, i.e. tax policies, services to the poor, environmental laws, capital punishment, etc.”
<snip>
More: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/04/12/two-more-catholic-parishes-say-no-to-ref-74-signature-drive/

Uh oh! We haz rebellionz. Poop Beneduck won't like this.

April 15, 2012

Here is a big-time college football player you will like:

http://espn.go.com/blog/colleges/alabama/post/_/id/2085/watch-trent-richardson-goes-to-prom

Good luck Trent!
Good luck Courtney!
May all your dreams come true!

Hope springs eternal........

April 15, 2012

Ray Gricar mystery: DA's privacy adds to intrigue surrounding his disappearance (Sandusky case)

While Centre County prosecutor Ray Gricar has been declared dead, questions about his disappearance only seem to multiply. And the Jerry Sandusky scandal renewed the mystery's rumor mill. On the anniversary of Gricar's 2005 disappearance, The Patriot-News goes back through the timeline in detail.

Bellefonte, Pa. -- Among the first people investigators sought when Ray Gricar went missing seven years ago was a group informally referred to as “the women.”

He was married twice. He had a few serious relationships and some casual ones.
There was the nurse who Gricar met in the early 2000s and spontaneously asked to marry him. She turned him down.

There was the waitress Gricar always requested at The Gamble Mill restaurant here in the Centre County seat and would flirt with during his meal.

There was the dark-haired woman seen with Gricar the day he disappeared.
<snip>
Much more. Very long but fascinating: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/ray_gricar_mystery.html

Where is Ray Gricar?

April 15, 2012

When Memory Commits an Injustice - Eyewitness mistakes lead to tragic errors in court,

The biggest lie of human memory is that it feels true. Although our recollections seem like literal snapshots of the past, they're actually deeply flawed reconstructions, a set of stories constantly undergoing rewrites.
<snip>
In recent years, neuroscientists have documented how these mistakes happen. It turns out that the act of summoning the past to the surface actually changes the memory itself. Although we've long imagined our memories as a stable form of information, a data file writ into the circuits of the brain, that persistence is an illusion. In reality, our recollections are always being altered, the details of the past warped by our present feelings and knowledge. The more you remember an event, the less reliable that memory becomes.
<snip>
Normally, witnesses are encouraged to take their time and carefully consider each possible suspect. But Dr. Brewer knew that strong memory traces are easier to access than weak and mistaken ones, which is why he only gave his witnesses two seconds to make up their minds. He also asked them to estimate how confident they were about the suspects they identified, rather than insisting on a simple yes-no answer.

To test this procedure, Dr. Brewer and his colleagues asked 905 volunteers to watch a series of short films showing such crimes as shoplifting and car theft. The subjects then looked at 12 portraits, only one of which was the actual suspect. According to Dr. Brewer's data, his version of the lineup led to a large boost in accuracy, with improvements in eyewitness performance ranging from 21% to 66%. Even when subjects were quizzed a week later, those who were forced to choose quickly remained far more trustworthy.
<snip>
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577334040572533780.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Unfortunately, eyewitness testimony is taken as gospel many times especially if the person testifying has a good reputation.
There needs to be an overhaul in the use of eyewitness testimony. At the very least,
jurors need more info on how reliable it is. Even that may not help.

April 15, 2012

SC governor's memoir under fire

Gov. Nikki Haley’s new memoir, “Can’t Is Not An Option,” is untruthful or twists many events, a half-dozen S.C. politicians said last week.

Members of Haley’s own Republican Party — including the speaker of the S.C. House and a former lieutenant governor — say allegations against them are “absolutely not true” and “not true at all.” Democrats, including Haley’s 2010 opponent in the governor’s race, describe the book as “fiction.”

Haley’s office said Friday the governor sticks by all the accounts in her memoir. “The governor stands by everything in the book because it’s the truth,” spokesman Rob Godfrey said. And a longtime ally defended Haley’s account.
<snip>
Memoirs often are not aimed at those most familiar with the writer’s story, in Haley’s case the citizens of South Carolina. Instead, they often are aimed a broader audience. As her memoir was published, Haley launched a national book tour and media blitz. That stirred speculation Haley was aiming for the vice presidential nomination on the Republican ticket, a job Haley says she will not accept.
However, the memoir makes no mention of some of the controversies that have haunted Haley and that South Carolinians will recall, including her dismissal of Darla Moore from the USC board of trustees.
<snip>
Oh, much, much more: http://www.thestate.com/2012/04/15/2235292/south-carolina-governors-memoir.html#storylink=cpy

File it in Fiction or Outright Lyin'.
She has lied about so many things, I stopped listening. Anything she says is suspect.

Can't Is Not An Option And Neither Is Candid

April 14, 2012

Henri Le Chat - Paw de Deux (as only a French cat can express himself)

Heh!