Marc Dion: What I Believe At Christmas (Creators Syndicate)
In my 20s, I dated a girl who said she didn't understand my love of Christmas lights. "You don't know if nice people live in that house," she'd say as I pointed out a lovely, jolly plastic Frosty the Snowman in someone's yard. "Some guy could be in here beating his wife." I did not marry her.
Marc Dion: Assassinating Donald Trump (Creators Syndicate)
You know the old question. It's 1930. You're in Germany, standing behind Adolf Hitler in a dark alley. No one else. Just you two. You have a pistol in your hand. No one will ever know what you did. Do you shoot him? If you shoot him, you'll save millions of lives, but you'll be a murderer.
Ted Rall: In Defense of Donald Trump's Namecalling (Creators Syndicate)
In France, where the life of the mind is prized so much that one of the nation's top-rated TV shows featured philosophers and auteurs discussing politics and culture over cigarettes, there are few things worse than being called stupid and having it stick. A society that ranks "stupid" as of its worst insults lets it be known that being smart is at least as important as being tough or hot or buff.
Lenore Skenazy: Who Is a Sex Offender? (Creators Syndicate)
A guy you might be scared to meet, Galen Baughman, gave a talk at a TEDx event in New York City recently. TED is known for introducing new speakers with new ideas on everything from tech to society to teaching. But Baughman was the first presenter who happens to be on the registry. The sex offender registry, that is. His crime? He had sex with a teen when he was a teen. He was 19; his boyfriend, 14. They had sex once. It was consensual. The younger teen did not want to prosecute, but his parents did.
Connie Schultz: This Is No Time for the Soft Rebuke (Creators Syndicate)
Earlier this week, I was wandering around a department store in suburban Cleveland, when a clerk spotted me and mercifully offered to help. When I told her what I was trying to find, she laughed and said, "You are definitely in the wrong department." Then, almost immediately, her smile vanished and she took a step back. "I didn't mean-."
This actor was born Harold John Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and was posthumously inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, as well as the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. By what name is he better known?
Jay Silverheels (May 26, 1912 - March 5, 1980) was born Harold John Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
While playing in Los Angeles on a touring box lacrosse team in 1937, he impressed Joe E. Brown with his athleticism. Brown encouraged Silverheels to do a screen test, which led to his acting career. Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extra and stunt man
Silverheels achieved his greatest fame as Tonto on The Lone Ranger. When The Lone Ranger television series ended, Silverheels found himself firmly typecast as an American Indian.
In 1993, Silverheels was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was named to the Western New York Entertainment Hall of Fame, and his portrait hangs in Buffalo, New York's Shea's Buffalo Theatre. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6538 Hollywood Boulevard.
In 1997, Silverheels was inducted, under the name Harry "Tonto" Smith, into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the Veteran Player category in recognition of his lacrosse career during the 1930s.
Source
Harold John Smith, known as Hal Smith (August 24, 1916 - January 28, 1994), was an American actor and voice actor best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show.
Smith was born in Petoskey in Emmet County in the northern portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, but he spent a significant part of his early years living in Massena, New York. He graduated from the Massena High School in 1936.
Source
Alan J was first and correct with:
Jay Silverheels.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, wrote:
Jay Silverheels aka Tonto
Deborah responded:
Hal Smith, who played the drunk on "The Andy Griffith Show"?
Over the river and through the woods - now that's a Thanksgiving song.
My husband spikes our morning coffee + double shot of espresso with Bailey's Irish Cream; it's a wonder I can dress myself and get out. Oh, the holidays!
Lois Of Oregon replied:
All roads lead to Mayberry, and Otis is actually one of my role models...but you can't go home again.
Dale of Wet Diamond Springs, Norcali said:
Jay Silverheels of Tonto fame, is today's answer. He was the epitome of cool to me as a kid. He was also a friend of Chill Wills.
Off to play in the snow at Tahoe for a few days…Back Tuesday!
DJ Useo responded:
It's, like, that crazy dude who played Otis in that Mayberry show. That's all I got.
( Glad the roger ramjet 'member' picture I sent the other day was enjoyed. I didn't want to go "too far". )
gmbullas replied:
That would be Jay Silverheels who played Tonto. He was born on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario.
MAM wrote:
Jay Silverheels ~ Well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the character The Lone Ranger.
Joe S said:
Jay Silverheels, he played Tonto to the Lone Ranger, which is an insult as Tonto means "fool" in Spanish. It's also a title to a very nice song.
mj took the day off.
Randall took the day off.
Charlie took the day off.
Sally has retired, but still pays attention.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
Had an incident out front involving gun fire and the police this afternoon.
Life in the big city. Sigh.
Tonight, Sunday:
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Undercover Boss', then a RERUN'Madam Secretary', followed by a FRESH'CSI: One Too Many'.
NBC fills the night with LIVE'Sunday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap and maybe an old 'Dateline'.
ABC fills the night with the movie 'The Sound Of Music'.
The CW offers an old 'In The Heat Of The Night', followed by another old 'In The Heat Of The Night', then still another old 'In The Heat Of The Night', followed by 2½ hours of what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux fills the night with the FRESH, but atavistic & T-rump owned, 'Miss Universe Pageant'.
MY has an old 'Anger Management', followed by another old 'Anger Management', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
A&E has 'What Would You Do?, 'The Making Of T-rump', and 'Who Is Donald T-rump'.
AMC offers 3 hours of old 'Into The Badlands', followed by a FRESH'Into The Badlands'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] WILD ALASKA - SEASON 1, Ep 1 - From Pole To Pole
[7:00AM] WILD ALASKA - SEASON 1, Ep 2 - Mountains
[8:00AM] PLANET EARTH: AFRICA - SEASON 1, Ep 3 - Fresh Water
[9:00AM] PLANET EARTH - SEASON 1, Ep 4 - Caves
[10:00AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1, Ep 5 - Deserts
[11:00AM] PLANET EARTH: AFRICA - SEASON 1, Ep 6 - Ice Worlds
[12:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1, Ep 7 - Great Plains
[1:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SEASON 1, Ep 8 - Jungles
[2:00PM] PLANET EARTH - SEASON 1, Ep 9 - Shallow Seas
[3:00PM] PLANET EARTH - SEASON 1, Ep 10 - Seasonal Forests
[4:00PM] PLANET EARTH - SEASON 1, Ep 11 - Ocean Deep
[5:00PM] THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
[8:00PM] CASINO ROYALE (2006)
[11:00PM] CASINO ROYALE (2006)
[2:00AM] THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
[5:00AM] PLANET EARTH - SEASON 1, Ep 9 - Shallow Seas (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has a FRESH'Atlanta Social', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live', followed by a FRESH'Work Out NY'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Hell Baby', followed by the movie 'Ghostbusters', then the movie 'The World's End'.
FX has the movie 'Star Trek', followed by the movie 'Star Trek Into Darkness'.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'Ax Men: Logged & Loaded', then a FRESH'Ax Men', and 'The Curse Of Oak Island'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] TODD MARGARET-The Increasingly Necessary Todd Margaret Recap Special
[6:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Eric's Stash
[7:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Hunting
[7:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Red Gets a Job
[8:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Burning Down the House
[8:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-The First Time
[9:00AM] TODD MARGARET-The Increasingly Soon Return of Todd Margaret
[9:15AM] THE RAID: REDEMPTION
[11:30AM] THE TRANSPORTER
[1:30PM] TRANSPORTER 2
[3:30PM] CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE
[5:30PM] KILLER ELITE
[8:00PM] END OF WATCH
[10:30PM] END OF WATCH
[1:00AM] CASINO
[5:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Hunting
[5:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Red Gets a Job (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[7:45AM] American Psycho
[10:00AM] Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter-Episode 10
[11:00AM] One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
[2:00PM] Young Frankenstein
[4:30PM] The Shakiest Gun in the West
[7:00PM] Miracle on 34th Street
[9:15PM] Miracle on 34th Street
[11:30PM] White Christmas
[2:15AM] White Christmas
[5:00AM] Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Skyfall', followed by the movie 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.
French singer and Piaf's stepdaughter Jacqueline Boyer (L) and Marcel Cerdan (3-R), son of boxing world champion Marcel Cerdanelatives, gather with friends and fans at the Pere Lachaise cemetery around Edith Piaf's tomb to mark the 100 years commemoration of her birth in Paris, France, 19 December 2015. The French singer would have turned 100 years on 19 December 2015. The 'Little Sparrow' died on 10 October 1963.
Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson
Kinks fans, rejoice - the British rock band's founding members Ray and Dave Davies performed together on stage for the first time in nearly 20 years on Friday night (Dec. 18).
The unexpected reunion took place at Dave Davies' concert at London's Islington Assembly Hall, where the brothers joined together for a performance of the Kinks' classic hit "You Really Got Me."
Friday evening marked the Kinks' first performance together since the finish of the group's 1996 summer tour, Rolling Stone points out. Kinks fans have been hoping for a reunion ever since. Earlier this year, Ray Davies discussed a possible reunion with Billboard.
"This is always my answer: If we make it relevant to new music," he said in December during an interview about his solo album, Americana. "Not saying we need a new album, but it's got to relate to new music. Because it's impossible just to do the hits. I like playing the hits, I just did a solo tour, but when the Kinks get back together, I need to be inspired to write new material."
As Army Pvt. Pete Seeger eagerly waited for a chance to fight for his country during World War II, military investigators quietly built a case that the young folk singer was "potentially subversive."
In a security investigation triggered by a wartime letter he wrote denouncing a proposal to deport all Japanese-Americans, the Army intercepted Seeger's mail to his fiancee, scoured his school records, talked to his father, interviewed an ex-landlord and questioned his pal Woody Guthrie, according to FBI files obtained by The Associated Press.
Investigators concluded that Seeger's association with known communists and his Japanese-American fiancee pointed to a risk of divided loyalty.
The investigation, forwarded to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, is detailed in more than 1,700 pages from Seeger's FBI file, released by the National Archives under the Freedom of Information Act.
French and U.S. officials boast of the closeness of their military alliance, as highlighted by Saturday's visit from U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter to a French aircraft carrier in the Gulf.
But even at sea, some cultural differences are apparent: French sailors can imbibe alcohol within moderation while on ship, while American sailors follow a policy of almost total abstinence.
There are no fewer than four bars on the Charles de Gaulle, where troops can purchase one alcoholic drink per day.
On Saturday morning, French sailors prepared and served coffee behind a large curved bar outfitted with wooden stools. A wall sign advertised available drinks, including Heineken or draft beers for 1.25 euros ($1.36), or Baileys, Johnnie Walker or wine for 1.50 euros ($1.63).
Not so within the U.S. Navy, which has a strict no-drinking policy aboard its ships, with few exceptions. For instance, if a vessel has been at sea for 45 consecutive days or more, sailors are allowed to have two beers, on a one-time basis.
Whirling dervishes perform a traditional "Sema" ritual during a ceremony, one of many marking the 742nd anniversary of the death of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, in Istanbul, Turkey, late December 19, 2015. Mevlana was an Anatolian philosopher, poet and the father of the Mevlevi sect.
Photo by Murad Sezer
From being hit by cars to ingesting rat poision, it's been a rough year for mountain lions living in Santa Monica Mountains National Park in Los Angeles County, California. Just in time for the holidays, a new kitten has been discovered, much to the delight of biologists tracking the big cats.
The National Park Service shared a video of the young cat on Thursday. All the other kittens born to the mother, called P-23, have met early, grisly ends.
P-23's first litter of kittens was cannibalized by a male mountain lion in the area, while an unknown predator killed two kittens from her second litter in September. Researchers didn't realize P-23 had any remaining offspring, but some of the female cougar's movements indicated that she was still caring for a kitten. Biologist Jeff Sikich set up a camera near where she left a deer kill to make sure.
Lo and behold, part of that meal went to a previously unrecorded kitten, whose little squawk and movements suggest that he or she is about six months old and from P-23's second litter. The kitten has yet to be captured and outfitted with a tracking device, so it does not yet have an official name. P-46 is the next number available.
A company which sells identity-theft protection services agreed Thursday to pay a fine of $100 million for failing to protect consumer data in the largest settlement on record, officials said.
The US Federal Trade Commission said its settlement with LifeLock came after the company failed to comply with a 2010 federal court order requiring it to secure consumers' personal information and prohibiting deceptive advertising.
It is the largest monetary award obtained by the commission in an order enforcement action, the FTC said.
Under terms of the settlement, the company will pay $100 million which may be used to reimburse customers claiming they were deceived by LifeLock. Some $68 million of the total will be paid to participants in a class-action lawsuit.
A demonstrator in a Darth Vader coostume joins Poles demonstrating in front of Polish Parliament in Warsaw, Poland, 19 December 2015. People gathered to protest against the newly formed right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government and its actions aimed at disempowering the Constitutional Tribunal. The protest was organised by the nonpartisan Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD). Demonstrations were held in twenty-one cities in Poland.
Photo by Radek Pietruszka
The allegations read like a movie plot: a lottery industry insider installs undetectable software giving him advance knowledge of winning numbers, then enlists accomplices to play those numbers and collect the jackpots. And they secretly enrich themselves for years - until a misstep exposes them.
Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, has been convicted of fraud for fixing one jackpot in Des Moines, but prosecutors say his high-tech scheme extended far beyond Iowa. He's accused of tampering with lottery drawings in four states over six years, and investigators are expanding their inquiry nationwide.
Investigators have asked states to review jackpots produced by the number-generators Tipton had access to, and whose winning numbers were specifically requested by the ticket buyer. They hope to talk with anyone aware of such payouts being collected by someone other than the person who ends up with the money, said Rob Sand, a state prosecutor in Des Moines who is leading the probe.
The inquiry is sending a chill through state governments that depend on public confidence in contests that generate $20 billion annually in lottery revenue.
Thirty-seven states and U.S. territories use random-number generators from the Iowa-based association, which administers games and distributes prizes for the lottery consortium. So far, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma have confirmed paying jackpots valued at a total of $8 million allegedly linked to Tipton and associates.
'Andy Warhol 8-bit-style mosaic tile street art piece' by French street artist known as 'Invader' is seen on the side of the Standard Hotel on the Bowery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York, USA, 18 December 2015. Invader was arrested by the New York City Police department for displaying his art on the side of New York City building earlier this December.
Photo by Jason Szenes
Dennis Oland, the son of a wealthy Canadian brewer, was found guilty on Saturday of murdering his father following a long and sensational trial in the eastern province of New Brunswick.
Oland, 47, had been accused of the second-degree murder of his father, Richard Oland, who was part of the locally prominent family that owns Moosehead Breweries.
The 69-year-old father was found dead in a pool of blood in his office on July 7, 2011. His body bore numerous stab and blunt-force wounds to the head, neck and hands. Police said his son was the last person to see him alive.
Dennis Oland burst into tears, shouting "Oh no, oh my God!" when the jury delivered its verdict in a Saint John courtroom. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Oland's family said in a statement that they were stunned by the verdict, adding that all of the relatives were certain that Dennis had nothing to do with his father's death. The statement was issued by an uncle, Derek Oland.
Ethnic Intha fishermen dressed in customary attire with traditional fish-traps pretend to catch fish for tourists to take pictures in Inle lake, northeastern Shan state, Myanmar, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015. Intha fishermen are known for a unique style of rowing with one leg wrapped around a single oar instead of using their hands.
Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe
Lawyers for Bill Cosby said Friday they will fight an attempt to require his wife to give a sworn deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven women who accuse the comedian of sexually assaulting them decades ago.
A lawyer for the women has subpoenaed Camille Cosby to be deposed on Jan. 6. at a hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts.
But Cosby's lawyers filed a motion Friday to quash the subpoena, saying she has no firsthand, non-repetitive knowledge of issues in the lawsuit. They also argue that any confidential communications between Cosby and his wife are protected by the Massachusetts spousal disqualification rule.
The women's lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, had argued that he should be able to question Camille Cosby because she was her husband's business manager.
Cosby's lawyers said Camille Cosby does not have any information about the accuracy of the women's allegations. They also allege that the attempt to subject her to a deposition is "nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to pressure defendant in the face of subjecting his wife to the shame and embarrassment of responding to questions about his alleged infidelities and sexual misconduct."
A member of the Langland Board Surfers group takes part in a Surfing Santa competition at Langland Bay in Gower, Wales, December 19, 2015.
Photo by Rebecca Naden
For now, the El Nino-driven mild weather is a boon to some wildlife, which are able to forage for more food and are using less energy surviving, experts say. But for some species - like snowshoe hares, whose white fur makes them conspicuous to predators - the lack of snow isn't good news.
Access to food, such as nuts and apples, which have been abundant but are now getting scarce, has kept some black bears active and out of their winter dens. The bear activity has prompted officials in Vermont and Massachusetts to urge residents to wait for snow before putting up bird feeders to avoid attracting bears.
In Maine, the bears stayed out later than normal this year, but most seem to be denning up now, said Judy Camuso, director of wildlife for the Maine Department of Inland, Fisheries and Wildlife. In Colorado, which this week was blanketed with snow, bears started to hibernate on schedule this fall, according to Mat Robbins, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The mild fall also has delayed the annual migration of some geese and other waterfowl, according to Geoff LeBaron, director of the Christmas Bird Count for the National Audubon Society. Some species that winter in the U.S. move with the weather, or just in advance of it, so geese and waterfowl, especially in the East, stay north for as long as they can in mild winters, he said. Once things start to freeze up and there's snow cover, they'll head south, he said.
Kurt Masur was a conductor who knew how to use his authority.
He used it to tame orchestras - notably the unruly New York Philharmonic, which he led for 11 years - and to historic effect in his native land, when his call for calm helped prevent violence during tense 1989 pro-democracy protests in East Germany.
Masur died Saturday at age 88 in a hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, from complications from Parkinson's disease, the New York Philharmonic said, issuing a statement praising his "profound belief in music."
His move to ward off violence in East Germany was, Masur later acknowledged, a belated move in a country that many artists had long turned their backs on but in which he held a position of rare international renown as the director of Leipzig's storied Gewandhaus Orchestra, where his predecessors included Felix Mendelssohn.
By 1989, Leipzig had become the focal point for the demonstrations that would culminate in the opening of the Berlin Wall and the end of communist rule. As tensions rose on Oct. 9 - and with the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China still fresh on people's minds - Masur and five others - a satirist, a cleric and three party officials - issued a public statement calling for calm and promising dialogue.
A month later, the embattled East German authorities gave in to popular pressure and opened the country's border with the West. When Germany was reunited on Oct. 3, 1990, Masur directed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the official celebrations.
After German reunification, Masur took charge of the London Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France, among a slew of engagements that spanned three continents, but spurned the political role that some suggested for him. When his name surfaced during the search for a new German president in the early 1990s, Masur said he wasn't interested.
Born on July 18, 1927, in what was then the German town of Brieg - now Brzeg, Poland - Masur studied piano, composition and conducting at the Music College of Leipzig. He was appointed in 1955 as conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic in East Germany.
Masur made his U.S. debut in 1974 with the Cleveland Orchestra and took the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig on its first American tour that year. After being chosen as music director of the New York Philharmonic, some critics worried that his intense work ethic and conservative German musical style weren't suited to the U.S. orchestra.
He defied them by taming the Philharmonic, an orchestra seen as an unmanageable ensemble of egos when he took over from Zubin Mehta in 1991.
He is survived by his third wife, Tomoko, a soprano from Japan; and five children, including Ken-David Masur, the San Diego Symphony's associate conductor.
The art installation '1,000 Turtles against the War' by French artist of Berber origin Rachid Khimoune are on display in front of the city hall in Paris, France, 19 December 2015. The 1,000 turtle shaped sculptures are made of casts from American, Russian and German combat helmets of WWII.
Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson
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has returned to semi-retired status.
