Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Tuesday

It's the day after a three-day - or for some people a four-day holiday weekend. School is still open in some districts while other children are away on holiday and/or starting camp. Getting in trouble this summer are teens with tech skills and not proper filtering of the harm their hacking can do.


Also getting us in trouble ... we are one week away from the final primaries so focus will turn to the political chaos this country finds itself in. If you followed politics this weekend, you have again concluded that the candidates are all scary people and electing any of them - even a third-party candidate - which for some seems imminent - isn't going to resolve anything. Disillusionment will rule and increase the chaos in an already fractured world. Let's see how the week unfolds as we say goodbye to May and June returns in the cycle we "time".


Weather: Wednesday is the beginning of hurricane season but as we know the weather plays by new rules that are unpredictable. The warmer months are historically the most violent time in the large cities so be careful. Follow the patterns.

  Summer Outlook Update: North Bakes, South Heat in Check   Weather.com - May 31, 2016
The U.S. may have an upside-down summer of temperatures, with the most above-average heat in the northern half of the nation.


Business: The average pay for the top 200 highest-paid chief executives at U.S. companies fell 15 percent in one year, to about $19 million. But pay is higher where there are more women on the corporate board.





Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day

The show must go on ...

It's raining off and on here in the city and in many places across the country. As I look out over 4th Avenue now, police prepare to close the streets meaning our annual parade will go on even with sporadic rain. By late afternoon things will clear in time for other celebrations.

At least the past few days have been beautiful. Yesterday - was a picture perfect day which I spent with my daughter Zsia and her family in NJ as they settle into their new home. More pics when the family has a reunion on Father's Day.





Sunday May 29, 2016 in Massapequa, Long Island

Lincoln Page Memorial Day Tournament

Noah, 10 and his soccer team, the Westport Blue, took home the gold. Congratulations!

Coach Bruno




Sunday, May 29, 2016

Memorial Day Weekend - Sunday


Good weather continues in most of the northeast but there's trouble ahead ... Tropical Storm Bonnie Forms Off Carolinas as Deadly Flooding Overwhelms Texas. Memorial is a time of parades and social gatherings so let's hope for the best. Brooklyn's Annual Memorial Day Parade


Today is the Indianapolis 500 where the weather report calls for variable clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon hours.


Political Quickie - the candidates are getting more and more ridiculous as Americans wonder what the world thinks about them and why we can't find someone strong and professional to lead the country.


How is your weekend? Peaceful, I hope ...





May 30, 2016

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the last Monday of May. It honors
those who died in military service to their country.




Friday Night at the Movies in Brooklyn




Friday, May 27, 2016

Memorial Day Weekend
New York Style


The trek to vacation homes and resorts officially begins today as people head out by car, train, bus, jitney, motorcycle, and plane. We all know the pitfalls of traveling in 2016 so plan for delays. Have a safe trip and enjoy the beauty of friends, family, and your location. Beaches and pools in and around the city will open again.

Brooklyn's Annual Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day Parade and Adventures With Ellie 2015




Political Quickies


New Yorkers talk politics - yesterday dis-cussing Trump having enough delegates to clinch the GOP nomination as predicted. Evolution does not come without revolution. Trump's policies are different than anything world leaders are used to, they can control, therefore they don't know how to react. It's a major game changer which creates stress and fear. They are in for many surprises when he gets elected because he's not gonna play by the old rules. He may not disappoint.


Humans blow things up ...
  Hiroshima memory must never fade, Obama says on historic visit   BBC - May 27, 2016
Barack Obama has become the first serving US president to visit Hiroshima since the World War Two nuclear attack.

More than 120,000 people who lived through the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still alive, and some are sharing their stories, and thoughts about the visit.




My Daughter Zsia - Nova Gymnastics - Past and Present


US Regional Champs 1980's


The Manhattan Beach Girls - Big hair moments and a spirit who protects


Princeton, NJ - May 26, 2016



Thursday, May 26, 2016

Obama Moments

  President Obama at the G7 Summit in Japan   CNN - May 26, 2016
Leaders from the seven leading industrialized nations started two days of talks in Japan today, where they're also expected to discuss fighting terrorism, pandemics and tax evasion.

Obama: Trump Candidacy Has 'Rattled' World Leaders   BBC - May 26, 2016
During a press conference in Japan, Obama said the American presidential election is being "very" closely watched oversees. He told reporters that "it's fair to say" world leaders are "surprised" Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.


Obamas' next home is an 8,200-square-foot, nine-bedroom home in Washington worth about $6 million. The family will remain in the capital until Sasha completes high school in 2018. The rent is about $22,000 a month.


On Friday, President Obama will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, where the U.S. first used an atomic bomb at the end of World War II. (He won't be going to Nagasaki, which the U.S. also bombed.) Mr. Obama is expected to denounce any future use of nuclear weapons, without condemning its use in Japan in the past. Each of his sentences will be parsed, just like those of an American who went to Hiroshima 70 years ago this month. John Hersey was a former war correspondent and a Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer whose empathy for the hibakusha, as survivors of the atomic bombings are known, transformed many Americans' perceptions of the attacks. Mr. Hersey's magazine article 'Hiroshima,' which told the story of the bombing from the survivors' viewpoint, was the first to give graphic descriptions of the instant death and the mystifying symptoms of radiation exposure. It was published as nearly the entire Aug. 31, 1946, issue of The New Yorker. Copies sold out. Fifty U.S. newspapers picked up the article and printed it in serial form. The Book of the Month Club gave out hundreds of thousands of free copies to its subscribers. ABC Radio broadcast readings of the entire text, in segments, over one month, and by early 1947, more than one million copies in book form had been sold around the world. But in Japan, then under an American occupation government, the book was unavailable. It contributed greatly to a debate that continues to this day: Did the U.S. have to drop the bombs?




More than 65 celebrities will be on hand for The Red Nose Day Special a charity telecast to aid poor children around the world (9 p.m., NBC).





Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Wednesday Memos


Political quickie: Trump's win Tuesday put him less than 10 delegates shy of the nomination. Nasty demonstrations outside his rally in Albuquerque.


At last, justice will be served: A Pennsylvania judge has decided there's enough evidence to put Bill Cosby on trial more than a decade after he was first accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home. The trial should start this summer. There is much about Cosby that appears staged, like the way he walks helplessly into the courtroom. Helpless ... yes, he rendered woman helpless before abusing them. You have to wonder if he ever touched a man. 78-year-old Cosby faces up to 30 years in prison, if convicted on any of the three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault.


The new antagonist: Afghan Taliban announce successor to Mullah Mansour   BBC - May 25, 2016
The Afghan Taliban have announced a new leader to replace Mullah Akhtar Mansour who was killed in a US drone strike. In a statement, the Taliban acknowledged Mansour's death for the first time and named his successor as Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.


Sports injuries: Iconic BMX biker Dave Mirra (April 4, 1974 - February 4, 2016) had CTE, making him the first extreme sport athlete to be diagnosed with the disease. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy has been diagnosed in a number of ex-pro football players. CTE's believed to come from repeated blows to the head and results in memory loss, rage, and mood swings. Mirra shot himself to death back in February.




Ships - Navigating the Journey


May 25-31, 2016

Fleet Week NYC

  Fleet Week NYC  Google Videos

  Fleet Week Celebration Begins with Parade of Ships Up Hudson   NY1 - May 25, 2016

Fleet Week    Google News

Since 1984, New York City has held Fleet Week to honor the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The week features extensive military demonstrations, as well as the opportunity for the public to tour some of the visiting ships. The Memorial Day commemoration is a highlight of the week's festivities, featuring the singing of Taps and a military aircraft fly over in honor of those who lost their lives in service to the United States.




May 25, 1420

  Henry the Navigator Google Videos

Henry the Navigator became Grandmaster of
the Order of Christ, of the Knights Templar.

Grand Masters of the Knights Templar

Places associated with the Knights Templar

Knights Templar Legends


A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst,

than in the beginning of danger.

Henry the Navigator


Henry the Navigator was an important figure in 15th-century Portuguese politics and in the early days of the Portuguese Empire. Through his administrative direction, he is regarded as the main initiator of what would be known as the Age of Discoveries. Henry was the third child of the Portuguese king John I and responsible for the early development of Portuguese exploration and maritime trade with other continents through the systematic exploration of Western Africa, the islands of the Atlantic Ocean, and the search for new routes. King John I was the founder of the House of Aviz. Henry encouraged his father to conquer Ceuta (1415), the Muslim port on the North African coast across the Straits of Gibraltar from the Iberian Peninsula. He learned of the opportunities from the Saharan trade routes that terminated there, and became fascinated with Africa in general; he was most intrigued by the Christian legend of Prester John and the expansion of Portuguese trade. Henry is regarded as the patron of Portuguese exploration.




UFOs and Antarctica

In the early 1990's, my friend Deja (Cheryl) and I ... along with others ... would remote view in time and space. One of the first places we went was beneath Antarctica and not at all to our surprise, we found UFOs and ancient cities. My reaction when seeing the antiquated ships was, "I can get them up and running by using my mind." Deja and I understood that we were traveling grid to grid - timeline to timeline - but it felt real enough to keep exploring.

Along the way, we discovered we were brothers in another lifetime, Jewish physicists forced to work for the Nazi's during World War II. Our work wasn't actually about the esoteric artifacts Hitler was seeking but about time travel though they are connected. As the internet emerged, we realized there was lots of information out there about bases beneath Antarctica whose information overlapped with our remote viewing. The Stargate Atlantis further reinforced our conclusions about an underground base/stargate buried beneath the ice in Antarctica. Great mythology. If you can remote view ... please go have a look.

When I first created Crystalinks in 1995 - I included files about 12 pyramids strategically placed across the planet each containing a device that sustains the hologram of our reality. I also created meditations/initiations in each of the 12 pyramids.

We now come to "Ancient Aliens" season 11 episode one "Pyramids of Antarctica". The episode starts off with everything we know about the alleged underground world of Antarctica which I listened to while working at the computer ... until something caught my eye. I paused the video and stared at the image of the alleged Pyramid of Antarctica below ... my mind trying to associated it with something on Crystalinks. Then, I remembered the Initiation in the Antarctica Pyramid a file I created 20 years ago with small updates and links through the years. The image has remained the same as something about it connects to a hidden truth for me ... a memory if you will. Today, the quest continues as it has with every group of humans who inhabited planet Earth ... the mission ... discovering their creator and where it's all going.

Image from Crystalinks 1996 ... Note the UFO's


Image from "Pyramids of Antarctica"

Video of the episode at 25:25 is what I saw including ancient UFOs
(David Childress is talking)




Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Tuesday

Political focus today is the Republican primary in Washington State followed by the June 7 primaries in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Montana. "He said" ... "She said" ... I'm taking a hiatus on this reality show until something major happens. The central theme remains getting rid of the government that does not function and is filled with conspiracy and corruption. I'm sure you know that no matter who is elected in November - the US and the world will do nothing but criticize their time in office and their policymaking. Political systems were set up for failure.


There are many things wrong with the judicial system as well. All you have to do is read the news or follow things in your life and others you know. ... Innocent! Guilty! ... People like to read and judge but in the end, it's the program that creates the final outcome. For today the House Judiciary Committee convenes to consider impeaching the I.R.S. commissioner John Koskinen. House Republicans accuse him of lying under oath. No official below the president's cabinet has ever been impeached.


Fatal crashes and collisions on U.S. roads are soaring at a rate not seen in 50 years. Activists want to increase scrutiny on the single most common cause, human error, by not calling them accidents. There are endless reasons that car accidents occur. I'm sure you know what they are. Sadly many of the accidents are program so one of the people involved can win a big settlement - but at what price? I have read clients who have car accidents every five years or so - collecting just enough money to buy new car - their bodies never seriously damaged. It never ceases to amaze me the way people create money without having to work for it - financial investments, inheritance, divorce, cash settlements, selling assets, illegal activities - all because the person is burned out and can no longer work.


Opioid (pain killers) prescriptions have seen the first sustained drop in the U.S. since OxyContin hit the market in 1996. The rise in heroin use means grandparents, rather than addicted parents, are increasingly raising children. It's very sad to read grandparents who fall into this category as 99% of the time, it's a losing situation for them. Heroin addicts have mental illness. If they have children with other addicts - those children are scarred and the grandparents pay the price in the long run - eventually getting too old and too tired to deal with the issues.


Broadway, fueled by the success of "Hamilton" and "The Lion King," has broken records for attendance and sales. 13,317,980 visitors to the shows over a year, for a total gross of $1.373 billion. I look forward to seeing Hamilton this summer.


On "Person of Interest" Monday night - Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi) is being held captive by the bad guys who believe the A.I. Samaritan is going to help humanity evolve. Last week we learned that they have used thousands of simulations to get her to work for them - without success. Her mind believes each simulation is real until it is turned off. But last night something different happened. She realized it was all a simulation interacting with in it. Do you realize we are in a simulation?




Monday, May 23, 2016

Obama in Vietnam
Slang Expressions


  Barack Obama to lift US arms embargo on Vietnam   BBC - May 23, 2016
President Barack Obama has announced the US is fully lifting its embargo on sales of lethal weapons to Vietnam, its one-time enemy. Speaking during a visit to communist Vietnam and talks with its leaders, Mr Obama said the move removed a "lingering vestige of the Cold War".

Before leaving for the trip to Vietnam and Japan on Saturday Obama signed into law a bill that erases references to "Orientals" in federal law and replaces the word with "Asian-Americans." The term "Negro" will also be changed to "African-American" in two parts of the U.S. Code that were written in 1976 using antiquated language for minority groups. "The term Oriental has no place in federal law and at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good," the author of the bill, Representative Grace Meng, Democrat of New York, said in a statement. The word is fraught with negative connotations and harks back to an era in which Asian, North African and Middle Eastern peoples were reduced to caricatures. It also recalls the racism inherent in the Asian exclusion acts. They date to the 1880s and prohibited many Asian immigrants, even those who immigrated legally, from full citizenship. That era ended only in 1952. Of course, the war over outdated words is far from over. The debate over the name of a certain Washington football team took a turn recently when a poll showed that nine of 10 Native Americans don't find the term "redskin" offensive. Still, many in the country say it's a slur.


Your reaction to a slang expression could be negatively charged based on your emotional codes yet could have no effect on my emotions as I am not invested in that part of the hologram. As always it's about perception, interpretation, and the ...


The Brain

It's all selective ...

Our brains are constantly bombarded by information from many different sources some of which we are consciously aware and others that we are not. Information is filtered by our brains based on our programming for experience. The first reaction is emotional because are vicariously experiencing in an emotionally-based hologram. Next ... the mind processes the information then tells the physical body how to react. This happens in milliseconds and is true of children as well as adults.

Kids have "and/or Problem" despite sophisticated reasoning   Medical Express - May 23, 2016

Children seem to interpret disjunction like conjunction. Although it has been claimed children are very different from adults in the interpretation of logical words, the study's larger implication is almost the opposite - namely that the child is otherwise identical to the adult, but there is a very small parameter that distinguishes them. Imagine, for a moment, you are a parent trying to limit how much dessert your sugar-craving young children can eat. "You can have cake or ice cream," you say, confident a clear parental guideline has been laid out. But your children seem to ignore this firm ruling, and insist on having both cake and ice cream. Are they merely rebelling against a parental command? Perhaps. But they might be confusing "or" with "and," as children do at times, something studies have shown since the 1970s. What seems like a restriction to the parent sounds like an invitation to the child: Have both!


Hacking memory to follow through with intentions   Medical Express - May 23, 2016

Whether it's paying the electric bill or taking the clothes out of the dryer, there are many daily tasks that we fully intend to complete and then promptly forget about. New research suggests that linking these tasks to distinctive cues that we'll encounter at the right place and the right time may help us remember to follow through. There are many ways we can try to remind ourselves to do something in the future - we can set a calendar alert, jot down a quick note, or even use the old-fashioned string-around-the-finger trick. But the problem with many of these strategies is that they don't provide a reminder that will be noticed when we need it most.




Searching for the truth about aliens


May 23, 1946

H. Paul Shuch

H. Paul Shuch is an award winning American scientist
and engineer who has coordinated radio amateurs to help
in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. SETI


We seek to answer a fundamental question that has haunted humankind.
Are we alone?

H. Paul Shuch


Ancient Aliens Season 11 - Alien Con


There are space ships and UFOs but other ships that sail the oceans of planet Earth.


May 25-31, 2016

Fleet Week NYC

  Fleet Week NYC  Google Videos

This week many ships will pass under the Verrazano Bridge.

Since 1984, New York City has held Fleet Week to honor the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The week features extensive military demonstrations, as well as the opportunity for the public to tour some of the visiting ships. The Memorial Day commemoration is a highlight of the week's festivities, featuring the singing of Taps and a military aircraft fly over in honor of those who lost their lives in service to the United States.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Sunday


Tonight are the Billboard Music Awards Enjoy.


Mercury Retrograde is now going direct.


Happy Birthday to the Gemini Readers under a Full Moon 1° Sagittarius




Ancient Aliens Season 11


I've been so busy I forgot to blog that "Ancient Aliens" has returned for its 11th season. Of all the shows about aliens - connecting science and pseudoscience - this show has presented the best information in a timely fashion as if preparing humans for truth that will soon be revealed. I suppose that's why it's been around for so many seasons even if the number of episodes in recent years has been reduced to 10. The beauty of the show is allowing viewers to bring together what they researched and remembered and apply it to what we're discovering in today's world. Though Hillary Clinton has said she would tell Americans the truth if elected, we don't believe her and we certainly don't trust her. I would put more faith in Donald Trump finding out what's really going on and sharing.

The History Channel advertised an October 28-30 event in Santa Clara, California called Alien Con. Lots of young techies from Silicon Valley will definitely be there on the trail of ET and the hidden truth. So far I'm not drawn to attend. Perhaps it's the long trip and all the airport obstacles ... or maybe the fact that there's nothing much to learn ... at least not for me. On the flip side, it would be fun to meet those long lost California cousins ... as well as meeting some of the speakers at the event.

I missed the first episode, "Pyramids of Antarctica" but will watch it Online or On Demand.


Episode 2, "Destination Mars", was an old theory about Mars as once it might have been when something disastrous happened sending what we call aliens to Earth to colonize here. Conspiracy theories discussed covert government projects that link humans to Mars. They skipped over the real potential of portals between Earth and Mars - as a Stargate allegedly exists in Antarctica. The Earth-Mars connection has always been part of our mythology and science. No fluid reality and the truth will not become known without an incident propelling it forward.


Episode 3 "The Next Humans - Nanorobots - Cyborgs - Technology" Nootropics


Saturday, May 21, 2016

Stuff


This time of the year is all about festivals and parades, more award shows, proms, graduations, weddings, and all sorts of happy occasions that make our experience here more fun - at least for most people. Of course nothing comes without people dealing with their issues - which they tell themselves to get over - as they enjoy the moment. Our main source of entertainment this year seems to be Donald Trump and the evolving political system. Some people are sitting back and watching the entertainment - as Trump is extremely entertaining - while others are making their statements in one way or another.




May 20-22, 2016

US Wesak at Mt Shasta

Wesak or Vesak, also known as Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day,
is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists on different days.
Celebrates Buddha's birthday and falls on or around the full moon in Scorpio

Close your eyes and connect ...Mount Shasta is known worldwide for its incredible spiritual power. The pure energy the mountain radiates makes it easy for you to connect with your deepest essence and to remember your true purpose. FYI: Your true purpose is the understand that we exist in a hologram that is about to evolve out of existence. Simply ask if that is so as you connect.




May 21, 2016

Sun in Gemini

Happy Birthday to the Gemini Readers!




May 21, 2016

Full Moon 1° Sagittarius




May 22, 2016

Billboard Music Awards

Billboard Music Awards   Wikipedia

As much as I love entertainment and award shows it just seems they are never ending this year. I record them and sometimes just delete before I even watch the recording as the highlights are on the news the next morning. There will be performers at the show so I'm sure at the very least I'll fast forward through it and watch some of the entertainment, comedy, and acceptance speeches.




Friday, May 20, 2016

Friday


Let's start with EgyptAir plane wreckage found. As I posted yesterday - this is terrorism, the truth to become known as the investigation continues in the weeks ahead. In Egypt, the crash dealt another blow to the crucial tourism industry. Remember when questers/searchers planned tours to sacred sites either to glimpse at the past or engage in its energies? Many of them have become rubble while others are in areas now considered unsafe for tourism.


The worst news of the week - more than the EgyptAir disaster - is the Oklahoma abortion bill. It reminds me of the day Donald Trump said he would punish women who have abortions. To me, this is totally barbaric. Women should have a choice as to what they want to do with their bodies - but you already know the pros and cons of the abortion issue.


This week media focused on TV upfronts and season finales. Last night on "The Blacklist" it was everything I had predicted. Do not read these spoilers if you plan to watch this episode at a future date. So here we go ... I am happy to report that Liz's death - as I predicted - was a set-up. Mrs. Kaplan (I think she's Red's mother) was in on the plot that involved faking Liz's death and setting up a new future for Liz, Tom, and baby Agnes to get them away from Red and keep them safe. Of course, viewers knew everything was going to blowup in the end. Thinking they were safe in Cuba, Liz, Tom, and Agnes, where kidnapped by a bad guy named Alexander Kirk ... who tells Liz he is her real father as we fade to black. Of course he's lying as Red is really her father who will soon come to her rescue. Alexander appears to be dying and has his own agenda that might include the rescue of Liz's mom next season. How easy it all would've been if Red had just told Liz and Tom the truth at the beginning but lies and deceit always create good storyline - in real life (if that's what this it) and in media. The truth about Liz being alive was revealed to her FBI coworkers at the end (smile). To be continued in the fall when Liz (Megan) returns from maternity leave. The Blacklist finale recap: "Alexander Kirk: Conclusion"


Now to Ellie's life back here in Brooklyn ... I'm in the process of redoing my kitchen which begins next week when Mercury goes direct. I'm getting granite countertops and a subway glass backsplash - pics to follow when the job is done. Yesterday I cleaned out - and rearranged - all of my kitchen cabinets and threw away things I knew I would never need. I am not a collector of useless things so downsizing fits right into my personality.

My daughter Zsia and her family in NJ are moving into their new house next Tuesday and so I am on my way there on this gorgeous day to lend a helping hand. Here's the new house.




May 20-22, 2016

US Wesak at Mt Shasta

Wesak or Vesak, also known as Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day,
is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists on different days.
Celebrates Buddha's birthday and falls on or around the full moon in Scorpio




May 20, 1990

Hubble Opens Its Eye ... and Blinks   Wired

Hubble Space Telescope   Wikipedia

  Hubble Space Telescope   Google Videos




May 22, 2016

Billboard Music Awards

Billboard Music Awards   Wikipedia




Thursday, May 19, 2016

Air Travel

Last week, my friend, George, flew out of Newark Airport headed back to Fort Lauderdale. Much to his surprise, the check-in line was so long that he was lucky to have arrived two hours early and just made it to his flight on time. This is a never-ending story we hear about - highlighted this week. The plight of passengers and the TSA with limited funding - in light of terrorism - is coming to a head as we reach the business travel season of the year.

On this day we turn our attention to EgyptAir Flight 804 that vanished from radar with 66 people aboard over the Mediterranean. Does this is speak to you of another terrorist attack or something else? They will find the wreckage. Sadly I don't see survivors. Greece's defense minister says the flight made "sharp turns" and plunged before dropping off the radar. This reminds me of Flight MH 370 though I still say something "strange" and "covert" caused that flight to disappear on March 8, 2014.




Campaign Funds

Even when a presidential candidate suspenders their campaign - fund raising continues. The tradition of "debt retirement" dinners, where candidates raise money for their unpaid bills, continues tonight when Trump appears at a fund-raiser for Chris Christie, a former rival and and a potential for Trump's cabinet.

Campaign debt can linger for years. In a gesture of party unity, the Democratic National Committee agreed to assume $9.3 million in debt amassed by Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey during the 1968 campaign. It took until 1982 to pay it off. In another extreme case, Senator John Glenn ended his 1984 Democratic bid with nearly $3 million in debt, and he struggled for more than 20 years to pay it off until the Federal Election Commission issued him a reprieve.

Winning candidates will often help out their former rivals. In 1980, Ronald Reagan held a series of dinners for six of the men he defeated in the primaries. President Jimmy Carter helped out Senator Edward Kennedy, and Barack Obama helped Hillary Clinton. Last year, President Obama and the D.N.C. created a fund-raising committee to help pay his debt. Weeks later, he was still helping to pay it off at a special showing of the Broadway show "Hamilton."

On the flip-side ... there are candidates who have money remaining after they suspend their campaigns. What happens with that money? I don't think it goes to them personally but this begs the questions ... do they have access to it? Doesn't get returned to donors?




Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Brazilians in Turmoil

Focus is on Brazil with the political climate in chaos, the Zika virus, doping linked with other issues that face a nation in turmoil less than three months before the 2016 summer Olympics - which many people have chosen not to attend.

Many of my Brazilian clients are nannies - some legal, some not. Some stay here after their visas expire often marrying to become legal or having a child who up to this point is a naturalized citizen - that will change after Trump becomes president. One of the nannies I've read lives in Connecticut. Before she had a baby in 2015, she worked for a lovely family for 10 years and was very happy. After her baby was born - time restraints did not allow her to go back to being a nanny. Over the past year, she has struggle to make a living because the father of the child is not in her life (it was a brief affair). She has many friends here but that is not enough. Though the situation is dire in Brazil, she finds that her best option is to return home to her family - moving back next month. The plight of immigrants - both legal and illegal - is not easy. Actually, life for most Americans is often overwhelmingly challenged.




Upfronts and Rating Sweeps

Upfront week is moving along with many new additions and cancellations. I've been trying to keep up with the season/series finales of many of my favorite shows - to conclude by the end of the month.

Watching Donald Trump has really boosted the ratings of many talk shows - which he often gloats about it. People are following him as if he was president-elect. One has to wonder if his interview with Megyn Kelly last night was staged from the beginning. Once again she pushed his buttons but not too hard this time ... yet we know he enjoys the challenge. One thing we have come to understand about Donald Trump is that he changes his mind from moment to moment and hopefully will have an formed group of advisors to help him out when he becomes president. We know he doesn't work and play well with others so we have to hope for the best. In case you missed the memo - Trump won in Oregon as did Bernie - though the Democratic race still belongs to Hillary.


Remaining Primaries




New England's "Dark Day" - Science and Pseudoscience


Could this have been a glitch in the hologram?


May 19, 1780

New England's "Dark Day"   Wikipedia

New England's "Dark Day"   Google Videos

New England's "Dark Day"   BBC

Darkness at Noon Enshrouds New England Wired

Remembering New England's "Dark Day" History.com

Unravelling the Mystery of New England's Day of Darkness   Ancient Origins

In the midst of the American Revolutionary War, darkness descended on New England at midday, the darkness so complete candles were used. Many people thought Judgment Day was at hand. Diaries of the preceding days mention smoky air and a red sun at morning and evening. Birds sang their evening songs, farm animals returned to their roosts and barns, and humans were bewildered. Some went to church, many sought the solace of the tavern, and more than a few nearer the edges of the darkened area commented on the strange beauty of the preternatural half-light. The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night.



Tuesday, May 17, 2016

The Common Thread

There is a common thread or storyline that runs through
many TV series as well as real life politics -"Corruption"
the key to any good drama and physical reality program.




"Castle" Series Finale

Castle ran its course and was well written to the end. In eight years, I never missed an episode enjoying all of the characters ... watching them evolve along with the story line. I got my happy ending which interestingly was predicted in the October 21, 2013 Season 6 episode Time Will Tell. Us time travelers - or those who deal with Time - would remember the episode. Though "Castle" was not a sci-fi series, this episode left you wondering. The tagline: The initial suspect in a grisly murder, Simon Doyle (Joshua Gomez), claims to be a time traveler from the future who has come back to prevent a disaster. Castle is intrigued while Beckett is dismissive, but their investigation eventually leads them to the true killer, and events begin to play out eerily similar to Simon's stories. ...

Recap: Castle series finale recap: 'Crossfire' Entertainment World

Castle Finale Review TV Fanatic




Super Tuesday Again ...


Monday I watched Mark Cuban on MSNBC's "Meet the Press Daily". He made many interesting points about Trump and how disappointed he was that Trump has not evolved since the craziness last summer ... and yet he remains hopeful like the rest of us with six months of campaigning to go. Mark does not believe that there is time for third-party candidate and I agree with him.

  Mark Cuban: 'Huge, huge' losses for stocks if Trump wins   CNN - May 16, 2016