Social Blogger. Artist. Photographer. ShortFilmmaker. Small Business Entrepreneur. Closet Actress. Native New Yorker. Thanks for stopping by to read my post!
I will say the First Lady‘s pilot series “Fireside Hangouts” was a success! With live access on three online sites, I would’ve however liked to have had more and a wider variety of participants, but other than that I enjoyed tuning in and watching Mrs.Obama in action. She was warm, friendly, engaging, informative, open and candid, even at one point revealing that she and The President, as she referred to President Obama quite often, worked out together every morning; that she and her daughters,Sasha and Malia take time out regularly to workout indoors by putting on CDs and dancing all around their White House digs; and that as a youngster she enjoyed playing the piano and would love to take up lessons again after the family leaves the White House in 2017. She even got her guests to do the ‘Dougie‘ with her! First and foremost she kept the idea of making good nutritional foods and exercise accessible to all children in the forefront of the half hour dialog and vowed to continue her efforts to bring two other of her initiatives, Let’s Move! Active Schoolsand the MyPlate Recipe Partnership into effect in the near future. In typical Capricorn fashion, Michelle Obama has taken the fundamental, imperative concept that ‘good nutrition and proper exercise leading to bright, confident and competitive youths who grow up into bright, confident and competitive adults’ and made it fun, practical, relateable and do-able! And she was the picture of health herself. With glowing skin, and sporting her new bang-do, her hair full of body with a healthy sheen she looked radiant wearing a short strand of large pearls, a blue, grey and black large floral print dress with short sleeves that showed off her famous ‘power arms’ and grey pumps, Michelle Obama shows that the best way to set a good example of good health and beauty, is to be one! You Go M.O.! ♦
Polls are showing that NYers are pretty kool with the notion of a lesbian mayor, as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continues to take the lead in the race for New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released last week, 37 percent of Democratic voters favored Quinn and another poll had 78 percent of NYC voters showing they were “comfortable” or “enthusiastic” about the prospect of an openly gay mayor. If Quinlan does win she will be the first female and the first openly gay mayor in New York City history. Its certainly what I’ve been expecting ever since a skinny, big-earred, mixed-heritaged, intelligent, 47 y.o.Ilinois senator ran for and won the Presidency of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American to do so. And you can bet there’ll be more ‘firsts’ like these in this prophetic year. Shift Happens in 2013!!! ♦
Berlinians are protesting a construction project to move whats left of The Berlin Wall in Germany from its original spot to place somewhere else in order to make room for an access road for new luxury apartments.The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic in 1961 meant to cut off West Berlin from East Berlin, preventing massive emigration and defection from the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. In November of 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down in the midst of huge celebrations on both sides. Speed ahead to 2013 where Berlinians are now protesting against the removal of a 70-foot section of the wall’s longest remaining expanse which is covered in paintings and graffiti and dubbed the East Side Gallery. Viewed as a historical monument by the protestors, the wall is also a popular tourist attraction, containing the famous “Fraternal Kiss” painting showing the two past German leaders Leonid I. Brezhnev and Erich Honecker locked in a kiss. Protesters have successfully prevented any further construction by work crews until city officials, land developers and relevant players in the protest can meet and settle on a solution. Sort of leads back to why the wall was built in the first place doesn’t it? Austerity vs Communism? Oh well, we all know now that history definitely has a way of repeating itself. ♦
A new report claims a record number of adults and children in the city are currently homeless.The Coalition For The Homeless is set to release a study Tuesday that says an average of more than 50,000 people slept in shelters nightly in January. Of those, more than 21-thousand were children.The coalition says the number of homeless is the highest it has been in three decades and that the numbers have gotten much worse under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Department of Homeless Services says the report is “not based in reality.” Officials said the increase is a direct result of the loss of a popular program which helped the homeless pay for their own housing. “Well I think you need to look at the full picture,” said DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond. “There are fewer people coming into the shelter system than there were two years ago, 9 percent fewer families came in in 2012 when compared to 2010. The reason numbers have risen is a direct result of the loss of the advantage subsidies, something the coalition aggressively advocated for.” h/t NY1 Maybe we can get Commissioner Diamond some street cred by getting him out into the streets to patiently explain his fact-finding methods to the hundreds of homeless out here. ♦
Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama traveled around the country celebrating the third anniversary of her signature initiative Let’s Move!, her goal being to ensure that all our children grow up healthy and reach their full potential. Today the celebration continues! Join the First Lady for her first ever Let’s Move Fireside Hangout.You can tune in and join by going toLetsMove.gov., the Let’s Move! YouTube Channel and the White House Google+ Page at 11:10 a.m. ET this afternoon. Mrs. Obama will participate in a completely virtual conversation from the Blue Room of the White House, speaking with families from around the country. The hangout will be moderated by Kelly Ripa, co-host of LIVE with Kelly and Michael. My office and I intend to tune in at work! ♦
Chris Rock is too funny. And now he’s taken two comedians, Deshawn Raw and W. Kamu Bell under his mentorship after catching their acts on YouTube. America has watched the 47 y.o. Rock, born Christopher Julius “Chris” Rock III , grow from a scrawny kid doing stand-up comedy in New York City’s Catch a Rising Star to executive producer for Raw’s comedy series, D-Raw for Comedy Central and Totally Biased, Bells’s late night talk show picked up by FX. I love this dude for reaching back and pulling others up. Rock explains the reason for doing so, this way,
“Mentors are just a radar to let you know what’s coming up, and I’ve had a lot of good ones.”
It does help that Bell and Raw are Hella-funny! Here’s a promo clip from Bell’s show. Laughing is food for what ails you. Thanks for the prescriptions Rock! ♦
Have you heard the one about the rich old coot who hid a chest filled with gold coins, diamonds and emeralds, who’s challenging people across America to go on a wild goose chase in search of the buried treasure? Its true! Hoping to encourage people to go out and explore trails and scenery live rather than from in front of on their TV screens, 82-year-old multimillionaire Forrest Fenn buried the chest with its treasure three years ago and is back in the limelight again stirring up interest in the chase. Never really offering any proof that the treasure actually exists, it’s a bit condescending for a multi-millionaire to insinuate that the only way to motivate us couch potatoes is to tempt us with riches. I mean he’s right, but it’s still condescending . Last Wednesday Fenn appeared on TODAY reporting that he’s received over 7,500 emails — some thanking him for encouraging people to get outdoors and others asking for guidance in finding the treasure.
In his self-published memoir The Thrill Of The Chase, Fenn says that there isa poem with nine clues he says will lead to a 40-pound chest containing the haul. Check it out. And BTW, anyone who figures out the clues and finds the treasure, there’s a 20% finder’s fee if you viewed this Ezkool blog site. I’m serious!
As I have gone alone in there
And with my treasures bold,
I can keep my secret where,
And hint of riches new and old.
Begin it where warm waters halt
And take it in the canyon down,
Not far, but too far to walk.
Put in below the home of Brown.
From there it’s no place for the meek,
The end is drawing ever nigh;
There’ll be no paddle up your creek,
Just heavy loads and water high.
If you’ve been wise and found the blaze,
Look quickly down, your quest to cease
But tarry scant with marvel gaze,
Just take the chest and go in peace.
So why is it that I must go
And leave my trove for all to seek?
The answers I already know
I’ve done it tired, and now I’m weak
So hear me all and listen good,
Your effort will be worth the cold.
If you are brave and in the wood
I give you title to the gold. ♦
Robert Bea is a University of California-Berkeley engineering professor who appeared as the first trial witness to testifies at last Tuesday’s BP trial case involving the pollution of the Gulf coastline from the colossal oil spill 3 years ago. Bea testified as an expert witness on behalf of the people and businesses suing BP, who he said had failed to implement their own new safety plan on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, even though the company realized a blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was highly probable. Bea stated that it was “tragic” and “egregious” that BP , who leased the Deepwater rig from a company called Transocean, didn’t apply its own safety program to the rig that exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and spawning the most massive oil spill in the history of oil spills in the nation. And what did BP lawyers have to say about it? BP lawyer Mike Brock counter argued that the company expected Transocean to make certain the rigs it leased-out were safe to operate–standard industry procedure. Is that it!!? For the last 2 years now, BP has been throwing up commercials with local Gulf business owners carrying on as if its business as usual there. And although its understood the areas is trying desperately to save itself, there’s no denying the dangerous amount of oil and its carcinogens that still floats in the Gulf’s waters, the irreparable damage to the ecosystem and the arrogance of BP in court trying to pass the blame to someone else while still raking in billions of dollar in profits 3 years after the disaster. It won’t be business as usual for quite some time. What do I think should happen? My dream scenario would be for BP to be drained of all its resources, applying it all towards the revitalization of the Gulf, and that the company, once stripped and bankrupt, is dismantled and destroyed, forever and ever. And that would still be the nicest thing that could happen. ♦
Bill Maher wondered out loud if the Voting Rights Act was hindering minorities. In an article for Real Clear Politics he wrote,
“What they wanted to do, back in the ’60s, is make sure that blacks had representation in Congress. So, they redrew — and that’s gerrymandering — districts so that all the black votes would be in one district, and yes, we now have something like 40-something black members in Congress. But when they did that, what it also did was create a lot of lily-white districts, where you could have crazy right-winger Republicans get elected. And that’s not good for the country. So, what do you think? Should they get rid of the Voting Rights Act or not?”
That’s a big NEGATIVE Bill. You call it gerrymandering, I’ll call it leveling the field. As long as those lines remain, upholding the VRA will be worth its weight in gold come elections in 2016 as far safeguarding an individual’s indivisible right to vote in America. It will be a lot easier to identify suppression of rights in certain districts of color or of other so-called minority districts, if there is evidence of consistent violations of this and other vital protections under the law in within district lines.
Attorney General Eric Holder‘s said it best as he prepared for a speech he was to give at the Edmund Pettus Bridge Crossing Jubilee,
“Let me be clear: although our nation has indeed changed, although the South is far different now, and although progress has indeed been made, we are not yet at the point where the most vital part of the Voting Rights Act can be deemed unnecessary. The struggle for voting rights for all Americans must continue — and it will.”
GOP efforts last November to suppress votes in many states attest to Holder’s statement. Let us proceed. ♦
Who died and made Dennis Rodman Ambassador to North Korea!? The former NBA baller wasn’t but five minutes off the plane from to that country, where he travelled with The Harlem Globetrotters and an HBO camera crew to film for the upcoming series ‘VICE’, when he announced he had a message from the country’s young dictator Kim Jong Un: Yo! Barry, hit me up sometimes bro’! Rodman said in an interview with ABC‘s George Stephanopoulos on ‘This Week’,
“He wants Obama to do one thing: Call him. He said, ‘If you can, Dennis – I don’t want [to] do war. I don’t want to do war.’ He said that to me.”
Rodman, who’s unexpected and unprecedented trip to Pyongyang, North Korea threw the world completely off guard, became the first known American to publicly meet with the 28 y.o. Kim since he assumed command following the death of Kim’s father in 2011. You’ve read in a previous blog that the young leader was experiencing crippling UN ordered sanctions against N. Korea due to his continuing to conduct nuclear missile launch tests, which it was reported, he intended to eventually use against the US. Rodman’s personal assessment of Kim?,
“He loves power. He loves control,”But guess what? He doesn’t want war. That’s one thing he doesn’t want.”
And Rodman’s practical solution to quell the mounting tensions between the U.S. and North Korea,
“[Kim] loves basketball. And I said the same thing, I said, ‘Obama loves basketball.’ Let’s start there.”
The new diplomacy, a friendly game of one-on-one b-ball!? These days, anything’s possible. Obama will kick his ass anyway. ♦
“…I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal. To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness.” “My sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me”!? Excuse me Cardinal O’Brien but we weren’t expecting you to have had any sexual conduct period! Did you not take the required vow of celibacy when you were inducted into priesthood? Have these men and women of faith yet proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that enforced celibacy does not necessarily lead to Godliness but will most certainly drive you to the brink of sexual madness? You can pretty much look to the prison system for proof of that point. ♦
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking into a method of birth control for rats as it tries to get the rat population under control. The agency is testing a bait that makes rodents permanently infertile. The company behind the bait said it’s safe for other animals and humans, and has worked well in rural areas. But urban rats have a more discriminating palate, meaning the bait has to taste better than things like pizza or Chinese food to draw them in. Later this month, baits with different scents and flavors will be placed at various subway trash rooms to find out what works best. The MTA said the public will not be exposed to the bait. h/t NY1
Famous last words. ♦
The Onion was forced to apologize for a tweet about adorable Quvenzhane Wallis, the nine-year-old, Oscar nominated star of ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, when it proceeded to set the Internet on fire! The tweet, which went out right at the end of last Sunday’s Oscars, read,
“Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a [expletive: four letter word for female genitalia], right?”
The responses came immediately…
Some of the outraged Tweets against The Onion’s ‘satire.’
In a rare apology for the satirical news site, The Onion’s CEO Steve Hannah posted this last Monday morning on Facebook:
“Dear Readers, On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhané Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the tweet that was circulated last night during the Oscars. It was crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting. No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire. The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again. In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible. Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry. Sincerely, Steve Hannah CEO The Onion
You know, I get satire. Its my favorite type of comedy. But for the life of me, I don’t get why they went there with this one.
Time once again for the NY Metro area’s quarter-annual transit fare hike. A time when the MTA nickles and dimes its riders into paying for some important major ‘thing’ the transportation giant feels NYC strapphangers shoud pay for. Maybe if the public were given some idea of just exactly what this 25 cent hike will go towards, we’d bitch a lot less when it comes to the overcrowded trains, unexplained late buses, complicated metrocard instructions, snarky busdrivers, tiny-ass seats, garbled station announcements, and limited weekend service. Did I leave out anything? But really, I can’t complain but too much, considering The Big Apple is No. 2 in total number of passenger trips and government spending per capita on a public transit system. The MTA operates at a staggering $13.1 billion, and on an average weekday ridership is over 8.4 million–40 percent of the nation’s transit trips! Okay, here’s the quarter…but fix the damn loudspeakers will ya! ♦
The U.S. Department of Transportation put the brakes Friday on a discount bus company that operates out of NYC Chinatown–the Boston-based Fung Wah bus company. The agency charged Fung Wah with improperly hiring drivers who couldn’t speak English and who regularly exceeded speed limits, refusing to cooperate with inspectors after it was ordered to provide safety records for its 28 buses and having a history of safety violations, including fatigued driving and lax maintenance. Pretty much sums up my experience when I took one of these buses to Phillidelphia. Literally feared for my life as I foolishly sat in the front seat of the bus watching the driver execute one hairpin turn after another, cursing out other drivers in a foreign language. The flies hanging around the mini bathroom in the back of the bus kept flying to the front to see what the heck was going on. Get your ish together Fung Wah. Cuz even though your fares can’t be beat if you need to travel from one US city to another by bus, it shouldn’t be a life or death decision. ♦
The United States Army Corps of Engineers’ employees made a rap video expressing their frustration over the sequester cuts that took effect on Friday. Seeing as the federal budget cuts contained in the sequester affect funding for the USACE, a number of civilian defense contractors face the prospect of furloughs. Members of the corps took to YouTube recently to make their opposition to the sequester cuts known… in a rap video called “Furlough Friday”. The video was made to ease members’ tensions over the upcoming layoffs. The U.S. federal agency working under the Department of Defense is made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world’s largest public engineering, design, and construction management agency.Good Luck fellas. ♦
Kim Kardashian is confusing me right now. I thought she said she intended to start keeping her relationship with Kanye West more private, when just a week ago she and Kanye West were plastered all over the cover of L’Officiel Hommesmagazine–nekked.
“My boyfriend has taught me a lot about privacy, I’m ready to be a little less open about some things, like my relationships. I’m realizing everyone doesn’t need to know everything. I’m shifting my priorities.”
Uh-huh, uh-huh..that is you and Kanye on the cover right? Tell me something? How in the world does one become more ‘private’ when their entire “career” is based on having every orifice, dimple and pimple on one’s body on display for the public viewing on the regular? Don’t kid yourself Kimmy. You’ll be milking this cow til you and your brand name finally become irrelevant and the public moves on to its next fantasy/fascination. Don’t blame you either Girfriend, cuz this here is business…♦
Its official! It’s lights out for ‘Fashion Night Out’, as the annual shopping celebration will go on hiatus in NYC this year, according to its website. Night Out was launched in 2009 as a way to boost retail sales during the height of the recession, and gave fans the opportunity to mix n’ mingle with their favorite designers and celebrities. But event organizer, Steven Kolb, CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers, says some retail participants complained that the event cost more money to put on than it took in from sales. Other officials like Bob Gormley, District Manager of Community Board 2 in SoHo says the venue had grown out of control and needed a time-out! Still, yet another sponsor of the event, Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Soho) said that the event was at times marred by “violence and shockingly disturbing behaviour”. Well, all I know is, we may need to revisit this sudden decision to cancel FNO if the sequestered cuts prove to be too much for NYC retailers to handle on their own–once again. Stay tuned …♦
Since its opening to the public on September 21, 2012, the still fresh Barclays Center, the multi-purpose indoor arena in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, is doing what its suppose to do. Conceived by real estate developer Bruce Ratner, it’s the first new entertainment arena to open in NYC since 1968, holding its own against other big name coliseums in the metropolitan area like, Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Prudential CenterinNewark, and Izod CenterinEast Rutherford, New Jersey. It held its first event ever with a Jay-Z concert on September 28, 2012. So now you may ask “Why is JayZ’s name so inexplicably tied to the giant entertainment complex?” Well, I’m glad you asked!
Facts You MayOr May Not Have Known About JayZ’s Ties to The Barclay Center
When developer Bruce Ratner set out to buy the New Jersey Nets and build an arena for them in Brooklyn, he recruited Jay-Z, the hip-hop superstar who grew up in public housing a couple of miles from the site, to join his group of investors.
Jay-Z owns a small financial stake in the company, although his contributions have dwarfed the $1 million he invested nine years ago. His influence on the project has been wildly disproportionate to his ownership stake — a scant one-fifteenth of one percent of the team.
But he’s also been a creative diva: Jay-Z helped design the logo for the Brooklyn Nets and the Nets gear on sale (featuring a stark, urban black and white feel).
He is owner of the 40-40 Club chain, one of which is in the arena.
It was also his aesthetic force that helped define the half-million dollar Vault suite seating areas.
He counseled arena executives on what kind of music to play during games. (“Less Jersey,” he urged, pushing niche artists like Santigold over old favorites like Bon Jovi.)
And, Jay-Z played a week of opening concerts when the Barclay Center finally opened its doors, recycled as an album marking the occasion of the arrival of Brooklyn in the world of big commercial entertainment venues.
Sponsorship salespeople for the Barclay trumpet how “hip and cool” JayZ and his wife, Beyoncé, have made the arena, and he along with the Nets basketball team have rewritten the rules on how to effectively deploy a strategic celebrity investor. h/t About.com
Good money is well invested smart money. ♦
And, speaking of Mrs. Carter…
The OWN network has released a 30-second clip from the upcoming Beyonce interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter. During the sit-down chat, Lady O asks Beyonce about everything … from Bey’s HBO documentary, her miscarriage, firing her dad as manager and the birth of Blue Ivy. The 31-year-old entertainer is also asked whether she and hubby Jay-Z will have more kids. Beyonce’s new documentaryLife Is But A Dreampremieres Saturday on HBO. ♦ h/t X17
The Guru of reality TV, Mark Burnette (Survivor, Shark Tank) and wife, Roma Downey (‘Touched By An Angel’ star.) have produced, what they are calling, the first reality show-styled depiction of the Scriptures entitled, ‘The Bible’ for The History Channel. Their approach was a depiction of the Bible in a more straightforward interpretation, rather than as an investigation or mystery. Touted as a project that will re-introduce The Good Book to a whole new generation, the five-part, 10-hour docu-drama will have live-action and state-of-the-art CGI. Airs March 3. ♦
What can possibly be behind college kids giving up pizzas and bagels? A gluten intolerance. Gluten is a protein that’s found in wheat, rye and barley and used in baked goods like bread and pastries to give them strength and consistency. More than 110,000 Americans a year are diagnosed with the intolerance, marching alongside the legions of the lactose intolerant. I’ve been inducted into both armies. Back in the day I was a milk and cereal eating, whole wheat bread sandwich making machine until I began suffering from the bloating and cramps from cow’s milk and the itchies from eating wheat products. I had to look for alternatives to my two favorite, and previously considered healthful, food staples. I’ve heard Ms. Diet herself, Oprah Winfrey often goes on a 21-day colon cleansing eliminating, among other evils — glutens from her diet. And I would too if I had gourmet chefs stockpiling my pantry with delicious gluten-free cakes and cookies! To replace milk, I’ve opted for soy milk (Silk is my favorite!) But my search for a sandwich bread replacement hasn’t been as fruitful. Right now I’m trying Udi’s Gluten Free Millet-Chia Bread. Millet is a good grain because its packed with protein, fiber and B Vitamins. However this bread is a bit dry, hard and crunchy for me, so the search continues. Gluten is also trigger for the disease celiac, which wreaks havoc on your digestive system. Some of the symptoms of celiac are listed below, so If you do eat a lot of gluten rich foods and have these symptoms, please check with your doctor:
Anaemia
Abnormal stools
Bloating
Muscle wasting
Poor muscle tone
Low appetite
Irritability
weight loss
Diarrhea ♦
An Open Letter to Chris Brown & Rhianna: Is there such a thing as glamorizing physical abuse? I think so, especially when you have two beautiful, young and talented recording artists, who say they’re in love, while re-enacting scenes from ‘Fight Club’in the front seat of your Lamborghini. Yeah, I’m talking to you two, Rhianna and Chris, and I’ll keep this short and sweet because nobody likes a lecture. Both of you are so young, impressionable and malleable and we worry about what will happen to you in that all-encompassing Land of Oz Music Industry you’ve both decided to be in. And hey, we realize you both believe that its nobody’s business but your own if the two of you wish to remain together. And you’d be absolutely right, if it weren’t for the fact that you two shine bright like diamonds in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of young, impressionable and malleable boys and girls out here who want nothing more in Life than to be…Just…Like…You. I’m just saying. Love, Your Auntie, Miss Amy♦
On Wednesday police arrested a Bronx man and his friend in connection with the death of his mother, whose dismembered body was found in trash bags the day before. Investigators believe the woman was dismembered inside her East 158th Street apartment in the St. Mary’s Park Houses complex. The woman’s name was Tanya Bird. She was 45 y.o. and a mother of three. One of those three children, her son who stabbed and dismembered her, is Bashid McLean, 23, y. o. He is being charged with second-degree murder.
“They say that heaven is 10 zillion light years away. And just the pure at heart will walk her righteous streets someday. They say that heaven is 10 zillion light years away. But if there is a God, we need Him now. “Where is your God?” That’s what my friends ask me. And I say it’s taken Him so long, ’cause we’ve got so far to come”‘Heaven Is One Zillion Light Years Away’ by Stevie Wonder...♦
Everything you may need to start knowing about Drones: Part 3 (One more after this because quite frankly, I’m tired of blogging about killing.) In Battle The only thing better than having a robotic airplane assist forces in making decisions about how to fight a battle is to have a robotic airplane actually fight the battle for you. That is where the Predator UAV MQ-1 Hunter/Killer comes into play. Replacing the camera array with the Multispectral Targeting System (MTS) and loading the Predator with two Hellfire missiles transforms this battlefield spotter into a deadly automated combatant. The ‘M’ in MQ-1 is the Defense Department designation for multipurpose aircraft; by adding the MTS and Hellfire missiles to the Predator, it truly becomes a multifunctional battle aircraft. The MTS includes the AGM-114 Hellfire missile targeting system, electro-optical infrared system, laser designator, and laser illuminator. All of these components give the Predator and its operators multiple ways to acquire a target in any combat environment. The Predator fires a laser or infrared beam from the MTS ball located near the nose of the plane. This laser can be used in two ways:
The beam lands on the target and pulses to attract the laser seekers at the end of each Hellfire missile.
The on-board computer uses the beam to makes calculations about trajectory and distance.
Sensors bundled in the MTS also calculate wind speed, direction, and other battlefield variables to gather all of this data into a firing solution. This process is known as “painting the target.” Once a target is painted, the MQ-1 can unleash its own missiles to destroy the target or send the firing solution to other aircraft or ground forces so they can destroy it. ♦ h/t HowStuffWorks
Folks in Harlem, USA are not happy with all the perpetrators in cities across the country and around the world saying that they’re doing ‘The Harlem Shake!’ In fact they feel its downrightDISRESPECTFUL!If you want to see The Real McCoy, you betta ask somebody! And that somebody better bea Harlemite!
“Every year it is sad. The memories just come back and it’s just sad. But we stick together as a family. We get to see the other families each year. We support each other and that’s what it is about, coming back each year. “ says Denise Knapp Rossilli, daughter of Stephen Knapp, one of the six people killed by a bomb explosion in a van parked at an underground garage at the World Trade Center in 1993. Tuesday, February 26, at 12:18 p.m. marked the exact time and date of the 20th Anniversary of the very first attack on the WTC in NYC , while also marking the 18 years prior to the September 11th 2011 attacks here. 1,000 people were also injured in the blast that still leaves thousands of questions unanswered, in my opinion. The two days will be known as the most infamous in New York City’s history. Family members of Knapp’s and the other five people who died in the blast, John DiGiovanni, 45, Robert W.Kirkpatrick, 61, William Macko, 57, Wilfredo Mercado, 37, Monica Rodriguez Smith, 34 and her unborn child, participated in a commemorative ceremony at Ground Zero in as a bell tolled for a moment of silence at 12:18 p.m., followed by New York Police Department bagpipers playing “Amazing Grace.” Six Islamic extremists, including mastermind Ramzi Yousef, were convicted of carrying out the 1993 bombing. ♦
Do I think too much of deal was made of that white Democratic assemblyman who put on brown makeup, an afro wig to portray a basketball player at his own costume party, in his own home while celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, for which costumes are commonly part of ? Lemme put it this way; was I upset when Eddie Murphy portrayed an old Jewish dude in the movie ‘Coming To America’ by putting on Caucasian colored make up, a large bulbous nose and talked in a heavy Yiddish accent?…okay then. Pilgrims, its one thing to put on ‘black face’ and toassociate that with all the negative,derogatory meanings and images it conjures up for black folks and liberals — and it’s another thing to dress-up-for-a-party-in-a-homemade-costume-which-just-so-happens-to-represent-a-person-of-color…and never the twain shall meet. Of course I would’ve, however, been offended if Assemblyman Hikind were to dress up in that same ensemble and say… rob a bank or something. Totally different situation right there! ♦
Everything you may need to start knowing about Drones: Part 2 Spy in the Sky
The RQ-1 is the reconnaissance version of the Predator UAV. The letter ‘R’ is the U.S. Defense Department signature for an aircraft designated for reconnaissance. ‘Q’ is a designation for unmanned or automated weapons or vehicles.
The simple and lightweight design of the Predator’s fuselage allows it to carry a payload of up to 450 pounds (204 kg) in addition to the weight of its 100-gallon (378.5-liter) fuel tank. This large fuel tank and the nice gas mileage afforded by the Predator’s light weight are great assets for a reconnaissance aircraft. The Predator can stay in the air monitoring enemy positions for up to 24 hours fully loaded.
The RQ-1 uses some of the most sophisticated monitoring equipment available today:
Full-color nose camera that the pilot uses primarily to navigate the craft
Variable aperture camera (similar to a traditional TV camera) that functions as the Predator’s main set of “eyes”
Variable aperture infrared camera for low-light and night viewing
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for seeing through haze, clouds or smoke
Every camera in the plane’s forward bank can produce full-motion video and still-frame radar images.
The RQ-1 can give real-time imagery of the enemy position to a command post well before the first troops or vehicles arrive. This kind of information allows field commanders to make quick and informed decisions about troop deployment, movements and enemy capabilities. Of course, the greatest advantage of using the Predator is that it has all the advantages of a traditional reconnaissance sortie without ever exposing the pilot to a hostile environment. ♦ h/t HowStuffWorks
And just because I feel The Murph does not get enough credit for his incredible transformations into the numerous impressions in his repertoire, I’d like to pay homage to his talents right now. Like to see it? Here it go : ) ♦
Former U.S. Surgeon General under Ronald Reagan, C. Everett Koop passed away Monday at 96 y.o. I always felt he was one of the most vocal, concerned SGs this country has had in a while. Bet you can’t even name our present SG. Me either. I’ll google it after I finish this little memorial…I remember when Mr.Koop first got my attention as he began regularly sporting that immaculate, crisp, white uniform and the gold-braided dark-blue uniform of a vice admiral, a practice he himself revived (I’ve always loved a man in uniform lol). I was transfixed as I watched his salt and pepper, biblical beard rapidly moving up and down as he raged against the tobacco industry during news interviews regarding his anti-smoking campaign “A Smoke-Free Society by the Year 2000″. He didn’t make any friends of the lawmakers who made big money catering to the tobacco lobbyists. He was an advocate for a strong Aids Awareness program and privacy for Aids victims, and although personally against abortion, Koop did not use his office to dictate to women, what should be their choice as to whether or not to have one. Lost a lot of Repub allies over that one too! God Speed C. Everett Koop, a man of conscience, courage and conviction. Don’t see that too much these days in political figures. ♦
The Cannibal Cop‘s got his wife crying in court over the fact that she found out he had intentions of eating her too!–and not in the fun way either. The attorneys for Gilberto Valle, 28, a New York City policeman accused of conspiring to kidnap and eventually eat women, argued in his defense saying Valle just has a little fetish and was only fantasizing, nothing to take seriously, although investigators turned up a shopping list of 100 women who he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into. Valle’s estranged wife, Kathleen Mangan testified to fleeing from their home last year after finding “disturbing material” on her hubby’s computer. I’m sure disturbing was putting it mildly. ♦
Will we begin to hear talk from the White House once again on the prosecution of Dick Cheney and GW Bush, now that’s its been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that they were in involved in the fabrication of the whole WOMD-War-On-Terrorism-Saddam-Hussein-was-involved-with-911-search-and-capture-of-Osama-Bin-Laden thing, thanks to Rachel Maddow‘s excellent documentary ‘Hubris’? I know one thing’s for sure. All the conspiratorial inferences and cover-up accusations aimed at Hillary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice concerning the Benghazi incident, and the litany of bullshit condemnations, indignation and stonewalling on the part of the Republicans during Chuck Hagel‘s confirmation hearings, was just an attempt to get as much spin as possible on their ‘alternate universe conspiracies’ before ‘Hubris’ hit the fan. Guess they thought creating an atmosphere of doubt over President Obama‘s Administration would distract us from the dishonorable Bush presidency. I know the saying goes ‘nothing beats a failure but a try’…but not in this case boys. ♦
Everything you may need to start knowing about Drones: Part I
As an aircraft, the Predator UAV is little more than a super-fancy remote-controlled plane. But this simple design lends itself well to the Predator’s intended functions. Below you can see the placement of components:
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
