To take us into the wee hours, and in memory of Senator Glenn’s passing, here’s CBS’s original footage of his launch from February 20, 1962.
Because of wow.
Because Every Now And Then It’s Good To Stop And Look At Something Amazing
Yo Yo Ma and Lil Buck would be draw enough, I’d say. But manohmanohman — check out what Lil Buck does to draw his performance to a close:
My every joint and ligament screams in mute sympathy. Human bodies shouldn’t be able to do that. An extraordinarily gifted human has done I have no idea how much constant, brutal, consuming work to make it look…well, not effortless, but graceful. Beautiful.
Enjoy, for just a moment, before resuming our regular coverage of the Trumpocalypse.
Oh — and open thread, also too.
PS: I thought about the “not normal” tag, for obvious reasons, and for equally obvious ones, declined to use it.
Because Every Now And Then It’s Good To Stop And Look At Something AmazingPost + Comments (36)
Florida Man: Tutu Edition! Updated at 10:15 PM EDT
Another day, another embarrassing act by someone from my home state (Like BettyC, I’m a native. We’re on 6 hour shifts!).
TAMPA (FOX 13) – Two men, one wearing a tutu, broke into Tampa Farmer’s Market to eat fruit and drink soda early Tuesday morning.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance footage of the suspects breaking into the Fletcher Avenue store in hopes that the public can help identify them.
According to HCSO, the suspects gained access to the store by breaking out the glass door at approximately 1 a.m. on November 1, and proceeded to consume fruit and soda once inside.
A sheriff’s office spokesperson shared the following descriptions of the two suspects:
#1 – white male, thin build, possibly dressed in a cheerleading costume, wearing a TuTu, possibly wearing a wig.
#2- male (unknown race), wearing a hoodie with an image of an owl on the front.
Anyone with any information reference these suspects is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 247-8200 or anyone with any information regarding the identity and whereabouts of these suspects and who wants to be eligible for a cash reward is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477).
There’s video at the link!
Open, night before Thanksgiving open thread!!!
Updated at 10:15 PM EDT
Allow me to regale you with more tales of the nightlife of Tampa!
TAMPA (FOX 13) – Newly released surveillance video could help Tampa Police locate the man who drove his car onto a sidewalk in Ybor City, hitting two people and a bar early Tuesday morning.
Around 3:25 a.m. Tuesday, after businesses had closed, a group of men began fighting outside the Bad Monkey Bar on East 7th Avenue in Tampa.
Surveillance cameras captured the brawl, including one subject involved in the fighting who attempted to leave the scene by driving away in a black Nissan.
“He tries to do a U-turn, and it’s really too tight of a street to do that. He gets hung up on the curb,” said Steve Hegarty, spokesperson for the Tampa Police Department.
The driver jumped the sidewalk and crashed into several men who were still fighting. One of the men was pushed through the window of the Bad Monkey bar when the car made impact, smashing the glass.
After crashing through the building, the driver left the scene.Detectives are working to determine if the driver intentionally accelerated his car or if the crash was accidental.
“That’s a big question that we have right now. At the very least, it’s a hit and run. There was damage to the building, clearly, someone was injured and he left the scene,” said Hegarty.
Only one of the men on the sidewalk, Michael Silhol, 25, was hurt in the crash. Silhol suffered a minor leg and head injury.
The Bad Monkey bar was left with $15,000 worth of damage. It was closed at the time of the crash.
Video at the link, too, also, again!
Florida Man: Tutu Edition! Updated at 10:15 PM EDTPost + Comments (64)
Florida Woman! (Not BettyC!)
Police have arrested a 24-year-old Waldo woman who they believe called in a bomb threat to the University of Florida last week.
Jessica Ward was charged with making a false report concerning planting a bomb, which is a felony, according to a news release today from UF police.
The threat was made against the university’s engineering building, and Ward worked in the building’s Java Hut Coffee Kiosk, the release says.
Students were evacuated from the building Wednesday after a note was found on the first floor of the building in a restroom, and classes in the building were canceled for the rest of the day.
Later, during an interview with police, Ward said she wrote the threat. She told them she wanted to leave work at the threat’s indicated time so she could have “me time,” according to the release.
Ward was arrested this morning and remained at the Alachua County jail on a $15,000 bond.
Open Thread!
Something Very Strange is Happening In Cyberspace: FBI Twitter Edition – Updated
Apparently the FBI’s long dormant twitter account for its electronic records vault and Freedom of Information Act records depository has suddenly gone hot after a one year and 22 day hiatus. Here’s its last tweet before going dormant on 8 October 2015:
Make FOIA requests electronically,receive your response to your email account. Open beta test of eFOIA at: https://t.co/RWylCwh2BX
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 8, 2015
This account suddenly went active again on Sunday with the following tweet:
Fred C. Trump: Fred C. Trump (1905-1999) was a real estate developer and philanthropist. This release consists of… https://t.co/21KgtPpmzk
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
Since then its tweeted out links to 15 FBI policies or guidelines or programs, but has also put out three or four other bizarre tweets like the one about Fred Trump. For instance, if you’re looking for information on Nikola Tesla, here you go:
Nikola Tesla: (1856-1943) https://t.co/YD8GFK1nsg
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
The Tesla tweet was only the second substantive one about a person or event. The others are:
David Howell Petraeus: This release concerns an investigation into the compromise of classified material. The dat… https://t.co/BP66zxmaEh
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
David Howell Petraeus: This release concerns an investigation into the compromise of classified material. The dat… https://t.co/BP66zxmaEh
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
Protests in Baltimore, Maryland 2015, Aerial Surveillance Footage: Complete collection of aerial surveillance foo… https://t.co/fB78ovtSOQ
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
William J. Clinton Foundation: This initial release consists of material from the FBI's files related to the Will… https://t.co/Y4nz3aRSmG
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) November 1, 2016
Josh Marshall has indicated that he and his crew are investigating and should be reporting out something soon.
We are looking into this https://t.co/5fueKshWVa
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 1, 2016
As I’ve stated before I’m not a computer scientist, nor a cyber domain/cyber warfare specialist. But I do know weird when I see it and this certainly qualifies. When I first saw mention of this my first thought was that someone had hacked this account and was using it to direct folks to information it wanted to highlight, but once I actually checked out the timeline, I’m really not sure its that coordinated. Sure tweets to the FBI’s files on Fred Trump and the Marc Rich pardon are strange, but the majority of the tweets since the account has gone active are things like this:
Physical Fitness Program Policy Directive and Policy Guide 0676PG: FBI Agents must meet strong physical fitness s… https://t.co/XhT5SUBHAR
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
and
Honoraria Policy 0867D: The FBI Honoraria Policy (effective 2/25/2016) details the FBI's policy and procedures re… https://t.co/4WE7b9moNi
— FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault) October 30, 2016
This one certainly qualifies as an X File!
(I’ll be busy this afternoon, but will update if 1) anyone figures out what is happening here and 2) when I get a chance)
Updated at 3:10 PM EDT
Over at TPM, Allegra Kirkland has provided some initial reporting on what is going on. She’s reported out that NBC’s Pete Williams has reported that the Rich documents were posted to the FBI’s online archive as the result of a FOIA request and that this happened on October 7.
NBC News: The release of WJC FBI files was sent by the FOIA office under normal guidelines. A proper requested was made -Pete Williams rpts.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) November 1, 2016
The FBI has not responded to a request for comment, but Wikileaks is on the case!
FBI finally releases some records of its investigation into the Clinton Foundation https://t.co/ZAAhln4TcB
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 1, 2016
Hard Out There for a Pimp
So the much awaited evidence from Team Trump that Pence promised this morning would debunk the sexual assault claims has dropped in the form of an interview in the NY Post. And no. This is not made up or the Onion:
Donald Trump’s campaign says a British man is countering claims that the GOP presidential nominee groped a woman on a cross-country flight more than three decades ago.
The man says he was sitting across from the accuser and contacted the Trump campaign because he was incensed by her account — which is at odds with what he witnessed.
“I have only met this accuser once and frankly cannot imagine why she is seeking to make out that Trump made sexual advances on her. Not only did he not do so (and I was present at all times) but it was she that was the one being flirtatious,” Anthony Gilberthorpe said in a note provided to The Post by the Trump campaign.
In an exclusive interview arranged by the campaign, Gilberthorpe said he was on the flight — in either 1980 or 1981— where Jessica Leeds claimed Trump groped her.
***Indeed, Gilberthorpe claimed, Leeds was “trying too hard” in her attempt to win Trump over.
“She wanted to marry him,” Gilberthorpe said of Leeds, who apparently made the confession when Trump excused himself and went to the bathroom.
There was no kissing, but the “shrill” Leeds was “very much in your face” with the real estate developer.
Not only did Trump not grope the woman, but she wanted HIM. But wait, it gets better, and by better I mean OMFG WAY WORSE I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS SHIT BECAUSE YOU CAN NOT MAKE IT UP:
Gilberthorpe made headlines in 2014, when he went public with a claim that as a 17-year-old he procured boys (some who “could have been” underage”) for sex parties with high-ranking British politicians.
Gilberthorpe has no evidence to back up his claim — just his self-described excellent memory.
“What she said about Trump is wrong,” he told The Post. “I mean, no decent human being could sit by and have a woman go on television and tell the United States of America — accuse an individual of sexually molesting. It’s wrong for Trump, it’s wrong for me. But you know something else? It’s wrong for the American people,” he said.
You, sir, are no decent human being, so stop speaking for us.
Excellent Long Read: “Leonard Cohen Makes It Darker”
Suspect there may be a few here who also admire this spiritual seeker / musician. David Remnick, in the New Yorker:
… Leonard Cohen lives on the second floor of a modest house in Mid-Wilshire, a diverse, unglamorous precinct of Los Angeles. He is eighty-two. Between 2008 and 2013, he was on tour more or less continuously. It is highly unlikely that his health will permit such rigors ever again. Cohen has an album coming out in October—obsessed with mortality, God-infused, yet funny, called “You Want It Darker”—but friends and musical associates say they’d be surprised to see him onstage again except in a limited way: a single performance, perhaps, or a short residency at one venue. When I e-mailed ahead to ask Cohen out for dinner, he said that he was more or less “confined to barracks.”
Not long ago, one of Cohen’s most frequent visitors, and an old friend of mine—Robert Faggen, a professor of literature—brought me by the house. Faggen met Cohen twenty years ago in a grocery store, at the foot of Mt. Baldy, the highest of the San Gabriel Mountains, an hour and a half east of Los Angeles. They were both living near the top of the mountain: Bob in a cabin where he wrote about Frost and Melville and drove down the road to teach his classes at Claremont McKenna College; Cohen in a small Zen Buddhist monastery, where he was an ordained monk. As Faggen was shopping for cold cuts, he heard a familiar basso voice across the store; he looked down the aisle and saw a small, trim man, his head shaved, talking intently with a clerk about varieties of potato salad. Faggen’s musical expertise runs more to Mahler’s lieder than to popular song. But he is an admirer of Cohen’s work and introduced himself. They have been close friends ever since…
Marianne’s death was only a few weeks in the past, and Cohen was still amazed at the way his letter—an e-mail to a dying friend—had gone viral, at least in the Cohen-ardent universe. He hadn’t set out to be public about his feelings, but when one of Marianne’s closest friends, in Oslo, asked to release the note, he didn’t object. “And since there’s a song attached to it, and there’s a story . . .” he said. “It’s just a sweet story. So in that sense I’m not displeased.”
Like anyone of his age, Cohen counts the losses as a matter of routine. He seemed not so much devastated by Marianne’s death as overtaken by the memory of their time together. “There would be a gardenia on my desk perfuming the whole room,” he said. “There would be a little sandwich at noon. Sweetness, sweetness everywhere.”
Cohen’s songs are death-haunted, but then they have been since his earliest verses. A half century ago, a record executive said, “Turn around, kid. Aren’t you a little old for this?” But, despite his diminished health, Cohen remains as clear-minded and hardworking as ever, soldierly in his habits. He gets up well before dawn and writes. In the small, spare living room where we sat, there were a couple of acoustic guitars leaning against the wall, a keyboard synthesizer, two laptops, a sophisticated microphone for voice recording. Working with an old collaborator, Pat Leonard, and his son, Adam, who has the producer’s credit, Cohen did much of his work for “You Want It Darker” in the living room, e-mailing recorded files to his partners for additional refinements. Age and the end of age provide a useful, if not entirely desired, air of quiet.
“In a certain sense, this particular predicament is filled with many fewer distractions than other times in my life and actually enables me to work with a little more concentration and continuity than when I had duties of making a living, being a husband, being a father,” he said. “Those distractions are radically diminished at this point. The only thing that mitigates against full production is just the condition of my body.
“For some odd reason,” he went on, “I have all my marbles, so far. I have many resources, some cultivated on a personal level, but circumstantial, too: my daughter and her children live downstairs, and my son lives two blocks down the street. So I am extremely blessed. I have an assistant who is devoted and skillful. I have a friend like Bob and another friend or two who make my life very rich. So in a certain sense I’ve never had it better. . . . At a certain point, if you still have your marbles and are not faced with serious financial challenges, you have a chance to put your house in order. It’s a cliché, but it’s underestimated as an analgesic on all levels. Putting your house in order, if you can do it, is one of the most comforting activities, and the benefits of it are incalculable.”…
Excellent Long Read: “Leonard Cohen Makes It Darker”Post + Comments (41)