Ali Velshi Gets Pummeled By Hurricane Sandy (VIDEO)

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Hurricane Sandy vs. CNN's Ali Velshi
CNN, Video, Ali Velshi, Ali Velshi Atlantic City, Ali Velshi Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Sandy 2012, Hurricane Sandy Media Coverage, Media News

CNN's Ali Velshi quickly became one of the stars of the coverage of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, as he reported from Atlantic City in the heart of the storm.


The network put Velshi through his paces. Battered by harsh winds and driving rain, he endured lectures from the city's mayor, oncoming cars and even a group of shirtless men invading his live shots.
"It's incredibly dangerous where you are," anchor Brooke Baldwin told him at one point during the day.
"There's some cars coming here," he said, running across the street to get out of the way.
Velshi reappeared on CNN over and over and over again, through the midnight hour. His extreme reporting provoked a major reaction on Twitter. Many wondered why CNN had him where he was.
"Dear CNN, please let Ali Velshi GO INSIDE BEFORE HE BLOWS AWAY AND DIES. OMG," fashion bloggers The Fug Girls wrote.
"Ali Velshi is getting pummeled live on CNN in Atlantic City. Cut the live feed and go inside, for God's sake," NPR's Andy Carvin chimed in.
Even Lorenzo Langford, the mayor of Atlantic City told Velshi to get off the streets, saying that "self-preservation" was important.
The debate over whether Velshi should have been outside tapped into the larger debate that always emerges when hurricane coverage takes over newscasts. The usual charge is that networks load the reporting with sensationalist graphics and music and that the reporters are sent into massive storms more for entertainment purposes than for informational ones.
Velshi's response -- a version of which he reiterated over and over again during his segments -- was that he knew what he was doing.
"We've done this before, and we know how to keep safe," he said about an hour later, adding that he wanted to show people how dangerous the situation was.
That echoes the arguments made by television executives and other reporters when asked why in the world they are going directly into harm's way. David Verdi, senior vice president of newsgathering at NBC News, told the Washington Post's Erik Wemple on Monday that networks treat hurricanes like war zones.
"The reason we're on beaches and boardwalks is twofold: One is to convey the seriousness and two, because it hits the beach first," he said. "That's the reason we go into war zones and go to special events and places to where we can gain access to places that regular people cannot."
This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. The Coast Guard rescued 14 of the 16 crew members by helicopter. Hours later, rescuers found one of the missing crew members, but she was unresponsive. They are still searching for the captain. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski)
Consolidated Edision trucks are submerged on 14th Street near the ConEd power plant, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. Sandy knocked out power to at least 3.1 million people, and New York's main utility said large sections of Manhattan had been plunged into darkness by the storm, with 250,000 customers without power as water pressed into the island from three sides, flooding rail yards, subway tracks, tunnels and roads. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)


Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.
Lower Manhattan goes dark during superstorm Sandy, on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, as seen from the Brooklyn Heights promenade in the Brooklyn borough of New York. One World Trade Center, background center, remains brightly lit. Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.

Streets are flooded under the Manhattan Bridge in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, N.Y., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012.Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.







PIC'S  AFTER HURRICANE SANDY(UPDATED)
































































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Via: HuffingTonPost

Daylight Saving Time 2012: Turn your clocks back and gain an extra hour tonight

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Daylight Saving Time is here again and in the early morning hours of Sunday the majority of the clocks in the U.S. need to “fall back.” While Daylight Saving Time has it purpose as an energy saving strategy, it also comes with a downside, according to The Columbian on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012.

You gain an hour on Sunday, which is the plus side of Daylight Saving Time. In the spring when you lose an hour researchers and scientists have found that the extra hour of sunlight in the morning that you initially lose can take a heavy toll on mood and productivity. While most just find themselves experiencing a sleepy Monday morning, others have experienced accidents in the workplace and even car accidents from being so sleepy.

Stock market dips have also been blamed on the Daylight Saving Time lack of sleep in the spring when the clocks jump ahead an hour. The changing of the clocks in the fall is a bit easier, as gaining an hour doesn’t seem to throw too many people off, unless of course you work the third shift on Saturday night into Sunday. You end up working an hour more and anyone that works the graveyard shift can tell you that last hour seems like it will just never end!

While you gain and extra hour, Daylight Saving Time in the fall signifies the days getting much shorter, just because the way the earth is on its axis, this can't be changed with adjusting the clock. According to The Columbian, "Reduced sunlight can cause mood and sleep problems for many people, even if they're not prone to seasonal affective disorder." With the days getting dark around four o'clock in the afternoon, it doesn't take long for some people's moods to start to wane along with the sunlight.

Michael Rothenfluch, staff psychiatrist at Vancouver-based PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, said that many people think you can't get the sunlight that will help boost your mood during the winter months, but this is not true. Just a 30-minute walk on a gloomy day can do wonders. There's enough sunlight coming through those clouds to do the trick, even if it is drizzling out, reports Rothenfluch.

According to ABC News, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time. Clocks are set back an hour on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 at 2 a.m. for everyone else.


Daylight Saving ends: What to do with the extra hour

Custodian Ray Keen checks the time on a clock face after changing the time on the 97-year-old clock atop the Clay County Courthouse, in this Nov. 6, 2010 file photo taken in Clay Center, Kan. Most Americans will be able to get an extra hour of sleep Sunday. / AP

Daylight Saving Time 2012 has come to an end. Today is the day to turn your clocks back for one hour.

The question of the day becomes: What to do with the extra hour now that daylight saving time has ended?

Many think getting an extra hour of sleep is the best option. And who is to argue with more sleep. But now that you are up and moving, here are some good options for today's bonus, the extra hour:

1) Go for a long walk. A little extra exercise goes a long way, and there's no better time to enjoy fall's colors and temperatures than now.

2) Start reading a book you have always wanted to try but haven't previously found time.

3) Call a loved one or friend you've been meaning to connect with. Time seems to slip away -- but now you have an extra hour. Reach out and call someone. Make their day.

4) Start your 2013 exercise plan before the holiday bulge builds. Take the free hour and get to the gym with a head start on next year's plan.

5) Write in a journal. Make a list of everything you would like to do with your extra hour in a dreamy sense. The list can be long. It will help you plan activities for the coming days and month and use your time to fulfill ideas and ideals.

If it seems late in the season to be finally falling back it’s not. Until 200, Daylight Saving Time ran from April to mid-October. But then Congress extended the period, making it three weeks earlier and one week later.

This year, we experienced the “spring forward,” or the start of Daylight Saving Time, on March 11.

Some, including Hawaii, most of Arizona, and territories including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa remain on Standard Time throughout the year.

Via: ExaminerVia: Clarionledger

A Veteran's Day

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Leather patch of the 561st Bomb Squadron of the 388th Bomb Group.

My father entered the Army Air Force in January 1943. The flight records in his folder show training flights at Gulfport Army Air Field MS from July to October 1944 and Hunter Field GA in October 1944.

The next record is from December 1944 at an unstated location for "8th, 3d Air Div, 388th, 561st". We know from other records now public that he was at RAF Knettishall in Suffolk County, England. Technically a Royal Air Force base, it was used exclusively by the United States Army Air Force's 388th Bombardment Group from June 1943 to August 1945. Its only other use was for a few years more as British army supply base. There is a monument at the site.

Peter Brennan flew 33 missions from Knettishall, from November 16, 1944 to March 29, 1945. His role was togglier in a B-17 "Flying Fortress" aircraft. The togglier sat in the glass nosecone, next to the navigator who was behind and to the left. He released the bombs, and he also had a forward-pointing gun. This late in the war, my father said, the Luftwaffe were almost gone, so almost all the enemy fire was from anti-aircraft guns on the ground.

He is sometimes described on paper as a bombardier, and on a rare occasion that he talked about it, he said that technically the lead plane in the formation had a bombardier who determined when to drop, and that the toggliers in the other planes just dropped when they saw lead plane drop. A few days ago I got a better description from Dick Henggeler, 388th Bomb Group historian:

A bombardier was an officer who was able to use the Noden bombsight. A toggilier was able to arm and release the bombs manually. In the group the bombardier in the lead plane released his bombs using the bombsight. All other planes released their bombs when they saw the lead ship release.

The bombsight was very complicated to use and required a lot of training. It actually took into account air speed, ground speed, altitude, and humidity. The bombardier actually flew the plane on the bomb run remotely. I am sure that it is easier to tell people bombardier (which they could understand) rather than toggelier.

The Good Conduct Medal.

It is awarded for exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity in active Federal military service. It is awarded on a selective basis to each Soldier who distinguishes himself or herself from among his or her fellow Soldiers by their exemplary conduct, efficiency, and fidelity throughout a specified period of continuous enlisted active Federal military service, as outlined in this chapter. There is no right or entitlement to the medal until the immediate commander has approved the award and the award has been announced in permanent orders. — Army Regulation, Military Awards

Peter Brennan's 33 missions are all listed on the 388th web page.

There's always more to the story than a list of data. The longest gap he had was between December 31 and Jan 20, a full 18 days. Any reason? Yes.

The December 31 mission, his tenth, was a bad one. Co-pilot Stevens was killed in action. Ball turret gunner Martin and waist gunner Sevy did not fly again. This must be the mission my father told my brother about once. He said only he and the pilot came back in good shape, and that he helped carry out a dead crew member.

He and engineer Huntzinger reappear in a new crew on January 20, and tail gunner Woods joined them January 29.

The crew they joined, Edelman, hadn't had it easy either. They crashed on January 5, apparently in Germany, attributed to flak. None died. Three men became POWs and did not fly again, but they survived the war. The six others are listed as "evadee" but that word is all we get from the available record. Did they get out together? How? Whatever happened, they were not all back in action until February 15. They were put together into their old crew as they became available for duty. The three men from the SmithO crew, including my father, replaced the POWs.

The plane from the December 31 mission, now flown by another crew, met its end in a crash on January 20, and the men were all taken as POWs.




The Air Medal.

The Air Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the U.S. Army, will have distinguished himself or herself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or heroism, or for meritorious service... — Army Regulation, Military Awards

The exact requirements for this medal varied. To some degree the "meritorious achievement" was measured by ships and aircraft destroyed and by number of missions flown in combat. The relevant example was that the Eighth Air Force Third Bombardment Division defined the criteria in April 1944 as six "Bomber, Bomber-Fighter, Photographic, Air Transport, or Observation sorties with distinction" for the medal, and then an oak leaf cluster for each six additional sorties.

At the completion of his tour my father had the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, which makes five awards. As stated on a typed document dated April 4, the dates follow his missions 6, 12, 19, 28, and 32. Characteristically, I feel, he did not bother to attach the oak leaf clusters to the ribbon! Allowing for delays, the six awards correspond to the first 30 missions completed "with distinction".



My father completed 33 missions. The standard by this date was 35, and you better believe the men counted those missions. My sister has the paper where our father wrote out each mission, one per line, make that one per numbered line. There wasn't going to be any mistake!

Of the original Edelman crew, two had reached 35, three 34, and one 33. The three added to replace the original crew POWs, including my father, were at 33, 33, and 30. I suppose the commander could have kept most of them around to see if they could fill in another mission or two with other crews, but there must not have been enough need. And besides the main reason they weren't all at 35 together was that six of them had "evaded" after a crash and the other three had escaped serious injury from flak. They'd done enough.

But my brother recalls our father being astonished. As he told my brother, when they came in after the mission and were told that their tour of duty was complete, he felt the need to point out to the officer that he had only 33. And when told again, he actually repeated that he had only 33, causing the officer to firmly say he was all done. And then he said to my brother, still not believing it some sixty years later, "but I only had 33!".





More information at the 388th BG Association web site.

Ball's Bluff

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It was nice day today, Sunday, so we went wandering in the woods in South Mountain Reservation in search of two places. There was a place called Ball's or Balls Bluff that I had never been able to find, and not far from it is Hemlock Falls, our own local natural wonder, which we've found many times but not approaching from the south.

According to the local journal Matters Magazine (originally Maplewood Matters, which was a nice pun, but hard to adapt when they decided to cover South Orange too),

On March 18, 1896, Philander Ball, who lived in Maplewood at 172 Parker Avenue, sold three and a half acres of nearby wooded property to the recently created Essex County Parks Commission. This transaction is remarkable because Ball's parcel of land was the first to be acquired for what would become South Mountain Reservation.

He was of the same family as Timothy Ball, whose colonial-era house I've mentioned in posts about stone houses and the Crooked Brook.

Here's a quick awful map of where we walked. Like many local maps the county's park map follows Dutch tradition and has west at the top.


We parked in a small lot with only two cars in it, the one where the red lines touch the solid black automobile road.

We struck off through the woods following vaguely the so-called trail shown by a dashed line on the map, and found the "bridle path" shown as Overlook Trail. The bridle paths are wide, unpaved, and well eroded. No one rides horses on them.

As shown the bridle path divides at "Balls Bluff". The location is a high knob overlooking the valley to the west, through which flows the West Branch of the Rahway River. It was probably a fine overlook 200 years ago when all the trees had been cut down for lumber.

Here's the same area on the 1902 map, when the reservation was new. The so-called bridle paths are shown by solid lines, which the legend calls "Temporary Drives / Old Woods Roads Improved". The double lines are "Proposed Drives" that were never built.


On the 1902 map, Balls Bluff is called Overlook Point, which matches nicely with the name Overlook Trail on the county's park map.

We started down the Lenape Trail, shown by a dotted line on the map, and found the remains of the Balls Bluff shelter. There's probably an old photograph of it somewhere but I can't find it. (By the way it is hard to search the web for Balls Bluff because there was a Civil War battle of the same name.)

Although we failed to bring a camera with us, all is not lost. Last September the blog Gone Hikin' ran photographs of scenes from a pretty long hike in the res including where we walked today. Before I send you there, let me describe the ruins. Pillars of rounded stones cemented together form a circle around sloping ground. The pillars on the uphill side are very short while those on the downhill side (seen in the photograph) are the tallest. After a moment we realized the tops of the pillars, or at least the unbroken ones, are all level. They must be supports for a wooden floor that is now gone.

Now go look. About halfway down is a photograph of the ruins at Balls Bluff, and right below it is also a photograph of Hemlock Falls.

That's about it. We took the Lenape Trail over hill and through dale and reached the falls. It hasn't rained a lot lately so it was less impressive than it could be. There are new benches. We went back up the grade on the bridle path, past Balls Bluff again, and again had to make our own way from there to the parking lot. We saw a pileated woodpecker working a hole in a tree, a warbler, and some chickadees. It was good.


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Hulk Hogan ‘devastated’ by leak of sex tape filmed six years ago with friend’s wife Heather Clem; Lawyer says wrestler suffered the 'ultimate betrayal'

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The mustachioed muscle man star told Howard Stern Tuesday that the racy recording was made without his knowledge six years ago while his marriage to ex-wife Linda Hogan was crumbling. Lawyer says Hogan 'feels absolutely betrayed' by his best friend.

Hulk Hogan married his current wife, Jennifer McDaniel, in 2010.




Hulk Hogan suffered the "ultimate betrayal" when his best friend filmed him having sex, his lawyer said Tuesday.
"He feels absolutely betrayed," lawyer David Houston said.
Houston said "sources" have informed him that the secret sex tape involving his client ends with Bubba the Love Sponge discussing the recording's potential value with wife Heather Clem.
Clem was Hogan's partner during the naked romp, Hogan admitted to Howard Stern Tuesday.
PHOTOS: CHEATING SCANDALS OF THE STARS
"If we ever did want to retire, all we'd have to do is use this footage," Bubba is heard saying at the tape's tail end, according to celebrity website TMZ.com.



Hogan identified his bedroom partner as Heather Clem, the estranged wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge.




Bubba the Love Sponge and his wife Heather Clem at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 21, 2010 in Florida.



Houston said he contacted police in Florida Tuesday to ask about issues of jurisdiction ahead of filing a police report to spur a criminal investigation.
He said Hogan also will file a civil lawsuit against Gawker.com no later than the middle of next week because the New York-based website posted an edited version of the leaked footage.PHOTOS: CELEBRITY SEX SCANDALS
The suit, expected in federal court in Florida, will include charges of invasion of privacy, damage to reputation and damage to commercial viability, he said.

Hogan said his first marriage was 'really screwed up bad' at the time the video was tapped.

"We think whatever lawful means are available for redress should be put into play. That's what Hulk wants to do," Houston told the Daily News, saying it's possible they'll also contact police in New York.
"New York may be best jurisdiction for the criminal case," Houston said. "We're in Florida initially to figure that out."
Hogan, 59, told NBC's "Today" show that the tape happened during a "low point" in his failing marriage to ex-wife Linda Hogan.
"Things were bottomed out completely," he said. "I was with some friends, and I made a wrong choice. And now all of a sudden it surfaces, you know over six years later, and it's just appalling."
He said the scandal has "rattled" his new wife Jennifer McDaniel, whom he married in 2010.The wrestling star tried to explain the kinky love triangle to Howard Stern Tuesday using a thinly veiled euphemism.
“Let’s say I’ve been doing laundry, brother, for this person forever, and all of a sudden this person hates the way I do laundry. And that person says, ‘You suck. I hate you. F-you every single day. I hate the way you do laundry. I’m going to find somebody else to do laundry. Somebody younger, faster, stronger,’” he said, clearly taking a jab at his ex-wife.

Hulk Hogan says the video was shot at a 'friend’s house.'
“But my buddy, you know, him and his girl say, ‘Hey, you can do our laundry any time you want!’ Both of them are saying that,” he told Stern. “Finally after the person I was doing laundry with for millions and millions of years left, and all of a sudden there was nobody there to do laundry, I was depressed… I go to my buddy’s house and he says, ‘Hey man you can do this other person’s laundry that I’m partners with.’ I said, 'Sure.’”



Via: NYdailyNewsVia: TMZ

Bizarre fish washes up on Mexican beach

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Bizarre-looking oarfish washes ashore on Cabo San Lucas beach
In Florida, scientists have their hands on a large and mysterious eyeball, which washed ashore Wednesday, and are trying to determine what kind of sea creature it belonged to. That could take a few days.

But in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, another bizarre find was made Friday: that of an oarfish, which washed ashore on bustling Medano Beach, which features a view of the end of the Baja California peninsula. 
Oarfish are deep-water denizens that are rarely seen. But because of their long, slender appearance, and their bright-orange dorsal fins and manes, they helped spawn myths of sea serpents and sea monsters among ancient mariners.
They've been known to reach lengths of 30-plus feet.
Pisces Sportfishing reports that an employee from Pisces Real Estate helped discover an estimated 15-foot specimen that washed up in the gentle breakers. 
Gonzalez "was working very hard, sitting under an umbrella on the main beach of Cabo-El Medano at an open house we are hosting today at Hacienda," states the Pisces blog. "He was right in front of Villa 2 when he saw a commotion on the beach and a small crowd gathered at the water's edge. His first thought was, 'There's been an accident.' 
"Then he saw three locals supporting what appeared to him as a monster from the deep. He ran down to get a closer look and saw three locals assisting the strange creature, which appeared to be in distress as it struggled for air."
Unsuccessful attempts were made to revive the oarfish and return it to the Sea of Cortez, and ultimately it was collected for scientific study. 
Oarfish inhabit the world's oceans but are found in the dark depths between about 600 and 3,000 feet. On the rare occasions one is seen on or near a beach--this happens very rarely and sporadically--it's either sick or injured, dying or already dead.
Their silver bodies have no scales and the fish swim with undulating motions, serpent-like. 
Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces Sportfishing, said this is the first known oarfish to have washed up on Cabo's main beach. She discussed the discovery Friday morning on the "Baja Now" Internet radio show with Phil Friedman.
--Images are courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing

Via: GrindTV