News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Tonight’s meal by Chef and Mrs. Chef Bill was grilled lamb chops served with a sweet and sour mint sauce with sides of lemon-buttered crowns of broccoli and dirty rice and a starter course of vichyssoise.
Chef Bill grilled the chops and made the vichyssoise. Mrs. Chef Bill handled the sauce — with the mint coming straight from the garden, the broccoli (thanks Nikki) and rice.
Novelist Vince Flynn died today, June 19, at the age of 47 from prostate cancer. He was politically incorrect, patriotic and his political thrillers constantly ended up on bestseller lists. He is survived by his wife, Lysa, and three children.
R.I.P.
Yes, Robert James, when the planet Uranus was discovered in 1781, English scientists named it George, in honor of George 3rd.
— William W. Lawrence Sr.
Michael Hastings Dies After Revealing Dem Hypocrisy — A journalist whose last story blasted the hypocrisy of Democratic Party leaders regarding the domestic surveillance practices of the National Security Agency died last night (June 18) in a fiery one-car crash in Los Angeles.
Michael Hastings, most recently of Buzzfeed, broke onto the national scene when he reported in Rolling Stone magazine the scorn top-ranking military leaders had towards the Obama administration.
The article led to the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was commanding U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.
Hasting’s final article was Why Democrats Love To Spy On Americans and pointedly noted the support party leaders had for the NSA domestic spying program.
“Many of those Dems — including the sitting President Barack Obama,
Senator Carl Levin, and Sec. State John Kerry — have now become the
stewards and enhancers of programs that appear to dwarf any of the
spying scandals that broke during the Bush years, the very same scandals
they used as wedge issues to win elections in the Congressional
elections 2006 and the presidential primary of 2007-2008,” Hastings wrote.
Hasting’s was driving a brand new Mercedes when the crash occurred at 4:25 a.m. in the 600 block of North Highland Ave. in the Hancock Park section of the city.
A witness say the car jackknifed before striking a palm tree.
“It sounded like a bomb went off in the middle of the night,” resident Rochelle Frankel said. “My house shook. The windows were rattling.”
“I couldn’t have written a scene like this for a movie, where the engine flies from the car which was about 50-60 yards up right down here to this telephone pole,” said resident and producer Gary Grossman.
Hat tip Bridget Johnson of PJmedia.com
Child Abuse Bill Package Leaves Committee — The House Children and Youth Committee last week advanced a package of bills aimed at strengthening and enhancing laws pertaining to child abuse, says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).
The keystone of the package is House Bill 726, which would expand and enhance the definition of child abuse in the state’s Child Protection Services Law. The bill lowers the injury threshold to mirror simple assault, expands the ability to substantiate serious emotional abuse, includes grooming activities, broadens serious physical neglect and expands the definition of perpetrator.
Other bills in the package include:
• House Bill 430, which would establish procedures for reporting suspected child abuse through advanced communication technology in an effort to improve the ability of reports to be made in a timely manner and made available to the proper investigative authorities.
• House Bill 433, which would establish additional safeguards and due process with respect to the outcome of a child abuse investigation.
• House Bill 434, which would remove the separate standards and procedures that exist for school employees accused of abusing a student and hold them to the same standards as parents, child care workers, and other perpetrators of child abuse.
• House Bill 435, which would enhance background clearance requirements for those who work with children or volunteer in a role where they supervise children.
• House Bill 436, which would expand the list of mandated reporters of suspected child abuse, clarify a mandated reporter’s basis to report child abuse and enhance penalties for the failure to report.
This package is in addition to numerous other bills that have already passed the House.