Last year at this time, while traveling on AirTran from Phoenix to New York, my connecting flight out of Atlanta was canceled due to a problem with the airplane. Since it was the last flight of the evening, AirTran officials had to find overnight accommodations and rebook seats for the following day for a planeload of tired and disappointed travelers.
This meant I would miss the annual Scottish Sunday at my church, but hey, these things happen. The AirTran workers were unfailingly polite, patient and apologetic. And if that was not enough, when I got home, I received not one but two written expressions of regret. The first in an email, and the second an entirely unexpected certificate for a free flight on AirTran.
With AirTran poised to become part of Southwest I hope the big personality that is Southwest, plans to incorporate the great personality that is AirTran. That's my particularly heart-felt wish after the latest headline making antics of the anti-Airtran - jetBlue.
Bradley International Airport on a better day
To recap: For seven hours on Saturday, jetBlue Flight 504 - an A320 enroute from Ft. Lauderdale to New York - sat on the runway at Bradley International Airport where it and twenty-two other flights had diverted due to the freak Halloween snowstorm. It is not clear yet why there was no overall plan to accommodate all these unexpected arrivals; Bradley is a frequently-used alternate for Boston and New York area airports.
Nevertheless, passengers sat on airliners and in the case of Flight 504 the pilot in command was so concerned about the growing anger of his passengers, he asked air traffic control to send police officers to quell the unrest. Capt. Thompson also said he was worried about two specific passengers, a paraplegic and a diabetic who might need care. The exchange between Capt. Thompson and controllers via ATC.net can be heard here.
A jetBlue pilot on his way to work
What's dis-heartening but totally in keeping with my experience with jetBlue is the poor captain's frustration with his employer. "We got more help from you guys than we got from our own people," he says at one point during the seven minute recording of his ground communication at Bradley.
A pilot with another large U.S. carrier wrote to tell me that in cases like this, "the crews are totally at the mercy of what they are told to do by their superiors who are 'managing' the situation, usually from afar."
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary communications and its pretty clear that jetBlue doesn't know how to handle ordinary times.
In August 2010, when jetBlue flight attendant Steve Slater blew his top during a flight and wound up opening the emergency exit so that he could bolt from the plane before it was even parked at the gate, I could almost relate. I've never had a timely response from jetBlue whether I've been in touch as a consumer or as a journalist, whether I've called, sent emails or written letters.
jetBlue wasn't the only airline with diversions and unhappy travelers but it is the one taking the heat over this weekend's big chill. Just maybe this is an airline that has not paid enough attention to communication among its own employees or with the public.
jetBlue, take a tip from AirTran, that scrappy upstart that will soon be flying Southwest. "Its the communication stupid." But of course they'd never say it that way. They're much too good at what they do.
Because, after all, what's scarier than Republicans on the loose?
As Herman Cain looks on, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney explain to Rick Perry that challenging his fellow candidates to a duel isn't a legitimate debating strategy.
The most light-hearted moment of the Las Vegas GOP debate was when Rick Perry regaled the audience with a story of the time he grabbed Rush Limbaugh's ass.
Despite their vastly different backgrounds in business and culture, both Herman Cain and Willard Romney have a special affinity knowing they're the two GOP candidates with the creepiest first names.
By far, the weirdest moment of the GOP debate in Las Vegas was when Governors Mitt Romney and Rick Perry began to inexplicably channel GI Joe action figures.
If Republicans pledged allegiance to what really matters most to them, their right hands would be firmly clamped over their wallets.
Revealing his desperation, Mitt Romney resorts to dirty tricks by singing the Bain Capital corporate anthem to Rick Perry in the hope of putting him to sleep.
On the heels of the Avengers movie is The Injustice League, which is led by the evil Jelly Bean Collector.
I thought I’d share a few last minute ideas from the weekend.
My stepdaughter Trinity turns 10 this week, so we had cake and ice cream with the family yesterday.
I made her this quick banner using scrapbook supplies.
She loves chocolate cake, so I used a store bought recipe and decided to turn her cake into a spider cake.
My hubby was home, so I made him a yummy little sundae with the left over cake pieces!
Then afterwards the kids made haunted houses out of milk cartons.
The best part was when my brother handed Trinity her jar of fish as part of her gift, her laughter turned to tears of happiness.
She is such a sweetie.
It ended up being a pretty busy day, because we also had a photographer come out for our family pictures, but somehow we fit everything in, including time to make caramel apples!
No matter how crazy it gets with the holidays and birthday parties, I always end the day with sore feet, but with a happy heart...
because together truly is the best place to be!
Tonight we are making hot dog mummies and then we’ll head out to Trick or Treat.
Hoping you have a SPOOKtacular night ya’ll!
(Sorry I had to fit in a little silly Halloween word in somewhere :)
Cosplayer and concept artist Claire Hummel felt an affinity for the character from Red Dead Redemption, Bonnie MacFarlane, and put much effort into successfully recreating Bonnie's western getup. The only downside is that Claire didn't go as far as blonde.
Photos of my Bonnie MacFarlane costume from Red Dead Redemption, shot at Old Tuscon Studios for Wild WIld West Con 2011.
The skirt, blouse, and leather vest were all sewed by hand, the necklace made from scratch. Only the holster, peacemaker replica, and boots were bought.
Last night, it was reported in Politico and elsewhere that frontrunning Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain had allegedly sexually harassed two women who'd worked under him at the National Restaurant Association. The Cain campaign vigorously denies the allegations despite being ignorant about an undisclosed payout that also came with a nondisclosure agreement. Among the allegations were the tactics that Mr. Cain used to harass the women. What were they?
10) "Take me to bed, bitch, and you won't have to wait 30 minutes!"
9) "Let's go up to my place so I can explain my 69-69-69 tax plan to ya."
8) "I'm up for anything, honey, except cunnilingus. I don't do anchovies."
7) "Sweetheart, I'm so good in bed, even Mark Block has to have a cigarette afterwards."
6) "I bet you never been Cained by a Georgia blacksnake before."
5) "Bitch, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!"
4) "I'm Cain if you're Able, baby."
3) "Baby, I got me a pumpernickle bread stick you'll wanna tell your mama about!"
2) "I bet you never had white sauce like mine!"
1) "I got a riddle, baby: What do me and a Godfather's pizza have in common? We're both hot and come in a box!"
Schools across the Northeast U.S. closed for a snow day after a record snowstorm hit the region over the Halloween weekend. The school closings were a result of what is reported to be one of the earliest and heaviest snowfalls for the month of October in at least 135 years.
The snow after the storm, which reportedly went up to 30 inches in some areas, left millions without power and electricity and was reported to have caused the deaths of at least eight people. Emergency was declared in Massachusetts - which was worst hit by the snow - as well as New Jersey, Connecticut, and some parts of New York state.
Several public schools in the Portland and East Hampton areas of Connecticut were reported to be closed for all of Monday. The Worchester Telegraph reported that several schools districts in the area of Worchester, Massachusetts, were closed for all of Monday as well. A large number of schools in northern New Jersey (particularly in the counties of Essex and Morris) and dozens of schools in New York city are closed today.
Over six million people were initially estimated to have been without power after the snowstorm, but the Associated Press reported that the number had dropped below three million by late Sunday as utility companies continued to work to restore power in most areas. Connecticut, which had its power hit by Hurricane Irene as well, was reported to be badly hit again this time.
The heavy snow caused trees to fall and branches to break in the middle of the street, shutting down roads and transportation in some areas. In other areas, electricity lines were grounded, resulting in some sidewalks being deemed unsafe for walking, particularly in Connecticut. One man was killed in Springfield, Massachusetts, after stepping on a live electricity wire that had been downed by the snowstorm.
There are different ways to interpret this speech that easily rivals the worst days Michele Bachmann or Herman Cain ever had on the campaign trail:
There's the hypothesis that, just for shits and giggles, some practical joker in Perry's campaign hid his meds or slipped him a mickey just before this speech in New Hampshire last night. There's another that Perry somehow fell into a wormhole that ejaculated him out like a noxious ball of rancid semen into some alternate dimension in which right wing talking points reigned supreme (Oh, wait, we all fell into that alternate dimension. Never mind.).
My personal favorite is that this wasn't a campaign speech at all but an AA intervention and somewhere on the way, and overcome by grief by yet another World Series failure, Perry fell off the wagon. During the intervention, he was then possessed by the spirit of a conservative 13 year-old girl who happened to be in a giddy mood.
Really, that's the only way to fully explain Perry's performance in New Hampshire where he gushed about the state's motto of "Live free or die" and how Texans love apocalyptic bumper sticker slogans like that. He mentioned the "death tax" and how he would love to see that die before anyone. This is an edited video designed to make Perry look stupid (challenging as that would be, I know) but it comprises almost a third of his 25 minute-long speech. I mean, how much fucking context do you need?
He gestured, gesticulated and genuflected like a Pope with Parkinson's and ADHD, giggled and essentially did everything but put his index finger under his chin and curtsey before the Republican power brokers in attendance. I've always been an atheist but after reviewing Perry's performance last night, I started believing in God again and began my newfound faith by thanking Him for not making him my governor.
It's no wonder that Perry has all but decided to abandon the Republican campaign debate circuit in the reality series based on the DSM IV. He's using the tried-and-untrue Republican tactic, the Homer Simpson line, "Stupid (insert any noun or verb)!" when his ineptitude is called out by bloggers and the MSM. Palin had decided to essentially go into Mama Grizzly hibernation after her train wreck of an interview with Katie Couric (which was all her fault, doncha know?).
And when the strait jacket models of the GOP can make you look like some aging porno star who'd been pummeled senseless and dropped off by your captors at the front door of the debate, your entire body save for your penis tightly wrapped in duct tape, you know your campaign is sucking wind.
There's really not much to add to this campaign speech except to say if I was a Lone Star resident, this and the World Series would make me want to leave that national embarrassment aka Texas and take out a time share in Hell. And while anklebiters like Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann are merely cat hairs in the public eye, Rick Perry is the semi-chewed piece of hot dog in the nation's esophagus. And, despite his 6% support, I've a sick feeling Perry won't be fading away any time soon. After all, if I'd said before this summer that Michele Bachmann then Herman Cain would be leading in the GOP polls, you'd have thought I was as crazy as them.
Therefore, Rick Perry proves that we're going to be in some need of political Heimlich maneuvering before the GOP convention next summer.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Grand Theft Auto III is coming to the iOS and Android platforms later this fall. Given this technical feat, it's not far fetched to think Rockstar Games could port its more popular sequels as well.
Rockstar is still working to nail down the controls for the new version of GTA III, but if the port proves successful, it may open the door for Vice City and San Andreas to make the jump to tablets and phones as well. Speaking to Digital Trends, Rockstar admitted that recreating the misadventures of Tommy Vercetti and CJ would be a "technical challenge", but that it is "very possible".
Instead of Radiohead, maybe we should send Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters to every occupied city in America, which is to say all of them, and maybe they can blast the riot police away like they did four years years ago in their "The Pretender" video. The top and third pictures were taken at Occupy Denver yesterday and the third one, if it isn't an iconic photo of police brutality and repression, ought to be. That cop pointing a gun at the photographer comes screaming straight out of everyone's most paranoid Orwellian nightmares.
With few exceptions, such as the police in Albany who defied Gov. Andrew Cuomo's and the Albany mayor's orders to arrest the protesters, the police who inexplicably defend the Powers That Be from peaceful protesters who are putting everything on the line for them and everyone else, have been justifiably given a collective black eye. This is no truer than in Oakland, where Scott Olsen, an Iraq War hero and former Marine, was almost killed by Oakland police (or one of the other law enforcement bodies assisting them) who fired indiscriminately and point blank into a crowd of Occupy Oakland protesters. Olsen's now out of danger but his troubles are just beginning since the tear gas canister that was shot into his face may have left him with permanent brain damage.
Jean Quan, the city's mayor, has proven to be just as clueless and inept as Rudy Giuliani had proven to be on September 11th. Quan had sided with the protesters in a carefully choreographed photo and PR op before siccing the Oakland police on them later that night (while she flew to the White House far from the scene of the crime), only to side with the protesters again when Scott Olsen was almost killed and certain people had a problem with that. Then she threw her new police chief and city manager under the bus by absolving herself of all responsibility. Then in a written address, she belatedly took responsibility. The rookie Quan also said that she'd love to meet with the Occupy Oakland crowd but was confused as to who their leader was.
But Quan has proven to a symbol of the cluelessness of all leaders at the federal, state and municipal level. Until Occupy Oakland began setting up its tents mere feet from City Hall, Quan had enjoyed a reputation as "a progressive activist." But she's sending out mixed signals to the protesters and the police by agreeing not to evict them (for now) while promising to honor guidelines such as a ten o'clock curfew and a ban on tents in public areas.
Quan doesn't get it and neither do a lot of other leaders on both sides of the political spectrum. Quan, as with Michael Bloomberg and many other city, state and federal leaders, just don't understand that camping on public property while protesting corporate greed and political corruption is exactly what the Occupy movement is all about.
The Occupy Wall Street movement and its countless incarnations and analogs all over the world have proven to be quite an effective touchstone that tests the true mettle and allegiances of leaders across the political spectrum. And, almost without exception, even the so-called progressives such as Jean Quan have failed miserably.
This near-complete breakdown to address the concerns of the 99% (who are really just the other 1%, as Stan Banos at Reciprocity Failure informs us) betrays just how corrupt the political system truly is and how readily it seeks to address the peaceful exercise of first amendment rights with police thuggery not seen since the civil rights and antiwar protests of the 60's. The Occupy Movement reveals in the most vivid way the true allegiances of city, state and national leaders when their corporate benefactors are challenged and called on their unconscionable greed and arrogance. Who will they ultimately side with? What will they do if the protesters say that they'll never surrender?
Leaders such as Jean Quan have given us their answer.
We went to the beach today as we had to do a few things over at our beach cottage. Gosh it was beautiful. I really didn't want to leave.
We have a very, very big week this week with Pip's Exhibition at Black & Spiro this Thursday night along with the installation and unveiling of our Christmas Windows and also the launch of our Summer/Christmas vignette over at the online store. Fingers crossed everything happens like it should. I am slightly, actually no, I am very anxious!!
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the store this Thursday night. Thank you for the wonderful response we've had. Whenever we have events at Black & Spiro I always worry that nobody will turn up. The girls think I should be more worried about where we are going to put everyone. Oh well, I should just stop worrying I suppose!!
I think by Friday I will be ready to head over to the beach again and have a few days away with my boys...that will be so nice.
While doing some "research" on internet I stumbled upon a very bizzar site. The site is of an adult nature, but done with Vice City game in mind. Most likely the site was inspired by the infamous reputation Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Explore Vice City like never before with Justice Young around 6 different neighbourhoods.
Navigate yourself though the map in an interactive porn website network in Vice City Porn. Follow Justice Young around in his Vice City Porn missions and hit up all the neighborhoods for a different underbelly of Vice City. Don't forget to hit up the ice cream truck for some big titty nehoepolitan!
Enter Vice City and you'll find everything from public sex, to the squirt inspector, to insane hardcore gag videos. Vice City Porn has it all.
The site has San Andreas map with multiple locations, which when clicked will take you to other adult orientated sites.
Some Saturday night rocking' to the snow. Cold's "Stupid Girl", dedicated to Michele Bachmann, a woman who is to history and science what Jack the Ripper was to women's rights.
In light of Bank of America's CEO Brian Moynihan being "incensed" at mere verbal criticism of his bank stealing homes that don't belong to it, Wall Street has nothing to complain about. In light of the peaceful, genteel but largely symbolic occupation of Wall Street, they could have fared much worse. They could have gotten a taste of what Iraq and Afghanistan have received from American and coalition forces during their respective occupations. Imagine how incensed these coddled, jiggling plutocrats would've been at the wholesale slaughter of their own and their families and neighbors in the Adirondacks, the Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard, their palatial mansions turned into smoking rubble amidst a carnage consisting of human body parts and nine irons.
No, all things considered, they're getting off quite easily thus far. There are, however, several important distinctions between the "occupation" of Wall Street and our occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan: Wall Street is guilty of very real crimes against humanity including countless acts of terrorism, including laundering money for Mexican drug cartels.
Big Finance muckraker Greg Palast, however, has uncovered the real reason behind Goldman Sachs withdrawing their $5000 to commemorate a small community bank's 25th anniversary and the implications behind this story are much, much more chilling. This is how Palast breaks it down:
In 2008, the US Treasury handed Goldman Sachs a check for $10bn from the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (Tarp), the bailout funds given to desperate commercial banks. A few eyebrows were raised: Goldman was not desperate, and it certainly was not a commercial bank. Yet – abracadabra! – Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson transformed investment bank Goldman into a commercial bank overnight. (Paulson's prior post was chairman of Goldman Sachs. Just saying.)
But there was a catch: Goldman would have to return a chunk of the public's billions in the form of loans for low-income customers and members of its "community", as required by the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977. Problem: Goldman has, it seems, no low-income customers, nor a "community". Goldman was directed to find poor people and a community and hand over some cash.
That's right. Hank Paulson, ex Goldman CEO, after his "former" employer experienced a very rare and mild loss in that quarter, decided to engage in a little semantics to give Goldman $10 billion it neither needed nor even wanted. Despite the fact that Goldman Sachs was and still is an investment firm with no real bank accounts to offer and no branches, Paulson was bound and determined to force down the bottomless throats of one of the most successful Wall Street firms in American history $10 billion to "level the playing field." (To give you an idea of how desperately they needed the money, Goldman paid back their slice of the TARP bailout, with interest, in the least amount of time.)
But, as Palast says, with the rechristening came new mandated guidelines, namely that Goldman Sachs and any other bailed out bank had to give something back to the community under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 (Thank you, President Carter). The problem was, Goldman Sachs not only didn't have any account holders, they didn't have any poor customers so they had to go slumming.
That's when they set their sights on the Lower East Side Peoples Credit Union. The $5000 they'd recently yanked back on a string like the high finance pranksters that they are was not a generous donation to reward a small people-owned bank for their community service but the smallest possible token gesture toward discharging an onerous federally-mandated obligation.
Then the shit hit the fan when Blankfein's boys discovered to their corporate mortification that their five large was going to be used to fete Occupy Wall Street, their unsworn enemy that they'd otherwise officially ignored. They threatened Lower East Side Peoples bank with a lawsuit if they didn't hand back the $5000. Peoples refused so Goldman simply took back the money, anyway, and demanded their names be taken off any literature and invitations for the November 3rd event (Jamie Dimon's dimwits at Citigroup followed suit).
Goldman Sach's legal obligation to the community is something in the neighborhood of ten figures yet despite their pretenses of philanthropy, they've been doling out the money in dribs and drabs. Now they're using these tiny sums of money in order to wrest political control of the Wall Street debate back to their side. Potentially, this could have a very chilling effect on community activism in the future. If you need to have it summed up for you, here it is:
Goldman Sachs and other banks are using your taxpayer dollars to make and keep control of political speech. Again, this is not their money, but ours and they're using it against us. So how do we wrest back control of that debate? Well, as Occupy Wall Street suggests, you can start by removing your money from the big Wall Street banks and putting them in credit unions and small community banks.
Problem:
To combat a run on the big Wall Street banks, there's a national movement where if you try to close out your account, you'll be falsely imprisoned and arrested on the spot. Yes, Occupy Wall Street's best way to literally physically occupy Wall Street is simply to try to take out their money.
The thing one has to most love about Lower East Side Peoples Credit Union and those like them is that they're not merely encouraging low income residents to take their business to them: They want their community-based financial template to become the new norm that replaces the sociopathic, world-eating banks on Wall Street. It's a subdued albeit vitally important revolution that Wall Street is scared shitless will actually succeed: A paradigm shift in which banking will not be solely dedicated to printing money on the fly but one in which the community's needs will be paramount, including reasonable student and home loans that empower those who wish to elevate their status in life.
There are hundreds of billions at stake here and people like Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein are all too well aware of that.
So the occupation should only be the beginning. When we occupied Iraq, Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority essentially destroyed the Iraqi economy by making Iraq far less competitive in the global marketplace by fiddle fucking with tariffs, throwing people out of work by the hundreds of thousands and essentially co-opting their biggest export: Oil. We crippled the Iraqi economy in order to enrich defense contractors, petroleum giants and, yes, Wall Street banks.
This particular paradigm shift would be immensely more humane, geared not to impoverishing the common working man but empowering him, in making higher education and quality housing more accessible and affordable and making less usurious loans that the big banks refuse to make with their TARP blood money.
And an empowered proletariat with actual options is the last thing that Wall Street wants.
