Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Hump Day Headlines

If I had the stamina to stand in line for several hours, on June 11th, I'd be at the front of the line in Beverly Hills.  What line?  The line outside Lawry's the Prime Rib.  Because on that day, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., or until the first 1,000 are served, they will be serving the Lawry's cut of prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and a "Spinning Bowl" salad, for the price on the day they opened 75 years earlier, $1.75.  Even better is that all proceeds are going to AbilityFirst, a charity that aids adults and children with disabilities.  Diners are encouraged to donate all or part of their savings on the real price of the meal to the charity.

Terrorism is suspected in an attack in London's Woolwich area that left one victim dead and the two attackers shot and wounded by police. 

IRS official Lois Lerner did appear before a Congressional committee on Wednesday and said she has not broken any laws or committed any crimes, but then invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions.  Several of the members of the committee were outraged that she was allowed to make an opening statement and then not forced to answer questions.

It is truly frightening that accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnev has "fangirls", one of whom promises to have his last Tweet tattooed on her arm.  But she made that promise and he does have thousands of these fangirls.

Meanwhile, a friend of Dzhokhar's dead brother was shot and killed when he attacked an FBI agent with a knife while being interviewed in the case of a triple murder involving the senior Tsarnev and the friend, Ibraghim Todashev.  The agent was injured, but his wounds were not life-threatening.

A Sun Valley neighborhood had a black bear visiting this morning and residents were forced to remain indoors until a state game warden arrived and tranquilized the bear.  He was to be taken back to his normal environs, above the 3,000 foot level.  No humans or animals were harmed, although a few horses were spooked by the bear's presence.

Robert Redford's new film "All is Lost" is getting rave reviews for his performance in it, as he does the entire film speaking only a few words in an opening narrative and a couple of angry shouts. 

In yet another example of sexual crimes in the military, an Army sergeant stationed at West Point is being charged with videotaping female cadets while they were showering.  He has been transferred to Fort Drum, NY and will undoubtedly be court-martialed.

The good news is that the gigantic tattoo on NBA star Kevin Durant's back is finally finished.  The bad news is that a word in the scripture quotation within the tattoo was spelled incorrectly.  It is "mature", not "mautre".

A company called Borro, started in England and now operating in the U.S. is a high-end "pawnbroker" to the wealthy.  Though they prefer to label themselves as private bankers, they are a collateral lender who advance the elite big sums of cash in return for their high-end jewels, cars or whatever else they will temporarily part with when their supply of cash is temporarily low.

Target added pharmacies and groceries and now they want to sell you your next...wedding dress.  Yes Target fans, the big box retailer will now sell wedding dresses that range in price from $99.99 to $129.99.  They are also available on the retailer's website.  No word on whether or not they will be selling a package deal of wedding gown/shotgun for certain types of weddings.

Emma Way is the latest in a long line of foolish people who did something wrong and then tweeted or posted to Facebook what they'd done, resulting in police nabbing them.  In Way's case, she ran down a cyclist while driving and then tweeted "Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier - I have the right of way he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclists".  She has since apologized.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld apparently doesn't like living in obscurity so he is once again demonstrating his ignorance by proclaiming that same-sex marriages could lead to polygamy.

You can now own the watch that James Bond wore in "Thunderball".  The one that is also a geiger counter in addition to telling time.  Someone bought it at a garage sale recently and now it is going to be auctioned off at Christies.  It is expected to fetch in excess of $90,000.