Thursday, June 20, 2013

The conspiracy nuts continue crawling from the woodwork

The death of Michael Hastings is drawing more and more interest by those who think he was murdered to silence him.  Wikileaks is now claiming that he was in contact with one of their attorneys mere hours before his death, and that he was under investigation by the FBI.  Hastings was reportedly trying to arrange a meeting with Jill Kelley's representatives to discuss a lawsuit she's filed against the FBI and the Department of Defense.

Meanwhile, an LAPD official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, says there appears to be "no sign of foul play" in Hastings' death.

A San Francisco couple who fled to Italy to avoid prosecution for a variety of charges stemming from their campaign to terrorize tennants to leave a building they owned, have pleaded guilty and will each serve four years in prison.  Kip and Nicole Macy also were recently served with a judgment against them for nearly $1 million for violating the state's Ellis Act.

Joe Torre was a nine-time All-Star as a catcher in MLB.  Then he became a successful manager. Now it appears that being a great catcher runs in the family.  His daughter, Cristina, caught a one-year old toddler who'd managed to crawl out onto a fire escape nearly three floors up.  The child was unharmed.

When the trial of George Zimmerman begins, it will be a jury of six women who will determine his fate.  The jury selection process began back on June 10th.

That Canadian tourist whose body was found in the water tank of a downtown Los Angeles hotel died of accidental drowning.  That's the ruling of the county coroner's office.  Elisa Lam, 21, suffered from a bi-polar condition that the coroner's office said was a "significant condition" but offered no other details.

Erika Harold is a former Miss America.  Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois.  A graduate of Harvard Law who won the "Best Brief" award in Harvard Law's Ames Moot Court Competition.  Now she is a candidate for the Republican nomination to run in the 13th Congressional District in Illinois, and a Republican Party official is calling her some names that don't match up with that resume.  "Street-walker", "Miss Queen" and "love-child" were names that Jim Allen, chair of the county's Republican Party used.  I hope she kicks the crap out of his candidate, the incumbent.

Apparently Taiwan will not become the long-term home of "Mannywood", as Manny Ramirez has left the baseball team he was playing for there, after only 49 games.  Rumors indicate he may try pro baseball in Japan next.  Stay tuned.

With 28 seconds left in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Miami, the Spurs had a five-point lead over the Heat, hometown team and defending champions.  A lot of fans chose to leave at that point, getting a head start on the ride home.  The Heat came back to win the game and force a deciding Game 7 tonight.  Heat star Chris Bosh has a harsh message for those who left early.  "Don't come back for Game 7" he said.  Ouch.

Gordon Gekko may have said "greed is good", but it isn't working out for a 15 year old in the Hillsboro, OR area.  He was lucky enough to be at the first home game of the new minor league baseball team in the area, the Hillsboro Hops (yeah, it's a beer reference) and he caught the first home run ball hit.  The team made him a good offer to get the ball back, but the kid's outrageous demands (season tickets for all of his family, plus an autographed team baseball, a bat, a team hat and a replacement baseball) were just too much.  Guess he can keep the ball.

John McAfee, who created the McAfee Anti-Virus software, and who is a person of interest in a murder in Belize, has surfaced.  He is now living in Portland, OR, and making videos for YouTube.  The first video is an attack on the company and software he founded, but hasn't been part of for over 15 years.

Fans of "The Avengers" can relax.  Robert Downey Jr. signed on the dotted line for "The Avengers 2" and "The Avengers 3".  But no deal has been inked for "Iron Man 4" just yet.

U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has been a prisoner of the Taliban since July of 2009.  Now there is an offer on the table from the Taliban to release him, in return for the release of five of their prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay.  The Obama Administration has had little to say regarding the offer.

Miley Cyrus revealed that before she became a singer and actress, her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, had put her to work at his concerts.  Her job?  Collecting the bras and panties excited fans tossed on stage.

In a rural Ohio town, a 92 year old man is being evicted from the house he built 56 years ago, by his daughter.  She conveyed title to the house after he gave her a power of attorney, and now she's refused an offer of 150% of the home's market value.

A 17 year old in Kansas recently went to Washington, D.C. to receive a rare honor.  He became the 22nd person in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps to be named an honorary Marine.  Daran Wankum had to put his plans to enlist in the Corps when a tumor was discovered in his brain.  His recruiters stood guard outside his hospital room following surgery, and arranged the special honor.  He still plans to enlist, as soon as he beats cancer.  I'm betting on him.