He's been the idiot of the week many times, and reclaims the top spot again! This time, he told his followers something so outrageously false, that they also really have to be "Dead Stupid" to believe him. Like no brainwaves (and I'm sure there are many who do). Trump’s latest false claim about an abortion law is not just grotesque, it's dangerous. FACT CHECK: President Donald J. Trump's claim that mothers and doctors would be permitted to "execute" a baby after it leaves the womb is incorrect.
Trump offers incendiary falsehood on abortion at Wisconsin rally
By Eli Watkins, CNN
Updated 4:40 PM ET, Sun April 28, 2019
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump made an incendiary remark at a rally Saturday night, veering from criticism of Wisconsin's Democratic governor to a false claim that mothers and doctors have the option to "execute" babies.
Speaking at a rally he hosted in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Trump pointed to former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who was in attendance, and said Walker's successor, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers "shockingly stated that he will veto legislation that protects Wisconsin babies born alive."
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Evers planned to veto a GOP-backed state bill that could have meant life sentences in prison for doctors who intentionally did not provide medical care to babies born alive after a failed abortion.
Trump continued on the theme after his initial comment to claim that mothers and doctors are given the choice to "execute" a baby.
"The baby is born," Trump said. "The mother meets with the doctor. They take care of the baby. They wrap the baby beautifully, and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby. I don't think so."
Trump's claim that mothers and doctors are permitted to execute a baby after it leaves the womb is incorrect. The bill he referred to would mandate that health professionals do all they could to keep a baby alive if it was "born alive" and would penalize anyone who let a baby die.
Fascinating research was just published that found "60% of bird species came from Australia!
Basically, all perching birds – the majority of the world’s bird population – originated in Australia, researchers report. Amazing. Here's the story:
SOURCE: EarthSky.org
According to a new study, all perching bird species — the majority of the world’s bird population — originated in Australia.
These perching birds — called passerines — make up more than 60 percent of all birds. There are more than 6,000 species of passerines – distinguished from other birds by the arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching – including familiar birds like cardinals, warblers, jays, and sparrows.
Previous hypotheses about passerine evolution and diversification suggested that perching birds originated in South America. But it turns out, according to the new research, published April 1, 2019, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that the Carolina wren at your feeder actually has a very long-lost ancestor, 47 million years ago or so, in the Land Down Under.
The researchers conducted genomic testing using technology that did not exist 10 years ago. They analyzed DNA data from the 137 families of perching birds. Some of the museum samples the researchers used were up to 100 years old.
Edward Braun, a professor of biology at the University of Florida, is a study co-author. Braun said in a statement: Previous studies only looked at one or a few genes. What makes this study unique is one, the broad sampling across the genome, and two, the comprehensive nature in that we captured all major groups of perching birds. The third factor is the integration of the fossil records and biogeography, along with the comprehensive genomic sampling.
Using this genomic data, as well as knowledge of the Earth’s shifting history when continents were closer to each other, the team discovered that this history was the primary factor in the evolution of passerines. Rebecca Kimball, a professor of biology at University of Florida, is a study co-author. She said:
A lot of people thought that factors that drove movement were radiation, expansion of numbers, things linked to climate change. We’ve shown that is less likely.
Braun said: The evolutionary history of perching birds — when they moved, when they diversified, was very much shaped by Earth’s history. They were passengers on parts of the planet. It was the history of the planet that determined when and where they moved.
Bottom line: A new study traces the origin of perching bird species to Australia.
If you want to travel to a hostile place, check out Indonesia. The nation of Brunei just made it legal to stone gay people to death. Just another country of barbarians. To call them animals is an insult to animals. This country also has violent and harsh penalities for abortions and exposing children to other than 1 religion. What a horrible place to live or visit.
WHERE IS BRUNEI? Brunei is a tiny nation on the island of Borneo, in 2 distinct sections surrounded by Malaysia and the South China Sea. It's known for its beaches and biodiverse rainforest, much of it protected within reserves. NOW, it's known for intolerance and violence and death sentences to gay people.
OTHER STUPID CRUEL LAWS: Abortion is punishable by flogging and people are criminalized if they expose Muslim children to the beliefs and practices of any religion other than Islam. Here's the story from BBC NEWS
Brunei implements stoning to death under new anti-LGBT laws
The move by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's government means gay men could face "medieval" stoning.
Brunei is introducing strict new Islamic laws that make anal sex and adultery offences punishable by stoning to death.
The new measures, that come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of other crimes including punishment for theft by amputation.
The move has sparked international condemnation.
Brunei's gay community has expressed shock and fear at the "medieval punishments".
"You wake up and realise that your neighbours, your family or even that nice old lady that sells prawn fritters by the side of the road doesn't think you're human, or is okay with stoning," one Bruneian gay man, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.
The sultan of the small South-East Asian nation on Wednesday called for "stronger" Islamic teachings.
Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Muslims make up about two-thirds of the country's population of 420,000. Brunei has retained the death penalty but has not carried out an execution since 1957.
What is punishable under the changes to the penal code?
The law mostly applies to Muslims, including children who have reached puberty, though some aspects will apply to non-Muslims.
Under the new laws, individuals accused of certain acts will be convicted if they confess or if there were witnesses present.
Offences such as rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery and insult or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad will carry the maximum penalty of death.
Lesbian sex carries a different penalty of 40 strokes of the cane and/or a maximum of 10 years in jail
The punishment for theft is amputation
Those who "persuade, tell or encourage" Muslim children under the age of 18 "to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam" are liable to a fine or jail
Individuals who have not reached puberty but are convicted of certain offences may be instead subjected to whipping.
What has global reaction been?
Sultan Hassanal heads the Brunei Investment Agency which owns the Dorchester Collection, an operator of some of the world's top hotels including the Dorchester in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Brunei's ruling royals possess a huge private fortune and its largely ethnic Malay residents enjoy generous state handouts and pay no taxes.
But Hollywood actor George Clooney and other celebrities have now called for a boycott of the luxury hotels. TV host Ellen DeGeneres also called for people to "rise up", saying "we need to do something now".
"I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger," Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said in a public address, according to AFP news agency, without mentioning the new laws.
A Huge mystery solved by archaeologists, and DNA researchers revealed the group of people who built Stonehenge in the United Kingdom. Fascinating! Forensic scientists recreated the appearances of the people in this study. Here's the article from BBC News (orig. published on 4/16/19)
The ancestors of the people
who built Stonehenge travelled west across the Mediterranean before
reaching Britain, a study has shown. Researchers compared
DNA extracted from Neolithic human remains found across Britain with
that of people alive at the same time in Europe.
IMAGE RIGHT: Image caption Construction on Stonehenge probably began about 3,000 BC
The Neolithic inhabitants appear to have travelled from Anatolia (modern Turkey) to Iberia before winding their way north.
They reached Britain in about 4,000BC.
Details have been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The migration to Britain was just one part of a general, massive expansion of people out of Anatolia in 6,000vBC that introduced farming to Europe.
Before that, Europe was populated by small, travelling groups which hunted animals and gathered wild plants and shellfish.
One group of early farmers followed the river Danube up into Central Europe, but another group travelled west across the Mediterranean.
DNA reveals that Neolithic Britons were largely descended from groups who took the Mediterranean route, either hugging the coast or hopping from island-to-island on boats.
IMAGE RIGHT: Image copyrightRoyal Pavilion & Museum, BrightonImage caption A facial reconstruction of Whitehawk Woman, a 5,600-year-old Neolithic woman from Sussex. The reconstruction is on show at the Royal Pavilion & Museum in Brighton When the researchers analysed the DNA of early British farmers, they found they most closely resembled Neolithic people from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal). These Iberian farmers were descended from people who had journeyed across the Mediterranean.
From Iberia, or somewhere close, the Mediterranean farmers travelled north through France. They might have entered Britain from the west, through Wales or south-west England. Indeed, radiocarbon dates suggest that Neolithic people arrived marginally earlier in the west, but this remains a topic for future work.
In addition to farming, the Neolithic migrants to Britain appear to have introduced the tradition of building monuments using large stones known as megaliths. Stonehenge in Wiltshire was part of this tradition.
Although Britain was inhabited by groups of "western hunter-gatherers" when the farmers arrived in about 4,000BC, DNA shows that the two groups did not mix very much at all.
The British hunter-gatherers were almost completely replaced by the Neolithic farmers, apart from one group in western Scotland, where the Neolithic inhabitants had elevated local ancestry. This could have come down to the farmer groups simply having greater numbers.
"We don't find any detectable evidence at all for the local British western hunter-gatherer ancestry in the Neolithic farmers after they arrive," said co-author Dr Tom Booth, a specialist in ancient DNA from the Natural History Museum in London.
"That doesn't mean they don't mix at all, it just means that maybe their population sizes were too small to have left any kind of genetic legacy."
Co-author Professor Mark Thomas, from UCL, said he also favoured "a numbers game explanation".
IMAGE RIGHT: Image copyrightChannel 4/Plimsoll ProductionsImage caption A reconstruction of Cheddar Man. As with other Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, DNA results suggest he had dark skin and blue or green eyes Professor Thomas said the Neolithic farmers had probably had to adapt their practices to different climatic conditions as they moved across Europe. But by the time they reached Britain they were already "tooled up" and well-prepared for growing crops in a north-west European climate.
The study also analysed DNA from these British hunter-gatherers. One of the skeletons analysed was that of Cheddar Man, whose skeletal remains have been dated to 7,100BC.
He was the subject of a reconstruction unveiled at the Natural History Museum last year. DNA suggests that, like most other European hunter-gatherers of the time, he had dark skin combined with blue eyes.
Genetic analysis shows that the Neolithic farmers, by contrast, were paler-skinned with brown eyes and black or dark-brown hair.
Towards the end of the Neolithic, in about 2,450BC, the descendents of the first farmers were themselves almost entirely replaced when a new population - called the Bell Beaker people - migrated from mainland Europe. So Britain saw two extreme genetic shifts in the space of a few thousand years.
Prof Thomas said that this later event happened after the Neolithic population had been in decline for some time, both in Britain and across Europe. He cautioned against simplistic explanations invoking conflict, and said the shifts ultimately came down to "economic" factors, about which lifestyles were best suited to exploit the landscape.
Dr Booth explained: "It's difficult to see whether the two [genetic shifts] could have anything in common - they're two very different kinds of change. There's speculation that they're to some extent population collapses. But the reasons suggested for those two collapses are different, so it could just be coincidence."
Decline of Pedersen glacier in Kenai Fjords Park, Alaska
Climate change (warming of global temperatures) has been occurring since the Industrial Revolution and scientists around the world have been cataloging the effects. Take it from me, I'm a meteorologist. Global warming has caused increased CO2 (Carbon dioxide) levels in the atmosphere, melting glaciers and vanishing sea ice, more Arctic Outbreaks of frigid air over the U.S. and Europe, warmer sea surface temperatures, more intense hurricanes and storms, tropical plants and fish being found further toward the poles, and much more. Weather (short term event) is NOT climate (that's weather over a long term).
In this article from April 15th from Reuters, here's another example of climate change in Alaska:
Record-early Alaska river thaw follows high winter temperatures
Key Alaska rivers that are usually frozen at this time of year are now free-flowing, with record-early thaws following record-high winter and spring temperatures.
Aug thru Oct 2016- Alaska warmer than normal. Cr: NOAA
In the interior Alaska city of Nenana, ice on the Tanana River gave way just after midnight on Sunday. It was by far the earliest breakup in the 102-year history of the Nenana Ice Classic, an iconic Alaska betting pool in which participants predict when thaw will sink a wooden tripod placed on the ice.
The previous earliest breakup of the Tanana, a tributary of the Yukon River, was April 20, a mark reached in 1998 and 1940.
Another record-early thaw happened on Friday on the Kuskokwim River at the southwestern city of Bethel. The previous earliest ice-breakup date for the Kuskokwim Ice Classic was also April 20, in 2016. The Friday ice breakup was the earliest for that part of the Kuskokwim in 92 years of records kept by the National Weather Service.
At both rivers, records show that breakup has been happening, on average, about a week earlier since the 1960s, not counting this year’s record thaws.
This year’s breakups followed an extraordinarily warm Alaska winter with near-record-low ice in the Bering Sea and a record-hot March statewide.
The increasingly early melt reflects Alaska’s long-term climate change, said Brian Brettschneider, a climate researcher with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center.
“It’s just another indicator of how Alaska is warming up,” he said.
More precisely, this year’s early melt reflects the warm conditions that persisted over wide areas of Alaska, from mountain peaks to the open ocean, Brettschneider said.
“The condition of the ice is a proxy for what the climate has been like for the past five months or so,” he said.
For rural Alaskans in communities that lack outside road access, changes in river ice can have dire consequences.
The rural and mostly indigenous residents use frozen rivers for travel, driving snowmobiles or other vehicles over them.
“If we’re not able to travel on the river, we’re all 100 percent dependent on air travel, which is hugely expensive,” said Mark Leary, an official with a local Yupik tribal council.
In March, when Kuskoskwim River ice conditions resembled those that used to be common in May, four people died in separate incidents when their snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles plunged into the water.
Lack of river ice can also hinder villagers’ ability to harvest wild food, Leary said. That is important in a region where the mostly Yupik residents count on wild fish, game and plants for most of their diet.
“Normally, we would be right in the height of ice-fishing season,” he said. And normally, residents would be traveling by snowmobile to hunt migratory birds, he said.
Instead, villagers are getting out their boats early and using them to hunt and fish, he said.
We love archaeology, and the UK is always digging into it's past. Actually digging. This is some of the latest finds from Ireland. .. Downpatrick dig: Medieval child's remains found in grave
Image caption Medieval skeletons were found beside Down Cathedral in Downpatrick
The remains of a young child and a teenager are among 14 skeletons uncovered in an ancient burial ground within metres of St Patrick's grave.
The medieval skeletons were found beside Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, in August 2018.
Archaeologists first thought they had found the lost cemetery of 13th Century Benedictine monks.
But they have said the oldest skeleton is that of a five or six-year-old child who died almost 1,000 years ago.
Image caption Archaeologist Brian Sloan believes there is "more to be found" in Downpatrick
The most recent skeleton is that of a young woman, believed to be a late adolescent, buried between 1317 and 1429.
Experts said she was suffering from severe tooth abscesses at the time of her death and believe she may have travelled to the on-site monastery in search of medicine or prayer.
A community dig was led by archaeologists from Queen's University in Belfast, working with volunteers to prepare the ground for the erection of a replica high cross.Visitors from around the world flocked to the area as the dig unfolded.
'Rich picture of medieval life'
Ancient pottery and animal bones were also recovered in the buried kitchen of a 13th Century Benedictine Abbey as well as a flint tool dating to about 7,000 BC.
Blackberry seeds, sloe pips, fish bones and charred wheat grains from bread-making were also found.
Image copyrightQueen's University/Down County MuseumImage caption Medieval jugs found during the dig have been carefully pieced together
Excavation director Brian Sloan said subsequent analysis, including radiocarbon dating of three of the skeletons, had uncovered a "rich picture of medieval life".
Although analysis of the skeletons is ongoing, he said evidence showed the young child had lived and died before the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1177 AD.
He said the young woman had lived sometime between 1317-1429 AD when the site was occupied by the Benedictine Abbey.
Mr Sloan said the other archaeological finds had offered an insight into life in the abbey and a glimpse into an 8th Century Christian monastic site.
"We can use this evidence to build up a picture of the diet and everyday activities of the monks who lived and prayed here," he added. "The large pottery shards have been painstakingly pieced together at Queen's University Belfast giving an idea of the shape, size and decoration of the vessels.
"A rich environmental picture is being established through the processing of the soil samples taken during the excavation."
Metalwork recovered from an ancient pit has also been analysed and include fine copper alloy dress pins, a socketed arrowhead, a horseshoe, a pair of iron shears and a length of chain with a suspension hook still attached.
A number of items are now on display in the High Cross Gallery at Down County Museum in Downpatrick, in two new cases funded by the British Museum Trust, while research work continues on the collection of artefacts, dating from the Mesolithic (c. 7000 BC) period.
Mr Sloan added: "This is fantastic as Downpatrick has almost been ignored from an archaeological and historical point of view.
"It has got my blood flowing. I believe there is more to be found."
I recently read and enjoyed a novel called "February and December: Dominus Calendar Series," by JP Kenwood. The author is a friend of a friend which is how I heard about it. The book is an historical fiction novel about 2 gay men in ancient Rome.
This historical fiction novel contains 2 stories of ancient Rome featuring characters from JP Kenwood's Dominus series. The stories are well-written and paint a vivid picture of ancient Roman times. The 2 main characters are engaging and interesting, and the sexual tension between them becomes obvious. The stories involve a Roman military leader and a Roman lawyer (both men) whom lust for each other, so of course there are sex scenes in the book. The intimate scenes are also well-done, and are not overly dramatic, but are steamy.
Readers will feel like you're experiencing life in ancient Rome as the author paints the picture well.
In addition, the cover photo of the muscular ancient Roman guy is really nice to look at !
I'm looking forward to reading the Dominus series.
ABOUT THE BOOK: As a lifelong passion continues to fade, another love deepens… two
stand-alone m/m stories of love, lust, and friendship in ancient Rome. February:
Home from the first war against the kingdom of Dacia, Gaius Fabius
ignores his obligations in Rome and returns to his secluded seaside
villa in southern Italy. Under the pretense of a holiday trip, his best
friend and secret lover, Lucius Petronius, surprises him with an
unexpected visit. Later that evening, the lusty masters share the
delights of Gaius’s blond pleasure slave, Nicomedes. December:
With whispers of an embezzlement scandal floating through the capital,
Lucius Petronius and his beloved concubine, Bryaxis, celebrate the
raucous winter solstice festival of the Saturnalia with Luc’s family.
After a joy-filled evening of food, gifts, and stories, Lucius and
Bryaxis reverse roles in the master chamber. Warnings for explicit language, filthy loving, and daft shenanigans
Many of Pompeii's ruins have floor mosaics (file pic)Getty Images
Today's Idiot of the week is a dumb tourist who thinks stealing from an historic, archaeological site is perfectly acceptable. Fortunately, she was caught. She wasn't the first one, though.. and some people brought back stolen pieces citing they are "cursed."
Here's the story:
Italian police have detained a British woman suspected of removing some small Roman tiles from a mosaic at Pompeii. BBC NEWS 4-8-19
Italian media say she was spotted cutting tiles - called tesserae - from a floor mosaic in the world-famous site's House of the Anchor. She was with her father and sister at the time.
The damage was estimated at €3,000 (£2,600) by the site's manager.
Nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, killing many Pompeii residents and entombing a thriving city.
The 20-year-old woman had crossed a guard rail around the mosaic, police said. Last year police arrested two French tourists found stealing pieces of marble and earthenware at Pompeii, Italy's Il Giornale daily reports. And in 2016 an American took a piece of marble off the floor of the House of the Small Fountain, the paper said.
****************************** A RECURRING PROBLEM- AND A CURSE? from May 2017, the "Local" in Italy wrote about this on-going problem, and a "curse"!
Visitors taking ancient relics as 'holiday souvenirs'
or even to sell at a profit is a recurring problem at Italy's cultural
sites, and at Pompeii alone, guards have caught several tourists trying
to smuggle out relics including mosaic tiles and parts of statues over
the years. One tour guide previously told The Local the site is too easy
to steal from due to too few custodians guarding the valuables.
Sometimes however, the thieves try to make amends. In 2014, a Canadian tourist returned an artefact she had stolen from Pompeii's amphitheatre during her honeymoon - 50 years earlier.
And several thieves have sent back the loot claiming the relics are 'cursed'.
Pompeii's archaeological superintendent said in 2015 that he was
considering setting up an exhibition of the returned artefacts and
accompanying letters, to tell the story behind the stolen pieces.
As dog dads and dog rescuers, we know that dog parents can be the best people. Which explains why there's currently NO dog in the white house for the first time in 150 Years! However, there's hope! A number of presidential hopefuls are dog parents, and in this article from the Huffington post, you'll meet these great dogs and their parents.
JOSEPH PREZIOSO via Getty Images-Bailey the golden retriever is a social media favorite among fans of Elizabeth Warren.
Donald Trump is the first president in about 150 years to not have a pet at the White House. But many 2020 presidential hopefuls are clearly aiming to return to tradition.
Last week, Beto O’Rourke’s dog Artemis had a viral moment after appearing with the Texas politician on the cover of Vanity Fair (and looking a bit ... forlorn).
And Artemis is not the only political pup in the 2020 race. Here are all the known presidential candidate dogs of the moment:
Beto O’Rourke and Artemis
Many would argue that O’Rourke’s dog, Artemis, stole the spotlight in the Annie Leibovitz photo shoot featuring the presidential candidate and his family.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has a golden retriever named Bailey, who joined her family over the summer. He’s already a social media celebrity, making many appearances on her Instagram.
“Bailey had his own photo line, wore a ‘Bailey Cam,’ and probably answered more media questions than I did (for the record: Yes, he’s a very good 8-month-old boy),” Warren wrote in a January email, describing a campaign trip. “He snoozed all the way home, and he still hasn’t caught up on his sleep. Campaigning is hard work!”
The cuddly canine was named after George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life” ― a character Warren described as “a guy who was decent, determined & saw the best in people.”
Kirsten Gillibrand and Maple
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the world to Maple, “the newest member of the Gillibrand family” in July 2017. The Labradoodle makes occasional appearances on the senator’s Instagram, and staffers apparently refer to her as “the office therapy dog.”
Pete Buttigieg and Buddy and Truman
Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg adopted Buddy, a rescue puggle with one eye.
Pete Buttigieg has two rescue dogs named Truman and Buddy. Truman is a beagle-lab mix, and Buddy is a puggle with one eye. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, introduced Buddy to his Twitter followers in December and noted that “Buddy is a reminder of how many loving, beautiful animals are waiting for forever homes in shelters.”
“It really lowers the tension in here to have her around sometimes,” he told the Denver Post of bringing Skye to work with him. “When we were doing the oil and gas deal, she was great.”
Jay Inslee and Pepper and Tilly
The Washington state governor’s dog, Hailey, passed away a decade ago, but he’s proud to have two “grand dogs” via his sons. The pooches are named Pepper and Tilly.
John Delaney and Mimi
Former Maryland congressman John Delaney (D) is also in the race and until recently had two dogs in his family. Their cocker spaniel, Annie, recently passed away, leaving the Delaneys with their daughter’s Maltese named Mimi.
The presidential hopeful has not made a habit of posting pictures of Mimi on his social media, but his team shared a family photo with HuffPost.
John Delaney- Delaney’s family includes a Maltese named Mimi.
The Rest
Other presidential candidates don’t seem to have pet dogs, or at least not any that they’ve formally introduced to the public.
At a campaign event in Iowa, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said in response to a question from a young boy that he does not currently have a dog, but he wants to get one if he makes it to the White House.
Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) have not indicated that they share their homes with any canine friends. The same goes for former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and author Marianne Williamson. Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang has referenced having a dog in the past, but no pets have appeared with him on the campaign trail.
As a writer of paranormal books (about my own experiences with Earth bound ghosts and spirits who have crossed over), I've read a LOT of books in the genre. Many of them are about haunted places. Most recently, I enjoyed "Charleston's Ghosts" by James Caskey.
This book stands out from most other books about haunted cities because the author is also an historian and it shows.
The book is well-written and extremely well-researched. Caskey will relay a story that has become "Legend" and then he hunted for the facts to support it. Too often, whenever I go on "ghost walks" in cities I wonder just how true stories really are, and if they can be proven. Caskey provides that proof or says when there's no record.
Since I write books about my own experiences, I am adamant about getting proof of the messages I receive so I have so much respect for this author.
The book is filled with so many places in Charleston, South Carolina that I think if you are a paranormal investigator, you could spend a week there!
The photos of the dwellings that accompany the hauntings (one in each chapter) allow the reader to envision the place and get a feeling for the story and occurrences.
Author James Caskey
This is truly one of the better books about a haunted city that I've ever read and highly recommend it. - Rob
Here's an article from March 20, 2019 that you may have missed from Massachusetts. "Making America Great Again" seems to continue fueling hatred and intolerance of people who are not white, straight, christians. Vandals echoing the slogan vandalized a Jewish cemetery in Massachusetts. These bigots and racists have been empowered and need to crawl back into their holes where deplorable people dwell. This is appalling.
Dozens of Jewish cemetery gravestones vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti in Fall River
The messages ranged from "heil Hitler" to "Oy vey! This is MAGA country."
Fall River police say they’ve launched a hate crime investigation after “approximately 25 gravestones” were defaced with anti-Semitic messages at a local Jewish cemetery.
In a press release Tuesday, police said they responded Sunday afternoon to the Hebrew Cemetery at 138 McMahon St. after the gravestones were found “vandalized and damaged with swastikas and Anti-Semitic phrases.” According to the Fall River-based Herald News, the phrases ranged from “heil Hitler” to “expel the Jews” to “Oy vey! This is MAGA country,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan in 2016, “Make America Great Again.”
A photo released by Fall River police also shows one gravestone that was vandalized with several anti-Semitic slurs.
“Our intention is not [to] further offend the Jewish community but to accurately depict the seriousness of the photos,” they wrote alongside the photos.
Another photo released by police shows a gravestone defaced with the phrase “The Day of the Rope,” which appears to refer to a fictitious book about a white national uprising against the United States government. According to the Herald News, the reference was written on at least two gravestones.
Police say the messages were written in black magic marker. Of the more than two dozen stones affected, some were also pushed over, officials said. As of Tuesday, officers were still working to complete a full accounting of the damage.
“A full canvas of the cemetery is being conducted to identify all areas of vandalism and calculate a more accurate number,” police said Tuesday.
Police say the vandalism was first found early Sunday by a cemetery maintenance worker and that it appears the original incident occurred sometime on Saturday.
In addition to an award of an undisclosed amount being offered by Fall River police, the Anti-Defamation League of New England is offering a $1,500 reward for information that leads to the apprehension of the person or persons who vandalized the cemetery. Robert Trestan, the ADL’s regional director, said the group is “grateful for the priority that this apparent hate crime is being given by the Fall River Police Department.”
“The desecration of The Hebrew Cemetery of Fall River is an inexcusable act of antisemitic hatred in the place where we honor and remember the lives of our community members,” Trestan said in a statement Tuesday to Boston.com.
According to the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts, the Hebrew Cemetery is among the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the state, having been established in the late-1800s.
According to the ADL’s most recent data, there were 90 reported anti-Jewish hate crimes in Massachusetts in 2017, a nearly 50 percent increase compared to 2016, as well as any other year dating back through 2004.
In June 2018, I somehow injured my left shoulder. It may bave been from dragging a heavy suitcase full of books whenever I traveled to do lectures and sell my books. I'm not sure. What I do know is that I was told I would be in pain for the rest of my life. So, enter stem cell therapy. WHAT HAPPENED - Last summer I started waking in the middle of the night from very sharp pain in the center of my shoulder (the supraspinatus tendon and bicepital tendon). It woke me up EVERY Night, and it didn't matter if I slept on the shoulder or slept on the other side and had the shoulder exposed to the air. It still gave me super sharp pains every night and woke me up. DOCTOR VISIT- I went to an orthopedic doctor and they had me go through an MRI (magnetic resonance imagery) to get a look at the muscle. They found a small tear in the middle of the shoulder, and a muscle sprain. They gave me a rubber band to use to do pulling exercises to strengthen the muscle and said that it should help. Well, I did them every single day for 8 months and NOTHING changed. I went back to the orthopedic doctor and was told "You'll have to live with this pain for the rest of your life, or we "COULD" try surgery. But no guarantees with surgery and it's about $9,000 or so. I said "No."
FINDING STEM CELLS - I read a great book called "Walking Papers by Francesco Clark, a young man paralyzed by a diving accident, who had stem cell therapy in China. He was a quadrapelic after his accident. He couldn't even breathe on his own. But he and his family were determined to heal his body. Between his determination (he sang daily in the hospital to strengthen his throat and get rid of breathing tubes) and stem cell therapy be began to regain feeling and movement in his upper body. He alsor regained feeling in his lower body (although still using a wheelchair, he's come so far!). I was inspired. FINDING A STEM CELL DOCTOR - First, know that stem cell therapy isn't covered by ANY insurance. I have blue cross / blue shield. Second, research your doctors. I found the Carle center for pain management in Baltimore, MD and made an appointment. I decided to get the two stem cell injections with PRP/blood plasma, from your own blood that they draw. The doctor injected it in 2 places in my shoulder where the sharp pains woke me nightly. I won't lie, it hurt like hell, and I screamed "shit!" aloud during each injection. I'm sure the people in the waiting room heard me. WHAT ARE STEM CELLS? - Stem cells are cells with the potential to develop into many different types of cells in the body. They serve as a repair system for the body. There are two main types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. THREE DAYS LATER - The doctor told me I would feel some improvement in maybe a week or three. BUT, in 3 DAYS, the searing, sharp, stabbing pain in the center of my shoulder had disappeared. The stem cells were replicating and healing the tear. (Maybe all the coffee I drink helps!). The pain shifted to a dull pain in the front of my shoulder, and I still have it, but I'm getting magnetic, electronic and laser therapy on it, to continue helping the stem cells multiply. BOTTOM LINE - Stem cell therapy works. It helps reinvigorate the body and heal it. I'll conitnue to heal, but my shoulder no longer wakes me every night. That's Amazing.- Rob
I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob
He's been the idiot of the week many times, and reclaims the top spot again! This time, he told his followers something so outrageously false, that they also really have to be "Dead Stupid" to believe him. Like no brainwaves (and I'm sure there are many who do). Trump’s latest false claim about an abortion law is not just grotesque, it's dangerous.
