Requiem for an Editor

Again came that click as before, and again the body of the unconscious wretch in the chair became as rigid as one of bronze. It was awful, and the witnesses were so horrified by the ghastly sight that they could not take their eyes off it. The dynamo did not seem to run smoothly. The current could be heard sharply snapping. Blood began to appear on the face of the wretch in the chair. It stood on the face like sweat. The capillary or small blood vessels under the skin were being ruptured. But there was worse than that. An awful odor began to permeate the death chamber, and then, as though to cap the climax of this fearful sight, it was seen that the hair under and around the electrode on the head and the flesh under and around the electrode at the base of the spine was singeing. The stench was unbearable. -- Excerpt From New York Times article, "Far Worse Than Hanging" Sketch of William Kemmler's execution on August 6, 1890, via AC current. Image: Wikipedia ...

The Mooch popped his head up yesterday... just... like... that .... to make one of his trademark bizarre not-well-thought-through comments -- about cocaine, no less! Then, he deleted it! The Anthony Scaramucci era of the Trump White House was over before it even began.  But the Mooch's ability to both simultaneously demean himself and make us laugh continues unabated. His latest volley was to assure us that he and his family "take the subject of cocaine and its use very seriously."

It started with an odor blossoming like a noxious flower near a garage attached to an apartment building. A cable television repairman, in the area for his job, called the police. When they arrived they found a revolting scene.

Around the year 1970, movies and TV series starring Dracula -- especially the English films from Hammer starring Christopher Lee -- helped to fuel a wave of interest in vampires not seen since the decades-later launch of the Twilight books. This kit was designed for one purpose... Or was it.... So too was another series of films about a sort of modern-day ripoff of the Count from the Transylvania wilds -- one Count Yorga (from Bulgaria). Initially conceived as a skin flick, the producers were impressed with the box office horror films were doing and decided to change the concept. The result, quite amazingly, was the creation of two rather good, scary vampire films set in 1970s Long Angeles.

Tinder , the "hook-up dating app" that involves swiping photos of potential mates left or right depending on whether you like their profile, has been operating a members-only version of the platform called Tinder Select. TechCrunch, which first revealed the existence of Tinder's "secret tier," reported that it "is meant to serve only the elite users on the app, including CEOs, supermodels, and other hyper-attractive upwardly affluent types."

Kolchak:  The Night Stalker, a brilliant television series from the 1970s.... Either you get what this is or you don't.  Whichever category you fall into, I post this now as a lead-in to a story....Inside the Night Stalker, what really happened behind the scenes and why the great Darren McGavin wanted it canceled as quickly as possible.... The Spanish Moss Murders Written by: Al Friedman and David Chase Production # 41806 - October 21, 1974 (F.R.) INT. INS OFFICE – DAY As Vincenzo exits his office, carrying a huge bag of garbage and junk. Catches sight of Ron, who’s doing nothing, stares angrily.

President Ford with his Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld (left) and his deputy, Richard Cheney in 1975.  (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library) REVISED: To my great surprise the mass media hasn't picked this story up, which is troubling....Our former VP Dick Cheney was involved in this up to his eyebrows. Someone should seeks some answers.... The Gerald Ford White House "significantly altered" the final report produced by the "supposedly independent" 1975 Rockefeller Commission, created to investigate CIA domestic activities. The report was heavily edited to cast suspicion away from the CIA; the effort was carried out over the objections of senior Commission staff members. Based on newly released White House and Commission documents the National Security Archives posted , an entire section, 86-pages addressing CIA assassination plots was deleted.

Millennials have fun.... Millennials didn’t grow up in the worst of times – things can always get worse, it’s simply a matter of perspective. But it’s fair to say that the majority of them came of age amid one of American history’s greatest time of challenge. Still, it seems you wouldn’t know it based on how this generation thinks and acts. Millennials have shown time and time again, experts say, that they are ready, willing and more-than able to rise to the challenge. Previous generations certainly had their own allotment of horrors – the wars (World War I and II, the Korean and Vietnam conflict), then things like the Kent State massacre, the mass murderers like Texas sniper Charles Whitman, serial killers like Ted Bundy, and mob wars in Philadelphia, New York and other cities, putting on newspaper front pages gruesome dead mobsters. (Think of Carmine Galante, Lilo, shot dead, a cigar stump stuck in his mouth; Philadelphia boss Angelo Bruno sitting in the front passenger'...

Human trafficking survivor Natasha Herzig tells stories of being kidnapped and forced into working as a prostitute, being moved around the country to service high paying clients and posing for porn. Herzig also talks of being made to call her family and tell them she was fine.

Why It’s Time to Legalize Prostitution - The Daily Beast: Evidence shows that it would protect sex workers, reduce violence, cut down on sex trafficking, and more. There’s no good reason not to. A prostitute has a 45 percent to 75 percent chance of experiencing workplace violence at some point, according to recent research indicates, and a 32 percent to 55 percent likelihood that she or he was victimized the past year. Worker safety, along with concerns about exploitation and objectification, are behind much of the continued support for keeping prostitution illegal.

Most hated woman in America? Casey Anthony -- the woman who was found "not guilty" of murdering her own daughter -- was seen in public earlier this month for the first time in in more than two years. She apparently lives in a Florida suburb.

Henrik Slipsager, CEO of ABM; potential reality-TV comedian. ABM Industries Inc. (NYSE:ABM) reported for its fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, 2010, revenue of $901.4 million for fiscal year 2010 vs. the previous year's $868.0 million; net income was $21.8 million, a 45.2% increase from the previous year's fourth quarter. For the fiscal year revenue was $3.5 billion, flat compared to year-ago revenues. Net income was $64.1 million, an increase of 18.1% compared to fiscal year 2009. "The company's fourth quarter results delivered a strong finish to the fiscal year," said Henrik Slipsager , president and chief executive officer, ABM Industries.

Melissa Plancarte Daddy's a Drug Lord: Now Where's My Record Deal? | Vocativ : "At first glance, it’s a typical photo of a woman getting ready to go out. She wears a skimpy dress and lots of makeup while striking a seductive pose. The only problem: She’s the daughter of a notorious drug lord, and her sexy dress happens to carry the insignia of her father’s criminal organization. A major scandal hit the Mexican Internet in recent weeks after aspiring pop singer Melissa Plancarte posted the selfie on Instagram. Her father, Enrique Plancarte, is one of Mexico’s most wanted men and a leader of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which is currently embroiled in a low-intensity civil war with the army, federal police and citizen vigilante groups in the central Mexican state of Michoacán.

Clay tablets from 3,400 years ago contain a cult hymn. The “world’s oldest song,” a Sumerian hymn translated from a clay tablet, can be heard from a recording made in the 1950s, when the tablets were first discovered in the ancient Amorite city of Ugarit. (See YouTube video of the music on continuation page .) According to  Dr. Heather Lynn: Sumerian Music: Listen to the World's Oldest Song : "These clay tablets date to approximately 1400 BCE, making the songs the oldest found so far. They are Hurrian songs that include a 3,400 year-old cult hymn called Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal, or A Zaluzi to the Gods. The hymn is known to archaeologists as simply, h.6, and is of an unknown composer(s).

How many a-holes do you  meet in the course of, say, a single year of your life? Of course the question arises, what do I  mean by an a-hole? I am a writer -- and like most writers I have dreams of one day writing a bestseller, selling a great script, etc., and so forth (and making a ton of money). So how about we use a writer asshole, a weaselly, self-important jerk who thinks he's the new Quentin Tarantino? I know the reference is so old by now, the newest crops of writers are probably saying, can't he come up with someone better than that?

MSNBC hides crime-scene photo in plain sight. Just watched a repeat of The Girl in the Blue Mustang , on MSNBC's Dateline . I am addicted to those shows: Dateline ID , 48 Hours , On the Case With Paula Zahn . It is amazing how popular this genre has become; you can find a murder docudrama on 24/7 these days thanks to all the channels available on cable. I am old enough to remember when 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 were it – and 13 rarely.

T or provides a safe way for you to enter and navigate the “dark net." It is an anonymizing web browser that once hosted the Silk Road, a former online drug market, and now seems to be the key promulgator of so-called Revenge Porn. What is revenge porn? It is exactly what it sounds like. Revenge porn is usually recourse taken by a spurned lover, usually the man. To avenge his "broke heart," he uploads any sexually explicit images or videos of the woman in question. The smut usually includes the target's personal information, including the pictured individual's full name, links to Facebook and social media profiles and even, on occasion, home addresses. The resulting damage to a person's reputation, future relationships, and career can be quite severe, sometimes leading to additional real-world abuse of the victims.

Courtesy of  YouTube : This is "the video" of Casey Anthony, talking shit. If she can formulate a complete thought in that empty head of hers, she certainly doesn't know how to verbally express it, that's for certain.

The Most Interesting Man in the World is an advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer, produced by the marketing firm Euro RSCG for Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery, according to Wikipedia. The ads feature Jonathan Goldsmith as "the world's most interesting man" and are narrated by Frontline's Will Lyman. Goldsmith has stated that his friend, actor Fernando Lamas -- an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas -- was an inspiration for the character. The advertisements first began appearing in the United States in 2006. They beat the crap out of the Energizer Bunny, I have to say.

Stare at this picture closely, starting with the serene, composed features of the woman. Notice she is grasping still her necklace; her feet casually crossed at the ankles. Then see the ruined car atop which she landed after leaping from the Empire State Building.... The May 1947 edition of LIFE magazine did not include the above photo on its cover; rather, it was inside, filling an entire page. The photograph was taken serendipitously by a student photographer across the street when the woman landed atop a car, punching deep into it with her body, after leaping to her death from the Empire State Building.