Retro Garlic: Governor Gaucho Riding Off Into The Sunset

"Oh woe is me ..."

That about sums up the lenghty outpouring today of the former Governor Gaucho, the Appalachian-Hiking, Secret-Brazilian-Lover Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

He took to Facebook to annouce calling off his pending wedding to that Secret Brazilian Lover, fiancée María Belén Chapur, and rambles through the Fields of Elysia, giving a H/T to God in airing the dirty laundry of his divorce proceedings.

A snippet from his Appalachian-long Facebook post;

"...She wanted full control of their custodial accounts which were very significant in size, I gave it. I did these things for two reasons. One, because my good friend Cubby Culbertson had reminded me that it was all God's - and if he wanted you to have more, you would…and if he wanted you to have less, you would have less. He accordingly strongly advised against spending money and time and controversy fighting over things that God ultimately controlled ... "

To which the kids over on Gawker have some advise for Sanford;

"Lawyers, alas, may actually be more powerful than God."

He tells of his ex-wife putting demands on him, like drug and alcohol testing and this;

" ...Finally, Jenny and her lawyer also go on to ask me to undertake an array of programs and evaluations, each one more riveting than the next ..."

Without using the actual word, acting as a martyred Eddie Haskell, our former Governor Gaucho is actually calling his ex-wife a bitch

With a woe-is-me-smile, and heavy heart.

And, he seems to disengage himself, that all these troubles he's blaming on God, are actually the result of him lying, taking on a Secret Brazilian Lover, and putting on he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, when, in fact, he was flying down, to Rio.


Typical corrupt Republican - it's always someone else's fault.

You can read more about it;

TPM:  Mark Sanford Unloads Custody Battle Details In Agonizing Facebook Post About Breaking Up With His Fiancée

Wonkette:  Mark Sanford Leaves The Appalachian Trail; Also, That Chick He Was Banging   The end of the affair

Oh, the Retro Part;

Governor Gaucho!

Like A Lover

Paging Rollo Tomasi

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive

Even if you have been paying minor attention, over the past weeks, and months, to the know-famous NFL-Ray Rice Domestic Abuse Scandal - let's get in the vernacular - NFL-RayRicegate is what we can start calling this - Rollo Tomasi is now entering, center stage.

TMZ released a video yesterday, showing for all, the 1-2-combo punches of the now unemployed NFL running back, his then-girlfriend-now-wife, dropping like a sack of potatoes.

It's eeire and heartsicking.

And, when it happened, Rice's then-girlfriend-now-wife made statements about "mutual combat' and was at Rice's side, apparently during the interview with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and, at a press conference.

I don't know if even the most ignorant and terrible police department would interview a wife beater, with the victim in the room

Rice received, to the outrage of the world, a paltry 2-game suspension, and, actually, no discipline from the NFL team that employed him, the Baltimore Ravens (who were formerly the Cleveland Brown, who then-owner Art Modell moved them in the dead of night to Baltimore).

So, up until yesterday, the NFL, and Roger Goodell, and the Baltimore Ravens all thought they could get away with it.

But TMZ's video, which, according to hotel people where the abuse occured, the NFL never asked for it, has exposed the NFL, Roger Goodell, and the Baltimore Ravens as a gaggle of Roland Tomasi's.

They're not getting away with it.

And, now that we have an NFL-RayRicegate bubbling up, a classic Nixonian "who knew what and when", the weight of their deception is only buidling.

Charlie Pierce has a good take;

" ...The National Football League was exposed as either mendacious or shockingly unempathetic. Commissioner Roger Goodell was exposed as either a liar, or as someone who should not be allowed to count his own money. (Olbermann's right. He's got to go, but he won't, because most of the NFL owners think he's handled the whole thing splendidly.) The Ravens organization was exposed as a rat's nest of soulless, profit-driven drones. (And I hope nobody in the head offices of either the NFL or the Ravens misled the local prosecutors, who now also look like idiots on the national stage, and very likely are looking for someone to blame.) And, finally, Ray Rice is out of a job ..."

Keith Olbermann has called for a bevy of heads


Eric Wilber of Boston.Com has said "Goodell Needs to Go"


Chadd Fin of 'The Boston Globe' offers - No One Looks as Horrible as Ray Rice, but NFL, Ravens Sure Did Try.

When you look at this scandal, and, perhaps, Major League Baseball's plunging it's head in the sand over the steriod abuse, it's blatent how the greed over the billions these sports produce takes priority over the "right thing" to do.

Once in professional sports, there was a man, the first commissioner of Major League Baseball, Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was faced with a scandal, and, didn't hesitate what to do, didn't concern himself with the greed of the game, and took definitive, and swift action - For gambling, and changing outcomes of games, he banned eight Chicago White Sox players (many say Shoeless Joe Jackson didn't deserve it), for life, the infamous Chicago Black Sox Scandal.


Instead, now, we have a gaggle of Rollo Tomasi's.

Top Ten Cloves: Surprises on NFL Opening Day

News Item:  NFL 2014 KICKOFF

10.  Seattle Seahawks considering using Mercy Rule this season 

 9.  New 49ers stadium has system crash, lose all scores and stats, need to reboot and start game over

 8.  Memo leaked, President Obama authorizing use of Drones if Chicago Bears fall behind by more than  two touchhdowns this season

 7.  NFL anounces relocating championship game to Crested Butte, Colorado, for the Anheuser-Busch-sponsored “Whatever, U.S.A. Superbowl"

 6.  Wes Welker invites fans to his place for "Welker Whatever USA" party

 5.  Tim Tebow now wants to join Dallas Cowboys Practice Squad

 4.  NFL annouces giving all players concussions, that way, everyone even and on the same level

 3.  After hard hit, Ray Rice threatens to beat tacklers wife

 2.  Johnny Football to trademark name, sue NFL unless they change name to National Manziel League

 1.  In major surprise, Washington team changes logo to Sticks-and-Stones

Bonus NFL Riffs

Top Ten Cloves: Ways To Tell Your Next Door Neighbor May Be Conducting Illegal Dogfights

Retro Garlic ... How Much Is That Michael Vick In The Window ...

Top Ten Cloves: Things About Condoleezza Rice Becoming NFL Commissioner

Developing Story! Tancredo: Shut Down Super Bowl; Says Two Black Coaches "Amounts To Segregation"

Flutie Sends "Cease-and-Desist" Letter To Media Over 'Hail Mary' References Regarding Surge

Ferguson - The Oakland Raiders of Police Departments

For many years, the NFL's Oakland Raiders had the reputation of being the toughest, dirtest team in the league.

They took in rogue players, hit hard, sometimes dirty, and, during that period, permanently paralyzed one player for life.

As then owner Al Davis used to say - "Just win, baby!"

Perhaps we can say the Ferguson Police is the Oakland Raiders of Police Departments - and this doesn't included the recent gunning down and kiling of Michael Brown.

At least 6 Ferguson officers apart from Brown shooter have been named in lawsuits

In four federal lawsuits, including one that is on appeal, and more than a half-dozen investigations over the past decade, colleagues of Darren Wilson’s have separately contested a variety of allegations, including killing a mentally ill man with a Taser, pistol-whipping a child, choking and hog-tying a child and beating a man who was later charged with destroying city property because his blood spilled on officers’ clothes.

One officer has faced three internal affairs probes and two lawsuits over claims he violated civil rights and used excessive force while working at a previous police department in the mid-2000s. That department demoted him after finding credible evidence to support one of the complaints, and he subsequently was hired by the Ferguson force.

With a track record like this, we may surmise that Officer Wilson's shooting of Michael Brown wasn't an isolated case, but, rather, a pattern of systematic aggression employed by the Ferguson Police Department.

Tasering a mentally-handicapped person ... Hog-tying a 12-year-old ... Beating a prisoner, and than charging him with a crime for getting blood on their uniforms ...

Al Davis, and the old Oakland Raiders would be cheering them on ...

Just win, baby!

I don't know if there's enough Mr. Clean products to scrub the Ferguson Police of it's dirty, rogue cops.

Dropping Shoes

It begins, what we will call the Fallout from Ferguson;

Officers from St. Ann, Glendale off the job after actions during Ferguson protests

"Two police officers are no longer working at their departments due to their actions during the protests in Ferguson.

A Glendale police officer suspended last Friday after commenting on Facebook that he thought Ferguson protesters should be "put down like rabid dogs," has been fired, officials say.

Meanwhile, a St. Ann police lieutenant resigned Thursday after he pointed an assault rifle at protesters and cursed at them, officials said.  Lt. Ray Albers had worked for the department for 20 years ... "

Lt. Ray Albers, thanks to his actions, has a new monniker;

Officer Go Fuck Yourself Is Out of a Job in Missouri

An internal investigation into Albers—whose nickname stems from a memorable exchange in the video ("What's your name?" "Go fuck yourself.")—determined that the 20-year veteran of the force either be fired or resign.

[snip]

Jimenez told the Post-Dispatch Albers had three prior disciplinary incidents, including one last year in which he "used a wrong choice of words with a resident."

This is only two, however, the local Ferguson weatherman may be predicting cloudy skies, and passing showers of shoes in the immeadiate future ...

Meanwhile, up river from Ferguson, in the saintly Twin City of St. Paul, MN, police there engaged in some unnecessary racial profiling, and unnecessary use of force;

Police Tase Black Man Who Was Sitting On A Chair While Waiting To Pick Up His Kids

Let's bring in Les McCann and Eddie Harris for the soundtrack.

2nd Amendment: You Have The Right To Be Stupid, To Traumatize A Child

Absolutely, utterly, tragic!

Shooting instructor dies after being accidentally shot by girl

An instructor who was shot by a 9-year-old girl who fired an Uzi at a northwestern Arizona shooting range died Monday night at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

[snip]

He said the girl safely and successfully fired the 9 mm weapon several times when it was set in the “single-shot” mode.

He said the weapon was put into the “fully-automatic” mode before the girl fired again with the instructor standing off to her left. The weapon recoiled and drifted left as the girl squeezed off an undetermined number of rounds as she maintained possession but lost control of the Uzi as it raised up above her head.

“The guy just dropped,” McCabe said of shooting instructor Charles Vacca, 39, of Lake Havasu City, who suffered at least one gunshot to the head.

[snip]

The Bullets and Burgers website markets a unique shooting experience for customers.

“Our guests have the opportunity to fire a wide range of fully automatic machine guns and specialty weapons,” the website states. “At our range, you can shoot FULL auto on our machine guns.

“Let ‘em Rip!”

Well, this Bullets and Burgers place certainly lived up to it's motto - it ripped, alright.

Ripped apart the instuctor, that is.

Susie Madrak, over on Crooks and Liars, pondered;

"Maybe the kid's hands were greasy from the burgers and slipped?"

Why, good God, does a 9-year-old need to learn how to shoot an Uzi? ...Are the well-armed Miltias drafting them that young?

And, sorry about the dead instructor, but, shouldn't he have known, from his training and experience, to stand behind the person - in this case, a 9-year-old firing an Uzi for the first time - shooting? Shouldn't he have been helping her to control the weapon, holding her hands or arms, not to let the recoil spray bullets all over the place?

That error in judgement cost him his life.

And, we have to speculate, ruined the life of the 9-year-old girl, who, will likely, be tramautized by this for years to come, replaying the incident over-and-over in her head ...  Having nightmares about it, hearing a car backfire, or other loud noise, flood her again with the images of squeezing the trigger of the Uzi, feeling her losing control of it, ... Seeing the bullets hit the instructor ... Seeing him dead on the ground ... Seeing the puddles of blood ...

Even if she does get the counselling, and help, and, by some miracle, gets to live a normal, productive life (and the odds are long on that, I would suspect), she will have this memory for the rest of her life, and with it the sadness, the hurt, the guilt.

Maybe, when she is older, she will begin to question why her parents allowed her to do this. Was it a gift for doing well in school? Had she been interested in learning to shoot guns and this was the next step up, an automatic weapon, a machine gun?

Some gift, some learning curve, if that be the case.

"Children need to understand the concept of safety before they are allowed to shoot, Frichette said.

Also, they must be “physically and mentally prepared” before they are allowed to shoot a fully automatic weapon. This includes a 4-foot height requirement, he said, adding that even then, they have to master other weapons such as a semi-automatic .22-caliber rifle before they’re allowed to shoot a fully automatic.

He added that a petite-looking child would likely only be allowed to shoot a semi-automatic rifle.

The Review-Journal contacted several other gun ranges in Las Vegas. One did not return a call and officials at another two declined to comment."

Parents of this now traumatized 9-year-old, even if they are responsible gun-owners, should, perhaps, be charged with Child Endangerment.. Again, why does a 9-year-old need to learn to shoot an Uzi, a machine gun?

The standard in this country, to obtain a driver's license, is 16-years-old (some states do have it lower, age 14)

And, with that, one must first obtain a Learner's Permit, and one must have training, or practice with a licensed driver.

Afterall, an automobile can be a dangerous weapon, if one doesn't know how to operate it, to be knowledgable of the rules and regulations of driving, speed limits, when to stop, etc.

They must demonstrate, at the time of their License Test, the ability to be able to handle the automobile, safely, and with the appropriate knowledge of the rules of the road.

That would appear to be a practical standard for allowing children to shoot guns.

I don't know for sure, but I hope Bullets and Burgers aren't operating a Driving School.

Related Links

Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

Ballon Juice  - You Deserve to be Dead, You Moron

TPM - Shooting Instructor Dies After Being Accidentally Shot In The Head By Student

Gawker - 9-Year-Old Girl Kills Shooting Instructor in Machine Gun Accident

Bet On Manslaughter Charges, Or No Charges At All

Editor's Note - I'm returning to The Garlic after my prolonged absence, due to the continuing battle with a chronic illness (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy {or a chronic case of Guillain–Barré Syndrome} - 4.5-years and still dealing with copious pain, cramping and major fasticulations, not to mention, 4.5-years of disrupted sleep).

Currently, for the past 10-months, after 22 different medications (which either did nothing, or gave me horrible side-effets), plus six-months of Intravenous Immunoglobulin treatment, I am on Morphine, which gives me some relief of the pain.

I hope to start posting regularly in the days, and weeks, ahead

The events of the past two weeks in Ferguson, Missouri has pulled me off the sidelines, as, clearly, there are two camps set up;

 1. That Michael Brown was an innocent young black man gunned down by police

And;

2. Faux News and the Rightwing Freak Show standing behind the police, that the killing was justified.

It is clear, all the facts are not known of what transpired, and what facts are known, are being contested, primarily, by Faux News and the Rightwing Freak Show.

One major fact not known, and according to news reports today, is that the police officer who gunned down Michael Brown, Darren Wilson, hasn't even been interviewed yet by the police or District Attorney, so his side of the this story is still unknown.

What is known is;

Michael Brown, and Dorian Johnson were walking in the street and Officer Wilson drove by, telling them to "Get the fuck off the street", drove on, apparently noticed they were still in the street, and backed up (almost hitting them according to a witness). 

Next, some sort of altercation between Brown and Wilson followed, with Wilson, alledgedly, grabbing or pulling at Brown, through the window of his patrol vehicle, and, alledgely, a gunshot going off.

That was followed by Brown and his companion running away, and Officer Wilson, apparently, getting out of his vehicle and following after them, alledgely firing his gun.

And here's where things get murky - some reports say Brown turned with his hands up, others have said Brown was charging, or moving toward Officer Wilson, at which point, Officer Wilson fired his gun, hitting Brown multilple times (6-8 times, acording to reports), including two bullets in Michael Brown's head.

I'm no Legal Scholar, and I don't play one on TV.

Considering the number of bullets that hit Michael Brown, one might expect that Officer Wilson is going to use the "Feared for Safety" defense.

Afterall, Michael Brown was black, and very large, something like 6'4" tall, and close to 300lbs.

Whoa, very scarey, right?

However, one fact that seems to be consistent is that, after the altercation, whatever it was, at the window of Officer Wilson's patrol vehicle, Brown and his companion ran away from the vehicle, and it was Officer Wilson who got out of the vehicle and pursued them.

(Not known, or at least, I haven't seen any reports, if, at that time, did Officer Wilson radio for back-up?)

That would make Officer Wilson the aggressor.

So, to get all Columbo here, Excuse me, one more question, but if Brown and his companion went running away, wasn't Officer Wilson in the safety of his vehicle?

He could have stayed there, until back-up arrived and then pursued Brown and his companion.

And more so, let's say, as then pro-police narrative has it that Brown, after being pulled by Officer Wilson, was going after Wilson's gun, and a gunshot went off in the vehicle.

I would think that would warrent Officer Wilson radioing in for back-up. That he would stay in the safety of his vehicle until help arrived.

But rather, the story goes, Wilson got out of his vehicle, pursued Brown and his companion, and only shot because Brown was "bum rushing him at full speed", while other witnesses say Brown had stopped and was turning with his hands raised, or in the process of raising them, when Wilson unload his bullets into him.

So, as we stated earlier, all the facts in this case haven't been aired.

And now, the Grand Jury has been convined, and, as we all know, the long-running joke is any District Attorney can get a ham sandwich indicted.

So, what narrative will win out?

1. That Brown struggled for the gun, ran, but than charged back at Officer Wilson, who had left his vehicle to pursue Brown?

2. Or that, after whatever the altercation at the window of the vehicle was, Brown and companion ran, Wilson got out his car and pursued, Brown stopped, raised his hands, and was gunned down like an animal?

Number One will, likely have the Grand Jury returning no indictment, that it will be ruled justifiable use of force.

Number Two may bring about a Manslaughter Charge, that, Officer Wilson was performing his duties as a police officer, and some force was required, but that he stepped over the line and used too much force, that it wasn't his intention to kill Michael Brown.

The District Attorney, being, essentially, on the same side of the Police (not to mention having to run for election) may be reluctant to bring a Murder Indictment against Officer Wilson (inlcuding, as reports have said, his father was a policeman, killed in the line-of-duty, by a black man).

I believe, much is going to rest on that Officer Wilson got out of his vehicle and pursued.

That, it would seem, take away any defense of being "in fear for his safety", making him the aggressor in this.

The Distict Attorney can split hairs, making it a Manslaughter Indictment, citing that Officer Wilson either didn't call, or wait, for back-up, and pursued, and while legally allowed to use force, used too much force, and must be held accountable for that.

That still is going to put him on the wrong side of the Police Force, who will yelp that he isn't the one to judge what kind of force to use, that he can't judge what it is like in the heat of performing one's duty, the split-second judgements a police officer has to make.

Fine, they have a right to express that opinion.

Just as much as people have the right to say that Officer Wilson wasn't justified in gunning down Michael Brown like a rabid animal, including firing two bullets into his head.

With shooting like that, hard to say he was trying to capture a suspect.

Paging Lady Justice ...

Corzine Passes Go, Collects $200

0-0-7
0-0-7
At ocean eleven
And now rudeboys have a go wail
'Cause them out of jail
Rudeboys cannot fail ...
Dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail
A Shanty Town
Dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail
A Shanty Town ...

I guess, we'll be adding into the Political Playbook is that you don't prosecute Wall Street mobsters, especially if they hail from Goldman Sucks , in an election year.

 

No Criminal Case Is Likely in Loss at MF Global 

After 10 months of stitching together evidence on the firm’s demise, criminal investigators are concluding that chaos and porous risk controls at the firm, rather than fraud, allowed the money to disappear, according to people involved in the case ...

[snip]

In the most telling indication yet that the MF Global investigation is winding down, federal authorities are seeking to interview the former chief of the firm, Jon S. Corzine, next month, according to the people involved in the case. Authorities hope that Mr. Corzine, who is expected to accept the invitation, will shed light on the actions of other employees at MF Global.

Those developments indicate that federal prosecutors do not expect to file criminal charges against the former New Jersey governor. Mr. Corzine has not yet received assurances that he is free from scrutiny, but two rounds of interviews with former employees and a review of thousands of documents have left prosecutors without a case against him, say the people involved in the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity

And, it gets worse!

I mean, even this wouldn't be served in the Irony Cafe;

Mr. Corzine, in a bid to rebuild his image and engage his passion for trading, is weighing whether to start a hedge fund, according to people with knowledge of his plans. He is currently trading with his family’s wealth.

A New Mexico town once changed their name to "Truth or Consequences" ", to gain fame.

If a show came along named "No Consequences", Wall Street, and only Wall Street, with its' larcenous infamy, would have to lay claim to it.

File this one under "Laughing all the way - running away from the bank" ...


Help Me Mr. Wizard! 


 


Bonus Links

Another Week, Another Bankster with Impunity

What a World - There Is No "Manslaughter" Charge in Financial Firm Incompetence

Jon Corzine Wants to Start a Hedge Fund, Maybe

Abe Lincoln Role Stirs Studios To Flood Market With New Vampire Pics

Despite the less-than-stellar opening box office, and disastrous reviews, of the new film,‘Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter’, major Hollywood studios are red-lining, and rushing into production, a wave of new vampire projects, a source tells The Garlic.



“They can’t get them out fast enough,’ said the movie industry insider, adding that “my clients are badgering to get me to land them something.”

The plan calls for issuing new projects with original stories, many of them with A-List actors, for serial stories that will offer multiple sequels and franchises.
Also, for the studios with deep archives, some classic films will be reworked, with CGI, and other state-of-the-art techniques, integrating in new stars, and turning movie legends into vampire fighters.

Scheduled for release by the Christmas rush include;

The Vampire World of Suzie Wong

William Holden’s Robert Lomax doesn’t move into the Nam Kok Hotel just to become a painter.

He teams up with Nancy Kwan’s Suzie Wong, and the other prostitutes, to do battle with the Vampires of Hong Kong, offering pulsating martial arts action on the teeming streets.

Look for Steve Buscemi in a cameo role as a kung fu rickshaw driver


Rain Man, Vampire Slayer

Raymond Babbitt may be autistic, but when he and brother Charlie hit Las Vegas, it’s not for blackjack, and Raymond shows the vampires who’s on first.

The pair does battle with the towns Vampires, tearing up and down the strip, rampaging through casinos, with the climatic fight coming on top of the Luxor Hotel’s pyramid.

Steve Buscemi has a role here, as a Craps Table dealer who rolls snake eyes for the vampires


A Vampire Affair To Remember

Cary Grant’s Nickie Ferrante and Deborah Kerr’s Terry McKay take on the Vampires, both on land and at sea.

With the ship anchored on the scenic Mediterranean coast, Ferrante and McKay clean the ocean liner of the stowaway vampires.

Back in New York, McKay isn’t hit by an automobile on the way to meet Ferrante, she’s abducted by the Vampires, leading to the final battle, at the top of the Empire State building.

Steve Buscemi pops up here, as the elevator operator who aids the pair.

Other works in the pipeline include ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Vampire’, ‘Three Vampires in the Fountain’ and ‘No Country for Old Vampires’.

“This is like found money,” gushed the Hollywood insider.

“I mean, we could dress someone up like Bela Lugosi, film him reading the phone book, and laugh all the way to the bank.”


 

Bonus Links

Review: Bloody Serious Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Isn’t as Fun as It Sounds

Vampires of Television and Film

Day Three of Swank Thank You's; No End In Sight

The Oscars ... "Perfectly awful!"

Movie Industry Titan, and LBJ Lackey, Rolls His Final Credits - Jack Valenti Obit

Top Ten Cloves: Other Ways Facebook Could Have Screwed Up Their IPO

News Item:  EXCLUSIVE: Here's The Inside Story Of What Happened On The Facebook IPO


10.  Done it all on Facebook – base share prices by how many Likes they received


  9.  If Mark Zuckerburg had another meeting with Biz Stone


  8.  Brought Lebron James in for the last quarter of writing the IPO


  7.  Promoted offering with ads on Google+ 


  6.  Used the New Orleans Saints Bounty Program to sell their shares (or, perhaps,      
        to settle the lawsuits)


  5.  Get The Most Interesting Man In The World  to … Wait a minute, he's way too cool, 
        and, probably, has his own MIMITWBook (and everyone on it Likes him)   


  4.  If former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was brought in to keep the IPO 
       “Hush-Hush”


  3.  Hired Jamie Dimon and J.P. Morgan’s London office to run the show


  2.  Got Mitt Romney to make one of his prescient insights to the marketplace


  1.  Had Larry Summers and the Winklevoss Brothers do the underwriting

 
Bonus Riffs


Charles P. Pierce: Why Is America So Happy for Facebook? 


Mark Cuban: Facebook IPO Post Mortem – Killer – but not for the reasons you think !

Let The Heavenly Clouds Tickle Your Bare Feet, Cesaria Evora ...

Well, I'm not doing much better with the illness I am afflicted with, however, I had to come off the DL for this.


I heard news this weekend that, certainly, put a damper in, if any, holiday spirit hovering around.


That being that the wonderful, and talented, Cape Verdean singer, Cesaria Evoria passed away, at the not-terribly-old-age of 70.


 


Man ...


Listening to her was such a pleasure, for she carried you off into a world, flooded and filled, with the most beautiful sounds, a world you may not know existed, just floating along, listening to her, lost in the beauty, thinking, hoping, it would never end.


I was fortunate to see her perform, twice, back in the mid and late 1990's, and it was awesome.


Coming out of those shows was like having seen something outside your own understanding, something miraculously divine and good, a refreshing of your soul.


From Jon Pareles at the NYT;

Ms. Évora’s music was in a style called morna, which is sung in taverns on the Cape Verde islands: slow, pensive ballads with an underlying lilt, suffused with sodade, the Cape Verdean creole term for a nostalgic longing that pervades music across Portugal (where the word is saudade) and its former empire.


Ms. Évora sang about love, sorrow and history, including slavery, in a husky, dignified, unhurried contralto that brought warmth and gravity to songs by Cape Verde’s leading poets. She also sang in her country’s more upbeat styles, coladeira and funaná, but her serenely sorrowful mornas were her legacy.


She always performed barefoot, a gesture of solidarity with poor women. A concert review in The New York Times described her as “a Yoda of melancholy” onstage.

 


And Barry Hatton at SF Chronicle-AP

Her singing style brought comparisons to American jazz singer Billie Holiday. "She belongs to the aristocracy of bar singers," French newspaper Le Monde said in 1991, adding that Ms. Evora had "a voice to melt the soul."


Ms. Evora's international fame came late in life. Her 1988 album "La Diva Aux Pieds Nus" ("Barefoot Diva"), recorded in France where she first found popularity, launched her international career.


Her 1995 album "Cesaria" was released in more than a dozen countries and brought her first Grammy nomination, leading to a tour of major concert halls around the world and album sales in the millions.


She won a 2003 Grammy in the World Music category for her album "Voz D'Amor."

Xeni Jardin, over on Boing Boing, also has a nice tribute to check out.



As does the BBC - Cesaria Evora, the voice that put Cape Verde on the map

So long Cesaria Evora ...


Try not to make the angels cry, with your so, so sweat voice ....




Cesaria Evora - Sodade (HD,16:9)







Cesaria Evora - Besame Mucho







Cesaria Evora - Carnaval De Sao Vicente ( Live In Paris )

Hey, Madison Ave!, Get A Glove, Get In The Game!

With still being on the DL (see HERE and HERE), and in copious pain, we were on the outlook for some comic relief.


Herman Cain, seemingly, in the wrong race (He, apparently, wants in the "President of the United States of Love" contest), doesn't quite make it.





Nor, the foot-in-mouth of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, for Brownback's browbeating of a high school teenager (Gotta plug into that "Stick and Stones" thing, there, Sammy).


And, with the recently-completed Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, today seems to be the unannounced "Justify OccupyWallStreet Day", with the cascading news of;


Super Secret Bank Bailout awarding the crooks and cronies billions


A Federal Judge telling the SEC and Citicorp, of their wrist-slap-with-a-paper-ruler agreement that "Homey don't play that game"


 


And today, Heistin Hank Paulson playing Mr. Inside Tipster to his former Wall Street pals.


This all plays out as more ironic, than humor.


No, we have to turn to a segment we heard on radio this past weekend.


It was from PRI's 'The World', on the South African fast-food chicken outfit, Nando's.


Seems they have a history of putting out creative, and, at times controversial, advertisements, like the one from about 10-years ago, having a Seeing Eye Dog lead a blind woman into a pole, so the dog could wolf down the Nando's chicken.


From Wikepedia:

Nando's is known in South Africa for its humorous but often controversial adverts. One such television advert from 2000, involved a blind woman being led into a pole intentionally and knocked unconscious by her guide dog, which then proceeded to eat the chicken that the woman had just purchased. This caused an uproar from people who were concerned that the blind would be offended. The South African Advertising Standards Authority called for the withdrawal of the advert. Several blind people were quoted in the media as finding the advert amusing

You can view that ad HERE or HERE


Their latest ad, the one catching some flak (and buzz) is no disappointment;


Nando's: Last dictator standing





Here's a few more;


Nandos Chips







Nandos "Ramadan" advert







Nando's Viral - Did he just eat his dog?





After watching these Nando's ads, it's disappointing how Madison Avenue bombards us with juvenile cellphone, and moronic beer ads.


Wake up guys, get a glove, get in the game ...