Orlando's Arcadian Broad, explains what happened

Totally off topic, but one of the luxuries of having your own blog. One of my pleasures is watching America's Got Talent. My husband got me hooked on this show a couple of years ago. I would be working online and hear him laughing his head off in the other room. I'd sit and watch for a few minutes, then get back to work. Soon I found myself watching longer. Then it was watching all of it. I love to see the talent this country has, and yes, even enjoy watching the people with no talent at all, but then feel sorry for them.

Arcadian Broad is one with great talent and he's just a kid. His audition was fantastic. It's easy to notice that when they audition and are on their own, they are amazing, but as the show goes on, they change their style, do things that are not that great and then get nailed by the judges for the changes. It looks like now we know why.

Well since he lives in Orlando, I think Disney should sign him fast and put him to work. He is one amazing kid.

I'll still watch the show because of the talent but now I won't wonder why people change their acts so much and end up off the show.

Is 'America's Got Talent' fixed? Just ask contestant Arcadian Broad.

After his semifinal performance last night, Broad accused the 'Talent' producers of forcing him to do a 'High School Musical'-esque dance routine -- a routine that failed to impress judge Piers Morgan. "Are you good enough to get to the final?" Piers asked. "The answer would be no."

Broad tried to explain himself -- "I didn't have this planned. I didn't want to do 'High School Musical,' and the producers gave me this hand," he said -- but was quickly cut off by both Piers and fellow judge Sharon Osbourne. "It's not about what you did tonight. It's purely about your technical ability as a dancer," Piers said. Even host Nick Cannon jumped in to say each contestant ultimately has a final say in what they perform.
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Is Americas Got Talent fixed

Healthcare opponent punches 65-year-old supporter

Healthcare opponent punches 65-year-old supporter

For political drama, there's always Florida.

A 65-year-old man cheering healthcare reform in Miami was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by an opponent of a public health plan, according to a reporter at the scene. The rally took place outside a Great Miami Chamber of Commerce event where Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL - below right) was speaking.

"Luis Perrero of Coral Gables was standing among about 40 Democratic activists and union workers when a man in a Ford pick-up truck pulled up to the rally at Jungle Island and began arguing with the crowd," the Herald's Tolouse Oloronippa blogged Wednesday. "The man, who only gave his first name as Raul, said Perrero called him a Spanish curse word. He punched Perrero in the face. Perrero fell to the ground and lay motionless for a few minutes."

"I'm amazed the way this has become such a politicized issue,'' Perrero told Oloronippa. "It shows that people who are against the public option will resort to anything, including battery on a senior citizen to prevent healthcare reform.''

"It was totally uncalled for," Wilhelmina Ford, another public healthcare supporter quipped. "The guy may have had words with him but he didn't have to hit him in the face.''
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Healthcare opponent punches 65 year-old supporter

What is this really all about? Is it that the people, like this man accused of punching out a senior citizen, doesn't really care about anyone but themselves, or is it a matter of something much more sinister at work here?

This is not a matter of facts fueling opinions. This is more a matter of them being formed from obvious lies. So who is behind them? PR firms paid to make sure the giants get their bounty? Politicians motivated to put the interests of companies ahead of people? Not really sure but it's becoming more clear it's business fueling all of this.

When you think about the basis for the lies,they are all personal ones and intended to get passions pumping, and not in a good way. Veterans are used. The elderly are used. Both groups, sensitive subjects in any debate, but both groups also end up with "socialized" medical care. Last time I checked the VA and Medicare were government health. But even with that, both groups are the targets of these emails filled with lies. Then people screaming at these town halls end up saying they don't want government involved in their healthcare, but they never seem to hear that it would be an added option and not forced for all, plus they ignore the fact they could have a veteran or a senior citizen sitting right next to them using the VA or Medicare, feeling as if they've just been slammed.

They say that they work for their healthcare but they never seem to stop and think they have no control over if they even have a job or not and could lose it like so many others over the last couple of years. What will they use for healthcare then? What if they end up with a pre-existing medical condition, like so many other people getting older and a bit grayer, but not in the elderly category? Right now they only see what they have but don't seem to understand what they have to give up to have it, like pay raises because their company has to pay more to cover them and their own portion of the premium has gone up, meaning they have less money to take home. Ever wonder what that kind of money could do to the economy if it was put back into it instead of the insurance companies hands?

Everyone has some kind of an agenda but when it comes to changes in healthcare, the only ones that can gain anything are in the healthcare industry, and not the doctors and nurses we count on everyday for delivering it.

More than 20 firefighters reportedly injured in Station Fire

California counts cost of raging wildfires
Story Highlights
More than 20 firefighters reportedly injured in Station Fire; two died earlier in crash

California has spent $21 million fighting fire; it's 22 percent contained

Blaze encroaching on San Gabriel Wilderness Area in Angeles National Forest

Crews battle blaze near historic observatory atop Mount Wilson

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A raging wildfire north of Los Angeles has displaced thousands of anxious Californians, burning 140,150 acres by Wednesday.

Beth Halaas sifted through the ashes of her family's charred Los Angeles County home trying to find something to salvage.

"It's stuff. Hold on to some of it for traditions. But you've got to remember it's just stuff," she said on CNN's "Campbell Brown."

The so-called Station Fire forced Noel and Marta Rincon to evacuate their home in Tujunga.

"I thought that we were losing our home," the husband said of the residence where he was born and the couple raised their family.
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California counts cost of raging wildfires

The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans

The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans
After Serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, White House Aide Tackles Policy Challenges

By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 3, 2009

Matt Flavin oversaw a 450-person intelligence unit in Bosnia, deployed overseas with the Navy SEALs and survived combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the challenge now facing the 29-year-old is in Washington, where he is charged with helping President Obama make good on his pledge to expand veterans' benefits.

Flavin, director of the new White House Office of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, is the administration's liaison to the nation's roughly 23 million veterans. For a president with no military experience, he orchestrates outreach to the politically prized constituency.

In a community dominated by veterans of the Vietnam War, Flavin embodies a generational change. He and the few other administration officials who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan -- including Tammy Duckworth, an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- offer a voice in Washington for the men and women fighting in today's conflicts.
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The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans

Military leaders, first responders learn about PTSD

Combining these groups is one of the best things they could do because it's great to know they have plenty of company living with this misery. Feeling alone is a terrible thing but finding each other, well, strength comes from numbers.

Military leaders, first responders learn about PTSD

Posted: Sep 2, 2009 07:53 PM EDT


by ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Celina Avila

EL PASO, Texas -- In an attempt to increase awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder, military leaders and first responders in our community were invited to a symposium at Sierra Providence Medical Center.

Firefighters on harnesses at the scene of a bad crash. An elderly couple murdered, allegedly in front of children. A deadly shooting of an high-schooler, allegedly by a Fort Bliss soldier in need of mental help.

Those are not only recent headlines but actual emergencies. "Everybody looks at you and expects you to be the strong one," said El Paso police officer Michael Baranyay.

A somber video detailed the reality of war was shown to various law enforcement agencies. The video shed light on post-traumatic stress disorder and how it can affect the tough men and women we look to protect us.
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http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=11037494&nav=menu193_2

Budget cuts hurt everyone

Bad economy hurts us all the way around. We all know the kinds of problems California has but budget cuts left a fire engine shut and in another story, rape kits have not been placed where they are needed to catch a rapist.

3-year-old's drowning underscores L.A. Fire Department budget cuts
By Robert J. Lopez
A 3-year-old boy died in a swimming pool accident last week in Bel-Air on a day when one of the neighborhood's fire engines had been shut down

LA County to attack rape kit backlog
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The sheriff in California's Los Angeles County says he's committing $3 million in next year's budget to help with the backlog in rape kit DNA testing.

Human Rights Watch, the civil rights advocacy group, said the announcement came in a letter it received from County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The rights group has been researching the backlog of untested evidence in rape cases.

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LA County to attack rape kit backlog

These two stories just came out today as firefighters are trying to put out another wildfire raging and two firefighters died.

What is the answer? What can be done in such a bad economy? Not an easy answer but the most obvious one is to raise taxes on the people to help pay for what businesses no longer contribute. They are doing that in Florida by raising fees. Things are starting to turn around according to the experts but how long will it be before police and fire departments are back up to full funding? These cuts don't just hurt the police officers and firefighters, they hurt the citizens these men and women risk their lives for everyday.

PTSD on Trail: Ex-New York City Pollice Officer

Father says PTSD caused him to enter school with gun
By Steve Lieberman • slieberm@lohud.com • September 1, 2009

Peter Cocker today informed the court that he will offer a psychiatric defense to charges he rushed into South Orangetown Middle School armed and held the superintendent at gunpoint before being disarmed.

The Tappan father suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from years as a New York City police officer, his lawyer, Gerard Damiani, said after a court appearance at the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.

Cocker became agitated June 9 after his son collapsed on the baseball field and he felt his boy had swine flu symptoms , Damiani said.

He also had been drinking alcohol heavily, a form of self-medication resulting from post traumatic stress, Damiani said.

Cocker became angry at Schools Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell for sending out a Rockland Health Department form letter on swine flu precautions, authorities said. Cocker wanted the letter changed and the schools closed. The boy attends the middle school.
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http://www.lohud.com/article/20090901/NEWS03/909010386

Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare

If you are more offended by the language in this article than what they story really is, then you really shouldn't be reading this blog. I'm sure my regular readers will overlook the street language because they would probable be using the same words themselves. Why not? When I'm angry I still use them. What our troops are going through with being kept in combat on medication is enough to get anyone angry.

Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare: Getting Arrested for Growing Pot

By Fred Gardner, O'Shaughnessy's . Posted September 1, 2009.

Phillip Northcutt started legally cultivating medical marijuana to deal with PTSD from fighting in the Iraq. It wasn't long before the police and the courts caught up with him.

Phil Northcutt saw the map of Iraq on the wall and started recalling his time there. He’d been stationed in Ramadi, Al Anbar Province, in 2004.

Phil Northcutt: There was this main street, ‘Route Michigan,’ like a 4-lane highway going through town with a 12-inch tall median painted yellow and black. When we first got there you could see big holes in the median. By the time we left, there was no median. It had been blown up along six or seven miles of roadway...

There were two different kinds of fighters we engaged. When we first got there it was like local fighters. You could tell. They were wearing the man dresses and flip-flops and they had old rusty AKs. They were like beat-up, ragged-out goat herders but with weapons. They didn’t use squad maneuvers, they didn’t use military tactics, it was a shoot and run kind of thing. And pretty much we killed all those guys or they went away.

And then the second wave came in. These dudes were wearing brand new Adidas, American jeans, they were wearing tactical rigs like American contractors, baseball hats, sunglasses –they looked like American contractors.
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Getting Arrested for Growing Pot

Fallen Marine's Mom Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame

Energizer honors Masaryktown mom's tireless work on behalf of U.S. troops with Keep Going Hall of Fame
By Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, September 2, 2009


MASARYKTOWN — Dee Mills has worked tirelessly for years as founder of Lea's Prayers and Postage to bring joy to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, it's time for her service to be honored — in a big way.

Mills has brought national fame to herself and this tiny crossroads community in Hernando County as the 2009 winner of the national Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame award. The award celebrates people whose attributes and actions best exemplify qualities of the Energizer Bunny: perseverance, determination and never-quit attitude.

The bunny is featured in ads plugging the battery company's theme, "It keeps going and going and going."

Among thousands of applicants for the Hall of Fame, Mills, 53, was selected in June by a company panel from among 100 finalists, then named one of the Top 10.

Brief biographies of the 10 appeared on the Energizer Web site, and viewers were asked to vote their choice for a Hall of Fame inductee. The company announced her selection this week. Mills learned of her win about two weeks ago but she was sworn to secrecy.

After Marine Sgt. Lea Mills, then 21, son of Mills and her husband, Rob, was killed in Iraq in April 2006, Mills launched her effort to let deployed troops know they are not forgotten.
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Keep Going Hall of Fame

Bank America tells man with no arms they need thumb print?

Bank of America's thumbprint rule irks man born with no arms

The Associated Press

12:22 p.m. EDT, September 2, 2009


TAMPA - A Florida man born without arms says a Tampa-area bank would not let him cash a check because he could not provide a thumbprint.
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Bank of America thumbprint rule irks man born with no arms