Squeaky's out! Official Manson Family open thread

Wacky Squeaky is out of prison today!

Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, Manson Follower and Would-Be Assassin Released from Prison

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, the would-be assasin who took aim at President Gerald Ford 34 years ago and the chief disciple of serial killer Charles Manson, was released from a federal prison in Texas this morning, said a prison spokeswoman.

Fromme, 60, had previously completed her sentence for the assassination attempt in July 2008, but was ordered to serve additional time for a 1987 prison escape.

"Lynette Fromme was released about 8 a.m. today," prison spokeswoman Maria Douglas told ABCNews.com. She had finished her term at from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.

Fromme took aim at Ford with a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol Sept. 5, 1975. There were four bullets in the gun's magazine, but none in the chamber and an alert Secret Service agent grabbed the gun from Fromme.

At the time of the assassination attempt, Manson and several of his followers were serving life terms for killing nine people in his grisly Helter Skelter plot to start a race war.

Fromme told her defense attorney that she targeted Ford because she wanted to garner attention for a new trial for Manson.

Since I know everything (really) about the Manson murders, ask me anything. For a lifelong scandalmonger like myself, the loooong, far-reaching tentacles of the Manson Family (The Beach Boys! Angela Lansbury's daughter!) were like freaking Fort Knox. I've read all the major books, and not a few of the minor ones.

I am also familiar with all of the attendant conspiracy theories, such as Roman Polanski being a possible satanist, etc.

Consider this an open Charlie thread! No outright gore, please. Article/post linkage welcome!

EDIT: Wikipedia does not include GARY HINMAN in their list of Manson Family victims. WHY NOT? No way to edit, or I'd include him. :(

John Edwards: fessing up at last?

Left: John Edwards, photo from C-Span's Campaign Network.


As sports fans may recall, I have Edwards voters RIGHT IN MY OWN HOUSEHOLD! I strategically voted for Ron Paul in the South Carolina GOP primary, to take votes away from the mainstream GOP candidates and to try to move the Republican party leftward (on the war issue, particularly). Mr Daisy voted for John Edwards.

And so, as usual, I got hooted at for my strategic voting... that is, until this scandal broke. Not a single yap of criticism since! Hahahaha.

The conventional wisdom is that Edwards nearly destroyed the Democratic party. At the very least, a bullet was truly dodged. It's a huge relief he was not crowned the party's choice, as many southern Democrats believed he would be. I wrote here about how Edwards went from Ashley Wilkes to Barney Fife, one southern archetype to another, overnight!

Currently, waiting for the press conference, in which he will finally fess up, 18 months AFTER THE FACT.

And how will his daughter process the information, years from now, when she learns her daddy did not claim her until forced to, by some damn BOOK?

Asshole!

Sources: Edwards to admit paternity of ex-mistress' child

Raleigh, N.C. — Sources have told WRAL News that they expect former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to admit that he is the father of his former mistress' 18-month-old daughter.

Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, confessed last August to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, who served as a videographer on Edwards' 2008 campaign. He has denied fathering her daughter, saying his relationship with Hunter ended before the child was conceived.

The name of the girl's father isn't disclosed on her birth certificate.

Andrew Young, a long-time Edwards aide, initially claimed to be the father of Hunter's child, but he is reportedly writing a book in which he will claim Edwards is the father.

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Edwards' campaign funds were illegally paid to Hunter to keep quiet about the affair.

What a sordid mess. I should have expected this from some lawyer-turned-Senator who got rich off poor people's misfortune, but I was busy thinking he looked good on TV and we therefore might be able to take back the White House. Who knew the country was ready for a black president?

Note: STILL NOT CONVINCED, particularly lately, that the country IS fully ready, but that's another blog post.

To the people who just got dropped from my blogroll

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF DEAD AIR!


If I am too low-class for you to acknowledge that I even exist, even after I have linked you for over two years, I guess my de-linking certainly won't bother you now.

A reciprocal link would have been nice. Failing that, an acknowledgment that I exist and that I am a human being with emotions, would be pleasant.

If Technorati ratings are important to you, keep in mind, all you had to do was say hello, to keep a link from me. Next time, show some common decency!

Have a nice day.

Sidney Poitier receives Medal of Freedom

Sidney Poitier and his Oscar in 1963, photo from Aliya S. King.




One of the most awesome men in the entire world, one of the regular cast of Daisy's feverish young adolescent dreams, has just received the MEDAL OF FREEDOM!!!! I am so thrilled!



Sir Sidney!!!

Yes, lots of other people got medals today, but I admittedly fixate on Sir Sidney:

At his first Medal of Freedom conferral, President Obama ran a tight ship of a ceremony, which began slightly after 3 p.m. and clocked in at about 40 minutes' worth of speechifying and medal-bestowing in the glittering East Room, the largest room in the White House. This year, actor Sidney Poitier, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Broadway star Chita Rivera, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and former Irish president Mary Robinson were among the 16 who received the nation's highest civilian honor.

Although the president spoke to the recipients and their enthused crowd of guests for about 20 minutes before breaking out the medals, his comments betrayed very little about his personal feelings toward (or relationships with) any of the honorees he'd selected. The silence signaled humility, and, of course, diplomacy: Robinson, for example, was the object of enmity outside the building, as supporters of Israel had deemed her undeserving after a particular rough career moment when a human-rights conference she helmed in 2001 was dominated by attacks on Jews and Israel.

In the afternoon ceremony, Obama praised Robinson as "a crusader for women and those without a voice in Ireland," saying she "shone a light on human suffering" during her work on human rights and hunger. A military aide read her citation, which praised her for "urging citizens and nations to make common cause for justice."

The president did get personal on a few occasions, his own subtly conveyed intimacy never upstaging, say, the exuberance of tennis star Billie Jean King, who entered the East Room with a victorious pump of her fist and a mouthed "Yessssss!" In the president's estimation, King gave "everyone, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, including my two daughters, a chance to compete both on the court and in life." Upon receiving her medal, she gave it a kiss and flashed the audience a grin.

The president's introductory remarks (smoothly delivered, apparently without written notes) continued in this manner, bowing more to the medal recipients' achievements than to his own experiences with them. After pronouncements were pronounced, Obama clasped medals around 16 necks, engaging in a great deal of hugging, cheek-kissing, whispering and back-patting -- a prolonged bout of physical affection that the recipients happily returned.

Without written notes, she emphasized. (Isn't it so nice to have a literate president?)

Certainly, Sir Sidney deserves it, and more, and everything else, too. Tomorrow, Turner Classic Movies will feature A WHOLE DAY OF SIR SIDNEY! And it's my day off, too! (Can we STAND IT?!) The day begins with The Long Ships (1964) at 6am and ends with Brother John (1971) at 4am the next day--with some utterly fabulous movies in between.

If you have a few minutes, flip over during the day, and watch the master.

You knew I would use this as an excuse to play this dopey song, dincha?



To Sir With Love (1967) will be on TCM at 6pm, right after Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (also 1967) at 4pm. (You can never watch them enough!)

Wordless Wednesday: They don't call it Greenville for nothing!

Below: Downtown Greenville SC, including Falls Park and the Reedy River Falls--which I know I bore yall with fairly regularly! (More photos on Flickr)

I love going to the falls, and simply can't stay away for long.

~*~