truesee's Blog

Newly released photos of Hitler's wife

Eva Braun poses behind an umbrella in 1940.  Braun was a model as a teenager.                                March 10th, 201110:34 AM ET

Life.com has obtained a set of newly released photos from the personal albums of Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's longtime girlfriend and, in their final hours, wife.

The photos "reveal new dimensions" of the woman who married Hitler as the Russian army closed in on his Berlin bunker and then committed suicide with him a day later. He was 56. She was 33.

  The 30 photos cover almost all of Braun's life, from images of her as a toddler and schoolgirl to her spending time with Hitler at his mountaintop retreat in the Alps.

Among the most interesting images are those of Braun posing seemingly naked behind an umbrella and her made up as American actor Al Jolson in his role in "The Jazz Singer."

The photos come from "a cache of images confiscated by the U.S. Army in 1945 and brought to light by collector and curator Reinhard Schulz," Life.com reports

LINK TO MORE PRIVATE PHOTOS OF EVA BRAUN:

http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/57511/rare-eva-brauns-private-photos#index/0

Oh, no! Obama job approval starts down again: Gallup

LA Times

March 9, 2011 |  5:24 am

No White House ever pays any attention to public opinion polls because that could imply the president shapes his actions to be approved, which would be a preposterous thing to believe.

But if Barack Obama did pay attention to his polls numbers, which of course he doesn't for the aforementioned reason, he'd have to be a little disappointed this morning. Or at least somewhat puzzled. Now that we're less than 20 months from the 2012 E-Day.

Obama's job approval numbers are down again, even without a viable announced Republican opponent. Even with the unemployment rate down a smidge to 8.9% (it was 6.9% when Obama was elected). Even with 192,000 jobs created last month. Even with Joe Biden out of the country.

According to the latest Gallup numbers, Obama's weekly job approval number was 46% through Sunday.

That's the lowest it's been since mid-December, when Republican "hostage-takers" forced the Democrat to accept an extension of the Bush tax cuts that Obama now sees as a positive sign of bipartisan cooperation, not to mention job growth.

The current approval is even lower than the 47% Obama had after his murky State of the Union address that atypically provided no noticeable poll bounce.

He had been up at the 50% level into January, his first time up there since May. But then slid again to hover around 48% until the newest decline.

If the White House watched these figures, which as we said it doesn't, it might be distressed that the latest decline came among fellow Democrats, who still like the ex-state senator a lot but less of a lot than they used to:

79% of Democrats approve of Obama's job now. However, that's down from 84% in late January. His approval among independents dipped from 47% to 43%.

The Democrat's approval among Republicans, which couldn't conceivably get any worse, did anyway: Down another notch from 15% to 14%.

There's still plenty of time for a miraculous Obama recovery. An incumbent president's reelection chances are usually tied closely to voters' economic perceptions, centering on unemployment and gas prices. A separate Gallup survey finds Americans' economic optimism dipping again in recent weeks, at the same time that gas prices began increasing significantly. 

The good news for the Obama White House is that the 2010 approval averages show he remains wildly popular in the District of Columbia (84.4% approval) and in his home state of Hawaii (65.9%). That's seven of the 270 electoral votes he needs to keep living in the White House with his mother-in-law.

The bad news is that last year Obama's job approval went down in all 50 states.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Wed, Mar. 09, 2011 Miami Lakes councilmen in bathroom squabble BY Laura Isensee The Miami Herald   Peter Andrew Bosch Miami Lakes Councilman Richard Pulido.   Dropping the F-bomb and threats to “take it outside” may sound like the start of a schoolyard brawl. But this squabble involved two Miami Lakes politicians and happened in the bathroom during a break in the Tuesday night council meeting. Both elected officials — Councilman Richard Pulido and Vice Mayor Nick Perdomo — claim the other made physical threats laced with cuss words. Pulido said Perdomo threatened to beat him up while he was washing his hands. Perdomo also claims Pulido threatened him with a thrashing in the men’s room. According to Pulido, his colleague on the dais lost his cool because he felt Pulido had slighted him during the Tuesday meeting to discuss a development deal on Northwest 87th Avenue. After the meeting, the councilmen were still taking verbal swipes. “We’re not thugs. We should act like public officials. We’re not conducting business like we’re in a third-world country,” Pulido told the Herald. Perdomo — who runs a family cigar business with operations in Nicaragua — said Pulido started it. “I’m way too successful to get into it with a two-bit school teacher who makes $20,000,” said Perdomo. “To me, this stuff doesn’t get under my skin.” Pulido is an adjunct professor at St. Thomas University and a high school administrator at a private Broward school. The meeting took place at a community center in the tree-lined northwest Miami-Dade municipality. A few dozen residents, in addition to the developer and his attorneys, had turned out to the 6:30 p.m. meeting. During a break, Perdomo and Pulido both apparently headed to the restroom. According to his police statement, Pulido said Perdomo said he’d “knock my f---ing head off.” On Wednesday, Perdomo filed his own statement, reporting Pulido bragged he was “old school,” dropped the F-bomb and threatened to “kick my ass” in the men’s room. At least one resident, Claudia Luces, heard Perdomo outside the bathroom tell Pulido “let’s take it oustide.” “I realized there was some tension and I should get out of the way just in case,” Luces said. The bathroom row didn’t come to blows. Nor did it disrupt the council meeting. (After the break, the officials discussed business signs, a town Facebook page and summer programs for kids.) Miami-Dade police are treating the matter as a “verbal dispute” and were taking statements on Wednesday, said police spokesman Robert Williams. Williams said the full police report was not available Wednesday. What started the latest fight isn’t clear. Pulido said he made a comment on the dais about town employees going to officials’ business office to review town matters, which Perdomo took as a dig. But the fight may be far from over. Perdomo said he planned to file a lawsuit and considered what happened “an assault.” Meanwhile, Pulido said his complaint would go to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.   LINK TO PHOTO OF COUNCILMAN:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/09/2106592/miami-lakes-councilmen-in-bathroom.html#

Woman flies cross-country to seek revenge on husband

http://www.thedailybeast.com/interactive/women-in-the-world/150-women-who-shake-the-world/

http://biggovernment.com/bewing/2011/03/09/caught-on-tape-police-stealing-property-abusing-forfeiture/

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0308/NPR-executive-calls-tea-party-seriously-racist-most-Americans-uneducated

Link To Vivian Schiller, NPR chief, resigns amid uproar over 'sting video:'

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2011/0309/Vivian-Schiller-NPR-chief-resigns-amid-uproar-over-sting-video

Getty

After protracted dispute over gender discrimination, a transgendered couple is OK to marry.

A transgendered Bronx couple was given the go ahead to wed this week by the city clerk's office, ending a 14-month battle for their right to marry.

The couple - initially questioned over their appearance - was cleared to get hitched in a two-page directive sent out Monday by the city clerk.

"This is the first time it's been written down in this form, to ensure this type of discrimination doesn't happen again," said Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.

The case involved a Bronx couple in a relationship for more than a decade. One of the two was a female to male transgender, while the other was a male to female, Silverman said.

The anonymous couple - identified only as John and Jane - went to get a marriage license in December 2009. Both showed proper ID, but a worker in the City Clerk's Bronx office asked to see their birth certificates - a move that is "illegal and unconstitutional," according to Silverman.

The clerk made the request because the pair didn't look like the sexes listed on their ID cards.

"It's a very common situation for the transgendered," Silverman said. "They may not have updated their identification."

The letter instructed all employees of the clerk's office to treat applicants "with dignity and respect" and stressed that transgendered applicants need only produce the same ID as any other person.

"Gender stereotypes or preconceived notions related to gender expression - including an applicant's physical appearance, dress behavior or name - may not be considered when deciding whether to issue a marriage license," wrote City Clerk Michael McSweeney.

The couple has yet to pick up their marriage license, but plans to do so and get married in a private ceremony in the near future, Silverman said.

http://pandaexpress.com/

Man's Remains Stolen From Church Before Memorial

An Alameda family remained in shock Monday night, two days after a thief entered a church and stole a backpack...

9:40 pm PST March 7, 2011

Updated: 10:56 am PST March 8, 2011

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- An Alameda family remained in shock Monday night, two days after a thief entered a church and stole a backpack containing urns with the ashes of a recently deceased man less than 30 minutes before the start his funeral. 

The family told KTVU the theft took place at Christ Episcopal Church located on Santa Clara Avenue in Alameda shortly before the Saturday memorial service was set to start for 74-year-old Kent Hockabout. 

The sanctity of a church proved to be no deterrent for a thief who walked up to the altar during the ten minutes when the family and church staff were out of the room to prepare for the ceremony. 

"So here laying on this side was Kent Hockabout's backpack and inside that were his ashes inside an urn," explained Rev. Kathy Crary. 

Hockabout's widow Eleonore told KTVU her husband’s ashes were divided into three urns and placed into a backpack he used for his travels to Europe, Africa and the Middle East as a diplomatic courier for the State Department. 

The backpack was supposed to be on display during the memorial service next to a photo.

 "Shock. Horror. Terror. It took a moment," said Mrs. Hockabout when describing her immediate reaction to the theft. "We can't do anything about it." 

Relatives and friends went outside to search, but turned up empty handed. The family decided to go ahead with the memorial service. 

"Whether it's the body or the ashes, it was not the person," said Hockabout. "It was a symbol." 

Still, Hockabout wants her husband's remains back so she can go on what she described as a "pilgrimage" to spread his ashes among his favorite places. 

"I'd rather be interested in what went through their head. Going into a church? Secondarily the backpack, but going into church and thinking they can take things from there?" asked Hockabout. 

The family is asking that the urns be returned either to the church or to the police station, no questions asked. 

Eleonore Hockabout said she doesn't want the person responsible for the theft to be prosecuted.

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/27114439/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/portland/911-calls

Tuesday, March 8th 2011, 2:55 PM

Teacher Tera Myers decided to call it quits after students discovered her X-rated past.

A St. Louis high school student is getting an "A" from authorities after discovering a teacher's X-rated past.

Tera Myers, 38, was put on administrative leave at Parkway North High School this week after a student inquired about pornographic films Myers starred in during the 1990s.

The science teacher decided to leave the school "out of respect for her privacy and that of her family," Paul Tandy, spokesman for the school district told the Daily News. "She was concerned about the impact it would have in the building."

Officials didn't know about Myers' past, which included a suspension five years ago from a Paducah, Ky., school for her role in the adult films.

While in Kentucky, Myers taught under a different name, Tericka Dye.

In 2006, the former porn star spoke to several media outlets and even made an appearance on "Dr. Phil," arguing she deserved to get her job back and that she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

Tera Myers, aka Rikki Andersin, a former pornstar in a scene from an adult film. (Amazing Pictures)

"Anybody who has been in my classroom could tell you how much I love teaching and how much I love these students, and that should be what matters more than anything in my past," she said in May 2006.

Myers, whose stage name is Rikki Andersin, said she made the movies when she was living in California, working as an exotic dancer to earn desperately needed cash.

Because Myers' role in the adult films wasn't illegal, her pornographic past didn't show up during a background check.

The teacher, who has been at the school for four years, will be paid through the end of the school year but will not be returning in the fall.

"We're surprised, very surprised," said Tandy. "At the same time we feel for her and her family. We do believe she has tried to move on with her life... Unfortunately, even though it happened 15 years ago, [the video] is still there."

http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2976/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videobeta/397b331f-9bdd-459f-ab18-b4469a320354/News/KTLA-Video-of-Lindsay-Lohan-in-Jewelry-Store-Released-Chris-Wolfe-reports

Man taped crying student into chair, turned him upside down, cops say

The 5-year-old boy was wrapped with packing tape so he couldn't move from his wooden chair, cops say.

Compiled by Orlando Sentinel

12:53 PM EST, March 8, 2011

A 21-year-old man who worked as a "group leader'' at a Brevard County after-school program taped a crying boy to a chair and turned him upside down "as a form of discipline,'' Titusville police said today.

Police arrested Russell Evan Rochon today and charged him with aggravated child abuse for the alleged abuse of the 5-year-old boy at South Lake Elementary School's after-school program late last year.

Police said Rochon of Titusville no longer works for the Brevard County School District.

"The packing tape was wrapped around the child's chest and lap, with his arms to his side so he had minimal movement,'' police said in a report. "The defendant then picked the child up and turned him upside down, telling him he would not release the child from the chair until he stopped crying."

Rochon removed the tape after a different child said a teacher was heading to the classroom. Rochon does not have a teaching certificate in Florida, records show..

The boy who was taped "was extremely distraught during the incident and was crying, kicking and screaming to be let go,'' the report said.

At some point, another student put the victim into a large trash can, and Rochon allegedly pushed the boy down so he couldn't get out of the trash can, the report said.

Rochon was arrested this morning at his home in 4900 block of Cambridge Drive

'We are not aware of any physical injuries to the child other than mental anguish,'' Lt. Todd Hutchinson of the Titusville Police Department said in a statement.

The police investigation began after authorities were contacted by the Florida Department of Children and Families.