Autopsy Inconclusive, Thank You Don Pardo
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Vol. 3, No. 231
Hands Up: Authorities yesterday called off the midnight to 5am curfew in Ferguson, Mo., but unrest continued as the National Guard joined the security force and 31 people were arrested amid gunfire, stun grenades Molotov cocktails, and police teargas. Most of the people arrested in street disturbances do not come from Ferguson.
Early autopsy information appears to have only fed the anger about the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Some people have already declared that the six shots that hit Brown were “excessive” and that police officer Darren Wilson should be indicted.Brown’s mother asked, “What else do we need to give them to arrest the killer of my child?”
The Washington Post reports that, according to information leaked from the official autopsy, Brown had traces of marijuana in his system.
Despite some headlines screaming Brown “may” have had his back turned or hands up, the private autopsy commissioned by the Brown family is inconclusive about his body position when he was shot. The autopsy also does not conclude whether Brown was backing away, or moving toward the officer, or whether there was a struggle at the police car.
Remember Syria: The US says Syria’s entire stockpile of chemical weapons has been destroyed. President Obama said in a statement. A year ago the Syrian military used nerve gas to kill a thousand people. President Obama said in a written statement, “Today we mark an important achievement in our ongoing effort to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction by eliminating Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpile.” Initially Obama tripped on his own “red line” when he didn’t bomb Syria after it used gas, but this is considered a foreign policy win for the president.
Conflict Zones: The Ukraine army says 15 people were killed in yesterday’s attack on refugees. The Gaza ceasefire was to be extended but Hamas fired rockets today and Israel has ordered its negotiators home from Cairo.
Graveyard in the Sea: Navy divers say they have identified the wreckage of the cruiser USS Houston, which was sunk by the Japanese in the Java Sea during WWII. Seven hundred sailors and Marines went down with the ship. The wreckage shows signs of souvenir hunting by recreational divers and the US will try to protect it as a military gravesite.
The Obit Page: Don Pardo, the studio announcer who introduced game show hosts and later the stars for NBC’s Saturday Night Live, has died at age 96. Pardo’s voice, although not his face, became famous when he went to work in 1956 for “The Price is Right” hosted by Bill Cullen. And he was the voice of “Jeopardy” for 11 years. Lorne Michaels cast Pardo’s “voice of authority” for the opening of “Saturday Night Live.” His delivery was so straight it was funny. Ladies and gentlemen, Don Pardo !!!
>Former US Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, who quit the Republican Party in 2001 giving control of the Senate to the Democrats, has died in Washington at age 80. Jeffords was a moderate to liberal Republican at a time when they were a dying breed and the far right wing was taking over. He finally quit in disgust and became an independent when President George W. Bush opposed the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Jeffords hated to see the Republicans giving tax breaks to the rich while denying help to the middle class.
Play Ball: It used to be that the talk of the Little League World Series was the six-foot 12-year-olds from Taiwan. But this year the sensation is 13-year-old pitcher Mo’ne Davis from Philadelphia, who last Friday became the first girl to throw a shutout in the history of the Little League World Series. She has a 70 mph fastball and says, “That’s throwing like a girl.” And baseball is not her primary sport. It’s basketball.
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