Storm Headed to Florida, New NSA Arrest

Stormy Weather: Florida is bracing for a hit. Hurricane Matthew was crossing through the Bahamas early this morning, gaining strength and headed for Florida’s Atlantic Coast. The storm is reported to have devastated parts of the eastern tip of Cuba.

Matthew might be a category 4 storm with 130 mph winds by the time it reaches Florida. West Palm Beach could be ground zero.

National Insecurity: A private contractor was quietly arrested by the FBI in August and charged with stealing computer code designed to hack into the computers of foreign governments.

Including the trove of electronic documents taken by Edward Snowden, this makes the third time an insider has stolen classified material from the National Security Administration, the NSA.

The contractor is identified as Harold T. Martin, 51, of Glen Burnie, Md.  Materials from his house and car during an FBI raid included what’s described as “highly classified” information.

Unsettled: The US issued a harsh condemnation of Israel’s announcement that it will build a new Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory of the West Bank. President Obama is reported to be particularly irritated because the US just signed a rich military aid package with Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave no warning about the settlement plans.

Nation: A Southwest Airlines flight about to leave Louisville, Ky. was evacuated because a passenger’s Samsung smartphone caught fire. Samsung just recalled a generation of new phones because of their propensity to catch fire, but the phone in this case may have been a replacement for a recalled phone. — Traffic deaths are up more than 10 percent in the first six months of 2016, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but they say they don’t know why.

Life: Human life maxes out at 115 years according to research published in the journal Nature. Nutrition and medicine have vastly increased life expectancy, but it’s not unlimited, they say. Occasionally someone lives longer than 115 but, the authors of the report write, “Our results strongly suggest that the maximum lifespan of humans is fixed and subject to natural constraints.”

The Obit Page: Trinh Thi Ngo, the North Vietnamese radio announcer known as Hanoi Hannah who entertained American troops during the Vietnam War while telling them their cause was immoral, died last week in Ho Chi Minh City. She was believed to be 85. Mrs. Ngo, who broadcast in English, was a propagandist in the tradition of World War Two’s Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally, who tried to demoralize American forces. Ngo would tell American soldiers, “Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what’s going on.”

>George Barris, the photographer who took the last professional photographs of Marilyn Monroe on Santa Monica beach just weeks before her death, has died at age 94. The best known shot is of Monroe sitting with hands clasped in a bulky sweater. Barris knew Monroe for about 10 years and always said he did not believe her death was a suicide.

Can’t Make This Up Dept.: Donald Trump, who interrupted Hillary Clinton 51 times during their first debate, tweeted yesterday, “The constant interruptions last night by Tim Kaine should not have been allowed. Mike Pence won big!”

Wanna know one reason why Trump and Kaine both lost their debates? They kept interrupting their opponent.

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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