WE MOURN OUR BELOVED JACQUELINE "JACKIE" HAEFLINGER

 






R I P--------It's with a very heavy heart I report the news that our beloved friend & all around wonderful human being, Jacquline "Jackie" Haeflinger, was tragically killed this AM in NYC.

While trying to retrieve her dog, Violet, from underneath a sanitation truck, Jackie suffered her death. We will now pray for her soul. We loved you so much sweetheart & will be dearly missed.

( YOU CAN STOP HERE, THE ARTICLE BELOW IS GRAPHIC )

Memorial service for Jackie Tuesday July 8 2014 at. 10:00 a.m at St.Francis Xavier church on 16th Street &  in Manhattan. In lieu of flowers we ask you to donate to the Alzhiemers association in Jackie name.
What a beautiful & heartfelt service; so well deserved for such an amazing woman. The focus wasn't on how she died but how beautifully she lived. How she touched so many lives in so many different circles. There was a unity in love for Jackie from her many colleagues, friends & family. Jackie was present -no doubt. 
I want to personally thank the people at NYU for outdoing themselves.
_______________________________________________________________________

 (NEW YOUR DAILY NEWS online):

New York woman, 58, dies in ‘freak accident’ chasing her dog underneath sanitation truck

Chelsea resident Jackie Haeflinger was crushed by the vehicle trying to retrieve her Boston terrier Violet about 10 a.m. Wednesday on 15th St. between Seventh and Eighth Aves. The ‘warm, gracious’ employee at NYU’s events office will be remembered ‘for her hard work and exacting standards,’ the university said.

 The driver — unaware the woman was behind him — slipped the truck into reverse and ran her down, witnesses said. The warning screams of his co-worker apparently went unheard as the engine cranked to life.

 Sanders said the victim was dead before he had a chance to dial 911, and the driver — his head clutched in his hands — was distraught after learning about the tragedy.“It happened so fast,” he said. “It’s a big truck. She tried to grab (the dog), but she unfortunately she slipped.”

 “Her absence will be keenly felt. Her family and loved ones are in our prayers. We all are coming to terms with the sudden news.”

In a strange twist, the six-year-old Boston terrier escaped uninjured from beneath the truck. The oblivious pet stood mingling with stunned witnesses, whimpering a few feet away from his master’s body.

 “She was very friendly, always a smile on her face,” said Jeffrey Purfield, 25. “She cared a lot about her dog. She was very caring ... She was always happy, outgoing.”

GOD BLESS HER SOUL...

 

COMICS IN NJ CAR ACCIDENT--ONE DIES

 

 

 

Friends to Tracy Morgan: 'Stay strong'

Fellow comedians killed, injured in wreck

June 07, 2014

 

 "Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan, best known for his roles on "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock," was badly injured early Saturday when the limo bus he was riding in overturned in a multi-vehicle crash in New Jersey that killed another comic.
Morgan, 45, was in critical condition in an intensive care unit at a hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, police and his spokesman said.

The comedian James McNair, also known as Jimmy Mack, was killed in the crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, police said. McNair, who was 63 and lived in Peekskill, New York, was riding in the limo bus with Morgan.
At least three other people were hospitalized following the crash, in which a tractor-trailer struck the back of the limo bus at around 1 a.m. local time near Cranbury Township, New Jersey State Police spokesman Gregory Williams said, citing a preliminary investigation.
After the collision, involving another tractor-trailer, a sport utility vehicle and two other cars, the limo bus was on its side, Williams said.
Morgan was part of a stand-up comedy "Turn it Funny" tour and had performed at a Dover, Delaware, casino on Friday night.
He was taken by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Center in New Brunswick, Williams said. Morgan's spokesman said the comic would remain there on Saturday..."

Our condolences & prayers go out to them & their families...tragic...

 

Apple CEO Ti Remarkable Speech on Gay Rights, Racism |

 

 

 

Apple CEO Tim Cook Gives Remarkable Speech on Gay Rights, Racism

Notoriously private executive spoke of personal discrimination

By Matt Vella @

"Tim Cook, Apple’s media-shy chief executive, made a rare public speech at the U.N. this week. Auburn University, Cook’s alma mater, posted his 13-minute talk on Saturday.


Cook made his comments after receiving an achievement award from the university. He talked of personally witnessing a cross burning during his youth, an event that “changed his life forever,” and went on to say, “Since these early days, I have seen and have experienced many types of discrimination and all of them were rooted in the fear of people that were different than the majority.”

Cook, 53, continued by describing the values he says he found in Apple and its founder Steve Jobs when he joined the company in the late 1990s. These include creating products accessible to the disabled and, later, backing national nondiscrimination legislation.

Cook went on to talk of gay rights, saying, “Now is the time to write these basic principles of human dignity into the book of law.” He also backed an immigration overhaul, adding of proposed reforms, “Do not do them because they are economically sound — although they are — do them because they are right and just.”

The statements are remarkable for the notoriously private Cook because they strongly imply personal experience with discrimination. In 2013, Out Magazine named Cook the most powerful LGBT person in the world.

____________________________________________________________________________




RIP JOAN FONTAINE--BEAUTIFUL LEGEND:

Hollywood stalwart Joan Fontaine, best known for her roles in director Alfred Hitchcock's 1939 Rebecca and her Best Actress Oscar-winning role in his 1940 film Suspicion, died Sunday at her northern California home, according to several reports. She was 96.

Details of her death were not immediately available.

In addition to playing a mousey spouse in both the Hitchcock films, first alongside Laurence Olivier and then to Cary Grant, Fontaine's other well-known movies included 1943's The Constant Nymph, which got her a third Oscar nomination, 1944's Jane Eyre with Orson Welles, 1952's Ivanhoe with Robert Taylor, and 1957's controversial Island in the Sun with Harry Belafonte.

I  also remember her as the meek socialite in "THE WOMEN".

Her final role was in a 1994 TV movie.

COMPUTER "MOUSE" INVENTOR DIES-88

 

 

Doug Engelbart Dead: Inventor Of The Computer Mouse Dies At 88

By By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
(HUFFINGTON POST)

"... One of the biggest advances was the mouse, which he developed in the 1960s and patented in 1970. At the time, it was a wooden shell covering two metal wheels: an X-Y position indicator for a display system. (MOUSE)


The notion of operating the inside of a computer with a tool on the outside was way ahead of its time when Engelbart began working on it.

The mouse didn't become commercially available until 1984, with the released of Apple's then-revolutionary Macintosh, a prelude to future breakthroughs such as the iPhone and iPad.

All of those devices were conceived by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in October 2011. Although Jobs' contributions to personal technology are far better known, Engelbart left an indelible mark, too..."

( IN 1966 HE CREATED THE "X-Y INDICATOR" OR "MOUSE" BUT MADE VERY LITTLE MONEY ON IT.  WHEN THE MOUSE REALLY TOOK OFF HIS 17 YR OLD PATENT HAD EXPIRED--SAD.
I'M USING ONE NOW & BILLIONS ARE TOO; BTW, HE WASN'T FOND OF APPLYING THE WORD MOUSE TO THIS COMPONENT BUT IT STUCK. HE WAS A VISIONARY WHO SAID WE WERE AT THE BOTTOM OF A TECHNOLOGICAL MOUNTAIN & "LET'S GET ON WITH IT!" HE ROARED)

"Engelbart dazzled the industry at a San Francisco computer conference in 1968.
 Working from his house with a homemade modem, he used his lab's elaborate new online system to illustrate his ideas to the audience, while his staff linked in from the lab. It was the first public demonstration of the mouse and video teleconferencing, and it prompted a standing ovation.

In 1997, Engelbart won a most lucrative award for American inventors, the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize. Three years later, President Bill Clinton bestowed Engelbart with the National Medal of Technology "for creating the foundations of personal computing"

2 RADIO HOSTS COMMIT SUICIDE

 

 

 

Police: Life-coach radio hosts commit suicide together (they were found holding hands)...

IF THIS ISN'T THE HEIGHT OF IRONY, I DON'T WHAT IS?--WTF? 

I'M SPEECHLESS!

By Lorenzo Ferrigno, CNN

New York (CNN) -- Two life coaches who hosted a radio show called "The Pursuit of Happiness" apparently committed suicide together in their Brooklyn apartment, police said.

Motivational speaker John Littig, 48, and his common-law psychotherapist wife, Lynne Rosen, 46, were found with plastic bags over their heads and a tube attached to a canister of helium, according to police.

Two suicide notes were found, police said.

In the man's note: "I can't take it anymore, my wife is in too much pain."

The couple's radio show, "The Pursuit of Happiness," on WBAI-99.5 FM focused on "personal development, growth and creativity" according to their website. It was an hour long show airing every other Thursday afternoon.

The couple also led a life coaching consulting company, Why Not Now, offering coaching "designed to help foster and encourage your inner strengths," and "put you confidently on the path to designing the life you've always wanted to live," according to their website...

ESTHER WILLIAMS DIES IN HER SLEEP-91

TO CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD FANS, SUCH AS MYSELF, IT IS A SAD DAY.
HOLLYWOOD MERMAID, ESTHER WILLIAMS, LEAVES  THIS WORLD FOR THAT GIANT POOL IN THE SKY. I'M SO GLAD IT WAS IN HER SLEEP.
BORN IN LOS ANGELES-WHEN INGLEWOOD WASN'T SO SKETCHY; SHE DIED THERE AS WELL.

 R I P (AUGUST 8, 1921-JUNE 6, 2013)

THE PASSING OF ESTHER WILLIAMS REMINDS ME OF SO MANY HAPPY TIMES.
FOR INSTANCE, THE FIRST TIME I HEARD "BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE" WAS IN HER MOVIE, "NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER" (TO THIS DAY IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE ROMANTIC COMEDIES). THE MOVIE OFFERS GLAMOUR, COMEDY , LOVE AND UNBELIEVABLE SWIMMING CHOREOGRAPHY. MY SISTER & I STILL QUOTE IT.

AROUND THE TIME OF THE 1994 GAY GAMES & CULTURAL EVENTS IV IN NYC-THE FIRST TIME I DARED TO DO STANDUP- ESTHER WILLIAMS INAUGURATED THE POOL/SPORTS ARENA USED FOR THE SWIMMING MEETS/COMPETITIONS. IT'S WHERE I FIRST SAW GREG LOUGANIS FLY IN THE AIR AND MAKE REPEATED, PERFECT DIVES AND MY HIGHLY SKILLED PERSONAL FRIENDS TOOK HOME THE GOLD & SILVER MEDALS, (TODD & MIKE RESPECTIVELY).

NOT LONG AGO I  WAS GLUED TO HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY "THE MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID" . SHE REVEALED A LOT: HER ABUSIVE EX HUSBAND , LORENZO LAMAS; HER AFFAIR; DABBLING IN LSD; OLYMPIC CONTENDER; BUSINESS WOMAN AND HER CROSS DRESSING BOYFRIEND, JEFF CHANDLER, AMONG OTHER TIDBITS.

ESTHER WILLIAMS HAD A MESMERIZING BEAUTY WITH A NON-TRADITIONAL WIDER SHOULDER PHYSIQUE! SHE WORKED AS A MODEL FOR I.MAGNIN THEN PARLAYED THAT SENSE OF STYLE & BEAUTY TO HOLLYWOOD.
THE CAMERA EMBRACED HER BEAUTY AND CAPTURED UNHEARD OF SWIMMING STUNTS PRODUCED IN HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE.

A WORLD CLASS SWIMMING CHAMPION! DISCOVERED BY BILLY ROSE, SHE BECAME A SENSATION AT HIS SHOW "AQUACADE"

MGM SNATCHED HER UP. SHE BECAME FOR SWIMMING WHAT SONJA HENIE HAD BECOME TO ICE SKATING IN MOVIES.

WE WILL MISS YOU & NOW THAT "LIFE" COVER I HAVE FRAMED OF A VERY WET YOU WILL BE LOOKED AT WITH WARMER EYES AND A SENSE OF GRATITUDE FOR ALL THOSE GREAT MOVIES IN WHICH YOU SO BRILLIANTLY ENTERTAINED ME AND THE WORLD.

NJ SEN. LAUTENBURG DIES-89

 R I P

 

By DONNA CASSATA and BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press

WASHINGTON June 3, 2013 (AP)

"The next time a flight attendant reminds you there's no smoking on the plane or you witness a teenager getting carded at a liquor store, think of Frank Lautenberg.

The Democratic senator from New Jersey left his mark on the everyday lives of millions of Americans, whether they know it or not. In the 1980s, he was a driving force behind the laws that banned smoking on most U.S. flights and made 21 the drinking age in all 50 states.

Lautenberg, a multimillionaire businessman who became an accomplished — if often underestimated — politician, died after 4 a.m. EDT on Monday at a New York hospital after suffering complications from viral pneumonia.

At 89, he had been the oldest person in the Senate and the last remaining World War II veteran.

 Republican Gov. Chris Christie, whom the Democrat Lautenberg frequently criticized, will appoint a successor and a special election will determine a replacement. Newark Mayor Cory Booker had announced his intention to run and had raised some $2 million..."


(MORE ON CNN ONLINE)

SAD DAY FOR BRUNO MARS, MOM DIES

Bruno Mars' mother dies of brain aneurysm-

R I P

By Alan Duke, CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The mother of Grammy-winning singer Bruno Mars died of a brain aneurysm in a Honolulu, Hawaii, hospital Saturday, a Mars representative told CNN Sunday. Bernadette Hernandez was 55. 
(SO YOUNG)

Mars -- born Peter Gene Hernandez in Hawaii 27 years ago -- was just 4 when he began performing in his family's show as an Elvis impersonator.

He moved to Los Angeles as a young adult to write and produce for other artists, but his last three years have been his most successful.

Bruno Mars gives girl Gucci prom dress

His debut album for Atlantic Records, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," includes "Just The Way You Are," which won him a Grammy for best male pop vocal performance in 2010. The album and his hit single "Grenade" were nominated for three Grammys in 2011.

His second album, "Unorthodox Jukebox," includes the hits "Locked Out of Heaven" and "When I Was Your Man."

Mars is set to resume touring on June 22, but it was not immediately clear whether the concert schedule would be affected by his mother's death.

A GREAT TALENT WHO WE WANT TO SEND OUR CONDOLENCES...

TRAIN KILLS MONTCLAIR TEEN--AWFUL!

Northjersey.com : News

Update: Pedestrian killed by train in Montclair's Watchung Plaza

AWFUL!!! TOO AWFUL & TOO CLOSE TO HOME!!!

I WAS WAITING AT THE NEXT STOP--WALNUT STREET-WHEN I, AND OTHERS,  BEGAN TO REALIZE THE 11:05 AM TRAIN EAST TO PENN STATION NY WAS LATE.
IN THE DISTANCE WE HEARD MULTIPLE, OMINOUS FIRE TRUCKS & SIRENS.
EVENTUALLY AN ANNOUNCEMENT ALERTED US THE TRAIN SERVICE WOULD BE SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY DUE TO A TRESPASSING  ISSUE.

THIS CRYPTIC ANNOUNCEMENT HAD SOME WAITING PASSENGERS CHECK THEIR ALERTS/ APPS, ETC. AND THEY ALL STATED THE SAME MESSAGE.

NOT HOPING FOR THE WORST I CONTINUED MY DAY & FOUND OUT ON THE WAY BACK HOME THAT IN FACT A DEATH HAD ENSUED- A PASSENGER WHO WAS ON THE TRAIN IN QUESTION, RELAYED THE DETAILS. THEY WENT ON LOCK DOWN.
I WAS NATURALLY STUNNED.
SO SAD!
HERE ARE THE DEVASTATING DETAILS:

Shortly after 11 a.m. this morning, a Midtown Direct train, No. 6226, struck and killed a person on the tracks west of the Watchung Plaza Train Station, in what NJ Transit is calling a "trespasser fatality."

STAFF PHOTO BY GEORGE WIRT

Police investigate the death of a person struck and killed by a train this morning at the Watchung Plaza Train Station. 

NJ Transit has confirmed that the person killed was Eamonn Wholley, an 18-year-old Montclair resident. NJ Transit spokesperson John Durso Jr. said that there were 30 people on the train, and no injuries.

"According to witness accounts, the trespasser climbed an embankment, crossed the tracks, positioned himself in front of the oncoming train and did not attempt to move," Durso said.
David Uslan, who was on the train when the accident occurred, said that police walked through the train and announced that there had been a fatality.

"Apparently, the conductor saw it all," said Uslan, who noted that a therapist who was on board the train talked to the conductor about it.

New York City-bound commuters waiting in Watchung Plaza for the DeCamp No. 66 bus said that, as the train approached the station, it was repeatedly blowing its horn with a sense of urgency.
"The engineer was blowing his whistle more than usual. I thought that was weird," said a woman waiting for the bus.

A half-hour after the accident, the train remained stopped at the station as police and NJ Transit officials conducted an investigation. Some of the passenger cars were stopped atop the trestle spanning Watchung Avenue.

Bus commuter Elaine Bromka said she had never seen such a large police presence in town. "I counted 22 vehicles," Bromka said.

Four fire trucks and at least six police cars were on site when The Times arrived at 11:25 a.m.
 
 I AM SHAKEN

GOD BLESS EAMONN WHOLLEY AND HIS FAMILY.

WHY?

LENA HORNE: 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HER PASSING

 

 Lena Horne, Singer and Actress, Died at 92

(read more in "THE NEW YORK TIMES" online)

Lena Horne, who broke new ground for black performers when she signed a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night in Manhattan. She was 92. 

 A PIONEER WITH GRACE, VISION, BEAUTY, TALENT AND GUTS.

Alicia Keys needs to start making her biopic--they were separated at birth as far as I'm concerned--GO ALICIA!!! Make us proud...

She was in“Thousands Cheer” (1943), “Broadway Rhythm” (1944), “Two Girls and a Sailor” (1944), “Ziegfeld Follies” (1946), “Words and Music” (1948) — to sing a song or two that, she later recalled, could easily be snipped from the movie when it played in the South, where the idea of an African-American performer in anything but a subservient role in a movie with an otherwise all-white cast was unthinkable.

 

Enlarge This Image

"Ms. Horne in 1981 after she won two Grammy awards for “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.” 

(SIDEBAR: I WAS TAKING FIGURE SKATING AT THE TIME & WAS THE ONLY MAN IN CLASS EXCEPT FOR MY TEACHER--WE WOULD TALK ABOUT LENA ALL THE TIME--HE HAD GONE TO SEE HER ON BROADWAY TONS OF TIMES THEN--I AM THINKING OF HIM TODAY TOO--HOPE YOU'RE WELL JOHN-HE WAS A FORMER ICE CAPADES DANCER)

Her death, at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, was announced by her son-in-law, Kevin Buckley. She lived in Manhattan. In a message of condolence, President Obama said Ms. Horne had "worked tirelessly to further the cause of justice and equality."

Ms. Horne first achieved fame in the 1940s, became a nightclub and recording star in the 1950s and made a triumphant return to the spotlight with a one-woman Broadway show in 1981.

She might have become a major movie star, but she was born 50 years too early: she languished at MGM for years because of her race, although she was so light-skinned that when she was a child other black children had taunt..."

 

WORLD RENOWNED DJ LOSES BATTLE W/ CANCER-R I P

 

 FROM A BLOVED FRIEND, JIMMY DEPRE:

Today the music industry has lost one of it's true heroes.


With a heavy heart I must now report that Peter Rauhofer has lost his battle with brain cancer.
He passed quietly today and is survived by his mother, Helga, who resides in Austria.

She will transport Peter back home to his final resting place there, but to all that knew Peter, his heart will always be in New York City.

It makes me sad, not only that I have lost a friend, but that the world has lost an amazing talent and that future generations will never get to understand the magic that Peter created night after night all over the world.

He is gone too soon but we will always have the vast body of music that Peter left for us.

Through his music, Peter will live forever. 

The brightest stars always burn out too soon. Peter, you were loved and you will be terribly missed. Goodbye my friend. Please rest in peace knowing that you have brought so much joy to so many of us. 

I ask that his true fans keep his legacy alive by sharing his music with anyone who may not have had the opportunity to experience it for themselves.

FEMINIST/EDITOR DIES IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT-68--WHAT?

 


CNN) --" Journalist Mary Thom, a prominent feminist who was an editor of Ms. magazine in its early years, has died. She was 68.

Thom was killed Friday when she crashed her motorcycle on a highway in Yonkers, New York.

She helped found Ms., an influential feminist magazine, and served as an editor there for 20 years.

After leaving in 1992, she worked as editor in chief of the features section of the non-profit Women's Media Center, which works to raise women's visibility in the media.

"Mary was and will always be our moral compass and steady heart," said the center's co-founders Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda in a statement.

"Wherever her friends and colleagues gather, we will always ask the guiding question: What would Mary do?"

Thom had picked up her 1996 Honda Magna 750 from winter storage when she veered into traffic upon entering a highway in Yonkers, north of New York City.

She struck a vehicle and was struck by another, according to her nephew Thom Loubet.

The Westchester County police said it could not make the incident report available until later Sunday.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Thom spent all but 20 years of her life in Manhattan. As a result, her interests straddled the two.

She was an avid fan of comedian Jon Stewart, and she rooted for the Cleveland Indians.

In addition to her work with the magazine and the Women's Media Center, she consulted for several nonprofit women's organizations, including the National Council for Research on Women.

Among the books she authored was one on the history of Ms. Among those she edited was a history of feminist leader Bella Abzug..."

"BUCKWILD" STAR FOUND DEAD-21 YRS OLD--R I P

 



UPDATE (APRIL 13, 2013)--THE SHOW IS OFFICIALLY CANCELLED.



"Shain Gandee (MTV)MTV's controversial reality show "Buckwild" just took a sad turn south. One of its stars, Shain Gandee, was found dead on Monday morning.

The 21-year-old's body was discovered in his Ford Bronco in Sissonville, West Virginia, around 11:30 a.m., alongside the dead bodies of his uncle, David Gandee, and a third unidentified person, according to a Kanawha County official.

Dispatchers received a 911 call around 11:30 a.m. that the missing vehicle had been found. Officers used all-terrain vehicles to access the Bronco, which was found about a mile up a dirt road, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

The reality star and his uncle David, 48, were last seen leaving Larry's Bar in the neighborhood around 3 a.m. and claiming that they were going to go four-wheeling. The pair's family reportedly searched for them on Sunday before calling 911 to declare them missing.
The younger Gandee was still a trash collector for the city of South Charleston when "Buckwild" first began shooting. The show followed a handful of college-aged West Virginians partying – kind of like "Jersey Shore" with a gritty, Southern flair.

Needless to say, there seems to be more drama off-camera than on for its stars. Since the show's premiere in early January, star Salwa Amin has been arrested twice and sent to jail for possession and intent to distribute heroin and OxyContin, while Michael Burford was arrested for a DUI.

Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) reportedly sent a letter to MTV urging the network to put a stop to the show. "As a U.S. Senator, I am repulsed at this business venture, where some Americans are making money off of the poor decisions of our youth,” he said. "I cannot imagine that anyone who loves this country would feel proud profiting off of ‘Buckwild.’ Instead of showcasing the beauty of our people and our state, you preyed on young people, coaxed them into displaying shameful behavior — and now you are profiting from it. That is just wrong."

Still, the show has been renewed for a second season. The show's executive producer, John Stevens, once told Entertainment Weekly that it was Gandee – and the fact that he was a trash collector and had no cell phone – who made him think the show could be interesting..."

YOUNG PROSTITUTES MURDERED IN CUBA

 

Death of 12-year-old girl forces Cuba to confront sex tourism

  SO SAD AND I CAN RELATE...

 LAST TIME I VISITED CUBA I WAS AMAZED AT HOW PREVALENT PROSTITUTION OF MEN, BUT MOSTLY WOMEN, WAS- AND BY WOMEN, I MEAN YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL "GIRLS".

I BECAME THEIR TRUSTED INTERPRETER AT A DANCE CLUB NEAR THE RESORT WHERE I WAS STAYING. THEY KNEW I WAS GAY SO I WAS ABLE TO SOCIALIZE WITH THEM WITHOUT AN AGENDA. IRONICALLY, THEY OFFERED  ME MEN/BOYS THEY KNEW FOR MY "NEEDS" BUT I PASSED, I JUST WANTED TO HANGOUT AND DANCE WITH THEM.

SO MANY GERMANS, CANADIANS AND PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER WERE THERE-NOT TO DANCE-WELL NOT VERTICALLY ANYWAY; OF COURSE, MOST OF THEM WERE FUGLY MIDDLE AGE MEN WHO PROBABLY COULDN'T GET LAID FOR FREE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. IT DISGUSTED ME!

I'M NOT NAIVE, IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES IT'S THE LAW OF THE LAND TO FIND CHEAP PROSTITUTES, BUT IT'S SAD WHEN THEY BECOME YOUR FRIENDS; REGARDLESS OF HOW BRIEF.  I ALSO HAVE SISTERS, NIECES AND MANY WONDERFUL WOMEN IN MY LIFE  THAT I TREASURE SO IT BROUGHT IT TOO CLOSE TO HOME .

THE YOUNG LADIES WOULD HAVE SEX ON THE BEACH AND OTHER CLANDESTINE PLACES IF THEY WERE REALLY IN A BIND OR THE CUSTOMER WAS TOO CHEAP FOR THE "PACKAGE" DEAL--REALLY???
 HOWEVER, MOST OF THE HORNY TOURISTS ACQUIESCED TO THE PACKAGE DEAL: HOTEL, CAB & SEX FOR $35.00--EVERYONE INVOLVED GOT A CUT. 
CAN YOU IMAGINE?

IT BROKE MY HEART. 

MANY WERE DESPERATE TRYING TO RAISE KIDS, AS YOUNG MOTHERS, OR TRYING TO HELP THEIR PARENTS/FAMILIES. 

SOME EVEN WROTE TO ME WHEN I GOT BACK. THEY ALL WANTED TO COME TO THE US FOR A BETTER LIFE, WHICH AT THE TIME, WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.

I THINK OF THEM OFTEN .

GOD BLESS ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN OVER THERE BUT ESPECIALLY THESE VICTIMS OF MURDER.


(FROM "THE MIAMI HERALD"NEWSPAPER)

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/17/3292240_death-of-12-year-old-girl-forces.html#storylink=addthis#storylink=cpThese stories are the result of a joint investigation by Toronto Star reporters Robert Cribb, Jennifer Quinn and Julian Sher, and El Nuevo Herald reporter Juan O. Tamayo.

"For the two Cuban girls, 12 and 13 years old, it was just another sex party with foreign tourists — videotaped, fueled with marijuana and alcohol and sometimes involving sex with both men and women.
But this time 12-year-old Lilian Ramírez Espinosa, an asthmatic, gasped and blacked out.
Her badly decomposed body was found five days later on the isolated outskirts of the eastern city of Bayamo.
The girls “had been prostituting themselves for six months, but one of them had to die before the authorities noticed,” said Havana lawyer Laritza Diversent, who is helping with the appeal by one of the defendants in the case.
Lilian’ death on May 14, 2010, is the best documented and most horrifying example of child prostitution to emerge from Cuba since sex tourism began to blossom there in the early 1990s.

Canadian, Spanish and other tourists are flying to the island for sex with minors, a joint investigation by The Toronto Star and El Nuevo Herald has shown, although the extent of the problem remains unknown.

Cuba’s government “resists discussion of issues that might suggest weaknesses in the governing and social system,” said one report on child sex trafficking, written by U.S. diplomats in Havana in 2010.
Diversent said she was not surprised that girls as young as the ones in Bayamo were having sex-for-pay in a country where kids generally start having sex at the age of 12 or 13 and families face shortages of everything from tomatoes to shoes.

“The only thing never rationed was sex,” she said.

What was surprising, Diversent added, was that three Italians and 10 Cubans were tried and convicted in Ramírez’ death..."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/17/3292240_death-of-12-year-old-girl-forces.html#storylink=addthis#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/17/3292240_death-of-12-year-old-girl-forces.html#storylink=addthis#storylink=cpy

C. EVERETT KOOP DIES--96

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at age 96

1-STOP SMOKING (the labels against the dangers of smoking on side of packs today are his acheviement)

2-LET'S TALK ABOUT AIDS/HIV (one of the first people to have an open dialogue w/ the world about it)

 R I P--long life--great legacy...

FROM CNN ONLINE:

"Koop served as surgeon general from 1982 to 1989, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

He was outspoken on controversial public health issues and did much to raise the profile the office of the surgeon general.

He died peacefully at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College said in a news release announcing his death.

Koop known for anti-smoking campaign

Photos: People we lost in 2013

 

"Dr. Koop did more than take care of his individual patients -- he taught all of us about critical health issues that affect our larger society," said Dartmouth President Carol L. Folt. "Through that knowledge, he empowered each of us to improve our own well-being and quality of life. Dr. Koop's commitment to education allowed him to do something most physicians can only dream of: improving the health of millions of people worldwide."

Koop, called "Chick" by his friends, was perhaps best known for his work around HIV/AIDS. He wrote a brochure about the disease that was sent to 107 million households in the United States in 1988. It was the largest public health mailing ever, according to a biography of Koop on a website of the surgeon general.

Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Dartmouth, Weill Cornell Medical College and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was the author of more than 200 articles and books, and the recipient of various awards. In 1991, Koop won an Emmy for a five-part series on health care reform, Dartmouth said. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995..."

ARPAD MIKLOS DIES--R I P -45

IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART & TEARFUL EMOTIONS THAT I WRITE ABOUT THE DEATH OF ONE OF THE NICEST MEN IN NYC: MY FRIEND, PETER.

TO MANY, HE WAS ARPAD MIKLOS, THE SEXY, SORT AFTER STAR OF THE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND MODEL EXTRAORDINAIRE .
A HUNGARIAN BORN BEAUTY WITH BRAINS, LOOKS AND MOSTLY HEART.



TO ME HE WAS ONE OF MANHATTANS TRUE HUMANITARIANS-HELPING OUT WITH MANY CHARITIES.
HE WITH A WINNING SMILE, A GOOD HEART AND A FUN SENSE OF HUMOR. A FELLOW VIRGO WHO WAS AT ONCE SHY AND YET  IRRESISTIBLE. YOU HAD TO TALK TO HIM. HIS AURA WAS OF A SPECIAL LIGHT.

ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS THIS LAST CHRISTMAS SEASON WAS GOOFING AROUND WITH HIM AND FRIENDS, JUST LETTING OUR HAIR DOWN & BEING SILLY.

THANK GOD I WAS SMART ENOUGH TO CHERISH THOSE MOMENTS IN PICTURES FOR THAT IS HOW I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM. 

GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIEND.
YOUR LIGHT WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE IN MY HEART, AS WELL AS, THOSE YOU HELPED IN WAYS OF WHICH YOU'LL NEVER BE AWARE.

(A MEMORIAL SERVICE THIS SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2012 AT G-LOUNGE IN NYC  5-8PM)
 
----------------------------------------------------
UPDATE (FEBRUARY 20, 2013): PLEASE READ FROM "THE ADVOCATE" MAGAZINE A POWERFUL STORY ABOUT PETER (ARPAD) FROM A PERSON WHO'S LIFE HE DIDN'T JUST TOUCH BUT DRAMATICALLY CHANGED---

Op-ed: Porn God, Good Samaritan and Incredible Loss

Writer Hobart Fowlkes's encounter with Péter Kozma, known to many as porn performer Arpad Miklos, changed his life.

BY Hobart Fowlkes

______________________________________________________________________-_______

WHAT IS HAPPENING LATELY IN THIS "INDUSTRY"? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THOSE WE MISS CLUES ABOUT? WHY IS LIFE SO BLEAK SOMETIMES THAT THE ONLY WAY OUT IS HOPELESSNESS THUS LEAVING THIS WORLD PREMATURELY?

MAYOR KOCH DIES- 88--R I P

New York's brash former mayor, Ed Koch, dies at 88..

FAR FROM BEING A PERFECT MAYOR REGARDING BEING HONEST ABOUT HIS SEXUALITY & THE LACK OF SUPPORT FOR THE AIDS CAUSE. 

____________________________________

THEN SUPPORTING BUSH (YIKES!). 

____________________________________

HOWEVER, EVERYONE WAS SCARED & CONFUSED ABOUT HIV/AIDS THEN. 

_____________________________________

BESIDES NOT COOPERATING FULLY WITH THE LGBT COMMUNITY & IT'S NEEDS, PERCEIVED RACISM FINALLY GOT HIM VOTED OUT

_____________________________________

HE DOES LEAVE A LEGACY WORTH STUDYING ON HOW TO DO THINGS SUCCESSFULLY USING CHARM & FLAIR; HOPEFULLY, WE WILL NOT MAKE HIS SAME MISTAKES SHIELDING HIS IGNORANCE WITH THAT SAME FLAIR & CHARM (BE CAREFUL OF THE INTENTIONS BEHIND THE SMILES).

 

(CNN) -- Ed Koch, the brash former New York City mayor who typically greeted constituents with a "How'm I doin'?" died Friday at the age of 88, his spokesman said.Koch died of congestive heart failure, spokesman George Arzt said. The former mayor felt very tired Thursday morning and was admitted to the intensive care unit, Artz said. Koch lost consciousness that afternoon and ultimately passed away around 2 a.m. Friday.
 

The lawyer-turned-public servant was a U.S. congressman from 1968 until he ran for mayor of the city in 1977 He served three terms until David Dinkins defeated him in a Democratic primary.

Koch told New York magazine in 1998: "I think my personality was helpful in this job. I always had a great sense of humor, though I am also pretty reserved personally. I mean, I don't go to chichi parties; never did. I don't like going to dinners other than small dinners at the homes of people. But I realized that if I was to harness the energies of the people of the city of New York and give them back their pride, I would have to become bigger than life. And I did."

 For two years starting in 1997, he was the judge on the syndicated show "The People's Court."

 Only three New York mayors were ever reelected twice -- Fiorello LaGuardia and Robert Wagner.

Koch, who never married, was often criticized by playwright, novelist and LGBT rights advocate Larry Kramer for not doing more to stop the spread of AIDS in New York."He was a closeted gay man, and he did not want in any way to be associated with this," Kramer declared to New York magazine.

Koch found discussions of his sexuality to be humorous. (hmmmm-really?)

Last Andrews Sister, Patty, dies at 94

Los Angeles (CNN) -- "Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, died at her Northridge, California, home Wednesday, her publicist Alan Eichler said.
She was 94.

The Andrews Sisters began singing on Minnesota radio stations in the 1920s, but after several years on the Vaudeville circuit they began a recording career that made them one of the most successful female groups ever.

One of their biggest hits was "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," which became a World War II anthem. The Recording Industry of America Association and the National Endowment for the Arts placed it as the sixth on its "Songs of the Century" list in 2001..."

THE DIVINE MISS "M"--BETTE MIDLER DOES A GREAT TRIBUTE TO THEM IN HER ALBUM OF THE SAME NAME:

		Bette Midler Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
		The Divine Miss M Atlantic 1972

(SHHH,  BUT I LIKE IT BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL)

DEAR ABBY DIES (SHE WAS ALIVE?)-R I P -94

"CNN) -- Pauline Phillips, better known to millions of newspaper readers for decades as the Dear Abby advice columnist, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease, her family said Thursday.

She died Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 94.

Phillips' columns were published in an era when newspaper readers began to prize straight-talking, pithy advice about marriages, children, jobs -- just about anything that troubled people.

Phillips wrote under the pen name of Abigail Van Buren, shortened to "Dear Abby" in newspapers. "Abigail" was taken from the wise woman in the Old Testament and "Van Buren" was one of her favorite presidents.

The first Dear Abby column appeared in 1956, and Phillips continued writing the advice feature until 2000...

THIS ARTICLE IS BY MICHAEL MARTINEZ (not related--lol)

WAS NATALIE WOOD KILLED? NEW EVIDENCE

"The actress' death certificate was amended back in August 2012, with the cause of death being changed from an accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors." But information as to why the change was made was not released until Monday, when the corner's office put out a 10-page supplement to the actress' autopsy report.

The supplement notes that "bruises especially in the upper extremities appeared fresh and could have occurred before (Wood) entered the water." It also says that "the location of the bruises, the multiplicity of the bruises, lack of head trauma, or facial bruising support bruising having occurred prior to the entry into the water..."

 

 

"In 2011, Dennis Davern, captain of the Splendour, publicly urged homicide investigators to look further into Wood's death. He co-authored a 2009 book about the case, "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour."
Also in 2011, Davern told NBC's David Gregory on TODAY that he had "made some terrible decisions and mistakes" relating to his own reporting of the events, admitting that he had lied on a police report..."  (NBC.com)