James Lee Environmental Mad Man Shot Dead, Hostages Safe By Suzannah B. Troy

James Lee, the mad man that took over The Discovery Channel is dead.  I may have been the first blogger to report the news as it was happening because I was watching ABC News and the reporters kept asking the police is he alive and they did not answer.  The spokesman said we have him in custody.  I believe one of his bombs went off as well as the police shooting him and the reporters kept asking than why haven't you rushed him to the hospital.

See my blog posting  early tonight.  At the time I posted the press still did not have the news whether Lee was alive or not.   Well now we have the answer.  There was no need for an ambulance to rush him to the hospital because he was in fact dead at the scene.  The good news is no one else is dead.

TMZ has a series of reports you might want to check out including the fact that James Lee was ordered to a Mental Institution in 2008.

I am sure there will be a lot of very detailed information tomorrow about his death and the survivors of the ordeal as well as information from law enforcement.

I have highest praise for the brave police officers that clearly did a good job because the hostages were not injured and also for whom ever over saw the evacuation especially of the children at the day care center.

Apple iTunes Ping, Seesmic Ping.fm : I'm Confused

Loic is being punished for this photo

Today, Steve Jobs announced the new iTunes 10 with a number of special features this space will discuss later.

But the overall question for the day is that Apple iTunes has a new social network that for some reason Apple calls Ping. But the problem is Seesmic also has a social networking site called - you guessed it - Ping.

This blogger is confused.

Ping.fm by Seesmic is designed to allow you to access all of the social networks you're on that it offers.

By contrast Apple iTunes Ping is a social network for music. OK. I get that, but does that mean I can ping my ping?

How did this happen? Well, either Steve Jobs has it in for Seesmic Founder Loic Le Meur, or something else.

Maybe Steve's punishing him for having his photo taken with President Bush instead of President Obama!

Stay tuned.

Hurricane Earl people preparing by Suzannah B. Troy

Hurricane Earl is not going to directly hit NYC and NJ but is expected to cause some trouble so people are on alert.   New York's Dept. of Building is making sure all constructions sites are secure and if not expect fines.  Fire Island in Long Island does not have to evacuate at least not yet.


Right now Hurricane Earl is category 4.   It is dicey whether Earl will be more smoke than fire but let us hope all will be safe from loved ones things we love....

All along the Eastern Coast people are making choices whether to cut their vacations short especially folks in North Carolina where people have been given mixed messages that the storm will barely touch or the opposite.  Rather than be safe than sorry some people are packing it in or boarding up windows to be safe.

Actually in Ocracoke Island on the outer banks of North Carolina there is a mandatory evacuation according to Daego.com.

Here in the NYC area only beach erosion but we will see if there is any fall-out.

Thanks for tuning in....
Suzannah

Armed Protestor Captured, Hostages Released Discovery Channel Building by Suzannah B. Troy

Fox News Channel reports an armed man has hostages in the Discovery building in Silver Spring, M.D., a suburb of Washington, D.C.  The man is a regular protester of the Discovery Channel and the Montgomery County Police are negotiating with him.  His name is James Lee was said to have entered the building with a small gun, took a small group of hostage and has some kind of bomb looking structure front and back.


He was arrested before for protesting the Discovery Channel which he plans as being part of the problem.

As I am writing this channel 7 news reported they have captured the protester.  He went down and the explosive device went off.  James Lee was said to have had a wide range of emotions during the hours of negotiations.

We do not have any information on if the suspect is alive but in theory he is alive because he is in custody.   He may not be removed to be taken to the hospital yet because the building is not yet considered secure.

The 3 hostages are safe!   There were also children in the building at a day care center and they were all safely evacuated.  Repeat every one is safe except for the armed protester who is in police custody.

The shooting happened at 4:48.  He was shot by the police.  There may be more devices in the building -- they may be back packs with bombs.

Apple News Ping Music Innovations by Suzannah B. Troy

Apple has a big meeting Wednesday and is generating a lot of excitement as usual..  I wasn't invited so I can only paste information I have gleaned from articles but anyone who knows me know I converted to Apple 3 years ago and drank the kool aid.

Matt Rosoff followed "Apple's music event keynote live on his MacBook.

The hot item is Ping as described by Kay Moeller from Technology.gather.com"
"Music lovers may be excited about the iTunes upgrade that comes with a built in feature called Ping which works on the iPod Touch and the iPhone and is described as a social network for music. Ping will allow you to follow your favorite music and friends and Jobs described it as "Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes."

And if this is not enough news here is The New York Times blogging live from the event....some people have all the luck, and or a press pass....sigh.

Here is a review from Mac World...

Best from Suzannah B. Troy
NYC, hard core Apple lover, converted 3 years ago....

Dow Jones Index At 10269.47 On Manufacturing Data News

As the economy is the constant focus, the Dow Jones Index today is at 10269.47, as better than expected Chinese manufacturing data leads the way toward robust trading according to MarketWatch.

Why, you ask, is the Dow over 10,000 and increased even as unemployment in America and around the World is so high? Because it's forgotten that the American economy had actually shrank for a period of almost two years until the Economic Stimulus package pumped enough money into the economy to fuel growth in overall Gross Domestic Product.

The United States lost so many jobs and consumer demand decreased so much that what we have now is a smaller economy. The Dow Jones reflects how businesses are doing within the current structure, it doesn't factor in such considerations as long term or short term economic change.

The Dow Jones reflects how investors evaluate the economy at the moment. Today, investors are taking a bullish bet on the economic future of America and the World.

But what the Obama Administration and Democrats need to do is keep trying to pass legislation that helps American small business, even as Republicans vote down the proposals. Also, tell people about those proposals and Republican opposition to them.

And forget the polls, which this corner believes are fixed anyway.

More on that later.

Oakland Election News: Jennifer Pae, Jean Quan, Courtney Ruby

Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan 

The latest Oakland Election News has Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Jean Quan and Oakland City Council District Two Candidate Jennifer Pae and Oakland's current City Auditor Courtney Ruby landing the endorsement of The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club of Oakland.

The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club's (WDRC) endorsement process started with a meeting last Thursday night, where members nominated candidates for consideration. For Oakland Mayor, only two candidates were named for consideration: Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Jean Quan. For Oakland City Council District Two, only Jennifer Pae was named for consideration and not the incumbent Pat Kernighan. For City Auditor, only Ruby was named for consideration.

The WDRC counted ballots and on Monday announced the votes for endorsements, and released the results on its website on Monday. Here's the full list of Oakland and Berkeley WDRC endorsements:

Oakland Propositions
MEASURE L - Oakland School District Parcel tax -- YES
MEASURE V - Marijuana Taxes -- YES
MEASURE W - Telephone Access Line Tax -- YES
MEASURE X - Public Safety Parcel Tax -- YES
MEASURE Y - Amendment (Restorepolics officer positions) -- YES

Berkeley
Berkeley Auditor: Ann Marie Hogan
Berkeley City Council District 1: Linda Maio
Berkeley City Council District 4: NO ENDORSEMENT
Berkeley City Council District 7 (runoff) -- NO ENDORSEMENT

Berkeley School Board: 3 Endorsed
Joshua Daniels
Karen Hemphill
Leah Wilson

Oakland
Oakland Auditor: Courtney Ruby
Oakland City Council District 2: Jennifer Pae
Oakland City Council District 4 (runoff) -- NO ENDORSEMENT
Oakland Mayor -- Jean Quan

EBMUD Director: Andy Katz
Peralta Community College Trustee: Abel Guillen
Superior Court Judge: Victoria Kolakawski

For more information on endorsements visit the WDRC website at wellstoneclub.org.