In First Blood is mentioned:
1 Medal of Honor
Per dialogue in Rambo: First Blood Part II, during his Vietnam era service, Rambo was awarded:
2 Silver Star
4 Bronze Stars for Valor
4 Purple Heart
1 Distinguished Service Cross
1 Medal of Honor
In a deleted scene from Rambo III, Rambo's "Class A" uniform can clearly be seen with the following 13 ribbons:
Medal of Honor - Awarded two and refused another
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Flying Cross
Soldier's Medal
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Air Medal
Combat Action Ribbon
Vietnam Service Medal
Prisoner of War Medal
Army Service Ribbon
Vietnam Wound Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Various special duty badges can also be seen on Rambo's "Class A" uniform, including:
Combat Infantryman Badge
Aircraft Crewman Badge
Senior Combat Parachutist Badge
Expert Weapons Qualification Badge
Robert "Budd" Dwyer was an American politician who, on the morning of January 22, 1987, committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a revolver during a televised press conference.
On January 22, 1987, Dwyer called a press conference. Dwyer stopped with his prepared text and called to three of his staffers, giving each an envelope. One of the envelopes contained a suicide note to his wife. The second contained an organ donor card and other related materials. The third contained a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey, who had taken office only two days before.
After handing out all three envelopes, Dwyer opened a manila envelope and withdrew a .357 Magnum revolver, advising those in the crowd, "Please leave the room if you think this will offend you." Those in attendance cried out to Dwyer, pleading with him to put the gun down; "Budd, don't do this!", "Budd, this is not right!", and "Budd, listen to me!" can be heard off-screen. Some tried to approach him. "Don't, don't, don't, this will hurt someone," he warned. Amid the cry of "Budd, Budd, Budd!" Dwyer put the gun barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. He collapsed against a wall in a sitting position, blood pouring from his nose and an exit wound at the top of his head, all in front of five television news cameras while witnesses were screaming and using profanity in shock. Dwyer was declared dead at the scene at 11:31 a.m. EST.
Yes, it's off to Clearfield PA and Denny's Beer Barrel again...
Victor Lustig (January 4, 1890 – March 11, 1947) was a Jewish con artist who undertook scams in various countries and became best known as "the man who sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice.".
Lustig's first con involved a "money-printing machine". He would demonstrate the capability of the small box to clients, all the while lamenting that it took the device six hours to copy a $100 bill. The client, sensing huge profits, would buy the machines for a high price, usually over $30,000. Over the next twelve hours, the machine would produce two more $100 bills. After that, it produced only blank paper, as its supply of $100 bills became exhausted. By the time the clients realized that they had been scammed, Lustig was long gone.
In 1925, France had recovered from World War I, and Paris was booming, an excellent environment for a con artist. Lustig's master con came to him one spring day when he was reading a newspaper. An article discussed the problems the city was having maintaining the Eiffel Tower. Even keeping it painted was an expensive chore, and the tower was becoming somewhat run down. Lustig saw the possibilities behind this article and developed a remarkable scheme.
Lustig had a forger produce fake government stationery for him and invited six scrap metal dealers to a confidential meeting at the Hotel de Crillon, one of the most prestigious of the old Paris hotels, to discuss a possible business deal. All six attended the meeting. There, Lustig introduced himself as the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. He explained that they had been selected on the basis of their good reputations as honest businessmen, and then dropped his bombshell.
Lustig told the group that the upkeep on the Eiffel Tower was so outrageous that the city could not maintain it any longer, and wanted to sell it for scrap. Due to the certain public outcry, he went on, the matter was to be kept secret until all the details were thought out. Lustig said that he had been given the responsibility to select the dealer to carry out the task. The idea was not as implausible in 1925 as it would be today. The Eiffel Tower had been built for the 1889 Paris Exposition, and was not intended to be permanent. It was to have been taken down in 1909 and moved somewhere else. It did not fit with the city's other great monuments like the Gothic cathedrals or the Arc de Triomphe, and at the time, it really was in poor condition.
Lustig took the men to the tower in a rented limousine for an inspection tour. It gave Lustig the opportunity to gauge which of them was the most enthusiastic and gullible. Lustig asked for bids to be submitted the next day, and reminded them that the matter was a state secret. In reality, Lustig already knew he would accept the bid from one dealer, Andre Poisson (interestingly, in French the word poisson, which means "fish" in English, is also used as a derogatory epithet for someone who is particularly gullible). Poisson was insecure, feeling he was not in the inner circles of the Parisian business community, and thought that obtaining the Eiffel Tower deal would put him in the big league.
However, Poisson's wife was suspicious, wondering who this official was, why everything was so secret, and why everything was being done so quickly. To deal with her suspicion, Lustig arranged another meeting, and then "confessed". As a government minister, Lustig said, he did not make enough money to pursue the lifestyle he enjoyed, and needed to find ways to supplement his income. This meant that his dealings needed a certain discretion. Poisson understood immediately. He was dealing with another corrupt government official who wanted a bribe. That put Poisson's mind at rest immediately, since he was familiar with the type and had no problems dealing with such people.
So Lustig not only received the funds for the Eiffel Tower, he also collected a large bribe. Lustig and his personal secretary, a Franco American con man Robert Arthur Tourbillon also known as Dan Collins, hastily took a train for Vienna with a suitcase full of cash.
Surprisingly, nothing happened. Poisson was too humiliated to complain to the police. A month later, Lustig returned to Paris, selected six more scrap dealers, and tried to sell the Tower once more. This time, the chosen victim went to the police before Lustig could close the deal, but Lustig and Collins managed to evade arrest.
Later, Lustig convinced Al Capone to invest $50,000 in a stock deal. Lustig kept Capone's money in a safe deposit box for two months, then returned it to him, claiming that the deal had fallen through. Impressed with Lustig's integrity, Capone gave him $5,000. It was, of course, all that Lustig was after.
MORE HERE.
WARNING: THIS MIGHT BE STRETCHING SOME PEOPLE'S TASTE.
A brand-new 37-inch Sony flat screen television for $100? Great deal — until you take it out of the box and realize you just bought an oven door.
San Leandro police Lt. Pete Ballew called it a variation on the old "rocks in a box" scam, in which a box is presented as containing new, expensive electronics for sale but is actually full of rocks.
On Wednesday San Leandro police pulled over a man who had in his car a box containing what appeared to be an expensive 37-inch flat-screen television, but in actuality was a glass oven door cleverly disguised as a TV. The man is suspected of trying to sell the item for $100 in the parking lot of the San Lorenzo Wal-Mart.
"It was very ingenious," Ballew said. "If you were a bargain hunter, you might think, 'Wow, this is the deal of the day."
Police got an anonymous call Wednesday from someone who raised suspicions about a man who tried to sell him a television out of his beige 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The witness said the seller told him he had bought the TV for $60 at a flea market.
Later, Sgt. Luis Torres stopped the Cutlass after spotting it driving through San Leandro. The driver, Anthony Myles, 52, of Richmond, was arrested for driving on a suspended license. No charges were filed against Myles' passenger, a 53-year-old man.
The television in question was in the back of the car wrapped in packaging material. It had installation instructions on the back, a Best Buy price sticker for $1,949 and accompanying electric cables. Police confiscated the item, but no charges were filed in relation to its attempted sale.
"In today's economy, people are looking to save costs," Ballew said. "People will buy the story that people need to make rent and sold their TV on the cheap. But if you think you're getting something for nothing, you're probably getting nothing for something."
I know it's silly season, but the fact that this was actually on the evening news is still quite amazing. I can only assume they had absolutely nothing to fill their air time with and so and went and found a couple of complete fruit buns and simply filmed them.
Syracuse Common Councilor Michael Heagerty needed 335 valid signatures on his petitions to run for re-election on the Democratic Party line, a generally routine task for any incumbent. He was mortified to find Wednesday that he ended up one signature short.
And that he forgot to sign his own petition.
On Wednesday evening, a reporter broke the news to Heagerty that he didn't sign. "I didn't sign my own petition? You've got to be kidding me," he said.
Full story here.
An interesting article that goes to show that far from being the laid back cool kid everyone wanted to be back in the 1980s, Ferris Bueller was actually a dangerous psychopath...
Julian Brooker apology
IN an article published on The Sun website on January 27 under the headline 'Gollum joker killed in live rail horror’ we incorrectly stated that Julian Brooker, 23, of Brighton, was blown 15ft into the air after accidentally touching a live railway line. His parents have asked us to make clear he was not turned into a fireball, was not obsessed with the number 23 and didn’t go drinking on that date every month.
Julian’s mother did not say, during or after the inquest, her son often got on all fours creeping around their house pretending to be Gollum.
Also, quotes from a witness should have been attributed to Gemma Costin not Eva Natasha. We apologise for the distress this has caused Julian’s family and friends.
The Sun
Yet another legend has passed away. Yesterday John Hughes died of a heart attack. John Hughes is the man responsible for some of the great movies of my childhood - not least Ferris Bueller's day off, which is one of my all time favourites. He also made Uncle Buck, Home Alone, Weird Science, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and The Breakfast Club.
And here's why they are so hated - the most ridiculous, toe curling, clichéd, embarrassing interview ever given by anybody on British television. It is like a modern day Spinal Tap:
It just gets worse and worse and worse in part two...
Late at night on 1st August 2009, a 15-minute TV promotional video featuring music by Raygun along with an extended interview was broadcast on British TV network Channel 4 in their 4Play slot. The interview segments from the video were uploaded by a viewer to YouTube, and the clip quickly began to gain notoriety, mainly for the supposedly naive or cliched responses given by the band. After being featured on the NME website under the title "The Video That Made Me Laugh Until I Cried Today" and The Guardian website under the subhead: "The world sinks to a new low", particularly mocking the lead singers comment of "We might have mojitos at 11am in the morning! I mean, what the hell, man?". Sony BMG issued a take-down notice for the video, leading to accusations that they were attempting to shield the band from criticism. In fact, the footage is freely available elsewhere on YouTube.
Wikipedia
In the second season episode "All Americans," Al notes that he is watching Super Bowl XXX and that the Steelers are three points behind. The game did in fact feature the Steelers, who trailed the Dallas Cowboys by three points—20-17—midway through the fourth quarter. This is notable because the episode was filmed over six years before the game actually took place.
World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.