Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? One day 2020 will be the one-word catchphrase for everything messed up and band; "How's your day?" "A total 2020." "Say no more..." "Full House" star and former Hallmark Channel regular Lori Loughlin has been sentenced to two months in prison for her role in paying bribes to get her daughters into the University of Southern California. Loughlin had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in May. The sentencing hearing, which took place over Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions, also saw Loughlin hit with a $150,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. US district judge Nathaniel Gorton presided. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were indicted in “Operation Varsity Blues” in March 2019 along with dozens of other wealthy and famous individuals who bribed their kids’ way into elite colleges by falsely placing them on athletic teams or helping them cheat on their SATs or ACTs. Loughlin and Giannulli were accused of spending $500,000 in bribes to the college scam’s ringleader, William “Rick” Singer, to get their daughters into USC by posing them as members of the rowing team. Loughlin’s daughters, Isabella Rose Giannulli and Olivia Jade Giannulli were not charged with any crimes. Giannulli, who was found to be the more active participant between himself and Loughlin in the family’s role in the scandal, was sentenced to five months in prison, ordered to pay a $250,000 fine, and complete 250 hours of community service. Loughlin apologized for her role in the scandal, telling the judge, with tears in her eyes, that she understands that her actions exacerbated existing inequalities in the education system. Back in September of 2019 the other high profile celebrity involved in the Varsity Blues scandal, Felicity Huffman of "Desperate Housewives" fame, was sentenced to 14 days in prison for paying $15,000 to have her daughter’s incorrect test answers corrected (unbeknownst to her daughter). Huffman, who unlike Loughlin admitted guilt as soon as she was caught, ended up only serving 11 days.
The Golden State Killer, 74-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for a string of nearly 50 rapes and 13 slayings that terrorized California for decades. A Sacramento judge sentenced DeAngelo to multiple life sentences on Friday, burning an end to the case of one of the nation’s more infamous and prolific serial predators. The sentence was expected after DeAngelo reached a plea deal with prosecutors in six California counties. The plea required him to plead guilty or admit his guilt in dozens of crimes in exchange for being spared the possibility of the death penalty. DeAngelo showed no emotion as the sentence was read by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman. He sat in between his public defenders while wearing a surgical mask and a white sweatshirt. Bowman praised the detectives and victims who worked to bring the serial rapist to justice, making sure DeAngelo understood the enormity of his awful crimes. He told the defendant, “When a person commits monstrous acts, they need to be locked away so they don’t hurt other people.” The two-hour sentencing hearing followed three days of testimonies from dozens of victims, who described in gruesome detail the attacks that left them robbed and scared of them of innocence and their loved ones. Joseph DeAngelo was described as a “sick monster,” a “subhuman,” and a “horrible man.” The daughter of one of the victims raised her middle finger while testified, telling DeAngelo he could go to hell. Another detailed testimony spoke about how the girl woke up from a nap as a 7-year-old in the mid-70s to find DeAngelo wearing a mask standing over her mother who had been bound, gagged, and raped in their Sacramento-area home. The woman, who compared the killer to fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter, stated he had told her mother he might cut off her daughter’s ear and bring it to her if the girl woke the girl. DeAngelo’s victims were numerous which is why the sentencing hearing was staged in Sacramento State University ballroom to make more space and offer social distancing due to the coronavirus. DeAngelo, who never publicly addressed his crimes, stood up and offered an apology before he was sentenced. He stated, “I’ve listened to all your statements. Each one of them, and I am really sorry to everyone I’ve hurt.” DeAngelo’s spree of killing and raping stretched from 1975 to 1986 and spanned a wide geographical area that authorities initially thought there were multiple suspects. He was alternately known as the “East Area Rapist,” “The Original Night Stalker,” the “Visalia Ransacker,” and finally “The Golden State Killer.”
Situations like these are the reasons why CPR training is important to have, whether you’re a home healthcare worker or a fast food worker. And Sonja Frazier, a Taco Bell employee in Clarksville, Tennessee, showed how useful the training is when she saved a man’s life, after he seemingly passed out in the drive-thru line last Wednesday. Sonja realized something was very wrong when she noticed how long the line was getting at the Tennessee drive-thru window. She told WSMV, an NBC affiliate, “That’s when I tried to find a pulse because I noticed when we got him out, his ears, lips, fingertips, everything was blue,” which is a very good observation to make in a situation like this. Full disclosure, I don’t think many people could make the deduction so calmly, considering many would be freaking out, not knowing what to do. So Sonja went immediately into action, looking for a pulse. Again, another correct action to take in a situation like this. She pulled the unconscious man into the parking lot, and starting to perform CPR compressions on him once she realized how vague is pulse was. I have to commend her judgments in this incident because, again, I don’t think many people could make the right decision under this kind of pressure like she did. She told Clarksville Now, “I started CPR until the fire truck came. It seemed like it took a while,” detailing what she did, she continued, “I pulled his jaw down. He gasped. I kept talking to him. I asked (my co-worker) to see if he had a license so I could call him by name. I kept calling him by his last name and talking to him.” After turning him over to the first responders, Sonja finally let go of the emotions she was so bravely holding in to save this man’s life, and “went and smoke a cigarette and cried like a baby.” According to WSMV, the man actually reached out to her on Facebook to thank her for saving his life. In a humble response, she said, “He reached out to me and told me he was okay and that I saved his life, and he didn’t know how to repay me, and I told him that was payment enough, to know that he was okay.” And even to have such humility after saving a customer’s life is so commendable. Luckily, Sonja actually has a background in healthcare which is how she was able to act quickly and smartly under the pressure. Crazily enough, this is her third time doing CPR at work, and she’s thankful she was there since she normally works the night shift. And heeding words from wise ones like her, she recommends that people get certified as well.
Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a vow to be a unifying “ally of the light” who would move an America in crisis past the chaos of President Donald Trump’s tenure. In his strongest remarks of the campaign, Biden spoke Thursday night both of returning the United States to its traditional leadership role in the world and of the deeply personal challenges that shaped his life. Virtually every sentence of his 22-minute speech was designed to present a sharp, yet hopeful, contrast with the Republican incumbent. “Here and now I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. l’ll be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” Biden said. “Make no mistake, united we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America.” For the 77-year-old Biden, the final night of the Democratic National Convention was bittersweet. He accepted a nomination that had eluded him for over three decades because of personal tragedy, political stumbles and rivals who proved more dynamic. But the coronavirus denied him the typical celebration, complete with the customary balloon drop that both parties often use to fete their new nominees. Instead, Biden spoke to a largely empty arena near his Delaware home. Afterward, fireworks lit the sky outside the arena, where supporters waited in a parking lot, honking horns and flashing headlights in a moment that finally lent a jovial feel to the event. The keynote address was the speech of a lifetime for Biden, who would be the oldest president ever elected if he defeats Trump in November. Trump, who is 74, publicly doubts Biden’s mental capacity and calls him “Slow Joe,” but with the nation watching, Biden was firm and clear. Still, the convention leaned on a younger generation earlier in the night to help energize his sprawling coalition. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois senator who lost her legs in Iraq and is raising two young children, said Biden has “common decency.” Cory Booker, only the ninth African-American senator in U.S. history, said Biden believes in the dignity of all working Americans. And Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and a gay military veteran, noted that Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage as vice president even before President Barack Obama. “Joe Biden is right, this is a contest for the soul of the nation. And to me that contest is not between good Americans and evil Americans,” Buttigieg said. “It’s the struggle to call out what is good for every American.” Above all, Biden focused on uniting the nation as Americans grapple with the long and fearful health crisis, the related economic devastation, a national awakening on racial justice... and Trump, who stirs heated emotions from all sides. Biden’s positive focus Thursday night marked a break from the dire warnings offered by Obama and others the night before. The 44th president of the United States warned that American democracy itself could falter if Trump is reelected, while Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, the 55-year-old California senator and daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, warned that Americans’ lives and livelihoods were at risk. Biden’s Democratic Party has sought this week to put forward a cohesive vision of values and policy priorities, highlighting efforts to combat climate change, tighten gun laws and embrace a humane immigration policy. They have drawn a sharp contrast with Trump’s policies and personality, portraying him as cruel, self-centered and woefully unprepared to manage virtually any of the nation’s mounting crises and policy challenges. Vice President Mike Pence, interviewed Friday on several morning talk shows, criticized Democrats as presenting “a very grim picture of the United States” and said the Republican National Convention next week will focus on what Trump has accomplished, including on the economy and with his coronavirus response. Voting was another prime focus of the convention on Thursday as it has been all week. Democrats fear that the pandemic... and Trump administration changes at the U.S. Postal Service... may make it difficult for voters to cast ballots in person or by mail. Comedian Sarah Cooper, a favorite of many Democrats for her videos lip syncing Trump’s speeches, put it bluntly, “Donald Trump doesn’t want any of us to vote because he knows he can’t win fair and square.” Biden’s call for unity comes as some strategists worry that Democrats cannot retake the White House simply by tearing Trump down, that Biden needs to give his sprawling coalition something to vote for. That’s easier said than done in a modern Democratic Party made up of disparate factions that span generation, race and ideology. Though he has been in the public spotlight for decades as a Delaware senator, much of the electorate knows little about Biden’s background before he began serving as Obama’s vice president in 2008. Thursday’s convention served as a national reintroduction of sorts that drew on some of the most painful moments of his life. “I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes,” Biden said. He added, “I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose.” As a schoolboy, Biden was mocked by classmates and a nun for a severe stutter. He became a widower at just 30 after losing his wife and infant daughter to a car accident. And just five years ago, he buried his eldest son, who was stricken by cancer. From such hardship, Biden developed a deep sense of empathy that has defined much of his political career. And throughout the convention, Biden’s allies testified that such empathy, backed by decades of governing experience, makes him the perfect candidate to guide the nation back from mounting health and economic crises. His allies Thursday included Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old boy from Concord, New Hampshire. The boy said he and Biden were “members of the same club,” each with a stutter they’re working to overcome. He noted that Biden told him about a book of poems he liked to read aloud to practice his speech and showed the boy how he marks his speeches so they’re easier to read aloud. “I’m just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me more confident about a thing that’s bothered me my whole life,” Harrington said. The end of the carefully scripted convention now gives way to a far less-predictable period for Biden and his Democratic Party as the 2020 election season speeds to its uncertain conclusion. While Election Day isn’t until November 3rd, early voting gets underway in several battleground states in just one month. Biden has maintained a polling advantage over Trump for much of the year, but it remains to be seen whether the Democratic nominee’s approach to politics and policy will genuinely excite the coalition he’s courting in an era of uncompromising partisanship. Biden summed up his view of the campaign, “We choose a path of becoming angry, less hopeful and more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion, or we can choose a different path and together take this chance to heal.”
The billboard of Breonna Taylor in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky was vandalized. The billboard, which is part of a larger campaign that is demanding Justice for Taylor’s death, now features a very large splatter of paint on her head. Near the area of Lexington Road and Spring Street, it shows red paint splattered right in the center of Taylor’s forehead resembling a bullet wound. According to CBS Louisville affiliate WLKY-TV the billboard is among 26 that represent each year of Taylor’s life and was erected around the city by and sponsored by Oprah Winfrey’s magazine earlier this month. The image is the same one that was used on the September cover of O, The Oprah Magazine, which marks the first time in the publication history let someone other than Winfrey was featured on the cover. All billboards have the same clear call-to-action, “Demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged. Visit UntilFreedom.com.” There is also a quote by Winfrey herself, stating, “if you turn a blind eye to the system, you become an accomplice to it.” The sign directs people to the social justice organization Until Freedom, which has now taken up residence in Louisville to focus on getting justice for Taylor. According to O Magazine, the online statement directs people to sign petitions that demand justice for Taylor, call Kentucky officials and donate to several local bail funds using #SayHerName on social media. A spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department spoke about the vandalism saying they “were made aware, via social media, of the damage” on the billboards. When officers went to check on the Breonna Taylor billboard, there was no damage visible. As of this writing, no reports have been filed.” WLKY reported that the sign was later replaced or cleaned. Taylor’s death was one of several this year, including that of George Floyd, which sparked a national drive to end excessive use of force by police officers. Taylor was killed on March 13th by police and her home with a no-knock warrant. Officers fatally shot Taylor, EMT worker, while looking for drugs that were never found. Only one of the three officers involved in the death, Brett Hankison, has been fired, and none have been charged. Taylor’s family did file a lawsuit against the officers back in May accusing them of wrongful death, gross negligence, and excessive force. In June, Mayor Greg Fischer signed the “Breonna’s Law” which bands use of no-knock search warrants, and it requires officers to wear body cameras whenever they execute a search warrant. The father of Michael Brown Jr., who’s also shot to death by police in Ferguson Missouri back in 2014, has called for justice in Taylor’s case and also traveled to Louisville recently to join the protest with until freedom. This week, former First Lady Michelle Obama referenced Taylor’s death while delivering a speech during the first night of the Democratic National Convention. Obama stated, “Here at home, as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered. Stating the simple fact that a black life matters is still met with derision from the nation’s highest office. Sadly, this is the America that’s on display for the next generation.” Taylor’s death by Louisville police officers is currently under investigation by Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron.
Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...
Ummm... maybe not. In many places, masks are mandatory, so you as well make it your own. There's a mask for every fashion and fandom, and there can also be a mask for every face. People order custom-made masks with photos of their face on them to try and achieve a realistic look. Try being the most important word.
Here's another funny and creative way to tell people to wear a mask...
Strip. If I had a TARDIS I would try to meet three Queens but knowing my luck they'd be in mourning...
I'd show up at the funeral for King George VI who died in 1952. I was thinking of getting a new tattoo but someone had the same idea I had...
Wait. Something is wrong. Mindphuck! Haha. Speaking of tattoos... I was told at Walmart I would see some strange sights. I didn't believe it until I saw this...
Hmmmm. Sugar-free gummy bears might seem like a great idea in theory. But, like so many things being sold to us in a capitalist society, there is a catch. Anyone who's ever tried (or worse, binged) on sugar-free candy knows exactly what that catch is. If you're not sure, just check out this reviews on an Amazon listing for a 1-lb. bag of Haribo SUGAR FREE Classic Gummi Bears.
Damn. So, my guest today Alan Silvestri has composed film scores for so many movies, I wonder if he's going to work on this one...
If you spot the Mindphuck then let me know. Okay, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, here's another story form this state...
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