Category: Local Interest,

Why Ghislaine Maxwell chose New Hampshire

On By peanutgallerynhIn Granite State,Leave a comment

Dense forests and difficult access from few public roads make it easy to get off radar in the place whose motto is ‘Live Free or Die’

By Sarah Kennedy New York 3 July 2020 • 5:53pm

Ghislaine Maxwell could not have chosen a better spot than Bradford, New Hampshire for the hidden location of her house Tuckedaway. Known as the ‘Granite State’ for the local psychology as much as the landscape, New Hampshire is a live- and-let-live place whose motto is ‘Live Free or Die’.

Locals are famed for their quiet resilience, indifference to high-net-worth visitors and cool welcome. Apart from a nod, diners in the Appleseed Restaurant in Ms. Maxwell’s new home town of Bradford won’t have second-glanced the international jet-set’s most wanted if she happened to blow in for a burger.

The town of Bradford is located along the southern end of Lake Todd. New Hampshire could be compared to the British Lake District, only with more greenery and far fewer tourists. Bordered by the Northern Appalachian Mountains, many of the lakes in the state are private, meaning that only those with homes on the shores can use them.

Dense forests and difficult access from few public roads make it easy to get off any kind of radar. Adirondack-style homes like Ms. Maxwell’s, purchased for $1,070,750 in December 2019, are quaintly called cottages and camps thanks to their rustic, wood-built frames and open-plan design.

Ms. Maxwell’s home is a modern take on the rugged look, featuring a prerequisite 4 bedroom minimum and barn-style living room. The only cottage-like accoutrement to the house is the name – ‘Tuckedaway’, carved into a stone by the secure iron gates.

If there is such a thing as an American aristocracy, New Hampshire is its go-to spot for winter skiing and summers on the lakes. Holiday home owners hail from the worlds of finance, medicine and tech in Boston, many from New England’s oldest families. Their children attend the summer camps dotted around Lake Winnipesaukee, mixing with peers from as far south as New York and Pennsylvania.

New Hampshire’s summer camp-and-club lifestyle is sent up beautifully by local boy Adam Sandler in movies like Happy Gilmore and Grown Ups. The area breeds salty American comedians and writers including Seth Meyers, Sarah Silverman and going back further, J.D Salinger.

Holiday activities on the lakes are simple, from crawfish dipping to kayaking and possibly water skiing, though power boats and jet skis are forbidden in most places. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney famously shot himself in the foot metaphorically over July 4 weekend 2012 when he and his wife Anne were photographed on their jet-ski, too obviously enjoying the billionaire lifestyle.

At a time when Romney was attempting to promote social and welfare issues on the campaign trail, political pundits in the US still hail this photo as Romney’s downward turning point. New Hampshire is politically important as the place where the first primary elections for US presidential candidates are held. The state is home to political bigwigs including Republicans Romney and Kelly Ayotte.

Although the fashion scene is definitely not happening, strike out on a direct route east from Ms. Maxwell’s home in Bradford and you arrive at Kennebunkport, seaside location of the Bush family compound. A discreet haven for boat lovers. John Travolta, Susan Sarandon and Martha Stewart have had homes there in recent years.

When we say boats by the way, we mean sailing boats such as the True Love from High Society, rather than the fiberglass mini-hotels bobbing about on Long Island Sound. Membership of the Kennebunk River Club for tennis and dining would be the holy grail for a home-owner new to the area. Though not, obviously, for Maxwell.

Possibly the only risky issue security-wise for those like Maxwell seeking a luxurious hideaway up north is staff. Live-in is pretty much the norm north of New Hampshire state capital Concord, with most homes keeping a chef, ground maintenance workers and a housekeeper. The very limited dining-out options are for basic, traditional diner fare. Organic fruit and veg are plentiful though, so the right chef could work wonders. It’s all a very long way from the Manhattan jail where Maxwell is currently residing.

Why Ghislaine Maxwell chose New Hampshire

for the love of christ…. I don’t know where to start

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11alive updated from Atlanta protests after Police shooting of Rayshard Brooks who was sleeping in his car at Wendy’s

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,Leave a comment

10:33 p.m. Friday| After police respond to Rayshard Brooks sleeping in his car at the Wendy’s drive thru on University Avenue, a struggle ensues and Brooks is eventually shot by police. He is transported to Grady Hospital where he died in emergency surgery. 

5:15 p.m. Saturday| Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields agrees to step down.

9 p.m.  Saturday| A massive crowd has amassed on the Downtown Connector in Atlanta as protests of Brooks’ death move into the evening hours.

9:15 p.m.  Saturday| As cars back up a large distance away on both sides, Atlanta Police have arrived in MARTA buses on the opposite side of the interstate. Police are in riot gear.

9:46 p.m.  Saturday| A second group of protesters has gathered on the other side of the interstate.

9:51 p.m.  Saturday| Fires have been set out in front of the Wendy’s. …Video shows at least three different fires.

10:10 p.m.  Saturday|  [Dozen arrested.] A prison transport bus has made its way to the scene.

10:19 p.m.  Saturday| The interior of Wendy’s is on fire and flames are visible through a drive-thru window and the dining room. 

10:40 p.m. Saturday| Flames at the Wendy’s break through the roof and the restaurant appears to be fully engulfed. 

11:05 p.m.  Saturday| Huge crowds continue to gather at nearby gas stations close to Wendy’s along University Avenue. Police in riot gear are moving toward restaurant using smoke or gas igniters in an attempt to clear crowds.

12:30 a.m.  Sunday| Atlanta police identify the two officers involved in Friday’s shooting that killed Rayshard Brooks and confirm one has been fired. Officer Devin Bronsan has been placed on administrative duty and Officer Garrett Rolfe has been terminated. Bronsan has been with the department since Sept. 20, 2018 and Rolfe was hired Oct. 24, 2013.

 

Atlanta protests after Wendy’s shooting of Rayshard Brooks | 11alive.com

Whoa!

NH state trooper fist-bumps an armed Trump-supporting anti-protestor behind the back of a black Concord City Officer at the Concord Black Lives Matter march. Any questions?

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Domestic Affairs,, Granite State,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Sherry Frost 🍑🆘 on Twitter: “A NH state trooper fist-bumps an armed Trump-supporting anti-protestor behind the back of a black Concord City Officer at the Concord Black Lives Matter march. Any questions? Photo credit: Jody Anthony https://t.co/Ir5NEQkIaj” / Twitter

Why has this Tropper not been ID’ed and doxxed yet?

Shaken de Blasio pleads for community help as Cuomo chides NYPD response to protests

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,Leave a comment

“I am disappointed and outraged in what happened in New York City last night,” Cuomo said during a news briefing Tuesday. “The police in New York City were not effective at doing their job last night. Period. They have to do a better job.”

Cuomo has put state police and 13,000 members of the National Guard on standby ….but said the police had the capacity to handle the situation on their own.

De Blasio — at a tense news conference during which he snapped at reporters and called on local leaders to take a more active role in the protests — forcefully denounced the idea of allowing organized troops onto city streets, arguing their presence would only ratchet up tensions and heighten the chaos he is trying to tamp down.

“Someone needs a history lesson: When outside armed forces go into communities, no good comes of it,” he said.

Shaken de Blasio pleads for community help as Cuomo chides NYPD response to protests

hmmm

Coronavirus at Smithfield pork plant: The untold story of America’s biggest outbreak – BBC News

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Local Interest,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

When running at full capacity, it processes 19,500 freshly-slaughtered hogs per day, slicing, grinding and smoking them into millions of pounds of bacon, hot dogs and spiral-cut hams. With 3,700 workers, it is also the fourth-largest employer in the city.

…”There had been [rumors] there were cases even before that,” she recalled. “I heard about people getting [hospitalized] from Smithfield specifically. They only know from word of mouth.”

…Her parents, two long-time Smithfield employees with whom she is especially close, told her what was happening at the factory that day. 

…”My parents don’t know English. They can’t advocate for themselves,” said Julia. “Someone has to talk for them.”

…Her mother and father continued to report to a factory they knew could be contaminated, to jobs they could not afford to lose. They stood side-by-side less than a foot away from their colleagues on production lines, they passed in and out of crowded locker rooms, walkways and cafeterias.

During that time, the number of confirmed cases among Smithfield employees slowly mounted, from 80 to 190 to 238.

By 15 April, when Smithfield finally closed under pressure from the South Dakota governor’s office, the plant had become the number one hotspot in the US, with a cluster of 644 confirmed cases among Smithfield employees and people who contracted it from them.

…The Smithfield pork plant, located in a Republican-led state that is one of five in the US that has not issued any kind of shelter-in-place order, has become a microcosm illustrating the socioeconomic disparities laid bare by the global pandemic. While many white-collar workers around the country are sheltering in place and working from home, food industry workers like the employees at Smithfield are deemed “essential” and must remain on the front lines.

…They allege early requests for personal protective equipment were ignored, that sick workers were [incentivized] to continue working, and that information regarding the spread of the virus was kept from them, even when they were at risk of exposing family and the broader public.

…Multiple workers said – and photos sent to the BBC seem to confirm – that personal protective equipment came in the form of beard nets to wear over their faces, which do not protect from airborne particles like a surgical or N95 mask would.

“I haven’t read anything from the CDC that says a hair net over your face will do much good,” said Caraway.

…If employees like Kaleb were to quit, they would be ineligible for unemployment. Advocates are hearing from visa-holders who fret that even if they were to apply for unemployment, they might be considered “public charges” which could render them ineligible for permanent residency under a new rule enacted by the Trump administration last year. …The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act excludes anyone living in a mixed-status household with an undocumented family member.

…Mayor TenHaken formally requested that Governor Noem issue a shelter-in-place order for Sioux Falls’ surrounding counties as well as an isolation centre. She denied both requests. Despite the steep increase in cases, Noem also continued to decline to issue a shelter-in-place order in South Dakota, specifically saying that such an order would not have prevented the Smithfield outbreak.

Coronavirus at Smithfield pork plant: The untold story of America’s biggest outbreak – BBC News

atlantic cover crying uncle sam

NH says Troopers Who Pulled NH Man By Dreadlocks Followed Policy

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Granite State,, Race,Leave a comment

Troopers Who Pulled NH Man By Dreadlocks Followed Policy: State | Concord, NH Patch

What the f**ck is this shit???

Nope, not OK. Not at all OK. If that is the policy then the policy is an insult to law and order.

Here’s hoping he sues the individual Troopers and the Department back to Kingdom Come. IF there is one thing NH taxpayers won’t abide it’s wasting money. And having polices or paying Troopers who invite lawsuits is a waste of money.

Florida scientist fired for refusing to ‘manipulate’ COVID-19 data

On By peanutgallerynhIn Gulf Coast Region,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

The scientist who created Florida’s COVID-19 data portal was fired on Monday by the Department of Health, she said, for refusing to manipulate data.

Her objective was to create a way for Floridians and researchers to see what the COVID-19 situation was in real time. …She confirmed, as reported by CBS-12 in West Palm Beach that she was fired because she was ordered to censor some data, but refused to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”

…They are making a lot of changes. I would advise being diligent in your respective uses of this data,” she wrote.  

Florida scientist fired for refusing to ‘manipulate’ COVID-19 data

Jeezus.

Here’s why you never trifle with a Southern belle

On By peanutgallerynhIn Gulf Coast Region,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

When Aunt Bev’s across-the-street neighbor and long-time bestie, Beverly Johnson, ruined a cake, she was about to throw it into the trash when her phone rang. It was Aunt Bev, just in time to teach her a valuable Southern lesson: “We never, ever throw out a cake.” (It is this lesson, in fact, that is most to blame for my current waistline.) Aunt Bev then took the cake, which had “fallen” in the middle, and turned it into a scrumptious trifle by layering bits of the cake with pudding and fruit. That’s how Southern belles handle mistakes.

Here’s why you never trifle with a Southern belle – It’s a Southern Thing

You should never trifle with a Southern belle because they’ll just make trifle out of it.

What a cute remembrance.

A barber who gave haircuts to people for weeks tests positive for COVID-19

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Local Interest,, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Dr. Carol Smith said in a prepared statement that the barber “has been providing haircuts during the last few weeks” at a barbershop on Broadway and tested positive for COVID-19 this week.

Smith did not identify barber or the shop, but said in her statement: “Anyone who has received a haircut in a Kingston barbershop in the last three weeks is urged to promptly contact their primary care physician and seek testing” or contact the county’s COVID-19 hotline at (845) 443-8888.

A barber who gave haircuts to people for weeks tests positive for COVID-19

Dang.

Michigan Closes Down Capitol in Face of Death Threats From Armed Protesters Against Gov. Whitmer

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Local Interest,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Dozens of posts in private invitation-only Facebook groups called for Whitmer to be hanged, lynched, shot, beaten or beheaded. One suggested crowdfunding sources to hire a hitman to kill her.

…Numerous other posts referred to Whitmer as a “Nazi,” “spawn of the devil,” “wicked witch,” “Soros puppet,” “baby killer tyrant” and more, according to the Detroit Metro Times. Others promised to attend upcoming protests “armed to the death” and without face masks, threatening to attack any police officers who dared confront them.

…”There are legislators who are wearing bulletproof vests to go to work,” Whitmer told ABC News last week. “No one should be intimidated by someone who’s bringing in an assault rifle into their workplace.”

Michigan Closes Down Capitol in Face of Death Threats From Armed Protesters Against Gov. Whitmer

hmmm