30. OLTL, All My Children, and Loving

Agnes Nixon
Creator and writer of some of the most popular soap operas in the last 60 years, died on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 in Rosemont, PA. She had been struggling with complications of Parkinson’s disease and a recent stroke. She was 93.

Nixon was highly regarded as a pioneer for women in television. She transformed the traditional soap opera by introducing real-life issues into her shows. She modeled the fictional town of Pine Valley, the setting for “All My Children” on Rosemont, PA the suburban area where she lived and that was her home base for the rest of her life.

Nixon was co-creator of CBS’ long-running “As the World Turns.” Early in her career, Nixon was a writer on CBS’ “The Guiding Light” and NBC’s “Another World.”

Nixon found her true calling in the late 1960s and early 1970s when she and her husband, Robert Nixon, created “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” for ABC. In the 1980s she wrote ABC’s “Loving.” In contrast to the existing soaps, the series were notable for featuring socially relevant issues with racial and ethnic diversity among its characters.

It was no secret that “All My Children” was her favorite story and Erica Kane her favorite character. She based arch villain Adam Chandler, who didn't “know how to love,” on her father and gave the manipulative Erica Kane, abandonment issues, from which she herself suffered as a child, due to her parent’s divorce shortly after her birth.

“All My Children” and “One Life to Live” were canceled by ABC in 2011 after 40-plus years on the air. That was a sad day for all of her fans. I had personally been watching OLTL for over 30 years.

During her career, Nixon earned five Daytime Emmy Awards and five Writers Guild Awards. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2010. She received a lifetime achievement honor from the Daytime Emmy Awards also in 2010.

Nixon just finished writing a memoir, "My Life to Live," which is scheduled to be released in January, 2017.

Agnes Nixon’s survivors include three daughters, a son, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Her husband, Robert Nixon died in 1996.

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29. Historical Presidential Debate

The past two days have been dominated by the Clinton vs. Trump presidential debate. Today, the media spent the entire day talking about how the candidates looked or sounded during their “performance.” They said very little, if anything, of importance. I vowed not to reveal my personal preferences, but I can no longer keep it all to myself. Besides, neither of the candidates is that desirable. It’s an equal opportunity disdain.

Hillary looked like a robot/mannequin with a fresh haircut and an artistically painted younger face. Trump was making sniffing noises and he looked tired. The moderator, Lester Holt, just shuffled his notes around and tried to get in between the candidates, to no avail.

Hillary’s supporters have it in their heads that the presidency is the “prize” that she has to “win” at any cost. At this point, she will say ANYTHING to win. Since she has worked so hard for this prize, she feels she deserves it. She feels entitled because it is “her time.” Hillary is a career politician. If she loses the prize, she has nothing to go back to except old Bill; because this is her whole life. I feel sorry for her. She’s old, bitter and unhappy and she brought it all on herself. I would love to see a woman in the White House. I just want a different woman.

Trump has a perfectly lovely life to go back to. He has generously offered his expertise to help get this country going again, but he is tired of being abused by Hillary and the media. He can win if he wants to, but his attitude will have the greatest influence on his future.

In my opinion: Clinton looked a lot better. When Trump attempted to defend himself, she just kept talking, completely unruffled. Her debate experience definitely showed. She was full of statistics, whether or not they were factual, and she presented them as though they were facts. She is an accomplished liar. I’ve known a lot of compulsive liars and it always comes from insecurity. That’s NOT a leader because they can’t make decisions without worrying about what people are going to think of them.

Trump doesn’t care that much about what anyone thinks. Even his wife says he does whatever he wants, no matter what anyone thinks. Trump still has a lot of work to do. His performance was not very impressive. I’m sure he didn’t lose any supporters, but probably didn’t gain any either.

Trump is no dummy. He is a fast learner and is probably already working on his new strategy. Hillary gave us her very best last night and Trump gave us very little. So, the next debate will be an uphill battle. Hillary would be running away with the victory, if not for Trump. None of the other potential candidates would have been able to get this close to her. But all-in-all, she is still a terrible choice.

28. JonBenét Ramsey Docu-Series, Part II

Monday afternoon, TV personality, Dr. Phil concluded his interview with JonBenét Ramsey’s brother, Burke Ramsey. Monday evening was the conclusion of the special docu-series on the re-investigation of the murder itself. Dr. Phil calls it the “Most infamous unsolved mystery in history.”

I didn’t get much out of the interview except a look at Burke’s body language and facial expressions when he was asked specific questions about JonBenét. Because I am a face reader, it helped reinforce my theory of the crime. Burke was led to believe the killer was probably a pedophile who had seen JonBenét at one of her pageants.

The Boulder Police Theory.
The intruder surveilled the family to learn when they would most likely not be home. The Ramseys went to a friend’s Christmas Eve dinner party; and the intruder entered the house through a broken basement window and waited. He/she was already in the house when the family returned home. The intruder wrote the ransom note, used a stun gun to subdue JonBenét, then took her downstairs with the intention of taking her out of the house through the basement window. At some point, the plan went array, he/she accidentally killed her and then escaped through the basement window. That is why there was no 10:00am phone call, as mentioned in the note, because he/she knew that JonBenét was already dead. The Boulder police focused on sexual abuse by a stranger because DNA found on her underwear did not match anyone in the family. The Boulder police concluded that an intruder killed JonBenét.

The Re-investigation Team.
Inside of a 50,000-square-foot warehouse, CBS built an exact replica of the rooms in the Ramsey home, using crime scene photographs. The furnishings were as close to perfect as possible—down to the food on the kitchen counter. The flashlight was clearly seen on the kitchen counter. The family would not permit forensic specialists to tour the actual home and crime scene; even though it was crucial to determining an accurate assessment of the crime. The re-creation gave the forensic experts the opportunity to walk through the house and get a better idea of how the crime could have been committed.

The intruder theory was soon debunked. Photos showed cobwebs in the corners of the basement windows that would not have survived if someone had entered that way. The windows did not open all the way due to a structural obstruction; so it would have been a “tricky entry.” A suitcase was placed under the window to facilitate an exit; but even with that, the person would need considerable upper body strength to boost him/herself up and out.

Dr. Lee suggested there was no sexual assault and that the DNA on the underwear was “touch DNA” deposited by someone during the manufacturing process. Investigators purchased new underwear still in the package and tested it for DNA. They did find foreign DNA on the brand new underwear. The conclusion: There was NO sexual abuse.

There were small red marks on JonBenét’s back that were originally thought to be stungun marks. A volunteer agreed to be tased to observe the marks that resulted. First of all, the tasing did not sedate the volunteer, it stimulated him. Secondly, the tasing was so painful that a child would have screamed loudly. And lastly, the distance between the two red marks did not match the prongs of the stungun.

In the room next to the room where the body was found, was the train room. As it turned out, the metal connectors of the train tracks, matched the red marks exactly. One of the investigators commented: If it were an adult who found the unresponsive child, they would have called 911 immediately. Instead, someone poked at the body to try to revive her. The reason there was no blood was because she was already dead.

Burke’s Interview Tapes.
The first interview was conducted one day after the murder, by a detective. Burke does not ask about his sister, where she is or how she is. He has been told that an intruder had come into the house.

Two weeks after the murder, he was interviewed by a psychologist and asked what he thinks might have happened to JonBenét. He acts out stabbing her and then says maybe she was hit with a hammer. He wasn’t particularly disturbed by her death and did not ask about her. He said he had forgotten about her. Until JonBenét was born, Burke got all of the attention from his parents. According to an ex family friend, Burke had a bad temper and had hit JonBenét with a golf club, leaving a scar under one eye.

Although the evidence points to Burke as the perpetrator of the crime and John and Patsy as accessories for covering it up; the investigators leave it to the audience to make up their own minds.

The Ramsey family never wanted the case to be solved because it would have revealed the “intruder” to be Burke.

27. JonBenét Ramsey Docu-Series, Part I

Tonight was the first of two episodes of the docu-series that re-investigates the JonBenét Ramsey murder of December, 1996.

Retired FBI special agent/profiler Jim Clemente (credited with identifying the Unibomber, Ted Kaczynski), Laura Richards, a former New Scotland Yard criminal behavioral analyst and several heavy hitters—forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, forensic scientist, Dr. Henry Lee (the OJ Simpson blood spatter expert) and James Kolar, the former chief investigator for the District Attorney in Boulder looked at the evidence with fresh eyes.

First, the 911 call was analyzed. Patsy thought she had hung up the phone, but the dispatcher was still listening and the call was still being recorded. The linguist, Jim Clemente, recognized the voices in the room as John Ramsey, who said, “We’re not talking to you,” Patsy, who said, “What did you do?” “Help me, Jesus,” and Burke, who was supposedly “asleep” saying, “What did you find?” The dispatcher was never interviewed by anyone and has been waiting for 20 years to tell her side of the story!

Second, was the analysis of the rambling ransom note. It starts out with “listen carefully” when it should say something like “read” this carefully. 76% of the note is extraneous and could have been distilled down to five or six lines. It is portrayed as a “sales job.” The writer is really trying to “sell” a kidnapping, even though the 10:00am ransom demand phone call never came.

It was determined, the writer is educated, English is their first language, is aged at 30+ years old, and there are maternal references in the letter; so, it is most likely a female. There were two practice notes written, before one was finalized, on a pad of paper from the house, using a pen from the house and then returned to the exact places where they are usually kept. When the note was rewritten by detectives, it took over 21 minutes just to copy and write the note. That did not take into consideration the time it would have taken to compose the note. The bizarre part is that the note was written in the house instead of written before arriving to commit the crime. That doesn’t make any sense.

On the morning of the murder, and after the investigating detectives arrived, John was told the plan was to search the entire house “from top to bottom.” However, John takes one of his friends with him to the basement and almost immediately finds JonBenét’s body. He then carries her upstairs, ignoring the importance of preserving a crime scene, and lays her on the floor upstairs. She is again moved to the living room floor to get her out of a high-traffic area. Now the crime scene has been severely contaminated.

Very few people were ever interviewed after the murder, and in fact were told by the Ramsey’s attorney not to speak to the police. Jim Clemente requested an interview with the Ramsey’s best friends who had never been interviewed. They had been invited to the Ramsey house while they waited for the police to arrive, so were privy to everything that transpired in the house that morning. The friends agreed to talk “off” camera. An ex-gardener and former friend were both interviewed and gave interesting incites. Both said that Burke was quiet and stand-offish, even prior to the murder.

After examining the autopsy report and photographs, Dr. Werner Spitz said the death was caused by a blow to the head inflicted by the flashlight that was on the kitchen counter. The wound was a perfect match to the flashlight. Strangulation by garrote was not necessary because she was already brain dead due to concussion impact. It was just an attempted distraction. Since the flashlight was very heavy, the blow could easily have come from an adult or child.

Thirdly, it took 120 days before the Ramseys spoke publicly about their daughter. Their interview tape was analyzed. Both of them denied having killed her; and now, Patsy was indicating she was unsure whether there was actually an attempted kidnapping. She shakes her head back and forth while trying to figure out what to say. John interjects “yes” and then she began to nod her head up and down.

By the end of the second episode, the investigators are planning to name who they think wrote the ransom note and who was the murderer.

To be continued…

26. Latest Update: Prince Tribute Concert

The Associated Press is reporting that the tribute concert has been moved to the smaller Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Chaka Khan, John Mayer and Morris Day & The Time are among the many in the lineup.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday (9/19/2016) via Ticketmaster.

25. The Truth Be Told

Prince
Mayte Garcia, Prince's first wife, backup dancer and muse is in the process of writing a tell-all memoir about their time together. It will be called "The Beautiful One" and will be available in April 2017 to coincide with the first anniversary of his death. In the 1990s, Prince had a hit song called "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." Mayte claims to be the inspiration for the song, although I have heard other names mentioned. Regardless, Prince was completely smitten with her.

His second wife, Canadian business woman, Manuela Testolini was, in my opinion, a much more appropriate match for him and even more beautiful than Mayte. He was very proud of her and it seemed, quite proud of himself for having snagged her. Recent photos of her with her second husband, Eric Benet, and their two children, shows her looking much happier than she looked most of the time with Prince. Both of his wives left him. Maybe Mayte will shed some light on why.

24. Prince Commemorative Concert

Even though some of the likely performers were announced today, the Prince commemorative concert planned for October 13 is turning out to be a disaster. There is NO signed contract with the stadium, the performers have not been finalized and no tickets have been offered for sale yet.

From what I’m reading, most of the problems and delays are stemming from the family, who apparently is trying to figure out the best way to exploit the event, as it is actually a fund raiser for the family.

Fans around the world are waiting to hear something definitive about concert tickets before buying their airline tickets; but many state-side fans, or “friends” as Prince called them, have already purchased their tickets and made hotel reservations. Many have purchased advance tickets for a tour of the Paisley Park Museum, if that actually materializes. The organizers for the museum have been advertising for tour guides and security staff and a job fair was scheduled for this week to begin the vetting process.

The stadium management is doubtful they can fill the 55,000-seat stadium with less than a month left before the concert date. It would require several really big-name performers to attract that kind of crowd so quickly, and most entertainers of that caliber already have commitments. Even Prince’s ex-fiancé, Sheila-E has a commitment that night and is not willing to drop everything for such a sketchy deal. Many fans are saying, “without Prince, it doesn’t really matter anyway.” Those fans lucky enough to see The Revolution's reunion/tribute concert at First Avenue, said they got what they needed for closer.

There is talk of changing the venue to a smaller stadium, but I certainly wouldn’t make the effort to go. No one can play his music and perform it the way he did. His live concerts were his big draw. I am interested in seeing Paisley Park some day and hope to go there eventually.

Even though the family brought in a professional promoter in the last couple of days, the damage already done may be irreparable. Rumors are circulating that the concert may be cancelled altogether. Prince would be disappointed for his fans if he knew about this fiasco. He was such a perfectionist, and dependable to a fault. Thank goodness none of this matters to him anymore.

I’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

23. JonBenét Ramsey

I’ve been casually following the JonBenét murder mystery since Christmas night, 1996.  My theory has always been that her brother, Burke, did it and her mother, Patsy covered it up. The father, John, did not know the truth and was not involved.

Because it has been nearly 20 years and the crime is still unsolved, the story is in the news again. This time, everyone involved is being scrutinized, including the Boulder, CO police for their bungled investigation.  Television personality, Dr. Phil did a very in-depth interview with Burke Ramsey.  It is the first time Burke has ever spoken publicly.  The first of three episodes was broadcast today.  One more episode will air tomorrow and the last one next Monday, Sep. 19.

Burke has a really creepy smile on his face while he tells his story, but he looks exactly like his mother, and she always had a smiley face, even when she was grieving at the funeral.  The ransom note that Patsy found downstairs was written on paper from a pad already in the house using a pen from the house.  The ransom note was analyzed by at least four hand writing experts and none of them were ever able to confirm that it was written by Patsy Ramsey, even though she was asked to submit several handwriting samples to the police. Experts say that a kidnapper would have written the ransom note before coming to the crime scene; not wait until they got there. Duh...

My opinion is that Burke was jealous of all the attention that JonBenét got, constantly; and they were probably squabbling about something (which was normal for them).  He hit her on the back of the head with a flash light that was on the kitchen counter. It was an accident.  Detectives surmised that JonBenét had been in the kitchen, because the autopsy found undigested pineapple in her stomach and there was a bowl of pineapple still on the kitchen counter.

From his interview, Burke seems to be emotionally immature and he is reveling in the attention he is finally getting from Dr. Phil and others.  Burke is now 29 and said that he feels he has had a normal life since JonBenét’s death.  He went to college and graduated from Purdue University. His father says Burke is working in the tech industry, but little else is know about his life, public or private.

Patsy Ramsey died from cancer in 2006.  John has remarried.

I’m hoping there will be more to this story and I will report additional news as I get it.

22. Computer Drama/Trauma

I know it’s cliché…But, if it’s not one thing, it’s another!
Why is every day such a challenge?  Life used to be so easy!

21. Italian Earthquake Cat Rescued After 15 Days

Daniela Tursini lost everything in the earthquake including her precious grey and white cat named Joy.  Daniela didn’t give up though, and begged rescuers to keep looking.  ”She’s all I have left,” she pleaded.

Although severely dehydrated and with a fractured jaw, Joy was found alive under the rubble after 15 days.  The vet said she will survive.

A golden retriever was rescued after nine days, and several other animals have been rescued since the quake; but Joy holds the record for days patiently waiting for rescue.

Here is a short video of firefighters offering her water:

   

20. Who Do You Think This Is?

It is none other than the Domestic Goddess, Roseanne Barr!  I saw an interview with her recently, and she is a lot smarter than we thought.  She's up on what's going on, and she makes a lot of sense.  So what else is she doing, you ask?  She owns and operates a 46-acre Macadamia nut farm on the Hamakua coast in Honokaa on the northern end of the Big Island Hawaii.  Roseanne’s Nuts are available on Amazon.com.

She is living with her writer/musician boyfriend of 12 years, Johnny Argent.  She says she is happier than she has ever been. She has a fully-functioning vegetable farm, plus chickens for their eggs.  Her goal is to become completely self-sufficient by growing all of her own food.  She considers herself a farmer.
Good for her!

   

19. Clinton Cash

We haven't seen or heard much from Hillary lately, because she has been completely focused on fund-raising; and not on unimportant issues, like what is happening in this country and how people are coping or not copying with all of the social and economic problems.  Her efforts have paid off though; she raised over $140 million in August.

As a reward for all her hard work, fake smiling and schmoozing with other multi-millionaires in the Hamptons; she decided to buy herself a brand new 737.  She has also changed her campaign slogan from “I’m With Her” to “Stronger Together” and had it emblazoned on the side of her new plane.

Her supporters feel that she deserves a private jet; because, afterall, she is a woman and is entitled to everything that men have.  Excuse me, but Trump earned his 757; he didn't buy it with campaign contributions!  Don't get me started...

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Everyone is saying this video is a MUST SEE.  It is definitely an eye-opener.  Please take the time to watch it.

   

18. Transcending Normal

Since the 1990s, David Icke has made his name as a professional conspiracy theorist; calling himself a "full time investigator into who and what is really controlling the world."   He is definitely eccentric, but also has deep thoughts and interesting, intuitive opinions.  He draws big audiences wherever he speaks.

The Artist, Prince requested a meeting with Icke; and it was arranged that they would meet after one of his concerts.  Icke was very surprised that Prince had read several of his books.  And, he was very impressed with Prince's intelligence and respect for others.  This is what he said about him:

“What he was, was a public expression of all the inspiration and potential that is lying in wait for anyone who wants to or chooses to open their minds from the Normal program and connect with it.

Because, when you do that, it’s not just connecting with it, it’s then expressing it—expressing Not Normal in a world of Normal and taking all the consequences that come with that.  Prince transcended the Normal.”

Icke summed up with this:

“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.  Prince could hear the music and the world was better for it.”

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There was a rainbow over Paisley Park the morning he died.