Leona Hemsleys Dog Joins Her in Hell

I hate to have to bring you this disparaging news, but Leona Helmsley's dog, Trouble Helmsley shed her mortal coil back in December.

Doggone it, I think we all need to pause for a moment over this loss. After all, most of us had no bones to pick with the pooch. 

Trouble Helmsley, perhaps the world's most pampered pet, was 84 in dog years when she succumbed to illness and died, according to the New York Daily News.

She also, unbeknownst to her, outlasted several vows to bring her to a more violent end. Trouble received multiple death threats from people angry that her doting owner, billionaire real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley, left her a stunning $12 million in her will.

The dog had a full-time security guard too, paid $90,000 a year. Must have been rough work.

The Unprecedented Heat Wave

Here in New England we just got our first heat wave of the Summer. A little early you say? Maybe, but this was our weather just two months ago, on April Fool's Day:

We'll take it. Gladly.

And if you can't beat the heat beat the now-tired man-caused climate change drum:

The mercury climbed into the 90s across half the country Wednesday in a record-breaking blast of August-like heat, forcing schools with no air conditioning to let kids go home early and cities to open cooling centers. And scientists say we had better get used to it.

A new study from Stanford University predicts that global climate change will lead permanently to unusually hot summers by the middle of the century.

Better get used to two-day long heat waves in the Summer because this is unprecedented, unheard of...wait excuse me? The temperatures in Southern New England for the rest of the week are expected to be below average?

Shhh don't tell Al Gore.

Whoops too late.

Was Anthony Weiner On the Plane

Dude. Use the freaking bathroom for crying out loud. What kind of society are we living in when people are whipping their junk out in public places or posting pictures of their little manhood on Twitter?

Oh who the hell are we kidding here? If the tech existed in the past I'm sure someone would have tweeted their junk back then too. Probably in black and white.

As if you needed another reason to avoid flying, now you have to beware of airborne masturbators, too.

The FBI busted a Florida man after he took matters into his own hands "to the point of ejaculation" on a United Airlines flight from Spokane to Denver last Thursday, reports The Smoking Gun. The man was arrested at the Denver airport.

Kyle Pearce, 25, was reportedly charged with making an "obscene and indecent exposure of his person" on an aircraft.

The incident was witnessed by an 18-year-old woman who was unluckily seated in the row across from Pearce.

"I heard a noise and looked over and saw his penis," she recalled in a written statement according to The Smoking Gun. She added, "He ejaculated and got some on the seat."

And unlike a Twitter dikpic you can't delete a memory. (Not yet at least)

No idea if they made eye contact. Cause that would be awkward.

No idea if he was listening to the Divinyls on his IPod at the time.

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Red Bull Stolen

Apparently Red Bull doesn't give you wings that can outrun the police.

Police say a South Hadley man is facing charges after allegedly stealing several cases of Red Bull energy drink from a Northampton supermarket and leading police on an hour-long chase through several towns.

You thinking what I am?

Police did not indicate whether he drank any Red Bull during the pursuit.

And he was driving not running. Because that would have been interesting.

Next time buddy take one of these with you. Might have better chances of eluding the authorities.

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Aftermath of The Mass Tornadoes

Wednesday's tornadoes in Massachusetts hit a few hours before sunset so by the time it was over and the shock wore off and the search was on to account for everyone it was dark.

Thursday we got a real look at the damage and SEANKEMPTV captures the moment in a very poignant way.



We also got our first aerial views of the damage. Somehow this house survived despite every tree around it falling like matchsticks.

This house was not so lucky.

The tornado flipped those houses off their foundations. Wow.

Almost an entire neighborhood gone.

(Pictures above from Boston Dot Com.)

(Picture above from Masslive.)

Those small white rectangles in the next picture? Mobile homes.

(Pictures above via WWLP.com.)

On the ground it is the same story...

The good news is that the National Guard is on the scene, ready to assist in the recovery and cleanup and upkeep of order.

And despite the disaster the American spirit lives on.

(Pictures above from WWLP's photo gallery)

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I Thought Most Politicians Were Already Semi Feral

This is a strange story about meowing politicians. No it was not US Rep David Wu.

A meowing Australian senator touched off a political row in Canberra on Wednesday after his cat imitation directed at Finance Minister Penny Wong sparked accusations that the opposition behaved like sexists and goons, and were feral.

Liberal Tasmanian Senator David Bushby meowed at Wong at a hearing when Wong - Australia's first Malaysian-born and first openly gay cabinet member - fought constant interruptions.

Roll the tape...

Shades of 1953 Tornado in Massachusetts

Yesterday's F3 twister in Springfield was not the first time the state dealt with a nasty tornado.

The Worcester County Tornado hit the state on June 9th, 1953. From The Weather Doctor Almanac:

The tornado we refer to as the Worcester Tornado, moved across Worcester County for 46 miles (74 km) during an 84-minute lifetime. The funnel formed over the northern reaches of the Quabbin Reservoir before touching down in heavily forested area south of the town of Petersham at 4:25 pm (EDT). Plowing across a farm field, the funnel tore a two-hundred-year-old, 4-foot diameter tree out from its roots. Moving southeastward at 35 mph (58 km/h) toward the community of Barre, it claimed its first victims: Beverly Strong, 18 and Edward White, 11...

By the time the tornado dissipated, it had travelled 46 miles (74 km), killed 94, injured 1288, and left 10,000 homeless. By the Fujita damage-scale, the storm has since been rated as an F4, although some suggest it may have been an F5. The damage was estimated at $52 million ($349 million in 2002 dollars) and included 4,000 buildings and hundreds of cars.

Then-Senator Kennedy visited the disaster site the next day...

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