Internationally acclaimed talk-show host Larry King died

CNN: Larry King, legendary talk show host, dies at 87, January 24

• Ed note: Larry King interviewed Yelm’s JZ Knight on August 2, 2008 in the show titled “Change Your Mind Change Your Life.”
• An except of the media release for CNN’s Larry King Live show said:
• “In a revolutionary new episode, Knight and King discuss and explore the vast potential of the human mind. Joined by a distinguished panel of guests including scientist and author of The Conscious Universe Dean Radin, psychoneuroimmunology pioneer Candace Pert [now deceased], “Dr. Quantum” Fred Alan Wolfe, producer/director/writer of the acclaimed film “What the #$*! Do We Know?“ Will Arntz, and astronaut Edgar Mitchell [now deceased], who was the sixth man to walk on the moon, Knight discusses the amazing capabilities latent in all of us, sheds light on the world of quantum physics, and explains how neuroscience plays a part in creating reality. CNN’s own Sanjay Gupta also lends insight with fieldwork from The Biocybernaut Institute in Santa Clara, CA.”
• Click here for the video to part 1
• Click here for the video to Part 2.

I met Larry King 45 years ago:

I met King while Manager of the University of Miami Football team. King was an avid UM Football fan and would often visit the practice field as a guest.

In the mid-1970s, he had a radio show that aired from Pumpernick’s Deli & Restaurant [now out of business], on Miami Beach across from the Carillon Hotel. His sports talk-show “Sports-a-la-King” featured callers asking his guests questions he interviewed in the restaurant’s seated booths.
He broadcast for Miami’s AM radio station W.I.O.D. (Wonderful Isle of Dreams), located on Harbor Island on the 79th St. Causeway between North Miami & Miami Beach.

King was one of the few non-UM affiliated spectators allowed in to see the team practice, so I got to meet him on the sidelines in 1976 & spring 1977. King got an interview with newly hired UM Head Football Coach (formerly of the Buffalo Bills) during Spring football practice of 1977, and did so from UM Football Offices.

King did not return to UM practices after the Autumn 1977 football season, as his radio show went national on the Mutual Broadcasting Network (MBS) in January 1978. I did not see him again, as I became employed by Eastern & transferred to San Francisco later that year. King began at CNN in 1985.   

As happenstance, King wrote a book in 2006: My Dad and Me, a signed copy he gifted to me 30 years after we met.

When I was employed at RSE as the Event Services Manager and Travel/Logistics Coordinator, I worked with King’s CNN Executive Producer Wendy Walker coordinating JZ Knight’s guest interview details in 2008. I then mentioned to Ms. Walker about meeting Larry in the mid 1970s at the UM Football Field House. After JZ’s show appearance, I received in the mail King’s book signed by him with a personal note that he remembered our visits at the Miami practice field. I still have his signed book!

King did not become famous until the mid-1980’s when he went with the then-fledgling cable network CNN.
R.I.P Larry! 

Click here for an excellent tribute to King’s life from CNN.

• Editor’s note: MSNBC’s Morning Joe reported: Tom Brokaw retires after 55 years at NBC News.
• For 55 years, America has appreciated the sincerity of Tom Brokaw, as have I since age 11.
• Brokaw is the only anchor to host all three NBC News broadcasts: Nightly News, TODAY Show and Meet the Press.
• He is also the one who coined the phrase, “The Greatest Generation,” popularized by the title of his 1998 book.
• Brokaw deserves the admiration of a grateful nation.
• Be well Tom Brokaw!

*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

Office of Gov. Jay Inslee: The state’s goal of administering 45,000 vaccine doses a day. is progressing. As of Monday, the state’s current seven-day rolling average was 23,960 doses administered.

Associated Press: GOP leaders demand Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA.) resign over impeachment vote

Alaska Airlines: Alaska Airlines takes delivery of its first Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft

The Olympian: 2 percent of Thurston residents have contracted COVID-19

Yelm Middle School: The Smile Mobile is Coming to Yelm Middle School from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, and 18.

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

CNBC: House delivers Trump impeachment article to Senate, setting stage for trial

WaPo: 50 things that are better already

CNBC: Janet Yellen gets Senate confirmation as first woman to lead the Treasury Department

NBC News: Here’s the full list of Biden’s executive actions so far

WaPo: Baby boomers, to retailers’ surprise, are dominating online shopping

Redfora: The last week of January is officially Emergency Kit Week!

*** SELECT POLITICAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

Politico: Biden repeals Trump-era ban on transgender military service

NBC News: Biden moving forward with placing Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill

Politico: State Republicans push new voting restrictions: report

NBC News: Here’s the full list of Biden’s executive actions so far

NYT: Rudy Giuliani Sued by Dominion Voting Systems Over False Election Claims – accuses him of carrying out “a viral disinformation campaign.” [“The suit seeks damages of more than $1.3 billion and is based on more than 50 statements Mr. Giuliani made…”]

Politico: Poll: Majority of Americans support Trump impeachment and conviction

WaPo: Dogs are officially back in the White House

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS ***

+ The Olympian: How Carolina Mejia propelled herself to elected office in Thurston County – In many ways, Mejia’s story could be held up as an example of the American dream.

+ Seattle Times: Why did Inslee and DOH ease guidance for reopening schools in Washington state? “…a decision based on principle. State officials believe that, for academic and mental health reasons, more students should be learning in-person.”

+ Seattle Times: As Washington state aims to vaccinate millions against COVID-19, thousands sign up to help

*** CORONAVIRUS NEWS ***

Johns Hopkins Medicine: Brain Fog, Fatigue, Dizziness … Post-COVID POTS Is Real

Science Daily: Poor gut health connected to severe COVID-19, new review shows

FOX News: Delta CEO says airline will permanently ban passengers ‘who refuse to display basic civility’ – 800 people added to their no-fly list for refusing to wear face masks

POLITICAL NEWS LAST WEEKEND

+ CNN Opinion: The Kamala Harris you don’t know

+ NYT: Trump and Justice Dept. Lawyer Said to Have Plotted to Oust Acting Attorney General – to push his baseless election claims, Donald Trump considered installing a loyalist

+ Wall Street Journal: Trump pressured DOJ to file case with Supreme Court to overturn election results

+ WSJ’s Peggy Noonan: America Emerges Disunited but Intact – After an exhausting four years, a relatively normal inauguration offers hope that better days are ahead.

+ New York Times: Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump’s Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General

+ Huff Post: Trump Campaign Paid $2.7 Million To People, Firms That Planned Rally Sparking Capitol Riot

+ MSN: Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack, court documents say

WaPo: QAnon believers seek to adapt their extremist ideology for a new era: ‘Things have just started’

Business Insider: Lawyer for the ‘Q Shaman’ who stormed the Capitol in a fur headdress with horns says his client feels ‘duped’ after Trump didn’t pardon him

Business Insider: Senators who backed Trump’s election challenge may rethink their stance on impeachment after losing corporate funding, experts

The Daily Kos: Trump’s second impeachment is about more than you think

Common Dreams: John Dean: Insurrectionist Senators are Co-Conspirators and Should Not Sit in Judgment of Trump

Salon: George Conway hands Biden’s DOJ a roadmap to make sure Trump ends up in jail

CNN: Two former Trump officials to be investigated for posting papers denying climate change

Center for Responsive Politics: Trump-Linked Lobbyists Made Big Money From Clients Seeking Last-Minute Pardons

The Daily Kos: Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) Deletes Tweet Admitting He Met Insurrectionists 1/3

WaPo: Fox News is a hazard to our democracy. It’s time to take the fight to the Murdochs. Here’s how. Corporations that advertise on Fox News should walk away, and citizens who care about the truth should demand that they do so

NBC News: Four years of capturing Donald Trump ‘ Photographers of the White House press corps share behind-the-scenes looks at the iconic photos of Trump’s presidency.

• Editor’s note: How refreshing to have our President just give us the unvarnished truth:
• CNBC: Biden says nothing can change the trajectory of the Covid pandemic over the next several months
• And that we now have our first, public, national COVID-19 plan:
• The White House: “The Biden-Harris plan to beat COVID-19”

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS FROM FRIDAY ***

The Olympian: Entire state [of WA.] remains in Phase 1 of reopening plan as Thurston’s region loses progress

McClatchey News: ‘On the brink of extinction.’ New report details Washington’s salmon crisis

The Olympian: Thurston Superior Court Judge Sharonda Amamilo sets $50,000 bail for man accused of assaulting, threatening reporters at WA. Capitol

JOLT News: Thurston County Health Officer Dr. Dimyana Abdelmalek “This week I want to focus on the vaccines.”

Thurston Talk: Three Girls from Yelm To Be Recognized as Part of First Class of Female Eagle Scouts by Boy Scouts of America

KING-5 TV: Washington state hotel industry eyes recoveryT

Thurston Talk: Where to Find Soup for Takeout in Olympia and Surrounding Areas [including Yelm]

The Olympian: Merritt Long’s memoir weaves his experiences with U.S. history of racism

*** TRUMP CHAOS FORM FRIDAY ***

The New York Times BREAKS SIGNIFICANT STORY: Trump and Justice Dept. Lawyer Said to Have Plotted to Oust Acting Attorney General

The Daily Kos: Trump campaign used shell companies to provide funds and support for Jan. 6 pre-insurgency rally

Politico: Legal scholars, including at Federalist Society, say Trump can be convicted

*** REGIONAL NEWS ***

JOLT News: County health officer Dr. Dimyana Abdelmalek recommends districts “cautiously phase in in-person learning for K-5 and middle school students.”

KOMO-4 TV: Inslee: Amazon opening pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Seattle, goal to vaccinate 2,000

The Olympian: Washington’s capital city is one of the best to live in, report says. Here’s why

South Sound Business: South Sound Home Prices Continue to Climb – Double-digit percentage gains seen in Pierce, Thurston, Mason, Lewis, Grays Harbor counties

KING-5 TV: GOP needs to do some ‘soul searching,’ says Washington Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman

WaPo: Biden signs order requiring masks on planes, buses, trains and at airports [and national parks]

KING-5 TV: Judge says Amazon won’t have to restore web service to controversial social media site Parler

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS ***

The White House: The Biden-Harris plan to beat COVID-19 [Ed. note: Finally, one year to the day after the U.S. recorded the first COVID-19 case, a national COVID-19 plan is publicly released from the top!]

The Daily Kos: QAnon watch parties expecting violence dissolve into horror when Biden/Harris inaugurated – “The Storm” never arrived!

KING-5 TV: World leaders hope for renewed cooperation with US under Biden [i.e. China, Mexico, Canada, France, Tibet, European Council, Israel, Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India.]

McClatchey News: Biden moves to fully reimburse states for National Guard, supplies in COVID-19 fight

NBC News: Biden issues executive order expanding LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections

The Daily Kos: Michael Flynn’s brother admits to being part of call where National Guard were delayed on Jan. 6

CNBC: The stock market frenzy feels like 1999 dot-com bubble, global investor Barry Sternlicht warns – “[the] less experienced — staying at home and day trading and buying stocks.”

NBC News: Corporate America lines up to praise Biden — and hopes to bend his ear – After years of rule by tweet, business leaders said they welcome a chance to return to an established way of doing business, including strategic, long-term planning.

Reuters: Attorneys call for Giuliani to lose law license over false claims, mob incitement

CNN: Capitol riot investigators narrow in on extremist groups and military-style coordination

Just Security: Gaps in Trump’s Pardons: How the Biden Administration Can Still Pursue Justice by Andrew Weissmann

NYT: The Problem With Trump’s Odious Pardon of Steve Bannon – It is corrupt and a possible obstruction of justice and should be legally challenged. [Bannon “might otherwise have turned against the former president in a potential criminal, civil or impeachment proceeding.]

Optimist Daily: Pink seesaws at US-Mexico border wins Design of the Year 2020

• Editor’s note: With the FOX News staff shake-up as Trump left office, coupled with a federal judge’s ruling AND FOX News admitting Tucker Carlson is not always accurate with the acts, the curtain has been pulled back on the unreliability of the news at that network, as many have known for years.
• With The White House focused on transparency and facts, FOX News will become even more irrelevant without their mouthpiece Donald Trump.
• FOX News viewers should read these two magazine reports below and be forewarned!

+ Salon Magazine: Federal judge rules that Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s viewers don’t expect him to tell facts – Fox News admits in court that Carlson is not always accurate when he discusses the news on TV

+ Forbes Magazine: Fox News Lays Off Staffers As Trump Leaves Office

“Fox News has dealt a major shakeup to its staff, laying off more than a dozen staffers after falling behind in the ratings, as some of the departing employees told media outlets the move might be in response to backlash from President Donald Trump and his supporters over how the network handled its coverage of the 2020 presidential election” by Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff. Read more

+ Brian Tyler Cohen: Chris Wallace goes megaviral praising Biden’s inaugural address ON FOX NEWS [Ed. note: Chris Wallace is one of the few left at FOX News that has maintained credibility.]

+ On Tuesday, January 19th, Shepard Smith, a Fox News Channel (FNC) reporter for a quarter of a century until 2019, who now has a show on CNBC, was interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour why he left his job at the FNC.

He replied, “I believe that when people begin with a false premise and lead people astray, that’s injurious to society, and it’s the antithesis of what we should be doing. Those of us who are so honored and grateful to have a platform of influence have to use it for the public good.”

“I don’t know how some people sleep at night because I know there are a lot of people who have propagated the lies and have pushed them forward over and over again, who are smart enough and educated enough to know better. And I hope that at some point, those who have done us harm as a nation — and I might even add as a world — will look around and realize what they’ve done. But I’m not holding my breath.”

*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY ***

JOLT News: Vaccines: You might be eligible now, due to expanded rules

The Olympian: Here’s how you can schedule your COVID-19 vaccine this week

San Juan Islander: WA. AG Ferguson [announced]: Federal court blocked Trump Clean Power Plan rollbacks [Ed. note: This was the 39th lawsuit AG Ferguson won against the Trump Administration, and on the day before they left power.]

South Sound Business: State Turns to Text Messaging to Speed Up COVID-19 Exposure Notifications

South Sound Business: New Round of Commerce Grants to Aid Struggling Small Businesses

The Olympian: Bill would require schools to reopen during COVID-19 once certain metrics are met

KING-5 TV: All quiet in Olympia, Washington State Patrol could start ‘drawdown’ at Capitol – The patrol’s increased presence at the state Capitol cost more than $1.5 million.

Thurston Talk: Yelm Community Unites to Tackle Hunger During Holidays and All Year Round

Chicago Tribune: Albertsons experiments with automated pickup kiosks as online grocery shopping soars [Albertson’s owns Safeway]

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY ***

NBC News: Pope Francis calls on God to help Biden’s efforts at ‘reconciliation and peace’ [Ed. note: President Biden is tghe 2nd Catholic U.S. President.]

MSNBC: Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama joined together to discuss the importance of a peaceful transfer of power.

NBC News: ‘After four long years’: World leaders congratulate Biden – “It was a sigh heard round the world”

The Daily Kos: President Biden signs series of executive orders to move nation forward

CNBC: President Joe Biden rejoins the Paris climate accord in first move to tackle global warming

Market Watch: Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the oath of office to the new Democratic senators — Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock [both of Georgia] and Alex Padilla [California] — just hours after taking her own oath at the Capitol alongside Biden.

Politico: Germany to talk to Biden team over securing changes to vaccine distribution

KING-5 TV: ‘Even as we grieved, we grew’ | Poet Amanda Gorman, 22, recites work at Biden-Harris inauguration. Read the poem’s full text here.

Heather Cox Richardson Newsletter: January 19, 2021 [Ed. note: One of the best summaries I have read of the last 4 years to today.]

CNN Business: QAnon believers are in disarray after Biden is inaugurated

• Editor’s note: I have received a large volume of e-mails since January 6th that Trump had everything under control, along with Gen. Mike Flynn, promising Trump would become President on January 20th.
• As late as January 18, Trump adherents were beseeched to stay the course, posts proclaiming that “once Biden takes his oath, he and his team are arrested for treason and sedition…encircled by the military.”
• I have watched “enlightened” and educated people toss aside their own reasoning abilities to consume and become followers of the promulgated garbage of baseless lies, merely to fit an agenda and/or to follow the herd.
• CNN reported: Trump has left, but some of his supporters still think he’s about to declare martial law — and they’re excited
• The Washington Post reports: The administrator of 8kun, the longtime home of the mysterious Q, says it’s time to move on
• NBC News: Donald Trump promised to end “American carnage” and “Make America Great Again.” Four years later, he leaves with those goals far from reach.
• And Trump’s pardons were the swampiest thing possible from the man who promised to drain the swamp of cronyism.
• The last 4 years of a documented 30,000+ Presidential lies comes to the end today. From CNN‘s Daniel Dale: Reflections on four weird years fact checking every word from Donald Trump
• Trump was defeated because he did not take care of his people, and did not know how to govern.
• Approx. 402,000 covid deaths occurred on Trump’s watch, nearly the U.S. total of WWII military deaths.
• Finally, President Joe Biden has been elected, certified and inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States.
• Grace and civility now return to the Office of the President, and along with First Lady Jill Biden, America can have pride in decency, honor, and kindness.
• America now rejoins our allies as committed partner.
• As just one example, when the pandemic is over, our President & First Lady will take their rightful place in the Kennedy Center Honors Presidential Box, the premier annual event recognizing our country’s leading artists who have contributed to the American culture via their life’s work in the performing arts. Former President Obama was the last sitting President to bestow these honors, in 2016.
• And Vice President Kamala Harris and First Husband Doug Emhoff are forging new paths as a bi-racial couple, shining brightly as a beacon of hope for so many people!
• Grace and kindness in action and deeds: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris spent MLK day volunteering at food banks
• A new day has dawned on America, where hope for the future can once again reign!

Trump supporters hung-on to expectations he would deliver for them, yet Trump did have the wherewithal to accomplish these:

* Disbanding The Federal Reserve, return the U.S.to the Gold Standard

* UFO Disclosure by end of 2017

* NESARA to pay by Nov. 4, 2020 election day

* Revealing JFK, Jr. was alive and supporting Trump for re-election

* Unredacted JFK Assassination files publicly released

* Cancel debt with China [UK’s Independent: China bans Trump cabinet officials from ever doing business with country]

* 9-11 files released

* 540,000 pedophile arrests

As Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY.) tweeted: “The omission of Snowden, Assange, and Ulbricht, from the pardons and commutations list speaks volumes. The President went 0 for 3 in his final round with the swamp.” [Ed. note: Trump was always for himself, and merely used his supporters and adherents.]

And a last good-bye to President Trump on his last day as President:

+ CNN: The ‘Trump Baby’ blimp that dogged the President for years will live on in a museum

+ NBC’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon: The Trump ‘concession speech we all deserve’

+ The Daily Kos: Bye bye. Adios. Arrivederci. Ciao. Tschüss. Sayōnara. Paalam. Zàijiàn. Zōi Gīn

Bottom line:

The Trump Administration now ends exactly where it began 4 years ago today, having promulgated over 30,000+ lies since January 20, 2017, the first lie about Inauguration crowd size: