Chavez Reelected

Hugo Chavez maintained his presidency, after Venezuela went to the voting polls on Sunday.

His narrowest margin of victory gave him only fifty-four percent of the vote.

Chavez, who has been president since 1999, will now hold the post until 2019, giving him a twenty year reign.

Accusations of corruption and his continued moves to further socialism galvanized the opposition and saw them unite behind one candidate, for the first time.

Despite his popularity, Governor Henrique Capriles only managed forty-five percent of the vote.

Capriles stated that he will continue his attempts to keep the country from going totally socialist.

8 Dead, 105 Hospitalized Due to Meningitis

Meningitis has now claimed eight lives, and put another one hundred and five people in the hospital. That marks a large jump in the number of cases, since Sunday.

As many as thirteen thousand people may have been infected by the fungal meningitis that was accidentally spread in spinal steroid injections.

So far, all the ill are in nine states, but the steroid was shipped to ninety-six facilities in twenty-three states.

New England Compounding Center, which manufactured the injections, is doing everything it can to aid the government in it's investigation. They've handed over their operation licenses and voluntarily recalled all of their other products as well.

Local police agencies have been tasked with checking in on people, who received injections, that the CDC has not been able to reach.

Littleton Police Cautioning Bicyclists

The city of Littleton, Colorado has issued an advisory to the public, through the press.

On Thursday evening, a bicyclist was injured when he rode into a strand of barbed wire that had been placed across Mary Carter Greenway Trail.

Police are seeking those responsible, with the intent of pressing criminal charges.

65 Dead in Last 2 Days in Nigerian Violence

An explosion struck a military convoy, as it was traveling through Maiduguri, Nigeria, wounding two soldiers.
Villagers say that the military just started shooting, after the explosion, leaving at least thirty-five dead.

The local hospital said at least four of the dead were in rebel uniforms.

Nigeria's government has pledged an investigation, and will issue a further statement, on Wednesday.

Sunday evening, troops engaged in a firefight with Boko Haram militants, near Damaturu.

Thirty members of the Islamist terrorist group were reported dead, with ten more arrested.

Various weapons, ammunition, and home made bombs were confiscated by the government troops.

Since the group began attacks, in 2010, they have been responsible for the deaths of over one thousand people.

Russians Protest Putin on His Birthday

Thousands of Russians marched and protested against Putin on his birthday, Sunday.

The President, then Prime Minister, now once again President celebrated his sixtieth birthday with mass celebrations in Moscow and across the country.

Many of the protesters held signs or dressed in ways showing their support of the jailed members of punk band, Pussy Riot.

At least six protesters, in Moscow, were arrested for their enthusiasm in protesting the long term leader.

Two hundred people held a rally demanding justice for Anna Politkovskaya, a critic of Putin's who was killed in 2006.

Must See: The Uninvited (1944)

If you have a basic knowledge of classic film then you must know Ray Milland as the husband plotting against Grace Kelly from Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, or as the alcoholic from The Lost Weekend. Now catch the talented actor and (those two previous movies notwithstanding) movie gentleman, in this great ghost story.

It was one of the first more dramatic, adult treatments of the poltergeist subject during a time when the horror genre was in danger of getting tired and cliched, depending on sequels and heavily made up monsters.

Milland plays a composer and writer who falls in love with an abandoned house on the English seaside, and moves there with his sister hoping for some productive peace and quiet. From the moment they notice the flowers wilt, and that neither dog nor cat will go up the stairs, the siblings soon discover the place is haunted and dangerous; no wonder they got it for practically nothing.

The Uninvited also gives you the chance to watch the gorgeous and tragic actress Gail Russell; she made her mark in noir and westerns, but her career derailed due to alcoholism and she died aged thirty-six. Her look and acting made her compelling in any movie, but she's especially gripping here, as a fragile, disturbed woman whose mother’s strange death is causing the creeps in the house, and who may be the next victim.

Standard disclaimer applies to modern audiences used to graphic gore and conditioned to expect drastic scares; you might find Uninvited pretty mild, but basic thrills like these, set to amazing music with good acting and atmosphere is often more effective than expensive FX, operating on the often more effective theory that what you don’t see, what's created by your imagination, can be scarier than anything conjured up on screen.

See it Wednesday, October 10 at 10:00 PM on TCM.

Find me at the Speakeasy for much more classic entertainment.

Preview: Seven Pschopaths

What happens when professional dognappers accidentally take a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu?

Well it would seem hilarity, violence, and lots of language as they manage to entangle their friends in their plot as well.

Starring Collin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko the movie seems to be trying to remind us of Bruges.

If you can take the coarseness of the profuse language combined with gratuitous violence, then you'll likely greatly enjoy the hilarity of the film.

Seven Psycopaths hits theaters Friday, October 12.

Starbucks Begins Testing New Baked Goods Line

Starbucks has finally begun testing their new line of bakery goods, in nine San Fransisco locations.

Among the new options being tested are: a various flavors of croissants, a blueberry yogurt muffin, raspberry passion fruit loaf cake, lemon vanilla loaf cake (planned to replace the current lemon loaf), various cookies, and a warm chocolate cake that are served warm.

All of the new products are being made at the La Boulange bakeries, which Starbucks purchased in June.

Corporate will be studying how each new item does, and based on week by week decisions will slowly spread them out to the rest of the US, and then internationally.

Chipotle's Boorito Celebration

Chipotle is ready to celebrate Halloween, with their Boorito Celebration.

Anyone, in costume, who goes to a Chipotle location on October 31, from four pm to close, can receive a burrito, bowl, salad, or tacos for just two dollars.

They are also holding a costume contest, for those who take a picture of themselves, in costume, inside or in front of a Chipotle location.

Prizes for the contest include a grand prize of $2,500, five thousand dollar prizes, and twenty people will win burrito parties for ten, at their favorite Chipotle.

The first million dollars in proceeds will go to Chipotle's Cultivate Foundation, their foundation which aims to create a more sustainable and healthful food supply.

California Gas Prices Skyrocket

Gas prices have been increasing across the US, but none so fast as California. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, prices rose twenty cents in some places.

Over the last week the state average has gone up fifty-two cents, to $4.65. Some places in the state are now well over five dollars a gallon, which the average could very well hit.

Production issues have aided the rise. An Exxon Mobil plant, in Torrance, was shut down for most of Monday, due to a power outage. That plant alone normally produces 150 million barrels a day. Chevron's plant in Richmond, the largest in the state, is still at reduced capacity since a fire in August.

But hurting production the most are government restrictions, which require the more highly refined "summer blend" to be sold til October 31. Most plants have already switched to the "winter blend", and are running out of the summer. Both Valero Energy and Exxon Mobil have begun rationing the shipments they send to the west coast.

The combination of those factors has greatly increased the wholesale cost of gas, and retail prices will rise for awhile longer, just to catch up. Some gas stations have had to stop selling gas, as they are running out of fuel, because they either can't afford it or can't get it. Long lines have formed at cheaper stations and people are beginning to stockpile gas, as fears of shortages rise.