Q: can't recover photos from time machine from old Mac to new-permission issue

Thanks for posting that link.  I tried it, unfortunately it didn't work.

I ended up making an appointment at the Genius Bar.  Turned out the backup folder was corrupted somehow. 

After digging around for a while the guy helping me tried dragging the iPhoto folder from the external HD onto the desktop of my new Mac. Wallah, the folder started downloading.  Once downloaded I dragged the folder to the Photos icon on the dock.  Despite his initial concerns the photos might appear as a massive lump, they fortunately remained organized by event, retaining all their information.

He didn't know why or how the backup files were corrupted, but as he put it "we saved your photos!" 

Funny it was that simple after digging and trying to fix the permission issue.

Thank you btw for your time and sharing suggestions and links.   I did try them all, but without luck.