I remember reading in a book...
titled either "The Winds of War" or its sequel "War and Remembrance" that Vladimir Lenin was the one who said "promises, like pie crusts, are made to be broken." I did some research and discovered that this turn of phrase actually was first written by Jonathan Swift, hundreds of years earlier. Apologies to Mr. Swift for my past references to this concept where I attributed it to someone else.
But let me keep a couple of promises I made yesterday in my headlines blog. I promised to address what New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is really doing by ordering a special election be held on October 16th of this year to elect a replacement for Frank Lautenberg in the U.S. Senate. Lautenberg died on Monday at the age of 89. It is not, as Governor Christie claims, about "...guaranteeing the people of New Jersey a choice and a voice in Washington".
It is also not entirely as some pundits are saying, to prevent the possibility that holding the election to choose Lautenberg's replacement on the regularly scheduled election day of November 5th, a few weeks later; might hurt his chances for reelection to the Governor's office. Yes it is true that were the special election to be held on November 5th, more Democratic voters would turn out to support Newark's very popular mayor, Cory Booker. Booker had already announced his intention to run for the Senate seat in 2014 since Lautenberg was not going to run again. He will win the special election easily.
Christie would have won in November, whether or not the special election is held on that date. But his margin of victory will be much, much greater without the turnout in support of Mayor Booker's run for the Senate. He is hoping this will make him appear as a more viable candidate when he begins his run to be the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. He may be right. But he's also made a number of prominent Republicans unhappy by not appointing a Republican to replace Lautenberg and delaying the special election until November of 2014. They may try to make him pay for ignoring their wishes.
* * *
I also promised to comment on the situation in New Mexico where a Catholic school decided to not allow a boy who was born a girl to wear a boy's robe (black) at the high school graduation ceremony. Sadly, this isn't a case of illegal discrimination. Even if they didn't have the freedom of religion argument to back up their position, the fact they are a private school means they have almost unlimited freedom to make their own rules as they go along. And if they run afoul of the various Civil Rights laws, there's that pesky freedom of religion thing.
Now that being said, I think they are 100% wrong. If you're going to allow a girl who is going through a sex change to attend school for their entire senior year as a boy, you can't just pull the rug out from underneath right before graduation. If you have a problem with it, you can tell the student to go elsewhere, so they can have a normal senior year. At least as "normal" as it can be when one is in the middle of one of the most difficult things a human being can go through. Particularly at that tender age. The school made a mistake. They should have made a decision about the boy's attendance and status before the year began and then stuck to it.
* * *
I nearly blew a gasket yesterday afternoon. I was on my way to get a sandwich for dinner and I was waiting to make a left turn onto Washington from Overland. The traffic signal there is one of those where you get a left-turn arrow before the light changes to green for your direction of traffic; but the left-turn lane can still turn left on the green light. This as opposed to those left-turn lanes where you can make your turn only on the arrow. All of the cars in front of me made the turn when the arrow was on except for this incredibly dense driver in a brand new white Mercedes-Benz. A big expensive one. He or she (couldn't see to be sure) sat at the front of the left-turn lane, not moving an inch into the intersection in preparation for making the turn on the yellow light. I honked lightly. Nothing. I honked more stridently. Nothing. I leaned on the horn and didn't let go which prompted a wave of dismissal. Now I knew it was a woman, or a man with long, red fingernails. When the light did go from yellow to red, she just sat there.
Maybe it was ignorance. Maybe she didn't know that you're allowed to make that turn after the arrow disappears, if you have a clear path and the light is still green; or when the light is changing to red. But that's dangerous ignorance. I'm not given to road rage, even if I did yell a bit inside my car. I don't have a gun or a knife and I don't hit other people's cars with mine. But there are people in the world who will do those things. They don't suffer the indignity of having to sit through an extra change of traffic light easily.
I sat there actually hoping that the arrow wouldn't come on when it was time for the light to change again. I wanted to see what she would do when there was still no arrow. It might have made her realize she could have made the turn before. Or it might have been something else entirely.
I do know one thing. The more I drive these days, I see more and more evidence that those who flaunt and outright ignore the rules of the road are much more likely to be driving expensive vehicles. The more expensive the vehicle, the more likely the driver is to commit traffic violations and fail to be a courteous driver. On Monday I was waiting to get onto the 405 in a long line of traffic. That right-turn only lane I've mentioned before was open and this great big Cadillac SUV (MSRP of around $80,000 or more depending on options chosen) roared right through that lane without turning right.
But that wasn't the end of it. The on-ramp is only one lane, with a lined off shoulder that is only to be used for broken-down vehicles or emergency services personnel. The driver of this gunboat sped up the shoulder, ran the red traffic control light and then cut off someone as they made an illegal lane change. Four traffic violations in less than 250 yards.
Hey, I know that there are a lot of people who drive really expensive cars who obey all traffic laws, are courteous drivers and so on. I'm just saying that since I spend time observing traffic violations that go on around me (I was a military cop for an extended period, so it's something I do without much conscious thought), the majority of the violations I see are made by the more expensive of the cars and trucks out there. Except of course for texting while driving, which is an equal opportunity infraction. Everyone has a cell phone and lots of those folks can't wait to stop before sending the next text or talking on the phone without using hands-free moe.
* * *
This Date in History:
On this date in 70AD, Titus and his legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem.
On this date in 1257, Krakow is granted "city rights".
On this date in 1837, the Republic of Texas incorporates the city of Houston.
On this date in 1849, Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy.
On this date in 1851, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" begins a ten month run in "The National Era", an abolitionist newspaper.
On this date in 1915, Denmark amends its constitution to give women the right to vote.
On this date in 1947, General George Marshall (Secretary of State at that moment) gives a speech at Harvard calling for economic aid to Europe.
On this date in 1949, the first woman is elected to the parliament of Thailand.
On this date in 1956, Elvis appears on the Milton Berle TV show and introduces "Hound Dog".
On this date in 1967, the "Six Day War" begins in the Middle East as Israel launches pre-emptive strikes against Egypt and Syria, which were planning to attack Israel.
On this date in 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, while running for the presidency was shot in L.A. at the Ambassador Hotel by Sirhan Sirhan. RFK died the next day.
On this date in 1975, the Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six Day War.
On this date in 1981, a publication from the Centers for Disease Control reports on what turn out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
On this date in 1989, "Tank Man" stops the advance of Chinese Army tanks on Tiananmen square. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tianasquare.jpg
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Thomas Chippendale (no, he wasn't an exotic dancer...at least not that we know of)
Pat Garrett
Pancho Villa
John Maynard Keynes
Salvatore Ferragamo
Federico Garcia Lorca
Otis Barton
Tony Richardson
Bill Moyers
Spalding Gray
Tom Evans
Ken Follett
Suze Orman
Kathleen Kennedy
Kenny G
Ron Livingston
Brian McKnight (a singer with a great three-point shot)
Mark Wahlberg
Movie Quote of the Day today comes from the brilliant "Boogie Nights":
[the Colonel's lady friend is lying on the floor, bleeding from the nose]
Young Stud: [wailing] I, I think she did too much coke.
Colonel James: Oh, you think so, doctor?
#2
Dirk: What can you expect when you're on top? You know? It's like Napoleon. When he was the king, you know, people were just constantly trying to conquer him, you know, in the Roman Empire. So, it's history repeating itself all over again.
#3
Dirk: You're not the boss of me, Jack. You're not the king of Dirk. I'm the boss of me. I'm the king of me. I'm Dirk Diggler. I'm the star. It's my big dick and I say when we roll.
But let me keep a couple of promises I made yesterday in my headlines blog. I promised to address what New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is really doing by ordering a special election be held on October 16th of this year to elect a replacement for Frank Lautenberg in the U.S. Senate. Lautenberg died on Monday at the age of 89. It is not, as Governor Christie claims, about "...guaranteeing the people of New Jersey a choice and a voice in Washington".
It is also not entirely as some pundits are saying, to prevent the possibility that holding the election to choose Lautenberg's replacement on the regularly scheduled election day of November 5th, a few weeks later; might hurt his chances for reelection to the Governor's office. Yes it is true that were the special election to be held on November 5th, more Democratic voters would turn out to support Newark's very popular mayor, Cory Booker. Booker had already announced his intention to run for the Senate seat in 2014 since Lautenberg was not going to run again. He will win the special election easily.
Christie would have won in November, whether or not the special election is held on that date. But his margin of victory will be much, much greater without the turnout in support of Mayor Booker's run for the Senate. He is hoping this will make him appear as a more viable candidate when he begins his run to be the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. He may be right. But he's also made a number of prominent Republicans unhappy by not appointing a Republican to replace Lautenberg and delaying the special election until November of 2014. They may try to make him pay for ignoring their wishes.
* * *
I also promised to comment on the situation in New Mexico where a Catholic school decided to not allow a boy who was born a girl to wear a boy's robe (black) at the high school graduation ceremony. Sadly, this isn't a case of illegal discrimination. Even if they didn't have the freedom of religion argument to back up their position, the fact they are a private school means they have almost unlimited freedom to make their own rules as they go along. And if they run afoul of the various Civil Rights laws, there's that pesky freedom of religion thing.
Now that being said, I think they are 100% wrong. If you're going to allow a girl who is going through a sex change to attend school for their entire senior year as a boy, you can't just pull the rug out from underneath right before graduation. If you have a problem with it, you can tell the student to go elsewhere, so they can have a normal senior year. At least as "normal" as it can be when one is in the middle of one of the most difficult things a human being can go through. Particularly at that tender age. The school made a mistake. They should have made a decision about the boy's attendance and status before the year began and then stuck to it.
* * *
I nearly blew a gasket yesterday afternoon. I was on my way to get a sandwich for dinner and I was waiting to make a left turn onto Washington from Overland. The traffic signal there is one of those where you get a left-turn arrow before the light changes to green for your direction of traffic; but the left-turn lane can still turn left on the green light. This as opposed to those left-turn lanes where you can make your turn only on the arrow. All of the cars in front of me made the turn when the arrow was on except for this incredibly dense driver in a brand new white Mercedes-Benz. A big expensive one. He or she (couldn't see to be sure) sat at the front of the left-turn lane, not moving an inch into the intersection in preparation for making the turn on the yellow light. I honked lightly. Nothing. I honked more stridently. Nothing. I leaned on the horn and didn't let go which prompted a wave of dismissal. Now I knew it was a woman, or a man with long, red fingernails. When the light did go from yellow to red, she just sat there.
Maybe it was ignorance. Maybe she didn't know that you're allowed to make that turn after the arrow disappears, if you have a clear path and the light is still green; or when the light is changing to red. But that's dangerous ignorance. I'm not given to road rage, even if I did yell a bit inside my car. I don't have a gun or a knife and I don't hit other people's cars with mine. But there are people in the world who will do those things. They don't suffer the indignity of having to sit through an extra change of traffic light easily.
I sat there actually hoping that the arrow wouldn't come on when it was time for the light to change again. I wanted to see what she would do when there was still no arrow. It might have made her realize she could have made the turn before. Or it might have been something else entirely.
I do know one thing. The more I drive these days, I see more and more evidence that those who flaunt and outright ignore the rules of the road are much more likely to be driving expensive vehicles. The more expensive the vehicle, the more likely the driver is to commit traffic violations and fail to be a courteous driver. On Monday I was waiting to get onto the 405 in a long line of traffic. That right-turn only lane I've mentioned before was open and this great big Cadillac SUV (MSRP of around $80,000 or more depending on options chosen) roared right through that lane without turning right.
But that wasn't the end of it. The on-ramp is only one lane, with a lined off shoulder that is only to be used for broken-down vehicles or emergency services personnel. The driver of this gunboat sped up the shoulder, ran the red traffic control light and then cut off someone as they made an illegal lane change. Four traffic violations in less than 250 yards.
Hey, I know that there are a lot of people who drive really expensive cars who obey all traffic laws, are courteous drivers and so on. I'm just saying that since I spend time observing traffic violations that go on around me (I was a military cop for an extended period, so it's something I do without much conscious thought), the majority of the violations I see are made by the more expensive of the cars and trucks out there. Except of course for texting while driving, which is an equal opportunity infraction. Everyone has a cell phone and lots of those folks can't wait to stop before sending the next text or talking on the phone without using hands-free moe.
* * *
This Date in History:
On this date in 70AD, Titus and his legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem.
On this date in 1257, Krakow is granted "city rights".
On this date in 1837, the Republic of Texas incorporates the city of Houston.
On this date in 1849, Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy.
On this date in 1851, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" begins a ten month run in "The National Era", an abolitionist newspaper.
On this date in 1915, Denmark amends its constitution to give women the right to vote.
On this date in 1947, General George Marshall (Secretary of State at that moment) gives a speech at Harvard calling for economic aid to Europe.
On this date in 1949, the first woman is elected to the parliament of Thailand.
On this date in 1956, Elvis appears on the Milton Berle TV show and introduces "Hound Dog".
On this date in 1967, the "Six Day War" begins in the Middle East as Israel launches pre-emptive strikes against Egypt and Syria, which were planning to attack Israel.
On this date in 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, while running for the presidency was shot in L.A. at the Ambassador Hotel by Sirhan Sirhan. RFK died the next day.
On this date in 1975, the Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six Day War.
On this date in 1981, a publication from the Centers for Disease Control reports on what turn out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
On this date in 1989, "Tank Man" stops the advance of Chinese Army tanks on Tiananmen square. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tianasquare.jpg
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Thomas Chippendale (no, he wasn't an exotic dancer...at least not that we know of)
Pat Garrett
Pancho Villa
John Maynard Keynes
Salvatore Ferragamo
Federico Garcia Lorca
Otis Barton
Tony Richardson
Bill Moyers
Spalding Gray
Tom Evans
Ken Follett
Suze Orman
Kathleen Kennedy
Kenny G
Ron Livingston
Brian McKnight (a singer with a great three-point shot)
Mark Wahlberg
Movie Quote of the Day today comes from the brilliant "Boogie Nights":
[the Colonel's lady friend is lying on the floor, bleeding from the nose]
Young Stud: [wailing] I, I think she did too much coke.
Colonel James: Oh, you think so, doctor?
#2
Dirk: What can you expect when you're on top? You know? It's like Napoleon. When he was the king, you know, people were just constantly trying to conquer him, you know, in the Roman Empire. So, it's history repeating itself all over again.
#3
Dirk: You're not the boss of me, Jack. You're not the king of Dirk. I'm the boss of me. I'm the king of me. I'm Dirk Diggler. I'm the star. It's my big dick and I say when we roll.
posted by me at 8:17 AM
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