Why Can't We Be Friends

The title for today's entry comes from the song by War, and it's a natural lead-in to discuss the issue of Syria and whether or not the U.S. needs to act.  Actually that the U.S. needs to do something is no longer in question, the issue is, what to do?

It is also appropriate to discuss the roles of the Congress and the Executive Branch since some are trying to say that the President needs Congressional approval to act.  He does not.  Every president since 1973's passage of the War Powers Resolution has taken the position that this action by Congress is not constitutional.  No one has been able to take a legal action against a president who is "violating" this resolution as the courts have refused to take a position on the law's constitutionality.

Even within this law that presidents do not adhere to because they believe it to be unconstitutional, the president has the authority to send troops for up to 60 days, with a further withdrawal period of 30 days.

If President Obama were to order one of the two submarines near Syria to launch cruise missiles against targets in Syria, this would not be an open declaration of war.  When was the last "formal" declaration of war anyway?  The United States hasn't issued a formal declaration of war since World War II.  It is also worth noting that the long history of our nation includes wars that were not declared wars.  These include the Quasi-War of 1798, the two Barbary Wars and others.  The U.S. has been waging war and defending itself without formal declarations for over two hundred years.

It is in the best interests of everyone in the world that our world leaders make it abundantly clear that anyone using chemical, nuclear or biological weapons will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.  Mostly because of the incredibly lethal nature of these weapons.  10 milligrams of VX will kill 50% of the people whose skin comes in contact with a dose that small.  Three times that dose will kill 50% of the people who inhale it.  That means that just one pound of VX would kill tens of thousands of people.  Many more would suffer permanent neurological damage and be crippled.

I'm all for sending a message out that we as a planet will not tolerate anyone trying to use this kind of weapon against anyone.

* * *

The last day I went to work was on Monday of this week.  Aside from a meeting that will take up an hour on Tuesday morning, and an hour or two on Wednesday, I won't work again until September 9th.  That week is when my teaching duties begin.  I've set aside Monday and Tuesday as days to be focused on initial preparation for the class.  Now in truth I've been preparing all along, writing up my handouts for the first day, preparing my master notes for teaching the first classes and so on.

Normally I'd be chomping at the bit to be at the office.  Instead I'm trying to enjoy this respite because I'm going to be quite busy after class begins.  A load that will be made moderately more difficult because I'm having that defibrillator installed the week after classes begin.  It's supposed to be an outpatient procedure, with a possibility that I may have to spend that night in the hospital.  But they tell me I can't do any heavy lifting for a couple of weeks afterward.  Considering the heaviest thing I try to lift these days is a bag of groceries, I'm not too worried about that.

I am very grateful to have a boss who understands my physical limitations and is almost as invested in making sure I don't exceed them as I am.

* * *

The Border Patrol has seized nine tons of pot, with an estimated street value of $14 million.  That's roughly $777 per pound. 

If that's not the best argument I've heard yet for complete legalization and regulation, with the same rules as cigarettes to at least attempt to keep it out of the hands of minors, what is?  How cheaply could marijuana be grown, harvested and sold as a legal product in the U.S.?  And better still, be taxed.  Considering what people are paying now to buy it, they would have no objection to a stiff tax on it, with prices cut to a fraction of what they pay now.

I'll vote to legalize it.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

What will it take to get people to keep quiet during movies?  The couple sitting near me today must have thought they were in their living room.  Either that, or they don't know how to whisper.

Allen Iverson's ex-wife wants the next 14 years of child support now, to be put into trust.  Well, people in Hell want ice water and they're going thirsty.  I suspect she's going to get the same answer from a judge.

How interesting is it that the Congress will almost certainly be debating the use of force in Syria on 9/11 of this year?

Has the use of email and texting become so prevalent that using the phone as a tool for talking is becoming obsolete?

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, a self-proclaimed bi-sexual have entered into a dating "pact" where reportedly she can have sex with other women as long as she provides the details to Depp?  Is this a fair and equal agreement if he is proscribed from sleeping with other women (or men for that matter)?

Please read this extract from a Yahoo Sports story:

"Add the names of Tim Tebow, Vince Young, Jimmy Clausen and Matt Leinart to the list of college star quarterbacks who have not been able to replicate their magic in the NFL. All three were cut Saturday as teams whittled down their rosters to the 53-man limit at the 6 p.m. ET deadline."

If you don't see what's wrong with the paragraph, count the names again.  The awkwardness was caused by the addition of the name of Matt Leinart to the list, because he was actually cut on Friday.

By the way, if you read the word "final" in the stories about these roster cuts being made today, think about this for a moment.  The "final" roster for the Cleveland Browns does not have a placekicker on it.  Their punter did kick field goals back in his college days, but is he going to do double duty?  Probably not.

Facebook's new Terms of Service is just one more indicator that I made the right choice in removing the photos of me from my FB profile.

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 1056, the Macedonian dynasty ends when Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless.
On this date in 1422, King Henry V of England dies of dysentery (two monarchs dying on consecutive days in different years of that?)
On this date in 1803, Lewis and Clark set off on their famed expedition when they depart from Pittsburgh, PA.
On this date in 1864, General Sherman's forces launch an attack on Atlanta.
On this date in 1888, Mary Ann Nichols is murdered.  She was the first confirmed victim of Jack the Ripper.
On this date in 1895, German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his Navigable Balloon.
On this date in 1897, Thomas Alva Edison invents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
On this date in 1936, Radio Prague begins broadcasting.
On this date in 1943, the USS Harmon is commissioned.  It is the first U.S. navy vessel to be named for a black person.
On this date in 1958, a mail bomb sent to King Norodom Sihanouk by the younger brother of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem fails to kill the King.
On this date in 1980, the government of Poland signs the Gdansk agreement, which allows creation of the trade union Solidarity.
On this date in 1997, Princess Diana and two others die in a car crash in Paris.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Caligula
Commodus
Maria Montessori
Emperor Taisho of Japan
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Fredric March
Arthur Godfrey
William Shawn
Richard Basehart
Daniel Schorr
Buddy Hackett
James Coburn
Jean Beliveau
Noble Willingham (I never knew until today the reason he left the TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger" was to run for Congress.  He lost.)
Eldridge Cleaver
Frank Robinson
Itzhak Perlman
Bob Welch
Lowell Ganz
Richard Gere (don't buy him a gift gerbil)
Julie Brown
Edwin Moses
Gina Schock
Jessica Upshaw
Hideo Nomo
Debbie Gibson
Chris Tucker
Jeff Hardy

Movie quotes today come from 1997's "Jackie Brown" in honor of Chris Tucker who has a role in it:

Ordell Robbie: I got this young nineteen year old country girl named Sheronda. I found her on a bus stop two days outta Georgia, barefoot, country as a chicken coop. I took her to my place in Compton, told her it was Hollywood.
Louis: She believed you?
Ordell Robbie: Hell yeah! To her dumb country ass, Compton is Hollywood; closest she's ever been anyway.

#2

Louis: Who's that?
Ordell Robbie: That's Beaumont.
Louis: Who's Beaumont?
Ordell Robbie: An employee I had to let go.
Louis: What'd he do?
Ordell Robbie: He put himself in a position where he was going to have to do ten years in prison, that's what he did. And if you know Beaumont, you know ain't no god damn way he can do ten years. And if you know that, then you know Beaumont's gonna do anything Beaumont can to keep from doing them ten years, including telling the federal government any and every motherfucking thing about my black ass. Now that my friend is a clear cut case of him or me. And you best believe it ain't gonna be me.

#3

Max Cherry: If you've got time, you think you can find out where he's staying?
Winston: Cops can't locate him, huh?
Max Cherry: They don't have your winning personality.

Lamar Odom was in car crash days before being busted for DUI and other eye-catching headlines

Turns out that days before he was arrested on suspicion of DUI, Lamar Odom was involved in a three-car accident on the same freeway where he got busted.  Not only that, but one of the drivers involved is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Today is the final day in office for San Diego mayor Bob Filner.  A special election to replace him will be held on November 19th.  If no candidate in that election wins 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff between the two highest finishers.  City Council president Todd Gloria will serve as interim mayor until a successor is elected and sworn in.

A woman walked into her Manhattan Beach home and found two men robbing the place.  They tied her up and held her at gunpoint for several hours.

Aayan Gries finally got evicted from the house on "Big Brother" (even if I'd wanted to watch, which I didn't, my cable provider doesn't air CBS stations these days) and tried to defend her numerous racists remarks by saying she's from Texas and "...we say things that...sometimes we joke and don't mean it."  She will continue to be isolated from the outside world and has no idea she's lost her modeling gig.

Meanwhile, you can call CBS the home of "Big Brother" and the home of the double standard, as several of their sit-coms use racist jokes and the network won't even address those. 

Shellie Zimmerman, wife of George Zimmerman says their marriage is "on shaky ground."  It couldn't be he was afraid to risk his life by visiting her in jail, she got only probation and community service for perjuring herself during his bail hearing.

Fast food chains Carl's Jr., Little Caesar's and Jack in the Box were rated as the least desirable places to work by their employees in a recent survey.  One of the employee complaints was "Little Caesar's pay card deducts money with every swipe."

The state of Ohio is seeking to have a lawsuit filed by family members of a woman who was supposed to get one of her brother's kidneys, but a part-time nurse threw away the healthy kidney after it had been removed. 

The late Albert "Cubby" Broccoli offered the role of James Bond to Dick Van Dyke back in the 1960s, but then withdrew the offer after remembering how awful Van Dyke's English accent from "Mary Poppins" was.

British tennis professional Dan Evans called a medical time-out while playing the U.S. Open, because of a bad case of nipple chafing.  Reporter's note:  I have sympathy for the man.  When I ran the 1994 America's Finest City Half-Marathon, my nipples got chafed so badly that they actually bled and ruined my favorite racing t-shirt.

ABC's Phoenix affiliate, ABC 15 has performed a major public service to recently wedded couples.  Upon learning that a local company that shot wedding videos had gone out of business, their reporter set out to locate those who'd shot the videos, get them back and then match them up with their rightful owners.  So far, 24 of the 170 videos they recovered have been "reunited" with the happy couples who thought they'd never see them again.

North Korea has withdrawn an invitation to the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights to travel there to seek a pardon for an American sentenced to 15 years at hard labor.

A Vietnamese man who tried to smuggle fish into New Zealand from Australia faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $78,000.  He was caught at the airport when officials noticed water leaking from his trouser pockets.

Kate Middleton is drawing oohs and ahhs from the lightning fast return of her trim figure post-pregnancy.

Freddie Laker is the name of a man who has raised $1.5 million for a start-up that features dogs and cats reading the news.  It's not the same man who was a pioneer in the low-cost airfare industry.

A soldier who had just returned from four years of service overseas surprised his family at a minor league baseball game.  His wife and kids were invited to the game by his sister and they were at home plate when three people in hot dog costumes raced toward them.  One of them removed the head of the costume and it was the soldier himself.

A Colorado woman and her daughter will spend a good stretch in the "gray-bar hotel" for their roles in a scam that bilked 374 victims in 40 countries out of money that wound up in Nigeria.  Karen Vasseur and her daughter Tracy Vasseur convinced their mostly female victims that they were wiring money to U.S. soldiers assigned duty in Afghanistan.

One of the way that FEMA will be tracking the danger level of approaching hurricanes is something they refer to as the "Waffle House Index".

Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio is going to have his operations overseen by a monitor appointed by a federal judge.

A judge has ordered a long-term hold be placed on Amanda Bynes, with her mother's conservatorship to continue.  The hold is for up to one year, but it is only expected to last for a few months.

The best laid plans of one man and no mice aft a-fatigue

I had plans today.  I was going to go see an early movie (love the bargain matinee pricing).  I was going to work on an article I'm writing about a director making an indie, with a big name star, who is using Kickstarter to get the last piece of funding.  I was going to drive to Fountain Valley to play trivia with my friends and enjoy some pre-birthday prime rib.

One of these agenda items is definitely cancelled and odds are good that the other two won't happen today either.  I may do a little work on the article.  I may watch a different movie that I have a screener of.  But I suspect most of the day will be spent laying down and resting.  It's before 9 in the morning and I did my morning walk right on time this morning.  As a result I'm more than 50% of the way to the daily goal (which I actually made yesterday after all).  But at breakfast I realized I was pretty much out of fuel at that moment and the rest of the day is probably shot.

What's interesting to me is that if I had work scheduled today, I would be there and I would be working at full efficiency.  I would use willpower to make that happen.  If tonight's trivia game involved money, or was part of an effort to win something major, I'd be there.  If today's movie was an invited screening that was the only chance to see the film, I would probably go.  But none of them are as important as paying attention to my body's demand for rest.  When something is important enough, I'll overcome the physical with the mental. 

The big change is I spent decades just doing whatever I wanted to do, without regard to my body's messages.  I'd work all day at one job, go to my second job, and then when I got home, surf the web or chat for hours, before grabbing a couple of hours sleep and doing it all over again.  Sometimes I'd even skip the sleep thing.  Can't do that much anymore.

* * *

At the office we do take checks, but we don't deposit them and wait for the funds to be credited.  We have one of those scanners where the check is fed through and the fund immediately debited from the account.  We get instant credit and the customer doesn't have time to "cover" the check.  So if the funds weren't available when they handed us the check, we would know right away.

I cannot count how many times during my military service when I wrote a check on my checking account the day before the funds would be there.  Or even two days.  Anything more was just too risky.  Writing a Not Sufficient Funds (NSF) check is a big issue for military personnel.   Now it's almost impossible to do.

So why is it that when any of us use a bank's online bill-pay service to pay a bill where a physical check is not written, the payee doesn't get the funds the same day?  It may be one, or two days delay but usually it is four or five.  Where is the money during that time?  It was taken from the account the moment the right button was clicked on the payer's computer.

It's "floating" and banks love the float.  They make money on the float.  This October will be the 10th anniversary of the passage of The Check Clearing Act for the 21st Century.  One of the purposes of this law was to eliminate the banks ability to make money by investing other people's money during this floating period.

If they can instantly debit our accounts for point of sale purchases by check, like we do at my office, and they aren't issuing physical checks which are "snail-mailed" to most of the payees of online bill-pay payments, they should be able to give instant credit to those payees.  But there is no legal requirement to do so, nor is there any advantage for them to do it.

Time for Congress to act?  Yes, but the banking lobby is so powerful that's not likely.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

I prefer DUI rather than DWI as we called it when I was a military cop.  Lamar Odom was apparently under the influence of something last night.

I guess the reason is obvious, but I wonder why it is that directors and others associated with films that attend paid showings of their work to talk to the audience afterward don't go to bargain matinees?  They want to see a full house at full price of course.

Rupert Murdoch's pay for 21st Century Fox's 2013 fiscal year dropped down to $28.9 million.  Must suck to be him.

Is there something ironic in the fact that the shoes Heather McDonald wore on Chelsea Lately last night (she tweeted a picture of them and identified the maker) probably cost as much or more than a week's take-home pay for a third of the show's audience?

A look at the latest figures shows that of the 43% of Americans who will pay no income taxes in 2013 shows that only 1.3% of those households have incomes in excess of $100,000.  Without getting into the argument of what someone's "fair share" is, is there anyone out there who isn't taking advantage of every "loophole" and "deduction" to pay the lowest amount legally possible? 

Radio Shack is revamping 2,000 stores.  They have that many left?

The inventor of the foam finger is upset at how Miley Cyrus used it.  Will we hear next from anyone else connected to anything she did or didn't wear at the VMAs?

I was working on my review of a Chinese film, "The Grandmaster" and I noticed it said the budget was 240 million.  My eyes bugged out and then I realized that was in Yuan, not Dollars.  Scared me for a second, as I didn't see $200 million worth of movie on the screen (it's actually $38.6 million).

Do parrots named Polly really prefer crackers over other food?

Toyota gave the man who bought its 50 millionth car sold in the U.S. with another new Toyota.  He'll have to pay taxes on the gift, insure it and the like.  It's still nice, but it isn't as generous as plain old cash would have been.  But then again, one shouldn't look a gift car in the radiator.

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 526, King Theodoric the Great dies of dysentery (what a way to go...yuck).
On this date in 1572, Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master.
On this date in 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle.
On this date in 1791, HMS Pandora sinks, after running aground the previous day.
On this date in 1835, Melbourne is founded.
On this date in 1836, the city of Houston is founded.
On this date in 1918, Vladimir Lenin is shot and seriously wounded by Fanny Kaplan.
On this date in 1945, Hong Kong is liberated from the Japanese by British forces.
On this date in 1956, the Lake Pontchartrain causeway opens.
On this date in 1963, the "hotline" between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. begins operation.
On this date in 1967, Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

David Hartley
Mary Shelley
Anita Garibaldi
Huey Long
Shirley Booth
Joan Blondell
Fred MacMurray (most remember him for "My Three Sons" but I remember him best for "The Caine Mutiny")
Richard Stone
Ted Williams
Daryl Gates (a lousy chief of police but a decent host of talk radio)
Bill Dailey
Warren Buffett (what do you get a multi-billionaire for his birthday?)
Jack Swigert (no relation to Jack Swaggert)
Elizabeth Ashley
Jean-Claude Killy
Tug McGraw
Molly Ivins (a great journalist, RIP)
Peggy Lipton
Christopher Collins (proud member of "NO MA'AM" on "Married With Children)
Timothy Bottoms
Martin Jackson
Michael Chiklis
Cameron Diaz
Lisa Ling
Cliff Lee
Andy Roddick

While my friend Joel will note most of the notable passings on this date, let me pay tribute to Charles Bronson and wrestler Killer Kowalski, both of whom died on this date.

Movie quotes today come from "There's Something About Mary" in honor of Cameron Diaz's birthday (only woman I've ever seen trying to learn to surf in a swimming pool):

[spying on Mary]
Pat Healy: Husband... negative. Children and a Labrador... negative. Tight little package... affirmative.

#2

[after Mary addresses Ted by name]
Ted: I couldn't believe that she knew my name. Some of my best friends didn't know my name.

#3

Dom: Here you've been in therapy, you know, thinking you blew it with the greatest girl ever, and really it turns out that getting your dick stuck in your zipper was the best thing that ever happened to you.

#4

Pat Healy: My real passion is my hobby.
Mary: Really, what's that?
Pat Healy: I work with retards.
Mary: Isn't that a little, uhm, politically incorrect?
Pat Healy: Well, heh, to hell with that... no one's going to tell me who I can and can't work with, right?
Mary: No, I mean...
Pat Healy: We got this one kid, Mongo... He's got a forehead like a drive-in movie theatre, but he's a good ship. So we don't bust his chops too much. So, one day Mongo gets out of his cage...
Mary: They keep him in a cage?
Pat Healy: Well, it's just an enclosure...
Mary: No, but they keep him confined?
Pat Healy: Right, yeah.
Mary: That's bullshit!
Pat Healy: Well, that's what I said! So, I went out and I got him, uh, I got him a leash.
Mary: A leash?
Pat Healy: Yeah, one of those ones you can hook on the clothesline, and he can run back and forth and, uh, there's plenty of room for him to dig and play. That kid is really, uh, he's really blossomed.

It is impossible to....

According to many of the fast-food and other minimum wage workers who are striking today for a minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, the reason they should be paid more is that it is "impossible to raise a family on $7.25 an hour (the current Federal minimum wage).

No disagreement there.  An individual working full-time at minimum wage in California (a moderately higher $8 per hour) working an average of 35 hours per week will gross $14,560 per year in wages.  From that they pay out $823 in Social Insecurity and Medicare taxes, and another $160 in State Disability Insurance tax.  It doesn't leave much, does it?

But why is it the responsibility of an employer to pay someone more because they can't support themselves, let alone a family, on what they earn?  Employers offer employment.  They pay what the market bears for labor, as long as they are complying with the minimum wage laws.

The notion that McDonald's could raise the pay of its employees to $10.50 per hour by just increasing the price of their Big Mac and other "premium" sandwiches by a nickel has already been debunked.  But let's look at what's really involved in putting that Big Mac on a customer's tray.

A franchisee has to come up with somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000 in non-borrowed cash just to open the doors.  McDonald's owns the facility and charges rent equivalent to 12% of sales.  They also charge a "service fee" of 4% of sales. 

When I worked in the fast food industry, wages for labor were 17% of sales.  So before we look at the cost of making that Big Mac (materials, utilities, liability insurance and more) more than a third of the money going into that cash register on the counter is already spoken for.

People who are supporting the concept of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour point out that the McDonald's corporation is seeing huge profits.  That's true.  But there is a disconnect here.  That corporation isn't employing the people on the front line of fast food.  The franchisees are.  And those record profits are coming because rents on the locations were increased from 8.5% to 12%.  Corporate profits have little actual correlation to labor costs born by the franchisees.

If wages for labor represent 17% of the cost of that "value meal" and 85% of the employees see their wages double, how do you keep that fixed cost at 17%?  You have to either decrease the man-hours involved in making and selling that sandwich (can't be done) or increase the price.  The price of a Big Mac won't double, but it will be more than just a few cents higher.  Plus if first-line managers are earning only $10 or $12 an hour and suddenly the people they manage are earning $15, how much do you have to then pay these managers to offer them an incentive to take on a job with more challenges and stress?  $18 per hour?  $20 per hour?

Minimum wage increases trickle upwards, causing the salaries of more highly compensated employees to also demand more money.

* * *

I'm having one of those days where my get up and go got up and went before I got out of bed.  Normally by this time of the day my pedometer will show that I'm past the 2/3rds point of whatever daily goal I've set for the day.  So far today I'm just past the 1/6th mark. 

I didn't go to bed until very, very late, but I slept in to try to make up for it.  Apparently that didn't work.  I had lunch plans with a friend but I'm actually glad he had to cancel.  He hit me up for some advice via telephone instead.  It's alright, he'll end up paying for lunch next time. :)  At least he should do that.

My cable service is getting worse and it's becoming more than a little bothersome.  I've had problems since moving in here with the audio feed getting bad and then disappearing.  Normally just changing the channel up and down one selection will restore the audio and it usually remains good after that for a good long while.  Today I've had to do this three times in the last ten minutes. 

I have had the technicians out before and they can find nothing wrong.  Clearly something is wrong.  One tech said it might be the wiring inside the building and in that case it is probably not repairable.  Oh well.  If this annoyance is the worst part of my day, I'm going to have a good day even with minimal energy.

Update:  I went on a walk and tripled my daily step count.  Still well short of goal but I broke a sweat and I feel better.

* * *

Imagine an outbreak of common sense at the Internal Revenue Service.  You don't have to imagine it because it is doing on right now.  The IRS is going to treat same-sex couples who marry anywhere in the U.S. where they can do so legally, as married, regardless of what state they currently reside in.  As an example of what this actually means, consider a same-sex couple living in Mississippi. 

Voters in Mississippi defined marriage in a referendum in 2004, outlawing same-sex marriage.  But if a same-sex couple living in Mississippi were to travel to a state where same-sex marriage is legal, the IRS will recognize them as married.  They can file a joint income tax return.  All of the other privileges and responsibilities of an opposite-sex married couple will apply.

But in Mississippi, where they have a state income tax, this couple will have to file as single individuals.  So that means that they will have to also prepare individual federal returns, because the Mississippi state income tax return takes data directly from the federal return.  In essence, this couple will have to prepare five separate income tax returns.

I congratulate these couples on being treated equally in tax matters by the federal government, at long last.  I feel sorry for those who will try to do their own income tax returns when their state of residence has an income tax and refuses to recognize their marriage.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Now the news comes in that Valerie Harper's "terminal" brain cancer may be in remission.  She's going to do Dancing With the Stars.  That is terrific news and just shows attitude can make a difference (now if I could just remember that applies to me too).

If someone is arrested but the charges are dropped, should that arrest be held against them forever?  Does it matter if the charge was speeding or murder?  I ask only because the media in North Carolina is making an issue of the fact the man who has just been appointed to be Director of Veterans Affairs for the state was once charged with the murder of two civilians during the Iraq war.  He was never brought to trial due to "insufficient evidence."

Maybe Clint Eastwood and his wife of 17 years are "working" on their marriage like Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones??  (probably just the prelim to a divorce).

So far this year's U.S. Open Tennis Championships have had not just one, but two underhanded serves.  In different matches no less.  Wow.

Don't normally watch the late night talk shows but Selena Gomez looked very "hot" last night on one of them.  Ah, to be young again...

Being fired in public is just wrong.  Bosses who do that have no concept of humanity.

Did I just see a New York Post headline calling the South Carolina Gamecocks and the UNC Tar Heels "in-state rivals?"  Yes I did.

Is Tiger Woods going to follow his girlfriend to Chile as she trains for the next Winter Olympics (probably not)?

40 lashes with the proverbial wet noodle to Cincinnati Reds player Brandon Phillips for calling a reporter who covers the team for a local newspaper a "fat mother-f****r."

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 708, copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time.
On this date in 1261, Pope Urban IV succeeds Pope Alexander IV, becoming the last man to become Pope without having first been a Cardinal.
On this date in 1498, Vasco da Gama decides to sail home to Portugal from Calicut.
On this date in 1756, Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years War.
On this date in 1786, Shay's Rebellion begins.
On this date in 1825, the Kingdom of Portugal recognizes the independence of Brazil.
On this date in 1831, Michael Farraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
On this date in 1842, the signing of the Treaty of Nanking ends the First Opium War.
On this date in 1898, the Goodyear tire company is founded.
On this date in 1922, the first advertisement on radio in the U.S. is broadcast on WEAF in New York City.
On this date in 1949, the Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
On this date in 1958, the United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, CO.
On this date in 1965, the Gemini V spacecraft splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean.
On this date in 1966, the Beatles perform their last concert in front of a paying audience at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

John Locke
Charles Townshend
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Charles F. Kettering
Preston Sturges
Barry Sullivan
Ingrid Bergman
George Montgomery
Isabel Sanford
Charlie Parker
Richard Attenborough
Dinah Washington
Charles Gray
William Friedkin
John McCain
Elliot Gould
Robert Rubin
Joel Schumacher (wonder if George Clooney blames him for "Batman and Robin")
Robin Leach
Wyomia Tyus
Bob Beamon
James Hunt (watch for "Rush", a new film from Ron Howard that features parts of his story)
Jack Lew
Michael Jackson
Rebecca DeMornay
Will Perdue
Carla Gugino
Lea Michele
Courtney Stodden

Movie quotes today come from 1996's "The Rock" just because the Beatles reference above reminded me of it:

Paul (hotel barber): Okay, I don't want to know nothing. I never saw you throw that gentleman off the balcony. All I care about is: are you happy with your haircut?

#2

General Hummel: Did they bother to tell you who I am and why I'm doing this or are they just using you like they do everybody else?
John Mason: All I know is that you were big in Vietnam, I saw the highlights on television.
General Hummel: Then you probably have no idea what it means to lead some of the finest men on God's earth into combat and then watch their memories get betrayed by their own fucking government.
John Mason: I don't quite see how you cherish the memory of the dead by killing another million. And, this is not combat, it's an act of lunacy, General Sir. Personally, I think you're a fucking idiot.
General Hummel: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
John Mason: "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious," according to Oscar Wilde.
[Hummel strikes him, and he falls to his knees]
John Mason: Thank you for making my point.
General Hummel: Where are the guidance chips?
[Points his gun at Mason's head]
General Hummel: WHERE ARE THE GUIDANCE CHIPS?
John Mason: I've destroyed them.
General Hummel: That was a bad move, soldier.

#3

John Mason: When all this is over, you'll go back home driving Carla and your baby insane in your beige Volvo. And I'll be dead, or back in prison which is the same thing.

#4

Carla: [after telling Stanley she's pregnant] You didn't mean what you just said, did you?
Stanley Goodspeed: When?
Carla: Just right now, when you were talking about bringing a child into the world, and having it be an act of cruelty.
Stanley Goodspeed: I meant it at the time.
Carla: Stanley, "at the time"? You said it seven and a half seconds ago!
Stanley Goodspeed: Well... gosh, kind of a lot's happened since then.

#5

John Mason: Are you sure you're ready for this?
Stanley Goodspeed: I'll do my best.
John Mason: Your "best"! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
Stanley Goodspeed: Carla was the prom queen.
John Mason: Really?
Stanley Goodspeed: [cocks his gun] Yeah.

Fort Hood shooter gets the death penalty and other eye-catching headlines

Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was sentenced to death by the court-martial board that had convicted him of murdering 13 people and attempting to murder nearly three dozen others in a 2009 rampage shooting.  The death sentence is automatically appealed and it is worth noting that no military member on death row has been executed since 1961.

Fast food workers plan to picket Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's and other fast food restaurants in a number of cities on Thursday.

Justin Beiber was cited for running a stop sign and driving without a license.

A judge in Montana faces mounting criticism of his sentencing of a teacher who raped a 14 year old student to only 30 days in jail.  He did sentence the man to 15 years but suspended all but 31 days in jail (he got credit for one day already served).  The 14 year old took her own life afterward.  Petitions are circulating calling for the judge's removal.

Real White House interns have spoken out, on condition of anonymity, and said that the cost of doing an unpaid internship can put these "golden opportunities" out of the reach of people who just don't have access to capital.

A United States Marine who is leaving the military on November 15th after seven years of service has asked Miley Cyrus to be his date to the Marine Corps Ball on November 7th.  If she says yes, let's hope she dresses more conservatively than she did at the Video Music Awards.

The 15,000 square foot Las Vegas mansion of the late Liberace has sold for $500,000, nearly $30,000 less than it had been listed for.  The new owner is reportedly going to restore it.  The mansion last sold for $3.7 million back in 2006.

A 5 year old boy in Mesa, AZ may become the youngest child in the state to have a medical marijuana card.  He suffers from cortical dysplasia, which causes seizures and has rendered him unable to communicate.

For those who want to be the "ultimate" fans of Marvel Comics and related materials, the company has announced a new subscription program.  For an annual fee of $99, they can join Marvel Unlimited Plus, which provides access to 13,000 digital back issues, a discount at the Marvel Comic Shop and limited edition action figures.

The Illinois Tollway has published a list of its worst scofflaws, some of whom more than $100,000 in unpaid tolls.  Each of the 157 violators whose name (business or personal) was published owes at least $1,000.

A Missouri bank executive faces a year in prison and a lifetime ban on working in the banking industry after he pleaded guilty to using TARP funds to buy himself a waterfront condo in Florida.

Cheerleaders at a high school at Florida may no longer wear their cheer uniforms to class on game days because the skirts are too short and their shoulders are left bare.  Those two things are in violation of the school's dress code.

A new game show starting September 9th on NBC will offer a prize of $2 million to the winner.

Bill Ackman, former member of the board at J.C. Penney and the largest investor in the company has sold his 18% share, taking a loss of $400 million.

Iran suing the U.S.

There are members of the Iranian Parliament that want to "sue" the U.S. for the CIA's role in the 1953 coup that returned Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power.  They wouldn't get anywhere in a U.S. court and the U.S. probably wouldn't recognize the jurisdiction of an Iranian court.  So why does this matter?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that nations have been meddling in the affairs of other nations since governments first came into being.  When the Vietnam War was going on, it wasn't just a conflict between North and South.  It was communism versus capitalism.  The USSR supplying materiel to the North while the U.S. and other allies provided materiel and troops to the South.  The victors in World War II divided Germany along similar lines.

When the day comes that the Iranians are willing to pay reparations for the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, we can discuss reparations for that 1953 coup.

* * *

Is the real reason that there is a crisis involving student loan debt the profits made by Sallie Mae and the banks making/servicing these loans?  Maybe.  Is the answer to eliminate the profit motive from educational lending?  That's a tougher question.  If it makes sense to eliminate the profit motive from one area, why not eliminate it in every area that involves things people need. 

People need food, so should private enterprise profit from feeding the masses?  People need transportation to get around, so should car manufacturers, dealers and repair shops make money because people have a need?  Oh, add those who operate gas stations to that particular list.

I have advocated getting rid of the profit motive as a way to solve a part of the healthcare crisis.  The part where doctors are having to see a patient every ten minutes (or less) in order to be able to afford to remain in business.  It is a necessary evil when doctors accept the continually shrinking reimbursements that healthcare insurers pay out.  But the best fix there might just be making the profiteers compete against non-profits, to encourage better coverage and more efficient claims processing.

We as a nation don't have the money to let government handle all of the funding and servicing of student loans on a non-profit basis.  Since government has to borrow money just to operate, it has none to lend out on an interest-free basis.  To cover the cost of borrowing and administering a gigantic program like this, the interest rates on such loans would be even higher than the current, artificially lowered rates.

Once again, a large part of the problem is actually government employee salaries, benefits and pensions at public colleges and universities.  That's where we can make progress in making education more affordable, if we can muster the political will to make changes in such things.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Everyone's marveling at the new Burger King French Fry Burger.  Primanti Brothers sandwich shops have been putting French fries into their sandwiches for 80 years.

Is anyone surprised that Bank of America is ranked last in a survey of the reputations of banks?  (no)

If you worked for Glenn Beck (I know, stretching the limit of the hypothetical to the extreme) and you got a memo threatening to fire anyone who does anything due to global warming (recycling, "green" light bulbs and so on), would you quit?  (probably)

What kind of scumbag gouges out the eyes of a six year old boy?

The USDA spending $20 million on a catfish inspection program that hasn't yet inspected a single fish is just business as usual.  It's why government is broke.  And yet, the notion was designed to make it more difficult for importers to compete against U.S. sellers of catfish.  So is it really wasteful?

Is taking time apart from your marriage really working on it, as Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones claim to be doing?  (maybe)

Should we be surprised that more than 140 people face criminal charges for misuse of money from TARP (government bailout program for banks)?  Only that the number seems low.

Only I could misplace my handicapped parking placard inside my car and end up spending money to park at a meter because I couldn't find it (I found it once I got home).

* * *

This Date in History:

On this date in 1521, the Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade.
On this date in 1609, Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay
On this date in 1789, William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn.
On this date in 1830, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad races its steam locomotive against a horse.
On this date in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 receives "Royal Assent".
On this date in 1845, the first issue of Scientific American is published.
On this date in 1859, a geomagnetic storm causes an extremely bright Aurora Borealis that is visible in areas where the effect can not normally be seen.
On this date in 1867, the U.S. takes possession of the Midway Atoll.
On this date in 1898, Caleb Badham invents what is known today as Pepsi Cola.
On this date in 1917, ten suffragettes picketing the White House are arrested.
On this date in 1953, Nippon Television broadcasts Japan's first television show, with commercial.
On this date in 1955, Emmett Till is brutally murdered in Mississippi.
On this date in 1957, Senator Strom Thurmond begins what will become the longest filibuster in U.S. history by a single senator, 24 hours and 18 minutes.  He was trying to prevent a vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
On this date in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech during the march on Washington.
On this date in 1964, the Philadelphia race riots begin.
On this date in 1990, Iraq declares Kuwait its newest province.
On this date in 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
On this date in 1996, Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

John Stark
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
George Whipple
Charles Boyer
Joseph Luns
Jack Dreyfus
Jack Kirby
Nancy Kulp
Peggy Ryan
Donald O'Connor
Ben Gazzara
Ken Jenkins
William Cohen (the one who was Defense Secretary)
David Soul
Melvin Dummar
Vonda McIntyre
Danny Seraphine
Ron Guidry
Wayne Osmond
Luis Guzman
Rick Rossovich
Daniel Stern
Whip Hubley ("Hollywood" and "Slider" from "Top Gun" both born on this date???  Yep)
David Fincher
Jennifer Coolidge
Shania Twain
Jack Black
Jason Priestly
Janet Evans
Kimberly Kane
Armie Hammer
Kyle Massey
Quvenzhane Wallis

Movie quotes today honor the birthday of Luis Guzman.  They come from "The Bone Collector" since my first choice among his movies to quote, "Waiting" was used the other day:

Rhyme: Do you know who I am?
Amelia: I read your manual at the academy.
Rhyme: Yeah? What did you think of it?
Amelia: I'm not a book critic, sir.

#2

Captain Howard Cheney: You got a smart mouth, and it's gonna get you in trouble someday.
Thelma: Yeah, and it also may bite your ass if you don't stop tryin' to aggravate my patient!

#3

Paulie: If you were any more wound up you'd be a timex.

Iraqi War veteran denied breakfast because of service dog and other eye-catching headlines

James Glaser is a veteran of the war in Iraq who was diagnosed with PTSD.  He tried to go into Big I's for some breakfast and the owner said "get that fake service dog out of here."  Glaser plans to take action under the Americans With Disabilities Act (I hope he wins big).

Now that formerly classified information has come to light that shows the CIA was involved in the coup in 1953 that returned the Shah of Iran to power, members of Iran's current parliament have voted to sue the United States.  Commentary on this tomorrow on the daily blog.

In addition to owing casino mogul Steve Wynn, the legal woes of Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis now include a sentence of 270 days in jail and three years probation after he was convicted of five counts involving the unlawful imprisonment of three women.

Linda Ronstadt will appear in Los Angeles to discuss her book, "Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir" in October of this year.  The award-winning singer recently disclosed she is suffering from Parkinson's Disease and can no longer sing.  Tickets are $25 and the event will be held in the theater at New Roads School in Santa Monica.  You can inquire here about tickets:  http://writersblocpresents.com/main/linda-ronstadt-with-patt-morrison/

In an effort to move the prostitution trade in Zurich, Switzerland away from the business district, authorities have constructed "drive-thru sex boxes" that offer all of the privacy that three walls can provide (so the city decided if they built it, the johns would come??).

The first Latino ever elected to the Compton City Council has finally submitted the required financial disclosure forms.  Councilman Isaac Galvan faced a fine of $5,000 for failure to file if he didn't submit those forms by last Friday. 

A 19th woman has come forward and accused San Diego's soon to resign mayor of sexual harassment.  In other surprising news, California remains attached to the rest of the United States and has not fallen into the ocean.

A transient has pleaded not guilty of cruelty to animals after a dog locked in a van that he had allegedly stolen died.  He also pleaded not guilty to the unlawful taking of the van.

In 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme attempted to assassinate President Gerald R Ford.  Now a recording of testimony taped in Washington, D.C. has been released showing President Ford testifying about the incident.

The 14 year NFL career of former Bengals linebacker Reggie Williams ended in 1989.  Now after 24 surgeries on his right knee that have left it mangled and that leg three inches shorter than the other, he faces what doctors call the "inevitable" amputation of the leg.

The IRS has released its final version of regulations implementing the individual mandate contained in the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"). 

While the identity of the tipper remains anonymous, it turns out it was not billionaire Richard Branson who left $7,000 worth of tips for three checks that only totaled less than $500, in Utah.

Those who have taken up smoking "E-cigarettes" in an effort to avoid the health risks of the ordinary cigarettes may be in for a rude awakening.  A study published in a French consumer magazine indicates that the electronic cigarettes actually contain levels of carcinogens equivalent to those of regular cigarettes.

Call off the dogs, Lamar Odom is no longer "missing" and some say he never was.

Michael Reagan, adopted son of the late President is taking issue with the portrayal of his father in what he himself admits is a fictionalized account in "Lee Daniels' The Butler".  He objects to the "insinuation" that his father was a racist and used the "one of his best friends was black" argument in support of the position he takes in a column written for Newsmax.

If you're going to make a hole in one while golfing, doing it when it brings you a prize of $1 million is the best moment to do it.  That's what happened to a man at a charity golf event in New Mexico.

The 14,500 square foot home in Chicago once owned by singer R. Kelly didn't sell at $1.6 million when he tried to sell it in a short sale.  Now the bank owns it and it is so run down that they've listed it at less than $600,000.

The New York Mets made a good move in trading Marlon Byrd to the Pittsburgh Pirates but picked the wrong moment to do it.  Tonight is Marlon Byrd t-shirt night at the Mets home stadium.

A judge has ruled that the Harmon Hotel tower in Las Vegas can be demolished.  It was never completed after flaws were found during construction.  Expect the ruling to be appealed.

Once, twice, three times an unsubscribe

Yesterday morning I emptied my spam email box.  I don't know how many messages were in it, the counter stops when the number exceeds 999.  This morning I went to read a non-spam email and there were 268 more pieces of crap in the spam email box.  I immediately trashed them all.

Now the Yahoo email spam filter is pretty good.  But it isn't perfect.  Every day I get somewhere between one and three (sometimes more) pieces of email that I don't want, have no interest in, and have to take time to get out of my box by deleting.  So in an effort to reduce this number, I'm taking a moment out to unsubscribe.  It only takes a moment.

Why don't we have a no-spam list, like we have a no-call list?  Probably because even if a list were created, it would be obsolete the moment it became effective.  Spam doesn't recognize geographic boundaries and no one is going to enforce an international law against spam.  The FTC published a report in 2004 that makes it pretty clear a no-spam list isn't the answer.  So here are a few suggestions to help lower the amount of spam that you will receive.

1.  Every time you go to a site and do something where you are required to furnish your email address, make sure you aren't giving permission for them to send you unsolicited offers.  I didn't do this on Mother's Day when I sent flowers to my mother using a website and a few days later I started getting a ton of offers from that site and their "connected" sites.  So try to cut it off by making sure that you uncheck the box they will undoubtedly check for you.

2.  Use the highest level of privacy protection your email box allows, that will allow you to operate effectively.  If your email involves client contact and you may get an unsolicited email from a potential client, you can't block all incoming email except that of people in your contact list.  You may lose business.  One of the great things about having EarthLink, when I had it, was that the email box would automatically send an email back to someone not in your contact list asking them to respond to it in order to let me know they were trying to connect with me.  Spam emails weren't able to reply.  Real people would reply, let me know they wanted to be added to my contact list and I'd add them.

3.  Be careful about clicking on links that come in emails from friends, and even more careful when it's something someone you're not in regular contact with forwards.  Not only are there many dangers in just clicking a link in terms of potential damage to your computer from worms, viruses and other malware, there is always the chance that hitting a link will register your email address with a bunch of spammer sites. 

Depending on which browser you use, you can probably put your cursor on the link without clicking it and be shown what the actual address of a link is.  But this isn't foolproof.  http://tinyurl.com/n79tek2 is actually an 878 character link to the result of a Yahoo search for an image of Anne Hathaway.  It could have easily as been a link to load something bad onto your computer. Or to put you on a spam list.

Just to illustrate how bad the problem of spam is, one study done in 2011 estimated that there are more 7 trillion pieces of spam being sent out annually.  That's around 1,000 pieces of spam for every man, woman and child on the planet.

* * *

I didn't go to work yesterday.  I had tests at the VA and I didn't feel well.  I was supposed to go back on Wednesday.  I had one client on the calendar so I figured I could catch up on the last few things I need to do before moving to my new, temporary office on September 1st.  Then I got an email that said because of issues involving server migration at the corporate offices, we can't work in our regular offices again until Friday.  So we were going to close.  Great I thought, I'm off now until Saturday.  I called my client and rescheduled to next week.  Then came another email.  We are going to work out of a season office where there is computer functionality.  I called the client again and we will meet there on Wednesday.  There went my week-long break.

Life is certainly a roller coaster at times.

* * *

The Treasury Department of the United States has called its credit issuer, i.e., the U.S. Congress, and asked them to raise the limit on the nation's credit card.  But the Congress is reacting slowly and they need to step it up.  After all, the limit on our national credit card, AKA the public debt, is going to be reached in October. 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is particularly enamored with the idea that President Obama should just ignore the partisan bickering going on about raising the debt ceiling by employing Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.  This is what it says:

"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."

I don't agree with the notion that this language gives the President or anyone else the authority to declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional.  No one is questioning the validity of the public debt of the United States as being an obligation that must be repaid (I had to stop typing there because I was laughing so hard at the notion that we'll ever pay off that debt), the question is just how much can we as a nation borrow? 

The Republicans in Congress would file a lawsuit challenging any such action by President Obama before the ink from his pen dried on the paper where he made that move official.  Others concerned about the public debt being too high would also sue.  Donald Trump would probably knock his toupee askew from the level of outrage he would be expressing on Twitter and elsewhere.

Do we need fiscal reform?  Yes.  Do we need to use the fact the government will no longer be able to pay its bills to get people to take this seriously?  Maybe.  Do we need to let the government actually start shutting down?  Absolutely not.

Be responsible, members of the Congress.  Take the action to keep the government funded.  Then start working seriously on fixing this mess.  Maybe doing things to enhance rather than limit the economy might be a good idea.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

How did my favorite morning news team get involved in a discussion of wearing high heels this morning?

Should I answer to "Eddie" since someone used that as a "pseudonym" for me in a piece they wrote for a local newspaper to disguise my true identity? 

What legal theory is Jane Lynch's attorney using to try to prevent Lynch from being made to pay spousal support?  Why shouldn't she, if the disparity income would call for that under California law?

If you're going to try the wings at McDonald's, raise your hand.  I sure won't be trying them.  McDonald's already has boneless wings, they're called McNuggets.

Darn.  I stopped drinking Naked orange juice more than six years ago.  Otherwise I'd be eligible for a $45 refund due to a court settlement.  Rats.

How many people are riffing on the 70s phrase "Keep on Truckin" by telling Miley Cyrus to "Keep on Twerking"??  Too many.

George Zimmerman asking for reimbursement of some of the legal fees now that he's been acquitted isn't a big deal.  That's what Florida law allows.

According to Dodger wunderkind Yasiel Puig, Juan Uribe has an ugly face, but Puig "loves him".

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 410, the Visigoth sacking of Rome ends after three days.
On this date in 1172, Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England. (what's a junior king?)
On this date in 1593, Pierre Barriere tries and fails to assassinate King Henry IV of France.
On this date in 1810, the French Navy defeats the British Navy in a battle.
On this date in 1832, Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe surrenders to the U.S., ending the Black Hawk War.
On this date in 1916, Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the Allies in World War I.
On this date in 1921, the British put the son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali on the throne as King of Iraq.
On this date in 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war is signed by 15 nations.
On this date in 1962, Mariner 2, an unmanned spacecraft is launched by NASA.
On this date in 1979, a bomb placed by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army kills WWII Admiral Louis Mountbatten and three others who were on holiday in Ireland.
On this date in 1991, Moldova announces their independence from the USSR.

Famous Folk Born On This Date In History:

Hannibal Hamlin
Theodore Dreiser
Charles Rolls
Lyndon B. Johnson
Kay Walsh
Nina Schenk Grafin von Stauffenberg
Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.
Martha Raye
Leo Penn
Joan Kroc
Ira Levin
Antonia Fraser
Edward Patten
Daryl Dragon
Bob Kerrey
Tuesday Weld
G. W. Bailey
Barbara Bach
Harry Reems
Sgt Slaughter
Paul Ruebens
Peter Stomare
Downtown Julie Brown
Tom Ford
Cesar Milan
Chandra Wilson
The Great Khali

Movie quotes today come from "Falling Down" in honor of Tuesday Weld's birthday:

Katherine: We're all hurt someplace and we're all looking for a painkiller.
 

#2

Theresa: First thing, on with the tv. Next - nothing. Just sit there on the bed watching the porno movie, I honest to God expect he's going to bring out a bag of popcorn. Finally, the big moment. He doesn't even take off his pants. And all the time he's doing it to me, he's watching them do it on tv.

#3

Theresa: Talk about amateur, played for a hooker by a square and ripped off as a sucker by a dick.

#4

James: Is that why you don't wash the dishes, because the roaches are hungry?
Theresa: Why else?

I don't like losing

I know, I know, no one likes to lose.  Well there may be a few masochists out there who derive pleasure from defeat.  But I hate losing more than most.  I'm extremely competitive.  Why?  I guess because from as far back as I can remember, my father taught me that finishing first is it.  Anything less was not acceptable.

Maybe it was because he missed almost all of my sporting competitions once he left my mother.  But the time that sticks out in my mind was in the summer of 1985.  I'd just come back from a year in South Korea, and during that time I wasn't able to do much bowling.  Once I was home I bought new equipment and began practicing in earnest.  A few weeks later I was back in form.  There was a tournament coming up and I asked him to "sponsor" me.  In return for his putting up the $35 entry fee, I'd give him 40% of anything I won.

I bowled well and made it from qualifying to the semi-finals.  I did even better during the semis and would up seeded second in the "step-ladder" finals.  I just had to win two matches and I'd win the tournament.  Somewhere in my storage locker there is probably a videotape of the match that's hard to watch because the quality is poor.  And because while I won the first match, I lost the championship match by a wide margin.  Not because my opponent was more talented, this was a tournament where they used "handicaps" to equalize the talent level.  And because he was incredibly lucky.  His first shot missed the headpin but a pin bounced out of the pit and knocked down the three pins that had been left standing.  Twice he avoided splits.  I on the other hand made good shots and got little for the effort.

I guess my rambling point is I did my best.  I did everything I could to win.  I left it all on the playing field (such as it was).  All I heard when I handed him his $200 share of the $500 prize was that if I had done better, he'd be getting twice as much and I should work harder.

Maybe his intent was to encourage me to put in the extra little effort, but that's not how it came across.  It reminds me today of the scene at the opening of the original "Karate Kid II" where Johnny's second place trophy is destroyed by Sensei Kreese.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27qp189oiFo

I'm trying to think of the title of a movie.  Can't come up with it for some reason.  It's about winning and losing, with a patriarch who only allows 1st place trophies to be put into the family's trophy case.  The son gets hurt or dies trying to win something and what he does win ends up being put into the trophy case by his sister or mother.  When the father goes to remove it, the mother says she will divorce him if he does.  If you know what movie is rattling around in my brain, please advise.

* * *

Ty Michael Carter received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House on Monday. From that moment further, he and the only other living recipient of this award still on active duty are entitled to a singular distinction.  Every single other person in the military will almost certainly salute them first if they encounter SSgt Carter or Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry while they and these two extraordinary men are in uniform.

Normally enlisted men don't salute one another.  Officers must be saluted by all enlisted men, and by officers they outrank.  In theory the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would be the one officer who would not salute any other military member first.  Except for SSgt Carter or SFC Petry.  It isn't required by law or regulation, but it is the tradition.

They will be special for the remainder of their military careers as well as for the rest of their lives.  They begin receiving a special pension that was $1,000 per month and had risen to $1,237 when indexed for inflation, as of 2011.  If they serve on active duty until reaching retirement, their retirement pay is boosted by 10%, up to the legal limit of 75% of base pay at retirement.  Both of these men will receive a supplemental uniform allowance to help them deal with the numerous social engagements that Medal of Honor recipients are invited to.  Their children are eligible to be admitted to a military service academy if they meet the other admission requirements, without regard to the number of nominations available.  They get special entitlements to travel on military aircraft.  They are invited to all future presidential inaugurations and presidential inaugural balls.

It's a lot.  Then again, there aren't a lot of people receiving these special benefits.  78 current living recipients.  Four of them are in their 90s.  They are heroes, one and all.  They deserve everything they get and more.  Most of the recipients of the Medal of Honor receive that recognition posthumously.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Who cares if Edward Snowden wound up in Moscow by accident?  The point is, he's now being given asylum in Russia.

Poor people are being forced to turn to pawnshops for banking services as consolidation and branch closures eliminate banking in the poorest sections of our cities.  Sad.

Did Bobby Riggs throw the "Battle of the Sexes" match 40 years ago?  Someone says he did it to pay debts owed to the Mafia.  Do you believe it?  (I don't)

Then again I also don't believe Serena Williams when she says she'd lose 6-0, 6-0 to Andy Murray if they ever played.  She would lose, but it wouldn't be as bad a beating as she's claiming it would be.

How funny is it that both Hilary Swank and Helen Mirren had burgers right after winning Oscar gold?  Swank at Astro Burger and Mirren some In-and-Out served up at an after-party.

When Keith Olberman returns to ESPN he says he won't miss politics?  Will politics miss him?? (no)

Not only can Brooke Shields make a career out of modeling and acting, she can tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue, and she can open beer bottles with one hand using her forearm to hold the cap.

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 1498, Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the "Pieta".
On this date in 1748, the first Lutheran denomination in North America is established in Pennsylvania.
On this date in 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved in France.
On this date in 1821, the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina is officially founded.
On this date in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote (and yet men who apparently don't think much of women continue to get elected).
On this date in 1944, Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
On this date in 1978, John Paul I is elected Pope.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Robert Walpole
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier
Peggy Guggenheim
Albert Sabin
Ben Bradlee
Tom Heinsohn
Geraldine Ferraro (I was unaware she had died in 2011, RIP)
Don La Fointaine
Barbet Schroeder
Tom Ridge
Leon Redbone
Wanda De Jesus
Branford Marsalis
Shirley Manson
Elaine Irwin Mellencamp
Melissa McCarthy
Macauly Caulkin
Chris Pine

Movie quotes today come from "Bridesmaids" in honor of the extremely talented Melissa McCarthy's birthday:

Gil: Before you make those kinds of demands you should put a note on your door that says, "Do not come into my room and read my diary and wear my clothes."
#2

Ted: This is so awkward. I really want you to leave, but I don't know how to say it without sounding like a dick.

#3

Helen's Stepson: I've seen better tennis playing in a tampon commercial.

Breaking a sweat

Before I began having relapses of my breathing problems late last year, I was walking 20 to 30 minutes each morning.  I'd always come home having broken a sweat.  While I still break a sweat on occasion of late, it hasn't been from planned exercise.  It's been after a mad dash to make a movie time, or when I'm very stressed, or when I overdo.  Until this morning.

This morning I was out doing my walking before most of the residents here were awake and while I didn't significantly increase the distance, I guess I picked up the pace a bit.  Because when I was done, I had broken a sweat.  It felt good.  Now I may never get back to the level of sweat I was once able to achieve.  After back to back aerobics classes, I'd walk to my car and my t-shirt would be literally dripping with sweat.  Drenched in sweat.  I'd put a towel over my seat in the car to prevent the sweat from soaking into it.  Funny, this morning's sweat feels almost as good as it did back then.

* * *

I'm confused and I suspect I'm not alone in this particular area of confusion.  We know that the sale of marijuana is illegal under federal law.  We also know that California state law is in conflict with this because medical marijuana can be sold legally here.

Now the feds can come in and arrest the owners of any medical marijuana dispensary in our state.  That makes sense.  Federal law trumps state law.  What confuses me is that the owner of a building who rented to what he thought was a legal business; a medical marijuana store, is facing the forfeiture of his building.  He wasn't selling the pot.  He didn't know that the law forbade him from allowing someone to rent space in his building to sell pot.  He never got a notice that he needed to evict the tenant.

If he has committed a crime, charge him.  As an accessory before or after the fact.  Or with conspiracy. But they can't charge him.  He'd never be convicted.  So why does the law allow him to lose his property because someone else was doing something illegal in it?

If I own an apartment and as far as I know the tenant of a unit isn't doing something illegal, when that tenant is discovered to have been running a meth lab there, do I go to jail?  Do I lose my building?  No.  So why can the government get away with this?

* * *

Stuff I'd Do If I Ruled The World:

Revamp the Little League World Series.  While baseball is an American invention, and much more popular here than in other nations, why should the winner of the US bracket get into the championship game to face an "international" bracket winner?  Isn't it a "world" series?

Make movie theaters display the actual time for a movie, including how many minutes of trailers run before the feature begins.  I saw "The World's End" today.  Its running time is 109 minutes.  The starting time was supposed to be 10:25 a.m. so I should have been walking out of the auditorium at 12:14 p.m.  I actually walked out after the final credits were finished rolling, at 12:32.  18 minutes of trailers and "don't talk or text" messages before the movie itself began.  Hey, I love trailers.  I'd just like to know if it's going to be four, or six, or seven, or just how many minutes of trailers for planning purposes.  I always allow 20 extra minutes but just show the damn actual number.

Make the cops enforce the no texting/driving laws.  Having a $161 fine as we do in California should be sufficient to discourage the practice, but it doesn't.  Raising the fine to $500 wouldn't discourage it.  When word hits the street that the CHP and other law enforcement agencies are actually pulling people over and writing the tickets, it will discourage people from doing it.  It's like the so-called "California stop" at a stop sign.  Cops just don't care enough to write it up.  The difference is that usually the California stop isn't putting others in danger.  Texting and driving is.

Prohibit political speechmaking at awards ceremonies.  I've mentioned this before so further comment isn't required.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Why did the idiot (who is now almost certainly dead) in Australia ignore the signs saying not to swim because of the presence of crocodiles?  One "snatched" him right up.

Do the people who are calling Louisiana Republicans dumb because more of them blame President Obama rather than President Bush "Lite" for the poor response to Hurricane Katrina remember a little factoid?  That then-Senator Obama was one of the 14 members of the U.S. Senate who in essence voted against giving aid to New Orleans?  The bill was to waive a requirement of a law known as the Stafford Act, and if the waiver hadn't been granted, the city would have had to pick up 10% of the cost of reconstruction and cleanup.  Why would Senator Obama oppose this sensible measure?  Didn't he call for a waiver of this requirement during the post Superstorm Sandy cleanup?

Is it wise for an elected official to appoint someone to their staff after they've been convicted of an act that would involve betraying the public's trust?  Especially when their probation includes a judge's order banning them from holding elected office for four years?

Raise your hand if you were surprised by Mike Tyson's admission that he was lying when he said he was sober .

Someone wrote an article letting us know that it is Nevada that gets the largest portion of its tax revenue from "sin" (gambling, tobacco and liquor taxes) taxes.  In other surprising news, there will be seven days in next week.

Whoever came up with the idea of having former WCW world wrestling champion Goldberg throw out the first pitch for a Miami Marlins game, and then to "spear" the catcher deserves to be promoted.

The Alabama cheerleaders who used the word "responsable" on a banner for their football team to run through prior to a preseason game should be sent to remedial English.

It's nice to know that President Obama is a big tipper (52% on the tab of $106.48) but how did TMZ get a copy of the credit card receipt?

* * *

This Date in History:

On this date in 1768, James Cook sets off on his first voyage.
On this date in 1835, the New York Sun perpetrates the "Great Moon Hoax."
On this date in 1894, Kitasato Shibasaburo discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague.
On this date in 1912, the Kuomintang, the Chinese national party was founded.
On this date in 1916, the U.S. National Park Service is created.
On this date in 1939, the United Kingdom and Poland form a military alliance where the UK pledges to defend Poland if they are invaded by a foreign power.
On this date in 1944, Paris is liberated by the Allies.
On this date in 1948, the House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing.
On this date in 1950, President Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to take control of the railroads to prevent a strike.
On this date in 1980, Zimbabwe joins the UN.
On this date in 1981, Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Saturn.
On this date in 1989, Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Ivan the Terrible
Bret Harte (the writer, not the wrestler)
James W. Gerard
Arpad Elo
Ruby Keeler
Erich Honecker
Mel Ferrer
George Wallace
Monty Hall (he is probably still making deals)
Althea Gibson
Sean Connery
Hal Fishman (a great journalist, RIP)
Regis Philbin
Tom Skerritt (call sign:  Viper)
Frederick Forsyth
John Badham
Rollie Fingers
Gene Simmons
Bill Handel
Elvis Costello
Tim Burton
Billy Ray Cyrus
Blair Underwood
Joanne Whalley
Albert Belle
Claudia Schiffer
Alexander Skarsgard
Rachel Bilson
Blake Lively

Movie quotes for today come from the very funny 2005 film "Waiting" because Blake Lively's husband starred in it:

Monty: [using a Forrest Gump voice] Momma said they's my magic shoes. Mama said they would take me anywhere. 'Course Mama used to beat me with a rubber hose and call me a retard.

#2

Monty: So, what do you think of Natasha?
Dean: I think she's illegal.
Monty: Yeah, I've made peace with that. Seriously, look at her. You know she has that Scooby-Doo tongue.
Dean: [imitating Scooby-Doo] Ratutory rape.

#3

Serena: Have you talked to him about it?
Amy: No, I'm playing hard to get.
Serena: Oh, but haven't you slept with him like the past five nights?
Amy: Well, not *real* hard to get.

#4
(my favorite)
Dan: Ma'am, I don't doubt the steak was over-cooked, but did you have to eat it all before you complained about it?

The death of Julie Harris and other eye-catching headlines

Five time Tony Award winning actress Julie Harris has passed away at the age of 87.  While she had roles in the movie "East of Eden" and on television's "Knots Landing", she loved the stage. 

The Little League team from Chula Vista, CA will play the team from Japan in the finals of the Little League World Series on Sunday.  Many were hoping the team from Tijuana would beat Japan to set up a match against their neighbors to the North.  The game will be shown on ABC, which means Time-Warner Cable subscribers can watch it.

Hundreds gathered today at Leimert Park to remember the 50th anniversary of the "March on Washington" and the famous "I Have a Dream" speech by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Donald Trump is being sued for $40 million by the New York Attorney General, over "Trump University" which is being described as having engaged in "persistent fraud."

A study shows that single men only wash the sheets for their bed an average of four times per year.  Reporter's note:  I always washed mine at least every other week.  Go figure.

Vince Young may be an NFL quarterback once again, albeit a backup for Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers.  Looks like he beat out Graham Harrell for the job.

Yum Brands, owners of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken are now 2nd largest American employer.  That KFC is the largest fast food chain in China, and that Taco Bell has added 15,000 jobs due to the popularity of their Doritos Locos taco are just two of the interesting factoids to be found in the new list of America's top 10 employers.

Did he or didn't he?  A man claiming he served in the U.S. Army honorably and was discharged when his enlistment ran out has been labeled as a deserter by the Army.  He has no documents to prove his claims.  Stay tuned.

A former Weather Channel meteorologist is claiming that when NBC bought the cable network she used to work for, she ended up losing her job due to her continuing military service as a Captain in the reserves.  She is suing her former employer.  FYI, unless she was on active duty for a protracted period, federal law almost certainly makes it illegal for her employer not to renew her contract based on her refusal to leave the reserves.

North Korea is claiming that U.N. sanctions are unfairly preventing them from finishing construction of a ski resort for the nation's ruling elite.

A 60 year old sportswriter entered a police station parking lot, called 911 to report a suicide there, and then shot himself to death.  In addition, he spent a year creating a blog to describe why he was doing what he was doing, and to document the journey of that final year.  Yahoo took the site down even though he'd prepaid for five years of hosting, but you can find it if you really want to.  I'm not posting any links to any mirror sites.  I've read a good portion of it (I read extremely fast, there's a lot of stuff there) and while I find it though-provoking, I'm not sure it's healthy to be reading it.  Since I'm not healthy, it's okay for me.  :)

There is a woman out there who is taking social media to a whole new level.  She is travelling the country to visit all 600 of her Facebook "friends" in person.

Arianna Huffington says that her site will no longer allow anonymous comments by visitors.  Good luck with that.

Walking on a tightrope isn't the ultimate balancing act

As I was driving home today something dawned on me.  Whatever time I have left, be it days, weeks, months, years or as I hope, decades; is going to be a balancing act.  I will have to balance what I want versus what I need, in order to stay alive.  To prolong my life.  This is true for all of humanity, but for those of us whose health is frail for whatever reason, it becomes much more of an issue for us.

I could live a life where I do every single thing I can, make every decision I make, with the sole purpose of living longer.  I could stop eating every single thing that I derive pleasure from.  In fact, I could opt to get the feeding tube that was in my stomach during the year I was hospitalized reinserted, and go back on the bland crap they poured into it three times daily.  It wouldn't be pleasurable, it would certainly ensure I would lose more weight more rapidly, but it wouldn't be really "living".

Then again I could go back to hitting the McDonald's drive-thru regularly, drink lots of V-8 juice, and make all of those other dietary choices that are not going to help me deal with my health issues.  In fact these choices would make my situation worse.  It won't help me live longer, but it will make the reduced time remaining much more pleasurable.

Or I can find a middle ground.  Somewhere that I get to enjoy the things I like, in moderation, and still make progress toward improving my health.  I drive by McDonald's regularly and the temptation to pull in is strong.  However when I consider making that choice, I'm strongly motivated to not do it because I do not want to spend more time in a hospital bed.  So I pass the place by.  If and when I decide I really, really want a burger and fries, I'll have one.  It probably won't be McDonald's, but I may stop there again.  Some day.  Until then I'll try my best to balance out these two driving, conflicting agendas with an eye toward living a fulfilling, longer life.

* * *

By now, most of us know the name Bob Filner, the soon to be former mayor of San Diego.  He finally tendered his resignation as part of a deal his lawyer made with the city council and Gloria Allred.

Then there is a man named Richard Nanula.  He's 53 years old and this past June resigned his positions as Chairman of the Miramax film company and as a principal at a private equity firm.  Why did he resign?  Clearly it is connected with allegations that images posted online were of him having sex with a porn star.

People clamored for Filner to resign.  He engaged in sexual harassment, was a sexual predator and his non-apology exit speech would seem to indicate he may well be a sociopath.  At least that is the opinion of one mental health professional who offered an analysis of the speech afterward.

A little over a year ago, a former employee of the private equity firm sued the company and Nanula for sexual harassment.  Her lawsuit indicated that she is claiming he groped her.  Sound familiar?

What attracted me to this story wasn't the story itself but the comments posted below it on the L.A. Times website.  Some tried to liken Nanula to President Obama, as both had an African-American father and a Caucasian mother.  Others used the story to try to label those who supported Bill Clinton when his sexual escapades became an issue as hypocritical if they try to take anyone else to task for doing the same thing.

Now we don't know if Filner did like Nanula and pay for sex, but it wouldn't surprise me.  Is the difference that one was a public servant and the other the employee of privately held firms?  Do we hold our elected officials to a different standard?

In my mind the city of San Diego is no different than any other employer.  There is a state law mandating employers must provide those who supervise others with sexual harassment awareness training.  San Diego failed to do this.  While it was Filner's actions that caused the problem, and it is highly doubtful he would have acted differently after a two hour on-line training session; the fact is the city exposed itself to liability by failing to comply with the law.

Undoubtedly, some other equity firm or someone else who is more worried about making money than the character of their employees will give Nanula another seven-figure job in short order.  Then again, should employers be concerned with whether or not their employees are promiscuous and/or patronize prostitutes?  It is a good question.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

I'm very sad that Linda Ronstadt's bout with Parkinson's Disease has left her unable to sing.  A great talent, silenced far too soon.

Are the skirts women wear in public going to get any shorter?  A few of the women I saw out walking today were pushing their hemlines well above the mid-thigh region.

There was a protest happening outside the Federal Building in Westwood today, but I couldn't see who was protesting what.  Anyone know?

Will the TV reality show "Deadliest Catch" be forced to change its name because logging surpassed fishing as the deadliest occupation in the U.S. in 2011 (latest year for which complete data is available)?

Did ESPN sideline reporter Samantha Ponder and her new husband, Minnesota Vikings QB Christian Ponder really have Arby's as their wedding meal and spend the rest of the evening at a "dirty sweater" party being held by the team's offensive line??  (yes, they did)

Is it fair to blame Ben Affleck for being cast as "Batman"?  I blame Warner Brothers.

Sleep-texting is a new phenomenon?  Wow.  It must suck to be waking up in the middle of the night, texting and then not remembering it the next day.

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted.
On this date in 1215, Pope Innocent III declares the Magna Carta invalid.
On this date in 1349, more than 6,000 Jews are massacred in Mainz after they are blamed for causing the bubonic plague.
On this date in 1456, the Gutenberg Bible is completed.
On this date in 1814, the British invade Washington, D.C. and set the White House ablaze.
On this date in 1875, Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel.
On this date in 1891, Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
On this date in 1909, workers begin pouring concrete to construct the Panama Canal.
On this date in 1912, Alaska becomes a U.S. territory.
On this date in 1932, Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the U.S., nonstop.
On this date in 1949, the treaty establishing NATO goes into effect.
On this date in 1950, Edith Sampson becomes the first black delegate to the United Nations.
On this date in 1954, the American Communist Party is officially outlawed.
On this date in 1981, Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering John Lennon.
On this date in 1989, Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

James Calhoun
Duke Kahanamoku
Fred Rose
Carlo Gambino
Dennis James
Rene Levesque
Yasser Arafat
Kenny Guinn
Mason Williams (love his song "Classical Gas") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhMuCiAe6vA
Ronee Blakely
Anne Archer
Vincent Kennedy McMahon
Joe Regalbuto
Charles Rocket
Mike Huckabee
Stephen Fry
Steve Guttenberg
Cal Ripken Jr.
Marlee Matlin
Reggie Miller
Tim Salmon
James Toney
Dave Chappelle
Beth Reisgraf
Rupert Grint

Movie quotes for today come from "Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment":

Lt. Mauser: You're not playing with a full deck, are you?
Sergeant Proctor: Oh, I don't play cards.

#2

[Cmdt. Lassard's water in his fishbowl is boiling on the hibachi]
Cmdt. Eric Lassard: This fish is boiling.
Japanese chef: Oh you want stir fry?

#3

Lt. Mauser: Any day now, Mahoney, and your little ass is mine.
Mahoney: You wanted to see me, sir?
Lt. Mauser: Mahoney, didn't your mother teach you how to knock?
Mahoney: It depends. Sir? I hope this isn't going to be too personal? I heard what you said about my little butt and I don't know how to break this to you, sir, but I'm straight.

#4

Chief Hurst: Mauser, you're the most incredible ass-kisser I have ever seen.
Lt. Mauser: Thank you very much, sir. I do my best.