How do they figure these things?
I've only been to Fresno a couple of times in my life. I've driven through several times on trips to the Pacific Northwest, but on one of those rare occasions where I did stop there, we wound up grabbing a burger at Angelo's. I was just a kid and the people I was travelling with made a ritual of stopping there annually. Why they only stopped on the outbound trip and not on the return trip was something I never discovered.
I remember it well. The burger was one of the best I'd ever had. The ambience was a bit run-down, but still just like the 50s drive-ins (this was the early 70s) I'd seen in movies. If where we weren't going wasn't such a fun place, I might have wanted to stay longer.
I just discovered that one of the dumbest ideas to come along in our state for some time, the "high-speed" rail system that won't really be high speed, the one where a judge has ruled the project proponents have misled the public, this idiotic notion is going to take Angelo's away. The current owners will only receive $120,000 in return for the loss of their business.
I don't get it. I understand eminent domain and how it works, but that amount is nowhere near enough for them to purchase another location. Nor can they reproduce the history. Even if they can find a new location in Fresno, without the kitsch of the original, they will have a lot of trouble retaining their long-time clientele. Oh, they'll come at first but something will be missing.
The calculation for their reimbursement by the state needs to include the value of the business, including the good-will they will lose, as well as the value of the physical property and fixtures. Sadly, Governor Moonbeam is so enamored of this project and the special interests behind it, that couple doesn't have a prayer of prevailing in this matter.
* * *
The city of Prescott, Arizona is under attack from several sides over the lack of death benefits that will be paid out to some of the "Hot Shot" firefighters who died earlier this year while fighting a fire. 19 firefighters perished in the tragedy but only six of them were full-time city employees. The families of those six will receive lifetime survivor benefits, including healthcare. The 13 men in that group who weren't full-time employees were classified as "seasonal" employees. They signed a contract that stated quite clearly they weren't entitled to benefits.
Seasonal and part-time are just classifications used by employers, including governments, to avoid spending more money on benefits. Sometimes it makes sense. As any fan of Jeopardy knows, Ken Jennings learned the hard way that it is H&R Block and not FedEx that has the largest workforce of seasonal employees. All of the employees of the summer camp and summer school at the school where I worked, who did not work year-round were classified as seasonal employees and properly so.
The only catch is that employers need to not run afoul of the laws of the state they are doing business in. For example, in spite of rumors to the contrary, there is no California law government how many months a worker must work to go from seasonal to full-time or part-time classification. The city attorney of Prescott says that state law (some claim it's a Prescott law) prevents them from making a posthumous reclassification of these 13 employees from seasonal to full-time, so they would then qualify for the same benefits as the other six who died. There is talk that the state legislature will change state law to allow reclassification and that this change will be retroactive to before the date the firefighters died.
Paul Whitefield of the L.A. Times Op-Ed section wrote a piece where he claims the city has taken the "cheapskate approach" to this problem. That they have plenty of money available to pay out the $61 million this would cost the city, or at least make a one-time payment of $24 million. Apparently Mr. Whitefield is good at writing and editing op-ed stuff but can't read a financial statement. He doesn't understand the difference between an operational budget and the entire budget. That other money isn't easily available. Even if it was, should a city pay out a one-time payment of more than one third of it's total cash reserve that is three times the city's fire department is budgeted for? No. It would be fiscally irresponsible.
What I want to know, and what no one seems able to answer is why there isn't workers compensation stepping up with benefits? Maybe there is. I read one person's statement that the families of those dead firefighters classified as "seasonal" will collect more than $400,000 in benefits. Now I'm confused. Police departments pay out survivor benefits in terms of continuing employee salaries or benefits for fallen officers. Does that include lifetime healthcare? For the children as well, for the rest of their lives? Some clarity would be good here.
In the end, cities need to prevent this from happening again. If it means offering group insurance plans these employees can be covered by, or opt into, something must change.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I never bothered to find out until today what the "L" in Samuel L. Jackson stands for (it is Leroy).
Isn't it pretty obvious that some scam ad for data-entry at home at $25 would require a computer in the home? They're going to give you that much and provide the computer and internet access?
Would JLo returning to "American Idol" get you to tune in next season?? (not me)
Why does Brian Wilson (newest Dodger pitcher) have a ponytail on his beard?
What would you do if the gun safe you ordered was delivered with 300 pounds of pot inside?
I don't believe it is real for a second, but the viral video of some guy throwing baseballs at bowling pins appears real impressive (he throws two balls from one hand in the same instant and it looks like he picks up the 7-10 split).
I haven't seen "The Butler" yet but I'm wondering if Jane Fonda had trouble keeping her food down while made over as Nancy Reagan.
* * *
This Date in History:
310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, perhaps from a hunger strike.
682 – Pope Leo II succeeds Pope Agatho as the 80th pope.
986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Battle of the Gates of Trajan – The Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron defeat the Byzantine forces at the Gates of Trajan, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
1186 – Georgenberg Pact: Duke Ottokar IV of Styria and Duke Leopold V of Austria sign a heritage agreement in which Ottokar gives his duchy to Leopold and to his son Frederick under the stipulation that Austria and Styria would henceforth remain undivided.
1386 – Karl Topia, the ruler of Princedom of Albania forges an alliance with the Republic of Venice, committing to participate in all wars of the Republic and receiving coastal protection against the Ottomans in return.
1424 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Verneuil – An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under the Duke of Alençon, John Stewart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas.
1498 – Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, becomes the first person in history to resign the cardinalate. On the same day, the French King Louis XII names him Duke of Valentinois.
1549 – Battle of Sampford Courtenay – The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed in England.
1560 – The Roman Catholic Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland.
1585 – Eighty Years' War: Siege of Antwerp – Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city and as a result over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces.
1585 – A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Ralegh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.
1597 – Islands Voyage: Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores.
1611 – Gaspar de Borja y Velasco is made a cardinal by Pope Paul V.
1668 – An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter magnitude scale causes 8,000 deaths in Anatolia, Ottoman Empire.
1717 – Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18: The month-long Siege of Belgrade ends with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire.
1723 – Ioan Giurgiu Patachi becomes Bishop of Făgăraş and is festively installed in his position at the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Făgăraş, after being formally confirmed earlier by Pope Clement XI.
1740 – Pope Benedict XIV succeeds Pope Clement XII as the 247th pope.
1771 – Edinburgh botanist James Robertson makes the first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis in Scotland.
1784 – Classical composer Luigi Boccherini receives a pay rise of 12000 reals from his employer, the Infante Luis, Count of Chinchón.
1807 – Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat leaves New York, New York, for Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
1862 – American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
1862 – American Civil War: Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
1863 – American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville – Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
1866 – The Grand Duchy of Baden announces her withdrawal from the German Confederation and signs a treaty of peace and alliance with Prussia.
1883 – The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional.
1896 – Bridget Driscoll is run over by a Benz car in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, London, the world's first motoring fatality.
1907 – Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, Washington, opened.
1908 – Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris, France.
1914 – World War I: Battle of Stallupönen – The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Paul von Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
1915 – Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl in Marietta, Georgia, United States.
1915 – A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
1918 – Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin (Butaritari).
1943 – World War II: The U.S. Eighth Air Force suffers the loss of 60 bombers on the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission.
1943 – World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrives in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
1943 – World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon program.
1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
1947 – The Radcliffe Line, the border between Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan is revealed.
1950 – Hill 303 massacre: American POWs were massacred by the North Korean Army.
1953 – Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California.
1958 – Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
1959 – Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Yellowstone earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
1959 – Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.
1960 – Decolonization: Gabon gains independence from France.
1962 – East German border guards kill Peter Fechter, 18, as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin becoming one of the first victims of the wall.
1969 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage.
1970 – Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
1977 – The Soviet icebreaker Arktika became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
1978 – Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
1980 – Azaria Chamberlain disappears, at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, probably taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicized trial in Australian history.
1982 – The first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.
1988 – President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
1999 – A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
2004 – The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
2005 – The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
2005 – Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh
2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Davy Crockett
Harry Hopkins
Mae West
Mikhail Botvinnik
FDR, Jr.
Maureen O'Hara
Francis Gary Powers
Gene Kranz
Floyd Crow Westerman
Robert De Niro (happy 70th!)
Larry Ellison
Martha Coolidge
Guillermo Vilas
Gail Berman
Belinda Carlisle
David Koresh (when they found his body he was wearing charcoal slacks and a smoking jacket)
Sean Penn (Madonna's birthday was yesterday)
Donnie Wahlberg
Giuliana Rancic
Kristin Adams
Today's movie quotes come from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" for obvious reasons, even though I did some a month or two ago. Hey, they're good quotes:
Mike Damone: Look at you: member of the honor roll, assistant to the assistant manager of the movie theater. I'm tellin' ya, Rat, if this girl can't smell your qualifications, then who needs her, right?
#2
Jeff Spicoli: This is U.S. History, I see the globe right there.
#3
Brad Hamilton: [dumping out cold fries] I shall serve no fries before their time.
#4
Jeff Spicoli: What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves - pronto - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?
#5
Stacy Hamilton: When a guy has an orgasm, how much comes out?
Linda Barrett: A quart or so.
I remember it well. The burger was one of the best I'd ever had. The ambience was a bit run-down, but still just like the 50s drive-ins (this was the early 70s) I'd seen in movies. If where we weren't going wasn't such a fun place, I might have wanted to stay longer.
I just discovered that one of the dumbest ideas to come along in our state for some time, the "high-speed" rail system that won't really be high speed, the one where a judge has ruled the project proponents have misled the public, this idiotic notion is going to take Angelo's away. The current owners will only receive $120,000 in return for the loss of their business.
I don't get it. I understand eminent domain and how it works, but that amount is nowhere near enough for them to purchase another location. Nor can they reproduce the history. Even if they can find a new location in Fresno, without the kitsch of the original, they will have a lot of trouble retaining their long-time clientele. Oh, they'll come at first but something will be missing.
The calculation for their reimbursement by the state needs to include the value of the business, including the good-will they will lose, as well as the value of the physical property and fixtures. Sadly, Governor Moonbeam is so enamored of this project and the special interests behind it, that couple doesn't have a prayer of prevailing in this matter.
* * *
The city of Prescott, Arizona is under attack from several sides over the lack of death benefits that will be paid out to some of the "Hot Shot" firefighters who died earlier this year while fighting a fire. 19 firefighters perished in the tragedy but only six of them were full-time city employees. The families of those six will receive lifetime survivor benefits, including healthcare. The 13 men in that group who weren't full-time employees were classified as "seasonal" employees. They signed a contract that stated quite clearly they weren't entitled to benefits.
Seasonal and part-time are just classifications used by employers, including governments, to avoid spending more money on benefits. Sometimes it makes sense. As any fan of Jeopardy knows, Ken Jennings learned the hard way that it is H&R Block and not FedEx that has the largest workforce of seasonal employees. All of the employees of the summer camp and summer school at the school where I worked, who did not work year-round were classified as seasonal employees and properly so.
The only catch is that employers need to not run afoul of the laws of the state they are doing business in. For example, in spite of rumors to the contrary, there is no California law government how many months a worker must work to go from seasonal to full-time or part-time classification. The city attorney of Prescott says that state law (some claim it's a Prescott law) prevents them from making a posthumous reclassification of these 13 employees from seasonal to full-time, so they would then qualify for the same benefits as the other six who died. There is talk that the state legislature will change state law to allow reclassification and that this change will be retroactive to before the date the firefighters died.
Paul Whitefield of the L.A. Times Op-Ed section wrote a piece where he claims the city has taken the "cheapskate approach" to this problem. That they have plenty of money available to pay out the $61 million this would cost the city, or at least make a one-time payment of $24 million. Apparently Mr. Whitefield is good at writing and editing op-ed stuff but can't read a financial statement. He doesn't understand the difference between an operational budget and the entire budget. That other money isn't easily available. Even if it was, should a city pay out a one-time payment of more than one third of it's total cash reserve that is three times the city's fire department is budgeted for? No. It would be fiscally irresponsible.
What I want to know, and what no one seems able to answer is why there isn't workers compensation stepping up with benefits? Maybe there is. I read one person's statement that the families of those dead firefighters classified as "seasonal" will collect more than $400,000 in benefits. Now I'm confused. Police departments pay out survivor benefits in terms of continuing employee salaries or benefits for fallen officers. Does that include lifetime healthcare? For the children as well, for the rest of their lives? Some clarity would be good here.
In the end, cities need to prevent this from happening again. If it means offering group insurance plans these employees can be covered by, or opt into, something must change.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I never bothered to find out until today what the "L" in Samuel L. Jackson stands for (it is Leroy).
Isn't it pretty obvious that some scam ad for data-entry at home at $25 would require a computer in the home? They're going to give you that much and provide the computer and internet access?
Would JLo returning to "American Idol" get you to tune in next season?? (not me)
Why does Brian Wilson (newest Dodger pitcher) have a ponytail on his beard?
What would you do if the gun safe you ordered was delivered with 300 pounds of pot inside?
I don't believe it is real for a second, but the viral video of some guy throwing baseballs at bowling pins appears real impressive (he throws two balls from one hand in the same instant and it looks like he picks up the 7-10 split).
I haven't seen "The Butler" yet but I'm wondering if Jane Fonda had trouble keeping her food down while made over as Nancy Reagan.
* * *
This Date in History:
310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, perhaps from a hunger strike.
682 – Pope Leo II succeeds Pope Agatho as the 80th pope.
986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Battle of the Gates of Trajan – The Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron defeat the Byzantine forces at the Gates of Trajan, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
1186 – Georgenberg Pact: Duke Ottokar IV of Styria and Duke Leopold V of Austria sign a heritage agreement in which Ottokar gives his duchy to Leopold and to his son Frederick under the stipulation that Austria and Styria would henceforth remain undivided.
1386 – Karl Topia, the ruler of Princedom of Albania forges an alliance with the Republic of Venice, committing to participate in all wars of the Republic and receiving coastal protection against the Ottomans in return.
1424 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Verneuil – An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under the Duke of Alençon, John Stewart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas.
1498 – Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, becomes the first person in history to resign the cardinalate. On the same day, the French King Louis XII names him Duke of Valentinois.
1549 – Battle of Sampford Courtenay – The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed in England.
1560 – The Roman Catholic Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland.
1585 – Eighty Years' War: Siege of Antwerp – Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city and as a result over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces.
1585 – A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Ralegh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.
1597 – Islands Voyage: Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores.
1611 – Gaspar de Borja y Velasco is made a cardinal by Pope Paul V.
1668 – An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter magnitude scale causes 8,000 deaths in Anatolia, Ottoman Empire.
1717 – Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18: The month-long Siege of Belgrade ends with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire.
1723 – Ioan Giurgiu Patachi becomes Bishop of Făgăraş and is festively installed in his position at the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Făgăraş, after being formally confirmed earlier by Pope Clement XI.
1740 – Pope Benedict XIV succeeds Pope Clement XII as the 247th pope.
1771 – Edinburgh botanist James Robertson makes the first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis in Scotland.
1784 – Classical composer Luigi Boccherini receives a pay rise of 12000 reals from his employer, the Infante Luis, Count of Chinchón.
1807 – Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat leaves New York, New York, for Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
1862 – American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
1862 – American Civil War: Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
1863 – American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville – Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
1866 – The Grand Duchy of Baden announces her withdrawal from the German Confederation and signs a treaty of peace and alliance with Prussia.
1883 – The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional.
1896 – Bridget Driscoll is run over by a Benz car in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, London, the world's first motoring fatality.
1907 – Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, Washington, opened.
1908 – Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris, France.
1914 – World War I: Battle of Stallupönen – The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Paul von Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
1915 – Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl in Marietta, Georgia, United States.
1915 – A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
1918 – Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin (Butaritari).
1943 – World War II: The U.S. Eighth Air Force suffers the loss of 60 bombers on the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission.
1943 – World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrives in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
1943 – World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon program.
1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
1947 – The Radcliffe Line, the border between Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan is revealed.
1950 – Hill 303 massacre: American POWs were massacred by the North Korean Army.
1953 – Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California.
1958 – Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
1959 – Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Yellowstone earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
1959 – Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.
1960 – Decolonization: Gabon gains independence from France.
1962 – East German border guards kill Peter Fechter, 18, as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin becoming one of the first victims of the wall.
1969 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage.
1970 – Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
1977 – The Soviet icebreaker Arktika became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
1978 – Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
1980 – Azaria Chamberlain disappears, at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, probably taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicized trial in Australian history.
1982 – The first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.
1988 – President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
1999 – A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
2004 – The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
2005 – The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
2005 – Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh
2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Davy Crockett
Harry Hopkins
Mae West
Mikhail Botvinnik
FDR, Jr.
Maureen O'Hara
Francis Gary Powers
Gene Kranz
Floyd Crow Westerman
Robert De Niro (happy 70th!)
Larry Ellison
Martha Coolidge
Guillermo Vilas
Gail Berman
Belinda Carlisle
David Koresh (when they found his body he was wearing charcoal slacks and a smoking jacket)
Sean Penn (Madonna's birthday was yesterday)
Donnie Wahlberg
Giuliana Rancic
Kristin Adams
Today's movie quotes come from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" for obvious reasons, even though I did some a month or two ago. Hey, they're good quotes:
Mike Damone: Look at you: member of the honor roll, assistant to the assistant manager of the movie theater. I'm tellin' ya, Rat, if this girl can't smell your qualifications, then who needs her, right?
#2
Jeff Spicoli: This is U.S. History, I see the globe right there.
#3
Brad Hamilton: [dumping out cold fries] I shall serve no fries before their time.
#4
Jeff Spicoli: What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves - pronto - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?
#5
Stacy Hamilton: When a guy has an orgasm, how much comes out?
Linda Barrett: A quart or so.
posted by me at 6:14 PM
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