Friday, October 04, 2013

Welcome to day 3

Gotta love how CNN keeps a clock on the screen to show how many hours have passed since the federal government shut down.  Depending on how many weeks the 535 morons that make up the Congress (I know, it's not quite that number as there are a couple of seats in Congress that are vacant at the moment) allow this stalemate to continue, CNN's graphics people may have to redesign the clock to be able to display days and hours, or else make the hours count four digits.

There is much being made of the fact that the members of Congress must be paid during a government shutdown, and of course a petition on Change.org to stop their pay.  The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not state that the members of Congress must be paid during a shutdown, but it does say that any change to the pay of members of Congress doesn't take effect until after the next election.  So even if there was a vote held in Congress to not pay themselves during shutdowns, it wouldn't go into effect until after election day in 2014.

The people railing about this, and I was one until I thought about it more, are being diverted from the real issues.  The real issue is we need a budget, not just another continuing resolution.  We need the government to be open and doing its job, even as inefficiently as it happens to do it.  The claims of veterans for disability ratings, the appeal of the denial of such claims, Head Start programs, national parks, landmarks and museums and so much more should not be impaired because of a pissing contest over a law that isn't going to be repealed anytime soon.

The Center for Responsive Politics (CFRP) studied the net worth of Congress and in 2011 the average net worth of a member of the House or Senate was more than $3.5 million.  There are of course members who are extremely wealthy and skew such averages, so we also learn from the CFRP that in 2010, the 25 "poorest" members of Congress had a net worth where they were at least $30,000 in debt.  The poorest of those 25 that year was Rep Alcee Hastings of Florida, whose average net worth in 2010 was -$4,732,002.  If his name is familiar it should be.  He was once a U.S. District Judge and was impeached for conspiracy in a case where he was accused of taking a bribe.  Much of his debt is made up of legal fees from his criminal trial (where he was acquitted) and the impeachment.

Not paying the members of Congress won't really hurt the vast majority of them.  It isn't an incentive to get them to act.

Telling them that if they don't have a budget by a certain date they will not get your vote, now that's a motivator.

* * *

This is the second straight day that I woke up just after four in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep.  Now this morning it might be connected to the fact I fell asleep much earlier than normal.  In fact, I fell asleep last night before the time I normally take a sleeping pill.  Since I teach today from 9:00 a.m. to noon and then again from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., I have a long day ahead.  Normally I would have a nice long break of three days to look forward to, but I have to work for a very short time on Saturday.

It's okay.  I was tired yesterday and did not go to trivia.  I will be completely off next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I plan to write my lesson plans for the following week before Friday so that I have nothing to worry about during that anticipated break in work.

Later today I'm going to finally sit down and do something that I've been remiss in doing the past few weeks.  When I was doing well in terms of eating right and exercising, it was because I had a written plan for the week.  Meals were planned.  Exercise was scheduled.  I will write out that plan for the next two weeks today and I bet I have a better two weeks to look forward to.

* * *

Maybe we should just throw open the border in terms of allowing anyone who wants to live in the U.S. move here.  After all, we are slowly eroding any differences between the citizens and legal residents of the U.S. and those who are in this country illegally.

Governor Moonbeam will sign a document today that will allow illegal immigrants to legally obtain a driver license.  While it won't be usable as a form of identification like the 'regular' driver license is, it will otherwise give the illegal immigrants all of the same privileges to operate a vehicle on the state's highways.

Want a driver license in the United Kingdom?  You'll have to prove you are in the country legally.  No government gateway ID or valid passport, no license.  Canada insists of proof of valid residency.

So why are we the only nation in the world that will hand out licenses to those here illegally?  Because our elected leadership in Washington, D.C., in addition to shutting down the government, also won't get serious about immigration reform.  Since the nation lacks the political will and economic strength to remove illegal immigrants, we need to legalize the status of those who are here and seal the border to prevent any future illegal immigration as much as possible.

If we aren't going to enforce immigration laws, get rid of them.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Since we're not going to know the reasons this incident in DC happened, why do we spend so many hours covering the aftermath, essentially repeating the same information hour after hour?  Do the press conferences, update on the hour and half-hour and go back to normal news.  Other stuff goes on.

I've decided from now on when I want to recognize major stupidity, I'm going to confer the Jody Reed award on the person(s)/organization(s) being recognized.  For those who don't know or remember Jody Reed, he was a second baseman with the L.A. Dodgers who turned down a contract extension for three years worth $7.8 million after the 1993 season.  Instead he became a free agent and after being ignored by most clubs, signed for $350,000 for one season with another team.  His decision caused the Dodgers to trade Pedro Martinez away when he was just a brilliant prospect.  Congress gets the first Jody Reed award.

If Marina Shifrin doesn't take the job she's been offered by Queen Latifah, she's making a mistake.  Just in case you didn't see Shifrin's "I Quit" video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_tdY0V4Zo

Or her company's response:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkiJdLcYyRQ

Or the tribute video from a creative Work At Home Mom (WAHM):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI9zuvGtqTs

I'm still shaking my head in amazement that I had fun conducting today's Resident's Advisory Council meeting.

Do people really think they can re-sell prescription drugs on Craigslist and get away with it?

Is there some reason that Jason Biggs is the only guy on a list of the friends of Chelsea Handler on her IMDB page? 

Did someone who works for the Chicago Cubs really put a pile of Ron Santo memorabilia in the dumpster?

Kudos to the father who disowned his daughter, after she'd disowned her son because he announced that he is gay.  The proud grandfather says he's going to be too busy raising his grandson to bother with a daughter who has no heart (paraphrases his amazing letter).

Now that Chelsea Handler is single again, there are two questions.  1.  Will every eligible bachelor in the entertainment industry be trying to date her?  2.  Will vodka sales in her neighborhood skyrocket?

A high school running back who goes for more than 400 yards on only 12 carries is an aberration or an attention-getter.

The idea of Sinead O'Connor telling Miley Cyrus how she should behave is truly amusing.  This isn't bad, but it isn't as good as the original parody version of Sinead's big hit....which was "I've Got No Hair, Screw U":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg2PbCZkROc

* * *

Before going into the details of This Date In History, I'd like to pause a moment to remember the 18 men who lost their lives 20 years ago today in the Battle of Mogadishu:

MSG Gary Gordon
SFC Randy Shugart
SSG Daniel Busch
SFC Earl Fillmore
MSG Timothy Martin
CPL Jamie Smith
SPC James Cavaco
SGT Casey Joyce
PFC Richard Kowaleski
SGT Dominick Pilla
SGT Lorenzo Ruiz
SSG William Cleveland, Jr.
SSG Thomas Field
CW4 Raymond Frank
CW3 Clifton Wolcott
CW2 Donovan Briley
SGT Cornell Houston
PFC James Martin, Jr.

RIP

This Date In History:

52 BC – Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar, ending the siege and Battle of Alesia.
42 BC – First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight a decisive battle with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius.
382 – Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans in exchange for military service.
1283 – Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, is the first nobleman to be executed by hanging, drawing and quartering.
1574 – The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen.
1683 – The Qing Dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan (under the Kingdom of Tungning) to receive the formal surrender of Zheng Keshuang and Liu Guoxuan after the Battle of Penghu.
1712 – The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor.
1739 – The Treaty of Nissa is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736–1739.
1778 – Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.
1789 – George Washington makes the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America.
1835 – The Staedtler Company is founded in Nuremberg, Germany.
1849 – American author Edgar Allan Poe is found delirious in a gutter in Baltimore, Maryland under mysterious circumstances; it is the last time he is seen in public before his death.
1863 – The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by President Abraham Lincoln as are Thursdays, November 30, 1865 and November 29, 1866.
1872 – The Bloomingdale brothers opened their first store at 938 Third Avenue, New York City.
1873 – Captain Jack and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War.
1912 – U.S. forces defeat Nicaraguan rebels under the command of Benjamín Zeledón at the Battle of Coyotepe Hill.
1918 – King Boris III of Bulgaria accedes to the throne.
1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin player to appear in a World Series.
1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, "Land of the South Slavs".
1932 – Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1935 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy invades Ethiopia under General de Bono.
1942 – Spaceflight: The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. It is the first man-made object to reach space.
1949 – WERD, the 1st black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta, Georgia.
1950 – Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San, primarily pitting Australian and British forces against communist China, begins.
1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon to become the world's third nuclear power.
1955 – The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on ABC.
1957 – Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems is ruled to be not obscene by the California State Superior Court.
1961 – The Dick Van Dyke Show premieres on CBS-TV in the United States.
1962 – Project Mercury: Sigma 7 is launched from Cape Canaveral, with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard, for a six-orbit, nine-hour flight.
1963 – A violent coup in Honduras pre-empts the October 13 election, ends a period of reform, and begins two decades of military rule.
1964 – First Buffalo Wings are made at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.
1981 – The hunger strike by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and ten deaths.
1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight. (Mission STS-51-J).
1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories, is officially opened.
1990 – German reunification. The German Democratic Republic ceases to exist and its territory becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. East German citizens became part of the European Community, which later became the European Union. Now celebrated as German Unity Day.
1993 – Battle of Mogadishu: In an attempt to capture officials of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organisation in Mogadishu, Somalia, 18 US soldiers and about 1,000 Somalis are killed in heavy fighting.
1995 – O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Famous Folk Born On October 3:

Gore Vidal
Eddie Cochran
Bob Armstrong
Alan O'Day
Chubby Checker
Roy Horn
Lindsey Buckingham
Pamela Hensley
Keb' Mo'
Dave Winfield
Al Sharpton
Eddie DeGarmo
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Allen Woody
Hart Bochner
Fred Couples
Jack Wagner
Maxx Payne
Tommy Lee
Clive Owen
Gwen Stefani
Neve Campbell
Lena Headey
Seann William Scott
Shannyn Sossamon
John Morrison
Ashlee Simpson

Movie quotes today come from 2006's "The Holiday", in which the lovely and talented Shannyn Sossamon has a small role:

Amanda: You know Graham, I just broke up with someone and considering you just showed up and you're insanely good-looking and probably won't remember me anyway... I'm thinking we should have sex... If you want.
Graham: Is that a trick question?

#2

Arthur Abbott: You know what I've been asking myself all night?
Iris: What? Why I'm bothering you with all these questions?
Arthur Abbott: I'm wondering why a beautiful girl like you would go to a strangers' house for their Christmas Vacation, and on top of that spend Saturday night with an old cock-up like me.
Iris: Well, I just wanted to get away from all the people I see all the time!... Well, not all the people... one person. I wanted to get away from one... guy.
[she sobs]
Iris: An ex-boyfriend who just got engaged and forgot to tell me.
Arthur Abbott: So, he's a schmuck.
Iris: As a matter of fact, he is... a huge schmuck. How did you know?
Arthur Abbott: He let you go. This is not a hard one to figure out. Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake! Arthur, I've been going to a therapist for three years, and she's never explained anything to me that well. That was brilliant. Brutal, but brilliant.

#3

Arthur Abbott: [Reaches stairs to stage, Miles's theme music comes on] I'll do it.
[Climbs up stairs, give Iris a thumbs up at the top]
Arthur Abbott: [Addressing the audience] Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I'm absolutely overwhelmed... that I could climb those stairs.
[Audience laughs]
Arthur Abbott: I came to Hollywood over 60 years ago, and immediately fell in love with motion pictures. And it's a love affair that's lasted a lifetime. When I first arrived in Tinseltown, there were no cineplexes or multiplexes. No such thing as a Blockbuster or DVD. I was here before conglomerates owned the studios. Before pictures had special effects teams. And definitely before box office results were reported like baseball scores on the nightly news.

#4

Miles: [holds up a copy of "The Graduate" on DVD] Uh oh... "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio... "? I bet you didn't know, it was all written for the movie, it was a score, technically.
Dustin Hoffman: I can't believe this... I can't go anywhere.