Former President George W. Bush making another misstep
President George W. Bush has agreed to give a speech tomorrow in Dallas that is a fundraiser for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (MJBI). They are a group dedicated to trying to convert Jews to Christianity. Several of the members of his presidential administration have said they are disappointed at his decision. Then there's Rabbi David Wolpe, voted most influential rabbi in the U.S. last year, who called the decision "infuriating".
The reason many Jews are upset by this is that the history of Judaism is filled with instances of forced conversion to other faiths. Like that little thing known historically as the Spanish Inquisition.
So I looked into the man behind the MJBI, which is a non-profit. He calls himself Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, although there appears to be absolutely no proof of his ever having attended a rabbinical school. He runs another non-profit known as The Jewish Voice Ministries International. It is much larger than the MJBI, with gross revenues for 2012 of more than $17 million.
"Rabbi" Bernis gave himself a raise of $40,000 in 2012 over his 2011 salary. That was an increase of nearly 20%. But what is really interesting about this so-called non-profit (yes, they have a 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS) is that they are running big surpluses annually. $4.2 million in 2012, $3.5 million in 2011 and $3.9 million in 2010. Is that how a true non-profit is run?
Former President Bush is making an error in judgment in making this appearance tomorrow. He should cancel it.
* * *
Yet again I'm reading about how the fast food industry's paying minimum wage to workers who enter the workforce with minimal skills and experience is a drain on social safety-net programs. People buy into this notion.
In fact, that same group of people would be receiving the same, or even more, public assistance without those minimum wage jobs. It isn't that the fast food industry is being subsidized by the taxpayers. The value of labor is determined by the laws of economics. Supply and demand.
I've worked in the fast food industry. As a new member of the labor force, bringing home minimum wage and in the lower echelons of management. When I first started at Jack in the Box back in 1975, I had a few skills. I could do math in order to work the cash register at the counter. I knew a little about restaurants in general from having grown up around my grandfather's own restaurant. But I didn't know how to cook fast food, or how to do all of the other myriad of things to be a good employee. I learned them though, from good trainers and management.
Owning a fast food franchise is a big investment on the part of the franchisee and isn't a guarantee of profits. The turnover of workers is huge, and rightly so. If I were running a fast food franchise, I might well choose to charge a little more and pay a higher wage to cut that turnover; if I could make that business model work. I don't know that I could. I believe the best possible model would involve profit sharing with employees who are committed to staying with the business for the long-term. Give me a crew of employees who want to make careers, will put in the effort and move upward in the "ranks" and it might work.
Then again, there are those pesky little things like low profit margins, fierce competition, franchise fees, shared advertising budgets, maintenance of equipment and infrastructure, limited choice of suppliers and then there's government regulation to deal with. Workers compensation insurance is a good thing, but fraudulent claims make it expensive.
The staff where I live make little more than minimum wage. No one is worried about getting them a "living wage". They just got health insurance benefits a few months ago when new management kept a promise it made when it took over. Of course, they also failed to restore the former pay rates the workers were getting before the prior management company took over and nearly ran the place into the ground. Some of them took a pay cut of $2 an hour that they'd fought hard to get.
Here's the rub. The jobs of most of them involve little in the way of skills other than caring and compassion, and the willingness to work hard. But every time I keep hearing this silly contention that the low minimum wages paid by fast food places are being subsidized by the taxpayer; I come back to one particular employee.
She was the best of the residential aides. The one every resident wanted to be working their floor when she was here, because she was head and shoulders above the rest. She left over a year ago. Why? Because another facility just like this one offered her almost double her salary and better benefits. Paid vacation. The works.
This place is fortunate that the turnover is fairly low because training new employees is expensive. Where this woman went has almost no turnover among people doing her job. They're treated well, paid well and the owners get the reward of long-term loyalty.
Maybe if fast food franchisees could be convinced they'd save the training dollars by paying more money, they'd give it a try.
* * *
This one still has me shaking my head. I understand that one of the things that apartment building owners have to fear when they choose to allow pets is dealing with the damage that animal waste can cause. But now it seems landlords have a new tool in trying to prevent being stuck with the bill for that damage.
The Shores is a new complex in Marina del Rey that was built on the site of older apartment buildings by a longtime area developer. Several of the buildings allow pets. But the tenants have to provide a sample of their dog's DNA. That way they can use it to determine whose dog is responsible for damage and hold them accountable.
Some of the new complexes are including doggie washing stations in addition to dog runs and the other amenities they need to attract tenants to pay the high rents being charged in the area.
Doggie DNA to make someone fess up to letting their dog dump where they aren't supposed to? Wow.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I'm very saddened by the death of Todd Christensen. He was a great player and a great person. Taken from us much too soon.
The only question I have about Clayton Kershaw's Cy Young Award win today is what in the world had reporter Mark Schmetzer choosing to vote for Adam Wainwright over Kershaw in first place voting. Kershaw led the lead in ERA, strikeouts and a whole bunch of new-age statistical categories. Then there's the face he has now led the majors in ERA for three consecutive seasons. The Dodgers are going to have to write a very big check to lock Kershaw up for a long-term deal.
Kudos to Ellen for following up her $10,000 tip to that waitress by giving her a brand new car. And talk about selfless, the waitress is giving some of that ten grand to charity even though she herself struggles with bills and being a single mom.
Should Victoria's Secret let Carmen Carrera, the transgender model, take part in their TV show? I fully support LGBT rights and if tens of thousands want to sign an online petition demanding the retailer/catalog seller do that, that's fine. But in the end, considering how few women ever walk that particular runway, I wouldn't call it discrimination if they chose not to include her. How many other gorgeous women want that gig and don't get it?
People would do well to heed the wisdom of Sheila Bair in a piece she wrote for CNN about the dangers of using credit cards issued by stores. http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/13/pf/sheila-bair-store-cards.moneymag/index.html?source=cnn_bin
Claiming that Andy Kaufman is still alive and faked his death is silly. Or is it? Maybe the self-proclaimed Intergender Wrestling Champion of the World still lives?? Naw.
If you're dumb enough to buy any of Jenna Jameson's sex toys being sold by her ex-husband, you will probably end up destroying them in order to make them "sanitary" but then again, anyone who wants to buy that stuff has no interest in "clean" items.
Did you know that anyone who had a role on the "I Love Lucy" show was still alive? I didn't. RIP, Shirley Mitchell.
I hate to think Mark Wahlberg might have been holding back in his "f-bomb" laden tirade about Tom Cruise's alleged comparison of acting to serving in Afghanistan.
Katherine Jackson's appeal of the judge's dismissal of two of the defendants in her wrongful death suit against AEG is a waste of her time and money.
Does anyone really care if Audrina Patridge is or isn't invited to Lauren Conrad's wedding? In fact, does anyone care that LC is getting hitched?
Chuckling at the story about Rod Blagojevich's appeal of his conviction. Not the appeal but because whoever wrote one version of the news item that reads "...Blagojevich may be released as early as 2024." He's serving a 14 year sentence, so a 2024 release would mean he might get out two years early.
How interesting is it that Shania Twain says she'll never forgive her former best friend for the affair the friend had with her now ex-husband, Mutt Lange, but now Emma Thompson has announced she has forgiven Helena Bonham Carter for the affair that ended Thompson's marriage to Kenneth Branagh?
Shame on Jillian Michaels.
Firing a bus driver because he laid a hand on a disabled woman to pray for her is only appropriate if she filed a complaint.
* * *
November 13th in History:
1002 – English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre.
1160 – Louis VII of France marries Adele of Champagne.
1642 – First English Civil War: Battle of Turnham Green – the Royalist forces withdraw in the face of the Parliamentarian army and fail to take London.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Gen. Richard Montgomery occupy Montreal, Quebec.
1841 – James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnotism.
1851 – The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, before moving to the other side of Elliott Bay to what would become Seattle, Washington.
1864 – The new Constitution of Greece is adopted.
1887 – Bloody Sunday clashes in central London.
1901 – The 1901 Caister Lifeboat Disaster.
1914 – Zaian War: Berber tribesmen inflict the heaviest defeat of French forces in Morocco at the Battle of El Herri.
1916 – Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.
1918 – Allied troops occupy Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
1927 – The Holland Tunnel opens to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicle tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.
1941 – World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed by U-81, sinking the following day.
1942 – World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal – U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1947 – The Soviet Union completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles.
1950 – General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.
1954 – Great Britain defeats France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.
1956 – The Supreme Court of the United States declares Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1965 – The SS Yarmouth Castle burns and sinks 60 miles off Nassau with the loss of 90 lives.
1966 – In response to Fatah raids against Israelis near the West Bank border, Israel launches an attack on the village of As-Samu.
1969 – Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, D.C. stage a symbolic March Against Death.
1970 – Bhola cyclone: A 150-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night. This is regarded as the 20th century's worst natural disaster.
1974 – Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murders his entire family in Amityville, Long Island in the house that would become known as The Amityville Horror.
1982 – Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim in a boxing match held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kim's subsequent death (on November 17) leads to significant changes in the sport.
1982 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
1985 – The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts and melts a glacier, causing a lahar (volcanic mudslide) that buries Armero, Colombia, killing approximately 23,000 people.
1985 – Xavier Suarez is sworn in as Miami, Florida's first Cuban-born mayor.
1986 – The Compact of Free Association becomes law, granting the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands independence from the United States.
1988 – Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian law student in Portland, Oregon is beaten to death by members of the Neo-Nazi group East Side White Pride.
1989 – Hans-Adam II, the present Prince of Liechtenstein, begins his reign on the death of his father.
1990 – In Aramoana, New Zealand, David Gray shoots dead 13 people, in what becomes known as the Aramoana Massacre.
1992 – The High Court of Australia rules in Dietrich v The Queen that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented.
1994 – In a referendum voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union.
1995 – A truck-bomb explodes outside of a US-operated Saudi Arabian National Guard training center in Riyadh, killing five Americans and two Indians. A group called the Islamic Movement for Change claims responsibility.
2000 – Philippine House Speaker Manny Villar passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.
2001 – War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
2013 - The Horrible Honchos win trivia pub quiz at Gallagher's in Long Beach for the second straight week with a margin of five or more points.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Edward III of England
John Dickinson
Ranjit Singh
Joseph Hooker
Edwin Booth (how sad he was overshadowed by his infamous brother)
Joseph F. Smith
Edward Burd Grubb, Jr.
Albert I of Monaco
Louis Brandeis
Arthur Nebe (rot in Hell)
C. Vann Woodward
Helen Mack
Oskar Werner
Richard Mulligan
Peter Arnett
Garry Marshall
Dack Rambo
Joe Mantegna
Frances Conroy
Tracy Scoggins
Chris Noth
Whoopi Goldberg
Vinny Testaverde
Jimmy Kimmel
Gerard Butler
Noah Hathaway
Metta World Peace
Movie quotes today come from 1968's "Where Eagles Dare", which paired Richard Burton with Clint Eastwood in an excellent war movie from the mind of Allistair MacLean:
Mary Ellison: I nearly froze to death in that damn plane. Why couldn't you have supplied some hot water bottles or an electrically heated suit? I thought you loved me.
Major John Smith: Can't help what you think.
#2
[after Schaffer kills a German with a knife]
Major John Smith: That was quick.
Lt. Morris Schaffer: Fear lent him wings, as the saying goes.
#3
Major John Smith: Lieutenant, in the next 15 minutes we have to create enough confusion to get out of here alive.
Lt. Morris Schaffer: Major, right now you got me about as confused as I ever hope to be.
#4
Major John Smith: You are going up to the castle tonight as, well, yes as a domestic.
Mary Ellison: How? Naked?
Major John Smith: Not a bad idea, but it's a bit obvious.
Just a few pieces of trivia about this film: MacLean wrote the script and novel at the same time, which is why the film follows the novel so closely. Clint Eastwood didn't want to take second billing to Richard Burton but payment of $800,000 (back in 1968!!) changed his mind. In spite of the reputation of Eastwood characters in other films for violence, he kills more people in this one film than in any other one of his movies. And if it seems weird that while Burton and Eastwood are climbing the very steep wall to the fortress, Burton is moving effortlessly while the much younger Eastwood is clearly working hard. That's because Burton couldn't do the climb himself and was lifted by invisible wire while Eastwood actually climbed the wall. Eastwood refers to this film as "Where Doubles Dare", meaning stunt doubles.
The reason many Jews are upset by this is that the history of Judaism is filled with instances of forced conversion to other faiths. Like that little thing known historically as the Spanish Inquisition.
So I looked into the man behind the MJBI, which is a non-profit. He calls himself Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, although there appears to be absolutely no proof of his ever having attended a rabbinical school. He runs another non-profit known as The Jewish Voice Ministries International. It is much larger than the MJBI, with gross revenues for 2012 of more than $17 million.
"Rabbi" Bernis gave himself a raise of $40,000 in 2012 over his 2011 salary. That was an increase of nearly 20%. But what is really interesting about this so-called non-profit (yes, they have a 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS) is that they are running big surpluses annually. $4.2 million in 2012, $3.5 million in 2011 and $3.9 million in 2010. Is that how a true non-profit is run?
Former President Bush is making an error in judgment in making this appearance tomorrow. He should cancel it.
* * *
Yet again I'm reading about how the fast food industry's paying minimum wage to workers who enter the workforce with minimal skills and experience is a drain on social safety-net programs. People buy into this notion.
In fact, that same group of people would be receiving the same, or even more, public assistance without those minimum wage jobs. It isn't that the fast food industry is being subsidized by the taxpayers. The value of labor is determined by the laws of economics. Supply and demand.
I've worked in the fast food industry. As a new member of the labor force, bringing home minimum wage and in the lower echelons of management. When I first started at Jack in the Box back in 1975, I had a few skills. I could do math in order to work the cash register at the counter. I knew a little about restaurants in general from having grown up around my grandfather's own restaurant. But I didn't know how to cook fast food, or how to do all of the other myriad of things to be a good employee. I learned them though, from good trainers and management.
Owning a fast food franchise is a big investment on the part of the franchisee and isn't a guarantee of profits. The turnover of workers is huge, and rightly so. If I were running a fast food franchise, I might well choose to charge a little more and pay a higher wage to cut that turnover; if I could make that business model work. I don't know that I could. I believe the best possible model would involve profit sharing with employees who are committed to staying with the business for the long-term. Give me a crew of employees who want to make careers, will put in the effort and move upward in the "ranks" and it might work.
Then again, there are those pesky little things like low profit margins, fierce competition, franchise fees, shared advertising budgets, maintenance of equipment and infrastructure, limited choice of suppliers and then there's government regulation to deal with. Workers compensation insurance is a good thing, but fraudulent claims make it expensive.
The staff where I live make little more than minimum wage. No one is worried about getting them a "living wage". They just got health insurance benefits a few months ago when new management kept a promise it made when it took over. Of course, they also failed to restore the former pay rates the workers were getting before the prior management company took over and nearly ran the place into the ground. Some of them took a pay cut of $2 an hour that they'd fought hard to get.
Here's the rub. The jobs of most of them involve little in the way of skills other than caring and compassion, and the willingness to work hard. But every time I keep hearing this silly contention that the low minimum wages paid by fast food places are being subsidized by the taxpayer; I come back to one particular employee.
She was the best of the residential aides. The one every resident wanted to be working their floor when she was here, because she was head and shoulders above the rest. She left over a year ago. Why? Because another facility just like this one offered her almost double her salary and better benefits. Paid vacation. The works.
This place is fortunate that the turnover is fairly low because training new employees is expensive. Where this woman went has almost no turnover among people doing her job. They're treated well, paid well and the owners get the reward of long-term loyalty.
Maybe if fast food franchisees could be convinced they'd save the training dollars by paying more money, they'd give it a try.
* * *
This one still has me shaking my head. I understand that one of the things that apartment building owners have to fear when they choose to allow pets is dealing with the damage that animal waste can cause. But now it seems landlords have a new tool in trying to prevent being stuck with the bill for that damage.
The Shores is a new complex in Marina del Rey that was built on the site of older apartment buildings by a longtime area developer. Several of the buildings allow pets. But the tenants have to provide a sample of their dog's DNA. That way they can use it to determine whose dog is responsible for damage and hold them accountable.
Some of the new complexes are including doggie washing stations in addition to dog runs and the other amenities they need to attract tenants to pay the high rents being charged in the area.
Doggie DNA to make someone fess up to letting their dog dump where they aren't supposed to? Wow.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I'm very saddened by the death of Todd Christensen. He was a great player and a great person. Taken from us much too soon.
The only question I have about Clayton Kershaw's Cy Young Award win today is what in the world had reporter Mark Schmetzer choosing to vote for Adam Wainwright over Kershaw in first place voting. Kershaw led the lead in ERA, strikeouts and a whole bunch of new-age statistical categories. Then there's the face he has now led the majors in ERA for three consecutive seasons. The Dodgers are going to have to write a very big check to lock Kershaw up for a long-term deal.
Kudos to Ellen for following up her $10,000 tip to that waitress by giving her a brand new car. And talk about selfless, the waitress is giving some of that ten grand to charity even though she herself struggles with bills and being a single mom.
Should Victoria's Secret let Carmen Carrera, the transgender model, take part in their TV show? I fully support LGBT rights and if tens of thousands want to sign an online petition demanding the retailer/catalog seller do that, that's fine. But in the end, considering how few women ever walk that particular runway, I wouldn't call it discrimination if they chose not to include her. How many other gorgeous women want that gig and don't get it?
People would do well to heed the wisdom of Sheila Bair in a piece she wrote for CNN about the dangers of using credit cards issued by stores. http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/13/pf/sheila-bair-store-cards.moneymag/index.html?source=cnn_bin
Claiming that Andy Kaufman is still alive and faked his death is silly. Or is it? Maybe the self-proclaimed Intergender Wrestling Champion of the World still lives?? Naw.
If you're dumb enough to buy any of Jenna Jameson's sex toys being sold by her ex-husband, you will probably end up destroying them in order to make them "sanitary" but then again, anyone who wants to buy that stuff has no interest in "clean" items.
Did you know that anyone who had a role on the "I Love Lucy" show was still alive? I didn't. RIP, Shirley Mitchell.
I hate to think Mark Wahlberg might have been holding back in his "f-bomb" laden tirade about Tom Cruise's alleged comparison of acting to serving in Afghanistan.
Katherine Jackson's appeal of the judge's dismissal of two of the defendants in her wrongful death suit against AEG is a waste of her time and money.
Does anyone really care if Audrina Patridge is or isn't invited to Lauren Conrad's wedding? In fact, does anyone care that LC is getting hitched?
Chuckling at the story about Rod Blagojevich's appeal of his conviction. Not the appeal but because whoever wrote one version of the news item that reads "...Blagojevich may be released as early as 2024." He's serving a 14 year sentence, so a 2024 release would mean he might get out two years early.
How interesting is it that Shania Twain says she'll never forgive her former best friend for the affair the friend had with her now ex-husband, Mutt Lange, but now Emma Thompson has announced she has forgiven Helena Bonham Carter for the affair that ended Thompson's marriage to Kenneth Branagh?
Shame on Jillian Michaels.
Firing a bus driver because he laid a hand on a disabled woman to pray for her is only appropriate if she filed a complaint.
* * *
November 13th in History:
1002 – English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre.
1160 – Louis VII of France marries Adele of Champagne.
1642 – First English Civil War: Battle of Turnham Green – the Royalist forces withdraw in the face of the Parliamentarian army and fail to take London.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Gen. Richard Montgomery occupy Montreal, Quebec.
1841 – James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnotism.
1851 – The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, before moving to the other side of Elliott Bay to what would become Seattle, Washington.
1864 – The new Constitution of Greece is adopted.
1887 – Bloody Sunday clashes in central London.
1901 – The 1901 Caister Lifeboat Disaster.
1914 – Zaian War: Berber tribesmen inflict the heaviest defeat of French forces in Morocco at the Battle of El Herri.
1916 – Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.
1918 – Allied troops occupy Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
1927 – The Holland Tunnel opens to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicle tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.
1941 – World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed by U-81, sinking the following day.
1942 – World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal – U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1947 – The Soviet Union completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles.
1950 – General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.
1954 – Great Britain defeats France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.
1956 – The Supreme Court of the United States declares Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1965 – The SS Yarmouth Castle burns and sinks 60 miles off Nassau with the loss of 90 lives.
1966 – In response to Fatah raids against Israelis near the West Bank border, Israel launches an attack on the village of As-Samu.
1969 – Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, D.C. stage a symbolic March Against Death.
1970 – Bhola cyclone: A 150-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night. This is regarded as the 20th century's worst natural disaster.
1974 – Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murders his entire family in Amityville, Long Island in the house that would become known as The Amityville Horror.
1982 – Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim in a boxing match held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kim's subsequent death (on November 17) leads to significant changes in the sport.
1982 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
1985 – The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts and melts a glacier, causing a lahar (volcanic mudslide) that buries Armero, Colombia, killing approximately 23,000 people.
1985 – Xavier Suarez is sworn in as Miami, Florida's first Cuban-born mayor.
1986 – The Compact of Free Association becomes law, granting the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands independence from the United States.
1988 – Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian law student in Portland, Oregon is beaten to death by members of the Neo-Nazi group East Side White Pride.
1989 – Hans-Adam II, the present Prince of Liechtenstein, begins his reign on the death of his father.
1990 – In Aramoana, New Zealand, David Gray shoots dead 13 people, in what becomes known as the Aramoana Massacre.
1992 – The High Court of Australia rules in Dietrich v The Queen that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented.
1994 – In a referendum voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union.
1995 – A truck-bomb explodes outside of a US-operated Saudi Arabian National Guard training center in Riyadh, killing five Americans and two Indians. A group called the Islamic Movement for Change claims responsibility.
2000 – Philippine House Speaker Manny Villar passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.
2001 – War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Edward III of England
John Dickinson
Ranjit Singh
Joseph Hooker
Edwin Booth (how sad he was overshadowed by his infamous brother)
Joseph F. Smith
Edward Burd Grubb, Jr.
Albert I of Monaco
Louis Brandeis
Arthur Nebe (rot in Hell)
C. Vann Woodward
Helen Mack
Oskar Werner
Richard Mulligan
Peter Arnett
Garry Marshall
Dack Rambo
Joe Mantegna
Frances Conroy
Tracy Scoggins
Chris Noth
Whoopi Goldberg
Vinny Testaverde
Jimmy Kimmel
Gerard Butler
Noah Hathaway
Metta World Peace
Movie quotes today come from 1968's "Where Eagles Dare", which paired Richard Burton with Clint Eastwood in an excellent war movie from the mind of Allistair MacLean:
Mary Ellison: I nearly froze to death in that damn plane. Why couldn't you have supplied some hot water bottles or an electrically heated suit? I thought you loved me.
Major John Smith: Can't help what you think.
#2
[after Schaffer kills a German with a knife]
Major John Smith: That was quick.
Lt. Morris Schaffer: Fear lent him wings, as the saying goes.
#3
Major John Smith: Lieutenant, in the next 15 minutes we have to create enough confusion to get out of here alive.
Lt. Morris Schaffer: Major, right now you got me about as confused as I ever hope to be.
#4
Major John Smith: You are going up to the castle tonight as, well, yes as a domestic.
Mary Ellison: How? Naked?
Major John Smith: Not a bad idea, but it's a bit obvious.
Just a few pieces of trivia about this film: MacLean wrote the script and novel at the same time, which is why the film follows the novel so closely. Clint Eastwood didn't want to take second billing to Richard Burton but payment of $800,000 (back in 1968!!) changed his mind. In spite of the reputation of Eastwood characters in other films for violence, he kills more people in this one film than in any other one of his movies. And if it seems weird that while Burton and Eastwood are climbing the very steep wall to the fortress, Burton is moving effortlessly while the much younger Eastwood is clearly working hard. That's because Burton couldn't do the climb himself and was lifted by invisible wire while Eastwood actually climbed the wall. Eastwood refers to this film as "Where Doubles Dare", meaning stunt doubles.
posted by me at 1:36 PM
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