The rest of the story

I saw "The Wolf of Wall Street" today.  I refuse to buy the book it is based on because I won't put a single dime of my money into the pocket of Jordan Belfort (don't ask how I avoided doing so by buying my movie ticket today, and I won't tell). 

The movie is good and I'll review it on www.tailslate.net in a day or so.  But it's the true story I want to write about after seeing the film.  Jordan Belfort is a real person who served a little over two years in federal prison for securities fraud.  The only reason his story became so famous is that his prison roommate was Tommy Chong, who encouraged Belfort to write about his experiences.  He wrote two books and now there's a movie.  Estimates are that he's earned over $1.7 million from these endeavors.

The first problem is that he's supposed to be giving 50% of his income to the feds to be repaid to his victims.  He swindled people out of over $200 million and was ordered by the judge to repay $110 million of that amount.  So far he's paid a little over $11 million and most of that came from the court-ordered sale of properties that were seized from him.

Instead of repaying his victims, he's currently ensconced in a beachfront mansion in Manhattan Beach, is engaged, and is employing not just one but two good looking assistants to help him manage his various endeavors.  He's also able to afford daily tennis lessons from no less than Jeff Tarango, one of the best teaching tennis pros around.

Pink sheets made him his fortune.  They are the listings of stocks that aren't on one of the recognized exchanges, like the NYSE or NASDAQ.  When I first learned about penny stocks I opined that the reason the sheets are pink is that they were originally white but now have been soaked in the blood of those who bet on penny stocks and are thusly pink.  Companies whose stock trades through these pink sheets have no regulatory requirements in terms of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Playing penny stocks makes millionaires, out of those who sell them.  Not out of those who buy them.

Belfort tapped into the dream.  The dream that there is a fortune to be made easily, if you just believe in it, and want it badly enough.  He sold hope.  He sold a pipe-dream and he got rich.  There is no free lunch.  Many people found that out the hard way, thanks to the Wolf of Wall Street. 

At the beginning of the movie, another broker told Jordan Belfort that he was pond scum.  He was right.

* * *

Kourosh Keshmiri had no business being behind the wheel of a car this past weekend.  Convicted of a DUI back in 2010 and arrested again for DUI this past June, his driving license had been suspended.  But like so many others who like to drink and then get behind the wheel, he ignored that suspension.  Now a man is dead as a result.

Mr. Keshmiri, a 27 year old, was driving so fast than when his late model Cadillac sedan plowed into the side of a house, almost the entire vehicle wound up inside of the building.  A man sleeping peacefully in bed was killed.  To die is tragic under any circumstance.  But to die when our society can't stop people from putting the lives of others in danger boggles the mind.

We have overcrowded prisons.  No argument there.  Long prison sentences for DUI offenses where no one was hurt make no sense.  However, the time has come where every single person who is convicted of DUI must be made to install an ignition interlock device on every vehicle they own.  Anything else is risking lives.  Needlessly.

* * *

The weekend box office numbers are in and they are quite a surprise.  Last year, three of the spots in the Top 5 for the weekend after Christmas were movies that had been released on Christmas.  One of those, "Django Unchained" actually challenged the first movie in "The Hobbit" series for the top spot.  This year the second movie in that series has a death grip on #1, but none of the films that opened on Christmas Day came anywhere near its numbers.  "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", "Frozen" and "American Hustle" all outdrew every new release in total weekend receipts and on a per screen average. 

I'm amazed at how many movies I see in the listings of what is currently in theaters will probably lose money or at best break even (more or less).  "Walking With Dinosaurs" cost $80 million and may never get close to break-even, even with Blu-ray and DVD sales.  "Ender's Game" is a money-loser.  So is "Escape Plan", in spite of having Stallone and Schwarzenegger on screen at the same time.  Same for "Out of the Furnace", which has earned box office receipts of less than half of its production budget.

What I'm having trouble understanding is that in spite of all these money-losing films, and the fact we've been in an economic downturn since 2008, domestic box office gross totals for the year are over $10.8 billion and may set a new annual record.  Movie ticket prices didn't rise that much over last year, when the total gross was $10.837 billion.

Local and state government here in California need to do more to stem the tide of movie production which is leaving for other states with more favorable conditions... i.e., tax breaks and cooperation.

By the way, look for lots of big sequels to dominate the box office in 2014 and possibly push the domestic gross for the year over the $11 billion mark.  The sequels coming out next year are:

"Captain America:  The Winter Soldier"
"300:  Rise of An Empire'
"The Amazing Spider Man 2"
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
"Transformers:  Age of Extinction"
"The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay 1"
"The Hobbit:  There and Back Again"

* * *

Random Ponderings:

I believe we need to work to preserve our environment, but I like the plastic bags the grocery stores use.  I'll miss them as they disappear.

Michael Schumacher was wearing a helmet and still suffered a serious head injury.  So do helmets need to be made better, or are there some situations you just can't protect against?

Jon and Kate Gosselin's 15 minutes were up long ago.

Designer sweatpants, for men?  $750 a pair?  Gebe mir eine Pause, laß mich in Ruhe.

Why would a member of the Saudi royal family be exempt from facing execution for murder?  It is only a rare thing because royals don't often murder, and if they do, they can usually offer enough "blood money" to avoid punishment.

The Chinese Communist party telling political leaders they can't buy cigarettes with public funds is good.  Telling those leaders not to smoke in public??  Dunno.

I don't like Japan's new idea to solve homelessness.  They're offered work cleaning up the radioactive mess at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

On New Year's Eve, dining at the Applebee's in Times Square is $375 per person.  But you can get a bargain down the street at TGIFridays where it's only $225.

* * *

December 30th in History:

1066 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.
1460 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield.
1702 – Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine.
1813 – British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis (1816) between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed.
1825 – The Treaty of St. Louis (1825) between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.
1853 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.
1896 – Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila, Philippines.
1897 – The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
1905 – Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell.
1906 – The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India. It went on to lay the foundations of Pakistan.
1916 – The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.
1919 – Lincoln's Inn in London, England, UK admits its first female bar student.
1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.
1927 – The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan.
1936 – The United Auto Workers union stages its first sitdown strike.
1943 – Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.
1944 – King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.
1947 – King Michael I of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.
1948 – The Cole Porter Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate (1,077 performances), opens at the New Century Theatre and becomes the first show to win the Best Musical Tony Award.
1958 – The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing 3 and sparking international tension.
1965 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.
1972 – Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
1977 – For the second time, Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
1981 – In the 39th game of his third NHL season, Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, giving him 50 on the year and setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games.
1993 – Israel and Vatican City establish diplomatic relations.
1996 – In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.
1996 – Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
1997 – In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people from four villages are killed.
2000 – Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
2004 – A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
2005 – Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.
2006 – Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.
2006 – The Indonesian passenger ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths.
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.
2009 – A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 l (40,000 US gal) of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.
2009 – A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.
2011 – Owing to a change of time zone the day is skipped in Samoa and Tokelau.

Famous Folk Born on December 30th:

Titus, Emperor of Rome
William Croft
Rudyard Kipling
Carol Reed
Jeanette Nolan
Bert Parks
Jo Van Fleet
Seymour Melman
Jack Lord (Book em Dano, Murder One)
Barbara Nichols
Skeeter Davis
Joseph Bologna
Del Shannon
Russ Tamblyn
Sandy Koufax
James Burrows
Mel Renfro
Michael Nesmith
Fred Ward
William J. Fallon
Lloyd Kaufman
Concetta Tomei
Jeff Lynne
Clive Bunker
Barry Greenstein
Patricia Kelember
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Matt Lauer
Tracey Ullman
Sean Hannity
Heidi Fleiss
Tiger Woods
Tyrese Gibson
Eliza Dushku
Kristin Kreuk
LeBron James

Movie quotes today come from "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" because Fred Ward is celebrating his birthday.  Thankfully for fans of the Remo Williams novels, the movie adventure began and ended in this one film.

New York City traffic control cop: Excuse me. What are you doin' to that boy?
Remo Williams: Oh, uh, unnecessary use of the horn, officer.
New York City traffic control cop: Well, I'll be unnecessary use of my nightstick on your thick skull if you don't let him go.
Remo Williams: Whatever happened to police courtesy and that kind of stuff, huh?
New York City traffic control cop: We save that bullshit for the Upper East Side.

#2

Chiun: Professional assassination. It's the highest form of public service.

#3

Remo Williams: You know, Chiun, there are times when I really like you.
Chiun: Of course. I am Chiun.
Remo Williams: And there are times when I could really kill you.
Chiun: Good. We will practice that after dinner.

#4

Chiun: It would be better for you to eat this can than what is inside of it. Why must everything in this country be coated with monositi-... monosoti...
Remo Williams: Monosodium glutamate. You can't even say it.
Chiun: I can say "rat droppings." That does not mean I want to eat them.

Article, editorial or a little of both

I read an article in Saturday's Los Angeles Times that I found a little puzzling.  Larry Gordon wrote a piece about how recruiters from the "best" colleges visit private schools far more often than they visit schools where there are a "high proportion of low-income and minority" students.

Is this a surprise?  The article makes a comparison between The Webb Schools out in Claremont with LAUSD's Jefferson High.  This past fall, there were 113 recruiters from across the nation that visited Webb, which has a senior class of less than 100.  Jefferson, where there are 280 seniors, got visited by 20 recruiters from colleges and universities.

The article seems to be making a statement that this is discriminatory.  That may be the opinion of the author of the piece and of the people who publish the Times, but that doesn't make it fact.  Nor does it make it an accurate illustration and comparison.

The tuition at Webb is over $32,000 per year.  That's why they have a college guidance office with three full-time employees (two counselors and an executive assistant).  That doesn't stop some of the parents of Webb students from hiring outside college counselors as part of the process of ensuring their child gets into the college of their choice; at a cost of thousands of dollars more.

Are the students from Webb "better" than the students at Roosevelt?  They're almost certainly better educated and prepared for college, but that doesn't make them better overall.  However, we cannot ignore the fact that colleges and universities are in the business of filling their classes with students who will stay the course; and who can pay the tuition.  Financial aid is a limited, precious resource at the college level.  Full-pay students, especially those who qualify for academic scholarship, are at a premium.  Competition for them is fierce.

Plus, the bulk of these "prestigious" universities are private schools.  They can choose to admit whoever they want.  Even when they promote their commitment to enrolling a diverse student population, it is their own definition of diversity that governs.  The school's operations are overseen by a board of trustees, not the public.

It is a sad reality that students from minority and lower-income backgrounds aren't going to get into the Ivy League and other top notch colleges and universities with the same frequency of the students who come from the best private schools.  Or for that matter, charter schools.  Palisades Charter High may be a public school but they have a college guidance office with four staff members and a number of volunteer counselors. 

The Times should leave editorials on the editorial page.

* * *

I've been a fervent fan of the Los Angeles Lakers since I was five or six years old.  I played basketball all through junior high and high school and my dream was to grow tall enough to play in the NBA for the Lakers at what used to be known as the Fabulous Forum.  My feelings for the Lakers are like my feelings for the Dodgers.  I bleed Dodger Blue.  I also bleed the purple and gold of the Lakers.

However, as I've aged, I've become more of a realist.  The Lakers, decimated by injuries; and not having the ideal squad in the first place, are not going to win an NBA title this year.  At this point, odds are good they won't even make the playoffs. 

They are 13-17 as of today and will play another 11 games minimum before Kobe will be back from his stress-fractured knee.  He won't be 100% at that point either and even if he were, with the squad they have, he can't carry them on his back to the NBA Finals.  Right now they are home for four games, but then will play 10 of 11 on the road.  That takes them past the halfway point of the season.  I do not expect to see the Lakers in the postseason.

I've never been a fan of teams that dog it in order to get a lottery pick and I'm not suggesting that they should.  What I am suggesting is that considering the team will almost certainly miss the playoffs, it would be better to go longer rather than shorter on the rehabilitation program for Kobe.  A 100% healthy Kobe next season is far more valuable than a 75% Kobe would be this year.  Now if they were in the hunt for a title, things would be different.  They aren't.  We're counting on Kobe to deliver in the next two seasons, and he's being very well paid for them.  The Lakers should take steps to protect that investment.  No, they shouldn't try to lose to land a lottery pick.  But you don't have to rush your superstar back into the lineup.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Who doesn't know that when you play Monopoly and someone chooses not to buy the vacant property they just landed on, the property is sold at auction?  It's been in the rules for decades.  Also, the cat replacing the iron as a game piece is lame.

Is anyone surprised that a judge has dismissed lawsuits against the federal government's Army Corps of Engineers for being negligent in maintaining the levees that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina?  I'm not.

While I'm scared it won't be as good as the original, I have to admit I am looking forward to seeing "22 Jump Street" when it comes out next year.

Andrew Bynum's biggest problem has always been his lack of strong work ethic, but you can't teach someone to be 7 feet tall, so teams will always be out there willing to take a chance on him.

According to experts, gyms actually don't want their members to show up.  They want members paying fees, and if everyone who belonged to a gym were to show up, the gym would be very overcrowded.

Ronda Rousey should have shaken hands after her win in the octagon.

If you have a large estate to pass on to your heirs, you don't want to be a resident of New Jersey or Maryland at the time you pass on.  Both states impose an estate tax, and an inheritance tax.  That boggles my mind.

Calling Britney Spear's choice to take up residency at a Las Vegas Hotel/Casino an "early retirement" is harsh, but more or less accurate.  At least she isn't hiding the fact she's lip-syncing, by doing it so badly.

So if someone is legally smoking marijuana in Colorado, in their car, when they cross the border, will their next puff be "One Toke Over The Line"??  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejvcd-JeVCQ

If the Australian icebreaker does what the Chinese icebreaker couldn't, and rescues the Russian ship stuck in Antarctic ice, is that a knock on goods that were made in China?

A woman who got her lost engagement ring back after it had disappeared six years early should have gone right out and bought a lottery ticket.

I'm not sure which is worse.  That Miley Cyrus flashed her "hoo-haa" while attending Britney's opening night show by wearing no underwear and a mighty short skirt, or that some paparazzo snapped a photo of it.   Call it a tie.

* * *

December 29th in History:

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church.
1427 – Army of Ming Dynasty started withdrawing from Hanoi, put an end to the domination of Đại Việt.
1508 – Portuguese forces under the command of Francisco de Almeida attack Khambhat at the Battle of Dabul.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.
1786 – French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.
1812 – The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
1813 – British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
1845 – In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, United States annexes the Republic of Texas, following the manifest destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
1851 – The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
1860 – The first British seagoing ironclad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
1876 – The Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota killed by the US Army.
1911 – Mongolia gains independence from the Qing Dynasty, enthroning 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.
1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.
1914 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, is serialized in The Egoist.
1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
1939 – First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
1940 – World War II: In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, UK, killing almost 200 civilians.
1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
1959 – Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology.
1959 – The Lisbon Metro begins operation.
1972 – An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
1975 – A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
1989 – Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives.
2001 – A fire at the Mesa Redonda shopping center in Lima, Peru, kills at least 291.
2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
2006 – UK settles its Anglo-American loan - post WWII loan debt.

Famous Folk Born on December 29th:

Charles Goodyear
Andrew Johnson (worst U.S. President in history)
Carl Ludwig
Billy Mitchell (aviation pioneer)
Billy Tipton (born a woman, lived as a man)
Tom Bradley (THE mayor)
Inga Swenson
Ed Flanders
Mary Tyler Moore
Ray Nitschke
Wayne Huizenga
Jon Voight
Rick Danko
Marianne Faithfull
Ted Danson
Yvonne Elliman
Brad Grey
Patricia Clarkson
Paula Poundstone
Jude Law
Paul Rudnick
Nancy J. Currie
Mehki Phifer
Shawn Hatosy
Danny McBride

Movie quotes today come from "Flirting With Disaster", a funny film that had Mary Tyler Moore in it:

Mel: [to Agent Tony] You got a lot of nerve. You come in here, you lick my wife's armpit. You know... I'm going to have that image in my head for the rest of my life with your tongue in there.
Nancy Coplin: You deserve it.

#2

Mary Schlichting: You apologize!
Lonnie Schlichting: I'm sorry.
Mary Schlichting: Sorry for what?
Lonnie Schlichting: I'm sorry that I put windowpane in Mel's quail, and I'm sorry that you ate it.

#3

Nancy Coplin: Does anybody actually own a white Taurus, or are they all rentals?

#4

Agent Tony: Do you mind if I look at your armpit?
Nancy Coplin: My armpit?
Agent Tony: It's my favorite part of a woman's body.

Satisfaction guaranteed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEB7WbTTlu4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdxmOieIgnc

Guarantees are everywhere.  They're used to help people shopping for a car to buy one brand over another.  Kia and Hyundai, two Korean carmakers offer 10 year/100,000 mile warranties on the powertrain of any new car they sell.  Mercedes Benz only offers 48 months/50,000 miles.  So is a Kia a better buy than a Mercedes?  If you believe that, I have a bridge you may want to buy.  It's near Brooklyn.

So what happened to the guarantees offered by retailers regarding delivery of orders before Christmas?  How do these businesses earn back the trust of those customers whose gift didn't get there on time?  How did this happen?

It isn't entirely the fault of UPS.  Yes, they planned badly.  Yes, they should have anticipated increased volume and been able to handle it.  But part of the blame falls squarely on those retailers who were relying on UPS to get it there on time.

The holiday shopping season was shorter this year.  Thanksgiving marks the stat of the shopping frenzy and it can fall on any day in the range of November 22nd to November 28th.  This year it fell on the last day, November 28, 2013.  In 2012, it was on November 22nd.  That's a big difference in the number of "shopping days" available.

Then retailers made a decision that made the situation even worse.  In the face of what appeared to be declining sales, many of them extended the "last moment" to order online with delivery before Christmas guaranteed.  70 retailers, including Toys R'Us and Dick's Sporting Goods were allowing people to place orders as late as 11:00 p.m. on December 23rd and promising delivery before Christmas .  A promise they didn't keep.  With UPS handling more than 50% of the shipping of E-commerce purchases, it was a recipe for disaster.

Gift cards and refunds of shipping fees aren't going to make people happy.  It will just make them less irate.  Nor will it engender trust in the system when it comes time to make purchases next year.

* * *

Speaking of guarantees, just when and where did retailers like Target guarantee the security of your information when you make a purchase in the store using a credit or debit card?  I missed that iron-clad guarantee.  Please point it out to me.

Now there are multiple lawsuits being filed against Target by shoppers.  Target does have a duty to protect the data of their customers as best they can.  But what most people don't understand is that here in the U. S., we use older technology with our charge cards.  They have the good old magnetic strip and therefore are highly vulnerable to hacking.  Outside the U. S. charge cards have computer chips which are much more secure.  When a hacker can steal your credit/debit card data by being near where you swipe the card, with the right equipment, the vulnerability is strong.  However, that's fixable.

The other issue I have with these lawsuits is that unless someone's account was actually looted by the hackers or their accomplices, I don't see where these victims deserve anything other than nuisance-level compensation.  If I had shopped at Target during that period with my debit card, I'd have had to call my bank and get my card cancelled and replaced.  I had to do that earlier this year when the bank detected someone trying to use my card without permission.  The bank notified me, and did all the work themselves.  It's a minor thing...unless of course you have money stolen and have to jump through hoops to get it back. 

So here's a tip.  Get a pre-paid debit card.  One with the lowest fees possible.  Link the card to your regular debit card or bank account.  Move only the money you need to spend to the pre-paid card, just before you spend it.  There is no risk to this system.  It's an extra layer of security.

* * *

The people who run Children's Hospital of Oakland have made a misstep in the situation involving Jahi McMath, the teen girl who was declared brain-dead this week.  Apparently the family has found a facility that is willing to take over the care of Jahi and the family wants to move here there.  The hospital is "resisting" the transfer request. 

Part of the reason they are refusing to cooperate is that this transfer would require the insertion of breathing and feeding tubes into the child, surgically.  They claim it would be wrong to perform further surgical procedures on a person they believe is already dead.

They should just do the surgery, let the family move their daughter and try to minimize further fallout, including the wrongful death lawsuit that is certainly being drafted by some attorney, somewhere.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

A&E blinked and has reinstated Phil Robertson.  That's their prerogative.  This is all about the bottom line and if they feel keeping him on the show as they film for a future season is the right thing to do, more power to them.  If those who find his comments unacceptable choose to boycott the program and the network, and the show's sponsors, so be it.  That is also their prerogative.  Now maybe this story can die out.

If people think that long-term unemployment benefits should be extended yet again because otherwise the people who will lose their benefits won't be adding to the economic recovery; then everyone should get a nice big check from the government every week, to spend. 

I called Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and asked about pricing for tickets to see Britney Spears.  The best seats available on the dates I wanted were $375.  I told the agent they'd have to pay me more than that to sit through her show and hung up.

Taylor Swift taking time out of her life to Facetime chat with a dying eight year old girl is scorned by some, but I think she did an amazing thing.  Good for her.

The reports on the Sandy Hook shooting are out and will probably be talked about a lot.  I glanced at some and lost interest.  There really isn't much data that appears to be new, just more detailed than before.  Adam Lanza was obsessed with mass shootings, and had serious mental problems.  We knew that already.

I think it's kind of funny that the real-life man that the character played by Christian Bale in "American Hustle" had a comb-over just like they used in the film.

I wonder if people who park in places they aren't supposed to (red curbs, posted no-parking zones, etc) realize that even though they plan to be there a short time, turning on their flashers is just like lighting up a "I Shouldn't Be Here, Ticket Me!!" sign.

India should stop trying to ratchet up the pressure on the U.S. in this dispute over the arrest of their Deputy Consul General in NYC.  India needs the U.S. a lot more than the U.S. needs India.

If Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott had a "sexless marriage" as reports claim, how did they have four children?

* * *

December 27th in History:

537 – The Hagia Sophia is completed.
1512 – The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regard to native Indians in the New World.
1655 – Second Northern War/the Deluge: Monks at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa are successful in fending off a month-long siege.
1657 – The Flushing Remonstrance is signed.
1703 – Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.
1814 – War of 1812: The American schooner USS Carolina is destroyed. It was the last of Commodore Daniel Patterson's makeshift fleet that fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.
1831 – Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate the theory of evolution.
1836 – The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.
1845 – Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia.
1845 – Journalist John L. O'Sullivan, writing in his newspaper the New York Morning News, argues that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country "by the right of our manifest destiny".
1911 – "Jana Gana Mana", the national anthem of India, is first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.
1918 – The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins.
1922 – Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.
1923 – Daisuke Namba, a Japanese student, tries to assassinate the Prince Regent Hirohito.
1927 – Show Boat, considered to be the first true American musical play, opens at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway.
1929 – Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin orders the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class", ostensibly as an effort to spread socialism to the countryside.
1932 – Radio City Music Hall, "Showplace of the Nation", opens in New York, New York.
1939 – Erzincan, Turkey is hit by an earthquake, killing 30,000.
1939 – Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet attack in the Battle of Kelja.
1942 – The Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia is founded.
1945 – The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations.
1949 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence. End of the Dutch East Indies.
1966 – The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, is discovered in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital manned mission to the Moon.
1978 – Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.
1979 – The Soviet Union invades the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
1983 – Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia's prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter's Square.
1985 – Palestinian guerrillas kill eighteen people inside Rome, Italy and Vienna, Austria airports.
1989 – The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country's capital, Bucharest.
1996 – Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan.
1997 – Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
2001 – China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
2002 – Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.
2004 – Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.
2007 – Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a shooting incident.
2007 – Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.
2008 – Israel launches 3-week operation on Gaza - Operation Cast Lead.
2009 – Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators.

Famous Folk Born on December 27th:

Johannes Kepler
George Whitefield
Sydney Greenstreet
Nikolay Kamensky
Louis Pasteur
Marlene Dietrich
Oscar Levant
William H. Masters
Werner Baumbach
Charles Sweeney (commanded the aircraft Bock's Car on the flight to drop the atomic bomb on Nagasaki)
John Amos
Cokie Roberts
Mick Jones
Gerard Depardieu
Karla Bonoff
David Knopfler
Maryam D'Abo (Bond Girl)
Theresa Randle
Bill Goldberg
Eva LaRue
Fabian Nunez
Chyna
Savannah Guthrie
Carson Palmer

Movie quotes today come from "Die Hard 2" which featured John Amos as Major Grant":

John McClane: That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me. You know what that is? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany. Dosen't show up on your airport X-ray machines, here, and it cost more than you make in a month.
Carmine Lorenzo: You'd be a surprised what I make in a month.
John McClane: If it's more than a dollar ninety-eight I'd be very surprised.

#2

John McClane: Guess I was wrong about you. You're not such an asshole after all.
Grant: Oh, you were right. I'm just your kind of asshole.

#3

Al Powell: What's this about?
John McClane: Oh, just a feeling I have.
Al Powell: Ouch. When you get those feelings, insurance companies start to go bankrupt.

#4

Richard Thornburg: No you did not explain anything to me. All you did was shove me back here in this cattle car.
Stewardess: Sir, you were told when you boarded we were overbooked.
Richard Thornburg: Fine. Done. I accept that. But why in hell can't I get the first class meal my network paid for. Do you know who I am?
Stewardess: Yes. We've all seen your program. Your episode "Flying Junkyards" was a very objective look at air traffic safety.
Stewardess: It wasn't nearly as edifying as "Bimbos of the Sky." Was it, Connie?
Richard Thornburg: You think you're funny. You think you're funny. Fine. I've got your number.
Stewardess: And I've got yours. So park it, Sir.
Richard Thornburg: [sits down and sees Holly looking at him] Stewardess!
Stewardess: Mr. Thornburg, you cannot monopolize my time.
Richard Thornburg: You cannot put me near that woman.
Stewardess: Excuse me?
Holly McClane: He means he's filed a restraining order against me. I'm not allowed within 50 feet of him.
Richard Thornburg: 50 yards. So by keeping me in the section you are violating a court order. I can sue you and this airline. That woman assaulted me and she humiliated me in public.
Stewardess: [walks over to Holly and whispers] What did you do?
Holly McClane: Knocked out two of his teeth.
Stewardess: Would you like some champagne?

Italian film distributor accused of racism in movie poster and other eye-catching headlines

When U.S. movies are being shown in foreign markets, the posters that are used by the distributor in that country is often different from the one used here at home.  A number of people are upset that the Italian distributor of the wonderful film "12 Years A Slave" is being marketed with a poster that minimizes the star of the film, who happens to be an African-American.  Brad Pitt, who is in the film for maybe five minutes is getting star billing in Italy.

The man accused of killing a TSA agent at LAX during a shooting rampage has pleaded not guilty to all counts.  Paul Ciancia faces 11 felony charges, including one of first-degree murder that could carry the death penalty.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson says that Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame is worse than the bus driver who told Rosa Parks to go to the back of the bus.

Lena Headey who plays "Queen Cersie" on "Game of Thrones" just struck a deal with her ex-husband, both of them have to download an app for their phones that prevents them from texting or emailing while driving.

AEG has responded to Katharine Jackson's request for a new trial by basically saying "you lost, get over it."  A judge will hold a hearing on her motion for a new trial in early January.

We don't know if Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford knew that Dwayne Wade had spent $1 million on fiancée Gabrielle Union's engagement ring at the time, but we do know Crawford upped the ante by spending $1.4 million on an even bigger ring.  He is now engaged to Evelyn Lozada, ex-wife of former NFL star Chad Ochocinco.  Lozada was dating an NBA star but looks like she's sticking with baseball players. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited his country's Yasukuni shrine, infuriating government officials in China and South Korea.  The shrine is a monument to Japan's war dead dating back to the Boshin War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshin_War).  Many who are "enshrined" there are considered war criminals by China and South Korea.

If you ordered something online and it didn't get where it was going before Christmas, the vendor you used may refund your shipping costs and provide you with a discount or gift card.  Amazon is doing just that.  It's also limiting new sign-ups for its Prime program, where customers pay $79 for virtually unlimited two-day shipping for a year.

Remember this note that went viral back in June?

 



It turned into one of the most popular on-line "notes" of the year.  I'm still wondering if the guy this was addressed to ever got his stuff back.  Reporter's note:  I love the heart-warming stories about people who buy a meal for other people, because they were doing this, or doing that, or they were in uniform as much as the next person.  But does such things need to become a big news item?  I can't write what I want to write next, because then I'd be guilty of hypocrisy. :)

Sad that the Turks and Caicos Islands only make the news when something bad happens, like the recent capsizing of a boat.  Officials there have called off the search for survivors of the accident.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest camel of all?  Determining that is the annual Camel Beauty Pageant, held in Abu Dhabi. 

The automobile brand/model that sold the most units worldwide in 2013 is http://soundjax.com/drum+roll-2.html the Ford Focus.

Justin Beiber continues to tell his beliebers and everyone else that he's serious about retiring.  The only thing he's serious about is trying to pump up ticket sales for his movie.

Jon Kitna is a high school math teacher and football coach who had a 15 year career as an NFL quarterback.  Now, if Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys can't play on Sunday, Kitna will move into the backup QB role for the Cowboys.  He signed a contract for $53,000 for one week with the club, but the money will be donated to the high school in Washington where he works.

LeBron James has been named the Associated Press male athlete of the year.

A man wearing women's clothing got past the security fence and the $100 million intruder detection system at Newark International Airport on Christmas Day.  The man was charged with trespassing and then released.   Reporter's note:  Why was what he was wearing newsworthy?

In Texas, Conrad Barrett has been charged with a federal hate crime in connection with his alleged "knockout" game assault on an elderly black man.   The criminal complaint claims he recorded the incident on his cellphone and showed the video to his friends.  His victim spent several days in a hospital but is recovering.

In the Sacramento area, a telecommunications tower climber fell 50 feet and was in a coma for two months, but now he is awake.  And, he and his fiancée were able to get married on Christmas Day.

My Christmas message

The Queen of England has a Christmas message.  You can view it here if you wish:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25492508.

The Pope has a Christmas message.  You can read it here if you wish:  http://www.wkrg.com/story/24300658/text-of-popes-christmas-message.

President Obama puts out various messages around the Christmas holiday.  They are described here:  http://www.religionnews.com/2013/12/16/president-obama-framing-christmas-message-year/

My Christmas message is a wish about some things I'd like to see go on in our world, for at least just one day.

I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would go to sleep hungry.
I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would go to sleep without a roof over their head.
I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would be denied healthcare.
I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would die at the hand of another.
I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would be the victim of any crime against person or property.
I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would go the entire day without performing at least one random act of kindness.
I wish that just for one day, no one in the world would be alone, unless that's by choice.
I wish that just for one day, no parent in the world would be faced with the death of a child, for any reason.

I actually wish these things would take place every day, but perhaps if we started with just one, we could go from there.

* * *

Postage stamps are going up.  A first class postage stamp that is currently 46 cents will rise in price to 49 cents on January 26th of next year.

I don't see why people should complain about this.  You can send a letter from wherever you are in the U. S. to anywhere else in the U. S. for less than two quarters.  From Key West to Anchorage or across town, it is still the best bargain in town.

Most of the Postal Service's financial woes come from the mandates they receive from Congress.  Paying future retiree expenses ahead of time is something no other government agency does.  Mandating that Saturday delivery continue is also a money loser.  There's no reason for Saturday delivery to continue.

Congress should give the Postal Service a break.  It isn't their fault people are moving away from snail-mail.

* * *

On Christmas Day, as I was coming home from the movies (I saw "47 Ronin") I drove past two different McDonald's locations.  One was open and the other was closed.  How can this be?  There was a national marketing campaign to let the customer base know that they were going to be open.

It happened because 8 out of every 10 McDonald's are owned and operated by a franchisee.  And a franchisee has to sell only approved products, but they can set their own prices and they definitely get to set their own hours.  So apparently the one location's owner wanted to give their employees the day off and the other wanted to be open and earn some money.  Maybe the other 364 days of the year weren't enough in 2013.  Considering the company's sales receipts are down over last year, the move to be open is not surprising.

We don't hear anyone raising a fuss about cops or firefighters or hospital employees or anyone else having to work on the holidays.  It comes with the territory.  When you are in an industry where your customers are there to eat, eating doesn't stop on the holidays.  Denny's is open 24/7 365 days a year.  So is 7/11.  There were cars outside the Rite-Aid when I drove past.  The Coffee Bean was open.

The employees who work here get holiday pay rates today.  I'm willing to wager that most of them didn't mind earning the extra money.

But don't judge by me.  When I was in the military I always volunteered to work on Christmas, in order to allow someone who has a family, or celebrates the holiday, to have the day off.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

I don't have much cause to ever take another trip by plane, but if I do, I'll never fly on an airline that charges $10 to print a boarding pass at the airport.  Oh, and when American Airlines charges $20 to make a reservation on the phone and $35 to do it in person, count me out.

Did the HR folks at McDonald's really put a page on the employee resource website that told their employees eating McDonald's food is an unhealthy choice?  Do they live in a vacuum?

I don't think Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Alex Meyer is substitute teaching in the off-season for the money.  He signed a $2 million contract.  He's just making sure he has a career in case baseball doesn't pan out.  Look for him to make his major league debut next season.  I admire his foresight and planning.

Raising the sales tax above the current Los Angeles County level of 9% is a bad idea.

I can't believe that an adult man stabbed his father to death on Christmas Day, but it happened.  How utterly tragic.

I wonder if any of the drivers who are "busted" by the Boca Raton teenager who holds up a sign when she's a passenger in her family's car and catches someone texting while driving, will be motivated to stop doing that.  Probably not.

I'll believe Justin Bieber has really retired when he cancels all plans to tour and record, and becomes a recluse.  Which is not going to happen in my lifetime.

No one sentenced Phil Robertson to 600 lashes and the death penalty, but that's what is going to happen to a Saudi citizen who was found guilty of apostasy.  Guess they really don't have any freedo of speech in Saudi Arabia, huh?

This year's Grinch is Snarf's Subs of Chicago for closing one of its locations and firing all the employees via email.  That's just awful.

20 years have passed and I still remember the name Jeff Gillooly.  Do you?  It is a bit of arcane trivia, so don't be upset if you've forgotten.

Utah counties that are continuing to deny marriage licenses to same-sex licenses should be help in contempt of court by the judge.  The clerks should go to jail for failure to comply.

* * *

December 25th in History:

333 – Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.
336 – First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in ancient Rome
350 – Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his title (Caesar). Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.
496 – Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.
597 – Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.
800 – Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
1000 – The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
1025 – Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as King of Poland
1066 – William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
1076 – Coronation of Boleslaw II the Generous as king of Poland
1100 – Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity.
1130 – Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first King of Sicily.
1261 – John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.
1493 – Caravel "Santa Maria" captained by Christopher Columbus ran into reefs near Haiti shores due to fault of sailor on duty. Local natives helped to save food, armory and amunition but not ship.
1553 – Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
1643 – Christmas Island found and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
1776 – George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22 pound tumor.
1814 – Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.
1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.
1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.
1837 – Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
1868 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1926 – Emperor Taishō of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito, succeeds him as Emperor Shōwa.
1927 – The Vietnamese Nationalist Party is founded.
1932 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.
1941 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
1941 – World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
1941 – Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.
1946 – The first in Europe artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.
1947 – The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect.
1950 – The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
1963 – Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
1965 – The Yemeni Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Ta'izz
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
1968 – 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.
1974 – Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
1977 – Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
1989 – Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena Ceaușescu are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
2000 – Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill into law that officially establishes a new National Anthem of Russia, with music adopted from the anthem of the Soviet Union that was composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov.
2003 – The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.
2004 – Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
2009 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully attempts a terrorist attack against the US while on board a flight to Detroit Metro Airport Northwest Airlines Flight 253

Famous Folk Born on December 25th:

Isaac Newton
Dorothy Wordsworth
Clara Barton
Evangeline Booth
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Louis Chevrolet
Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Sr.
Robert Leroy Ripley
Humphrey Bogart
Cab Calloway
Tony Martin
Anwar Sadat
Rod Serling
Carlos Casteneda
Ismail Merchant
Henry Vestine
Rick Berman
Gary Sandy
Ken Stabler
Jimmy Buffett
Larry Csonka
Barbara Mandrell
Sissy Spacek
Karl Rove
Annie Lennox
Ricky Henderson
Alannah Myles
Dido
Katie Wright

No movie quotes today.

Do you know this man?

He died on Monday at the age of 94.  Some may recognize his name but most won't.  Mikhail Kalashnikov designed what is arguable the most famous assault rifle ever created.  You may not recognize the name, but you almost certainly know the AK-47 assault rifle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr6eFXNq5Wc If you fast forward to 1:55 you can see the part of this clip that relates to the AK-47.  It is from "Jackie Brown", obviously a Quentin Tarantino film. 

Few people create something that changes the world in which we live.  General Kalashnikov did just that.  The AK-47 remains in use around the world more than six decades after it was first created.  It is incredibly rugged and reliable.  Drop it in the mud, pick it up and brush it off, and it shoots.

 

Possibly the only realistic image from any of the Rambo movies.  Stallone and his AK-47.  That dirty gun would fire.

 

 

When the Vietnam War began, the weapon of choice for U.S. infantry troops was the M-14.  It was too long, too heavy and was replaced by the lighter M-16.  But that still wasn't as good as the weapon of choice for the NVA and the Viet Cong.  Mikhail Kalashnikov changed the face of infantry weapons. 

 

* * *

 

Jahi McMath is the Oakland teenager who had something go horribly wrong during a routine tonsillectomy.  Now she's alive only because she is on a ventilator and on Christmas Eve, a pediatric-neurologist appointed by a judge has stated that the hospital's conclusion that she is brain dead is correct.

 

The family doesn't want to take her off the ventilator, as she would die almost immediately.  That's understandable.  They've talked about moving her to another facility.  I agree with her mother that the parents have every right to demand the hospital not remove life-support without their permission.

 

However, the question becomes one of who will pay for the continued care.  Health insurers have no legal or moral duty to continue to provide coverage to care for someone who is deceased.  Even in the face of those very rare instances where someone who was determined to be brain-dead came back to life, the hospitals involved had no obligation to continue to provide care without cost.  That isn't what EMTALA (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMTALA for an explanation of what that is) was designed for.  That isn't the goal of Obamacare.  The family can't afford to spend thousands of dollars per day to keep Jahi on that ventilator.

 

So how do we resolve this problem?  You can't make an arbitrary decision about how much time a family needs to come to terms with the death of a child.  Even when the child is an adult.  Different people need different amounts of time to mourn.  The other side is about dollars and cents, rather than deeply and strongly felt emotions and feelings.  That doesn't mean the issue of money is any less relevant.  If hospitals are forced to spend endless amounts of money to care for the dead, how many who are still alive will lose out on those precious hospital resources?

 

One week.  That's how long I believe a brain dead person should be kept on life-support before the family must move them to another facility at their own expense, or allow life-support to be terminated.  It isn't nearly long enough on the emotional level.  It isn't nearly short enough on the balance sheet level.  It's just a proposed compromise.

 

* * *

 

NSA leaker Edward Snowden is delivering the "alternative" Christmas message for Britain's Channel 4 and in it he said "a child born into today's world would grow up with no conception of privacy at all." 

 

I don't necessarily agree.  Most of the embarrassing revelations about people on social media sites involve their own words, photos or acts in public.  We should have absolutely no expectation of privacy when we are in a public place.  Technology didn't change that, although it did facilitate making it easier for an "ordinary person" to record public events.  But for as long as we've had cameras and audiotape devices, what we do in public has been fair game for anyone to record.

 

That doesn't mean a person can't have privacy.  Don't blog.  Don't use social media.  What you do in the privacy of your home is your business.  Government surveillance has no interest in anything you're doing that isn't a crime.

 

* * *

 

Random Ponderings:

 

Disputes between parents involving custody and visitation should not be fought on Twitter and in doing so, Charlie Sheen is being foolish.  What a surprise...not.

 

BCS bowl teams that can't sell their ticket allotments aren't the problem themselves.  The problem is better seats are available on the net at lower prices.

 

When I read that Gwyneth Paltrow had buried the hatchet with Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter, I was afraid she might have buried it in his skull.  But their feud is over.

 

Maybe the fiasco with Target customer's charge cards will wind up improving security of credit/debit card purchases.  Then again, maybe we'll start using cash again.  I'm beginning to think the best way to shop is to have a debit card with your bank that you link to a pre-paid debit card, and you only load that card with the amount of money you want to shop with before going to the store.

 

Do people buy $500,000 Lamborghinis with the idea of using their flame-shooting exhaust pipes to cook with?  I don't think that's why, but someone did it with one.

 

Sometimes little things can make a big difference.  The theater I prefer going to is now charging $1 more than others in the same chain.  Worse yet, the mall where it is located is no longer giving three hours of parking for free.  Instead that's going to add $4 to that $1 cost.  So if I go to that theater 70 times in 2014, it will cost me $350.  I think I'll take my 70 movie visits elsewhere.

 

Flea is a great bassist, but a lousy judge of NBA coaching if he's calling for the firing of Mike D'Antoni.  He's got no players, it's a wonder they're as competitive as they are.

 

I don't get why anyone would want to do a send-up of "Ice Castles", but who am I to criticize someone's creative choices...oh wait, I'm a film critic.  That just means I should be offering critiques rather than criticisms.

 

Is Dave Hester, former member of the cast of A&E's "Storage Wars", related in any way to former Senator Bob Dole?  Both are fond of speaking about themselves in the third person.

 

Just what kind of games do reindeer play, anyway?

 

Bringing back Juan Uribe was the right decision.  I didn't realize that he hasn't made more than 10 errors in a full season since 2007 when he was a starting shortstop.  In three seasons with the Dodgers, playing all four infield positions he's made only 14 total errors.  He can do more than just hit.

 

It took more than 400 calls to 911 before authorities did something about the woman who kept dialing but never had a real emergency?

 

In the state of California, it is a travesty that four out of every five flowers used in building Rose Parade floats come from outside the U. S.

 

Did I just read an ad on Craigslist seeking a part-time administrative assistant with pay of $75 per hour for a 15 hour week?  Yes I did, and I think the poster left out a decimal point and a zero.

 

Why am I not surprised that Sarah Palin had not even read the comments of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson before defending them?  Oh, because I think she's among the top ten on the moron list.

 

Yes, a bride really rode to her wedding in the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, by choice.

 

* * *

 

December 24th in History:

 

640 – Pope John IV is elected.

759 – Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di.

1144 – The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.

1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.

1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.

1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.

1818 – The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.

1851 – Library of Congress burns.

1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed.

1871 – Aida opens in Cairo, Egypt.

1906 – Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.

1911 – Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

1913 – The Italian Hall disaster ("1913 Massacre") in Calumet, Michigan, results in the death of 73 Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers, including 59 children.

1914 – World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.

1924 – Albania becomes a republic.

1929 – Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.

1939 – World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.

1941 – World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.

1942 – World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria.

1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Normandy Invasion.

1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.

1953 – Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people.

1955 – NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.

1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.

1966 – A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.

1968 – Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.

1969 – Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial.

1972 – Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India.

1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.

1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.

1979 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.

1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".

1994 – Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked on the ground, over the course of 3 days 3 passengers are killed, as are all 4 terrorists.

1997 – The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.

2000 – The Texas Seven hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery.

2003 – The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.

2005 – Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.

2008 – Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.

Famous Folk Born on December 24th:

 

Philip Warwick

Benjamin Rush

Kit Carson (Brevet General although he could neither read nor write)

Emanuel Lasker

Juan Ramon Jimenez

Michael Curtiz

Howard Hughes

Ava Gardner

General George Patton, IV (like his father, recipient of not one but two Distinguished Service Crosses)

Mary Higgins Clark

Robert Joffrey

Janet Carroll

Mike Curb

Nicholas Meyer

Clarence Gilyard

Kate Spade

Ricky Martin

Stephenie Meyer

Ryan Seacrest

Riyo Mori

 

Movie quotes today come from "Die Hard", the ultimate in Christmas movies:

 

John McClane: You throw quite a party. I didn't realize they celebrated Christmas in Japan.

Joseph Takagi: Hey, we're flexible. Pearl Harbor didn't work out so we got you with tape decks.

 

#2

 

Holly Gennero McClane: I have a request.

Hans Gruber: What idiot put you in charge?
Holly Gennero McClane: You did. When you murdered my boss. Now everybody's looking to me. Personally, I'd pass on the job. I don't enjoy being this close to you.

 

#3

 

 Hans Gruber: Theo, are we on schedule?

Theo: One more to go then it's up to you. And you better be right, because it looks like this last one is going to take a miracle.
Hans Gruber: It's Christmas, Theo. It's the time of miracles. So be of good cheer... and call me when you hit the last lock.

#4

Dwayne T. Robinson: We don't know shit, Powell. If there's hostages, how come nobody's come to us with ransom demands, huh? If there's terrorists in there, where's their list of demands? All we know is that somebody shot your car up. It's probably the same silly son of a bitch you've been talking to on that radio.
Sergeant Al Powell: Excuse me, sir! But what about the body that fell out the window?
Dwayne T. Robinson: Well, who knows? Probably some stockbroker, got depressed.