Two compelling interests - what would you do?
I like watching "What Would You Do" from time to time. I'm wondering what you would have done if you'd been sitting in for Connecticut Superior Court Judge Eliot Prescott last week. Judge Prescott ruled that the police in Newtown had to release the tape recorded 911 calls that poured in from Sandy Hook Elementary school. Ten days from now will be the first anniversary of this tragedy. State attorneys tried to block the release to shield the victim's families. That's a good reason. The Associated Press had gone to court to challenge the refusal of authorities to release the tapes.
The state of Connecticut has a Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC). This past September they ruled that the 911 call records must be released, in spite of a new law passed by the Connecticut General Assembly. That law, intended to limit disclosure of records related to this tragedy, did not exempt emergency 911 calls from being released.
Now CNN is playing extracts from some of the calls, and we are to rely on their "journalistic integrity" in limiting what they play to that which is newsworthy, rather than that which is merely salacious or titillating. I'm not a big fan of attorney Mark Garagos but he said something during a discussion of this decision on CNN (he's a legal consultant for the network) that makes sense. With the number of bloggers out there today, you can't rely on that integrity from everyone who is posting things on the internet. He is right that there is someone out there who will obtain and release every single second of those recordings.
So what would you have done if you were the judge? From a strictly legal standpoint, after reading the decision of the FOIC and the relevant Connecticut laws, I'd have done just what the judge did. From a moral and ethical standpoint...I'll tell you tomorrow, assuming I get at least one or two responses from people who would have taken a different position.
You can respond to me via email at cyclist1959@yahoo.com or send me a private message on Facebook or a DM on Twitter.
* * *
Isn't it interesting that the following two news items involving law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles are being covered at the same time? In one story, the L. A. County Sheriff and his department are under fire for having hired nearly 300 officers from the ranks of the county's Park Police when that force was eliminated for budgetary reasons. Not all of the 280 hires were bad, but a number are people whose hiring was questionable. 29 who'd been fired by other law enforcement agencies, a number of others who had accidentally discharged their firearms, committed theft, solicited prostitutes, and had sex while on the job.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department is using the media to publicize the fact that they can't hire enough officers to maintain a staffing level of 10,000 sworn officers. Why? Because many of the candidates who apply can't meet the standards. Often they get hired and then in the vetting process, problems are found in their background that disqualify them.
So we have one department that is maintaining standards and having trouble getting hires, while another is hiring people it shouldn't be.
* * *
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case where I think they're going to make an incorrect ruling. You can read the case here: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/united-states-v-apel/.
This is a case involving the right to protest on a public highway that passes through a military installation. That installation is Vandenburg Air Force near Santa Barbara. The protestor is John Dennis Apel and in 2003 he was arrested for throwing blood at a sign on the base after the start of the Iraq War. In 2008 he was arrested again and this time the base commander ordered him not to reenter the installation.
There is a designated protest area across from the gate, but Mr. Apel is banned from that area as well. The justices refused to listen to the freedom of speech argument made by Apel's lawyer, Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of Law at UC Irvine. They insisted that this is a matter of property law trumping the First Amendment.
Justice Scalia and the others who are taking this position that property law trumps the First Amendment need to re-read it. When it says "...make no law...or abridging the freedom of speech..." it didn't include an exception for property law.
It is particularly disturbing that this is a public highway, passing through military-controlled land. Mr. Apel is allowed to travel on this highway but not to stop and hold up a sign?
The conservatives on the court are going to get this one wrong.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I could have gone forever without knowing that Paul Walker might have survived the initial crash for a minute or two.
Tim Tebow can't get a job in the NFL, but everyone wants to hire him for the college football broadcasting booth. I don't know why, viewers aren't going to tune in if he isn't tebowing on camera.
The NSA telling its employees what they can and can't talk about over the holidays is scary. Scarier still is that they're being told to use the phrase "...had a homeland nexus" which could mean several things.
On a related note, I don't care if the NSA is gathering location on cellphones outside of the U.S., even if it means data on Americans travelling abroad is inadvertently included. As long as they aren't tracking cellphones of American within our borders, they're fine in my eyes.
The promo for this week's SNL where Paul Rudd is the host and the visiting music act is One Direction is funny. But I live in a world that's as free of One Direction as it can be, so I won't be tuning in.
It's very cool that dogs left homeless in Las Vegas by foreclosure on their former owner's home are getting a second chance. Turns out there are Canadians willing to pay $500 for them. No one's getting rich, the money is to pay for transportation, spaying/neutering, shots and board and care until they are adopted.
A vendor sent Amazon.com a cake to celebrate an anniversary. The third anniversary of the invoice that Amazon hasn't paid yet. Worse yet, it's a non-profit that is owed the money. Pay them already!
Why is it that some people don't seem to age, while others seem to be aging much faster than their actual age?
I'm wondering why the only members of Congress (up to this point) who are exempting some or all of their staff employees from the healthcare exchanges of Obamacare are Democrats who voted to pass Obamacare? Good enough for everyone except their staff?
My late father was credited with one appearance in one film in his life and his Bacon number is 3. So does Henry B. Walthall whose last film was released in 1936. Go figure.
* * *
December 4th in History:
771 – Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
1110 – The Kingdom of Jerusalem captures Sidon.
1259 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
1563 – The final session of the Council of Trent is held. (It had opened on December 13, 1545.)
1619 – Thirty-eight colonists arrive at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia. The group's charter proclaims that the day "be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."
1674 – Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek. (The mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois.)
1676 – Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
1745 – Charles Edward Stewart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising.
1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.
1786 – Mission Santa Barbara is dedicated (on the feast day of Saint Barbara).
1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
1829 – In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that anyone who abets suttee in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide.
1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta, Georgia.
1867 – Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged.
1875 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison. He will later be recaptured in Spain.
1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
1893 – First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
1909 – In Canadian football, the First Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26–6.
1909 – The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
1921 – The first Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1937 – The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy, is published.
1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
1942 – World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)
1954 – The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida.
1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studios for the first and last time.
1967 – Vietnam War: U.S. and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1971 – The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
1971 – The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
1971 – The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
1971 – "The Troubles": The Ulster Volunteer Force bombs a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, killing 15 civilians and wounding 17. It was the city's highest death toll from a single incident during the conflict.
1975 – Suriname joins the United Nations.
1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
1977 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor. (She will serve until January 8, 1988.)
1979 – The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
1980 – English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25.
1981 – South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
1982 – The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
1984 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107-150 civilians in Mannar.
1984 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
1991 – Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
1991 – Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport, ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.
1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
1993 – A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
2006 – Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.
Famous Folk Born on December 4th:
Samuel Butler
Lillian Russell
Lloyd Bacon
Alfred Hershey
Pappy Boyington (Medal of Honor recipient)
Deana Durbin
Charles Keating (can you name the Keating Five?)
Wally George (I'm sure Hot Seat is the most watched talk-show in the afterlife)
Horst Buchholz
Victor French
Wink Martindale (if my first name were Winston, I'd go by Wink)
Paul O'Neill
Max Baer, Jr. (six years and still no Beverly Hillbillies Casino? I wanted to go to the Jethro's All You Ken Et Buffet)
Gary Gilmore
Dennis Wilson (taken from us much too soon)
Southside Johnny
Jeff Bridges
Patricia Wettig
Dave Taylor
Bernard King (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFITaQSXxP0 yes, he's the pool hustler)
Sergey Bubka
Jonathan Goldstein
Marisa Tomei
Jay-Z
Tyra Banks
Courtney Cummz
Movie quotes today come from "The Big Lebowski" for obvious reasons:
Jesus Quintana: You ready to be fucked, man? I see you rolled your way into the semis. Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up.
The Dude: Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Jesus Quintana: Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger 'til it goes "click."
The Dude: Jesus.
Jesus Quintana: You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus.
Walter Sobchak: Eight-year-olds, Dude.
#2
[Maude shows the porn video starring Bunny to the Dude]
Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.
Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.
The Dude: He fixes the cable?
Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.
#3
The Stranger: There's just one thing, Dude.
The Dude: And what's that?
The Stranger: Do you have to use so many cuss words?
The Dude: What the fuck you talking about?
The Stranger: Okay, Dude. Have it your way.
#4
The Dude: Let me explain something to you. Um, I am not "Mr. Lebowski". You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
The state of Connecticut has a Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC). This past September they ruled that the 911 call records must be released, in spite of a new law passed by the Connecticut General Assembly. That law, intended to limit disclosure of records related to this tragedy, did not exempt emergency 911 calls from being released.
Now CNN is playing extracts from some of the calls, and we are to rely on their "journalistic integrity" in limiting what they play to that which is newsworthy, rather than that which is merely salacious or titillating. I'm not a big fan of attorney Mark Garagos but he said something during a discussion of this decision on CNN (he's a legal consultant for the network) that makes sense. With the number of bloggers out there today, you can't rely on that integrity from everyone who is posting things on the internet. He is right that there is someone out there who will obtain and release every single second of those recordings.
So what would you have done if you were the judge? From a strictly legal standpoint, after reading the decision of the FOIC and the relevant Connecticut laws, I'd have done just what the judge did. From a moral and ethical standpoint...I'll tell you tomorrow, assuming I get at least one or two responses from people who would have taken a different position.
You can respond to me via email at cyclist1959@yahoo.com or send me a private message on Facebook or a DM on Twitter.
* * *
Isn't it interesting that the following two news items involving law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles are being covered at the same time? In one story, the L. A. County Sheriff and his department are under fire for having hired nearly 300 officers from the ranks of the county's Park Police when that force was eliminated for budgetary reasons. Not all of the 280 hires were bad, but a number are people whose hiring was questionable. 29 who'd been fired by other law enforcement agencies, a number of others who had accidentally discharged their firearms, committed theft, solicited prostitutes, and had sex while on the job.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department is using the media to publicize the fact that they can't hire enough officers to maintain a staffing level of 10,000 sworn officers. Why? Because many of the candidates who apply can't meet the standards. Often they get hired and then in the vetting process, problems are found in their background that disqualify them.
So we have one department that is maintaining standards and having trouble getting hires, while another is hiring people it shouldn't be.
* * *
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case where I think they're going to make an incorrect ruling. You can read the case here: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/united-states-v-apel/.
This is a case involving the right to protest on a public highway that passes through a military installation. That installation is Vandenburg Air Force near Santa Barbara. The protestor is John Dennis Apel and in 2003 he was arrested for throwing blood at a sign on the base after the start of the Iraq War. In 2008 he was arrested again and this time the base commander ordered him not to reenter the installation.
There is a designated protest area across from the gate, but Mr. Apel is banned from that area as well. The justices refused to listen to the freedom of speech argument made by Apel's lawyer, Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of Law at UC Irvine. They insisted that this is a matter of property law trumping the First Amendment.
Justice Scalia and the others who are taking this position that property law trumps the First Amendment need to re-read it. When it says "...make no law...or abridging the freedom of speech..." it didn't include an exception for property law.
It is particularly disturbing that this is a public highway, passing through military-controlled land. Mr. Apel is allowed to travel on this highway but not to stop and hold up a sign?
The conservatives on the court are going to get this one wrong.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I could have gone forever without knowing that Paul Walker might have survived the initial crash for a minute or two.
Tim Tebow can't get a job in the NFL, but everyone wants to hire him for the college football broadcasting booth. I don't know why, viewers aren't going to tune in if he isn't tebowing on camera.
The NSA telling its employees what they can and can't talk about over the holidays is scary. Scarier still is that they're being told to use the phrase "...had a homeland nexus" which could mean several things.
On a related note, I don't care if the NSA is gathering location on cellphones outside of the U.S., even if it means data on Americans travelling abroad is inadvertently included. As long as they aren't tracking cellphones of American within our borders, they're fine in my eyes.
The promo for this week's SNL where Paul Rudd is the host and the visiting music act is One Direction is funny. But I live in a world that's as free of One Direction as it can be, so I won't be tuning in.
It's very cool that dogs left homeless in Las Vegas by foreclosure on their former owner's home are getting a second chance. Turns out there are Canadians willing to pay $500 for them. No one's getting rich, the money is to pay for transportation, spaying/neutering, shots and board and care until they are adopted.
A vendor sent Amazon.com a cake to celebrate an anniversary. The third anniversary of the invoice that Amazon hasn't paid yet. Worse yet, it's a non-profit that is owed the money. Pay them already!
Why is it that some people don't seem to age, while others seem to be aging much faster than their actual age?
I'm wondering why the only members of Congress (up to this point) who are exempting some or all of their staff employees from the healthcare exchanges of Obamacare are Democrats who voted to pass Obamacare? Good enough for everyone except their staff?
My late father was credited with one appearance in one film in his life and his Bacon number is 3. So does Henry B. Walthall whose last film was released in 1936. Go figure.
* * *
December 4th in History:
771 – Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
1110 – The Kingdom of Jerusalem captures Sidon.
1259 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
1563 – The final session of the Council of Trent is held. (It had opened on December 13, 1545.)
1619 – Thirty-eight colonists arrive at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia. The group's charter proclaims that the day "be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."
1674 – Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek. (The mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois.)
1676 – Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
1745 – Charles Edward Stewart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising.
1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.
1786 – Mission Santa Barbara is dedicated (on the feast day of Saint Barbara).
1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
1829 – In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that anyone who abets suttee in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide.
1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta, Georgia.
1867 – Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged.
1875 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison. He will later be recaptured in Spain.
1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
1893 – First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
1909 – In Canadian football, the First Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26–6.
1909 – The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
1921 – The first Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1937 – The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy, is published.
1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
1942 – World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)
1954 – The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida.
1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studios for the first and last time.
1967 – Vietnam War: U.S. and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1971 – The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
1971 – The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
1971 – The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
1971 – "The Troubles": The Ulster Volunteer Force bombs a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, killing 15 civilians and wounding 17. It was the city's highest death toll from a single incident during the conflict.
1975 – Suriname joins the United Nations.
1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
1977 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor. (She will serve until January 8, 1988.)
1979 – The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
1980 – English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25.
1981 – South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
1982 – The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
1984 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107-150 civilians in Mannar.
1984 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
1991 – Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
1991 – Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport, ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.
1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
1993 – A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
2006 – Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.
Famous Folk Born on December 4th:
Samuel Butler
Lillian Russell
Lloyd Bacon
Alfred Hershey
Pappy Boyington (Medal of Honor recipient)
Deana Durbin
Charles Keating (can you name the Keating Five?)
Wally George (I'm sure Hot Seat is the most watched talk-show in the afterlife)
Horst Buchholz
Victor French
Wink Martindale (if my first name were Winston, I'd go by Wink)
Paul O'Neill
Max Baer, Jr. (six years and still no Beverly Hillbillies Casino? I wanted to go to the Jethro's All You Ken Et Buffet)
Gary Gilmore
Dennis Wilson (taken from us much too soon)
Southside Johnny
Jeff Bridges
Patricia Wettig
Dave Taylor
Bernard King (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFITaQSXxP0 yes, he's the pool hustler)
Sergey Bubka
Jonathan Goldstein
Marisa Tomei
Jay-Z
Tyra Banks
Courtney Cummz
Movie quotes today come from "The Big Lebowski" for obvious reasons:
Jesus Quintana: You ready to be fucked, man? I see you rolled your way into the semis. Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up.
The Dude: Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Jesus Quintana: Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger 'til it goes "click."
The Dude: Jesus.
Jesus Quintana: You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus.
Walter Sobchak: Eight-year-olds, Dude.
#2
[Maude shows the porn video starring Bunny to the Dude]
Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.
Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.
The Dude: He fixes the cable?
Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.
#3
The Stranger: There's just one thing, Dude.
The Dude: And what's that?
The Stranger: Do you have to use so many cuss words?
The Dude: What the fuck you talking about?
The Stranger: Okay, Dude. Have it your way.
#4
The Dude: Let me explain something to you. Um, I am not "Mr. Lebowski". You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
posted by me at 2:39 PM
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