Deport Bieber? I agree and yet I disagree
I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of deporting Justin Bieber back to Canada. Especially if he's convicted of a crime in his recent drag-racing/driving under the influence arrest in the Miami Beach area. To those who want to defend the teen singer by pointing out that the police couldn't have possibly smelled alcohol on his breath with a blood-alcohol level below .015, you're wrong. Depending on how recently a person had that "one beer", they could definitely reek of that odor.
Ruben Navarette wants Beiber deported as well. In an op-ed piece for CNN today, the columnist tried to make a comparison between Beiber and illegal immigrants. The comparison fails. Whatever his other flaws are, Justin Bieber is here legally. So Navarette's tales of how illegals are swept up by immigration officers sitting patiently waiting in police stations around the nation have no relevance to the issue of Justin Bieber and his O-1 visa. Yes, the O-1 visa program probably needs review. But does someone here on an O-1 visa who commits a crime and pleads guilty or is convicted always need to be deported? Ozzy Osbourne was convicted of urinating on The Alamo in San Antonio, so then he'd have to be deported. As would other celebrities who live or visit the U. S. who have convictions here for petty offenses.
Perhaps prudence should be the watchword when it comes to deporting people here legally, when we aren't deporting all of those who are here illegally?
* * *
If you've ever called a Las Vegas Strip hotel to make a reservation and were told that they're sorry but they are full up that day, you were lied to. That's because those hotels always hold back some rooms for their "preferred guests" and that's just good business. Whales and other larger "fish" among the population who visits Las Vegas (and other gambling meccas) don't get shut out. They don't hear the "we're sold out" mantra. But even if they did, none of those hotels are ever going to be more than 100% occupied. Oh, there may come a holiday weekend where a few dozen rooms have cots in them to accommodate an extra guest, but it won't be a big deal.
Now if one of those hotels were to be at 144% of capacity some weekend, that would be a problem. Same for any apartment building in any city. If a rooming house had 12 two person rooms, you couldn't put 35 people into those rooms for an indefinite period without serious problems.
That 144% is an important number, because as California Governor Jerry Brown asks a federal judge for more time to meet a deadline to reduce prison overcrowding, California's prisons are at 144% of inmate capacity.
There's no easy answer to this problem. We don't have hundreds of millions of dollars to build more prisons. Shipping the excess population to private prisons would also be very expensive. Releasing inmates who have been convicted of non-violent offenses is an idea, but what message does that send to their victims? What message does that send to people pondering the price of non-violent criminality?
I watched video on the news last night of a man shoving a gun into the face of a convenience store clerk in Gardena. I'm assuming this armed robber will wind up contributing to the prison population at some point, but there's no room at the inn, at the moment. Where will he be housed? Look at police blotters around the state and multiply him by all of the other violent criminals and the problem just gets worse.
Maybe we could convert some former military base into a prison on the cheap?
* * *
A few video clips I will probably never tire of watching, on occasion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YBEk97hNXw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXTTXNZucIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZD4153IubY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_tdY0V4Zo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ukGrwL4ky4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOCNphyw2OE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QnITZm9nFo (although I wish the "Larry H. Parker got me $2.1 million guy" was in this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLW37vzfiqs (never get into a pissing match with a judge in his or her courtroom, you can't win)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wozTHxykDwQ (no, we don't want to see....well, maybe you do)
* * *
Random Ponderings:
The idea that one of my new doctors at the VA had to buy her own business cards is revolting. I know the VA is strapped for cash but sheesh. I bet every employee of my congressperson has business cards, except perhaps the receptionist.
Greg Maddux deciding not to have a logo on his baseball Hall of Fame cap is probably the nicest thing anyone has done to or for the Chicago Cubs lately.
I like the idea of teens who bully and cyberbully being sued over it. It's a novel approach. I really like the idea that the Houston parents trying this approach are suing the parents of these alleged bullies for negligence.
Will NBC executives once again have regrets over showing Jay Leno to the door? He's now admitted for the first time that his departure this time around was also not his decision.
Justin Bieber's manager wants him to drop his present circle of friends. Bet he drops the manager instead.
Melissa Gilbert wants to punch Shannen Doherty in the nose. Seems fair, Doherty did sleep with Gilbert's husband. Hope she gets someone to take a photo of the punch.
Pity poor Scotty McCreery, season 10 winner on American Idol. He only saw $600,000 of the $3 million he earned last year. Forgive me if I have no sympathy.
Did Dennis Rodman break the law when he gave lavish gifts to Kim Jong-un? Probably. Will he be prosecuted? Probably not. Don't be surprised when the U. S. makes a deal with North Korea to not prosecute Rodman in return for the release of Richard Bae.
I still get chills looking at that 1978 SNL skit John Belushi did where he was visiting the graves of the other Not Ready for Prime Time Players. In it he said Gilda Radner would be the first to die. Not counting Belushi himself, that came true.
The women who were left off of the U. S. bobsled team when Lolo Jones was selected need to realize that there are politics involved in this kind of thing when the selection criteria is not completely objective. Yes, it's sad one of them didn't get to go. But in the long run, it will be better overall for the sport in the future.
Speaker of the House John Boehner told Jay Leno that he won't run for the presidency because he won't give up his red wine and cigarettes. I suspect that the fact he wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning might be more in the forefront of Boehner's mind.
Christopher Cross swept the "Big Four" of the Grammys and never won another. Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev have Grammys while Diana Ross and Bob Marley never won one (aside from Lifetime Achievement Awards). Life is indeed strange and fickle.
My thanks to the U. S. Supreme Court, who on this date in 1916, declared the income tax to be constitutional.
* * *
January 24th in History:
41 – Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. The Guard then proclaims Caligula's uncle Claudius as Emperor
1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
1458 – Matthias I Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.
1624 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1758 – During the Seven Years' War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth I of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763)
1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.
1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully-fledged university in south Asia.
1859 – Political and state union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as Domnitor in both Principalities.
1862 – Bucharest is proclaimed capital of Romania.
1878 – The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1911 – Japanese anarchist Shūsui Kōtoku is hanged for treason in a case now considered a miscarriage of justice.
1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective February 14(NS)
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán.
1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
1947 – Greek banker Dimitrios Maximos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the "barricades week", during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
1961 – 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1977 – Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
1978 – Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
1986 – Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 kilometres (50,600 mi) of Uranus.
1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
1993 – Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.
1996 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
2009 – The storm Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France. It subsequently would cause 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
2011 – At least 35 died and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Hadrian
Frederick the Great
King Gustav III of Sweden
Edith Wharton
Field Marshal Walter Model
Frederick Ashworth (weapons officer of the B-29 that dropped an A-bomb on Nagasaki)
Ernest Borgnine (RIP, we miss you)
Oral Roberts (hey Mr. Roberts, I've got a pain in my shoulder)
Doug Kershaw
Aaron Neville
Gary Hart (wrestler)
Sharon Tate
David Garrold
John Garamendi
Warren Zevon
John Belushi
Gennifer Flowers
Yakov Smirnoff
Nastassja Kinski
Phil LaMarr
Mary Lou Retton
Matthew Lilliard
Tatyana Ali
Nik Wallenda
Mischa Barton
Movie quotes today come from "Brewster's Millions" a film that had Yakov Smirnoff in a small role:
Spike Nolan: Monty, this is Hackensack, NJ. No scout comes here, you understand that. Trains are going through the outfield right now. But you strike this guy out, I'll take you with me tonight and get you drunk, that's a promise.
#2
Rupert Horn: [speaking to Monty in his recorded will] Brewster? Greetings from the grave! Don't look so surprised. Did you know your great-grandfather was a honky? My old man married twice. One wife, white, produced me. One wife, black, produced your grandmother. Checkered family you might say. I've outlived them all Brewster, except you. They tell me you're my only living relative and I have to say, I'm disappointed. Look at you! what have you made of yourself? A failed baseball pitcher. I believe in being honest, Brewster. No bullshit. I'm stuck with you. But... we're gonna have some fun...
[starts laughing only to be overtaken by terrible coughing for a moment before calming down]
#3
[discussing the redecoration of Monty's room]
Marilyn: Imagine this. Mesopotamia...
Monty Brewster: Mesopotamia...
Marilyn: meets Busby Berkeley.
Monty Brewster: Busby Berkeley...
[Monty has a bewildered look on his face]
#4
Monty Brewster: Gentlemen, do you think I'm a lowlife?
Tailor: Oh no, Mr. Brewster. Not with these clothes.
Ruben Navarette wants Beiber deported as well. In an op-ed piece for CNN today, the columnist tried to make a comparison between Beiber and illegal immigrants. The comparison fails. Whatever his other flaws are, Justin Bieber is here legally. So Navarette's tales of how illegals are swept up by immigration officers sitting patiently waiting in police stations around the nation have no relevance to the issue of Justin Bieber and his O-1 visa. Yes, the O-1 visa program probably needs review. But does someone here on an O-1 visa who commits a crime and pleads guilty or is convicted always need to be deported? Ozzy Osbourne was convicted of urinating on The Alamo in San Antonio, so then he'd have to be deported. As would other celebrities who live or visit the U. S. who have convictions here for petty offenses.
Perhaps prudence should be the watchword when it comes to deporting people here legally, when we aren't deporting all of those who are here illegally?
* * *
If you've ever called a Las Vegas Strip hotel to make a reservation and were told that they're sorry but they are full up that day, you were lied to. That's because those hotels always hold back some rooms for their "preferred guests" and that's just good business. Whales and other larger "fish" among the population who visits Las Vegas (and other gambling meccas) don't get shut out. They don't hear the "we're sold out" mantra. But even if they did, none of those hotels are ever going to be more than 100% occupied. Oh, there may come a holiday weekend where a few dozen rooms have cots in them to accommodate an extra guest, but it won't be a big deal.
Now if one of those hotels were to be at 144% of capacity some weekend, that would be a problem. Same for any apartment building in any city. If a rooming house had 12 two person rooms, you couldn't put 35 people into those rooms for an indefinite period without serious problems.
That 144% is an important number, because as California Governor Jerry Brown asks a federal judge for more time to meet a deadline to reduce prison overcrowding, California's prisons are at 144% of inmate capacity.
There's no easy answer to this problem. We don't have hundreds of millions of dollars to build more prisons. Shipping the excess population to private prisons would also be very expensive. Releasing inmates who have been convicted of non-violent offenses is an idea, but what message does that send to their victims? What message does that send to people pondering the price of non-violent criminality?
I watched video on the news last night of a man shoving a gun into the face of a convenience store clerk in Gardena. I'm assuming this armed robber will wind up contributing to the prison population at some point, but there's no room at the inn, at the moment. Where will he be housed? Look at police blotters around the state and multiply him by all of the other violent criminals and the problem just gets worse.
Maybe we could convert some former military base into a prison on the cheap?
* * *
A few video clips I will probably never tire of watching, on occasion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YBEk97hNXw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXTTXNZucIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZD4153IubY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_tdY0V4Zo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ukGrwL4ky4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOCNphyw2OE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QnITZm9nFo (although I wish the "Larry H. Parker got me $2.1 million guy" was in this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLW37vzfiqs (never get into a pissing match with a judge in his or her courtroom, you can't win)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wozTHxykDwQ (no, we don't want to see....well, maybe you do)
* * *
Random Ponderings:
The idea that one of my new doctors at the VA had to buy her own business cards is revolting. I know the VA is strapped for cash but sheesh. I bet every employee of my congressperson has business cards, except perhaps the receptionist.
Greg Maddux deciding not to have a logo on his baseball Hall of Fame cap is probably the nicest thing anyone has done to or for the Chicago Cubs lately.
I like the idea of teens who bully and cyberbully being sued over it. It's a novel approach. I really like the idea that the Houston parents trying this approach are suing the parents of these alleged bullies for negligence.
Will NBC executives once again have regrets over showing Jay Leno to the door? He's now admitted for the first time that his departure this time around was also not his decision.
Justin Bieber's manager wants him to drop his present circle of friends. Bet he drops the manager instead.
Melissa Gilbert wants to punch Shannen Doherty in the nose. Seems fair, Doherty did sleep with Gilbert's husband. Hope she gets someone to take a photo of the punch.
Pity poor Scotty McCreery, season 10 winner on American Idol. He only saw $600,000 of the $3 million he earned last year. Forgive me if I have no sympathy.
Did Dennis Rodman break the law when he gave lavish gifts to Kim Jong-un? Probably. Will he be prosecuted? Probably not. Don't be surprised when the U. S. makes a deal with North Korea to not prosecute Rodman in return for the release of Richard Bae.
I still get chills looking at that 1978 SNL skit John Belushi did where he was visiting the graves of the other Not Ready for Prime Time Players. In it he said Gilda Radner would be the first to die. Not counting Belushi himself, that came true.
The women who were left off of the U. S. bobsled team when Lolo Jones was selected need to realize that there are politics involved in this kind of thing when the selection criteria is not completely objective. Yes, it's sad one of them didn't get to go. But in the long run, it will be better overall for the sport in the future.
Speaker of the House John Boehner told Jay Leno that he won't run for the presidency because he won't give up his red wine and cigarettes. I suspect that the fact he wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning might be more in the forefront of Boehner's mind.
Christopher Cross swept the "Big Four" of the Grammys and never won another. Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev have Grammys while Diana Ross and Bob Marley never won one (aside from Lifetime Achievement Awards). Life is indeed strange and fickle.
My thanks to the U. S. Supreme Court, who on this date in 1916, declared the income tax to be constitutional.
* * *
January 24th in History:
41 – Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. The Guard then proclaims Caligula's uncle Claudius as Emperor
1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
1458 – Matthias I Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.
1624 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1758 – During the Seven Years' War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth I of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763)
1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.
1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully-fledged university in south Asia.
1859 – Political and state union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as Domnitor in both Principalities.
1862 – Bucharest is proclaimed capital of Romania.
1878 – The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1911 – Japanese anarchist Shūsui Kōtoku is hanged for treason in a case now considered a miscarriage of justice.
1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective February 14(NS)
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán.
1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
1947 – Greek banker Dimitrios Maximos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the "barricades week", during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
1961 – 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1977 – Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
1978 – Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
1986 – Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 kilometres (50,600 mi) of Uranus.
1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
1993 – Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.
1996 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
2009 – The storm Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France. It subsequently would cause 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
2011 – At least 35 died and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Hadrian
Frederick the Great
King Gustav III of Sweden
Edith Wharton
Field Marshal Walter Model
Frederick Ashworth (weapons officer of the B-29 that dropped an A-bomb on Nagasaki)
Ernest Borgnine (RIP, we miss you)
Oral Roberts (hey Mr. Roberts, I've got a pain in my shoulder)
Doug Kershaw
Aaron Neville
Gary Hart (wrestler)
Sharon Tate
David Garrold
John Garamendi
Warren Zevon
John Belushi
Gennifer Flowers
Yakov Smirnoff
Nastassja Kinski
Phil LaMarr
Mary Lou Retton
Matthew Lilliard
Tatyana Ali
Nik Wallenda
Mischa Barton
Movie quotes today come from "Brewster's Millions" a film that had Yakov Smirnoff in a small role:
Spike Nolan: Monty, this is Hackensack, NJ. No scout comes here, you understand that. Trains are going through the outfield right now. But you strike this guy out, I'll take you with me tonight and get you drunk, that's a promise.
#2
Rupert Horn: [speaking to Monty in his recorded will] Brewster? Greetings from the grave! Don't look so surprised. Did you know your great-grandfather was a honky? My old man married twice. One wife, white, produced me. One wife, black, produced your grandmother. Checkered family you might say. I've outlived them all Brewster, except you. They tell me you're my only living relative and I have to say, I'm disappointed. Look at you! what have you made of yourself? A failed baseball pitcher. I believe in being honest, Brewster. No bullshit. I'm stuck with you. But... we're gonna have some fun...
[starts laughing only to be overtaken by terrible coughing for a moment before calming down]
#3
[discussing the redecoration of Monty's room]
Marilyn: Imagine this. Mesopotamia...
Monty Brewster: Mesopotamia...
Marilyn: meets Busby Berkeley.
Monty Brewster: Busby Berkeley...
[Monty has a bewildered look on his face]
#4
Monty Brewster: Gentlemen, do you think I'm a lowlife?
Tailor: Oh no, Mr. Brewster. Not with these clothes.
posted by me at 6:19 PM
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