They're just numbers and arbitrary numbers/cutoffs
21. 18. 17. 35. Hike!!
Much is being made of the 16 year old who is accused of multiple stabbings in Pennsylvania being prosecuted in the adult justice system. "Try him as a juvenile" says the Los Angeles Times editorial board, and many others. The families of the victims seem to disagree.
As noted here before, age is arbitrary. You can, with parental permission, join the military and die for your country at the age of 17. However, here in California, your parents can't give you permission to give consent to have sex. At least not lawfully. That has to wait until you reach the age of consent, which is 18. At 18, you can vote, have lawful sex, die for your country, but still cannot legally drink in the U.S., with rare exceptions. You have to wait another three years for that ever since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed.
My fear about this teen who was willing and attempted to kill a large number of his fellow students may have the opportunity to do so again. The flaw in our system of justice isn't just that arbitrary age limits don't work when people age mentally at different rates. Some 15 year old drug dealers are far more mature and worldly than their parents ever will be. They know life and death. The flaw is that we pay lip service to rehabilitation and even less attention to the rate of recidivism.
Look at the guy who trespassed at the home of Selena Gomez. He was arrested, jailed and back on the grounds of her home within 36 hours. Jails and prisons have revolving doors. I'm surprised there isn't some kind of frequent prisoner program, with bonus privileges for the "guests" who check in and out more often than others.
We can't eliminate arbitrary age limitations. We can however ensure that our government and our system of justice focus on the primary issue with people charged with violent crimes; which is the safety of the public.
* * *
Robert Rizzo, disgraced former city manager of Bell will spend at least six years in prison, more than three of which will be served in a California state prison. He was sentenced to 33 months for tax evasion earlier in federal court and on Wednesday a municipal judge sentenced him to 12 years in state prison for looting the coffers of Bell. Many think this brings the ugly scandal where a bunch of crooks stole the tax money taken by force from some of our poorest residents.
While the city's finances have recovered to some extent, it will be years before they are as healthy as they were before Rizzo and the rest decided they were more important than those they represented. The widening of the scandal to other cities will continue unabated. The trust the public had in those who represent us continues to be eroded by scandal after scandal.
Why should we trust those who govern when we see things like the Bell scandal. Or when our Congress has people who have cheated on their own taxes writing the tax code. Rep Charles Rangel of New York failed to declare rental income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rep Vern Buchanan of Florida fought the IRS for years before finally admitting he owed them $1.2 million and paid up, along with another $1.3 million in penalties and interest. Hell, Timothy Geithner was confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury even though he "unintentionally" failed to pay $35,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes over a three year period.
The Centinela Valley Union High School District's most recent school board meeting was practically a war zone as the citizens demanded board members resign. Seems the board had no trouble paying School Superintendent Jose Fernandez a salary of $663,000 in 2013 while LAUSD's superintendent, John Deasy, earned only $390,000.
We need transparency. We need someone other than the politicians to guard our hard-earned tax monies.
Or we can just remain apathetic and watch the news.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
My first thought on seeing a photo of Bruce Jenner accompanying his estranged wife Kris Jenner to the hospital is how nice it is that he's there for her. My second thought was to wonder if they are wearing the same shade of blush on their cheeks.
The best known maker of Sriracha sauce, Huy Fong Foods is now saying it may be forced to leave Irwindale because of the city designating it as a public nuisance; due to the odors emitted from their plant. Sending 200 jobs elsewhere doesn't seem like a smart move. The city should commit to working out a solution with the company so they can remain where they are.
Every time I read about someone who learned that their lover is being unfaithful by snooping on that lover's cellphone, I shake my head. At the temerity of people to go through someone else's phone, and the idiocy of people leaving evidence of their cheating where it can be found so easily.
I didn't even know Jenny McCarthy was dating Donnie Wahlberg. Now they're engaged. Wonder how he feels about vaccinations.
The Crash News Network (CNN) is in negotiations to send one of its reporters down to the bottom of the ocean, strapped to one of the search vehicles.
One of my best friends, Mia, sent me this blue rubber band I'm supposed to wear on my wrist. I don't know why, but it's charging in an outlet as I type.
Turns out that Miley Cyrus really did have an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. Makes me wonder why we don't skin-patch test kids regarding certain antibiotics, so when the doctor asks "are you allergic to any medications" you can give an accurate answer.
Brittney Griner made it clear in her recently released book, "In My Skin" that she won't be an ambassador for Baylor University anytime soon, because it was "painful to be gay there." Why is it some hide behind religion to excuse bigotry?
After reading about a 3 year old trapped in a claw machine in a bowling alley, one must wonder why someone didn't just put in a dollar and win the kid back?
Obviously I've worked too many hours the past few days. How else am I to explain away how I just misread a headline and thought I'd read "California panel postpones decision on protecting gay wolves."
* * *
April 17th in History:
69 – After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius
becomes Roman Emperor.
1080 – The King of Denmark Harald III dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
1349 – Fall of the Bavand dynasty, and rise of the Afrasiyab dynasty.
1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) as the start of the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury.
1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
1555 – After 18 months of siege, Siena surrenders to the Florentine-Imperial army. The Republic of Siena is incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.
1797 – Citizens of Verona, Italy, begin an eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces, which will end unsuccessfully.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1895 – The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1897 – The Aurora, Texas UFO incident
1905 – The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the "right to free contract" is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1912 – Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
1937 – Daffy Duck's first appearance, in Porky's Duck Hunt.
1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
1944 – Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People's Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.
1945 – Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from German Nazi forces.
1946 – Syria obtains its Independence from the French occupation.
1949 – At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.
1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1964 – Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
1964 – Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 – Czechoslovakian Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1971 – The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.
1973 – George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.
1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d'état in Afghanistan.
1982 – Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
1984 – Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from the Libyan People's Bureau (Embassy) in London during a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten others are wounded. The events lead to an 11-day siege of the building.
1986 – The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends.
1986 – Nezar Hindawi's attempt to detonate a bomb aboard an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv is thwarted.
2006 – Sami Hammad, a Palestinian suicide bomber, detonates an explosive device in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
2013 – An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.
Famous Folk Born on April 17th:
Frederick I of Sweden
Taskin, King of Thailand
Samuel Chase
J. P. Morgan
Cap Anson
Artur Schnabel
Gregor Piatagorsky
Nicolas Nabakov
Arthur Lake
Joe Foss
Bill Clements
William Holden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkwyt0ytVJI)
Harry Reasoner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V89ziZXwWg4)
Michael Forest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz508DAx68U)
Don Kirschner
Jan Hammer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQDU-2qMre0)
L. Scott Caldwell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN8ijqTKmnY)
Bruce McNall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZxNx0cZ1rw)
Olivia Hussey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hpu25DmFvE)
Roddy Piper (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woFv-Q0TmuI)
Nick Hornby
Sean Bean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEhtsgu6bJg)
Lela Rohon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVxE3i7aaX0)
William Mapother,Jr.
Jennifer Garner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTstp92gIa4)
Victoria Beckham
Rooney Mara (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg2s0GMGwAE)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Much is being made of the 16 year old who is accused of multiple stabbings in Pennsylvania being prosecuted in the adult justice system. "Try him as a juvenile" says the Los Angeles Times editorial board, and many others. The families of the victims seem to disagree.
As noted here before, age is arbitrary. You can, with parental permission, join the military and die for your country at the age of 17. However, here in California, your parents can't give you permission to give consent to have sex. At least not lawfully. That has to wait until you reach the age of consent, which is 18. At 18, you can vote, have lawful sex, die for your country, but still cannot legally drink in the U.S., with rare exceptions. You have to wait another three years for that ever since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed.
My fear about this teen who was willing and attempted to kill a large number of his fellow students may have the opportunity to do so again. The flaw in our system of justice isn't just that arbitrary age limits don't work when people age mentally at different rates. Some 15 year old drug dealers are far more mature and worldly than their parents ever will be. They know life and death. The flaw is that we pay lip service to rehabilitation and even less attention to the rate of recidivism.
Look at the guy who trespassed at the home of Selena Gomez. He was arrested, jailed and back on the grounds of her home within 36 hours. Jails and prisons have revolving doors. I'm surprised there isn't some kind of frequent prisoner program, with bonus privileges for the "guests" who check in and out more often than others.
We can't eliminate arbitrary age limitations. We can however ensure that our government and our system of justice focus on the primary issue with people charged with violent crimes; which is the safety of the public.
* * *
Robert Rizzo, disgraced former city manager of Bell will spend at least six years in prison, more than three of which will be served in a California state prison. He was sentenced to 33 months for tax evasion earlier in federal court and on Wednesday a municipal judge sentenced him to 12 years in state prison for looting the coffers of Bell. Many think this brings the ugly scandal where a bunch of crooks stole the tax money taken by force from some of our poorest residents.
While the city's finances have recovered to some extent, it will be years before they are as healthy as they were before Rizzo and the rest decided they were more important than those they represented. The widening of the scandal to other cities will continue unabated. The trust the public had in those who represent us continues to be eroded by scandal after scandal.
Why should we trust those who govern when we see things like the Bell scandal. Or when our Congress has people who have cheated on their own taxes writing the tax code. Rep Charles Rangel of New York failed to declare rental income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rep Vern Buchanan of Florida fought the IRS for years before finally admitting he owed them $1.2 million and paid up, along with another $1.3 million in penalties and interest. Hell, Timothy Geithner was confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury even though he "unintentionally" failed to pay $35,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes over a three year period.
The Centinela Valley Union High School District's most recent school board meeting was practically a war zone as the citizens demanded board members resign. Seems the board had no trouble paying School Superintendent Jose Fernandez a salary of $663,000 in 2013 while LAUSD's superintendent, John Deasy, earned only $390,000.
We need transparency. We need someone other than the politicians to guard our hard-earned tax monies.
Or we can just remain apathetic and watch the news.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
My first thought on seeing a photo of Bruce Jenner accompanying his estranged wife Kris Jenner to the hospital is how nice it is that he's there for her. My second thought was to wonder if they are wearing the same shade of blush on their cheeks.
The best known maker of Sriracha sauce, Huy Fong Foods is now saying it may be forced to leave Irwindale because of the city designating it as a public nuisance; due to the odors emitted from their plant. Sending 200 jobs elsewhere doesn't seem like a smart move. The city should commit to working out a solution with the company so they can remain where they are.
Every time I read about someone who learned that their lover is being unfaithful by snooping on that lover's cellphone, I shake my head. At the temerity of people to go through someone else's phone, and the idiocy of people leaving evidence of their cheating where it can be found so easily.
I didn't even know Jenny McCarthy was dating Donnie Wahlberg. Now they're engaged. Wonder how he feels about vaccinations.
The Crash News Network (CNN) is in negotiations to send one of its reporters down to the bottom of the ocean, strapped to one of the search vehicles.
One of my best friends, Mia, sent me this blue rubber band I'm supposed to wear on my wrist. I don't know why, but it's charging in an outlet as I type.
Turns out that Miley Cyrus really did have an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. Makes me wonder why we don't skin-patch test kids regarding certain antibiotics, so when the doctor asks "are you allergic to any medications" you can give an accurate answer.
Brittney Griner made it clear in her recently released book, "In My Skin" that she won't be an ambassador for Baylor University anytime soon, because it was "painful to be gay there." Why is it some hide behind religion to excuse bigotry?
After reading about a 3 year old trapped in a claw machine in a bowling alley, one must wonder why someone didn't just put in a dollar and win the kid back?
Obviously I've worked too many hours the past few days. How else am I to explain away how I just misread a headline and thought I'd read "California panel postpones decision on protecting gay wolves."
* * *
April 17th in History:
1080 – The King of Denmark Harald III dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
1349 – Fall of the Bavand dynasty, and rise of the Afrasiyab dynasty.
1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) as the start of the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury.
1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
1555 – After 18 months of siege, Siena surrenders to the Florentine-Imperial army. The Republic of Siena is incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.
1797 – Citizens of Verona, Italy, begin an eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces, which will end unsuccessfully.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1895 – The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1897 – The Aurora, Texas UFO incident
1905 – The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the "right to free contract" is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1912 – Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
1937 – Daffy Duck's first appearance, in Porky's Duck Hunt.
1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
1944 – Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People's Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.
1945 – Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from German Nazi forces.
1946 – Syria obtains its Independence from the French occupation.
1949 – At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.
1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1964 – Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
1964 – Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 – Czechoslovakian Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1971 – The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.
1973 – George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.
1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d'état in Afghanistan.
1982 – Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
1984 – Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from the Libyan People's Bureau (Embassy) in London during a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten others are wounded. The events lead to an 11-day siege of the building.
1986 – The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends.
1986 – Nezar Hindawi's attempt to detonate a bomb aboard an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv is thwarted.
2006 – Sami Hammad, a Palestinian suicide bomber, detonates an explosive device in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
2013 – An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.
Frederick I of Sweden
Taskin, King of Thailand
Samuel Chase
J. P. Morgan
Cap Anson
Artur Schnabel
Gregor Piatagorsky
Nicolas Nabakov
Arthur Lake
Joe Foss
Bill Clements
William Holden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkwyt0ytVJI)
Harry Reasoner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V89ziZXwWg4)
Michael Forest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz508DAx68U)
Don Kirschner
Jan Hammer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQDU-2qMre0)
L. Scott Caldwell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN8ijqTKmnY)
Bruce McNall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZxNx0cZ1rw)
Olivia Hussey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hpu25DmFvE)
Roddy Piper (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woFv-Q0TmuI)
Nick Hornby
Sean Bean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEhtsgu6bJg)
Lela Rohon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVxE3i7aaX0)
William Mapother,Jr.
Jennifer Garner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTstp92gIa4)
Victoria Beckham
Rooney Mara (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg2s0GMGwAE)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
posted by me at 1:30 PM
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