Another "didn't have to happen"
When an adult is asked to "chaperone" an event involving teenagers, the request comes with responsibilities. It isn't just a chance to schmooze with friends, have a drink or two and occasionally check on your charges. Chaperones need to be the adult in the room because teenagers believe they are invulnerable. Because they will attempt to get away with anything they can.
Mason Zisette, who would have been a junior this fall at Manhattan Beach's Mira Costa High School (they refer to it as Mico) died on Saturday. His parents allowed a line of more than 100 of his friends to come into his hospital room and say their farewells before life support was withdrawn.
So how did this 16 year old die? He was aboard a double-decker party bus and on the upper deck. He and other teens were standing up tall and then ducking just before reaching an overpass. Somehow he got into a conversation with friends that resulted in his turning his back to the oncoming obstacles and he wound up smacking his hands into the overpass which in turn caused his head to strike the bus. He was instantly unconscious.
Why? Why didn't the chaperones notice this very dangerous game of "chicken" and put a stop to it? When the bus was waiting for the ambulance to arrive, the chaperones didn't call any of the parents.
Be cautious about who you allow to be responsible for your children. Teach your children well. Don't scare them, but remind them they are not invulnerable. Risking your life for fun like that is a losing proposition.
* * *
When the Secretary of the Air Force says there is a "systemic problem" among the Air Force's InterContinental Ballistic Missile force, that's cause for concern. You may want to skip ahead to about the 2 minute, 20 second mark in the video below.
The men and women who manage the 400 or so ICBM silos that remain in operation are highly trained. Highly skilled. Highly disciplined. And they are supposed to be highly ethical officers in the United States Air Force. But when dozens of these officers are caught cheating on exams that determine their ability to carry out their duties; Secretary James is right. This isn't an isolated thing. This is a systemic problem.
Word is out that she's taken aggressive action to fix the problem. Let's hope she got it completely repaired. I don't want two idiots to screw up and start the end of the world because they didn't know their jobs.
* * *
Some people are upset that Sgt Bowe Bergdahl has been returned to active duty, although he's currently doing administrative functions at a desk. This is merely the next step in reintroducing him to the world after his five years as a hostage. Nothing unusual.
Did he desert? Perhaps. But he is still entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence. There is an investigation going on, led by a two-star general officer. Let him do his job. If Bergdahl should face a general court-martial, he will.
Then again, maybe the Army will decide to cover-up what happened. Maybe that's what the President will order them to do. I hope not.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
The "honest, gun-toting mom" from PA who was arrested for carrying a gun illegally in NJ deserves some kind of punishment. But three years in jail is too harsh.
A ten year old wrote a novel that's sold 14,000 copies on Amazon and he's working on his second. Okay, I feel ashamed.
An "undocumented" church pastor's family is claiming he is too ill to remain in jail. Considering he's already been convicted once of possession of drugs with intent to sell, and lied about a prior drug conviction on his temporary work permit application, let him recover after he's been deported.
Flight attendants say some passengers are ushered onto the plane via wheelchair, which lets them get on first; but when the plane has landed, they practically run down the ramp. Wheelchair passengers get on first, but get off last, so as not to delay others. Makes one ponder, eh?
Those who panicked when they heard that Archie Andrews will die on Wednesday can relax. Other incarnations of the long-time comic character will live on beyond that death. Only the adult Andrews will die.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl Chrissie Tiegen revealed that she was once fired from a modeling gig for being "too fat" and she still holds a grudge. I wouldn't want to be the executive who decided to fire her on that day.
Would all the idiotic right-wing wing-nuts who keep demanding that President Obama be impeached just STFU? He hasn't committed any high crimes or misdemeanors.
Medicare is going to penalize hospitals who injure patients an estimated $330 million a year. Medicare pays out billions annually in improper payments. Hmmm.
* * *
July 15th in History:
1099 – First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege.
1149 – The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem.
1207 – King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop Stephen Langton.
1240 – Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, drawn and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England.
1410 – Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War: Battle of Grunwald – the allied forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the army of the Teutonic Order.
1482 – Muhammad XII is crowned the twenty-second and last Nasrid king of Granada.
1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth is executed at Tower Hill, England after his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685.
1741 – Aleksei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
1789 – Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, is named by acclamation Colonel General of the new National Guard of Paris.
1799 – The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.
1806 – Pike expedition: United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the west.
1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.
1823 – A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy.
1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years.
1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacts with outrage.
1870 – Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
1870 – Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories.
1888 – The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts killing approximately 500 people, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
1910 – In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gives a name to Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
1916 – In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
1920 – The Polish Parliament establishes Silesian Voivodeship before the Polish-German plebiscite.
1922 – Japanese Communist Party is established in Japan.
1927 – Massacre of July 15, 1927: Eighty-nine protesters are killed by the Austrian police in Vienna.
1954 – First flight of the Boeing 367-80, prototype for both the Boeing 707 and C-135 series.
1955 – Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
1959 – The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
1966 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam begin Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
1974 – In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek Junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d'état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot president.
1975 – Space Race: Apollo–Soyuz Test Project features the dual launch of an Apollo spacecraft and a Soyuz spacecraft on the first joint Soviet-United States human-crewed flight. It was both the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn family of rockets.
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his so-called malaise speech, where he characterizes the greatest threat to the country as "this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation" but in which he never uses the word malaise.
1980 – A massive storm tears through western Wisconsin, causing US$160 million in damage.
1983 – Orly Airport attack is launched by Armenian militant organisation ASALA at the Paris-Orly Airport in Paris; it leaves 8 people dead and 55 injured.
1996 – A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport.
1997 – In Miami, Florida, serial killer Andrew Cunanan guns down Gianni Versace outside his home.
2002 – "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and to possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
2003 – AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day
2006 – Twitter is launched, becoming one of the largest social media platforms in the world.
Famous Folk Born on July 15th:
Vladimir the Bold
Inigo Jones
Thomas Bullfinh
Marie Tempest
Walter Benjamin
Walter D. Edmonds
Dorothy Fields
Jean Hamburger
Ken Lynch
Abraham Sutzkever
Jeremiah Denton
Philip Carey
Nan Martin
Clive Cussler
Joanna Merlin
Alex Karras
Ken Kercheval
Ann Jellicoe
Patrick Wayne
Barry Goldwater, Jr.
Ronald Gene Simmons
Mil Mascaras
Jan-Michael Vincent
Linda Ronstadt
Arianna Huffington
Jesse Ventura (love it when Jesse calls Tito Santana "Chico"
Terry O'Quinn
Alicia Bridges
Barry Melrose
Marky Ramone
Willie Aames
Forest Whitaker
Brigitte Nielsen
Eddie Griffin
Brian Austin Green
Beth Ostrosky Stern
Diane Kruger
Heath Slater
Mason Zisette, who would have been a junior this fall at Manhattan Beach's Mira Costa High School (they refer to it as Mico) died on Saturday. His parents allowed a line of more than 100 of his friends to come into his hospital room and say their farewells before life support was withdrawn.
So how did this 16 year old die? He was aboard a double-decker party bus and on the upper deck. He and other teens were standing up tall and then ducking just before reaching an overpass. Somehow he got into a conversation with friends that resulted in his turning his back to the oncoming obstacles and he wound up smacking his hands into the overpass which in turn caused his head to strike the bus. He was instantly unconscious.
Why? Why didn't the chaperones notice this very dangerous game of "chicken" and put a stop to it? When the bus was waiting for the ambulance to arrive, the chaperones didn't call any of the parents.
Be cautious about who you allow to be responsible for your children. Teach your children well. Don't scare them, but remind them they are not invulnerable. Risking your life for fun like that is a losing proposition.
* * *
When the Secretary of the Air Force says there is a "systemic problem" among the Air Force's InterContinental Ballistic Missile force, that's cause for concern. You may want to skip ahead to about the 2 minute, 20 second mark in the video below.
The men and women who manage the 400 or so ICBM silos that remain in operation are highly trained. Highly skilled. Highly disciplined. And they are supposed to be highly ethical officers in the United States Air Force. But when dozens of these officers are caught cheating on exams that determine their ability to carry out their duties; Secretary James is right. This isn't an isolated thing. This is a systemic problem.
Word is out that she's taken aggressive action to fix the problem. Let's hope she got it completely repaired. I don't want two idiots to screw up and start the end of the world because they didn't know their jobs.
* * *
Some people are upset that Sgt Bowe Bergdahl has been returned to active duty, although he's currently doing administrative functions at a desk. This is merely the next step in reintroducing him to the world after his five years as a hostage. Nothing unusual.
Did he desert? Perhaps. But he is still entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence. There is an investigation going on, led by a two-star general officer. Let him do his job. If Bergdahl should face a general court-martial, he will.
Then again, maybe the Army will decide to cover-up what happened. Maybe that's what the President will order them to do. I hope not.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
The "honest, gun-toting mom" from PA who was arrested for carrying a gun illegally in NJ deserves some kind of punishment. But three years in jail is too harsh.
A ten year old wrote a novel that's sold 14,000 copies on Amazon and he's working on his second. Okay, I feel ashamed.
An "undocumented" church pastor's family is claiming he is too ill to remain in jail. Considering he's already been convicted once of possession of drugs with intent to sell, and lied about a prior drug conviction on his temporary work permit application, let him recover after he's been deported.
Flight attendants say some passengers are ushered onto the plane via wheelchair, which lets them get on first; but when the plane has landed, they practically run down the ramp. Wheelchair passengers get on first, but get off last, so as not to delay others. Makes one ponder, eh?
Those who panicked when they heard that Archie Andrews will die on Wednesday can relax. Other incarnations of the long-time comic character will live on beyond that death. Only the adult Andrews will die.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl Chrissie Tiegen revealed that she was once fired from a modeling gig for being "too fat" and she still holds a grudge. I wouldn't want to be the executive who decided to fire her on that day.
Would all the idiotic right-wing wing-nuts who keep demanding that President Obama be impeached just STFU? He hasn't committed any high crimes or misdemeanors.
Medicare is going to penalize hospitals who injure patients an estimated $330 million a year. Medicare pays out billions annually in improper payments. Hmmm.
* * *
July 15th in History:
1099 – First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege.
1149 – The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem.
1207 – King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop Stephen Langton.
1240 – Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, drawn and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England.
1410 – Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War: Battle of Grunwald – the allied forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the army of the Teutonic Order.
1482 – Muhammad XII is crowned the twenty-second and last Nasrid king of Granada.
1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth is executed at Tower Hill, England after his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685.
1741 – Aleksei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
1789 – Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, is named by acclamation Colonel General of the new National Guard of Paris.
1799 – The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign.
1806 – Pike expedition: United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the west.
1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.
1823 – A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy.
1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years.
1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacts with outrage.
1870 – Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
1870 – Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories.
1888 – The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts killing approximately 500 people, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
1910 – In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gives a name to Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
1916 – In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
1920 – The Polish Parliament establishes Silesian Voivodeship before the Polish-German plebiscite.
1922 – Japanese Communist Party is established in Japan.
1927 – Massacre of July 15, 1927: Eighty-nine protesters are killed by the Austrian police in Vienna.
1954 – First flight of the Boeing 367-80, prototype for both the Boeing 707 and C-135 series.
1955 – Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
1959 – The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
1966 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam begin Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
1974 – In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek Junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d'état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot president.
1975 – Space Race: Apollo–Soyuz Test Project features the dual launch of an Apollo spacecraft and a Soyuz spacecraft on the first joint Soviet-United States human-crewed flight. It was both the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn family of rockets.
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his so-called malaise speech, where he characterizes the greatest threat to the country as "this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation" but in which he never uses the word malaise.
1980 – A massive storm tears through western Wisconsin, causing US$160 million in damage.
1983 – Orly Airport attack is launched by Armenian militant organisation ASALA at the Paris-Orly Airport in Paris; it leaves 8 people dead and 55 injured.
1996 – A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport.
1997 – In Miami, Florida, serial killer Andrew Cunanan guns down Gianni Versace outside his home.
2002 – "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and to possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
2003 – AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day
2006 – Twitter is launched, becoming one of the largest social media platforms in the world.
Famous Folk Born on July 15th:
Vladimir the Bold
Inigo Jones
Thomas Bullfinh
Marie Tempest
Walter Benjamin
Walter D. Edmonds
Dorothy Fields
Jean Hamburger
Ken Lynch
Abraham Sutzkever
Jeremiah Denton
Philip Carey
Nan Martin
Clive Cussler
Joanna Merlin
Alex Karras
Ken Kercheval
Ann Jellicoe
Patrick Wayne
Barry Goldwater, Jr.
Mil Mascaras
Jan-Michael Vincent
Linda Ronstadt
Arianna Huffington
Jesse Ventura (love it when Jesse calls Tito Santana "Chico"
Terry O'Quinn
Alicia Bridges
Barry Melrose
Marky Ramone
Willie Aames
Forest Whitaker
Brigitte Nielsen
Eddie Griffin
Brian Austin Green
Beth Ostrosky Stern
Diane Kruger
Heath Slater
posted by me at 11:10 AM
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