An inherent bias against the system

When we examine the history of the United States it makes it simple to understand the inherent bias that people of color hold against law enforcement, the judicial system and government in general.  Legalized slavery was the law of the land for more than two centuries.  Laws were passed to prevent the thousands of Chinese laborers who came to the U. S. in the post Civil War era from permanently immigrating to the U. S.  Japanese-Americans who were U. S. citizens were interred in concentration camps during World War II.  The Immigration Act of 1924, which severely limited immigration of Africans and prohibited the immigration of Arabs, East Asians and Indians, remained more or less in effect for more than 40 years.  Add to that decades where lynching was not prosecuted, where "Whites Only" signs prohibited access to restaurants, restrooms and so many other public places and it makes even more sense for people of color to believe they will never get "fair" treatment.

Darren Wilson's testimony to the grand jury seems implausible to this former military cop.  It must be noted that most of us will never face a life or death situation where we truly believe we must kill or be killed.  That doesn't mean that we can leap to a flawed conclusion that an unarmed teen was murdered solely because he allegedly stole a box of Swisher Sweets (there is nothing sweet about how those nasty things smell, BTW).  The grand jury concluded that Darren Wilson did not commit a crime.  The big question about that is just how was the mass of evidence presented to the grand jury.

Was it the intent of the prosecution to seek an indictment, to seek exoneration of Officer Wilson, or to present a fair and impartial view of the evidence for the grand jury to conduct a proper review?  We will never know.  I suspect the prosecutor and his assistants were much more invested in the exoneration of Officer Wilson rather than seeing him indicted.

Would a trial where Officer Wilson was acquitted have changed the outcome in Ferguson?  Probably not.  Any outcome where he wasn't charged with and convicted of a crime in the death of Michael Brown, Jr., would have been less than satisfactory to many.  Even if irrefutable evidence were to be presented at trial that completely exonerated Officer Wilson, there is a belief that an injustice was done and redress is owed.

We fail to learn the lessons of our history.  In 1979 Arthur McDuffie, an African-American insurance salesman was killed following a high-speed chase.   Janet Reno (who would later become our nation's Attorney General) was the lead prosecutor who tried the four officers accused in Mr. McDuffie's death.  They were acquitted and the riots that erupted in Liberty City, Goulds and other portions of the greater Miami area resulted in more than a dozen deaths.  For the purpose of full disclosure, I could have been killed in those riots.  I was in a car with friends that drove through the very intersection where a crowd began pulling white people out of their cars and beating them, only an hour or so before the violence began.  A subsequent federal civil rights trial resulted in more acquittals.

Then there was the Los Angeles riots of 1992.  53 deaths and thousands of injuries in the wake of the acquittal of the officers who severely beat Rodney King.  One can only wonder what kind of violence might have been done had Officer Laurence Powell and Sergeant Stacey Koon had not been convicted of violating Mr. King's civil rights in a federal trial. 

Conservatives point to the fact that all of the victims of white officer versus black suspect involve situations where the "suspect" had committed some kind of crime.  That is not the issue.  The issue is the treatment of that PERSON in how they are treated during and subsequent to their apprehension.  Cops talk about "stick time" and "catching up" as their way of expressing street justice.  There's no need for that.  That I think anyone who ignores lawful orders to surrender is being foolish doesn't change the fact that many people of color fear being taken into custody.  Based on the events of our recent past, can we blame them?  I think not.

I am saddened that the legacy of Michael Brown, Jr., will be another round of rioting and hope this path can be altered.  We should take action to force every single state government to pass a Michael Brown law, that mandates every single armed police officer must wear a POV camera anytime they carry a weapon.  It isn't enough to require cops to wear a camera when they are on duty.  If they are permitted to carry weapons while not working, because they have a duty to enforce the law 24 hours a day then it only makes sense that their actions be subjected to a form of scrutiny that is transparent to all.  Further, these cameras must be set up so that the cops who wear them cannot turn them off.

The next step in solving the problems that are causing crime is for everyone to watch one documentary film and to read one very informative book.  The film is "Inequality for All" where former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich explains the cause of the growing inequity of income in the U. S.  The book is "Savage Inequalities" by Jonathan Kozol.  Most of the crime in economically deprived areas results from the inequities in income and educational opportunity in those areas.

Preventing another tragedy like the death of Michael Brown, Jr., won't be easy.  But the criticality of doing so cannot be overstated.  Perhaps someday we can begin to erode that inherent bias.

Allegations, accusations and the passage of time

As the number of women accusing the beloved Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting them grows, I am reminded of a similar situation from a couple of years ago.  Remember Herman Cain and the allegations of sexual misconduct on his part, as he tried to build himself up as a possible Republican nominee to run against President Obama in 2012?  I remember them well. 

The media seemed to have little interest in the claims of the Cain campaign that the allegations of the first two accusers had been investigated by the National Restaurant Association and found to be baseless.  Now it's two years later, and the statements from Cosby's attorney that these are old allegations that were debunked years ago is included in the first or second paragraph of any story on the subject. 

There isn't a lot to write about the claims of these women because there is no forensic evidence to support their accusations and Mr. Cosby refuses to discuss them in any meaningful way.  However the contrast between how the media handled the Cain accusations versus the Cosby accusations lends credence to the often-repeated claim of conservatives that the mainstream media possesses an extreme liberal bias.

CNN and MSNBC are clearly on the far left, with MSNBC to the left of CNN.  However, Fox News is much further to the right than any of its competitors are to the left.  There is bias in the media on both sides.  It is tough to divorce your own beliefs from your obligation to objectivity in reporting the news.

In any event, it would seem that any future career plans Mr. Cosby had are probably nothing more than shattered dreams now.

* * *

On a related note, let's discuss a basic principle of our system of justice.  The presumption of innocence.  When anyone stands accused of a crime in the United States, they enter the courtroom with that presumption in their favor.  The prosecution must prove them to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in order for them to be convicted of the accusations against them.

However, in both the court of public opinion, and in the world of corporate sponsorships and the like, this presumption is not a guaranteed right.  NBC has no legal or moral obligation to go on developing whatever they were working on with Mr. Cosby.  There is no right to have a TV show. 

When there's a contract between two parties in the entertainment industry (and in professional sports as well), in most cases there is a morals clause.  Morals clauses give one party the right to terminate the deal.  So even a contract is not a guarantee if it appears that Mr. Cosby or anyone else has violated that clause.

I don't know if he is or isn't guilty.  I don't think the fact that more and more women are coming out and accusing him lends enough credence to the allegations of sexual abuse for him to be prosecuted.  In all probability the statute of limitations has long since passed. 

Once again, remember that anything you say or do where social media is involved can come back to haunt you.  If you berate your boss on Twitter, he or she can go right ahead and fire you; assuming you live in an at-will employment state like California.

* * *

For all of you who are defending President Obama's decision to undertake immigration reform by Executive Order (or if you prefer, to stop enforcing the immigration laws as is his obligation), I have a question.

Suppose that in 2016, Mitt Romney (or any other Republican you want to use as the example) wins the Presidency. Then after the inauguration, the new president writes an executive order that instructs the IRS to stop enforcement of any tax rate higher than 25% on anyone.

How would that order be any different in legality than what President Obama just did?

Either the President has the power to selectively enforce the laws passed by Congress and signed by a president, or he doesn't.  Which is it?

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Are there days when someone manages to sneak a sign onto my car saying "go ahead and just cut Brian off, he won't mind?"  If so, today was one of those days.  Three times in less than 30 minutes.

Soon to be former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford needs to find time to attend the funeral of the late Marion Barry.  He can take part in the honor guard of crack users with pipes raised in salute.  On a less jocular note, it is important to recognize that Mayor Barry accomplished a lot of positive works in his time.  Sadly, they won't be the primary legacy he leaves.

Can there be an awards show without someone tripping or having a wardrobe malfunction?

The orange tips put on toy guns are there to keep kids from getting shot by cops.  So why do the parents allow the kids to remove them?  Not to mention the first reports from the scene in Cleveland indicate that when police told the 12 year old to raise his hands, he instead reached for the gun. 

Journalists meeting with Darren Wilson in hopes of landing an on-the-record interview isn't proof of bias or a conspiracy.  It's just how the news-biz rolls.

If a child has stopped playing a varsity sport in high school, and gone on to college, why would a parent keep firing off nasty emails about a coach; if it isn't a vendetta?  Just asking.

If you don't want to deal with the media as a professional athlete, stop taking the millions of dollars and find a different line of work.

* * *

November 24th in History:

380 – Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople.
1227 – Polish Prince Leszek I the White is assassinated at an assembly of Piast dukes at Gąsawa.
1248 – In the middle of the night a mass on the north side of Mont Granier suddenly collapsed, in one of the largest historical rockslope failures known in Europe.
1429 – Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc unsuccessfully besieges La Charité.
1542 – Battle of Solway Moss: An English army defeats a much larger Scottish force near the River Esk in Dumfries and Galloway.
1642 – Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).
1835 – The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety).
1850 – Danish troops defeat a Schleswig-Holstein force in the town of Lottorf, Schleswig-Holstein.
1859 – Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, the anniversary of which is sometimes called "Evolution Day".
1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain: Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.
1906 – A 13–6 victory by the Massillon Tigers over their rivals, the Canton Bulldogs, for the "Ohio League" Championship, leads to accusations that the championship series was fixed and results in the first major scandal in professional American football.
1917 – In Milwaukee, nine members of the Milwaukee Police Department are killed by a bomb, the most deaths in a single event in U.S. police history until the September 11 attacks in 2001.
1922 – Nine Irish Republican Army members are executed by an Irish Free State firing squad. Among them is author Robert Erskine Childers, who had been arrested for illegally carrying a revolver.
1932 – In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
1935 – The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its second congress.
1940 – World War II: The First Slovak Republic becomes a signatory to the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.
1941 – World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French Forces.
1943 – World War II: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks, killing 650 men.
1944 – World War II: Bombing of Tokyo: The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital from the east and by land is carried out by 88 American aircraft.
1950 – The "Storm of the Century", a violent snowstorm, takes shape on this date before paralyzing the northeastern United States and the Appalachians the next day, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, records 57 inches of snow. Three hundred fifty-three people would die as a result of the storm.
1962 – The West Berlin branch of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany forms a separate party, the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin.
1962 – The influential British satirical television programme That Was the Week That Was is first broadcast.
1963 – In the first live, televised murder, Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, is murdered two days after the assassination, by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas police department headquarters.
1965 – Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seizes power in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and becomes President; he rules the country (which he renames Zaire in 1971) for over 30 years, until being overthrown by rebels in 1997.
1966 – Bulgarian TABSO Flight 101 crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.
1969 – Apollo program: The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to land on the Moon.
1971 – During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.
1973 – A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany because of the 1973 oil crisis. The speed limit lasts only four months.
1974 – Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy" (after The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
1976 – The Çaldıran-Muradiye earthquake in eastern Turkey kills between 4,000 and 5,000 people.
2012 – A fire at a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, kills at least 112 people.
2013 – Iran signs an interim agreement with the P5+1 countries, limiting its nuclear program in exchange for reduced sanctions.

Famous Folk Born on November 24th:

Baruch Spinoza
Junipero Serra
Zachary Taylor
Scott Joplin
Alben W. Barkley
Lucky Luciano
Barbara Sheldon
Forrest J Ackerman (he preferred his middle initial not to be followed by a .)
John Lindsay (inspiration for "Mayor Linseed" from the TV series "Batman")
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Ron Dellums
Paul Tagliabue
Donald "Duck" Dunn (an amazing bass player)
Dave Bing
Dwight Schultz
Dale Carnegie
Kirby Grant
Oscar Robertson (only NBA player to ever average a triple-double for an entire season)
Pete Best
Steve Yeager
Jim Sheridan (the politician)
Denise Crosby
Brad Sherwood
Katharine Heigl (a pain in the ass but she has talent)
Beth Phoenix
Sarah Hyland

The power of the Presidential pen only goes so far

Let's play scavenger hunt.  We'll all look through the United States Constitution to find the specific authority for the Executive Orders issued by the President to have the full force of law.  On second thought, perhaps not.  That authority is not given to the President in that way.  Over the years, the "authority" for Executive Orders comes from an interpretation of the duty laid upon the President by the Constitution to "...take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed..."

President Obama himself has been saying since 2010, on the record, that he does not have the authority to do what he has now done.  He said he isn't King or Emperor and much more.  Now he's reversed himself, and at the same time said his position on Executive Orders has not changed.  That's Presidential doublespeak at its finest.  Politifact.com has evaluated the President's claim that his position has not changed as "False."

Liberal pundits defend President Obama's action as doing nothing more than what previous Presidents from both sides of the political aisle have been doing for decades.  In fact, it was pointed out that President Ronald Reagan issued an Executive Order regarding immigration in the wake of Congress passing the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.  That's true.  But what he did was in the spirit of complying with that law's intent.  In shielding millions from the threat of deportation, a choice within the purview of the Congress, they inadvertently failed to protect the children of those being shielded, from being deported without their families.  President Reagan's Executive Order fixing this error was not an attempt to contravene the authority of Congress.

That's where the problem lies with President Obama, and any other President who issues an Executive Order that is attempting an end-run around the Congress.  They are usurping the authority of the Congress to write and pass the laws of the land.

I don't disagree with what President Obama is trying to accomplish.  We need comprehensive immigration reform.  But his method is not the right way to do this.  I draw a parallel between this Executive Order and the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Roe v Wade.  This was legislating by judicial fiat and it is not the province of the Judicial branch to legislate.  Congress should have had the courage and wisdom to forever protect a woman's right to choose by passing a Freedom of Choice bill.  Both the President and the USSC were trying to do the right thing, which is good, except when you go about it in an improper way.

I'd love to be able to feed hungry people.  That doesn't give me the right to go into grocery stores and steal food for delivery to food banks and other organizations that feed the hungry.  Nor does the fact that there is a dire need for immigration reform empower the President to abrogate the authority of the Congress.

Please don't die

For anyone who has been reading these musings in the last few years, it isn't a secret that my health is not great.  I'm a living medical miracle.  But until this week I've never had anyone say to me, in the bluntest way possible, "please don't die".  I was taken aback.  Yes, I have a number of clients who ask about my health every single time we make contact (phone, office visit, email and so on), but none have ever been quite that direct.

I don't have a conscious death wish.  I want to live a long life, helping others and enjoying myself.  But I struggle with the concept of denying myself those things I enjoy, at least enough to make my eating habits healthy ones.  Or at least healthy enough that they would prolong rather than shorten this existence.  Yet I find myself making choices in what I eat and when I eat it that aren't the best possible choices, so I'm wondering if there is a part of my subconscious that is tired of this life.  Or maybe frustrated at the challenges I have to deal with daily.

After giving in to oxygen for the purpose of ambulation (as my doctors described it), I figured I'd be done with having to sit down to catch my breath after any walk that was more than a few steps.  That isn't turning out to be the case.  My left foot is swelling for some reason, probably related to my failure to limit my intake of sodium as I should be doing.  When I've been headed home after teaching, I often rationalize that it is easier to drive through a fast food place than it is to have to park and go into a Subway or something similar.  Subway isn't the best choice either, but it's head and shoulders above McDonald's or something along those lines.  Although I must admit, the In-and-Out trip last weekend was marvelous.

I've decided that while I definitely want to live, I don't want to live if I have to completely deny myself the foods that give me pleasure.  The struggle from here onward is one of finding a balance.  As Mr. Miyagi told Daniel-san in the first Karate Kid film, finding balance gives one strength.  I'm not guaranteeing success, but I'm again ready to try with more fervor.  I'm ready to push forward instead of backward.

* * *

I must have missed the memo.  Did you?  The one that says a raised middle finger is a sign of remorse for the family of your victim.  Apparently that is the way that Shawn Swarthout expressed his feelings for the family of the woman he hit while allegedly driving under the influence. 

The woman was aboard a scooter and her injuries included broken legs, a shattered face and a bleed in her brain.  She will likely need to spend a year in a wheelchair, recovering. 

Considering that Mr. Swarthout has two previous convictions for DUI, and was driving on a suspended license, it is time to revisit the subject of what to do to prevent this type of thing.  Obviously suspending licenses doesn't work for repeat offenders.  In fact, it really don't work all that well for first-time offenders.  People who will get behind the wheel once will do it again.

I have a good friend who has two DUI convictions.  They limit this friend's ability to get work.  This friend doesn't have a drinking problem, they just like to have a good time.  I see nothing "wrong" with this person.  I don't think they would ever get behind the wheel while intoxicated because of the harsh penalties they would face if they were caught with another DUI.  But this belief of mine nor the threat of those penalties aren't iron-clad guarantees that anyone with a DUI conviction on their record won't make that mistake a second time.  Even one person killed by a repeat DUI offender is too many.  Hell, any person killed by a drunk driver is too many.

How do we solve this problem?  Ignition interlock devices (IID) need to become mandatory for every single person convicted of a DUI.  Permanently.  The monthly rental cost would come down if companies knew that a driver would need to keep renting the device for a long time, rather than the current two or three years.  Insurance companies could be enticed to offer discounts to drivers with DUI convictions because there would be a device in place to prevent any reoccurrence of a DUI incident.  The penalty for tampering with one of these IIDs would need to be so severe that no one would ever be tempted to take the risk.

We can't gamble with the lives of the innocent.  I've lost count of the number of times I had to write a news story about someone who was murdered by a drunk driver.  A few stand out.  One was a casino cocktail waitress who was driving home after tipping back more than a few after her shift.  She lost control of her sports car and killed a little 5 year old boy.  Then there was a guy driving a big truck who sped through a red light at an estimated 75 mph and he took the life of a 19 year old. 

All-American track and field star Jill Peckler, along with her father and brother were killed by a drunk driver.  So were Sam Kinison, Jack Shea (an Olympic gold medalist), Bob Clark (director of "Porky's"), California Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, Senator Strom Thurmond's daughter and then there is the story of Larry Mahoney.

Larry Mahoney had a BAC of .24 on a Saturday in May of 1988.  He was driving his pick-up truck the wrong way on a rural interstate highway in Kentucky when he hit a school bus that had been converted to use as a church bus.  27 of the 64 passengers on the bus died.  34 others were injured.

Mr. Mahoney had a prior arrest for DUI, in 1984.  He served no jail time, paid a fine and was ordered to attend an alcohol education program.  Apparently the only thing he learned in that program was how to not get caught for a DUI until he took 27 lives.  27 people killed needlessly.  One simple device placed in his car could have prevented all those tragedies.

This must stop.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

A very pregnant Hayden Panettiere looks more gorgeous than ever, in my eyes.

Video of some guy's ankle snapping during a brawl would probably make Joe Theismann cringe in agony.

There's something wrong with a world where Ray J earns roughly $90,000 per quarter from his sex tape with Kim Kardashian.

The only reason that the mother of Honey Boo Boo doesn't move lower on the stupidity list after she claims her boyfriend is a "rehabilitated child molester" is because she was already as low as it is possible to go on that scale.  There are amoeba that are genius level creatures compared to this moron.

The group Survivor is suing Sony Entertainment over royalties from their big hit "Eye of the Tiger" which they claim threatened to remove all of the band's music from digital services if they didn't stop complaining.  I guess a lawsuit is a complaint, so we'll have to wait and see if their songs are pulled.

If a woman is stupid enough to want to marry Charles Manson, let her.  Just so they can't reproduce.

People who play characters allowed to speak at amusement parks lie to children??  Shocking.  Hardly.  They're trained liars I suspect.

No offense toward Pope Francis intended, but the chronic problem of priests of the Catholic church molesting children is a lot more reprehensible than Brittney Maynard's decision to end her life.  We won't even talk about the level of reprehensibility of the Spanish Inquisition.  I'd try, but when dealing with Popes, you can't Torquemada anything.

Amy Adams may be 40, but she's still beautiful, incredibly talented, and has a very bright future.

It is difficult to take anything seriously that is said by someone who wants to be called Uncle Poodle.

I pick between the three main late night talk shows based on who the guests are, but in my mind Jimmy Fallon is much more entertaining than either of his competitors.  I always watch his monologue, but once it is time for guests, then it depends on which visitor I find most interesting.

So Marlon Wayans says that he uses the term "n****" as a "a colloquial term of camaraderie."  Or so he claims in defending himself against a lawsuit.  I'd like to see African-Americans reach consensus on whether or not it is appropriate for them to use the term that way.  I doubt that will ever happen.  I do know many of the African-Americans I know feels like Mr. Wayans does about the term...as long as white people aren't using it.

* * *

November 21st in History:

164 BC – Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
235 – Pope Anterus succeeds Pontian as the nineteenth pope. During the persecutions of emperor Maximinus Thrax he is martyred.
1386 – Timur of Samarkand captures and sacks the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, taking King Bagrat V of Georgia captive.
1620 – Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.).
1783 – In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.
1789 – North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.
1861 – American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.
1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.
1894 – Port Arthur, Manchuria, falls to the Japanese, a decisive victory of the First Sino-Japanese War, after which Japanese troops are accused of the massacre of the remaining inhabitants of the city. (Reports conflict on this subject.)
1902 – The Philadelphia Football Athletics defeated the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first ever professional American football night game.
1905 – Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the journal Annalen der Physik. This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².
1910 – Sailors onboard Brazil's most powerful military units, including the brand-new warships Minas Geraes, São Paulo, and Bahia, violently rebel in what is now known as the Revolta da Chibata (Revolt of the Lash).
1916 – World War I: A mine explodes and sinks HMHS Britannic in the Aegean Sea, killing 30 people.
1918 – Flag of Estonia, previously used by pro-independence activists, is formally adopted as national flag of the Republic of Estonia.
1918 – A pogrom takes place in Lwów (now Lviv); over three days, at least 50 Jews and 270 Ukrainian Christians are killed by Poles.
1920 – Irish War of Independence: In Dublin, 31 people are killed in what became known as "Bloody Sunday". This included fourteen British informants, fourteen Irish civilians and three Irish Republican Army prisoners.
1922 – Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
1927 – Columbine Mine massacre: Striking coal miners are allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.
1942 – The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the highway is not usable by general vehicles until 1943).
1945 – The United Auto Workers strike 92 General Motors plants in 50 cities to back up worker demands for a 30-percent raise.
1950 – Two Canadian National Railway trains collide in northeastern British Columbia in the Canoe River train crash; the death toll is 21, with 17 of them Canadian troops bound for Korea.
1953 – The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.
1959 – American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC-AM radio for refusing to deny allegations that he had participated in the payola scandal.
1962 – The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral ceasefire in the Sino-Indian War.
1964 – The Verrazano–Narrows Bridge opens to traffic. (At the time it is the world's longest suspension bridge.)
1964 – Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.
1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."
1969 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree in Washington, D.C., on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.
1969 – The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI.
1970 – Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast: A joint United States Air Force and Army team raids the Sơn Tây prisoner-of-war camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.
1971 – Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.
1972 – Voters in South Korea overwhelmingly approve a new constitution, giving legitimacy to Park Chung-hee and the Fourth Republic.
1974 – The Birmingham pub bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted.
1977 – Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand", by Thomas Bracken (lyrics) and John Joseph Woods (music), both being of equal status as appropriate to the occasion.
1979 – The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.
1980 – A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
1985 – United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
1986 – Iran–Contra affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1992 – A major tornado strikes the Houston, Texas area during the afternoon. Over the next two days the largest tornado outbreak ever to occur in the US during November spawns over 100 tornadoes before ending on the 23rd.
1995 – The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement is formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.
1996 – Humberto Vidal explosion: Thirty-three people die when a Humberto Vidal shoe shop explodes.
2002 – NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
2004 – The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, giving rise to massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.
2004 – The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island sustains the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed.
2004 – The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.
2006 – Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.
2009 – A mine explosion in Heilongjiang province, northeastern China, kills 108.
2012 – At least 28 are wounded after a bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv.
2013 – A supermarket roof collapse in Riga, Zolitude, Latvia killing 54 people.

Famous Folk Born on November 21st:

Voltaire
Lewis H. Morgan
Hetty Green
Pope Benedict XV
Tom Horn
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Coleman Hawkins
Sid Luckman
Ralph Meeker
Stan "The Man" Musial
Joseph Campanella
Georgia Frontiere
Henry Hartsfield
Laurence Luckinbill
Marlo Thomas
Dr. John
Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko (founder of SEAL Team Six)
Juliet Mills
Dick Durbin
Earl Monroe
Harold Ramis (his genius is missed)
Goldie Hawn (still looks amazing)

George Zimmer

Lorna Luft (Liza Minelli's sister)
Nicollete Sheridan
Bjork
Reggie Lewis
Troy Aikman
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Michael Strahan
Rain Phoenix

I love a challenge

Someone I consider a good friend posted this photo on Facebook:

We got into a discussion about the statement accompanying the photo and my friend challenged me to rewrite the message.  So here's my version, which I believe is more compelling and more effective in calling attention to the real issues:

Meet Jamie.  Not the child's real name but we won't embarrass Jamie or the family by what we are about to say.  Jamie is homeless.  The single-parent family is currently in a transitional shelter, but their time in that safe place will end in a month.  Then the family may wind up back on the streets.  A child cannot focus on learning when basic survival needs like food and shelter are overwhelming every day of the week.  We need to invest in our children, who are truly the future, rather than focusing on increasing the rate at which our nation's inequities in wealth and income grow.  Childhood poverty and homelessness in general must end.  Now!

Which version do you like?

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918...

It fell quiet at 11 on November 11, 1989 on the Western Front of World War I.  Hostilities continued in other areas such as the former Russian Empire and the former Ottoman Empire.  But on the Western Front, it got very quiet.  Today, in many nations around the world, a moment or two of silence was observed at 11 a.m. local time.  The U. S. doesn't limit our recognition of this day to just the veterans of World War I, but salutes all veterans who served in times of war and peace, from the day we came into being.

It fell quiet last night after the rush hour that gridlocks West Los Angeles five days a week had ended, in a freeway underpass.  This particular underpass allows Ohio Avenue to run under the San Diego Freeway, just to the South of the West LA VA Medical Center.  On any night you can find several veterans sleeping in this underpass.  It is the only home they have. 

Estimates place the number of homeless veterans in the greater Los Angeles area at roughly 5,000.  Some argue these estimates are woefully short of the real number.  The National Alliance to End Homelessness says that on any given night in the U. S., there are more than 600,000 people who are without a home.  Other estimates place the number of people who are homeless during any one year in the U. S. is more than 3.5 million.  The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans says that roughly 12% of the homeless population are veterans of military service.  No matter how you add up the number,  it is far too many.  Or is it?

We are a nation of more than 316 million people.  If there are less than a million chronically homeless people in our nation, that is roughly 3/10th of one percent of the population.  That's still way too many, but it is not a population bloc that is as large as it is made to seem.  Now the fact that this population is smaller than we are led to believe in no way lessens the need to fix this problem.  In the United States of America, no one should be homeless, unless it is by choice; and the person is of sound mind and body.  If a person of sound mind and body wants to exist without a home, a truly free nation will allow them to do so.

The problem of homeless veterans gets more attention that it did in the post-Vietnam era, when no one really cared about veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  I don't even like that name for it.  It should be called Post Traumatic Stress Disease, because I believe it to be an illness rather than a disorder.  As a nation we owe our veterans the right to be restored to their former lives as much as possible.  All too often, this is not possible thanks to how technology has improved the ability of man to kill other men (and women); and to keep troops alive in cases of what were once fatal injuries.

Veterans should be provided medical care for injuries, physical and mental, that occur while they are serving the nation.  They need to be given proper rehabilitation and other services to allow them to transition back to a "normal" life, if such a thing is possible after serving in combat.

Let's find a way to worry about the plight of the homeless veterans 365 days a year, rather than just in the week before our annual Veterans Day.

* * *

Robert O'Neill was a Navy SEAL.  He claims to be the one who fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011.  In less than two hours from when I am writing this, he will violate the "warrior ethos" shared by the members of the 'Spec Ops' community.  They are the elite, the best of the best.  For decades they have done their jobs quietly, not seeking fame, fortune or any recognition other than that of their fellow warriors. 

Why have Senior Chief O'Neill and Matt Bissonnette, another SEAL who went on the mission to kill bin Laden (he wrote the book "No Easy Day" under the nom de plume Mark Owen) broken the unwritten code of silence observed by almost every military member who served in Spec-Ops?  They share a few things in common.  Humble beginnings.  An impressive resume of accomplishments, if based only on their decorations for valor.  But the most interesting thing they share in common is that they apparently chose to leave the Navy before reaching retirement eligibility. 

O'Neill left after 16 years.  Bissonnette after 14.  You must serve 20 years on active duty in the military to receive pension and other retirement benefits.  For people like these two, if they are "used up" and can't handle the stress of the work they were doing as SEALs, the service will almost always transfer them to less strenuous duty and allow them to reach retirement age.  The military's retirement system has become a bit more complex since I left the military, but had O'Neill remained on active duty for four more years, he would have been eligible for a pension of 50% of the average of his highest 36 months of base pay.  He would have been able to draw a pension of more than $2,400 per months had he chosen to stay in.   So why did he choose to leave?

Maybe in the cold light of day, these amazing warriors realized they'd made a serious error in judgment in spurning additional service in order to receive those pensions.  Could it be that providing for themselves and their families caused them to regret that decision and seek fortune by releasing information that should have remained classified for decades?  This is what I suspect happened.

Whoopi Goldberg, a person I almost never agree with, has said that O'Neill should have remained silent because some things should remain secret.  I agree.  When I'm agreeing with her, then clearly that's how it should be.

Robert O'Neill and Matt Bissonnette are real heroes, who have tarnished their achievements by speaking out about them.  How sad.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Would someone please tell Kim Kardashian's ass that its fifteen minutes of fame were up about two years ago?

Jennifer Lawrence was a lot of fun to watch on last night's David Letterman show. 

Actress Mariska Hargitay earns well-deserved kudos for continuing her work to aid the victims of sexual assault by joining Cyrus Vance in the announcement of $35 million in funding to process backlogged rape kits.  Very cool.

I'm very anxious to see the upcoming Christmas Day release of "American Sniper" from director Clint Eastwood.

The sales staff of Victoria's Secret were asked what they think of men who enter their stores, and they said they are glad to see them.  The men who are there don't want to spend much time there and they can push their full-priced merchandise on the guys, while the female customers have to be convinced to buy by being offered bargains.  Or so claims an article from Business Insider.  I get it.  New car salesmen selling full-priced cars to women are misogynistic, but it's smart of women at Vickie's Secret to do the same thing to men who wander in there.  All I can say is....WTF?

The Goo Goo Dolls had no right to fire their drummer because he needed to take paternity leave while they were on tour. 

Congrats to Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout for the MVP awards.  And kudos to the Baseball Writers who didn't give a single player from the Yankees or the Red Sox a single MVP vote on any ballot, a historic first.

Jose Canseco's finger fell off his hand.  You know, the one he shot off accidentally while cleaning his gun.  I hope he wasn't planning a new career playing piano.

The Republican majority in the House is trying to decide how to respond to the impending Executive Order from President Obama that will move over 5 million illegal immigrants into the group that no longer face deportation.  Maybe they should think about passing meaningful immigration reform?  That might be an appropriate response.

Some people seem taken aback because a woman in D.C. has spent over $35,000 trying to find her lost dog.  It's her dog, her money and the critics need to STFU.  Okay, I don't agree with the choice to hire psychics, but she should do whatever she wants to do.  I hope she and her dog will be reunited.

Pumpecapple piecake?  It's a pumpkin pie in pumpkin spice cake, a pecan pie in chocolate cake and an apple pie in apple spice cake, all rolled and baked into one.  Iced with crème cheese frosting.

 * * *

November 14th in History:

1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile.
1862 – American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1889 – Pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) begins a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the trip in 72 days.
1910 – Aviator Eugene Burton Ely performs the first take off from a ship in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He took off from a makeshift deck on the USS Birmingham in a Curtiss pusher.
1916 – World War I: The Battle of the Somme ends.
1918 – Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
1921 – Foundation of the Communist Party of Spain.
1922 – The British Broadcasting Company begins radio service in the United Kingdom.
1940 – World War II: In England, Coventry is heavily bombed by German Luftwaffe bombers. Coventry Cathedral is almost completely destroyed.
1941 – World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sinks due to torpedo damage from the German submarine U-81 sustained on November 13.
1941 – World War II: In Slonim, German forces engaged in Operation Barbarossa murder 9,000 Jews in a single day.
1952 – The first regular UK Singles Chart published by the New Musical Express.
1957 – The Apalachin Meeting outside Binghamton, New York is raided by law enforcement, and many high level Mafia figures are arrested.
1965 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Ia Drang begins – the first major engagement between regular American and North Vietnamese forces.
1967 – The Congress of Colombia, in commemoration of the 150 years of the death of Policarpa Salavarrieta, declares this day as "Day of the Colombian Woman".
1967 – American physicist Theodore Maiman is given a patent for his ruby laser systems, the world's first laser.
1969 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12, the second crewed mission to the surface of the Moon.
1970 – Soviet Union enters ICAO, making Russian the fourth official language of organization.
1970 – Southern Airways Flight 932 crashes in the mountains near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75, including members of the Marshall University football team.
1971 – Enthronment of Pope Shenouda III as Pope of Alexandria.
1971 – Mariner 9 enters orbit around Mars.
1973 – In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.
1975 – Spain abandons Western Sahara.
1979 – Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.
1982 – Lech Wałęsa, the leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after eleven months of internment near the Soviet border.
1984 – Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city.
1990 – After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder–Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland.
1991 – American and British authorities announce indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the downing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
1991 – Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after thirteen years of exile.
1991 – In Royal Oak, Michigan, a fired United States Postal Service employee goes on a shooting rampage, killing four and wounding five before committing suicide.
1995 – A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs.
2001 – War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters take over the capital Kabul.
2003 – Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz discover 90377 Sedna, a Trans-Neptunian object.
2008 – The first G-20 economic summit opens in Washington, D.C.
2010 – Germany's Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing wins Formula One's Drivers Championship to become the sport's youngest champion.
2012 – Israel launches a major military operation in the Gaza Strip, as hostilities with Hamas escalate.

Famous Folk born on November 14th:

Leopold Mozart
Robert Fulton
General James B. McPherson
Claude Monet
Julie Manet
Mamie Eisenhower
Aaron Copland
Dick Powell
Louise Brooks
Joseph McCarthy
Barbara Hutton
Martha Tilton
Sherwood Schwartz
Park Chung-hee
Veronica Lake
Brian Keith

 

McLean Stevenson

Jimmy Piersall
Freddie Garrity
Peter Norton
Yanni
Paul Attanasio
D. B. Sweeney
Jawaharlal Nehru
Wendy Carlos
Curt Schilling
Josh Duhamel

Ben Bowen (RIP)

Victory, or death-knell??

The Republicans have retaken control of the United States Senate.  This gives them a stranglehold on the Legislative branch of the Federal Government, as they will continue to have a strong majority in the House of Representatives.

Is this the gigantic victory that the media is trying to make it out to be?  Most think it is.  I think it is the beginning of the end of any chance that Republicans have to win back the White House in 2016. Under normal circumstances, the fact that a two-term President from a party is leaving office would give the other party an advantage.  Since the death of FDR, only George H. W. Bush was able to win a presidential election after his party had held the presidency for the prior two terms.  Some pundits see this as the phenomenon of the phantom third term of the incumbent.  That is, they speculate that many voters will vote for whoever is the Republican candidate simply because whoever the Democratic party nominee is, they will view this person as being another four years of President Obama.

That may well be.  However, when the Republicans assume control of the Senate this coming January, they will be expected to achieve major changes in the 23 months before our next president is elected.  That's a pretty tall order.  Whatever their majority in the Senate is, they won't have a filibuster-proof advantage.  They can't float the balloon of the "nuclear option" to make more chances because of how they stridently stood up and said Harry Reid shouldn't have triggered it.

The major issues of immigration reform, income inequality and our ever burgeoning national debt are nowhere near solvable under the status quo of the current electoral equation.  Further, the Republican leadership will have nowhere to run or hide because they will have had two years of control of both houses of Congress.

Then there is the Tea Party.  Their presence and agenda will prevent the Republican party from making changes in the platform for 2016 to make it more palatable to the swing voters they must attract to have any chance of winning the White House. 

Hillary Clinton may or may not run.  It won't matter.  The only way any Republican can win the presidency in 2016 is for the next two years to feature bipartisan cooperation and major progress being made in dealing with the problems of real Americans, not just the special interests who have the money to buy access to our elected leaders.

* * *

I almost gave in to political apathy on Tuesday.  After two hours in the chair at the dentist's office, having a crown done, I did not want to go to the polls.  I have often thought of skipping voting on days in prior years when I was overwhelmed with other things.  After all, it is very easy to convince yourself that in the end, your one vote doesn't really matter.

Then I thought back to the ten years I spent wearing the uniform of my nation's military.  Ten years that I spent on a voluntary basis (doesn't seem voluntary once you're obligated to serve for four or more years, but it was my choice to enlist) where I worked to protect our rights as a free nation.  One of those rights is voting.

A number of people I know are taking flack for not voting on Tuesday.  Most of them are Democrats, taking flack from other members of their party.  They are taking the brunt of the blame and anger of those other Dems, who believe that a better turnout might have kept the Republicans from taking control of the Senate.  They may be right but that isn't reason to castigate those who chose to not vote.

I can support the choice of those who choose not to vote.  That's the same right as the right TO vote.  What I can't understand are excuses for not voting.  In states where voter ID laws have made it more difficult, that choice is more easily understood.  But most other reasons don't fly in my book.  Having to work isn't a valid excuse, unless you didn't know in advance you'd have no time to go to the polls.  Absentee ballots are available if you know you'll be too busy on this special day.  My choice to go and vote even though I didn't feel like it wasn't heroic.  It just reflected my own values and choices.  The choice of others to stay home is equally valid. 

All that being said, we must remember that those who choose not to vote get the government they deserve.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

I guess putting a small banana in your pocket for the walk home isn't that bad an idea, until you decide to lie down without taking that banana out of that pocket.

Will any media outlet be able to report on the story of the drummer for AC/DC being arrested for allegedly trying to hire a hitman to commit two murders without referencing the song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap?"

Does the fact that Hugh Hefner's marriage appears to be working mean his sexual appetite no longer requires multiple women to be satisfied; or he merely keeping "The Girls Next Door" a secret from his wife?

I admire Keira Knightley for choosing to insist that her topless photo shoot not be Photoshopped.  Then again, maybe my crush on this woman is making me less than objective.

Former Navy SEAL Rob O'Neill has been identified as the man who fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden.  His heroism isn't in question.  However, his judgment in seeking notoriety for his work on classified missions is suspect.  He wouldn't have been able to fire those shots without the hard work of his teammates, the aircrews that delivered them safely to the location, the support staff and so on.  SEAL missions are drawn up with a "team" concept.  I won't be surprised to see Mr. O'Neill and Matt Bissonnette facing court-martial for unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

I had no idea that Brett Favre was the third choice for his cameo in "There's Something About Mary" but he was a better choice than Drew Bledsoe or Steve Young anyway.

Starbucks isn't making the baristas take off their engagement rings because they want you to think they're "available."  It is because the chain is increasing its focus on food sales.  Makes sense.

Amanda Bynes thinks bartending would be a good next move for her.  Not a great idea, but smarter than her opening her own medicinal marijuana emporium.  She'd smoke up all the profits (and most of the merchandise).

No one cares that Bruce Jenner is still wearing his wedding ring.  No one cares why he's doing it.

Jean Kasem couldn't possibly come up with a valid reason for letting Casey Kasem's body rot away in Norway; except of course so that it can't be autopsied to prove elder abuse.

I just heard that Charo was a guest-star on the old show "Love Boat" ten times.  Nine times as the same character and once as some other character.  Probably for the best.  She'd have trouble stretching to play three different characters.  As an actress she was a very pretty lady and talented singer.

I discovered today that watching "The Green Mile" makes me sad when I see the late Michael Clarke Duncan appear on screen.  He was a good guy and an excellent actor.

According to Shirley MacLaine, "Steel Magnolias" director Herbert Ross told Dolly Parton (in front of the full cast and crew), "you should think about taking some acting lessons."  Even if valid, that's just rude to say in front of others.

A woman who died in a fall at a national park in Colorado had insurance policies totaling $4.5 million (she was a successful doctor).  Her husband appears to be a "shady" guy according to her family.  Did she fall on her own?  We'll probably never know the truth.

* * *

November 8th in History:

960 – Battle of Andrassos: Byzantines under Leo Phokas the Younger score a crushing victory over the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla.
1278 – Trần Thánh Tông, the second emperor of the Trần dynasty, decides to pass the throne to his crown prince Trần Khâm and take up the post of Retired Emperor.
1519 – Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with a great celebration.
1520 – Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces results in the execution of around 100 people.
1576 – Eighty Years' War: Pacification of Ghent – The States General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
1602 – The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford is opened to the public.
1605 – Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters, is killed.
1614 – Japanese daimyo Dom Justo Takayama is exiled to the Philippines by shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu for being Christian.
1620 – The Battle of White Mountain takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours.
1644 – The Shunzhi Emperor, the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China.
1745 – Charles Edward Stuart invades England with an army of ~5000 that would later participate in the Battle of Culloden.
1837 – Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which later becomes Mount Holyoke College.
1861 – American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the British mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.
1889 – Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.
1892 – The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time.
1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
1898 – The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898, the only instance of an attempted coup d'état in American history.
1901 – Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.
1917 – The People's Commissars give authority to Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.
1923 – Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.
1933 – Great Depression: New Deal – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed.
1936 – Spanish Civil War: Francoist troops fail in their effort to capture Madrid, but begin the 3-year Siege of Madrid afterwards.
1937 – The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude ("The Eternal Jew") opens in Munich.
1939 – Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
1939 – In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes the assassination attempt of Georg Elser while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
1940 – Greco-Italian War: The Italian invasion of Greece fails as outnumbered Greek units repulse the Italians in the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.
1942 – World War II: Operation Torch – United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.
1942 – World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, in which 400 civilian French patriots neutralize Vichyist XIXth Army Corps after 15 hours of fighting, and arrest several Vichyst generals, allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers.
1950 – Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.
1957 – Operation Grapple X, Round C1: the United Kingdom conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the Pacific.
1960 – John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the twentieth century to become the 35th president of the United States.
1965 – The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
1965 – The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom.
1965 – The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Operation Hump during the Vietnam War, while the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment fight one of the first set-piece engagements of the war between Australian forces and the Viet Cong at the Battle of Gang Toi.
1966 – Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.
1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.
1968 – The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is signed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by standardising the uniform traffic rules among the signatories.
1972 – HBO launches its programming, with the broadcast of the 1971 movie Sometimes a Great Notion, starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda.
1973 – The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay US$2.9 million.
1976 – A series of earthquakes spreads panic in the city of Thessaloniki, which is evacuated.
1977 – Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.
1987 – Remembrance Day bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland during a ceremony honouring those who had died in wars involving British forces. Twelve people are killed and sixty-three wounded.
2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".
2004 – War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
2011 – The potentially hazardous asteroid 2005 YU55 passes 0.85 lunar distances from Earth (about 324,600 kilometres or 201,700 miles), the closest known approach by an asteroid of its brightness since 2010 XC15 in 1976.
2013 – Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in history hits the Visayas region in the Philippines. The typhoon killed 6,201 people as of 29 January 2014 and was considered the deadliest typhoon to hit the country. It caused around $1 billion in damages unofficially.

Famous Folk Born on November 8th:

Edmond Halley
Sarah Fielding
Milton Bradley
Bram Stoker
Herbert Austin
Hermann Rorschach (he was heavily into ink)
Margaret Mitchell
Dorothy Day
Esther Rolle
Christiaan Barnard (his heart was in the right place)
Joe Flynn

Pattie Page
Bobby Bowden
Morley Safer
Roy Wood
Minnie Riperton

Lewis Yocum
Bonnie Raitt
Mary Hart

Christie Hefner
Alfre Woodard
Rickie Lee Jones
Leif Garrett
Gordon Ramsay

Courtney Thorne-Smith
Jose Offerman (still love the joke told about the spelling of his name..."how do you spell Offerman?  With two F's and 50 E's)
Parkey Posey
Gretchen Mol
Tara Reid
Nick Punto
Ted DiBiase, Jr.
Jack Osbourne

I'll mention one notable passing, on this date in 1887, we lost one of the most colorful legends in the Wyatt Earp/Gunfight at the OK Corral story, John Henry "Doc" Holliday. 

Eyecatching news items and thoughts of those whose eye was caught

Note:  In reading some of these items, it seems my tone might be perceived as one of pontification.  That's not my intent.  This is my space, these are my opinions and anyone is free to disagree.

* * *

Halle Berry is trying to reduce the child support she pays to the father of her child.  She supposedly says, "There is no case, no law, no logic that says a healthy, active man gets to simply live off child support that the wealthier mother earns."  Reporter's note:  Most of the single mothers I've known in my life didn't get nearly enough support from the fathers of their kids.  However, that didn't stop the single moms of very well-to-do fathers from enjoying a nice lifestyle while receiving child support.  Ms Berry is nowhere near as wealthy as Kirk Kerkorian but he was paying $100,000 per month in child support to a woman who admitted he wasn't the real father.  Kerkorian's ex-wife is a former tennis pro who once reached the top ten in rankings.  She's "only" 50 and fits the definition of "...healthy, active..."  Charlie Sheen pays Brooke Mueller $55,000 per month and she's perfectly capable of working when she isn't busy snorting cocaine.  Denise Richards makes good money and still pockets $50,000 per month of Charlie's money for child support.  That's why I don't have much sympathy for Ms Berry.  If it was good enough for decades for wealthy men to be milked for child support, sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose.  The bottom line is, if you want to avoid any possibility of paying child support, use an infallible method of birth control.

Brittany Maynard, whose decision to end her own life to avoid the ravages of an inoperable brain tumor that would kill in a few months, has died.  She took her own life on Saturday night as scheduled, after having released a statement that she wasn't sure she was ready to go.  Ms Maynard had moved to Oregon with her husband to take advantage of that state's Death With Dignity law.  Reporter's note:  Every state should have such a law, with provisions requiring that medical professionals ensure that the individual's condition is irreversible and either terminal or involves such agony as to remove any possible quality of life.

Then there is the story of Lauryn Hill.  The 19 year old also has an inoperable brain tumor and her doctors do not expect her to survive to the end of this year.  Now she has realized her dream of playing college basketball.  It took NCAA permission to move up the opening home game of her Mount St. Joseph College team.  Then her team ran a special play designed to give her a layup opportunity and she sank it.  Reporter's note:  A heartwarming example of someone facing the end of their life with a positive attitude and trying to do something to prevent others from becoming ill with the same type of tumor.

With the approach of Tuesday's elections, training for those who will be working the polls was conducted in Los Angeles County on Sunday.  Reporter's note:  The people who work at the polls are a vital cog in the election process.  Their thankless work deserves more respect, and voters at the polls should not berate or belittle these paid volunteers.

The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a case that seems surprisingly silly.  A 12 year old named Menachem Zivotofsky wants his U. S. passport to state that his place of birth is Jerusalem, Israel.  There is a U. S. law that mandates his request should be granted by the State Department, which runs counter to the current foreign policy that the U. S. does not recognize Israeli sovereignty of that city.  That's been the policy of the U. S. since 1948.  The issue is separate of powers.  Reporter's note:  This is one where the Executive Branch gets the nod.  Foreign policy and the crafting of the nation's positions in this area are clearly given to that branch of our government by the Constitution.

Actress Angie Harmon, currently starring in TNT's "Rizzoli and Isles" and her husband, retired NFL player Jason Sehorn have separated after 13 years of marriage.  They married in 2001 after a very public marriage proposal in 1998 as Ms Harmon was a guest on "The Tonight Show."  Reporter's note:  It was sad to watch video of that proposal.  They seemed so much in love. 

Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki took up a different sport for one day. She entered and finished the New York City Marathon, in a time well ahead of her goal.  She ran the 26.2 mile course in just under 3 hours and 27 minutes.  Reporter's note:  Kudos to her.  Finishing a marathon is not easy.
Actress Emma Watson of "Harry Potter" fame was the recipient of the Britannia Award and her acceptance speech was a bit odd:

Reporter's note:  I've had hamsters before, and even mourned their passing.  Not sure I'd dedicate an award like that to a hamster myself, but if it makes her happy, whatever.

Your faithful reporter managed to make it to the polling place today, in spite of having spent two hours being tortured at the dentist's office (had to have a crown).  The anesthetic is just now wearing off another three hours later and the pain is more than expected.

In India, a man has confessed to torturing and then killing the man who had raped his daughter.  He reportedly used heated tongs to burn the rapist's private parts before strangling him.  Reporter's note:  While I can't get behind vigilante justice, I can understand why a father would be moved to do something like this.

Early indications are that the turnout at the polls today will be light, as predicted.  One poll shows that only four in ten Americans have given thought to voting and less than 58% of those polled say they will definitely be voting today.  Reporter's note:  Political apathy seems to favor Republican candidates.

Data released by state officials shows that in September, the residents of Beverly Hills used nearly six times as much water per capita than do those residents who live in East Los Angeles.  286 gallons per person per day in Beverly Hills versus 48 gallons per person per day in East L. A.  Reporter's note:  Many more swimming pools and neatly maintained grass lawns in BH explains this very easily.  I bet the usage of bottled water is also much higher in more affluent areas.