Will Senator Feinstein run for another term? Should she?

There is an op-ed piece in today's Los Angeles Times articulating the reasons that its author Harold Meyerson thinks Senator Feinstein should not seek reelection in November of next year.  One of those reasons is that at the age of 84, she is currently the eldest member of the United States Senate.

Donald Trump is 70 years of age.  Hillary Clinton was 69 years of age while running against him. Bernie Sanders was even older, and would have been 75 years of age when he took office had he won election.  Age was a minor issue during the election, and not much of one since there wasn't much of a disparity.  But imagine for a moment that one of the two candidates had been 84 years of age?  Then age would have been a major issue.

Did you know that there are currently eight U.S. Senators who are 80 years of age or older?  Unless the composition of the Senate changes before the end of the year, that number will increase to nine when Mississippi's senior Senator Thad Cochran turns 80 in December.  One of that group, Utah's Orrin Hatch has already announced that he will seek another term next November.  He announced his plans to seek another term one week before his 83rd birthday this past month.

We will almost certainly never see term limits at the federal level.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they are unconstitutional.  We will also never seen set-in-stone maximum ages for our elected leadership.  Consider that the two eldest members of the House of Representatives were both born prior to the Stock Market Crash of October, 1929.

If Senator Feinstein wants to run for another term, that is her choice and her right.  I will not vote for her in a primary or general election.  As Mr. Meyerson points out accurately in his op-ed piece, she has not changed with the party; and she is not going to be part of the process that brings about the required changes in party policy to energize the voters and help the #Resist movement to change the majority in the Congress.

I wouldn't vote for Orrin Hatch either but that's because he once said he "wouldn't want to see homosexuals teaching school anymore than I'd want to see members of the American Nazi Party teaching school."

There is no question that there are exceptions to the fact that for most, according to neurological research, cognitive function drops off sharply around the age of 70.  Many of those who roam the halls of Washington, D.C., who are far older still have very sharp minds.  Some of them have incredible stamina and energy levels.  

What do you think?

Saturday morning stuff

I woke up this morning just in time to catch most of the brilliant 1973 Best Picture winner, The Sting.  Even without the appearance of the famed Merry-Go-Round from the Santa Monica Pier, I've always loved this movie.  Brilliantly written and acted, with a stellar cast. 

Now as I sit here contemplating what to do today, I'm watching the 1978 movie "Game of Death."  I've always been fascinated by what this movie could have been had Bruce Lee not died before resuming his work on this project.

He had been working on Game of Death when he was offered the chance to star in Enter The Dragon.  With a much larger budget, Lee decided to set aside Game of Death to make the film that remains the standard for other martial-arts movies to try to achieve. 

The version of the film we are shown these days in the U.S. is roughly 100 minutes long and less than 12 of them are actual footage shot by Bruce Lee prior to his death.  Bob Wall wasn't even going to be in the film as originally envisioned.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar refused to take part in the re-shoot.  Sammo Hung, who can be seen below fighting Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, choreographed the fight sequences in the re-shoot.

The original footage in the final product, scarce as it is, is worth plodding through the rest.

* * *

Will the Liar-in-Chief actually follow through on his threat to cut off the $600 million per month in federal subsidies paid to the marketplace exchanges as part of the Affordable Care Act?

Possibly, but if he thinks that the blame would fall on the Democrats for such an action, he is sadly mistaken.  With all of its flaws, Obamacare provides care for millions of people who did not have health insurance before its passage.  If those people lose their coverage because 45 is frustrated, they will all blame him.  They will also form a bloc of easily energized voters at the mid-term elections.

Bad idea, Cheeto-in-Chief.

* * *

The University of California at Irvine has rescinded 500 admissions offers and now the campus' student government wants to know why.

According to multiple media outlets, the administration is claiming this is related to issues with grades and transcripts.  They are denying the rumors that the offers had to be rescinded because they overenrolled.

Maybe.  Maybe not.  All but the most elite of universities of any size overenroll to some degree because they know they won't get a 100% acceptance from those accepted for admission. 

Stay tuned.

* * *

The men who set fire to the horns of a bull in Spain should receive a fitting punishment.  The bull was in such agony that it charged the post to which it was tied, killing itself.  I refuse to show the video, or link to it.

I know that setting their ears on fire would be cruel and unusual punishment.  Any other suggestions?

* * *

Steve Wynn had to admit to the fact this his Wynn Palace Hotel/Casino in Macau lost $10 million in April; on a conference call with analysts.

He called it "...probably the most unique statistical anomaly in my 50 years of doing this" and that may be the case.  But this isn't the first and won't be the last time a casino takes a big hit over a short period of time due to their Baccarat tables.

They say "the house always wins" and for the most part that is the truth.  Billions of dollars aren't invested in casinos and the resorts to house their gamblers because of all the winners who go home with the house's money.  The house has an edge against the player on every single game.

But with Baccarat, the edge is the smallest one in the building.  Worse yet for the casino, this game attracts some of the biggest high rollers.

However, over time, the casinos wind up ahead.  One bad month isn't a big deal to them.  In fact, it is great publicity, making gamblers who think there is an element of "luck" involved believe that for a moment, the luck at that casino is good.

* * *

Pity Reince Priebus, or his replacement General John Kelly?

I was channel surfing this afternoon and I landed on CNN just in time to hear Wolf Blitzer invite now former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to phone in and be interviewed.  I didn't think he would actually do that, but apparently he did.

The announcement was that Mr. Priebus resigned, but the bottom line is that the Cheeto-in-Chief "...wanted to go in a different direction."  Prior to taking on the position as WH Chief of Staff, Mr. Priebus had been the Chair of the Republican National Committee since 2011.  He was, and probably remains a consummate party insider.  Failing in his attempt to win elected office, he ran for and won a position in the Wisconsin Republican Party, and then in 2009 was hired as the RNC General Counsel.

His replacement, retired Marine Corps General John F. Kelly is not exactly the Washington outsider one might think.  After graduating from the National War College in 1995 and being promoted to Colonel, Kelly did a four year stint in the Commandant's Congressional Liaison office.  That's the office that deals with inquiries from members of Congress to the Marine Corps.  He would go on to serve later as the Commandant's Legislative Assistant as a one-star general.  He also served 18 months as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.  He is very familiar with how things work in Washington, D.C.  His last billet prior to retirement was as the Commander, United States Southern Command.  The same job held by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf when he led the allies during the first Gulf War.

He has a very different management style than that of Reince Priebus.  But does that really matter?  He is working for the most disloyal, untrustworthy person to ever occupy the Oval Office.  To quote the late Leona Helmsley, "I wouldn't believe Donald Trump if his tongue was notarized."

Katie Walsh and Sean Spicer are people who came to the White House with Reince Priebus and they are also no longer there.  Anyone whose last name is not Trump is at risk, possibly even baby-faced Jared Kushner; of being let go.

A reminder that MAGA is not an acronym for Make America Great Again, but for this:

The so-called #TransBan and other headlines

Why did the Liar-in-Chief decide to suddenly announce a ban on transgendered people serving in our military?  It wasn't because of a personal bias of his.  As reported by Politico, this was a desperation move to try to preserve a number of campaign promises that were put in jeopardy by a struggle over this issue in the Congress.

Clearly, the issue is not the cost of providing medical care to transgender personnel on active duty.  And while it is a fact that the current military medical budget includes five times as much funding to treat erectile dysfunction, that funding disparity doesn't appear to include the cost of gender confirmation surgery.  Then again, those surgeries are a one-time expense and only when the individual decides to go through that procedure.  The issue isn't the money.  The issue is the fear that the transgendered generate in narrow-minded conservatives.

Which reminds of something on a related note.  There were tweets calling Senator Susan Collins a RINO (Republican In Name Only).  It is high time we start referring to these people who want to cut funding for healthcare for the poor, to discriminate against people because they are LGBT; and pick and choose which portions of the Bible they use to justify their attacks on others as CINOs.  Christians In Name Only.  Particularly those who denounce homosexuality while they continue to live in the closet and those who call same-sex marriage a threat to the institution of marriage when their own infidelities are a much bigger threat to that institution.

* * *

Amid speculation that he may be leaving his post as Secretary of State, suddenly Rex Tillerson has "taken a few days off."

Why anyone would want to serve in the cabinet of the Cheeto-in-Chief who has no one's back but his own is beyond me.

* * *

Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com fame was the richest person on the planet today.  Briefly.  A surge in the price of Amazon stock pushed him ahead of Bill Gates for a short time.  But when the stock price fell back a bit, Gates took back the top spot.

Both are worth well over $80 billion.  Does it really matter who is #1 and who is #2?

* * *

Raymond Joseph Liddy is a 53 year old Deputy Attorney General for the State of California.  He was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography in his Coronado home.

The Los Angeles Times reported that story, along with other details.  That Mr. Liddy is a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.  That he pleaded not guilty and is at home now, with an ankle monitor.  That it was a tip that led to his arrest.  His educational background.

What they didn't report was that he is married.  What they didn't report is that he is the son of a key figure in the Watergate Scandal.  Multiple sources, but not the L.A. Times are reporting that this man is the son of G. Gordon Liddy.

Is that a relevant fact.?

* * *

When O.J. Simpson is released on parole in October, there are a lot of places he will be welcomed.  Okay, maybe some.  But one where he isn't welcome is a USC football practice.

Head coach Clay Helton made that clear during PAC-12 media day.

“Currently, right now, what USC, the administration and the athletic department have said is, ‘No, O.J. will not be a part of functions or invited,’”

Maybe they have a big screen for him to watch at the Bunny Ranch.

* * *

The California Medical Board will vanish if legislation is not passed by the legislature.  But a bill to extend it was unable to get out of committee because of a provision that is opposed by the state's physicians.

What are they against?  A requirement that doctors on probation for serious violations must inform their patients.  Right now the only way for a patient to know if their doctor is on probation or has had disciplinary problems with the Medical Board is to research that themselves.

Considering less than one percent of the licensed physicians in the state are on probation at any time, their opposition as a group is difficult to fathom.

Senator Susan Collins on a hot mic and other headlines

Let's go straight to the video

I have been a big fan of Maine's senior senator Susan Collins for a long time.  I have lost some respect for her.  The fact that the member of Congress from Texas talked about a duel does not justify the response from Senator Collins. 

No one was more critical of the Liar-in-Chief during the campaign for his inappropriate remarks about what women look like.  The road to equality of treatment is not for women to begin following the lead of men who comment on what women look like.  The answer is to take that out of the discussion altogether. 

This is not rising above.  This is sinking to the lower level.

* * *

Kim Kardashian West is being sued by a Danish makeup artist over a logo.  While Kirsten Kjaer Weiss has the same exact initials, her makeup line's logo is KW.

Kim Kardashian West's makeup line uses all three initials.

Would that be confusing?  I don't think so.  What do you think?

* * *

Chrissy Teigen, who is so much fun to follow on Twitter finally got blocked by the Liar-In-Chief after years of trolling him.

She's in good company.  Others blocked by the Cheeto-in-Chief are:

Stephen King
Marina Sirtis
Bess Kalb (writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
Rosie O'Donnell
The owner/editor of Tailslate.net, the website I write film reviews for.

* * *

In Bloomsburg, PA, a bridal boutique refused to sell a wedding dress to a same sex couple because of their "belief" that same-sex marriage is wrong.

The town had tried back in 2014 to pass an ordinance banning LGBT discrimination, but it did not pass.

I hope this costs them a lot of business.

* * *

The headline of a story printed by the Washington Times and shared by FoxNation (part of Fox News) reads as follows: 

Obama's IRS Doled Out More Than $24 Billion In Potentially Bogus Refunds

True, there were a lot of potentially bogus refunds.  But blaming President Obama is wrong..  The story ignores a critical fact or two.  Since 2010, adjusted for inflation, the IRS' budget has been reduced by 18%.  Their workforce has been cut by over 13,000 employees during that same period, a 14% reduction.

The blame does not go to President Obama for the difficulties the IRS is having in preventing fraudulent tax filings.  It goes to the Republican-controlled Congress for continuing to cut the funding of the IRS because they lack the ability to get rid of the current income tax system.

* * *

Imagine that a friend of yours is gathering $10,000 to enter the World Series of Poker main event.  So you chip in $60.

Then he wins and your $60 investment turns into $40,750.  That happened to a few friends of Scott Blumstein, who won the tournament this past weekend. 

Now that's a real Return On Investment (ROI)!

* * *

The Liar-in-Chief made a speech in Ohio where he floated the idea that he belongs on Mount Rushmore.  He said:

“Now here’s what I do. I’d ask whether or not you someday think I will be on Mount Rushmore.  But here’s the problem, if I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake news media will say ‘he believes he should be on Mount Rushmore.’ So I won’t say it. Okay? I won’t say it.”

In point of fact, there may be a real argument for his face someday being added to those of the four presidents currently on Mount Rushmore.  The key is in knowing why they are there.  The sculptor who created Mount Rushmore chose them for specific reasons.

Teddy Roosevelt - for creating the National Park Service.
George Washington - founding the nation.
Thomas Jefferson - growing the nation (Louisiana Purchase).
Abraham Lincoln - preserving the nation.

So unless we successfully resist the Cheeto-in-Chief, his face may need to be added because he destroyed our nation.

What will really happen when "The Juice" is finally loose?

In just a few months, Orenthal James Simpson will be freed from prison.  What he will do then is the subject of a lot of speculation.  Book deal?  Reality TV show?  A quiet life?  Life at the Bunny Ranch in Carson City, NV as a greeter?

How much does he receive from the various pensions he receives?  We do not know for sure.  NFL pension details are public and can be calculated as shown by an article from ESPN.  He might be earning anywhere from just under $10,000 to upward of $25,000 per month from that NFL pension.  He also has a Screen Actors Guild pension and another personal pension that he invested $5 million in years ago.  The pension money cannot be taken from him to satisfy the civil court judgment owed to the families of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.

Even if there was an audience to buy a book written by Simpson or some ghost-writer, publishing houses have made it clear that this won't happen.  The potential public backlash against anyone who attempted to put out a book from Simpson could put that publisher out of business.  It isn't worth the risk, especially since almost no one would buy such a book.

I've joked about a new reality TV series "O.J. - The Search For the Real Killer(s)" but I don't see him landing a reality show.  There are two reasons for this.  One is that if he was able to make an arrangement where he was being paid for such a show through an off-shore shell company where the money could not be seized for the civil court judgment, that would result in a similar backlash against the network airing the show.

If he was being paid by the reality show through a U.S. entity, or directly, that's a recipe for actually losing money.  Let's imagine for a moment that some cable network creates an O.J. reality show and they pay him $20,000 a week for 13 weeks in season one.  He would earn $260,000.  Taxable income.  The families who hold the judgment against him would get the money.  He would have to pay those handlers a percentage, and he would owe taxes on the earnings.

Over the past weekend, a friend postulated that Simpson might make a deal with the families where they would allow him to work at something where they would get most, but not all of the money and he would be able to earn something.  On reflection, I cannot see a situation where either family would willingly negotiate with that man.

O.J. has been obsessed with being a celebrity for almost his entire adult life.  Can he give that up to avoid going back to prison?  Time will tell.

The parole of Orenthal James Simpson

In case you have been sound asleep since Wednesday night, the biggest story on the planet is the parole hearing of O.J. Simpson.  The parole board voted to grant parole to Mr. Simpson and he will be released this October.  He has been in jail since December of 2008 when he was sentenced to 33 years behind bars.

A lot of people are upset that he will be released after serving such a short sentence.  They are upset because they feel he should be imprisoned for the rest of his natural life for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.  The problem with that belief is that the jury in that case found him not guilty.  He wasn't being tried a third time for those murders in Nevada, he was being tried on charges of kidnapping, robbery, assault, conspiracy and coercion.  Not murder.

A legal analyst was on talk-radio yesterday and he pointed out that Nevada is the only state in the union where you can be charged and convicted for kidnapping without taking the victim to a different location.  The kidnapping charge stemmed from O.J. instructing his thugs to not allow anyone to leave the Palace Station Hotel room where these crimes took place.

Whatever the reason or reasons the jury in the murder trial chose to vote non guilty, that trial ended and he was NOT convicted of the murder.  The civil trial where he was found responsible has nothing to do with prison time.  Was O.J. Simpson a wife-batterer?  Almost certainly.  Was he ever charged with domestic violence?  No.  That is one of the big problems with our system of justice.  When victims of domestic violence find the courage to report being abused, arrests aren't made nearly as often as they should be.  An overwhelmed judicial system plea-bargains and diverts those who engage in this horrific crime to "counseling."  But in the end, just as Mr. Simpson wasn't convicted of murder, he also wasn't convicted of domestic violence.

Bear in mind that the judge in the Nevada trial that resulted in Mr. Simpson being imprisoned spoke out for the first time last year, saying that if he had simply taken the plea deal offered, he would have spent only two to three years in jail. 

Like it or not, our system of justice does not give judges a chance to impose sentences based on trials or allegations where the accused was not convicted.  This was not a "make-up" or "do-over" sentence.

During the murder trial of O.J., I put a sign up on the door to my office.  "This is a Simpson free zone.  No O.J. or Bart either."

What will Mr. Simpson do now?  Don't know and don't care.  He is addicted to being a celebrity but given the severe restrictions parole impose on his behavior, he'd be smart to just keep the lowest possible profile. 

Rather than be angry that he is being released, I'd prefer to see that energy channeled into improving the system of justice.  It is underfunded and overwhelmed.

Wishing death to an American hero.

John McCain is an American hero.  That is not in question, in spite of the scurrilous attacks made on Senator McCain by the Liar-in-Chief when he was still a candidate.  He spent 23 years of his adult life as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.  Nearly six of those years were endured as a POW in North Vietnam after he was shot down. 

Recently, a self-described rogue journalist from Australia, Caitlyn Johnstone, wrote a piece calling for the death of Senator McCain.  Its title "Please Just F*****g Die Already" is catchy as well as disgusting.  I found this passage particularly instructive:

"If you’re waiting for the part where I say I’m just kidding and would never wish death on anybody, please allow me to make myself clear: I sincerely, genuinely hope that Arizona Senator John McCain’s heart stops beating, and that he is subsequently declared dead by qualified medical professionals very soon."

It is instructive because it makes it clear it is not a joke or satire.  She honestly wishes this man death, and immediately.  Why? 

"This evil man has supported every US military bloodbath in his obscenely long lifetime, and has been actively involved in both promoting and manufacturing support for every single despicable act of military invention throughout his entire career."

That is not entirely true, which should not come as a surprise since Ms Johnstone was one of the primary proponents of the debunked claims regarding the killing of Seth Rich was done because he had been involved in the leaking of DNC emails.  She also appears to be a firm believer in debunked 9/11 Conspiracy Theories.

Senator McCain called for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Lebanon before the bombing of the Marine Barracks, withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Somalia in 1993 and from Haiti in 1994.  Guess he didn't support every military operation, eh?

* * *

The reason this non-story flared up into a big story is because a Republican National Committee member from Nevada shared a link to this story with the word "Amen."  Meet Diana Orrock.  She ran against the incumbent in Nevada's 9th Assembly District primary last year and lost.

Apparently she did not grasp that adding just the word amen to a share of a tweet with a link to an article calling for the death of a hero would not be seen as an endorsement of that call.

So was she wishing the man an immediate death, as Ms Johnstone was, or was Mrs. Orrock merely incredibly clueless?  Her subsequent deletion of that tweet and the posting of the following may be a clue.

"My apologies to @SenJohnMcCain, @NVGOP & @GOP. Today's retweet was disrespectful. Sen. McCain is an American hero. I don't wish anyone harm."

But that's is what Mrs. Orrock did.  She endorsed the article without clarifying her intent.  Then she went even further down the road of idiocy by saying she was "...just agreeing with the sentiments of the article."

The sentiment, hell the entire article was a call for Senator McCain to die.  And she agreed.

From the FWIW file, she had no problem with the remarks of the Liar-in-Chief during his "locker room talk" with Billy Bush.  She withdrew her endorsement of the candidacy for U.S. Senate of Joe Heck in 2016.  Mr. Heck lost the seat to his Democratic opponent by less than 2.5% of the vote.

Why did she pull her endorsement?  Because Joe Heck would not support Agent Orange after those Access Hollywood tapes were released.

And she managed to give someone who doesn't need any more attention, a lot of it.

Tuesday morning musings

The morning news program I watch when I'm able has a reporter on staff named Chris Christie.  One of the people who reports traffic from time to time is named Chris Christie.  So this morning, a beach is closed due to a sewage spill and someone tweeted to one of the anchors that they should put Chris Christie on the beach closure story.

* * *

Speaking of the governor pictured above, a new book claims that his falling out with the Liar-in-Chief happened because Governor Christie tried to arrange for Trump to use Christie's cellphone to speak with President Obama last November once Trump was declared the winner.

Bad idea, given that the Liar-in-Chief is nearly as big a germ-a-phobe as the former host of Deal or No Deal Howie Mandel.

Christie is probably better off not being part of the tragedy of errors that is the current presidency.

* * *

Ruben Wills is a councilman in Queens, NY.  He is on trial accused of corruption for allegedly spending $30,000 of taxpayer funds for personal expenses.  When the judge disallowed five witnesses his lawyer wanted to have testify, he lost his cool.  Mr. Wills banged his hands on the defense table, shouted at the judge and then went on to slam a stack of papers on the table.

Not the smartest strategy.

* * *

After reading L.A. Times pop music critic Mikael Wood's review of Fleetwood Mac's performance at Classic West this past weekend, I feel a tiny bit better about choosing not to go to either of the two days of performances.

I'm sure that the set from Fleetwood Mac wasn't quite as bad as Mr. Wood makes out, but it does sound like they may have "phoned it in."  I saw them do amazing performances back in the day and I'll just hang on to those memories.

* * *

Disclaimer:  I am not a fan of Ann Coulter.  But IF it turns out that an employee or employees of Delta Airlines decided to move her from her pre-booked seat to a different one, that is more unacceptable than any of Ms Coulter's tweets about the incident.  You don't hassle customers because you don't like their politics.

* * *

Want to send good wishes for a speedy recovery to Ara Parseghian, former head football coach at Notre Dame.  He is 94 and suffering from an infection in his hip.  Get well soon, Coach.

* * *

Steve Whitmire was the puppeteer for Kermit the Frog for more than two decades after Jim Henson died in 1990.  Now he's been fired from that role by Disney, who purchased the Muppets in 2004.

He had a lot to say about his firing and now Disney is claiming they had warned him about his "unacceptable business conduct" for years and he had not responded to the feedback.

I hope he saved his money, he may find it hard to find similar gigs in the future.

* * *

Eric Trump picked a fight on Twitter with Keith Olbermann and when he didn't have a good comeback, wound up blocking the commentator.   Then he questioned the "moral compass" of CNN, because it gave debate questions in advance to Hillary Clinton.

Actually, it was one person, working for CNN and not the network itself that did that, but Eric Trump has no business questioning the moral compass of anyone else.  Especially considering the self-dealing and diversion of funds by his personal foundation.

Wonder if he will block me for pointing that out?  Probably not.  I called his dad a moron, among other things and he hasn't blocked me...yet.

* * *

Stan Lee, the man, the myth, the legend, the genius behind Marvel Comics and the movies/television shows they've spawned, is being honored today.  He will add his handprints and footprints to those already enshrined at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

I still remember being impressed by an autographed photo of him hanging in the office of a podiatrist I used to go to. 

* * *

Most of my clients who drive for Uber or Lyft really do not make much money doing the gig, when you analyze their actual hourly rate of earnings after expenses.  There are exceptions, usually those who are doing it full-time and working during surge pricing periods.

But one lucky Uber driver got a far that brought him pay of roughly $49 per hour for a 14 hour round trip.  Four minor league players in the farm system of the Seattle Mariners wound up using that driver to take them from Phoenix to Albuquerque to make a game.  Their cost for the trip was $683.52.  No word on the amount of tip, if any.

I've had a few clients who actually lost money driving for Uber after deducting their expenses.

* * *

End of the week Ponderings

Thursday was interesting.  Had a few minutes to kill because I missed the first showing of Spierman: Homecoming so I went for a bit of a drive.  Drove past the Century Plaza Hotel construction site.  They are renovating the hotel and will reduce its room count from nearly 800 to less than 400, and hope to earn a 5-star rating with the renovations. 

Back in 1967, LAPD dealt with a very large protest against the Vietnam War when then president Lyndon B. Johnson was at the hotel.  I was still very young when it happened, but my memory of that was shaped by how Joseph Wambaugh wrote about it in his early novels.  In The Blue Knight, the title character, William "Bumper" Morgan talked at one point about getting "stick time" at the protest.  Stick time of course referring to officers using their nightsticks to beat protesters. 

Until 2004, the ABC Entertainment Center was located on the other side of Avenue of the Stars from the Century Plaza.

Back in 1977, to give me a proper send-off to Air Force basic training the next day, my dad took me to see "A Chorus Line" at that ABC Entertainment Center's Schubert Theater.  The following morning began my decade long adventure in military service.  That next day was an adventure all on its own, as related here.

I also drove by the Intercontinental Hotel, which was once the J. W. Marriott Hotel, further south on Avenue of the Stars.  I had a memorable breakfast with my dad there.  While he didn't rend his clothing, just before I walked out, he told me I was dead to him.  I won't detail the reasons although they involved my refusal to do something my lawyer had told me was illegal, for him.  We didn't speak for seven years.  Fortunately, we reconciled and were close when he passed. 

Eventually I got to the AMC theater to see Spider-Man: Homecoming. 

* * *

After the movie I had two items on my agenda.  One was to get an oil change for my car.  The other was to pick up some food and a couple of things at 7-11.  As I headed over there I pondered which to do first and decided getting the oil changed first would cut down on the wait at the restaurant.  So I went first to the 15 minute oil change place.

It took 45 minutes because they were busy.  I had my food and was putting it in the trunk before walking into the 7-11 when I witnessed an auto versus motorcycle accident.  The car was in the right lane of traffic and about to turn into the shopping center parking lot when the motorcycle attempted to pass on the right.  The man driving the motorcycle and his girlfriend passenger received some minor injuries and the bike had minor damage.  I tried to calm the woman down as she screamed at the driver and passenger of the car, and she took offense at that.  "I don't know you, don't try to calm me down."

No good deed goes unpunished, right?

* * *

I was planning to see another movie Friday morning but since I was intent on going to Huntington Beach to play trivia with friends, I pushed it off until Sunday.  Saturday is going to be a day of full rest and relaxtion.

I might go into the office on Sunday after the movie, as I am way behind.  My manager keeps handing me more to do.  I now have a full calendar on Monday and still have six other tax returns to do.  July isn't supposed to be this busy.

* * *

Was it wrong for a teen to blast the song "F**k tha Police" from his apartment window as the funeral for a slain NYPD officer took place nearby?  Whether you say yes or no, it's an opinion.  Mine is that it is extremely disrespectful, protected freedom of expression.

The superintendent of the building promptly ordered the tenant that the teen and his older sister were staying with to get rid of them.  The tenant complied immediately.  Is that a violation of the teen's freedom of expression?  No. 

* * *

I'm fine with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan working to change the dress code within the Capitol Building.  I was fine with the enforcement of the dress code as it was.

Rules are rules.  If they don't work, change the rules.

* * *

Debra Tate says that Jennifer Lawrence is not "beautiful" enough to portray Sharon Tate, the actress who was murdered in 1969 by members of the Manson Family.  Quentin Tarantino is reportedly putting together a film and J-Law is rumored to be in the casting mix to portray Sharon Tate.

Debra Tate says she would prefer to see Margot Robbie in the role instead.  No offense intended to Debra Tate, who has been through a lot in her life; but casting decisions are best left to casting directors, producers and film directors.  QT is very particular about who he casts in his films and given his track record, I would trust his judgment over the sister of the real-life person being portrayed in a bio-pic.

* * *

A man committed suicide by jumping from an airplane intent on not pulling the ripcord.  He left a video behind for his wife, explaining what he planned.  She tried to get through to the plane's pilot to warn them not to let him jump, but she was too late.

This is an excerpt from the newspaper article on this incident:

"The United States Parachute Association of which Skydive Deland is a member, reported 21 fatalities related to skydiving in 2016 out of 3.2 million estimated jumps by its members." 

Factual.  Necessary?  I leave that to you.

* * *

Alfred Angelo sells bridal gowns at 60 signature stores in the U.S. and at over 1,300 other stores around the world.  Or it did until Friday.  That's when they shut down and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Patricia Redmond, an attorney who is representing the company in their bankruptcy proceeding was interviewed by the local all-news radio station on Friday and I listened to the interview.  She said that brides who had paid in full for their dresses will probably get them, although she would offer no guarantees.

Those who have paid only deposits may get partial refunds.  But given that they are in 7th position among the creditors, they may get little or nothing.

* * *

The tragic crash of a Marine Corps KC-130 in Mississippi that resulted in the deaths of 15 Marines and a Navy corpsman involved members of the unit known as MASROC (United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command.  MASROC was formed in 2005 and "stood up" (began operating) the following year.

The detachment of Marines to the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) was a controversial issue for almost two decades.  The Marine Corps felt that its Force Recon Marines should be kept in the USMC chain of command.  Only after 9/11 did they begin working to integrate these highly trained operators into the SOCOM structure.

They were en route to a training deployment in Yuma, AZ.

RIP, Marines (the Marines consider their Navy corpsmen part of their units).

* * *

Last thought.  As I write this on a Saturday evening, in Carmel, ID there are over 150 homeless people who have full bellies as they go back to their shelters and wherever else they are spending tonight.  A 25 year old pharmacy student would have been enjoying her wedding reception tonight but for reasons she chose not to disclose, the wedding was called off.  The Ritz-Carlton had been paid a non-refundable fee.

So she contacted shelters and arranged for the homeless to be bussed to the hotel where they will enjoy a meal of  bourbon-glazed meatballs, roasted garlic bruschetta, chicken breast with artichoke and of course, wedding cake.

Hollywood Pay Inequality

There are multiple reports that actors Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park are leaving "Hawaii Five-0" after seven seasons because CBS refused to pay them the same salary as the two Caucasian lead actors on the show.

Mr. Kim did make a statement on Facebook about his departure from the show.

A MESSAGE TO MY FANS ABOUT HAWAII 5-0
Sorry for the delay in hearing from me, but like you I’m sure, my July 4th holiday was busy with friends and family. I’m back now and didn’t want to let any more time go by without reaching out. By now many of you have heard the news, and I’m sad to say it is true. I will not be returning to Hawaii Five-0 when production starts next week. Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I weren’t able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue.
As sad as it feels to say goodbye, what I feel most is gratitude. I am so deeply thankful to our crew, writers and everyone associated with the show – and especially the cast, who have been nothing but supportive through this entire process. They and the crew have been my second family for seven years and I wish them nothing but success for season 8 - and beyond.
I also want to say thank you to Peter Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and everyone at CBS. I will always be grateful for their faith in me to bring Chin Ho Kelly to life. As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well developed, three dimensional character like Chin Ho. I will miss him sincerely.
What made him even more special is that he was a representative of a place my family and I so dearly love. It has been nothing short of an honor to be able to showcase the beauty and people of Hawaii every week, and I couldn’t be prouder to call these islands home. To my local community, mahalo nui loa.
Finally, I want to thank all of you, the fans. I’ve read your messages and I can’t tell you how much they’ve meant to me. I never, ever forget that YOU are the reason Hawaii Five-0 is the success that it is, and interacting with you online and in person around the world(!) has been one of the greatest joys of this entire experience. I’m so sorry we won’t be continuing this journey together.
I’ll end by saying that though transitions can be difficult, I encourage us all to look beyond the disappointment of this moment to the bigger picture. The path to equality is rarely easy. But I hope you can be excited for the future. I am. 5-0 continues on after one of its strongest seasons. I’ve got new acting projects on the horizon, and as a producer, my company, 3AD, has its first show, THE GOOD DOCTOR, set to air this fall on ABC. I hope you’ll tune in. There’s a lot to look forward to and I’ll be sure to share it with you. In the meantime,
Aloha, thank you and Happy Independence Day!
-DDK

I have a confession to make.  I have not watched a complete episode of the modern version of Hawaii Five-0 since it began in 2010.  I've seen bits and pieces but never a full episode.  Therefore, I do not know enough to know whether or not the roles played by Mr. Kim and Ms Park are "equal" to those of Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan.  The show's opening credits seem to bill them as equals, although Mr. Kim and Ms Park are billed 3rd and 4th respectively.  Does that mean anything in terms of pay equality?  Let's look at a few other situations in television.

When the six cast members of Friends got their $1 million per episode salaries all around, they did it by negotiating as a unit.  They had a unique set of circumstances, one being that all were nearing the point of leaving.  And, two of them took cuts to get the salaries of the other four increased.

The five original members of the cast of the Big Bang Theory took cuts in their own pay in order to free up money to give pay raises to Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.  They joined the show in season 3 and make significantly less than the original cast.  One of those five original cast members is Kunal Nayyar and he is of British-Indian ancestry.  Race doesn't seem to be a factor in his pay.  Kaley Cuoco gets the same salary as the men in that group of five, so gender isn't an issue either.

That info is from "reliable sources" within the entertainment industry.  We aren't able to access the actual contract data.  But it appears that Ice-T isn't earning the same per episode salary as Mariska Hargitay is for their work on Law & Order SVU.  I haven't heard him complaining about the pay disparity.

If we're talking about salaries for bank branch managers, or anything else along those lines, it is easy to argue in favor of "equal pay for equal work."  It isn't as easy to quantify the labor of performing artists. 

The ratings for Hawaii Five-0 had been slipping, with Season 5 lower than Season 4 and Season 6 coming in lower than Season 5.  But Season 7 was a large increase over season 6.  Why wouldn't you want to keep a good thing going?

I think that letting Mr. Kim and Ms Park go was a bad decision.  It was a business decision.  Was it based on their race?  I'd like to think not.  But the treatment of persons of color by the entertainment industry has been horrible historically.  While some movement is being made in the right direction, it is a dribble from the faucet of equality and insufficient for anyone to claim "problem solved."

I leave you with a question.  You need to cast an actress as the lead in a big budget movie.  Would you offer Emma Watson, Emma Stone and Emma Roberts the same salary for the role?

An angry relief pitcher and other headlines that caught my eye

Kenley Jansen is the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers and he is proud of his selection to the National League All-Star game roster.  But he is not pleased with Dodgers fans because none of his teammates are in the starting lineup.  In particular he is pissed that the team's 3rd baseman, Justin Turner and the shortstop Corey Seager were not voted in as starters.

The starting lineup, except for the pitchers is chosen by fan voting.  Justin Turner finished a distant third in the voting for 3rd base in the starting lineup.  He leads all MLB hitters in batting average although he doesn't have enough plate appearances to be among the "official" leaders.  He doesn't just lead by a bit, but he's hitting more than 40 points higher than the next hitter.  Corey Seager is also having an outstanding season.

So why were those two not competitive among the rest of the players at their positions in the voting?  The answer is television.  The impasse between the Dodgers cable TV channel, now part of the Comcast lineup and other television providers continues.  If you want to watch Dodgers baseball in L.A., you either have Comcast or you don't watch. 

Since the All-Star voting is now done online and not at the ballparks, the lack of TV coverage of the Dodgers has had a major impact in fan voting.  It isn't the lack of fans going to Chavez Ravine as the Dodgers lead the majors in home game attendance. 

Prior to the new cable contract, Dodgers games on TV were a big part of my life.  Now I only get to watch on the rare occasion where they are playing a nationally televised game, or it is one of the very scarce occasions where a local game is on cable.  Like their games against the Angels in the Freeway Series, which were available on the cable channel that carries the Angels games.  I might have taken the time to make the effort to vote, if I weren't so limited in my ability to watch the team I love.

Kenley Jansen blasting the fans may be fair in his mind, but he won't win any popularity contests among those he is blasting.

* * *

The case of Charlie Gard, an 10 month old infant who is suffering from Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome has became a major news story.  The hospital in London where he is being kept alive on life support went to court to get permission to terminate his support.  His parents want to fly him to the U.S. for an experimental treatment that most experts say has little to no chance of providing him any relief from his illness. 

45 and the Pope are both interested in helping Charlie.

If only 45 were interested in the health of all, and not just those on the front pages of newspapers.

* * *

In Illinois there is a bill sitting on the governor's desk that he needs to sign.  It is designed to prevent what was going on in LaSalle County in IL, where the former state's attorney had set up his own police force to confiscate money from people who weren't accused of any crime.

Thing is, when real cops in IL do it, it is still legal.  The burden of proof is on the person whose property was taken to prove they were not involved in criminal activity.  If they cannot afford an attorney to protect their rights to their own property, they are screwed.

This shouldn't happen.  Confiscation pending proof of a crime where there is probable cause to take the property in question is reasonable.  But if the accused is exonerated, their property should be returned immediately.

* * *

The Republicans who are in the majority in the Missouri Legislature have passed a law that the governor will allow to become law without his signature.  It preempts municipalities from setting a minimum wage that is higher than the state's minimum wage of $7.70.

For people who work within the city limits of St. Louis, this is bad news.  A couple of years ago they passed local ordinance 70078 which raised the minimum wage within the city limits to $9.00 per hour beginning on January 1, 2016, $10.00 per hour starting this January.  It would have gone up to $11.00 per hour on January 1st of 2018 if the state legislature had not passed this new law.

This means that the workers who were getting $10 per hour beginning this year may see their pay slashed by 23% as soon as this law goes into effect.

Visa denials

Multiple media outlets are reporting that a group of Afghani teen girls have been denied visa to travel to the U.S. to take part in a competition known as the First Global Challenge.  You can read the Washington Post version of the story here.  Here is an excerpt from that article:

"The State Department does not comment on specific visa denials. According to recent State Department records, it's particularly hard  to get a business travel visa from Afghanistan. Just 112 were granted in May, 2017; 780 visas were issued to visitors from Iraq and 4,067 from Pakistan."

Comparing 112 to 780 and 4,067 makes it look damn near impossible to get the type of visa these girls were trying to obtain.  But then again, without the number of applications submitted to get to these approval numbers, we're viewing those three numbers in a vacuum.  2017 data on visa refusals is not yet available.  But there is data available for FY2016, which ended last September.  Here are the visa refusal rates for Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan:

Afghanistan - 73.8%
Iraq - 51.71%
Pakistan - 46.43%

In point of fact Cuba was the only nation on the planet with a higher business visa refusal rate in 2016 than Afghanistan.  Cuba's visa refusal rate was 81.85%.

Based solely on those statistics, it seems these girls had little chance of getting the visas needed to travel here to take part in the competition. 

* * *

This reminded me of an incident that took place in late 1986.  At the time the Soviet Union was in the middle of their unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.  That moratorium ended in February of 1987 when the Soviets tested a nuclear weapon.  While I didn't break the story about when the test took place, I did break the one about how it was going to happen, because I was covering the efforts of U.S. and Soviet scientists involved in independent seismic monitoring of the two nation's nuclear test sites.  The scientists in the Soviet Union monitoring the test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan were ordered to turn off their monitoring equipment

My coverage of the story began in 1986 when the Reagan Administration refused to allow the Soviet scientists to travel to Nevada to work with their American counterparts.  They were using seismic monitoring equipment to track testing at the U.S. Nuclear Test Site at Mercury, NV.  The Reagan Administration preferred another method of test monitoring known as  Corrtex.  Corrtex measured the yield of nuclear tests by burying a cable in a hole near the site of the nuclear detonation. 

History repeating itself?  In some ways, but the Reagan Administration's preference for Corrtex was the reason they wanted to impede the independent seismic monitoring project. 

Then again, the results in that case and what's going on today are also similar.  The Soviet scientists were allowed to travel to New York City to monitor U.S. nuclear tests remotely.  The girl scientists from Afghanistan will watch their robot compete in Washington, D.C., via Skype.