The passing of Glen Campbell and other news items
August 8th is a day burned into my brain as though it had been branded there. In another blog I've written about what I did on that day in 1977 in order to be able to depart as scheduled for basic training. Now I have another unforgettable reminder of this date. Glen Campbell died today.
Early in his career he was a member of the famed Wrecking Crew. For a few months he toured with The Beach Boys. A list of his hit songs would be very long indeed. He had a variety show on CBS. He sang the theme to the 1969 movie True Grit, in which he also co-starred.
He lived for six years after his Alzheimer's diagnosis. RIP
* * *
The Idiot-in-Chief has threatened North Korea with "...fire and fury like the world has never seen." Their response is to threaten to fire a nuclear weapon at Guam. Hopefully one of the people who whispered into the ear of that Idiot-in-Chief will make sure he understands that Guam is part of the United States.
It is one of the five unincorporated territories of the U.S. (American Samoa, Northern Marianas Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands being the other four). It is home to a large Navy base and to Andersen Air Force Base. Unlike Agent Orange, I've spent more than a little time there. I was stationed at Andersen AFB from September of 1980 through December of 1981.
Some refer to Guam as the "tip of the spear" of the U.S. military in the Pacific. Its strategic importance is critical in defending U.S. interests in the region. Baiting Kim Jong-in with bombastic threats of bombing is not the way to manage the situation on the Korean peninsula. Sanctions are a good thing. Threats are not. If Trump wants a war, let him ignore his heel spurs, grab a rifle and lead the invasion force as the first man in. After all, he's convinced he knows more about the military than anyone else.
* * *
The baseball season is headed into the home stretch and while the Dodgers have the best won-loss record on the field, their record in food safety is near the bottom. An investigation into the food service at the 30 major league parks by Sports Illustrated shows Chavez Ravine ranked 25th out of 28 parks (results for the other two were not available).
I haven't been to a game at Dodger Stadium since 2004 (gave up my season seats after Frank McCourt bought the team). In spite of the SI ranking, were I to go to a game, I would still grab a couple of Dodgers Dogs. Well worth any risks.
* * *
Did Robert Horry throw punches at another man outside L.A. Live after a basketball game involving Horry's son? The video from TMZ looks like that is what happened. Horry says he was defending himself after the man shoved him.
Seems out of character for "Big Shot Bob."
* * *
That's a photo of Sebastian Gorka, an advisor to the Liar-in-Chief on national security issues. When he appeared on MSNBC and was asked about the bombing of a mosque in Minnesota, he actually suggested that it might have been a "fake hate crime, propagated by the Left."
That was in response to a question about why the Liar-in-Chief has not yet commented on the bombing. Funny thing is, whenever there is an attack purportedly done by Muslims, Agent Orange doesn't wait to comment. Why the wait here for an investigation when the victims of the attack are Muslims?
It should be noted that two of the three referees who evaluated Gorka's doctoral dissertation held no graduate degrees, a serious breach of academics. The degree is from Corvinus University in Hungary and the evaluations of that dissertation are nothing more than generalized comments. That's not how dissertations are normally evaluated. The one Ph.D. on the evaluating committee has advocated putting the heads of pigs on fences at the borders of Hungary to keep Muslims out.
Pamela Engel is the politics editor of Business Insider and she describes Gorka as "...widely disdained in his field."
In 2007 he voiced his support for neo-fascist group the Hungarian Guard, an organization that was banned by the European Court of Human Rights for being a threat to racial minorities. I guess that explains why Steve Bannon wanted Gorka to stay on in his White House post after it was revealed he was planning to leave this past April.
* * *
From the WTF is our Justice System Doing File comes the story of Ryan Ponder (23) and Johnnie Beveritt (18). They will serve no jail time for animal abuse and the beating of a disabled Navy veteran.
Instead they will serve 18 months probation for trying to kill a turtle and 12 months for assaulting Garry Blough, but since the sentences will run concurrently, it is really only 18 months. They've also been ordered to each pay just over $16,000 in restitution to Blough, money he does not expect to receive.
These two should have spent a few months in jail for this, IMHO.
* * *
Early in his career he was a member of the famed Wrecking Crew. For a few months he toured with The Beach Boys. A list of his hit songs would be very long indeed. He had a variety show on CBS. He sang the theme to the 1969 movie True Grit, in which he also co-starred.
He lived for six years after his Alzheimer's diagnosis. RIP
* * *
The Idiot-in-Chief has threatened North Korea with "...fire and fury like the world has never seen." Their response is to threaten to fire a nuclear weapon at Guam. Hopefully one of the people who whispered into the ear of that Idiot-in-Chief will make sure he understands that Guam is part of the United States.
It is one of the five unincorporated territories of the U.S. (American Samoa, Northern Marianas Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands being the other four). It is home to a large Navy base and to Andersen Air Force Base. Unlike Agent Orange, I've spent more than a little time there. I was stationed at Andersen AFB from September of 1980 through December of 1981.
Some refer to Guam as the "tip of the spear" of the U.S. military in the Pacific. Its strategic importance is critical in defending U.S. interests in the region. Baiting Kim Jong-in with bombastic threats of bombing is not the way to manage the situation on the Korean peninsula. Sanctions are a good thing. Threats are not. If Trump wants a war, let him ignore his heel spurs, grab a rifle and lead the invasion force as the first man in. After all, he's convinced he knows more about the military than anyone else.
* * *
The baseball season is headed into the home stretch and while the Dodgers have the best won-loss record on the field, their record in food safety is near the bottom. An investigation into the food service at the 30 major league parks by Sports Illustrated shows Chavez Ravine ranked 25th out of 28 parks (results for the other two were not available).
I haven't been to a game at Dodger Stadium since 2004 (gave up my season seats after Frank McCourt bought the team). In spite of the SI ranking, were I to go to a game, I would still grab a couple of Dodgers Dogs. Well worth any risks.
* * *
Did Robert Horry throw punches at another man outside L.A. Live after a basketball game involving Horry's son? The video from TMZ looks like that is what happened. Horry says he was defending himself after the man shoved him.
Seems out of character for "Big Shot Bob."
* * *
That's a photo of Sebastian Gorka, an advisor to the Liar-in-Chief on national security issues. When he appeared on MSNBC and was asked about the bombing of a mosque in Minnesota, he actually suggested that it might have been a "fake hate crime, propagated by the Left."
That was in response to a question about why the Liar-in-Chief has not yet commented on the bombing. Funny thing is, whenever there is an attack purportedly done by Muslims, Agent Orange doesn't wait to comment. Why the wait here for an investigation when the victims of the attack are Muslims?
It should be noted that two of the three referees who evaluated Gorka's doctoral dissertation held no graduate degrees, a serious breach of academics. The degree is from Corvinus University in Hungary and the evaluations of that dissertation are nothing more than generalized comments. That's not how dissertations are normally evaluated. The one Ph.D. on the evaluating committee has advocated putting the heads of pigs on fences at the borders of Hungary to keep Muslims out.
Pamela Engel is the politics editor of Business Insider and she describes Gorka as "...widely disdained in his field."
In 2007 he voiced his support for neo-fascist group the Hungarian Guard, an organization that was banned by the European Court of Human Rights for being a threat to racial minorities. I guess that explains why Steve Bannon wanted Gorka to stay on in his White House post after it was revealed he was planning to leave this past April.
* * *
From the WTF is our Justice System Doing File comes the story of Ryan Ponder (23) and Johnnie Beveritt (18). They will serve no jail time for animal abuse and the beating of a disabled Navy veteran.
Instead they will serve 18 months probation for trying to kill a turtle and 12 months for assaulting Garry Blough, but since the sentences will run concurrently, it is really only 18 months. They've also been ordered to each pay just over $16,000 in restitution to Blough, money he does not expect to receive.
These two should have spent a few months in jail for this, IMHO.
* * *
posted by me at 7:51 PM
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