Friday, December 21, 2012
Another Opportunity For The Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys To Fling Themselves Onto The Tarmac
Democrats never learn:
Repeatedly stressing that President Obama has come "more than halfway" in meeting Boehner's demands, Van Hollen stressed that the last offer from Obama had to become the new starting point for renewed negotiations. Why should "more than halfway" be the new starting point? So Obama can go more than three-quarters of the way? Or like during the during debt ceiling fight, when he went 98 percent of the way?
This is just insane. The last offer from Obama gave far too much away, and was obviously a negotiating disaster. And that's where Van Hollen wants to start from now?
...What happened to not negotiating with terrorists?
You Know What? I Blame The NRA
Americans are very, very, very good at shifting blame. It's become part of the national culture. No one ever takes responsibility for anything, ever.
Wayne LaPierre of the NRA blames the media for the Newtown massacre. He blames video games. He blames school administrators. Indeed, the NRA is as much a victim as the kids. The many decades of work that the NRA has engaged in to make it easy to get assault weaponry is unmentioned:
Vengeance is coming. The only honorable way out is for all NRA members to either resign, or commit suicide.
You know - take responsibility, for once.
Wayne LaPierre of the NRA blames the media for the Newtown massacre. He blames video games. He blames school administrators. Indeed, the NRA is as much a victim as the kids. The many decades of work that the NRA has engaged in to make it easy to get assault weaponry is unmentioned:
But I still didn’t expect to be as horrified by his ludicrous words as I was. I didn’t expect to be as chilled to the bone by his utterly inevitable suggestion that the solution to our national gun problem is more guns – nice and close to our kids.You know what? I blame the NRA. I blame each and every member of the NRA personally for these murders. You can run, but you cannot hide, no matter how many weapons you own.
Vengeance is coming. The only honorable way out is for all NRA members to either resign, or commit suicide.
You know - take responsibility, for once.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Ball Is Again In Obama's Court
And here comes the cave yet again. There is still room for a grand deal between the Dems and a minority of the GOP. So, if anything, the danger is even greater than before. Who else will Obama sacrifice for the New Year?:
Boehner has two problems: one with President Obama and another with his conference. And to the extent that he meliorates one he exacerbates the other. He can return to fiscal cliff negotiations with an empowered Obama, and try to eke out the sort of deal he just rejected, then pass it through the House next week, on a bipartisan basis at but a huge risk to his Speakership.
That’s the course he told members he’d pursue in the conference meeting Thursday night.
And the White House is open to it. “The President’s main priority is to ensure that taxes don’t go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses in just a few short days,” said Press Secretary Jay Carney. “The President will work with Congress to get this done and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy.”
It sets up a scenario where Boehner’s old nemesis Nancy Pelosi is suddenly back in the driver’s seat, controlling the votes necessary to pass a deal.
Be With You - Kelsey B & Matt Fox (Official Video)
Reminds me of a highly-scrambled space-age version of the Southwestern Nutcracker, as done annually by my friends at Tucson Regional Ballet, except that instead of the Nutcracker waging battle on the Coyote on Clara's behalf, Clara and the Coyote join to wage war on the Nutcracker. Just a little subversive, this version.
Made The B3ta 'Best Of Week' List Again!
Woohoo! I'm on a roll! Twice this month: three times since Halloween!
The Question of the Week was:
The Question of the Week was:
Overcoming adversityI don't think people were particularly happy with this question. Thus, I was able to slip under the wire with a repost (aka 'pearoast') regarding my Australian lockout dilemma:
The Doveston asks: Have you ever fought back from a terrible illness? Got out of a job that was going nowhere? Secured a great victory against the odds through dishonesty and cheating? Warm our hearts, B3ta
Stranded myself in a foreign land
As far as adversities go it was small, but it loomed large at the time: locking myself out just hours before an international trip.
At 1 a.m., I returned to Mt. Glorious, in the mountains outside of Brisbane, Australia, after an evening clubbing. My host left the country two days previously and I was all alone in his house. I prepared for my last sleepover by emptying my pockets.
Then, I remembered I had not yet studied southern constellations. So, I grabbed my southern star chart, walked out, and casually closed the front door. Instantly, I knew: I was locked out of the house!
I quickly ran around the house. All doors and windows were locked and secure. But I had to leave by 9 a.m. to make the noon flight. What was I going to do? For about one-and-a-half hours, I tried to pick locks, all the while jumping around so that the motion-sensitive outdoor lights would generate enough light to see. I found a tool tray in the garage, but it was guarded by a giant Huntsman Spider, so every time I reached into the tool tray I had to shoo the spider away.
Giving up on lock-picking, I decided I had to break a window. I decided to break the guest bathroom toilet window. I began cutting the outer screen of the window in preparation. Then I realized I was just too fat to fit through it. Plus, there was no time to see to the window's repair. So, I had to get help!
Even though this house was fairly-remote, there were a few neighbors nearby. But how could I bang on their front doors at 3 a.m.? They didn't know who I was and I had no identification. And my urgent insistence that I had to enter their absent neighbor's home might strike them as not credible.
The only thing that could work would be to find a locksmith. But how do I call anyone without a phone? I wondered whether there was a pay telephone in the village of Mt. Glorious, which was located about 2 kilometers away through the dark forest. I wasn't sure.
So off I went, tramping through the forest. The sky was overcast, so the darkness was nearly complete. I worried about stumbling over pythons or other animals in the dark. I tried to stay close to the slight glow emanating from the road's center dotted line, so that I might have at least have a last-second warning.
I found the village, utterly deserted at 3:30 a.m. Indeed, there was a phone booth there, but possessing no resources I was limited to toll-free numbers only.
I called "000", the Australian emergency number, and the Brisbane police reluctantly gave me the toll free number of Locksmith #1. He refused my appeal for help - there was little attraction to rescuing someone atop a mountain, 30 km outside of the big city. He referred me to Locksmith #2.
Locksmith #2 said he couldn't respond immediately. He was far away, but if I called back at 6 a.m., he would see what he could do.
I called back Locksmith #1, and again he refused - it was illegal to open locks for people who had confided they weren't the actual homeowner. He said that I should be grateful that Locksmith #2 hadn't turned me down cold.
These two locksmiths were the only two toll-free "express" locksmiths in Brisbane: I would need to find some coins to call others. There were toll-free glaziers, however, if I wanted to return to my host's house and break windows instead. At a loss, I lay down on a bench outside the restaurant and tried to sleep.
For reasons I didn't quite fathom at this semi-tropical locale, dawn came early. Birds like Australian King Parrots, kookaburras, and Sulfur-Crested Cockatoos were active, and I enjoyed listening to their treetop roar.
At 5:30 a.m., I called Locksmith #2 back. He sighed and asked if I had a mobile number. I said no, I had nothing. He said "look, there's nothing much I can do without a mobile number. I want to refer you to another locksmith who lives on that side of Brisbane, but I can't do it without a mobile number. You need to ask someone if you can use their mobile number." I said I was reluctant to ask before, because it had been dark. He said, "yes, but this is Australia. Everyone has a mobile number. And they'll help you too. But you need to ask."
"You need to ask." Walking past a house, I thought I heard some thumping inside. Summoning the courage, I knocked on their door. A young family and their five kids answered the door. They were new to town. They had moved into the house just the day before. The mother looked at her kids, then me, then asked "walking through the woods, weren't you afraid of dingoes?" "Dingoes!", I replied, "no, I was worried about pythons!" She said, "well, they removed dingoes from these hills a while ago and took them over to Moreton Island, but they've been filtering back, and they've been spotted again around here lately." I said "Wow, no I hadn't thought about dingoes!"
The family lent me their mobile phone and I made contact with Locksmith #3. The kids ran around the house and rounded up some coins, which they lent me to contact another locksmith, if needed. The husband decided to travel to the house to see if he could puzzle a way inside. I returned to waiting by the phone booth.
After just half an hour, Locksmith #3 arrived. We returned to the house and met the husband, who hadn't found a way into the house either. I returned his kids' coins to him.
By 8 a.m., the drama had concluded. I was in the house again and I left for the airport on time. Just the damage to the window screen to worry about (and a lingering fear of dingoes).
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
OK, Everyone, Time To Vote For Piper Stoeckel Miss America!
Vote here for your favorite candidate for Miss America!
I am supporting Piper Stoeckel, Miss Arizona, for Miss America, because she is a lovely ballet dancer attending the University of Arizona in Tucson. (I recognize the big dance room at University of Arizona where her solo dance reel - partly seen here - was filmed). Bear Down, America, and support Piper Stoeckel!
Piper Stoeckel gets caught in an Arizona haboob:
I am supporting Piper Stoeckel, Miss Arizona, for Miss America, because she is a lovely ballet dancer attending the University of Arizona in Tucson. (I recognize the big dance room at University of Arizona where her solo dance reel - partly seen here - was filmed). Bear Down, America, and support Piper Stoeckel!
Piper Stoeckel gets caught in an Arizona haboob:
Forty Years Ago - The Last Men On The Moon
From Eb-Misfit:
At 5:55 EST on December 14, 1972, the excursion crew of Apollo 17, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, lifted off from the Moon on their return trip home.
At Sunrise Mall With E.
Food Court at Sunrise Mall, Citrus Heights, CA.
(An interminable hour, trying to force a decision. Finally, E. takes several dresses into the fitting rooms at J.C. Penney's, in Sunrise Mall. E. emerges, to throw a pile of brand-new dresses on the floor and take a kick at them.)
E.: I HATE THIS! I HATE IT! It is so hot in there, and I was sweating and the dress was sticking on me and there was no one around to help. It makes me so mad! IT MAKES ME SO MAD! I hate; I HATE trying on clothes in the store!
M.: But you know exactly what will happen. If you buy a dress and take it home before trying it on, it won't fit, and you'll just have to return to try on another. I'm tired of playing that game. If you want me to buy a Christmas dress for you, you have to try it on in the store.
E.: (gesturing with her foot) Those two fit; those two don't.
M.: Good! Let's go to the Food Court!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Lots Of Fiber On The Menu, I'm Sure
For the discerning European traveler:
Located on a small island between Antwerp and Ghent in Flanders, the hotel is shaped like a giant colon, complete with a giant replica of an anus, The Huffington Post reported.
Originally an art piece, Hotel CasAnus is the creation of Dutch designer Joep Van Lieshout.
...Travel blogger Tom Hall wrote, "It is as normal as sleeping in a slug-like space can be."
Piers Morgan Redeems Himself
I haven't liked Piers Morgan much, and especially not after the British hacking scandal, but all is now forgiven. Last night's interview on CNN was the best I have ever seen on the network, ever (but it's not posted on YouTube yet).
Here is the second-best interview, ever, from the night before last:
Here is the second-best interview, ever, from the night before last:
"Singin' In The Rain" - Stand Out Talent - Tower Theater
On Saturday, I joined DMTC friends in Roseville to see "Singin' In The Rain" as performed by Stand Out Talent. This fairly-new group now works out of the Tower Theater in Roseville. Since I was rehearsing sound effects with the Junie B. Jones cast at DMTC Saturday evening, I was seated late, just before 'Make Em Laugh'.
It was interesting to see what is basically a new theatrical group in town (and one that focuses on youth). I knew only one cast member (Haylie Roberts) and I didn't even recognize her at first, because of her wig. (Apparently Taylr Ashley was there too, but I don't really know her.)
The fellow playing Cosmo (Alex Crossland) moved well for his size, sang well, and was funny (but needs to improve general acting skills). Spencer Peterson and Olivia Lawrence made a fine Don Lockwood and Kathy Seldon. The best performance, however, was by 16-year-old Carli Meyer, especially as she sang 'What's Wrong With Me?', fracturing the English language while playing the character Lina Lamont. Spectacular!
It was odd, the way the rain fell from the pipes in the ceiling aloft in a perfectly geometric arrangement of four connected squares. An amazing meteorological phenomenon!
Missed the Cyd Charisse dancing interlude. Pity. Apparently due to small cast size for this show. They needed just one more dancer!
In any event, a great show!
It was interesting to see what is basically a new theatrical group in town (and one that focuses on youth). I knew only one cast member (Haylie Roberts) and I didn't even recognize her at first, because of her wig. (Apparently Taylr Ashley was there too, but I don't really know her.)
The fellow playing Cosmo (Alex Crossland) moved well for his size, sang well, and was funny (but needs to improve general acting skills). Spencer Peterson and Olivia Lawrence made a fine Don Lockwood and Kathy Seldon. The best performance, however, was by 16-year-old Carli Meyer, especially as she sang 'What's Wrong With Me?', fracturing the English language while playing the character Lina Lamont. Spectacular!
It was odd, the way the rain fell from the pipes in the ceiling aloft in a perfectly geometric arrangement of four connected squares. An amazing meteorological phenomenon!
Missed the Cyd Charisse dancing interlude. Pity. Apparently due to small cast size for this show. They needed just one more dancer!
In any event, a great show!
E. Likes Nat King Cole
E.: MMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRCCCCCCC! I LOVE Nat King Cole! When I was 13 years old, and lived in the Philippines, I used to listen to him on the radio. They had a radio show on at midnight, and I stayed awake just to listen to him!
M.: Yes, he's a good singer.
E.: That's what they call the Classic Music.
M.: ???
E.: Yes, the European composers used to compose the music, like Beethoven and his Fifth Movement, just for the singers like Nat King Cole.
M.: I think of Nat King Cole as more of a jazz singer. And Beethoven is known more for his symphonic music. The classical composers aren't known much for vocals, except maybe for Handel, and....
E.: Beethoven went deaf after his Fifth Movement, because the European musicians liked to play their music SO LOUD! Anyway, Elvis was a rock singer. They used to call him King Of The Rock.
M.: There's a difference between Classical Music and Classic Rock.
E.: Some people call Elvis King Of The Soft Rock, but I call him King Of The Hard Rock.
M.: Rock and Roll....
E.: And Michael Jackson! King Of The Pop! And Willie Nelson!
M.: Country....
E.: Yes, I LOVE Nat King Cole!
M.: Yes, he's a good singer.
E.: That's what they call the Classic Music.
M.: ???
E.: Yes, the European composers used to compose the music, like Beethoven and his Fifth Movement, just for the singers like Nat King Cole.
M.: I think of Nat King Cole as more of a jazz singer. And Beethoven is known more for his symphonic music. The classical composers aren't known much for vocals, except maybe for Handel, and....
E.: Beethoven went deaf after his Fifth Movement, because the European musicians liked to play their music SO LOUD! Anyway, Elvis was a rock singer. They used to call him King Of The Rock.
M.: There's a difference between Classical Music and Classic Rock.
E.: Some people call Elvis King Of The Soft Rock, but I call him King Of The Hard Rock.
M.: Rock and Roll....
E.: And Michael Jackson! King Of The Pop! And Willie Nelson!
M.: Country....
E.: Yes, I LOVE Nat King Cole!
Think I'm Having Trouble With That Homeless Yo-Yo Again
I know, I know, it's all nice and private between the garbage cans in the alley behind my house, but could you resist the urge, and defecate somewhere else?
At The Arden Fair Mall, With E.
I'm A Star!
Ideology. Believe In Movement. 25% Off. At Macy's, now!E.: MMMMMMMMAAAAAAARRRRRCCCCC! There are no good dresses at this Macy's!
M.: There aren't? Everywhere I look, I see dresses. There must be a good dress out there, somewhere.
E.: Somehow it's not the same! Can we go to Sunrise Mall, tomorrow?
M.: (sigh) OK.
DMTC's YPT "Pinocchio" 2012
Went and saw "Pinocchio" on Friday evening. Noa Solorio in the title role, and the rest of the YPT cast, did a fine job.
Interesting, the turnover in YPT folks. The half life of kids in the company is about three years, so I was amused that even someone like Tessa feels a bit alienated from the group now, since she knows so few people in the current cast.
Myself, I was feeling nostalgic for the November, 2004 "Pinocchio", remembering how brilliantly Meeka Craig played Signore Volpone, the Fox. I wish she was onstage again. That's really her natural habitat.
That Moist Tongue Is Now Licking The American Southwest
Why isn't it raining in New Mexico? According to Intellicast, the cloud tops are certainly cold enough. I know the NOGAPS forecast showed a persistent band of downward velocities just east of the Rockies that should suppress rain over eastern New Mexico, but I don't believe that crap. In any event, it should be raining there. But according to ABQ & Cannon AFB radar, nada.
I need to complain to the authorities about this.
I need to complain to the authorities about this.
Obama Decides To Throw Old People Under The Bus
Time to say no, and head over the cliff:
Late last night, the White House offered a plan with two major concessions to Republicans. First, it would hike taxes on the wealthy, but only on income above $400,000, instead of the current $250,000 threshold. Second, and far more controversially, Obama offered to change the formula used to calculate Social Security benefits in a way that would cut outlays to seniors slightly while saving the program $225 billion over a decade.
Mystery Of The Dazed Kestrel
Picture of a kestrel, from Wikipedia.
Per usual custom, I arrived at work late this morning (18th & J Streets in Sacramento), parked my car, and went around to the back of the car to open the trunk and retrieve my briefcase. Just then, I heard a distinct *thump* behind me.
Looking around, everything seemed normal, except for what looked like a bit of refuse on the pavement: like a feathered piece of wood lying just outside the parking lot fence, by my employer's back door. It looked like an American Indian in ceremonial regalia had tossed away a small, feathered pipe, or something.
Approaching, I realized it was a small hunting bird, in some kind of agony. Its back was arched, as if in pain. It was conscious, and breathing, and evidently alarmed by my approach. At first, I had trouble seeing its claws, but that was because they were partly-curled. I thought, "It's a kestrel!" I started cooing to it, hoping to ease its tension.
What happened? Apparently it had either flown into the building itself (confused by the lighting off the reflective exterior tile?), bounced off the side windows of the building (once again, confused lighting on the windows?), or had flown into the canopy over the back door. Or perhaps it had toppled off a perch on the building above the back door, onto the canopy, and onto the pavement. Whatever happened, it was quite an irregular event for a bird like this.
Not wanting to touch the bird, in the event it had West Nile virus, and out of an desire not the frighten it too much, and also because an injured hunting bird can inflict a variety of injuries from its claws and beak, I started calling the Wildlife Care Association on my cell phone.
After about two minutes, the frightened bird noticed I was distracted, rolled over, and flew away. It seemed to fly true and straight, so whatever impact it had endured was not immediately mortal.
I related the experience to several of my co-workers. Craig thought it was an omen of the impending Mayan Apocalypse this Friday. Gabe said "One in the hand is worth two in the bush!" Candy said the bird had too much Egg Nog (she didn't like the Apocalypse idea, and preferred to think positive).
[UPDATE: The fellow from the Wildlife Care Association called back after listening to my taped message. He said this sort of thing can happen. Birds from the foothills come into the valley for the winter, and perhaps this bird lacked city experience.]
Monday, December 17, 2012
How The Wild West Became The Not So Wild West
How exactly did folks in the Wild West put up with all the craziness and violence of the frontier?
Well, they didn't. They enforced sensible gun control laws like all sensible folk would do:
Well, they didn't. They enforced sensible gun control laws like all sensible folk would do:
Frontier towns — places like Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge — actually had the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation.
In fact, many of those same cities have far less burdensome gun control today then they did back in the 1800s.
Guns were obviously widespread on the frontier. Out in the untamed wilderness, you needed a gun to be safe from bandits, natives, and wildlife. In the cities and towns of the West, however, the law often prohibited people from toting their guns around. A visitor arriving in Wichita, Kansas in 1873, the heart of the Wild West era, would have seen signs declaring, “Leave Your Revolvers At Police Headquarters, and Get a Check.”
A check? That’s right. When you entered a frontier town, you were legally required to leave your guns at the stables on the outskirts of town or drop them off with the sheriff, who would give you a token in exchange. You checked your guns then like you’d check your overcoat today at a Boston restaurant in winter. Visitors were welcome, but their guns were not.
In my new book, Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America, there’s a photograph taken in Dodge City in 1879. Everything looks exactly as you’d imagine: wide, dusty road; clapboard and brick buildings; horse ties in front of the saloon. Yet right in the middle of the street is something you’d never expect. There’s a huge wooden billboard announcing, “The Carrying of Firearms Strictly Prohibited.”
While people were allowed to have guns at home for self-protection, frontier towns usually barred anyone but law enforcement from carrying guns in public.
When Dodge City residents organized their municipal government, do you know what the very first law they passed was? A gun control law. They declared that “any person or persons found carrying concealed weapons in the city of Dodge or violating the laws of the State shall be dealt with according to law.” Many frontier towns, including Tombstone, Arizona–the site of the infamous “Shootout at the OK Corral”–also barred the carrying of guns openly.
Today in Tombstone, you don’t even need a permit to carry around a firearm. Gun rights advocates are pushing lawmakers in state after state to do away with nearly all limits on the ability of people to have guns in public.
Saint Evil, The Mysterious Stranger
(h/t Kelsey)
Kelsey repeats that this video was banned from TV in the 80's. It's funny, but I'm sure I've seen this on TV before - probably Sunday morning religious hour TV, when people would expect it the least.
RIP - Jenni Rivera
I was channel surfing last night, and "A 4 Ruedas" from San Francisco was running concert footage of the late Jenni Rivera. I was completely unfamiliar with her, but developed a fondness just from watching her. It's clear why her fans are devastated:
(or this one - a crowd pleaser!)
(or this one - a crowd pleaser!)
Adele - "Skyfall"
I haven't seen the movie yet, but the theme song song strikes me as the best of the Bond series!
The American Dystopia Where We Will All Have To Own Guns
I was rather shocked when I first heard this report. Did I hear it correctly?
Josh Deaser of "Just Guns" - you know, near Denny's, on that seedy, semi-lawless stretch of Auburn Blvd. near Watt - said, with respect to the CT massacre:
"If somebody were to have a gun there, a concealed weapon, properly trained, know how to use it, the situation would not have gotten as far as it did."Huh. Really!
Deaser says nothing, of course, about the mental stability of the concealed weapon carrier(s). We are heading to a dystopian future that only a gun shop owner could love, where everyone is required to be armed.
It strikes me the Nazis were more sensible about these things. Nazis wanted to euthanize the mentally ill, not train and arm as many as possible (and thus better-equipped to euthanize us all).
Of course, some in this country are fond of saying that when the Nazis took power, they disarmed the people, in order to keep them weak and helpless. That's false, however. The Nazis disarmed the Jews, but were happy to relax the rules for most everyone else. Triumphant Aryans had to be armed Aryans:
The 1938 German Weapons Act, the precursor of the current weapons law, superseded the 1928 law. As under the 1928 law, citizens were required to have a permit to carry a firearm and a separate permit to acquire a firearm. Furthermore, the law restricted ownership of firearms to "...persons whose trustworthiness is not in question and who can show a need for a (gun) permit." Under the new law:I like Billmon's take:
- Gun restriction laws applied only to handguns, not to long guns or ammunition. Writes Prof. Bernard Harcourt of the University of Chicago, "The 1938 revisions completely deregulated the acquisition and transfer of rifles and shotguns, as well as ammunition."
- The groups of people who were exempt from the acquisition permit requirement expanded. Holders of annual hunting permits, government workers, and NSDAP party members were no longer subject to gun ownership restrictions. Prior to the 1938 law, only officials of the central government, the states, and employees of the German Reichsbahn Railways were exempted.
- The age at which persons could own guns was lowered from 20 to 18.
- The firearms carry permit was valid for three years instead of one year.
- Jews were forbidden from the manufacturing or ownership of firearms and ammunition.
I think the gun nuts are in somewhat the same bind now: Their movement rests on an absolute, or near-absolute reading of the Second Amendment as an individual right to bear firearms.
What that means—practically as well as theoretically—is that events like the Sandy Hook massacre can’t be stopped, or even slowed, by the tools presently available to law enforcement. ....
And so a logical deux ex machina: The solution to gun violence is to arm everybody! No need for tampering with the Second Amendment, or waiting around for tiny corpses to cool so that we can begin talking about whether we should be talking about eventually having a national conversation about guns.
All we need to do is make sure any would-be assassins die instantly in a hail of bullets from surrounding onlookers the moment they draw—without, of course, harming any innocent bystanders in the process. Piece of cake.
...But we can at least hope that the gun nuts are heading down the same road as the anti-abortion nuts: Finally alienating a generally, but not passionately, sympathetic public with their progressively more extreme positions.
Friday, December 14, 2012
The 501(c)4 Groups Are A Colossal Dark Joke
Tax their ass:
In the confidential document, Crossroads GPS acknowledged that it intended to influence elections. “Consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the organization may, in the future, develop and/or distribute independent political communications,” it said. But, the group added, “[a]ny such activity will be limited in amount, and will not constitute the organization’s primary purpose.”
The group eventually reported over $70 million in election spending to the Federal Election Commission in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Most of that money went to opposing Democrats, and, as ProPublica points out, the group also announced it spent an additional $50 million on anti-Obama ads outside the window during which it was required to report spending to the FEC.
In the 2010 filing, the group also offered a breakdown of its planned activities, saying 50 percent of its efforts would go to “public education,” 30 percent would go to “activity to influence legislation and policymaking,” and 20 percent would go to “research.”
...Crossroads GPS is organized as a 501(c)4 “social welfare” organization. As such, it is allowed to raise unlimited sums of money without disclosing its donors. Such groups have become popular vehicles for political spending in the last two federal election cycles.
Nani Understands An Intuitive Sense Is Helpful In Learning Physics
Today's big question is: "What is Nani doing these days?"
Turns out, she's learning to juggle!
(Nani's done other interesting stuff, like getting murdered here....:
And wielding a sledgehammer here.)
Turns out, she's learning to juggle!
(Nani's done other interesting stuff, like getting murdered here....:
| SPIKE | ||||
| Stranded | ||||
| ||||
And wielding a sledgehammer here.)
Trouble With The SubContractors
More signs that PG&E doesn't know what it's doing. Glad I live in SMUD territory!:
Under California law, PG&E must conduct inspections every three years of all underground enclosures used to house cables, transformers and switches.
...PG&E has experienced a string of explosions and fires in underground vaults in San Francisco, including a corrosion-related 2005 blast in a vault near Union Square that sent a manhole cover hurtling 30 feet and seriously injured a passer-by.
...PG&E officials say an employee tipped supervisors that a colleague was certifying underground electrical switches and transformers in the San Jose area as safe without ever inspecting them. A probe of the accusation has led to the dismissals or suspensions of 14 workers and the finding that about two dozen inspections had not been carried out and another 50 were suspect, PG&E said.
...PG&E compliance manager Jadwindar Singh told the commission that the company had identified 401 inspections that it suspects were not carried out as advertised in the San Jose division, which includes Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Milpitas. PG&E said it had fired one contract worker for allegedly failing to make the inspections and lying about it.
Once Again, The Gun Crowd Benefits
It's important to remember, with these various gun slaughters that we've seen of late, that there are a number of right-wing groups (like the NRA) and merchants (like gun shop owners) that benefit from them. Each slaughter creates uncertainty, which just provokes people to BUY MORE GUNS! It's that simple.
The answer is also pretty simple. Stop buying more guns!
Laws by themselves won't help much - there are just too many guns out there. The only way out is to stop playing this game. People have to do this for themselves.
When Exxon workers were sent into the Alaskan shoreline wilderness to combat the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the only way that seemed to work to prevent bear/people conflicts was to make sure that people weren't armed. Armed nakedness made people more prudent about avoiding trouble.
Like "The Compleat Guide for Volkswagen Repair" noted many years ago, we'd all drive more safely if we were strapped onto our front bumpers like Aztec sacrifices.
No arms is the only good way to go. Guns almost always enhance the danger.
The answer is also pretty simple. Stop buying more guns!
Laws by themselves won't help much - there are just too many guns out there. The only way out is to stop playing this game. People have to do this for themselves.
When Exxon workers were sent into the Alaskan shoreline wilderness to combat the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the only way that seemed to work to prevent bear/people conflicts was to make sure that people weren't armed. Armed nakedness made people more prudent about avoiding trouble.
Like "The Compleat Guide for Volkswagen Repair" noted many years ago, we'd all drive more safely if we were strapped onto our front bumpers like Aztec sacrifices.
No arms is the only good way to go. Guns almost always enhance the danger.
Weather In NM Today
Albuquerque has gotten less than 2/3 of its normally arid precipitation this year, so more (0.05 inches so far today) is very welcome!
When You Die Overseas, Anonymity Somehow Mitigates The Pain
Base jumping has its dangers:
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz - Thirty seven-year old Eiliv Ruud of Foss Fallskjeriy, Norway died Dec. 4 while base jumping at Salt Trail Canyon, a tributary of the Little Colorado River.
Investigators believe the victim began his base jump from a height of approximately 1000 feet above the canyon floor. Witnesses said it looked like Ruud traveled about 500 feet when a gust of wind blew him into the canyon wall.
...The first deputy to arrive contacted a man and woman who traveled from Norway with Ruud to base jump at Salt Trail Canyon. The two said they were standing with Ruud at the edge of the canyon and all three planned to jump. When Ruud hit the wall, his companions said it looked like one of his parachutes deployed but failed to work properly causing Rudd to spiral out of control. They said they heard the sound of what they believed to be Ruud striking the canyon floor.
Good Things Sometimes Happen In Washington, D.C.
We're finally getting Lieberman's brand of evil out of the Senate! There is a role for partisanship polarization in politics, and Lieberman's ultimate exile demonstrates that, after twelve years of chaos-making Republican shock doctrine - no, make that 18 years, since the 1994 Congress - no, make that 34 years since Proposition 13 - that the needs of the American public will finally start getting some much-needed attention from our political elites.:
It was a lonely farewell for Joe Lieberman.
When the senior senator from Connecticut stood to give his parting address Wednesday afternoon, just one of his colleagues, Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, was with him on the Senate floor.
...A few more senators arrived during the 20-minute speech, but even by the end Lieberman was very much alone — which is how it has been for much of his 24-year tenure.
...Lieberman was excommunicated by his party (he won as an independent in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary) and retired this year rather than face probable defeat. Yet he received little love from the Republicans, either, because despite his apostasies on key issues — the Iraq war, above all — he remained a fairly reliable vote for the Democrats.
...And so it was a man with few political allies who bid the chamber farewell. “I regret to say as I leave the Senate that the greatest obstacle that I see standing between us and the brighter American future we all want is right here in Washington,” he said. “It’s the partisan polarization of our politics which prevents us from making the principled compromises on which progress in a democracy depends.”
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Made The Popular Answers Page This Week At B3ta!
Made the "best" answers page at the British humor Web Site this week! I submitted three answers this week, but only one of them made it to the "popular" answers page.
I made "best" page last month too, with my story about Mt. Hood. I must be on a roll!
Here is this week's question:
I made "best" page last month too, with my story about Mt. Hood. I must be on a roll!
Here is this week's question:
Made me laughMy response was:
Rob asks: Has anything happened recently that's made you laugh? Share your stories with us - we need the joy.
Break time at the Haunted House
I was one of several dancing zombies at a theater remodeled as a Haunted House this last Halloween. The episodic, vigorous hunt for brains was hard work, of course, and we were resting between waves of visitors. One of the Haunted House guides was a teenage girl dressed as a cat - cat whiskers, cat ears, cat tail. She sprawled face down on the stage. A teenage boy reached over and playfully lifted up her little cat tail. "Stop!" she shouted. "You've got to buy me dinner first!"
The Rich Girls Of Alaska
Greater degree of corruption there than in Mexico:
The continuing move of the entire Palin family into reality television careers is an amusing downfall story, but it took a serious turn today with the news that the state of Alaska had provided $354,348 in subsidies to Bristol Palin’s most recent venture into the genre, her Lifetime show Bristol Palin: Life’s A Tripp, which had such dreadful ratings it was yanked from its slot after two episodes.
...If the purpose of film and television production credits is to keep jobs in-state or to convince companies that otherwise might not have produced shows in a state to consider filming there, it’s not remotely clear why Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp would have been a good candidate for those credits. Alaska is Palin’s childhood home. ... Alaska was the most logical place for her to do it, even absent a subsidy program. That the show got tax credits from the state suggests more an eagerness to distribute them to whatever project came along than a real effort to attract new and unexpected business to the state.
E.'s Ex's Obituary
Fremont, NH: Adrien G. “George” Valcourt, age 72, of Fremont, NH and formerly of Haverhill, MA and Sacramento, CA, died Friday, September 21, 2012, at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Portsmouth, NH.
Born in Haverhill, MA, son of the late Adrian H. & Felice (Robillard) Valcourt, he graduated from Haverhill Trade School with the Class of 1957. He entered the United States Air Force in 1959 and served for twenty-six years until he retired as a Chief Master Sergeant in 1985. Highly decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, he was receipient of the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Force Comendation Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Vietnam Service Medal with six bronze Service Stars, the Good Conduct Medal and several humanitarian service awards. After his retirement, he worked as a Master Electrician for the Sacramento School Department at the Los Rios Community College from 1985 to 2000.
Joe The Plumber Watch
Easy to see the deterioration and cynicism that comes from living in a van in a motel parking lot. He was disappointed that I wasn't interested in gawking at the wares in a notorious Sacramento cruising spot. I was surprised he wasn't more aware that if we both know about that area, the cops surely do too. No point in tempting fate!
Ridiculous YouTube Compendia
Civilization never really began before YouTube, don't you think?
This fellow assembled five compendia of ridiculous YouTube video snippets. Here are two complete videos below of some of the best:
And even though it wasn't in any of the compendia, no one can beat Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, so here she is too!
This fellow assembled five compendia of ridiculous YouTube video snippets. Here are two complete videos below of some of the best:
And even though it wasn't in any of the compendia, no one can beat Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, so here she is too!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Mass Humboldt Squid Suicide At Santa Cruz
These are amazing creatures that I can forsee one day inheriting the Earth. But first, they need to stop doing this:
Legions of big predatory squid have gathered along the Northern California coast, where they are stranding themselves on Santa Cruz beaches by the hundreds in a mysterious frenzy of suicide.
The jumbo invertebrates, known as Humboldt squid, are far north of their normal habitat in the warmer waters of Baja California and along the west coast of South America.
...The presence of this particular species is not likely to make scuba divers happy. Humboldt squid, so named because they were first discovered in the Humboldt Current in South America, are also known in Spanish as diablo rojo, or red devil, because they have a reputation for aggression. The species, which are among the largest carnivorous squid in the world, often approach and sometimes even grab scuba divers.
"They are not afraid to approach divers and touch them. They'll grab you with their arms and try to figure out what you are," said Rosen, adding that the sea creatures display unusual intelligence. "It can make people a little uncomfortable. With a squid that big, it's nothing to scoff at, but there has been no documentation of them trying to eat a human. They are just curious."
Some scientists believe the squid are provoked by divers wearing reflective gear or holding flashing lights.
The ability of the animals to change color is another reason for the devilish reputation, Rosen said. In the presence of other squid, they will flash from white to red and back in a remarkable imitation of a strobe light.
The species are believed to have first ventured up to the Central Coast from the Sea of Cortez in 2000. Scientists with the Gilly lab believe they move north during El Niño weather conditions, which are in effect this year. It is believed that the water to the south becomes too warm for the squid. Climate change could be accelerating the warming process, which would explain why there have been more recent squid sightings.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Right-Wind Meme Smackdown
It's amazing how ALL the right wing zealots fell for this stoopid piece of crap and how hard it is to fix the damage:
According to the latest meme ricocheting around the conservative blogosphere and Fox News, almost three-quarters of the new jobs created in the past five months have been government jobs.
The figure, first reported Friday by the social conservative news website CNS.com, has immediatly gained traction on the right.
...But this is much ado about nothing as the 73 percent figure is patently dishonest and misleading malarky. CNS’ Terence Jeffrey arrived at the figure by comparing the change in the total number of people employed in June through November to the change in the number of people employed in government jobs over the same period.
...Why five months? It’s sort of an unusual amount of time to look for a trend, if you think about it. Why not six? Looking at the very same data tables Jeffrey links to in his post, it’s clear he cherry-picked June as the start date because it had the lowest number of government jobs all year, thus making the increase through November look bigger.
...If Jeffrey had started his analysis from the beginning of the year, he would have seen that government employment is actually down for the year, from 20,583,000 in January to 20,559,000 in November. But an honest look at the numbers would conclude they fluctuate significantly month-to-month with no clear trend in either direction.
RIP, Polly Beth
Obituary:
Pauline Elizabeth “Polly Beth” was born on September 21, 1940 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and went to be with her Lord and Savior on December 10, 2012 in Brownwood, Texas.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Reverend James “Jim” Holloway in 2008; father, James W. Lewis in 1973; mother, Vivian Pauline Dooley-Lewis in 2001, and brother, Walter E. Lewis in 2009. Pauline is survived by her sons, James Holloway of Albuquerque, NM, Robert Holloway and wife Lisa of Maracay, Venezuela, William Holloway of Odessa, TX and Alex Holloway of Brownwood, TX; daughters, Dawn Gibson and husband Michael of Albuquerque, NM, and Anissa Weekley and husband Kevin of Grand Junction, CO; brothers, James Lewis Jr. and wife Roberta of Los Lunas, NM, Joseph Lewis and wife Marilyn of Edgewood, NM and John Lewis of Alamogordo, NM; sisters, Winky Gibson and husband John of Deming, NM and Kathy Heffran and husband Mike of Deming, NM; eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren; many other family and friends who loved and will miss her.
Sign That There Is A Mouse In The Basement
I was puzzled why the fleas in the basement continue to persist. What can they be eating? There's no prey down there....
Last week, because of the rain, I missed putting out the bag of garbage for the weekly pickup. Not wanting to leave the trash all week in the garbage can, because the homeless people will dismember the garbage bag, I tossed the bag into the basement for safekeeping. BUT, the bag was dismembered anyway - by some ghostly, unseen presence....
Last week, because of the rain, I missed putting out the bag of garbage for the weekly pickup. Not wanting to leave the trash all week in the garbage can, because the homeless people will dismember the garbage bag, I tossed the bag into the basement for safekeeping. BUT, the bag was dismembered anyway - by some ghostly, unseen presence....
Blogging Temporarily Interrupted By Lady Gaga's Toothbrush
I'm agog over a toothbrush I saw in Rite-Aid last night. It plays two (count 'em, two) Lady Gaga songs. One was 'Bad Romance': the other one, I don't know. Nevertheless, I'm thunderstruck by the many possibilities of singing toothbrushes.
Friday, December 07, 2012
Automation Blows A Hole In The Bottom Of The Economy
The economy no longer reliably and consistently transmits productivity gains to workers. The result is that many millions of Americans, in particular less-skilled men, are leaving the workforce, a phenomenon the country has never seen before on the present scale.
...“This is something that has been happening and building for years and is now really rooted in the economy, and it’s vicious,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington. “There’s a remarkable disconnect. The problem isn’t a lack of the economy producing sufficient income to make everybody’s living standards improve—it’s that the economy is structured so that the majority don’t benefit.” Or, to state the point more cautiously, the majority doesn’t benefit from productivity gains very much—certainly, less than our parents and grandparents did.
...So, productivity is rising, but it isn’t being evenly allocated; the top is effectively disconnected from the rest of the spectrum—slippage No. 2. One reason, especially pronounced in the past decade or so, is that fewer of the productivity gains are flowing to workers, and more are flowing to investors. Chart 3 shows what happened. From the end of World War II through about 1980, almost two-thirds of every dollar of income generated by the economy flowed to workers in the form of wages and benefits. Beginning around 1980, workers’ share began to slide and, in the past decade or so, has nose-dived, to about 58 percent. The difference went to shareholders and other investors—who provide capital rather than labor—in the form of higher returns on their holdings.
...First, globalization has reduced American companies’ ability to raise prices, and thus to increase their workers’ pay, without losing competitiveness against companies in, say, China and India. Second, a smaller share of the value that companies produce today comes from the physical goods made by people like factory workers, and a larger share comes from ideas and intangible innovations that people like software designers and marketers develop. Between the early 1980s and the mid-2000s, Shapiro says, the share of a big business’s book value accounted for by its physical assets fell by half, from 75 percent to only 36 percent.
“So the basis for value shifts,” Shapiro explains. “This is the full flowering of the idea-based economy.” Which is great if you are a brain worker or an investor; otherwise, not so much.
...As a result, less-educated workers are in trouble, and men are in trouble, and less-educated men are in deep trouble. The problem has become more serious than most people realize. “It has reached a very extreme point,” said David Autor, a labor economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
...In effect, the economy is telling less-educated men: Get lost. And they are doing just that.
...If you are out of the workforce, economic growth can’t reach you, at least not directly. You might live off a girlfriend, receive welfare or disability payments, or dip in and out of the underground economy. But the performance of the economy as a whole becomes largely irrelevant. “A lot of these people will never work again,” said Looney at Brookings. “Less-skilled workers are falling so far behind that they are going to place a huge strain on the social safety net in the coming decades.”
Exploring The Haunts Of Victorian Rogues
This is so cool!:
Hidden away somwhere in England underneath a lake lies the fabled underground ballroom, built by a victorian eccentric and his 600 mining men, who dug out the lake, payed for by swindled investors , then went onto ownership of the builder of the Titanic, after its creator killed himself with a cyanide tablet, on hearing it was time to face the music of his debtors.
World famous author H.G Wells based a character in one of his books on the very same man.
The legacy : One of the finest follies on earth, the Underwater Ballroom or more accurately billiard room
Our mission to find, get in and take some photos for posterity and make a clean exit, not an easy task in freezing conditions and relying on a little dingy.
What Could Go Wrong?
I like the idea a lot, but....
New plan to put a beehive in every Berkeley middle school
A new initiative, spearheaded by Berkeley’s Edible Schoolyard Project, aims to put beehives in the city’s three middle schools by next spring.
...“It’s so important for the kids to understand how many of the foods we eat and enjoy could not be possible without bees and other pollinators,” said Cornforth. Bees play an important role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States, according to the BEES literature, as well as pollinating plants that animals graze on. The recent problem of Colony Collapse Disorder has made understanding pollination all the more important.
The Politically-Engaged Earth Scientist
Increasingly-common:
Why shout out the blunt question on everyone’s mind? Werner explained at the outset of the presentation that it was inspired by friends who are depressed about the future of the planet. “Not so much depressed about all the good science that’s being done all over the world—a lot of it being presented here—about what the future holds,” he clarified, “but by the seeming inability to respond appropriately to it.”
That’s probably an apt description of legions of scientists who have labored for years only to see their findings met with shrugs—or worse. Researchers from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, for instance, published a paper in Nature Climate Change this week showing that carbon emissions have reached record levels, with a 2.6 percent projected rise in 2012. In another AGU presentation, Pieter Tans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration posed the question: “Will realistic fossil fuel burning scenarios prevent catastrophic climate change?” He did not seem optimistic. “We might end up burning 900 billion tons of carbon” from oil, gas, and coal, he announced. “We can have a managed path to lower emissions—or do it by misery.” A guy next to me in the audience gave a kind of hopeless snort. The head of NOAA and polar experts held a news conference at the conference entitled, “What’s going on in the Arctic?” This year broke all sorts of records: the lowest recorded sea-ice extent, the lowest recorded snow cover extent and duration, and the most extensive recorded melting event on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, among other milestones. “I’ve studied Greenland for 20 years now; I’ve devoted my career to it,” Jason Box of Ohio State University intoned somberly, “and 2012 was an astonishing year. This was the warmest summer in a period of record that’s continuous in 170 years.”
Werner’s title nodded at a question running like an anxious murmur just beneath the surface of this and other presentations at the AGU conference: What is the responsibility of scientists, many of them funded by taxpayer dollars through institutions like the National Science Foundation, to tell us just exactly how f**ked we are? Should scientists be neutral arbiters who provide information but leave the fraught decision-making and cost-benefit analysis to economists and political actors? Or should they engage directly in the political process or even become advocates for policies implied by their scientific findings?
Radio Hi-Jinks: Royal Edition
More media misbehavior:
A nurse who transferred a prank phone call from two Australian radio presenters about the Duchess of Cambridge has died in a suspected suicide – two days after being duped.
Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha, who was working on the switchboard when 2DayFM obtained intimate details about Kate, was found dead near the King Edward VII Hospital today.
...The station apologised for 'any inconvenience caused' but provoked widespread fury and disbelief by continuing to continuing to promote its hoax, calling it 'the prank call the world is talking about' before playing clips of the recording.
As the backlash grew the DJs both deleted their Twitter accounts. The radio station's Facebook page was bombarded with thousands of abusive comments from outraged users.
...The Australian station and presenters advertised the stunt worldwide and today Christian was continuing to boast about the prank 'making international headlines' on Twitter.
...The station is owned by Southern Cross Austereo, an Australian media group formed in a merger last year that has a collection of TV and radio brands, and claims to be able to connect with 95 per cent of Australians every week.
The prank call was pre-recorded and vetted by lawyers before being broadcast in Sydney.
...Hospital boss John Lofthouse confirmed his staff had passed on information about Kate, saying: 'This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore.'
Thursday, December 06, 2012
He Was For It Before He Was Against It
The Senate passes understanding:
Today in Senate maneuvering: Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocked a bill based on his own proposal, after he called for a vote on the bill in the first place so that he could prove that it would fail.
The legislation would have given President Obama the authority to raise the debt limit on his own, unless Congress could come up with a two-thirds majority to vote to stop him. The bill was based on a proposal McConnell made last year that would give the president “last-choice option” to avoid a default on the nation’s debt.
McConnell proposed a vote on the bill this morning, arguing that Democrats wouldn’t have the votes to pass it. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., at first declined, but then called McConnell’s bluff this afternoon. This time McConnell blocked the vote.
“The Republican leader objects to his own idea,” Reid said. “So I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill.”
“This may be a moment in Senate history, when a senator made a proposal that, when given an opportunity for a vote on that proposal, filibustered his own proposal,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “I don’t think this has ever happened before.”
RIP, Patrick Edlinger
Awesome climber!:
Patrick Edlinger, who has died aged 52 after falling down stairs at his home, was often described as “the God of free-climbing”. Overcoming sheer vertical rock faces and horizontal overhangs, often without safety ropes or even shoes, he was widely known in France simply as “le Blond,” and among his English-speaking fans as “the blond Adonis”.Visual too.
Why "Breaking Bad" Is The Best TV Series, Ever
I missed this when it first came out in July, 2011 - Chuck Klosterman explains why BrBa is the best TV series, evah - but it still makes good reading:
There's a scene in Breaking Bad's first season in which Walter White's hoodrat lab assistant Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) tells Walter he just can't "break bad," and — when you first hear this snippet of dialogue — you assume what Jesse means is that you can't go from being a law-abiding chemistry teacher to an underground meth cooker. It seems like he's telling White that he can't start breaking the law after living a life in which laws were always obeyed, and that a criminal lifestyle is not something you can join like a club. His advice seems pragmatic, and it almost feels like an artless way to shoehorn the show's title into the script. But this, it turns out, was not Jesse's point at all. What he was arguing was that someone can't "decide" to morph from a good person into a bad person, because there's a firewall within our personalities that makes this impossible. He was arguing that Walter's nature would stop him from being bad, and that Walter would fail if tried to complete this conversion. But Jesse was wrong. He was wrong, because goodness and badness are simply complicated choices, no different than anything else.
2012 WGA Nominations Out!
And the nominations for Episodic Drama says it all:
"Buyout" (Breaking Bad), Written by Gennifer Hutchinson; AMC
"Dead Freight" (Breaking Bad), Written by George Mastras; AMC
"Fifty-One" (Breaking Bad), Written by Sam Catlin; AMC
"New Car Smell" (Homeland), Written by Meredith Stiehm, Showtime
"The Other Woman" (Mad Men), Written by Semi Challas and Matthew Weiner; AMC
"Say My Name" (Breaking Bad), Written by Thomas Schnauz; AMC
RIP, Morton Friedman
This is VERY BAD news for the Sacramento arts community! Morton Friedman was one of the power lifters when it came to local arts philanthropy (like Sacramento Ballet) and he leaves very large shoes to fill:
Morton L. Friedman, whose drive and vision as a lawyer, businessman and philanthropist shaped the culture in Sacramento from law and medicine to the arts and retailing, died Wednesday. He was 80.
...Few movers and shakers in Sacramento have made as big a mark in as many areas of civic life as Friedman. He was a man of boundless energy and generosity, and his name regularly appeared on lists of the most influential people in the region.
With his wife of 57 years, Marcy, he built a fortune that they tapped freely to benefit the community. Their philanthropy included a $10 million donation that made them a driving force behind a major expansion of the Crocker Art Museum.
...Friedman had a tremendous work ethic. Piles of legal briefs, depositions and other documents littered his office as he personally handled more than 300 cases at a time. Despite his success, he was a modest man who preferred to eat lunch at his desk or at Denny's.
...His biggest success was Arden Fair. He bought half of the shopping center with business partner Dennis Marks in 1975 and rebuilt it along with adjacent Market Square into one of the nation's top-performing shopping centers.
...Meanwhile, Friedman and his wife were among top donors to charitable and civic causes. Besides leading fundraising for the Crocker expansion, they wrote many checks to Jewish groups, the Sacramento Symphony and programs that encourage literacy, safe neighborhoods and tolerance in schools.
..."The community has been very good to us, and we believe very strongly in putting something back," Friedman said in 1994.
...He took a hands-on approach to philanthropy, from washing dishes at fundraisers to personally phoning donors for the Crocker museum.
..."People want to see us participating rather than just throwing money around," he said. "The key to success is involvement."
'Tis The Season For The Sliding Rocks Of Death Valley
Caption: Rain, ice, and strong winds likely work together in getting the rocks on the move. Rock movement is more evident after stormy winters. Image by Arno Gourdol
Interesting that people still haven't seen these rocks move:
It's the time of year when the sailing stones of Racetrack Playa in California's Death Valley are on the move. ... Extremely patient scientists studying the wanderliths have concluded that wetter winter weather plays a role in the stone rolling, but they're still not exactly sure how it all works.
...The sailing rocks are not small. Many are about the size of a loaf of bread and weigh upwards of 25 lbs.
The dry lake bed that is Racetrack Playa is pancake flat. It's 4 1/2 miles long but only rises one inch along that entire length.
Trails as long as 1,500 feet have been found. What's even more puzzling is sometimes you can follow these trails and there's no rock at the end of it.
...Rock trails will overlap, cross, travel in parallel, make wide curves, sharp turns, and zigzags.
Grand Canyon Age Intrigues
I don't have an opinion here, but I think it's an interesting debate to have, nonetheless:
Though the exposed rocks are ancient, most scientists believe the Grand Canyon itself was forged in the recent geologic past, created when tectonic forces uplifted the land that the Colorado River later carved through.
The new work by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and California Institute of Technology argued that canyon-cutting occurred long before that.
...Their interpretation: The western Grand Canyon is 70 million years old and was likely shaped by an ancient river that coursed in the opposite direction of the west-flowing Colorado.
Lead researcher Rebecca Flowers of the University of Colorado Boulder realizes not everyone will accept this alternative view, which minimizes the role of the Colorado River.
...It's not the first time that Flowers has dug up evidence for an older Grand Canyon. In 2008, she authored a study that suggested part of the eastern Grand Canyon, where most tourists go, formed 55 million years ago. Another study published that same year by a different group of researchers put the age of the western section at 17 million years old.
...Geologist Richard Young of the State University of New York at Geneseo said his own work suggests there was a cliff in the place of the ancient Grand Canyon.
Flowers "wants to have a canyon there. I want to have a cliff there. Obviously, one of us can't be right," he said.
Whatever the age, there may be a middle ground, said Utah State University geologist Joel Pederson.
Researchers have long known about older canyons in the region cut by rivers that flow in a different direction than the Colorado River. It's possible that a good portion of the Grand Canyon was chiseled long ago by these smaller rivers and then the Colorado came along and finished the job, he said.
Marc's First Bungy Jump - YouTube Version
It occurred to me I needed a YouTube version of this video. First bungy jump, ever. Have jumped twice since. Need to return to NZ to jump again!
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Tornado Kills Three In Auckland, NZ
Yes, the North Island, in particular, is vulnerable to twisters....
There seems to be an Antipodean tradition to reach for the closest musical instrument in order to commemorate disasters. Some of these disasters, like the Jan. 2011 Queensland floods, produced truly moving songs. Today's Auckland tornado is already celebrated in song....
"Lincoln"
Went and saw the Daniel-Day Lewis movie.
I was a bit bewildered by the introduction sequence, when two black soldiers alternated between recitation of the Gettysburg Address, and making bold appeals to Lincoln's more-forceful intervention on behalf of the slaves. So well-spoken and educated these soldiers were, when the reality was likely very, very different. Alas, it's Spielberg!
I liked Lincoln's Dream. Very evocative, with Abe standing on the prow of a ship racing into the howling darkness towards an imperceptible shore.
I liked the political minutiae. Illustrates just how little room the politicians had to maneuver in.
Worried about whether the abolitionist emphasis was correct. Somehow, I think the balance was wrong here.
Liked the acting.
Doing genealogy a few years ago, I discovered I was related to Pennsylvania Senator Richard Brodhead. I was hoping he'd show up in the movie, but he didn't. He was apparently a cipher in his own time, and has almost vanished from the pages of history. In Allan Nevin's eight-volume history of the Civil War, Brodhead appears fleetingly in just two paragraphs. The Senator from PENNSYLVANIA! How is that even possible? Even morons from that amazing age have books dedicated to their memory. Guess I'll have to write the cipher's biography myself.
Watched Vanessa Williams' "Dance With Me" Again, In Order To Marvel At Rick Valenzuela
"Dance With Me" is a great dance movie, not least because it shows Vanessa William's dance partner, Rick Valenzuela, at his best!
In 1982, I was associated with Desert Terrace Dance Studio in Tucson, and Rick and Sandy Valenzuela were the hot young couple there (together with Lonnie Mitchell and my charming instructor, Margaret O'Hanlon).
Rick Valenzuela was an amazing ballroom dancer then! Astonishing, really. And as the movie clip shows so clearly, Rick only got better!
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Concerned About The Dizzy Spell Last Friday
Maybe a bit too concerned. In reaction, I started up the potassium supplements again, thinking maybe that was the source of the trouble. Was I having microstrokes, or something? I was having slight trouble pronouncing the word 'meteorological'. When did that start?
So, I went to the doctor today. He measured my blood pressure as being low: 110/71. That may be the first time in my life anyone ever measured by blood pressure as being below normal.
Maybe this is what 'normal' means. Other people get a bit dizzy when raising the head quickly, but to me that was a foreign sensation. And whoever said I was pronouncing 'meteorological' well anyway?
The doctor suggested cutting my dosage if problems persist.
[UPDATE: My potassium levels are apparently now 'normal'. First time in years!]
So, I went to the doctor today. He measured my blood pressure as being low: 110/71. That may be the first time in my life anyone ever measured by blood pressure as being below normal.
Maybe this is what 'normal' means. Other people get a bit dizzy when raising the head quickly, but to me that was a foreign sensation. And whoever said I was pronouncing 'meteorological' well anyway?
The doctor suggested cutting my dosage if problems persist.
[UPDATE: My potassium levels are apparently now 'normal'. First time in years!]
Perplexing Finish To DMTC's Sunday Afternoon Show Of "A Christmas Carol"
It was a strong Sunday show of "A Christmas Carol", until the very last line. J., who plays Tiny Tim, blanked at the final instant. J. is supposed to cap off the heartwarming show by proclaiming, "And God bless us, everyone!" Instead, he said, "And God help us, everyone!"
A very modern touch, actually. Makes you wonder what happens next. I imagine Scrooge gets committed to Dr. Fogg's Asylum For The Irrationally Happy. Like Bedlam, but with better wallpaper and better drugs.
A very modern touch, actually. Makes you wonder what happens next. I imagine Scrooge gets committed to Dr. Fogg's Asylum For The Irrationally Happy. Like Bedlam, but with better wallpaper and better drugs.
Marc & E.'s Excellent Shopping Adventure
Jetta forgot we were supposed to see 'Lincoln' tonight, so no movie there, but E. said she was bored and wanted to go to the mall instead. But first, she had to wait for Chris' goodnight call, which normally came shortly after 8 p.m. So, shortly before 9 p.m., off to Arden Fair Mall.
E. was bewildered when we arrived at the mall shortly after 9 p.m., and all the stores were closing and the people were leaving. "It's after Black Friday, the Official Start Of The Christmas Season," she proclaimed. "The stores should be open until eleven!" Alas, those hours don't start until next week, so E. was left bereft. I think she remembers the heyday of mall shopping, in the Eighties, when people still had enough money and compliant retailers accomodated their demanding shopping impulses. Ah, to be rich and living in the age of Reagan again!
So, off it was to Target. We bought a few items: a nighttime cap, sink mats, garbage can, etc.: no more than $40.00, total. We bought replacement light bulbs for the bathroom. E. did comparison shopping between two brands and had trouble deciding: I decided instantly based on the logos alone - none of it really mattered. Then, back to home.
But there was a temptation: Dimple Records, on Arden Way. I couldn't resist stopping. Didn't buy anything, and got back in the car. Then the car wouldn't start. Dagnabit, it was that sporadic starting problem again! I knew the car would eventually start on its own, but a wait of more than an hour would be required. How long? Didn't know. So, time to call AAA. Ended up getting towed back home.
And, in the morning, the car started. Like I knew it would....
E. was bewildered when we arrived at the mall shortly after 9 p.m., and all the stores were closing and the people were leaving. "It's after Black Friday, the Official Start Of The Christmas Season," she proclaimed. "The stores should be open until eleven!" Alas, those hours don't start until next week, so E. was left bereft. I think she remembers the heyday of mall shopping, in the Eighties, when people still had enough money and compliant retailers accomodated their demanding shopping impulses. Ah, to be rich and living in the age of Reagan again!
So, off it was to Target. We bought a few items: a nighttime cap, sink mats, garbage can, etc.: no more than $40.00, total. We bought replacement light bulbs for the bathroom. E. did comparison shopping between two brands and had trouble deciding: I decided instantly based on the logos alone - none of it really mattered. Then, back to home.
But there was a temptation: Dimple Records, on Arden Way. I couldn't resist stopping. Didn't buy anything, and got back in the car. Then the car wouldn't start. Dagnabit, it was that sporadic starting problem again! I knew the car would eventually start on its own, but a wait of more than an hour would be required. How long? Didn't know. So, time to call AAA. Ended up getting towed back home.
And, in the morning, the car started. Like I knew it would....
Monday, December 03, 2012
Australia's National Myth Is Still Forming
Australia is such a young country that its identity isn't firmly fixed. With his movie 'Australia', Baz Luhrmann aspired to provide a national myth equivalent to France's 'Song of Roland' or England's Arthurian tales. I find it amazing that Peter Allen's 'Tenterfield Saddler', a 1972 song which has a line referring to Liza Minnelli, is now almost Australia's unofficial national anthem. Broadway-type songs seem to function in a different way there than here. You can't disguise the communal enthusiasm for 'I Go To Rio'!
Australia's Road Trains - A Documentary
Adam Sartain's excellent but harrowing road adventure last night got me thinking about road adventures in general, and about the world's largest semi-trucks: Australia's Road Trains, with their staggering size chasing everyone off narrow roads, fancy kangaroo grills, and immense dust plumes. Country music soothes the travel across the Outback, yet they too are vulnerable to mud:
Republican Nihilism Has Infected The Entire Party
David Gergen used to be the attractive public face of partisan Republican seriousness, so much so that he won pundit status and was sought after everywhere for his opinion. His latest column, however, regarding what he believes is Obama's overreach, struck me as so detached from reality, so nihilistic, so blind to obvious facts, that it must be viewed as Exhibit #1 in highlighting the complete bankruptcy of the Republican Party. Because if David Gergen is no longer capable of coherent thought, what can we think about everyone else in the party?
There just aren't any serious people left in the Republican Party. Last week, Obama and Geithner gave a detailed version of their opening position in the Fiscal Cliff negotiations, in the hope of teasing out a serious response from the GOP. Obama and Geithner gravely misread the situation. There will be no response, other than a temper tantrum. The Republicans no longer have anyone capable of detailing a coherent reply. They are children who no longer possess the cognitive skills. They were so used to overawing their opponents over the last generation that they don't know how to respond to a situation regarding thought and skill. So, off the Cliff we will go!
Gergen suggests that Obama is unreasonable in even thinking that Susan Rice might be a good Secretary of State. Why would Gergen think that? All Obama wants is the right to decide who his administration's nominees should be (rather than first passing muster Republican Senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham). You know, the same right all Presidents should have, and have always had in American history (until this 'Benghazi' thing). Everyone knows why McCain and Graham are promoting Massachusetts Senator John Kerry so hard for the post: because they reason that recent GOP Massachusetts senatorial candidate Scott Brown could pick up the empty seat cheap and easy in a special election. In other words, a typical, cheeseball Washington power play. Why should Obama play into their hands?
And remember, unless action is taken, we will sail off the Fiscal Cliff! Obama isn't 'pushing' anyone over the Cliff. These events were set in motion by George W. Bush a decade ago with the legislative maneuvers required to pass his initial tax cuts. It's a lot like rafting towards Niagara Falls in a barrel. If no one takes action, sailing over the Cliff is inevitable. No pushing required! Obama isn't trying to humiliate anyone: he is simply pointing out that the tax barrel is in a river of time that will inevitably spill over the Falls. If pointing out the obvious now counts as humiliation to the childish GOP, there truly is no hope for the party:
There just aren't any serious people left in the Republican Party. Last week, Obama and Geithner gave a detailed version of their opening position in the Fiscal Cliff negotiations, in the hope of teasing out a serious response from the GOP. Obama and Geithner gravely misread the situation. There will be no response, other than a temper tantrum. The Republicans no longer have anyone capable of detailing a coherent reply. They are children who no longer possess the cognitive skills. They were so used to overawing their opponents over the last generation that they don't know how to respond to a situation regarding thought and skill. So, off the Cliff we will go!
Gergen suggests that Obama is unreasonable in even thinking that Susan Rice might be a good Secretary of State. Why would Gergen think that? All Obama wants is the right to decide who his administration's nominees should be (rather than first passing muster Republican Senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham). You know, the same right all Presidents should have, and have always had in American history (until this 'Benghazi' thing). Everyone knows why McCain and Graham are promoting Massachusetts Senator John Kerry so hard for the post: because they reason that recent GOP Massachusetts senatorial candidate Scott Brown could pick up the empty seat cheap and easy in a special election. In other words, a typical, cheeseball Washington power play. Why should Obama play into their hands?
And remember, unless action is taken, we will sail off the Fiscal Cliff! Obama isn't 'pushing' anyone over the Cliff. These events were set in motion by George W. Bush a decade ago with the legislative maneuvers required to pass his initial tax cuts. It's a lot like rafting towards Niagara Falls in a barrel. If no one takes action, sailing over the Cliff is inevitable. No pushing required! Obama isn't trying to humiliate anyone: he is simply pointing out that the tax barrel is in a river of time that will inevitably spill over the Falls. If pointing out the obvious now counts as humiliation to the childish GOP, there truly is no hope for the party:
Instead of turning the GOP willingness to deal on taxes into a win-win, the White House seemingly wants to humiliate them by insisting they cave entirely on increasing tax rates -- or take responsibility for going over the cliff. Instead of sitting down and negotiating directly with leaders from the other side in private getaways, as presidents like Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan did, the president launches a campaign-style offensive against them.
The proposal that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put before Republicans on Thursday, as reported by The New York Times, was clearly intended to score political points with Democrats rather than entice Republicans into serious negotiations. It was full of nonstarters. One example: It demanded that Republicans lock in to $1.6 trillion of higher taxes in December and in exchange said that spending cuts one-quarter that size would be the subject of talks next year. Come again?
...Old White House hands from the GOP side -- people who like our Presidents to succeed --are privately warning that if the White House and allied Democrats keep pushing so hard-fisted on deficits, Susan Rice and Senate filibuster rules, relations with Republicans on the Hill will become even more poisonous in the next four years than in the past.
Impressive Northern California Rainfall
This was the California monthly precipitation map as of yesterday, before the rain from this latest storm really started falling. Today's map will only emphasize the huge dichotomy between Northern and Southern California's water fate.According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento's rainfall so far this water year (July 1 - present) is about double the average, but it's far, far less farther south. A huge rainfall disparity between the halves of the state has always existed, but so far this water year, it's much bigger than usual. If it doesn't change, it will mean happiness in the north next year, and desperation in the south.
Caption from the Sacramento Bee (photo by Randy Pench): Wesley Jones holds a pumpkin which was partially clogging a storm drain in front of his house on 36th Street in east Sacramento. Several houses on the block had flooding under their homes, in their basements and in Jones' case, a flooded garage. Heavy rain early Sunday causes streets to flood in the area including east Sacramento where some residents worked to unplug clogged drains to keep their homes from flooding. Sunday, December 2, 2012.According to his Facebook posts, J.E. got caught by this flooding too.
Myself, I got caught in the traffic jam on Highway 50 near the 59th Street exit while heading to Pam's ballet class this morning. I had started early, though, so I made it to class on time, even as Pam was delayed by both the marathon and the same traffic jam. I had mild problems in my basement from the rains, but the clatter of the rain really disturbed my sleep and made for all sorts of disordered dreams about water and ruin.
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