Nobody 729

Sunday, January 27, 2008
Nobody # 729

Nobody Asked Me But:

“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

UP: The UCLA coffee that Barb gave me for Christmas. Now I always know what’s Bruin.<<<

Sign of the apocalypse - The Hale administrators are driving around the campus in a golf cart!<<< (administrator's picture)

No birthday trip for Barb this year, as she feels a bit run down and not up to it. It was a doubly good decision, because the weather would have “dampened” our enthusiasm anyway. We did get out to the Valley Inn for a fried chicken dinner. One of the reasons I love the place so much is that we are usually the youngest people there. Damn, that feels good!<<<

According to the Gallup Poll of January 10-13, here are the four most important problems facing our nation. Because I try to be thoughtful and considerate, I have included solutions for each.

Iraq – Frame an exit plan and set a timetable.

The economy – Short term - prime the pump. Long term – raise taxes, reduce non-essential entitlements such as farm subsidies, etc, and place tougher regulations on banks.

Healthcare – Universal, single-pay, with options to obtain care outside the plan for higher co-pay.

Immigration – Citizenship for current illegals, but only those who can read and write English. Give a reasonable time period for them to learn. Tighten the border but tear down the wall. Deport all who violate national or state felony codes. <<<

He used to be J. R. Henderson when he played for the National champion Bruin basketball team in 1995. Now he is J. R. Sakuragi (means cherry blossom tree), a star in Japanese professional basketball. He took the new name as part of becoming a Japanese citizen, so that he could play on the Japanese national team.

Note: He also had to learn the language, all 1,750 characters in their alphabet, because that was a requirement for citizenship.<<<

UP: This limerick sent to Atlantic Magazine’s Andrew Sullivan’s “The Daily Dish.”

There once was a mayor called Rudy
Who went to Long Island for booty
The taxpayers paid So that he could get laid
Did 9/11 come before Judy?

Here are the answers to last week’s questions.

Just thinking about it will probably make you want to sing it. What is your all-time favorite theme song from a TV show?

Elizabeth: Mine is still “Mary Tyler Moore”, then “M*A*S*H*,” then “Party of Five,” and finally, “Malcolm in the Middle.”

Here’s mine. There are so many from “Have gun will travel is the card of the man,” to “You’re going to make it after all.” But my favorite is:

Through early morning fog I see,
Visions of the things to be,
The pains that are withheld for me,
I realize and I can see...

[REFRAIN]:
That suicide is painless.
It brings on many changes.
And I can take or leave it if I please.

The theme from M*A*S*H*.

In one sentence, what do you believe is the secret of life?

Trust your instincts. They will rarely, if ever, let you down.<<<

FYI:

In our current decade, the most popular girl’s name is Emily, followed by Madison. For boys it is Michael, followed by Christopher.<<<

LIFE ON MINNEHAHA (see cartoon)

DOWN: Dirty in South Carolina

What’s dirty in South Carolina? Hillary’s unnecessary and vicious attacks on Obama. She is not my American Idol right now. <<<

UP: Hillary, who said that the government should take an active role in the economy to address what she said were the excesses of the market. Sounds like the New Deal to me. And despite what New Deal critics say, FDR understood the Constitution, especially the preamble, better than most.

Form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty; the common denominator in all of these is fairness. Surely, life isn’t always fair, but the role of our government is to make it as fair as possible within the bounds of extensive but not absolute personal and economic freedom.

Add safety, directly in “provide for the common defense” and “insure domestic tranquility,” indirectly in the others, and you have the essence of the Framer’s plan for American government. The body of the Constitution is simply filling in the details.

DOWN: Hillary, for wanting to have it both ways. As she told Tim Russert last week: “You have a woman running to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling. I don’t think either of us wants to inject race or gender in this campaign. We’re running as individuals.”

Say what?<<<

DOWN: President Bill, who should have given the strongest endorsement possible to HRC at the start of her campaign and then shut up.

DOWN: Hypocrisy, as in Name This Candidate. “The Memphis Commercial Appeal praised (guess who) a few days later for daring to ‘set himself apart from the pack of contenders for the Democratic nomination by saying something nice about Ronald Reagan.’"(1992)

Who was (guess who)? Bill Clinton.<<<

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? The quotes, which break down the basic difference between the two Democrats, are from the New Yorker. The comments are mine. “

Obama offers himself as a catalyst by which disenchanted Americans can overcome two decades of vicious partisanship, energize our democracy, and restore faith in government. Clinton presents politics as the art of the possible, with change coming incrementally through good governance, a skill that she has honed in her career as advocate, views of the presidency.”

“Obama, who confessed to being disorganized, said that the Presidency has little to do with running an efficient office: “It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go . . . and then being able to mobilize and inspire the American people to get behind that agenda for change.” In reply, Clinton likened the job of President to that of a “chief executive officer” who has “to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy.”

The idealist verses the realist, vision verses immediacy, inspiration verses competence. Overly simplified? Of course! But there is often clarity in simplification. Despite my misgivings about Hillary’s tactics, both candidates are excellent choices. As for me, I think it is time for America to elect a philosopher-king.<<<

And here’s Obama on Bill Clinton being the first “black” president: " I would have to, you know, investigate more, you know, Bill's dancing abilities and . . . some of this other stuff before I accurately judged whether he was, in fact, a brother."<<<

UP: LA Times columnist George Skelton on Roosevelt and the New Deal – “I knew FDR. He was a frequent guest in our home over the radio. FDR got my dad back to work during the Depression and was a reassuring voice in the war. In our family, FDR was God.”

DOWN: Mitt Romney. Would Will Rogers have liked him? Probably not! The other Republican candidates sure don’t.<<<

UP: Candidates who obey this basic political law - if you're going to tell people something they don't want to hear, you've got to make a convincing counteroffer.

DOWN: The great myth. The Republican Party doesn’t really believe that "government is part of the problem." Hell, Ronald Reagan who first said it, didn’t really believe it. What they really believe is that a government that does things they don’t like, things like tax and regulate, is the problem.

UP: Caroline Kennedy, for endorsing Obama in today’s NY Times.

UP: BRUINS! Great win Thursday. Two of our top seven players out, behind by 7 and we pull it out. Talent + toughness prevails.

"This was the best win I've ever been part of in my 27 years in this business," UCLA Coach Ben Howland.

UP: Kevin Love for his GREAT game (26 and 18) and for having his priorities straight: After the game, Love and Leunen hugged and chatted. "Get those Trojans!" said Love.

UP Darren Collison, who followed up his career high 22 points on Thursday by scoring 33 last night and Love again, who also set career and Bruin freshman records in rebounds by getting 21.

UP: Fairness in basketball recruiting. If a recruit can break a verbal commitment without penalty, a coach should also be able to rescind a scholarship offer. Until papers are signed what’s “sauce for the goose,” as my grandmother used to say….

UP: Nevada business manager Vickie Joyner, 63, who said last week: "I voted for George W. Bush, I don't deny that. There wasn't a Democrat I could support – and there was the whole national security thing. Now he's like an embarrassing relative you're stuck with."

UP: UCLA’s multi-colored football coaching staff. The head-man and his two top assistants are, respectively, white, black and Asian.

UP: Good-bye - in this case to Fred Thompson. I would like to say that you didn’t waste yours and the voter’s time, but I can’t. What’s that? Your wife is calling on your cell?

WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY DOWN: Two Arizona legislators who are proposing a law that would allow teachers AND students to carry guns on public-school campuses.

UP: This quote from the famous Unknown: "He has an overriding sense of misery, which sustains him in times of happiness."

Here are your questions for next week.

If you could have a cookie-jar sized container filled with anything you wanted – anything but cookies and money - with what would you want the jar to be filled?

You have been asked to create a brand-new road sign that would be put up, where appropriate, on streets throughout your town. People in your town will be expected to obey it just as they do any other road sign. What will your sign command them to do?

Nobody 728

Sunday, January 20, 2008
Nobody # 728

Nobody Asked Me But:

“I love you more than even one more day.”<<<

Wine tip of the week - 2006 Cambria Santa Maria Valley Julia's Pinot Noir.

There is nothing “Sideways” about this Pinot. It’s lean and mildly smoky, with a light red hue that belies some modest intensity. (Or is it intense modesty?) It has a bright berry scent and clean, strawberry flavors. Actually some of the strawberries are a little dirty, but there is nothing dirty about the finish. Just a hint at green herbs and a taste of the sea just before a California rain washes all of the nasty stuff into Santa Monica Bay. (Well, almost before, but no wine is perfect.)

About $20 at K&L Wine Merchants, Manhattan Fine Wines and Red Carpet Wine.<<<

Here are last week’s questions – with my answers and, even better, some of yours.

Aside from your family, friends or pets, what would be the most difficult thing for you to give up in your life?

From Elizabeth and George.

“George says running and I say reading (in bed before going to sleep or online with my coffee in the morning).”

I haven’t run with George (I would eat his Arizona dust after 10 or 12 miles. Did I say miles, I meant feet.) But I have drunk their coffee in the morning while reading the news on their computer, and I can testify that it is a great experience.

From Barbara – “I would miss the small familiar things – like books, UCLA memorabilia and some antique things.”

Here’s mine.

Setting aside losing our home, which I am certain would also be high on everyone’s list, I would say my driver’s license. Driving equals freedom.

If I were allowed to turn this into a list, which I am not, I would add, in order after the above, my computer, travel, Bruin season tickets and my Sunday morning mocha.

And, yes, if you want to add more, I will allow late submissions.<<<

If you had to create the ultimate hotel, something as big and grand as those in Las Vegas or in Disney World, what would your hotel look like upon completion?

Since it is my ultimate hotel, it would neither be big nor grand. In fact, it wouldn’t even be new. I would purchase the Arizona Inn (picture) and keep the external part the way it is, casitas around green lawns and a quiet pool.

In the main building I would keep the restaurant, bar and library/formal room just as they are. I would expand the gift shop and add boutiques for women and men’s clothing and shoes.

I would refurbish all the casitas with new versions of period furniture and do a total makeover of the bathrooms – walk-in showers, lounging tubs and the best towels and toiletries that are available.

I would keep the ping-pong area and the croquet lawn as they are, and I would purchase adjoining property for a 9-hole putting course and to construct a spa – both high end and tasteful.

I would also add security to the parking lot.

As you can see, the emphasis of my resort would be to provide a peaceful retreat. I may not have followed the question’s guidelines, but what’s mine is mine.<<<

I am still planning the perfect resort...it will be an old fashioned, classic one, I think, or a sports oriented one. - Elizabeth: (How about a few more details daughter?)<<<

This just in: At a press conference last week, President Bush was asked to define national security. He declined saying that any definition would be, you guessed it, a breech of national security.<<<

JIM”S WISDOM (a name, not a claim)

DOWN: Secret democracy.

UP: My new Starbucks card. It was a Christmas present from Barb that I was able to design on line.

UP: Coffee competition. On Sacramento’s J Street, a Peet’s coffee store has opened practically next door to a Starbuck’s where they will fight it out cup by cup until SB’s wins by a mocha.<<<

UP: Cups of coffee. No, not the real stuff. When I read in the Times this week that a player came up for “a cup of coffee” last year, I know that baseball is coming soon.

UP AND DOWN: Chris Roberts, the Bruin radio play-by-play guy, for telling it like it is. As we left Pauley, our car happened to stop in traffic next to Chris’s SUV. His window was open and we heard him say on the phone – “The Bruins didn’t look like a Final Four team today.”

DOWN, and a bite your tongue: JT, for ever saying that Mike Huckabee might be better than a couple of the other Republican candidates. At a rally Monday in Michigan he said "Some of my opponents do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's.”

Theocracy anyone?

DOWN: Blasphemy. I was in Border’s with Jim the other day. We were talking about the above, and Jim said something derogatory about God. Less than a second later, the lights briefly dimmed. After that I kept a shelf of books between us at all times. No way I was going to be around him when the lightning struck.

DOWN: Racial parasites, black, this time, the Al Sharptons of the world, who continually stir things up because they know that any decrease in racism means a decrease in their power.

DOWN: Excess criticism over Hillary’s comparison of Obama to Martin Luther King and herself to Lyndon Johnson. King was a great man. LBJ, without Vietnam, would have been a great President. As campaign tactics go, it was both valid and astute.

DOWN: Hillary’s defense of her husband’s statement that that Latinos would not support a black candidate.

DOWN: Hillary and John Edwards for making me throw up with their Jimmy Stewart answer to the question, name your greatest weakness. Both of their answers were something like this:

“Goshdarn it, I just care too much. I am too impatient for good things to happen.”

UP: Obama, for the only honest answer of the night. “I’m bad at organizing my paperwork.”

Up: 35 percent, which is the percentage of Democrats who say Obama would be the strongest candidate against the Republicans - more than doubled in a month, to from 14 percent in December.

DOWN: Change as an empty word. Every candidate wants change. As Barack says, “I am change.” So is every other candidate. The issue is not change, but its kind and direction.

And ultimately, as the Buddhist cab driver said as he pocketed a $20 bill for a $10 trip, "Change comes only from within."

UP: Novelist Sue Miller, who in her new book, “The Senator’s Wife” nails it with the sexual differences between Democrats and Republicans:

"The problem here is the goddamn Democrats, who sleep down, you see. They love that white trash. ... And white trash loves publicity, so the Democrats are the ones who get into all the trouble. As opposed to the Republicans. They sleep up. ... Up, where all is Episcopalian and quiet as death itself, and no one ever has to hear a thing about it."

UP: My surfing adventure last week. That’s me on the left of the picture.

UP: Governor Termimator, was referring to term limits, but could have could have been talking about California government in general last Thursday when he said: “I have been there for four years, and I say, 'Oh my God, this is a disaster.'”

DOWN: Term limits. It turns out that they are the lesser of the two evils.

DOWN: The injury to Andrew Bynum. At 20 he is already one of the best centers in the league and the second most valuable Laker.
UP: Mitch Kupchek, for being wiser than both Kobe and I and not trading Bynum last summer.

UP: Celebrating history. Did you know that it was the Nazis and other European Fascists who made it OK for students not to salute the American flag? In 1940 the Supreme Court held that the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses could be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.


Three years later, after seeing totalitarianism at work in Europe, they reversed themselves.

The case was Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, and writing for the majority, Justice Robert Jackson (later to be chief prosecutor at Nuremburg) defended free choice with some of the greatest words ever to come out of the Court:

“To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of compulsory routine is to make an unflattering of the appeal of our institutions to free minds. If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act. If there are circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.”

Penalty Time

A five-game suspension for The Federalist Society for incorrect use of their name.

This organization of conservative lawyers wants a weak national government while the real Federalists, Hamilton, Washington, Adams, and others wanted a strong one.<<<

A thirty-game suspension for Chief Justice John Roberts for using convoluted logic:

A few years ago the Court ruled that the search and seizure portion of the Fourth Amendment permits police to search a car when an arrest is being made. But what if the arrest is ruled unlawful? Doesn’t matter says the Chief – “Our precedents say if it’s an arrest, you can search ‘incident to the arrest.’”<<<

Next week's questions

In one sentence, what do you believe is the secret of life?

Just thinking about it will probably make you want to sing it. What is your all-time favorite theme song from a TV show?

Nobody 727

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Nobody # 727

Nobody Asked Me But:

First: I am so sorry son, that you slipped on some ice and broke your wrist. As your father, I still feel a need to protect you. I know that makes little sense, but parenting is like that. Get whole soon.

Now, on with Nobody.

"The Reverend Al Sharpton attacked President Bush, saying he ruined the economy. For instance, Sharpton hasn't been able to find a job in over 46 years." —Craig Kilborn

There are two kinds of people in the world, those with brains and those who listen to Al Sharpton.<<<

Help me out here. I am as big a civil libertarian as almost anyone, but I can’t get excited about the government requiring “Real ID.”<<< I

am in shock and a little depressed this morning (Wednesday) over Hillary’s victory. I must have more emotional investment in Obama than I thought. I have no sense of what went wrong in New Hampshire unless the independents voted for McCain. (This proved to be correct and one of the factors.)

I do know that between Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary had a Romney-like conversion. She went from the candidate of experience to the candidate of youthful hope.

More on New Hampshire: By a 44% to 35% margin, those who voted in the Democratic primary thought that Obama had a better chance than Hillary of winning the election in November ----- and yet---- the vote went for Clinton by a 39% to 37% margin. Would you call that a bit masochistic? I would.

AND wouldn’t it be ironic for Hillary to win in November by running an “It’s the economy, stupid”
campaign?<<<

Justice Antonin Scalia on a our nation’s responsibility to provide a humane death penalty:

“But where is it written that the state must choose the least painful method?” “Is that somewhere in the Constitution?”

AND “This is an execution — not surgery.”

AND - on allowing time to determine if a one-injection method is preferable to the current 3 injections: “Such a move would mean a national cessation of executions. We're looking at years. We wouldn't want that to happen."

Could Friedrich Nietzsche have been thinking about Scalia when he wrote:

“Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”<<<

More on the Court

I am really hard line in my disbelief in original intent. I cannot imagine the "Fathers" expecting the Constitution to remain forever unchanging and trapped in a 1787 time warp. Yes, they created a mechanism for amendment but they also wrote flexibility into our great document. The elastic clause is one example. Due process is another.<<<

Here are my answers to Last week’s questions

If you had been a youth growing up in the 1800s, who do you think your hero would have been?

The easy and expected answer is Abraham Lincoln, but I will do the unexpected. My choice is William Lloyd Garrison. He was unequivocal in his hatred of slavery and unafraid to take a stand. And he was a white man “calling out” the vast majority of his race whose morality was blinded by prejudice and convenience. Here is a famous sample of his work:

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; – but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead. – William Lloyd Garrison, “To the Public,” from the Inaugural Editorial in the 1 January 1831 The Liberator

Garrison was a moral giant.<<<

If you could investigate any famous archive, which one would you choose?

The Enlightenment Archive at The British Museum.<<<

Here’s Hugh, with my thanks, on his choice for a final appearance by a superstar:

My Superstar (I am assuming he has to be gone) would be Ben Hogan who overcame a terrible childhood experience (his father's suicide) and a near fatal car accident* to become one of golf's all time greats. Ben's golf swing was incredible. It is STILL being studied today by modern golfers. Ben was also an innovator in golf equipment. In 1953 he played in 3 of the 4 majors and won all three. He was unable to compete in the PGA championship, because it conflicted with his appearance in the Open Championship in Scotland. I would just love to see him practice (he use to hit golf balls until his hands needed to be bandaged, then he would hit more). In the 1960s he sent Lee Trevino a check for $2,500 to help Lee get started on tour. Lee never cashed the check but still has it. One Texan helping another! My golf hat is off to one of the all time sports great Ben Hogan.

*Ben's life was saved when the Air Force flew in a specialist to operate on Ben after his horrible car accident. Ben's car was hit head on by a bus on a foggy Texas road. Ben had served in the Air Force (Just like Williams) during World War II.<<<

Some weeks it doesn’t pay to say yes. Here are three questions asked on CNN in the last few days:

Would Bill Clinton make a good Supreme Court justice?

The majority said no. I said yes.

Is execution by lethal injection so likely to cause pain that it is unconstitutional?

A huge majority said no. I said yes.

Have you ever scared yourself silly with online health information?

You guessed it. By 2-1 the answer was no. I was one of the minority.<<<

Movie Trivia question - Who was originally intended for Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley role in “Beverly Hills Cop?”

Sylvester Stallone. (Heck, He wasn’t even the right color.)<<<

Worst places to retire list

According to America Online, these are the 13 least desirable places to kick back after a long career:
1. Clearwater City, Fla.
2. Austin, Texas
3. Anchorage, Alaska
4. Bridgeport, Conn.
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Rhode Island (entire state)
7. Provo, Utah
8. Queens, N.Y.
9. Connecticut (entire state) 1
0. Your kids' house
11. Green Valley, Ariz.
12. Corpus Christi, Texas
13. Riverside, Calif.

I didn’t think Austin was that bad, and Connecticut would be cool if it wasn’t so cold. It is a good thing, Libby, that you and Jack didn’t head for Green Valley.<<<

Heard from the opposing team during a game with UCLA:

“We can beat this team! We can beat this team! We can beat this team!”

“Hey, we lost by 10 points.”<<<

Heard from USC players after almost every game:

“That was a game we could have won.”<<<

Changing abortion's pronoun

“We had abortions,' say men whose lovers ended pregnancies. It isn't just a women's trauma, they insist.

WE? I don’t think so.<<<

Old but good: This is a Christmas story that I had in my notes but that somehow slipped past me.

Did you read a couple of weeks ago about Marietta, Georgia middle school teacher John Hayes, 46, who loaded several students into the back of his pickup truck, and drove them around after dark as they created X-rated version of neighborhood Christmas displays, including placing reindeer in sexual positions.

The newspaper report did not say whether this field trip was curricular or extra-curricular.<<<

And did you see – that Trader Joe’s is phasing out some of the food items it gets from China?

What was that popular song of my youth again?

No more chow mein, yaka mien, bean sprout
No more leche nut or won ton soup.<<<

Here are the questions for next week. Care to share?

Aside from your family, friends or pets, what would be the most difficult thing for you to give up in your life?

If you had to create the ultimate hotel, something as big and grand as those in Las Vegas or in Disney World, what would your hotel look like upon completion?

Nobody 726

Sunday, January 6, 2008
Nobody # 726

Nobody Asked Me But:

"Timid men ... prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty." Thomas Jefferson

Timid men say I will trade freedom for safety and my right to know for the ease of following “the leader.”

Timid men say tell me what God wants of me, so that I won’t have to think for myself.

Timid men say I am afraid of government – not I am afraid of bad government or corrupt government.

Timid men hide behind their wall of skin color or ethnic background or socio-economic status or philosophical absolutism.<<<

Here are my answers to this week’s questions.

Babe Ruth, James Dean, Elvis Presley…. If you could bring back one superstar for one final performance in their respective field, whom would you choose?

Brando on stage would be tempting, as would a Sinatra concert. But my choice is one of the greatest artists ever – Ted Williams. Williams perfected the most difficult challenge in sports, hitting a round ball traveling over 90 miles per hour with a round bat and doing it with both consistency and power. He is, in my opinion, the greatest hitter of all time.

What is a fun New Year’s resolution that you wish you had kept?

I once vowed that because I live so close to the ocean, I would walk IN it at least one time every month. I was successful for 3 or four months but then drifted away.

For this year, I resolve to take the time to enjoy all the things we have in the house. We have added so many things that make our place neat, and it is very easy to take them for granted. Not this year. So I resolve to slow down and enjoy the small touches.

Who is the most important PERSON of the last 1000 years?

If the most important change of the last millennium was the growth of freedom at the expense of authority, and I think it was, then we should choose our PERSON from those who led the way.

Hugh’s choice of Martin Luther is a tempting pick. But so is Henry VIII who wanted freedom to screw – up the Catholic domination of England.

Do you go with the politics of freedom – Locke, Rousseau, Lincoln, et al. or with scientists like Galileo, Newton and Einstein who made intellect the king? Or what about a great literary figure like Shakespeare who showed us who we were and who we could be?

Any of the above would qualify, but my choice is Charles Darwin who proved that man evolved by luck and by pluck and not by the divine right granted by an eminent God.<<<

Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno, died this past week. He was the eldest son of the late Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno. Salvatore was 2 years ahead of me at Tucson High, and we went to the University of Arizona at the same time. Of course, we didn't run in the same circles. Heck, I didn't even carry a gun back then.<<<

JIM’S WISDOM (A name not a claim) Looking back at 2007

DOWN: Iraq. Things may have improved there, but Americans are still dying for nothing.

UP: The Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination – I count at least 5 who would make a good President.

DOWN: Guns at Virginia Tech and everywhere else that innocents died from their bullets. And while we are at it – DOWN with the Second Amendment. Will we never learn?

JIM’S WISDOM (A name not a claim) 2008

UP Barb’s dress for New Year’s Eve. (Picture is of it being modeled)

UP: The Rose Parade.

UP: Fox Sports News for this prediction - By leading his Bruins to the 2008 national championship, coach Ben Howland greatly reduces the pressure to win attached to every UCLA coach who follows Jim Harrick.

DOWN: Blue Cross, for being dishonored by winning permanent possession of my Inhumanity Award for arbitrarily denying health care and medicine to some of the most needy. This trophy is inscribed with the title to the great Hank Williams song, “Cold, Cold Heart.”

UP: Cabernet and conversation – one of life’s great pleasures.

UP: The PAC-10 season, which started Thursday. Here are my predictions – made Wednesday.
1. UCLA
2. Washington State
(3 through 6 are "pick-ums")
3. Stanford – question marks in back court.
4. Arizona – question marks in front court and depth - Chase is overrated, Bayless is not.
5. Oregon - senior experience.
6. USC - have depth problems maybe chemistry ones too.
7. Cal. - question marks in back court.
8. ASU - coming fast - may be top 4 by next season.
9. Washington - Romar recruits much better than he coaches.
10. OSU - will be lucky to win a PAC game.

UP: UCLA power forward Alfred Aboya (Number 12) for this quote:

“That's the UCLA way. I think the coaches here do a good job of recruiting good players. But not only good players but good people with good character."

AND for making only his second 3-point shot of the season Thursday.
AND for always playing as hard as he can.

UP: San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Ray Ratto for writing after the Bruin/Stanford game Friday: to be replaced on the list of UCLA players you will remember from this game by scandalously overlooked sophomore Russell Westbrook (15 points, six assists in 35 minutes). (see picture)

WAY UP: The Bruins for sweeping on the road. Not easy in the PAC.

DOWN Mirrors and pictures, especially pictures. I look much younger from inside than I do in photos.

DOWN: Mitt - The 2007 Lost In Translation award goes to Mitt Romney, who reinvented himself so many times in 07 that not even his hairdresser knows.

DOWN: Hypocrisy. “This is not a time to be mocking our president, and it was, I think, in bad taste" - Romney about Huckabee’s’s criticism of Bush and Iraq. Then Mitt goes on to severely criticize Bush’s immigration policy.

UP: Dennis Kucinich, for steering his supporters to Obama in Iowa.

UP: Obama’s huge win in Iowa. “The huge difference was that we had the greatest organization ever built in this state,” “And it was built on the backs of idealistic kids who came in here not just because they believed in Obama, but they wanted to change the course of history and the world.” David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Obama’s campaign.

This sounds like 60s idealism, only within the political process and without the violence.

UP: David Brooks for identifying a capitalism worth supporting – “A conservatism that loves capitalism but distrusts capitalists.”

UP: Skin cells. The RR, which started the embryonic stem cell war never made their case, (except to our kiss-up President) but it is good to remove any impediment to the research that promises so much to those who need it.

UP: 2007 vacations – Laguna, LaJolla, Atlanta, Eastern Canada, Los Altos, Hawaii, Pleasanton and Mill Valley, Reno (for me) and Tucson. In all our years together, Barb and I have never had a bad one. (The picture is of sunset over the St. Lawrence)

UP: Never being too old to enjoy the wonderful children’s poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson – like this one.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Here are the questions for next week. Care to share?

If you had been a youth growing up in the 1800s, who do you think your hero would have been?

If you could investigate any famous archive, which one would you choose?